Teutonic Mythology, Volume 1

l>^^ I \

THSOLOGIGAL

Division J&.L8 GO Sectioft,i..l^.O G ( Wo, \J,,^\

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY.

BY

JACOB GKIMM.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FOURTH EDITION

WITH

NOTES AND APPENDIX

BY

JAMES STEVEN STALLYBRASS.

VOL. I.

LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

TO

Professor MAX MULLER, M.A., Sue, &c.,

:^ts ^or^

IS

EESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

BY PERMISSION.

ft. J<ING AND pO., fl^NTEF^, ^^BEF^EEN.

TEANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

" I THINK Scandinavian Paganism, to us here, is more interesting than any otlier. It is, for one thing, the latest ; it continued in these regions of Europe till the eleventh century ; 800 years ago the Norwegians were still worshippers of Odin. It is interesting also as the creed of our fathers ; the men whose blood still runs in our veins, whom doubtless we still resemble in so many ways. . . . There is another point of interest in these Scandinavian mythologies, that they have been preserved so well." — Carlyle's " Hero-Worship ".

What Mr. Carlyle says of the Scandinavian will of course apply to all Teutonic tradition, so far as it can be recovered ; and it was the task of Grimm in his Deutsche Mynwlogie to supplement the Scandinavian mythology (of which, thanks to the Icelanders, we happen to know most) with all that can be gleaned from other sources, High-Dutch and Low-Dutch, and build it up into a whole. And indeed to prove that it was one connected whole ; for, strange as it seems to us, forty years ago it was still considered necessary to prove it.

Jacob Grimm was perhaps the first man who commanded a wide enough view of the whole field of Teutonic languages and literature to be able to bring into a focus the scattered facts which show the prevalence of one system of thought among all the Teutonic nations from Iceland to the Danube. In this he was materially aided by his mastery of the true principles of Philology, which he was the first to establish on a firm scientific basis, and which enabled him to trace a word with certitude through the strangest disguises.

The Comparative Mythology of all nations has made great strides since Grimm first wrote his book ; but as a storehouse of facts within his special province of Teutonic Mythology, and as a clue to the derivation and significance of the Names of persons and things

vi Translator's Preface,.

in the various versions of a myth, it has never been superseded and perhaps it never can be. Not that he confines himself to the Teutonic field ; he compares it at every point with the classical mythus and the wide circle of Slavic, Lettic and occasionally of Ugric, Celtic, and Oriental tradition. Still, among his Deutsch kindred he is most at home ; and Etymology is his forte. But then etymology in his hands is transfigured from random guessing into scientific fact.

There is no one to whom Folk-lore is more indebted than to Grimm. Not to mention the loving care with which he hunted up his Kinder und Raus-mdrchen from all over Germany, he delights to detect in many a nursery-tale and popular custom of to-day the beliefs and habits of our forefathers thousands of years ago. It is impossible at times to forbear a smile at the patriotic zeal with which he hunts the trail of his German gods and heroes ; the glee with which he bags a new goddess, elf, or swan-maid ; and his indignation at any poaching Celt or Slav who has spirited away a mythic being that was German born and bred : " Ye have taken away my gods, and what have I more ? "

The present translation of the Deutsche Mythologie will, like the last (fourth) edition of the original, be published in three volumes ; the first two of which, and part of the third, will contain the trans- lation of Grimm's text, and the remainder of the third volume will consist of his own Appendix and a Supplement.

The author's second and third editions (1844 and 1854) were each published in 2 vols., accompanied by an Appendix consisting, first, of a short treatise on the Anglo-Saxon Genealogies, and secondly, of a large collection of the Superstitions of various Teutonic nations. This Appendix will form a part of our Vol. III. After Grimm's death his heirs entrusted to Prof. E. H. Meyer, of Berlin, the task of bringing out a fourth edition, and including in it such additional matter as the author had collected in his note-books for future use. If Grimm had Kved to finish his great Dictionary, which engrossed the latter years of his life,^ he would, no doubt, have incorporated

1 He used to say, he had a boolc ready to run out of each of his ten fingers, but he was no longer free.

Translator's Preface. vii

the pith of these later jottings in the text of his book, rejecting much that was irrelevant or pleonastic. The German editor, not feeling himself at liberty to select and reject, threw the whole of this posthumous matter into his third volume (where it occupies 370 pages), merely arranging the items according to the order of subjects in the book, and numbering each by the page which it illustrates. This is the Supplement so frequently referred to in the book, under the form (" see Suppl."). I have already introduced a few extracts from it in the Foot-notes, especially where it appeared to contradict, or materially to confirm, the author's opinion ex- pressed in the text. But in the present English edition it is intended to digest this Supplement, selecting the most valuable parts, and adding original articles by the editor himself and by other gentlemen who have devoted special attention to individual branches of the science of Folk-knowledge. A full classified Bibliography and an accurate and detailed Index to the whole work will accompany the book. It is hoped by this means to render the English Edition as complete and serviceable as possible.

Grimm's Preface to the edition of 1844, giving a vigorous re- sum^ of the book, and of the whole subject, will, as in the German accompany Vol. II. There is so much in it, which implies the reader's acquaintance with every part of the book, that I have felt bound to keep it where I find it in the original.

The only additions or alterations I have ventured to make in the text are the following : —

1. The book bristles with quotations in various languages, for the most part untranslated. An ordinary German reader might find the Old and the Middle High German about as intelligible as an ordinary Englishman does Anglo-Saxon and Chaucer respec- tively. But when it comes to making out a word or passage in Old Norse, Greek, and even Slavic, I must suppose the author to have written for a much more limited and learned public than that which, I hope, will find this English edition sufficiently readable. I have therefore translated a great many words and sentences.

viii Translator's Preface.

where the interest, and even the argument, of the paragraph de- pended on the reader's understanding the quotations. To have translated all that is not English would have swelled the size of the book too much. Apart from such translation, any additions of my own are always placed in square brackets [ ], except a few notes which bear the signature " Trans.".

2. For the sake of clearness, I have divided some of the chapters (XII. to XVI.) into smaller sections with headings of their own.

3. I have consulted the English reader's convenience by sub- stituting the 10 and ce, which he is accustomed to see in Anglo- Saxon words, for Grimm's v and a, as ' waeg ' instead of ' vag '. I have also used the words ' Dutch, Mid. Dutch ' in a wider sense comprehending aU the Teutonic dialects of the Netherlands, instead of coining the awkward adjective ' Netherlandish '.

One word on the title of the book. Ought not " Deutsche Mythologie " to be translated German, rather than Teutonic Myth- ology ? I am bound to admit that the author aimed at building up a Deutsch mythology, as distinct from the Scandinavian, and that he expressly disclaims the intention of giving a complete account of the latter, because its fulness would have thrown the more meagre remains of the Deutsch into the shade. At the same time he necessarily draws so much upon the richer remains of the Norse mythology, that it forms quite a substantive portion of his book, though not exhaustive as regards the Norse system itself. But what does Grimm mean by Deutsch ? To translate it by German would be at least as misleading in the other direction. It would not amongst us be generally understood to include — what he expressly intends it to include — the Netherlands and England ; for the English are sunply a branch of the Low German race which happened to cross the sea. I have therefore thought, that for the English ear the more comprehensive title was truer to the facts on the whole than the more limited one would have been.

r VL

CHAPTER I. INTEODUCTION.i

From the westernmost shore of Asia, Christianity had turned at once to the opposite one of Europe. The wide soil of the continent which had given it birth could not supply it long with nourish- ment; neither did it strike deep root in the north of Africa. Europe soon became, and remained, its proper dwelling-place and home.

It is worthy of notice, that the direction in which the new faith worked its way, from South to North, is contrary to the current of miration which was then driving the nations from the East and North to tlie West and South. As spiritual light penetrated from the one quarter, life itself was to be reinvigorated from the other,

1 In a book that deals so much with Heathenism, the meaning of the term ought not to be passed over. The Greeks and Romans had no special name for nations of another faith (for erepodo^oi, fiap^apoi were not used in that sense) ; but with the Jews and Christians of the N.T. are contrasted 'idvos, Wvta, idviKOL, Lat. gentes, gentiles ; Ulphilas uses the pi. thiudos, and by preference in the gen. after a pronoun, thai thiudo, simrai thiudo (giiamm. 4, 441, 457), while thiudiskus translates idviKws Gal. 2, 14. As it was mainly the Greek religion that stood opposed to the Judteo-Christian, the word"EXX.r;y also assumed the meaning iOviKos, and we meet with (K\r)viK(ioi = i6viKoii, which the Goth would still have rendered thiudiiilcos, as he does render "EXXf^i/e? thiudos, John 7, 35. 12, 20. 1 Cor. 1, 24. 12, 13 ; only in 1 Cor. 1, 22 he prefers Krekos. This "eXX»;i/ = gen tills bears also the meaning of giant, which has developed itself out of more than one national name (Hun, Avar, Tchudi) ; sc the Hellenic walls came to be heathenish, gigantic (see ch. XVIII). In Old High German, Notker still iises the pi. diete for gentiles (Graff 5, 128). In the meanwhile pagus had expanded its narrow meaning of kw/xt; into the wider one of ager, campus, in which sense it still lives on in It. paese, Fr. pays ; while 2Mganus began to push out gentilis, which was lapsing into the sense of nobilis. All the Romance languages have their pagano, paycn, &c., nay, it has penetrated into Bohem. pohan, Pol. poganin, Lith. pagonas [but Russ. j)or/a?i = unclean]. The Gothic hdithi campus early developed an adj. haithns agrestis, campestris =^ paganus (Ulph. in Mark 7, 2(i renders fk\r]i/is by liaitlind), the Old H.G. heida an adj. lieidaii, Mid. H.(}. and Dutch heide heiden, A.S. hu:L) Jtcc^in, Engl, heath heathen. Old Norse heitJi hei'Sinn ; Swed. and Dan. use /leffiit'wj/. The O.H.G word retains its adj. nature, and forms its gen. pi. heidanero. Our present heide, gen. heiden (for heiden, gen. heidens) is erroneoi;s, but current ever since Luther. Full confirmation is afforded by Mid. Lat. agrestis = paganus, e.g. in the passage quoted "in ch. IV from Vita S. Agili ; ami the ' wilde heiden' in our Heldenbuch is an evident pleonasm (see Supplement).

1

2 INTKODUCTION".

The worn out empire of the Eomans saw both its interior con- vulsed, and its frontier overstept. Yet, by the same mighty doctrine which had just overthrown her ancient gods, subjugated Eome was able to subdue her conquerors anew. By this means the flood-tide of invasion was gradually checked, the newly converted lands began to gather strength and to turn their arms against the heathen left in their rear.

Slowly, step by step, Heathendom gave way to Christendom. Five hundred years after Christ, but few nations of Europe believed in him ; after a thousand years the majority did, and those the most important, yet not all (see SuppL).

From Greece and Italy the Christian faith passed into Gaul first of all, in the second and thiid centuries. About the year 300, or soon after, we find here and there a christian among the Germans on the Ehine, especially the Alamanni ; and about the same time or a little earlier^ among the Goths. The Goths were the first Teutonic people amongst whom Christianity gained a firm footing ; this occurred in the course of the fourth century, the West-goths leading the way and the East-goths following ; and after them the Vandals, Gepida^ and Eugii were converted. All these races held by the Arian doctrine. The Burgundians in Gaul became Catholic at the beginning of the fifth century, then Arian under their Visigoth rulers, and Catholic again at the commencement of the sixth century, The Suevi in Spain were at first Catholic, then Arian (about 469), until in the sixth century they, with all the West-goths, went over likewise to the Catholic church. Not till the end of the fifth or the beginning of the sixth did Christianity win the Eranks, soon after that the Alamanni, and after them the Langobardi. The Bavarians were converted in the seventh and eighth centuries, the Frisians, Hessians and Thuringians in the eighth, the Saxons about the ninth.

Christianity had early found entrance into Britain, but was checked by the irruption of the heathen Anglo-Saxons. Towards the close of the sixth and in the course of the seventli century, they also went over to the new faith.

The Danes became christians in the tenth century, the Norwe- gians at the beginning of the eleventh, the Swedes not completely

^ Waltz's UlfUa, p. 35.

INTKODUCTION. 3

till the second half of the same century. About the same time cliristianity made its way to Iceland.

Of the Slavic nations the South Slavs were the first to adopt the christian faith: the Carentani, and under Heraclius (d. 640) the Croatians, then, 150 years after the former, the Moravians in the eighth and ninth centuries. Among the North Slavs, the Obotritie in the ninth, Bohemians ^ and Poles in the tenth, Sorbs in the eleventh, and Eussians at the end of the tentL

Then the Hungarians at the beginning of the eleventh, Li- vonians and Lettons in the twelfth, Esthonians and Finns in the twelfth and thirteenth, Lithuanians not even till the commencement of the fifteenth.

All these data are only to be taken as true in the main ; they neither exclude some earlier conversions, nor a longer and later adherence to heathenism in limited areas. Eemoteness and inde- pendence might protect the time-honoured religion of a tribe. Apostates too would often attempt at least a partial reaction. Christianity would sometimes lead captive the minds of the rich and great, by whose example the common people were carried away ; sometimes it affected first the poor and lowly.

When Chlodowig (Clovis) received baptism, and the Salian Franks followed his lead, individuals out of all the Frankish tribes had already set the example. Intercourse with Burgundians and West-goths had inclined them to the Arian doctrine, while the Catholic found adherents in other parts of Gaul. Here the two came into collision. One sister of Chlodowig, Lantlnld, had become an Arian christian before his conversion, the other, Albofled, had remained a heatlien ; the latter was now baptized with him, and the former was also won over to the Catholic communion.^ But even in the sixth and seventh centuries heathenism was not yet uprooted in certain districts of the Frankish kingdom. Neustria

1 Fourteen Bohemian princes baptized 845 ; see Palacky 1, 110. The Middle North-slavs— Riaderi, Tolenzi, Kycini, Circipani— still heathen in the latter half of the 11th century ; see HehuolTl 1, 21. 23 (an. 1066). The Rugians not till 1168 ; Helm. 2, 12. 13.

• ha-ptizata est Albofledi.s. . . . Lanthildis chrismata est, Greg. Tur. 2,

31. So among the Goths, chrismation is administered to Sigibert's wife Brune- child (4, 27), and to Ingund's husband Herminichild (5, 38, who assumes the new name of Joannes. The Arians appear to have re-baptized converts froni Catholicism ; Ingund herself was compelled by her grandmother-mother in law Goisuiiitha ' ut rebaptizaretur '. Rebaptizare katholicos, Eugippii vita Severini, cap. 8.

4 INTRODUCTION.

had heathen inhabitants on the Loire and Seine, Burgundy in the Vosges, Austrasia in the Ardennes ; and heathens seem still to have been living in the present Flanders, especially northwards towards Friesland.^ Vestiges of heathenism lingered on among the Frisians into the ninth century, among the Saxons into the tenth, and in like manner among the Normans and Swedes into the eleventh and twelfth.^ Here and there among the northern Slavs idolatry was not extinct in the twelfth century, and not universally so among the Finns and Lithuanians in the sixteenth and seven- teenth^ ; nay, the remotest Laplanders cling to it still.

Christianity was not popular. It came from abroad, it aimed at supplanting the time-honoured indigenous gods whom the country revered and loved. These gods and their worship were part and parcel of the people's traditions, customs and constitution. Their names had their roots in the people's language, and were hallowed by antiquity ; kings and princes traced their lineage back to individual gods ; forests, mountains, lakes had received a living consecration from their presence. All this the people was now to renounce ; and what is elsewhere commended as truth and leyalty was denounced and persecuted by the heralds of the new faith as a sin and a crime. The source and seat of all sacred lore was shifted away to far-off regions for ever, and only a fainter borrowed glory could henceforth be shed on places in one's native land.

The new faith came in escorted by a foreign language, which the missionaries imparted to their disciples and thus exalted into a sacred language, which excluded the slighted mother-tongue from almost all share in public worship. This does not apply to the Greek-speaking countries, which could follow the original text of the christian revelation, but it does to the far wider area over which the Latin church-language was spread, even among Eomauce populations, whose ordinary dialect was rapidly emanci- pating itself from the rules of ancient Latin. Still more violent was the contrast in the remaining kingdoms.

The converters of the heathen, sternly devout, abstemious, mortifying the flesh, occasionally peddhng, headstrong, and in

^ Authorities given in Cli. IV.— Conf. lex Frisionum, ed. Gaup}), p. xxiv, 19, 47. Heathenism lasted the longest between Laubach and the Weser.

^ Fornmanna sogur 4, 116. 7, 151.

3 Wedekind's notes 2, 275, 27(3. Rhesa dainos, p. 3.33. The Lithuanians proper converted 1387, the Samogits 1413.

INTRODUCTION.

slavish subjection to distant Eome, could not fail in many ways to offend the national feeling. Not only the rude bloody sacrifices, but the sensuous pleasure-loving side of heathenism was to them an abomination (see Suppl.). And what their words or their wonder-working gifts could not effect, was often to be executed against obdurate pagans by placing fire and sword in the hands of christian proselytes.

The triumph of Christianity was that of a mild, simple, spiritual doctrine over sensuous, cruel, barbarizing Paganism. In exchange for peace of spirit and the promise of heaven, a man gave liis earthly joys and the memory of his ancestors. Many followed the inner prompting of their spirit, others the example of the crowd, and not a few the pressure of irresistible force.

Although expiring heathenism is studiously thrown into the shade by the narrators, there breaks out at times a touching lament over the loss of the ancient gods, or an excusable protest against innovations imposed from without^ (see Suppl.).

The missionaries did not disdain to work upon the senses of the heathen by anything that could impart a higher dignity to the Christian cultus as compared with the pagan : l^y white rol)es for subjects of baptism, by curtains, peals of bells (see Suppl.), the lighting of tapers and the burning of incense.- It was also a wise or politic measure to preserve many heathen sites and temples by simply turning them, when suitable, into Christian ones, and assigning to them anotlier and equally sacred meaning. Tlie heathen gods even, though represented as feeble in comparison with the true God, were not always pictured as powerless in themselves ; they were perverted into hostile malignant powers, into demons, sorcerers and giants, who had to be put down, l)ut were never- theless credited with a certain mischievous activity and influence. Here and there a heathen tradition or a superstitious custom lived on by merely changing the names, and applying to Christ, Mary and the saints what had formerly been related and believed of idols (see Suppl.). On the other hand, the piety of christian priests suppressed and destroyed a multitude of heathen monuments, poems and beliefs, whose annihilation history can liardly cease to

1 Fomnianna so^nir 1, 31-35. Luxda'la, p. 170. Kralodworsky rukopi.^, 72.74.

"' Greg. Tur. 2, 31. Fonnu. sog. 1, 260. 2, 200.

6 INTKODUCTIOIi

lament, though the sentiment which deprived us of them is not to be blamed. The practice of a pure Christianity, the extinction of all trace of heathenism was of infinitely more concern than the advantage that might some day accrue to history from their longer preservation. Boniface and Willibrord, in felling the sacred oak, in polluting the sacred spring, and the image-breaking Calvinists long after them, thought only of the idolatry that was practised by such means (see SuppL). As those pioneers ' purg<ed their floor ' a first time, it is not to be denied that the Reformation eradicated aftergrowths of heathenism, and loosing the burden of the Piomish ban, rendered our faith at once freer, more inward and more domestic. God is near us everywhere, and consecrates for us every country, from which the fixing of our gaze beyond the Alps would alienate us.

Probably some sects and parties, non-conformity here and there among the heathen themselves, nay, in individual minds a precoci- ous elevation of sentiment and morals, came half-way to meet the introduction of Christianity, as afterwards its purification (see SuppL). It is remarkable that Old Norse legend occasionally mentions certain men who, turning away in utter disgust and doubt from the heathen faith, placed their reliance on their own strength and virtue. Thus in the Solar lioS 17 we read of Vebogi and Eadey ' a sik ];au truSu,' in themselves they trusted ; of king Hakon (Fornm. sog. 1, 35) ' konungr gerir sem allir aSrir, ]?eir sem trua a matt sinn ok megin,' the king does like all others who trust in their own might and main ; of BarSr (ibid. 2, 151) ' ek trui ekki a skurSgoS ec5r fiandr, hefi ek ];vi lengi truat a matt minn ok megin,' I trust not in idols and fiends, I have this long while, &c. ; of Hiorleifr ' vildi aldri biota,' would never sacrifice (Landn. 1, 5.7) ; of Hallr and Thorir goSlaui^ 'vildu eigi biota, ok triiSu a matt sinn' (Landn. 1, 11) ; of king Hrolfr (Fornm. scig. 1, 98) ' ekki er ]?ess getit at Hrolfr konungr ok kappar bans hafi nokkurn tima blotat goS, lieldr triiSu fi matt sinn ok megin,' it is not thought that king H. and his cham- pions have at any time, &c.; of Orvaroddr (Fornald. sog. 2, 165; cf. 505) ' ekki vandist blotum, ]?vi hann truSi a matt sinn ok megin '; of Finnbogi (p. 272) ' ek trui a sialfan mik.' Tliis is the mood that still finds utterance in a Danish folk-song (D.V. 4, 27), though without a reference to religion :

INTRODUCTION. 7

Forst troer jeg mit gode sviird. Og saa min gode liest, Derniist troer jeg mine dannes«v"enne, Jeg troer mig self allerbedst ;

and it is Christian sentiment besides, wliicli strives to elevate and consecrate the inner man (see Siippl.).

We may assume, that, even if Paganism conld have lived and luxuriated a while longer, and brought out in sharper relief and more spontaneously some characteristics of the nations that obeyed it, yet it bore within itself a germ of disorganisation and disrup- tion, which, even without the intervention of Christian teaching, would have shattered and dissolved it.^ I liken heathenism to a strange plant whose brilliant fragrant blossom we regard with wonder ; Christianity to the crop of nourishing grain that covers wide expanses. To the heathen too was germinating the true God, who to the Christians had matured into fruit.

At the time when Christianity began to press forward, many of the heathen seem to have entertained the notion, which the mis- sionaries did all in their power to resist, of combining the new doctrine with their ancient faith, and even of fusing them into one. Of Norsemen as well as of Anglo-Saxons we are told, that some believed at the same time in Christ and in heathen gods, or at least continued to invoke the latter in particular cases in which they

1 Old Norse sagas and songs have remarkable passages in winch the gods' are coarsely derided. A good deal in Lokasenna and Harbard's song may pass for rough joking, -which still leaves the holiest things unshaken (see Suppl.). But faith has certainly grown fainter, when a daring poet can com- pare OSinn and Freyja to dogs (Fornm. sog. 2, 207. Islend. sog. 1, 11. ed. nov. 372. Nialss. IGO) : when another calls the gods rangeyg (squint-eyed, unfair) and rokindusta (Fornm. sog. 2, 154). When we come to Freyr, I shall quote a story manifestly tending to lessen the reverence for him ; but here is a pas- sage from Oswald 2913 : 'din got der ist ein junger tor (fool), ich wil glouben an den alten.' — If we had a list of old and favourite dogs' -names, I believe we should find that the designations of several deities were bestowed upon the brute by way of degradation. Vilk. saga, cap. 230. 235, has handed down Tlwr (butcf. ed. nov., cap. 263) and Paron, one being the O.N., the other the Slav name in the Slovak form Parom = Perun ch. VIII. With the Saxon herdsmen or hunters Thunar was doubtless in nse for dogs, as perhaps Donner is to this day. One sort of dog is called hj the Poles Grzviilas (Linde 1, 7'i9a. 2, 798), by the Bohemians Hrmiles (Jungm". 1, 759) = Thunder, Forest-thunder. In Helbling 4, 441 seq. I find a dog IVunsc^i (not Wiinsch). Similar to this is the transference of national names to dogs : the Bohemian BoJrok is a dog's name, but signifies an Obotrite (Jungm. 1, 150) ; Sumr in the Nialssaga seems to mean a Same, Sabme = Lapp ; Hell)ling 4, 458 has a Frank (see Suppl.).

8 INTRODUCTION.

had formerly proved helpful to them. So even by christians much later, the old deities seem to have been named and their aid invoked in enchantments and spells. Landnfimabok 3, 12 says of Helgi : ' hann truSi a Krist, en ]?6 het hann a Thor til seefara ok harSrseSa ok alls ]7ess, er honnm ]?otti mestu varSa' ; he believed in Christ, and yet he called upon Thor in voyages and difficulties, &c. Hence the poets too transferred heathen ei^ithets to Christ. Beda 1, 15 relates of Eedwald, an East- Anglian king in the begin- ing of the 7th century : ' rediens domum ab uxore sua, a quibusdam perversis doctoribus seductus est, atque a sinceritate fidei depravatus, habuit posteriora pejora prioribus, ita ut in morem antiquorum Samaritanorum, et Christo servire videretur et diis quibus antea serviebat, atque in eodem fano et altare habebat in sacrificium Ohristi et arulam ad victimas daemoniorum' (see Suppl.). This helps to explain the relapses into paganism.

The history of heathen doctrines and ideas is easier to write, according as particular races remained longer outside the pale of baptism. Our more intimate acquaintance with the Greek and Koman religion rests upon writings which existed before the rise of Christianity; we are oftener at fault for information as to the altered shape which that religion had assumed among the common people in Greece and Italy during the first centuries of our era. Eesearch has yet to penetrate, even deeper than it has done, into the old Celtic faith ; we must not shrink from recomizino- and ex- amining Celtic monuments and customs on ground now occupied by Germans. Leo's important discovery on the real bearings of the Malberg glossary may lead to much. The religion of the Slavs and Lithuanians would be far more accurately known to us, if these nations, in the centuries immediately following their conversion, had more carefully preserved the memory of their antiquities ; as it is, much scattered detail only wants collecting, and traditions still alive in many districts aftbrd rich material. On the Finnish mythology we possess somewhat fuller information.

Germany holds a middle place, peculiar to herself and not un- favourable. While the conversion of Gaul and that of Slavland were each as a whole decided and finished in the course of a very few centuries, the Teutonic races forsook the faith of their fathers very gradually and slowly, from the 4th to the 11th century. Eemains of their lano;uage too have been preserved more fully and

INTRODUCTION. 9

from the successive periods. Besides wliicli we possess in the works of Eoman writers, and especially Tacitus, accounts of the earlier undisturbed time of Teutonic heathenism, which, though scanty and from a foreign source, are yet exceedingly important, nay invaluable.

The religion of the East and South German races, which were converted first, is more obscure to us than that of the Saxons ; about the Saxons again we know incomparably less than about the Scandinavians. What a far different insight we should get into the character and contents of the suppressed doctrine, how vastly the picture we are able to form of it would gain in clearness, if some clerk at Fulda, Eegensburg, Eeichenau or St. Gall, or one at Bremen, Corvei or IMagdeburg, had in the eighth, ninth or tenth century, hit upon the plan of collecting and setting before us, after the manner of Saxo Grammaticus, the still extant traditions of his tribe on the beliefs and superstitions of their forefathers ! Let no one tell me, that by that time there was nothing more to be had ; here and there a footmark plainly shows that such recollections could not really have died out.^ And who will show me in Sweden, which clung to heathenism longer and more tenaciously, such a composition as actually appeared in Denmark during the twelftli century ? But for this fact, would not the doubters declare such a thing impossible in Sweden ? In truth, the first eight books of Saxo are to me the most welcome monument of the Norse mytho- logy, not only for their intrinsic worth, but because they show in what an altered light the ancient faith of the people had to be placed before the recent converts. I especially remark, that Saxo suppresses all mention of some prominent gods ; what right have we then to infer from the non-mention of many deities in the far scantier records of inland Germany, that they had never been heard of there ?

Then, apart from Saxo, we find a purer authority for the Norse religion preserved for us in the remotest corner of the North, whither it had fled as it were for more perfect safety, — namely, in Iceland. It is preserved not only in the two Eddas, but in a multitude of Sagas of various shape, which, but for that emigration

1 As late as the tenth century the heroic tale of Walther and Hildegimd was poetized in Latin at St. Gall, aiid arelie of heathen poetry was \Titten down iu German [dcutlich, a misprint for deutsch I], probably at Merseburg.

10 INTKODUCTION.

coming to the rescue, would probably have perished in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

To assail the genuineness of the Norse mythology is as much as to cast doubt on the genuineness and independence of the Norse language. That it has been handed down to us both in a clearer and an obscurer shape, through older and more modern authoriti-es, makes it all the easier to study it from many sides and mqre historically.

Just as little can we fail to perceive the kinship and close con- nexion of the Norse mythology with the rest of Teutonic mythology. I have undertaken to collect and set forth all that can now be known of German heathenism, and that exclusively of the complete system of Norse mythology. By such limitation I hope to gain clearness and space, and to sharpen our vision for a criticism of the Old German faith, so far as it stands opposed to the Norse, or aloof from it ; so that we need only concern ourselves with -the latter, where in substance or tendency it coincides with that of inland Germany.

The antiquity, originality and affinity of the German and Norse mythologies rest on the following grounds :

1. The undisputed and very close affinity of speech between the two races, and the now irrefutably demonstrated identity of form in their oldest poetry. It is impossible that nations speaking languages which had sprung from the same stock,' whose songs all wore the badge of an alliteration either unknown or quite differently applied by their neighbours, should have differed materially in their religious belief. Alliteration seems to give place to christian rhyme, first in Upper Germany, and then in Saxony, precisely because it had been the characteristic of heathen songs then still existing. Without prejudice to their original affinity, it is quite true that the German and the Norse dialects and poetries have their peculiarities of form and finish ; but it would seem incredible that the one race should have had gods and the other none, or that the chief divinities of the two should have been really different from one another. There were marked differences no doubt, but not otherwise than in their language ; and as the Gothic, Anglo- Saxon and Old High German dialects have their several points of superiority over the Old Norse, so may the faitli of inland Germany liave in many points its claims to distinction and individuality.

INTKODUCTIOxN'. 11

2. The joint possession, by all Teutonic tongues, of many terms relating to religious worship. If we are able to produce a word used by the Goths in the 4th century, by the Alamanni in the 8th, in exactly the same form and sense as it continues to bear in the Norse authorities of the 12th or 13th century, the affinity of the German faith with the Norse, and the antiquity of the latter, are thereby vindicated.

3. The identity of mythic notions and nomenclature, which ever and anon breaks out: thus the agreement of the O.H.G. muspilli, 0. Sax. mudspelli, with the Eddie muspell, of the O.H.G. itis, A. Sax. ides, with the Eddie dis, or of the A. Sax. brosinga mene with the Eddie brisinga men, affords perfectly conclusive evidence.

4. The precisely similar way in which both there and here the religious mythus tacks itself on to the heroic legend. As the Gothic, Fraukish and Norse genealogies all run into one another, we can scarcely deny the connexion of the veiled myths also which stand in the background.

5. The mingling of the mythic element with names of plants and constellations. This is an uneffaced vestige of the primeval intimate union between religious worship and nature.

6. The gradual transformation of the gods into devils, of the wise women into witches, of the worship into superstitious customs. The names of the gods have found a last lurking-place in disguised ejaculations, oaths, curses, protestations.^ There is some analogy between this and the transfer of heathen myths from goddesses and gods to IVIary and the saints, from elves to angels. Heathen festivals and customs were transformed into christian, spots which heathenism had already consecrated were sometimes retained for churches and courts of justice. The popular religion of the Catho- lics, particularly in the adoration of saints, includes a good many and often graceful and pleasing relics of paganism (see SuppL).

7. The evident deposit from god-myths, which is found to this day in various folk-tales, nursery-tales, games, saws, curses, ill- understood names of days and months, and idiomatic phrases.

8. The undeniable intermixture of the old religious doctrine with the system of law ; for the latter, even after the adoption of

^ Conf. our ' donner ! hammer ! ' the Sei-v. ' lele ! lado ! ' the Lat. ' pol ! aedepol ! me herole ! me castor ! medius^lidius,' &c.

12 INTRODUCTION.

tlie new faith, would not part with certain old forms and usages (see SuppL).

In unravelling these complex relations, it appears indispensable not to overlook the mythologies of neighbouring nations, especially of the Celts, Slavs, Lithuanians and Finns, wherever they afford confirmation or elucidation. This extension of our scope would find ample reason and justification in the mere contact (so fruitful in many ways) of the languages of those nationalities with Teu- tonic ones, particularly of the Celtic with Old Frankish, of the Finnish and Lithuanian with Gothic, and of the Slavic with High German. But also the myths and superstitions of these very nations are peculiarly adapted to throw light on the course taken by our domestic heathenism in its duration and decadence.

Against the error which has so frequently done damage to the study of the Norse and Greek mythologies, I mean the mania of foisting metaphysical or astronomical solutions on but half-dis- covered historical data, I am sufficiently guarded by the incomplete- ness and loose connexion of all that has been preserved. My object is, faithfully and simply to collect what the distortions early introduced by the nations themselves, and afterwards the scorn and aversion of christians have left remaining of heathenism ; and to enlist fellow-labourers in the slow task of securing a more solid store of facts, without which a general view of the substance and worth of our mythology is not to be attained (see SuppL).

CHAPTER IL GOD.

In all Teutonic tongues the Supreme Being has always with one consent been called by the general name God. The dialectic varieties are : Goth. gu&, A.S., O.S., O. Fris. god, O.H.G. cot, 0. Norse gocf ; Swed. Dan. gud, M.H.G. got, M.L.G. god ; and here there is a grammatical remark to make. Though all the dialects, even the Norse, use the word as masculine (hence in O.H.G. the ace. sing, cotan ; I do not know of a M.H.G. goten), yet in Gothic and 0. Norse it lacks the nom. sing, termination (-s, -r) of a masc. noun, and the Gothic gen. sing, is formed guffs w^ithout. the connecting vowel i, agreeing therein with the three irreg. genitives mans, fadrs, br6(5rs. Now, as O.H.G. has the same three genitives irreg., man, fatar, pruodar, we should have expected the gen. cot to bear them company, and I do not doulit its having existed, though I have nowhere met with it, only with the reg. cotes, as indeed mannes and fateres also occur. It is more likely that the sanctity of the name had .preserved the oldest form inviolate, than that fre- quent use had worn it down.^ The same reason preserved the O.H.G. spelling cot (Gramm. 1, 180), the M. Dut. god (1, 486), and perhaps the Lat. vocative deus (1, 1071).- Moreover, God and other names of divine beings- reject every article (4, 383. 394. 404. 424. 432) ; they are too firmly established as proper nouns to need any such distinction. The dcr got in MS. 2, 260a. is said of a heathen deity.

On the radical meaning of the word Gqd we have not yet arrived at certainty f it is not immediately connected with the adj.

^ The drift of these remarks seems to be this : The word, though used as a masc, has a neut. form ; is this an archaism, pointing to a time when the word was really neuter ; or a mere irregularity diie to abtrition, the word having always been masc. ? — Trans.

^ Sa.xo does not inflect Tlior ; Uhland p. 198.

3 The Slav, hugh is connected with the Sanskr. bhaga felicitas, bhakta devotus, and bhaj colere ; perhaps also with the obscure bahts in the Goth, andbahts minister. ciMtor ; conf. p. 20, note on boghat, dives. Of 6e6s, deus we shall have to speak in ch, IX.

14 GOD.

good, Goth, gods, O.N", goor, A.S. god, O.Ii.G. cuot, M.H.G., guot, as the difference of vowel shows ; we should first have to show an intermediacy of the gradations gida gad, and gada god, which does take place in some other cases ; and certainly God is called the Good.i ll is still farther removed from the national name of the Goths, who called themselves Gutans (O.H.G. Kuzun, O.N. Gotar), and who must be distinguished from O.N. Gautar (A. S. Geatas, O.H.G. Koza ; Goth. Gautos ?).

The word God has long been compared with the Pers. Kliocld (Bopp, comp. gram., p. 35). If the latter be, as has been , supposed, a violent contraction of the Zend qvadata (a se datus, increatus, Sanskr. svadata, conf. Devadatta &e6SoTo<;, Mitradatta 'HXl6Soto<;, Sridatta), then our Teutonic word must have been originally a com- pound, and one with a very apt meaning, as the Servians also address God as samozazdani bozhe ! self-created God ; Vuk 741.

The O.H.G. cot forms the first half of many proper names, as Cotadio, Cotascalh, Cotafrit, Cotahram, Cotakisal, Cotaperaht, Cotalint, but not so that we can infer anything as to its meaning j they are formed like Irmandio, Hiltiscalh, Sikufrit, and may just as well carry the general notion of the Divine Being as a more definite one. When cot forms the last syllable, the compound can only stand for a god, not a man, as in Irmincot, Hellicot.

In derivatives Ulphilas exchanges the TH for a D, which ex- plains the tenuis in O.H.G. ; thus guda-faurhts (god-fearing) Luke 2, 25, gagudei (godliness) Tit. 1, 1 ; though the dat. sing, is invari- ably guSa.^ Likewise in speaking of many gods, which to Christians would mean idols, he spells gtida, using it as a neuter, John 10, 34-5. The A.S. god has a neut. pi. godic, when idols are meant (cod. exon. 250,2. 254,9. 278,16.). In like manner the O.H.G. and M.H.G. compound apcot, ajjtcot (false god) is commonly neuter, and forms its pi. apcotir ; whether the M.H.G. ' dcr aptgot ' in Geo. 3254. 3302 can be correct, is questionable ; we have taken to

1 ovbeh ayados d jj.!] (Is 6 Oeos, I\raik 10, 18, Luke 18, 19, wliich inGothic is rendered 'ni livashuii ]nuSeigs alja ains GuS', but in A.S, ' nis nan man god Ijuton God ana'. God is the giver of all good, and himself the highest good, smnmum bonum. Thiis Plato names him ro dyadoi/. y

2 In Gothic the rule is to change TH into D belore a vowel in inflection, as, faSs, fadis, fada, fuS ; haubi'S, -dis, -da, -S. The peculiarity of guS is that it retains TH throughout the sing., guS, guSs, guSa, guS ; though in pi. and in derivatives it falls under rule asain. — Teans.

GOD. 15

usiug ahgott as a masc. throughout, yet our pi. gutter itself can only be explained as originally^neuter. since the_true God_js one, and can have no plural ; and the O.H.G. cota, M.H.G. gote contain so far a contradiction. In Ulph. afguds is only an adj., and denotes impius Sk. 44, 22 ; afgudei impietas, Eom. 11, 26 ; eihwXa he translates by galiuga (figmenta), 1 Cor. 5, 10. 10, 20. 28, or by galiiicjaguda, 1 Cor. 10, 20 ; and elhtoXeiov by galiuge staOs, 1 Cor. 8, 10. Another N.H.G. expression gotze I have discussed, Gramni, 3, 694 ; Luther has in Deut. 12, 3 ' die gotzen ihrer goiter, making gotze rridolum. In Er. Alberus fab. 23, the gotz is a demigod ^ (see Suppl.). The O.N. language distinguished the neut. goff idolum from the masc. gud' deus. Snorri 119 says of Sif ' it harfagra goS,' the fairhaired god ; I do not know if a heathen would have said it.

In curses and exclamations, our people, from fear of desecrating the name of God, resort to some alteration of it-? poiz wetter! potz tausend ! or, kotz tausend ! Mz wunder ! instead of Gottes ; but I cannot trace the custom back to our ancient speech. The similar change of the Fr. dieu into Ueu, hlcu, guicu^ seems to be older (see Suppl.).

Some remarkable uses of the word God in our older speech and that of the common people ^may also have a connexion with heathen notions.

Thus it is thrown in, as it were, to intensify a personal pronoun ^ (see Suppl.). Poems in ]\I.H.G. have, by way of giving a hearty welcome : gote unde mir willekomen ; Trist. 504. Frib. Trist. 497.

1 Writers of the 16-1 7th centuries use olgotze for statue (Stieler says, from an allegorical representation of the apostles asleep on the Mount of Olives, 61 = oil). Hans Sachs freqiiently has ' den olgotzen tragen ' for doing house drudgery, I. 5, 418'i 528^. III. 3, 24* 49^ IV. 3, 37"^ 99^ The O.H.G. coz, simpuvium Numae (Juvenal 6, 343), which Graff 4, 154 would identify with gotze, was a vessel, and belongs to giozan=fundere.

2 Such a fear may arise from two causes : a holy name must not be abused, or an unholy dreaded name, e.g., that of the devil, has to be softened down by modifying its form ; see Chap.'XXXIII, how the people call formidable animals by another name, and for Donner preier to say donnerwetter (Dan. tordenveir for Thursday), donnerwettstein (wetterstein or wetzstein 1), donnerkeil, donner- wasche, dummer. In Fornm. sog. 10, 283 we have Oddiuer for OSinn ; per- haps Wuotansheer (Woden's host) was puqiosely changed into Mutesheer ; whether Phol into Falant, is worth considering.

• Sangbieu (sang de Dieu), corbieu (corps dc D.) vertuldeu (vertu de D.), morbleu (mort de D.), parbleu (par D.), vertuguieu, vertugoi (vertu de D.), niorguoi (mort de D.), &c. As early as Renart 18177, por la char bieu. So the Engl, cock's bones, 'od's bones, 'od's wouuds, 'zouutls, «S:c. Conf. Weber metr. rom. 3, 284.

16 GOD.

gote suit ir willekomen sin, iurem lande uncle niir (ye shall be welcome to God, your country, and me) ; Trist. 5186. got alrest, dar nacli mir, west willekomen ; Parz. 305, 27. wis willekomen mir und got ; Frauend. 128, 13. sit mir gote wilkomen^ ; Eilh. Trist. 248. rehte got wilkomen mir ; Dietr. 5200. Nu sit ouch mir got wilkomen ; Dietr. 5803. sit willekomen got und oueh mir ; Dietr. 4619. nu wis mir got wilkomen ; Oswalt 208. 406. 1163. 1268. 1393. 2189. du solt groz willekomen sin dem richen got unde mir ; Lanz. 1082. wis mir unde ouch got wilkomen ; Ls. 1, 514. Occasionally gote stands alone : diu naht si gote willekomen ; Iw. 7400, explained in the note, p. 413, as 'devoted to God,' though it only means ' to-night be (thou) welcome '. Upper Germany has to this day retained the greeting 'gottwilche, gottwillkem, gotti- kum, skolkuom' (Staid. 1, 467. Schm. 2, 84). I do not find it in Romance poems ; but the Saxon-Latin song of the 10th century on Otto I. and his brother Heinrich has : sid wilicomo bethiu goda ende tni. The Supreme Being is conceived as omnipresent, and is expected, as much as the host himself, to take the new-comer under his protection ; so the Sloveny say to the arriving guest ' bogh th vsprimi, God receive you ! ' ^ and we to the parting guest ' God guide, keep, bless you ! ' We call it commending or committing one to God, M.H.G. gote ergeben, Er. 3598. I compare with these the Hail ! called out to one who arrives or departs (heill ver ]?u ! Stem. 67"' 86''), with which are also associated the names of helpful gods : heill ]?u farir, heill ]?u dsyniom ser ! fare thou well, be thou well by (the aid of) the Asynior; Stem. 31*. heill scaltu Agnarr, allz Jjic lieilan biSr vera tyr vera ! Srem. 40.

In the same way the name of the omniscient God emphasizes an assurance of knowledge or ignorance : daz weiz got unde ich ; Trist. 4151. den schatz weiz nu nieman wan (except) got unde mill ; Nib. 2308, 3.^ This comfortable combination of / with God has for its counterpart the opprobrious one of a tJioii with devil, ch. XXXIII. Here too the got alone is enough : ingen vet min sorg utan gud ; Svenska visor 2, 7. That we are fully justified in

1 The Dmission of and between the two datives is archaic, conf. Zeitschr. f. d. a. 2, 190.

2 Bilge waz primi, gralva Venus ! Frauend. 192, 20 ; conf. 177, 14.

3 hie haert uns anders nieman dan got unde diu waltvogelltn ; Ecke 96. niemen bevinde daz wan er und ich und ein kleinez vogellin, das mac wol getriuwe sin ; Walth. 40, 15. Birds play the spy on men's privacy.

GOD. 17

referring these modes of speech so far back as to the heathen time, is shown by a remarkable passage in Fornald. sog. 1, 380 : ek hugSa engan kunna nema mik ok Offinn. By secrets which none can know save OSinn and to whomsoever he has whispered them, his divinity is at once revealed, Sa^m. 38"- ^ 95^ Fornald. siig. 1, 487. Not quite parallel are phrases such as: daz geloube gote unde w?r ; Amis 989. iu unde ffote von himile klage ich unser leit ; Nib. 1889, 3. ik klage gode unde iu; Eichtsteig landr. 11. 16. 37. sane die messe beide got u. in ; Parz. 378, 25. Wh. 280, 5. neic si im unde gote ; Iw. 6013. Also in O.Fr., jel te pardoins de diit et de mi ; ]\Iones untersuch. 245. Sometimes the Evil One is named by the side of the Deity : got noch den tiuvcl loben ; Iw. 1273. in beschirmet der tii'vcl noch got ; Iw. 4635, i.e. no one protects him.

Poems of the Middle Ages attribute human passions to God ; especially is He often pictured in a state of complacency and joy (see Suppl.), and again in the contrary state of wrath and vengeance. The former is favourable to the creation of eminent and happily endowed men : got was an einer suczen zuJit, do'r Parzivalen 1^ worhte (in amiable trim — form, training — when he made Perci- val) ; Parz. 148, 26. got der was vil scnftcs muotes. do er geschuof so reine ein wip ; MS. 1, 17^ got der was iii froiden, do er dich als ebene maz (so evenly meted); MS. 1, 22\ got in grossen freudcn was, do er dich schuof {i.e., created wine) ; Altd. bl. 1, 413. got der was in hohem werdc, ^ do er geschuof die reinen fruht, wan ime was gar lool ze muote ; MS. 1, 24^ got si zer werlde brahte, do ze freuden stuont sin muot ; Wigal. 92S2. got der was vil ivol gemuot, do er schuof so reinem wibe tugent, wlinne, schoene an libe ; MS. 1, 201*. got was gczicrdc milte, der si beide schuof nach lobe ; Troj. 19922. got selb i^i richen freudcn was, do er ir lip als ebene maz; Misc. 2, 186. ich weiz daz got in froiden was, do er niht, frouwe, an dir vergaz waz man ze lobe sol schouweu. Ls. 1, 35. So a troubadour sings : belha domna, de cor y entendia Dieus, quau formet vostre cors amoros; liayn. 1, 117.^ It is an equally heathen

1 The Gotliic gavairthi = peace.

• To the creative God rejoicing in his -work, the M.H.G. poets especially attribute dilujence and zeal : an den henden lac der gotes iliz ; Parz. 88, 15. jach, er triiege den gotes fliz ; Parz. 140, 5. got het sinen Iliz gar ze wnnsche wol an si geleit ; Wigal. 4130. ich woen got selbe worhte dich niit siner got- licher hant ; Wigal. 9723. zware got der hat geleit sine kunst und sine kraft, sinen tliz und sine meisterschalt an disen loblichen lip; Iw. 1685. So in

2

18 GOD.

sentiment, tliat imputes to God a propensity to gaze at human beauty, or to do whatever men do : got mohte selbe gcrne sehen die selben juncfrouwen ; Fragm. 22"'. gott moht in (him, i.e. the musician) gerne hoeren in sinen himelkceren; Trist. 7649. den slac scoUe got selbe haben gesehen (shoukl have seen that stroke) ; Eol. 198, 18. Karl 72 . got selbe moht ez gerne sehen ; Trist. 6869. ein puneiz (diadem), daz in got selber mohte sehen ; Frauend. 84, 16. gestriten dazz d'engel mohten hceren in den niun koeren ; Willeh. 230, 27. si mohte nach betwingen mite (might nigh compel withal) eines engels gedanc, daz er vil lihte cincn ivanc durch si von himele taic (fail from heaven for her) ; Iw. 6500 (imitated by Ottocar 166"). icli weiz daz wol, daz sin got niclit vcrdrilzze ; MS. 2, 127^ ir har gelich dem golde, als ez got tailnschcn soldo; MS. 2 62^. sin swert dat geinc (ging, went) an siner hant, dat got selve vrdchdc mere (woidd ask to know), we der ritter were ? dey engele muosten lachen, dat hey is sus kunde machen ; Haupts zeitschr, 3, 24. This hilarity of the attendant guardian-angels (ch. XXVIII) or valklirs must be thought of in connexion with the laughing of ghosts (ch. XXXI). In Ilartmann's Erec, when Enite's white hands groomed (begiengen) a horse, it says 355 : und wiere, daz got liicn erde rite, icli wain, in genuocte da mite, ob er solJien marstcdlcr hccte. This view of a sympathizing, blithe and gracious god, is particularly expressed in the subst. Irnldi, O.N. hylU : OSins hylli ; Sam. 47^^. Ullar hylli ok allra goSa ; Sa^m. 45^^.

On the other hand, of the primitive sensuous representation of an angry avenging deity (see SuppL), the most striking example will be treated of presently in ch. VIII, under Donar, thunder.^ The idea recurs several times in the Edda and elsewhere : rci&r er J^er OSinn, rt"/^y er ];er Asabragr ; Sasm. 85^ OSinn o/racTr ; Siem. 228''. rcid' varS ];a Freyja oc fnasaSi ; Soim. 71^ — she was wroth,

Clirestien; jaia fist Dex de sa main iiue, por nature fere muser, tout le mont i porroit user, s'ele la voloit contrefere, que ja nen porroit a chief trere ; no Dex, s'il sen voloit pener, mi porroit, ce cuit, assener, que ja une telle feist, por peine que il i meist (see SuppL).

1 Piacula ircc deum, Liv. €2, 9. deos iratos liabeam ! dii immortales liomin- ibus irasci et succensere consvieverunt, Cic. pro Rose. 16. And Tacitus on this very subject of the Germans : propitiine an irati dii, Germ. 5. ira dei, Hist. % 26. infensi Batavis dii, Hist. 5, 25. And in the Mid. Ages : tu odium Dei omniumque sanctorum habeas ! Vita Meinwerci, cap. 13 § 95. crebresccn- tibus jayi jamque cottidie Dei justo judicio in populo diversis calamitatibus ot flagellis .... quid esset in quo Deus oflensus esset, vel quibus placaii posset operibus ; Pertz 2, 547.

GOD. 19

and snorted or panted, as the angry wolf in Iieinli. XLII spirtles out his beard. guSin o-eid' ordin ; Fornm. sog. 2, 29. 231. go5a grcmi (deorum ira) is announced ; Egilss. 352. at rjrcmia go5 (offendere deos); Fornald. sog. 2, 69. was imo god cWohjan ; HeL 157, 19. than wirdid in waldand grani, mahtig modag; HeL 41, 16 (elsewhere : diu Sffilde, or the world, earth, is gram), ein zornec got in daz gebot (bade them), daz uns hie suohten mit ir her ; Parz. 43, 28. hie ist geschehen gotes rdche ; Reinh. 975. got wil verviieren sinen zorn ; Osw. 717 ich wsene daz got roeche da selbe sinen anclen (wreak his vengeance); Gudr. 845, 4. daz riime got! (God rue it); Trist. 12131. daz ez got immer riuwe ! Trist. 11704. The Lex Bajuv. 6, 2, in forbidding Sunday labour, says : quia talis causa vitanda est, quae Deuni ad iracnndiam provocat, et exinde flagellamur in frugibus et penuriam patimur. How coarse were the expressions still used in the 17th century ' " An abuse that putteth God on his mcltlc, and maketh him to hold strict and pitiless inquisition, that verily he shall, for saving of his honour, smite thereinto vnth his fists " ; and again : " to run itpon the sjKnrs of an offended jealous God "} A wicked man was in the Mid. Ages called gotc hide, loathed by God. One form of imprecation was to consign a man to God's hatred : uz in gotes haz ! Trist. 5449. liz strtchet (sheer off) balde in gotes haz ! Trist. 14579. nu vart den gotes haz alsam ein boeswiht von mir hin ! Frauend. 109, 12. mich hat der gotes Jmz bestanden ; Kl. 518. inch hat rehtfe gotes haz (al. foul weather, the devil, &c.) daher gesendet beide ; Iw. 6104. so miieze ich haben gotes lioz ; Altd. w. 3, 212. varet hen an godes haz I Wiggert 2, 47. nu mueze er gewinnen gotes haz; Eoth 611. In like manner the MLG. godsat liebbe ! Huyd. op St. 2, 350. Eeinaert 3196.^ But, what deserves particular notice, this fornmla ' in gotes haz,' or in ace. without prepos. ' gotes haz varn, strichen ' has a perfect parallel in another which substitutes for God the sun, and so heigh- tens the heathenish colouring ; ir suit farn der svnncn haz ! Parz. 247, 26. var der sunnen haz ! Unprinted poems of Riiediger 46. hebe dich der sunnen haz ! Er. 93. nu ziuhe in von mir der sunnm haz ! Helmbr. 1799. si hiezen in strichen in der sunnen haz; Eracl. 1100. hicz in dev sunnen hc(z hill xarn ; Frauend. 375, 26. A man so cursed does not deserve to have the sun shine on him kindly.

1 Hartmann on benedictions, Niirnb. 1080, p. 158, 180.

• Serious illness or distress is habitually called 'der gotes slac,' stroke.

20 GOD.

The Vandal Gizericli steps into his ship, and leaves it to the winds where they shall drive it to, or among what people he shall fall that God is angry with, ej)' ov<i 6 6eo^ copjiarai. Procop. de hello Vand. 1, 5.

Such hostile attitude breeds now and then a rebellious spirit in men, which breaks out in promethean defiance and threats, or even takes a violent practical turn (see Suppl.). Herodotus 4, 94 says of the Thracians : ovtoc oi avroi ©pj]iKe<i koI Tr/ao? ^povWjv re koI darpaTrrjv to^€6ovt€<; avco Trpot tov ovpavov, wrreiXevat tod deM. If the god denied the assistance prayed for, his statue was flung into the river by the people, immersed in water, or beaten. In the Carolingian romances we repeatedly come upon the incident of Charles threatening the Deity, that if he deny his aid, he will throw down his altars, and make the churches with all their priests to cease from the land of the Franks ; e.g. Ferabr. 1211, 1428, &c. So dame Breide too threatens to uncover the altar and break the holy relics ; Orendel 2395 ; and Marsilies actually, after losing the battle, has the houses of his gods pulled down ; Eol. 246, 30. If the vintage failed, the statue of Urban was thrown into a bath or the river.^ The Arcadians would scourge their Pan with squills ((TKiX.ai,<;), when they returned bootless from the chase (Theocr. 7, 106). The Greeks imputed to their gods not only anger and hate, but envy, love of mischief, vipueai,^.

Epithets of God (see Suppl.), In our modern speech : der liche, liebste, gnddige^ grosse, gute, allmdchtige. In our older tongue : herre got der guote ; Eeinh. 1296. Gute frau, 276. herro the godo ; Hel. 78, 3. 90, 6. fro min the godo ; 143, 7. gnmdeger trehtin; Eeinh. 1309. — Freq. the rieh God: thie riJceo Christ; Hel. 1, 2. riki god; Hel. 195,9. riU drohtin ; Hel. 114,22. der rMe got von himele; Eoth. 4971. got der riclie; Nib. 1793, 3. Trist. 2492. durch den richen got von himel , Morolt 3526. der riche got mich ie gesach ; V.d. wibe list 114.^ — Cot edmahtico, cot heilac; Wesso-

^ When lightning strikes, our people say : If God can bmii, we can build again ; Ettners hebamme, p. 16.

• Where God is, there is grace and peace ; of a solemn sjiot it is said : Here dwells der liebe Gott ! And, to di'ive den lieben Gott from a person's room (Lessing 1, 243), means, to disturb a solitary in his sanctum.

^ OHG. rtlilii dives, potens, also beatus ; and dives is near akin to Diviis, as Dis, Ditis springs out of divit. From the Slav. 6%/us derived boghut (dives), Lilh. hagotas ; compare ops, in-ops (Russ. u-boghiy), opulentus with Ops, the Bona Dea. Conf. Diefenb. celt. 1, 196.

GOD. 21

brunn. Gebct. mahtig drohtm ; Hel. 2,2. frea celmildig ; Csedm. 1,9. 10,1. se cclmihtiga wealdend; Thorpe's anal. 83. manno miltisto (largissimus) ; Wessobr. Geb. vil milter Christ ; Cod. pal. 350, 56. — The AS. has freq. : ece dryhten, ieternus ; Caedm. 246, 11. Beow. 3382. 3555. 4655. Also : witig god, sapiens ; Beow. 1364, 2105. Cffidm. 182, 24. witig dryhten ; Beow. 3101. 3679. Ctedm. 179, 8. witig wuldorcyning ; Ca3dm. 242, 30. — Waltant got; Hild. waldindinger got; Eoth. 213. 523. 1009. 2332. 4031. ivaltant Krist : OV. 25, 91. Gudr. 2243. (AS.) wealdend ; Csedm. 9, 25. wuldres wealdend; Beow. 4. heofnes wealdend; Cffidm. 17, 15. ]?eoda wealdend. feeder alwealda; Beow. 630. (OS.) waldand ; Hel. 4,5. Q,Q. waldand god. 3,17. waldand drolitin 1, 19. aloivaldo 4, 8. 5, 20. 8, 2. 69, 23. This epithet is not found in the Edda. The notion of ' wielding ', dominari, regere, is further apphed to the Supreme Being in the phrase es ivaltcn, Parz. 568, 1. En. 7299. 10165. 13225. So ouv gottivalt's ! M. T>nt. godwouds ! Huyd. op St. 2, 548. Our ace. in ' das wait Gott ! ' is a blunder ; Agxicola 596. Praet. weltb. 2, 50. — God is occasionally called the 1/^ Old : dev alte Gott lebtnoch, i.e. the same as ever. A.S. eald metod. MHG. hat got sin alt gemiiete ; Wh. 66, 20. der aide got ; Pioth. 4401. popul. 'der alte Yater'. In a Servian song (Vuk 2, 244. Montenegro 101), bogh is named ' stari krvnik ', the old blood- shedder, killer ; and in Frauenlob MS. 2, 214'' der alte friedel . (sweetheart). The 13th century poets sometimes use the Lat. epithet altisdmus, Wh. 216, 5. 434, 23. Geo. 90, 401 ; with which may be compared the MHG. diu hohste hant, Parz. 484, 6. 487, 20. 568, 8. Wh. 134, 7. 150, 14. and the OHG. zi waltanteru hcnti, OV. 25, 91. — The 'all-wielding' God is at the same time the all- seeing, all-knowing, all-remembering ; hence it is said of fortunate men, that God saw them, and of unfortunate, that God forgot them : (OHG.) kesah tih kot ! = 0 te felicem ! N. Boeth. 145. (MHG.) gesach in got!=happy he! Altd. bl. 1, 347. so mir got crgaz ; Troj. kr. 14072. so hat got min vergezzen ; Nib. 2256, 3. wie gar iuwer got vergaz (how utterly God forgot you) ; Iw. 6254. got min vergaz ; Ecke 209. got heete sin vergezzen ; Trist. 9243. genaxle- licher trehtin, wie vergaeze d^ ie min so ? Trist. 12483. For other examples, see Gramm. 4, 175.— God, by regarding, guards : daz si got iemer sclwnwe ! Iw. 794. 0. Engl. God you see ! God keep you in his sight !

22 GOD.

Among substantive epitliets are several vvliicli God lias in com- mon with earthly rulers (see Suppl.) : — Gothic frdiija OS. frdho, fro, AS. fred ; which name I shall treat of more fully by and by. — OHG. truhtin, MHG. trehtin, OS. drohtin, AS. dryhtcn, ON". drottinn. — OHG. Jieriro, MHG. Jierrc, which however, when used of God, is never contracted into her, any more than Dominus into the Romance domnus, don. — Conspicuous above all is the name Father (see Suppl.). In the Edda, alfod'r. (Siem. 46'' 88* 154^ Sn. 3. 11. 17), herfa&ir, herja fad'ir, valfa&ir are applied to OSinn as the father of all gods, men and created things. Such compounds are not found in the other dialects, they may have sounded heathen- ish ; though the AS. could use feeder alwealda, Beow. 630, and the idea of God as Father became more familiar to the christians than to heathens. The OHG. altfatar = grandfather, 0. i. 3, 6. AS. ealdfteder, Beow. 743. 1883, I have nowhere seen applied to God. As the Greeks coupled together Zei*? Tran^p, esp. in the voc. Zev ■TTciTep, and the Romans Jupiter, Diespiter, Dispiter, Mars pater,^ as well as Atj/jl^ttjp, AajnaTrjp, Terra mater, so the Lettons bestow on almost every goddess the epithet mahtc, mahviina^=mafer, matercula (Biittner 244. Bergmann 142), on which we shall have more to say hereafter. To all appearance, father Goth, fadr is connected with fa]?s lord, as pater irary'jp is with ttotl';, ttoctl'^, Lith. pats. — The AS. meotod, metod, Csedm. 223, 14. eald metod, Beow. 1883. s65 metod, Beow. 3222. OS. metod, Hel. 4, 13. 15, 17. 66, 19, an expression which likewise appears in the Edda, miotu&r Ssem. 226^ 241,^ seems to signify Creator, as verbally it bears the sense of mensor, moderator, finitor. The full meaning of metod will not be disclosed, till we have a more exact knowledge of the relation between the Goth, mitan (to mete) and maitan (to cut), the OHG. mezan and meizan ; in the Lat. metiri and metere, besides there being no shifting of consonant (d for t), the quantity is inverted. The OISI". miotucfr appears to be also sector, messor ; in Snorri 104. 105, the wolfs head with which Heimdall was killed is called ' miotuSr HeimSallar,' and the sword is ' mans miotuSr ' ; so in Eornald. sog. p. 441, 'manna miotuSr' (see Suppl.). In MHG. too, the poets use mezzan of exquisite symmetry in creating : do sin (Wunsch's) gewalt ir bilde mciz ; Troj. 1962C. got selb in

^ Jane pater ! Cato 134 ; but what can Di.-^sunapiter mean in the remark- able conjuring-spell, Cato 160 ?

GOD. 2;;

riclieii fixiudoii was, do er ir lip als chcnc maz ; Miyc. 2, 18G. er sol 7.e: rehte lauge mczzcn, der an si so cbcne maz, daz er an si zer werlte nie uach voUeni wunsclie weder des nocli des vergaz ; MS. 1, 154". got der was in frijiden, do er dicli als cbcne maz ; MS. 1, 22'' wer kunde in so gemezzen, Tit. 130. 1. anders denne got uns maz, do er ze werke ilber mich gesaz, Parz. 518, 21. ' ein bilde mezzen ' is therefore the same thing as ' ein bilde schaj^en ' to create (Troj. 19805), or giezen to cast, mould (Walth. 45, 25. MS. 1, 195^ 2, 226'') ; and in Suchenwirt 24, 154 it says : ' got het gcgozzcn uf ir vel, ir mlindei rot und wiz ir kel ' ; which throws a significant light on the Gothic tribal name Gduts, A.S. Gcdt OHG. K6z (see Suppl.). — AS. scippcnd, creator, OHG. sccfo, scephio, MHG. scJicpfa-re, Wh. 1, 3. NHG. schopfer. — Some of these names can be strung together, or they can be intensified by composition : drohtin god, Hel. 2. 13. wcddand fro min, Hel. 148, 14. 153, 8. frcd dryhten, Beow. 62. 186. lif-frcd, CiL^dm. 2, 9. 108, 18. 195, 3. 240, 33. Beow. 4. The earthly cuning with a prefix can be used of God : ivuldorcyning, king of glory, Ctedm. 10, 32. hcvan- cuning, Hel. 3, 12, 18. 4, 14. 5, 11. and synonymously with these, rodora loeard, Ccedm. 11, 2. or the epic amplification, irmin-got obana a& AcwTie, Hild. got von himele, Mb. 2090,4. 2114, 1. 2132, 1. 2136, 1.

Of such epic formulas (see Suppl.), beautiful specimens, all of one tenour, can be cited from the poets, especially the Eomance : they are mostly borrowed from God's dwelling-place, his creative powder, his omnipotence, omniscience and truth : — Dios aquel, que esta en alto, Cid 800. 2352. 2465. qui la amont el seint eel maint (abides), Ben, 26018. qui maint el firmament, Berte 129. 149. der hoho sizet unde nideriu sihet, N. ps. 112, 5. qui haut siet et de loing mire, Ben. 11687. qui haut siet et loins voit, Berte 44, 181. Guitecl. 2, 139. der liber der blauen decke sitzt, Melander Jocoseria 1, 439. cot almahtico, dii himil inti erda gaworahtos (wroughtest heaven and earth), Wessobr. Geb. eel scnhor, qui lo nion a creat, Ferabr. 775. (|ui tot le mont forma, Berte 143. que fezit nueyt e dia, Ferabr. 3997. per aycel senhor que fetz eel e rozada (sky and dew), Ferabr. 2994. 4412. qui fist ciel et rousee, Berte 28. QQ>. 111. 139. 171. 188. Aimon 876. qui feis mer salee, Berte 67. qui fist et mer et onde, Meon 3, 460. des hant daz mer gesalzen hat, Parz. 514, 15. qui fait courre la nue, Berte

24 GOD,

lo6. 183 {ve(})e\r]jepeTa Zeu<;). par celui qui fait toner, Een. 1GG58. 17780. par qui li soleus raie, Berte 13. 81. der himel und erde gebot und die mergriezen zelt (counts the sea-sands, or pebbles). Mar. 18, der der sterne zal weiz, Wh. 466, 30. der die sterne hat gezalt, Parz. 629, 20. der uns gap des manen (moon's) schin, Wh. 476, 1. qui fait croitre et les vins et les blez, Ferabr. 163^ der niir ze lebene geriet (planned). Nib. 2091, 4. Kl. 484, der mir ze lebene gebot (bade), Eoth. 215, 517. 4552. der uns daz leben gebot. Mar. 24. (M. Dut.) bi den here die mi ghebot (Gramiu. 4, 134), die mi ghewrochte, Elegast 345. 451. 996. qui tot a a baillier (oversee), Berte 35. qui tot a a garder, Berte 7. que totz nos a jutgier, Ferabr. 308. 694. 1727. the man- cunnies forwardot, Hel. 152, 5. qui sor tos homes puet et vaut, Meon 4, 5. dominus qui omnia potest, Docum. of 1264 in Wenk 3. no. 151. wider den nieman vermac, A. Heinr. 1355. der aller wunder hat gewalt, Parz. 43, 9. der git unde nimt (gives and takes), Parz. 7 9. der weinen und lachen geschuof, Wh. 258, 19. der beidiu krump unde sleht gescuof (both crooked and plain), Parz. 264, 25. der ane sihet alle getougen (secrets), Diut. 3, 52. der durch elliu herzen siht, Frid. 355. der in diu herze siht, Wh. 30, 29. der ie daz guote geriet (aye the good devised), Greg. 2993. ther suntiloso man (sinless), 0. iii. 21, 4. dera nie voller genaden zeran (tear, waste), Er. 2490. qui onques ne menti (nunquam mentitus), Berte 82. 96. 120. 146. Mdon 3, 8. icil dieu qui ne ment, et qui fist tot quanque mer serre, Een. 19338. er mik skop ok ollu rseSr, Fornm. sog. 1, 3. sa er oUu rseSr, ibid. 8, 107. er solina hefSi skapat, ibid. 1, 242. het a J^ann sem solina skapaSi, Landn. p. 139.

If, in some of the preceding names, epithets and phrases descrip- tive of God, unmistakable traces of Heathenism predominate, while others have barely an inkling of it, the following expressions are still more indisputably connected with the heathen way of thinking.

In the Norse mythology, the notion of a Deus, Divus, if not of the uppermost and eldest, yet of a secondary rank, which succeeded / to power later, is expressed by the word as, pi. ccsir (see Suppl.).^ Landds (Egilss. pp. 365-6) is patrium numen, and~try it Thor, the chief god of the North, is designated, though as and allmdttki as is given to OSinn (Landn. 4, 7). dsmcrjui is divine power : tha vex

GOD. 25

honum asmcgin halfu, Sn. 26. fa'raz i asmegin, Sn. 65. But the name must at one time have been universal, extending over Upper Germany and Saxony, under such forms as : Goth. OHG. ans, pi. anseis, cnsi, AS. 6s, pi. es (conf. our gans, with OIST. gas, pi. goess, AS. gos, pi. ges ; and hose = hansa). It continued to form a part of proper names : Goth. Ansila, OHG. Anso ; the OHG. Anshelm, Anshilt, Anspald, Ansnut conespond in sense to Cotahelm, Cotaliilt, &c. ; AS. Osweald, Oslaf, Osdasg, Osred ; ON. Asbiorn,^ Asdis, Asgautr, Aslaug, Asmundr, &c. — Now in Ulphilas Lu, 2, 41-2, cms denotes a beam, 8ok6<;, which is also one meaning of the ON", as, whether because the mighty gods were thought of as joist, rafter and ceiling of the sky, or that the notions of jugum and mountain-ridge were associated with them, for as is especially used of jugum terrse, mountain-ridge. Pan. bierg-aas (dettias = sliding beam, portcullis, Landn. 3, 17). But here we have some other striking passages and proofs to weigh. An AS. poem couples together ' esa gescot ' and ' ylfa gescot,' the shots of auses and of elves, jaculum divorum et geniorum, just as the Edda does sesir and alfar, Sa^m. 8" 71'* 82--' 83^ Jornandes says, cap. 13 : Turn Gothi, magna potiti per loca victoria, jam proceres suos quasi qui fortuna vincebant, non puros liomines, sed scmidcos, id est anscs (which would be anseis) vocavere. "What can be plainer ? The Norse lesir in like manner merge into the race of heroes, and at much the same distance from an elder dynasty of gods whom they have dethroned. And here the well-known statement of Suetonius and Hesychius,^ that the Etruscans called the gods assures or a:si, may fairly be called to mind, without actually maintaining the affinity of the Etruscan or Tyrrhenian race with the ancient German, striking as is the likeness between rvpf)T)v6<i, rvpcnjvo^i and the ON. Ipnvs, OHG. durs.^

The significance of this analogy, however, is heightened, when

1 Ursus divinns, Asbinia (ursa divina), for wliich the Waltharius has the hybrid O.spirn, prop. Anspirn ; conf. Reiiih. fuchs p. ccxcv. For Asketill, Oscytel, see end of ch. III.

• Suet. Octavian. cap. 97. futnrumque, ut inter deos referretur, qnod cesar, id est reliqna pars e Csesaris nomine, Etrusca linyua detis vocaretur. Hesych. s.v. alaoi 6(o\ vno tcov Tvpprjviov. Conf. Lanzi 2, 483-4 ; also Dio Cass. 56, 29.

^ Unfortunately l»urs means a giant, and durs a demon, which, if they have anything to do with the rvparjvoi, would rather imply that these were a hostile and dieaded people,— Tkaks.

26 GOD.

we observe that tlie Etruscan religion, and perhaps also the Roman and the Greek, supposed a circle of twelve superior beings closely bound together and known by the name of clii consentes or complices (see SuppL), exactly as the Edda uses the expressions Iwpt and hond, literally meaning vincula, for those high numina (Srem. 24"^ 89". Sn. 176. 204), and also the sing, hapt and hand for an individual god (Sffim. 93''). Though hapthandun in the Merseburg poem cannot with certainty be taken to mean the same thing (the compound seems here to denote mere bodily chains), it is possible that dens and 82o<i are referable to Sew I bind ; that same ' ans ' a yoke, is the same thiug as the ' brace and band ' of all things ; neither can we disregard the fact that tivelve is likewise the number of the Norse £esir ; conf. Ssem. 3^ : ' eesir or ]?vi liSi ' of the set, kindred.

Some other appellations may be added in support. In the earliest period of our language, the neut. ragin meant consilium. Now the plural of this, as used in the Edda, denotes in a special manner the plurality of the gods (see SuppL). Begin are the powers that consult together, and direct the world ; and the expres- sions bliS regin,^ hoU regin (kind, merciful gods), uppregin, ginregin (supers potestates) have entirely this technical meaning. Ragna- rokr (Goth, ragine riqvis ? dimness, darkness of gods) signifies the end of the world, the setting of the divine luminaries. Ssem. 89'' has "rognir ok regin" coupled together, rognir (cf. 196") being used to distinguish the individual ragincis (raguneis?), masc. These OK regin would be Goth, ragina, as the hopt and bond are Gothic hafta and banda, all neut. — The same heathen conception peeps out in the OS. ^r^rt^tgiscapu, reganogi^ac^w, Hel. 79, 13. 103, 3, equivalent to fatum, destiny, the decree and counsel of the gods, and synonymous with tr^wWgiscapu, Hel. 103, 7, from ivurd, fatum. And again in ^^dorfogiscapu, Hel. 6Q, 19. 147, 11. We have seen that metod likewise is a name for the Su]Dreme Being, which the christian poet of the Heliand has ventured to retain from the

^ The blithe, happy gods ; when people stepped along in stately gorgeous attire, men thought that gods had appeared : menn hugSn at (psir vseri j^ar komnir,' Landn. 3, 10. The Vols, saga c. 26 says of SigmrS : 'Ipat hygg ec at her fari einn af got^mtim,' I think that here rides one of the gods. So in Parz. 36, 18 : ' alda wip nnd man verjach, si ne gesachen nie helt so wiinneclicli, ir gate im solten sin gelkh ' (declared, they saw never a hero so winsome, their gods must be like him). The more reason is there for my note on Siegfried (cli. XV), of whom the Nib. 84, 4 says : der dort su MrUclun gat ' (see SuppL).

GOD. 27

heatlicn poetry. T>nt those gen. plurals regano, metodo again point to the plurality of the binding gods.

The collection of Augustine's letters contains (cap. 178), in the altercatio with Pascentius, a Gothic or perhaps a Vandal formula sihora armcn, the meaning of which is simply /cypte eXerjcrov} Even if it be an interpolation, and written in the fifth or sixth century, instead of at the end of the fourth, it is nevertheless remarkaljle that sihora should be employed in it for God and Lord. Ulphilas would have said : fniuja armai. The inf. armen, if not a mistake for arme, might do duty as an imperative ; at the same time there is a Finn, and Esth. word armo signifying gratia, misericordia. But sihora, it seems, can only be explained as Teutonic, and must have been already in heathen times an epithet of God derived from his victorious might (see Suppl.). Goth, sigis, ON, sigr, OHG. sign, AS. sigc victoria, triumphus. OSinn is styled sigrgo&, sigtijr, sigfd&iLr ; and the Christian poets transfer to God sigidrohtin, Hel. 47, 13. 114, 19. 125,6. sigidryhtcn, Cfedm. 33, 21. 48, 20. sigmetod, Beow. 3544. vigsigor, Beow. 3108.^ elsewhere sigoradryhtcn, sigorafrcd, sigoraiccaldcnd, sigoragod, sigoracyning. It is even pos- sible that from that ancient sihora sprang the title sira, sire still current in Teutonic and Eomance languages.^

The gods being represented as superi and njjjjrcgin, as dwelling on high, in the sky, uphimin, up on the mountain height (as, ans), it was natural that individual gods should have certain particular mountains and abodes assigned them.

Thus, from a mere consideration of the general names for God and gods, we have obtained results which compel us to accept an intimate connexion between expressions in our language and con- ceptions proper to our heathenism. The ' me and God,' the graci- ous and the angry God, the froho (lord) and the father, the behold- ^ ing, creating, measuring, casting, the images of ans, fastening, band,

^ The Tclieremisses also pray 'juma sirlaga,' and the Tchuvashes 'tora sirlag,' i.e., God have mercy ; G. J. Mijllors sanil. riiss. gesch. ?, 359. The Morduins say when it thunders ' pashangiii Porguini pas,' have mercy, god Porguini ; Georgi description 1, 64.

■■' den sig hat got in siner hant, MS. 2,16".

• Gott. anz. 1833, pp. 471-2. Diez however raises doubts, Roman, gram. 1,41.

28 GOD.

and ragin, all lead both individually, and with all the more weight collectively, into the path to be trod. I shall take up all the threads again, but I wish first to determine the nature and bearings of tlie cultus.

CHAPTER III. WORSHIP.

The simplest actions by which man expressed his reverence^ for the gods (see Suppl.), and kept up a permanent connexion with them, were Prayer and Sacrifice. Sacrifice is a prayer offered up with gifts. And wherever there was occasion for prayer, there was also for sacrifice (see Suppl).

Peayer. — When we consider the word employed by Ulpliilas to express adoration, we at once come upon a correspondence with the Norse phraseology again. For TrpoaKuveco the Goth, equivalent is inveita, invait, invitum. Matt. 8, 2. 9, 18. Mk. 5, 6. 15, 19. Lu. 4, 7-8. John 9, 38. 12, 20. 1 Cor. 14, 25 ; and once for dcrird^ofxaL, Mk. 9, 15 (see Suppl.). Whether in using this word the exact sense of 'irpoaKvvr]at<; was caught, may be doubted, if only because it is invariably followed by an ace, instead of the Greek dat. In ;Mod. Greek popular songs, irpoa-Kweiv is used of a van- quished enemy's act of falling to the ground in token of surrender. We do not know by what gesture inveitan was accompanied, whether a bowing of the head, a motion of the hand, or a bending of the knee. As we read, 1 Cor. 14, 25 : driusands ana anda- vleizn (=antlitz), inveitiS guS; a suppliant prostration like irpoa- Kvvi]ai<; is not at variance with the sense of the word. An OS. giwitan, AS. gewitan, means abire ; could inveitan also have signi- fied merely ffoing up to, approaching ? Paul. Diac. 1, 8 twice uses accedere. Fraveitan is vindicare. Now let us compare the ON", vita inclinare,^ which Biorn quotes under veit, and spells, erroneously, I

1 Verehrung, O.H.G. ira, Goth. prob. aiza. The O.H.G. iron is not merely onr ehren, to honour, but also verehren, revereri (as reverentia is adoration, cultus) ; A.S. urur'dian, O.S. giu-erthSn. All that comes from the gods or con- cerns them is holy, for which the oldest Teutonic word is Goth, vtilis, O.H.G. icth ; but only a few of the O.H.G. documents use this word, the rest preferring heilac, O.S. has only helag, A.S. hdlig, O.N. heilagr. On the connexion of will A\ith the subst. ivih, more hereafter. FrSn denotes holy in the sense of dominicus.

^ Cleasl)y-Vigfusson gives no meaning like inelinare, either under vita 'to fine,' or under vita ' to wit.' — Trans.

30 WORSHIP.

think, vita. From it is derived vcita (CJotli. vaitjan ?) ; veita lieiSr, honorem peragere ; veita tiSir, sacra i^eragere ; veitsla, epulum, Gotli. vaitislo ? ^

The Goth. Uda preces, hidjan precari, rogare, orare, are used both in a secular and a spiritual sense. The same with OHG. 2)eta iind pittan; but from jieta is derived a petSn adorare, construed with ace. of the person whom : O.i. 17, 62. ii. 14, 63. nidar- fallan joh miA Z)e;;on, 0. ii. 4,86-9. 97. iii. 11,25. T. 46, 2. 60,

1. petota inan, Diut. 1, 513'\ But heton can also express a spiri- tual orare, T. 34, 1, 2, 3. heto-man cultores, 0. II. 14, 68. In MHG. I find hetcn always followed by the prep, an (see Suppl.) : biiten an diu abgot, Barl. 72, 4. an ein bilde beten, ibid. 98, 15. so muoz si iemer me nach gote sin min anehet, she must after God be my (object ofj adoration, Ben. 146, Our bitten ask, bcten pray, anbeten adore, are distinct from one another, as bitte request is from gebet prayer.. The OS. bed6)i is not followed by ace, but by prep. te : bedon te minun barma, Hel. 33, 7. 8 ; and this of itself would suggest what I conjectured in my Gramm. 2, 25, that bidjan origin- ally contained the physical notion of jacere, prosterni, which again is the only explanation of Goth, badi kXuhSwv a bed, and also of 'the old badu, AS. beado = ca^des, strages.^ — The AS. New Test, translates adorare by ge-cdff-medan, i.e., to humble oneself. The MHG. Jiehen, when it signifies supplicare, governs the dat. : gote flehen, Aegid. 30. den goten vleheu, Parz. 21, 6. Wh. 126, 30. Tiirl. Wh. 71'' ; but in the sense of demulcere, solari, the ace, Parz. 119, 23. 421, 25. Nib. 499, 8 (see SuppL).^ It is the Goth Mdihan, fovere, consolari. An OHG. flehon vovere I only know from N. cap. 8, Bth. 178, and he spells it flehon: ten (ace. quem) wir fie- hotou. We say ' zu gott flclicn,' but'gott anflehen'. — The Goth. aihtron 7rpoaev-)(ea6ai,, TrpocraiTelv expresses begging rather than asking or praying. The OHG. diccan, OS., thiggian, is both precari and impetrare, while AS. picgan, ON., piggja, is invariably

1 Bopp, Comp. gram. p. 128, identifies inveita with tlie Zend nivaedliayemi invoco.

^ Wliat was the physical meaning of the Slav, moliti rogare, molitise orare, Boh. modliti se, Pol. modUc si^ ? The Sloven, moliti still means porrigere, conf. Lith. meldziu rogo, inf. melsti, and malda oratio. Pruss. madia, conf. Goth, maj^ljan loqui, maj^leins loquela, which is next door to oratio.

^ Iw. 3315 vlcgete got ; Lut in the oldest MS. vlehete gote.

PRAYER, '31

impetrare, accipere, so that asking has passed over into effectual asking, getting (see Suppl.).

Another expression for prayer is peculiar to the Norse and AS. dialects, and foreign to all the rest : dST. hd)i or been, Swed. Dan. Ion, AS. hen, gen. bene f., Credm. 152, 26, in Chaucer hotie, Engl. boon; from it, hena supplex, bensian supplicare. Lastly the Icel. Swed. (hjrlca, Dun. dyrkc, which like the Lat. colere is used alike of worship and of tillage, seems to be a recent upstart, unknown to the ON. language.

On the form and manner of heathen prayer we lack informa- tion ; I merely conjecture that it was accompanied by a looking up to heaven, bending of the body (of which bidjan gave a hint), folding of hands, bowing of knees, uncovering of the head. These gestures grow out of a crude childlike noti.n of antiquity, that the human suppliant presents and submits himself to the mighty god, his conqueror, as a defenceless victim (see Suppl.). Precari dsos ccclum- que snspicere is attested by Tacitus himself. Germ. 10. Genuflec- tere is in Gothic knussjan, the supplicare of the Eomans was flexo corpore adorare. Falling down and bowing were customs of the clirislians too ; thus in Hel. 47, 6. 48, 16. 144, 24 we have : te Ijedu hntgan. 58, 12 : te drohtine hnigan. 176, 8 : te bedu fdlan. 145, 3 : gihneg an kniobeda. In the S61arlio3 is the remarkable expression : henni ec laut, to her (the sun) I bowed, Sam. 126" ; from liUa inclinare. falla a kue ok luta, Vilk. saga cap. 6. nu sirauk kongsdottir sinn Icgg, ok mrelti, ok sir i loptiff tqyp, (stroked her leg, and spoke, and looks up to the sky), Vilk, saga cap. 61, So the saga of St. Olaf tells how the men bowed before the statue of Thor, hitu J?vi skrimsli, Fornm. sog. 4, 247. fell til iardar fyrir likneski (fell to earth before the likeness). Fornm. sog. 2, 108. The Langobards are stated in the Dial. Gregorii ]\I. 3, 28 to have adored s%d)inissis cervicibus a divinely honoured goat's head. In the Middle Ages people continued to boiv to lifeless objects, by way of blessing them, such as a loved country, the road they had traversed, or the day.^ Latin writers of the time, as Lambert, express urgent entreaty by iKdibus provolvi ; the attitude was used not only to

1 Dem stige nigen, Iw. 5837. clem wege nigen, Parz. 375, 26. dem lande nigen, Tri.st. 11532. nigen in daz lant, Wigid. 4018. nigen in elliu lant, Iw. 7755. in die werlt nigen, Fraiuend. 103, 10, den stigen iind wegen segen tuon, Iw, ^57 (see Suppl,).

32 WORSHIP.

God, but to all whom one wished to hono^^r : neig im uf den fuoz, Morolt 41^ hie viel sie uf sinen vuoz, Iw. 8130. ouch nise ich ir unz uf den fuoz, MS. 1, 155\ valle flir si (fall before her), und nige uf ir fuoz, MS. 1, 54^ buten sich (bowed) weiuende Uf sinen vuoz, Greg. 355. neig im nider uf die hant, Dietr. 55^ These passages show that peoj)le fell before the feet, and at the feet, of him who was to be reverenced : wilt fallan te minun fotun, bedos te minun barma, Hel. 33, 7. sich bot ze tal (bowed to the ground) gein sinen fiiezen nieder, Wh. 463, 2} An 0, Boh. song has : ' sie Idanieti bohu,' to bow before God, Koniginh. hs. 72 ; but the same has also the un- Teutonic ' se hiti lo celo prede bohy,' to beat one's brow before God.^ Uncovering the head (see Suppl.) certainly was from of old a token of respect with our ancestors, which, like bowing, was shown to deity as well as to kings and chiefs. Perhaps the priests, at least those of the Goths, formed an exception to this, as their name pile- ati is thus accounted for by Jornandes, quia opertis capitibus tiaris litabant, while the rest of the people stood uncovered. In a survival of heathenish harvest-customs we shall find this uncover- ing further established, ch. VII. In Nicolai Magni de Gow registrum superstitionum (of 1415) it is said : Insuper hodie inveniuntur homines, qui cum novilunium prime viderint Jlcxis gcnibus adorant vel deposito caputio vel piilco, inclinato capite honorant aUoquendo et suscipiendo.^ An AS. legend of CuSberht relates how that saint was wont to go down to the sea at

^ Fial in sine fuazi, O. III. 10, 27. an sine fiieze, Karl 14''. The Chris- tians in the Mid. Ages called it venie fallen, Parz. 460, 10. Karl lOi"*. Berth. 173. Ksrclu-. 2958. 3055. Kneeling and kissing the ground, to obtain abso- lution : da er uf siner venie lac (lay), Earl. 366, 21. den anger maz mit der langen venie, Frib. Trist. 2095. venien suochen, MS. 1, 23^. Morolt. 28''. Troj. 9300. terrae osculationibus, quas venias appellant, Pez. bibl. ascet. 8, 440. gie ze kirchen und banekte (prostrated ?) ze gote siniu glider mit venien und gebet, Cod. kolocz. 180.

^ The tchelo-bitnaya, beating of the forehead in presenting a petition, was prohil:)ited in Russia by Catherine II. Conf. pronis vultibus adorare, Hehnold 1, 38.

3 What else I have collected about this practice, may be inserted here : elevato a capite pileo alloquitur seniorem, Dietm. Merseb. p. 824 (an. 1012). sublata cxjdare surgens inclinat honeste, Ruodlieb 2, 93. Odofredus in I. secundo loco digest, de postulando : Or signori, hie colligimus argumentum, quod aliquis quando veniet coram magistratu debet ei revereri, quod est contra Ferrarienses, qui, si essent coram Deo, non extraherent sibi capellum vel birretum de capite, nee tlexis genibus postularent. Pillcus in capite est, Isengrimus 1139. oster la chape (in saluting), Meon 4, 261. gelUpfet den huot, Ms H. 3, 330. sinen huot er abenam, hiemit eret er in also, Wigal. 1436. er zSch durch sin hUbscheit den Imot gezogenlichen abe, Troj. 1775. do stuont er uf geswinde

TEAYEK. 33

niglit, and standing up to his neck in the briny breakers, to sing hia prayers, and afterwards to kneel doivn on tlie shingles, with palms stretched out to the firmament.^ Lifting tip and folding of the hands (see Suppl.) was also jjractised to a master, particularly to a feudal lord. In Ls. 3, 78 we have ' bat mit zertdnen armen,' prayed with outspread arms. The Old Bavarian stapfsakcn (denial of indebtedness) was accompanied by elevation of the hands, EA. 927 (see Suppl.). It is not impossible that the christian converts retained some heathen customs in praying. In a manuscript, pro- bably of the 12th century, the prayers are to be accompanied by some curious actions: so miz (measure) den tihir din herza in modum crucis, unde von dem hrustlejffile zuo demo nahile, unde miz denne von eime rippe unz an daz andire, unde sprich alsus. Again : so miz denne die rehtun hant von deme lengistin vingire unz an daz resti (wrist), unde miz denne von deme dumin zuo deme minnisten vin- gire. One prayer was called ' der vane (flag) des almehtigin gotis'; nine women are to read it nine Sundays, ' so ez morginet' ; the ninth has to read the psalm Domini est terra, in such a posture ' daz ir lih nict more die erde, wan die ellehogin unde diu chnic,' that her body touch not the ground, except at the elbows and knees; the others are all to stand till the lighted candle has burnt out ; Diut. 2, 292-3.

"We cannot now attach any definite meaning to the Gothic uviliudon ev'^apiareiv ; it is formed from aviliud %api9, which resembles an 0. Sax. alat, olat gratiae ; does it contain liuS cantus, and was there moreover something heathenish about it ? (See Suppl.). The old forms of prayer deserve more careful collecting; the Norse, which invoke the help of the gods, mostly contain the

gnuoc, ein scliajicl daz er uf trunc von gimmen unci von golcle fin, daz nam er ah dem houpte sin, Troj. 18635. er zucket ini sin he-piKiU, Ls. 3, 35. er was gereit, daz er von dem houbt den huot liez vliegen iind spracli, Kolocz. 101. Festus explains : lucem facere dicuntur Saturno sacrificantes, id est capita detegere ; again : Saturno fit sacrificiuni ca^jite aperto ; conf. Macrob. Sat. 1, 8. Serv. in Virg. 3, 407.

i W.TBs gewunod IpSdt he wolde gan on niht to sse, and standan on j^am sealtum brinime, oiS his swnran, singende his gebedii, and siSSan his cneowu on J^ani ceosle gebygde, astrchtumhandl)redum toheofenlicmu rodere; Thorpe's analecta, pp. 7G-7. honiih 2. 138. [I have thought it but fair to rescue the saint from a perilous position in ■which the German had inadvertently placed him by making him "wade into the sea up to his neck, and kneel doum to sing his prayers ". — Trans.] — In the O.Fr. jcu de saint Kicolas, Tervagant has to be approached on bare elbows and knees ; Legrand fabl. 1, 343.

3

34 WORSHIP.

verb duga with the sense propitium esse: bi(5 ec Ottari oil goS dvga (I Ot. pray all, &c.), SnBm. 120''. biSja J?a disir duga, Seem. 195*. Duga means to help, conf. Gramm. 4, 687. There is beauty in the ON. prayer: biSjom herjafoSr i hugom sitja (rogemus deum in animis sedere nostris), Ssem. 113*, just as Christians pray the Holy Ghost to descend : in herzen unsen sdzi, 0. iv. 5, 30 (see SuppL).

Christians at prayer or confession looked toward the Uast, and lifted up their arms (Bingham lib. xi. cap. 7, ed. hal. 3, 273) ; and so we read in the Kristinbalkr of the- old Gulathing law: ' ver skulum Mta austr, oc biSja til ens helga Krists ars ok friSar,' we must bow east, and pray the holy Christ for plenty and peace (conf. Syntagma de baptismo p. 65) ; in the Waltharius 1159 : contra orientalem prostratus corpore partem precatur ; in AS. formulas : edstiveard ic stande ; and in Troj. 9298. 9642 : keret inch gen orient. The heathens, on the contrary, in praying and sacrificing, looked North- VM7'ds : horfa (turn) i nord'r, Fornm. sog. 11, 134. leit (looked) i norffr, Seem. 94^ beten gegen mitternacht, Keisersperg omeiss 49^ And the North was looked upon by the christians as the unblessed heathen quarter, on which I have given details in EA. 808 ; it was unlucky to make a throw toward the north, EA. 57 ; in the Lombard boundary-treaties the northern tract is styled ' nulla ora,' EA. 544. These opposite views must serve to explain a passage in the Eoman de Eenart, where the fox prays christianlg, and the wolf heathenly, Eeinh. fuchs p. xli.^

As the expressions for asking and for obtaining, pp. 30, 31, are identical, a prayer was thought to be the more effectual, the more people it was uttered by :

got enwolde so manegem munde

stn genade niht versagen. Wigal. 4458. die juncvrouwen baten alle got,

nu ist er so gnsedec unt so guot

unt so reine gemuot,

daz er niemer kunde

so manegem stiezen munde

betelichiu dine versaoen. Iw. 5351.

1 At the abrenuntiatio one had to face the sunset, with wrinkled brow (fronts caperata), expressing anger and hatred ; but at the confession of faith, to face the sunrise, Arith eyes and hands raised to heaven ; Bingham lib. xi. caj). 7. § 13.14. Conf. Joh. Olavii synt. de baptismo, pp. 64-5.

SACKIFICE. 35

in (to the nuns) waron de munde so royt, so wes si god baden, of syt mit vlize daden, he id in nummer inkunde dem rosenroten munde bedelicher dinge versagen.

Ged. von der vrouwen sperwere, Cod. berol. 184, 54^ Hence : helfen singen, MS. 1, 57". 2, 42^ Conf. cento novelle 61.^

Sacrifice. — The word opfer, a sacrifice, was introduced into German by Christianity, being derived from the Lat. offcro. offcrre.'^ The AS. very properly has only the verb offrian and its derivative offrung (oblatio). In OHG., from ojpfaron, ojiforon there proceeded also a subst. oipfar, MHG. ophern and cypher ; ^ and from Germany the expression seems to have spread to neighbouring nations, ON". offr, Swed. Dan. offer, Lith. apjoiera, Lett, uppuris, Esth. ohiver, Fin. 2ihri, Boh. of era, Pol. ojlara. Sloven, ofer. Everywhere the original heathen terms disappeared (see Suppl.).

The oldest term, and one universally spread, for the notion ' to worship (God) by sacrifice,' was hloian (we do not know if the Goth. pret. was bdiblot or blotaida) ; I incline to attach to it the full sense of the Gk. Oveiv'^ (see Suppl.). Ulphilas saw as yet no objection to translating by it ae^eadai and XaTpevecv, Mk. 7, 7.

1 Mock-piety, hj-pocrisy, was branded in the Mid. Ages likewise, by strong phraseology : er wil gate die fiieze abezzen (eat the feet off), Ls. 3, 421. Fragm. 28». Mones anz. 3, 22. imserm Herrgott die fiiess abbeissen wollen (bite off), Schmeller 2, 231. den heiligen die fiiss abbeten wollen (pray the saints' feet off them), Siniplic. 1. 4, 17. herrgottbeisser, Holer 2, 48. herrgottfisler (fiiszler), Schmid 1, 93. heiligenfresserin, 10 ehen, p. 62. So the Ital. mangiaparadiso, Fr. mangeur de crucetix, Boh. Pol. liciobrazek (licker of saints). A sham saint is indifferently termed kapeltrete, tempeltrete, tevipelriune, Mones schausp. p. 123. 137 (see Suppl.).

• Not from operari, which in that sense was xxnknown to the church, the Komance languages likewise using It. offerire, Sp. ofrecer, Fr. offrir, never operare, obrar, ouvrer ; the same technical sense adheres to offerta, ofrenda, offrande. From oblata come the Sp. oblea, Fr. oublie, and perhaps the MHG. oblei, unless it is from eulogia, oblagia. From offre and offerta are iV)rmed the Wei. offryd, Ir. oifrion, aifrion, offrail. Lastly, the derivation from ferre, offerre, is confirmed by the German phrase ' ein opfer bringen, darbringen.'

^ Ophar, opfcr could hardly be the Goth. ai))r bwpov, in which neither the vowel nor the consonant agrees. The Wei. ubert, Gael, iobairt, Ir. iodbairt, (sacrificiixm) probably l)elong also to offerta.

• When Sozomen hist. eccl. 6, 37 in a narrative of Athanaric uses ivpoaKwelv Ka\ dvfiv, the Gothic would be inveitan juh blutan.

'36 WORSHIP.

Lii. 2, 37; he construes it with an ace. of the person: iDlotan fraujan is to him simply Deiim colere, with apparently no thought of a bloody sacrifice. For Xarpeia Eom. 12, 1, he puts Uotinassus, and for d6o<T€/3/]<; John 9, 31 gxxWostreis. The latter presupposes a subst, hlostr (cultus, oblatio), of which the S is explained in Gramm. 2, 208. Ushldteins {iTapdK\r}cnq) 2 Cor. 8, 4 implies a verb usblotjan to implore. Ccedmon uses the AS. Uotan pret. bleot, onUotan pret. onbleot, of the Jewish sacrifice, and follows them up with ace. of thing and dat. of person : blotan sunu (filium sacri- ficare) 173, 5. onbleot ]?fet lac Gode (obtulit hostiam Deo) 177, 21. In iElfred's Orosius we have the same Uotan pret. blotte. I derive from it Uetsian, later blessian, to bless. The OHG. pluozan, pret. pliez and pluozta, appears only in glosses, and renders libare, litare, victimare, immolare, Gl. Hrab. 959'' 960^ 966" 968". Diut. 1, 245, 258'\ No case-construction is found, but an ace. of the thing may be inferred from partic. kaplozaniu immolata. A subst. pluostar sacrificium, Uuostar, Is. 382. Gl. emni. 411. Gl. jun. 209. T. 56, 4. 95, 102 ^; pluostarhUs idolium, Gl. emm. 402. ^j/oasAils fanum, phcostrari sacrificator, ibid. 405. It is plain that here the word has more of a heathen look, and was not at that time used of christian worship ; with the thing, the words for it soon die out. But its universal use in Norse heathendom leaves no doubt remaining, that it Avas equally in vogue among Goths, Alamanni, Saxons, before their conversion to Christianity. The ON. verb hloia, pret. blet and blotaGi, takes, like the Gothic, an ace. of the object worshipped ; thus, Gragas 2, 170, in the formula of the trygdamCd: sva viSa sem (as widely as) kristnir menn kirkior soekia, heiSnir menu hof hlota (fana colunt); and in the Edda: Thor hlota, mik hlota, hlota&i 06in. Seem. Ill'', 113", 141", 165^-: always the meaning is sacrificio vene- rari. So that in Goth, and ON. the verb brings out more the idea of the person, in OHG. and AS. more that of the thing. But even the O.Dan, version of the OT. uses hlothe immolare, Woc^Amadh

^ The Gl. Hrab. 954^* : Laclia, plostar, is incomplete ; in Gl. Ker. 45. Diut. 1, 166" it stands : bacha sacriticat, ploastar jiloazit, or zepar plozit ; so that it is meant to translate only the Lat. verb, not the subst. bacha {j^aKxri). Or per- haps a better reading is ' bachat ' for bacchatur, and the meaning is ' non sacriticat '.

^ Landn. 1,2: blotaCi hrafna jn-ia, worshipped three ravens, who were going to show him the road ; so, in Sasm. 141% a l)ird demands that cow.s be sacriticed to him ; the victim itself is ON. hlot, and we are told occasionally : feck at bloti, ak bloti niiklu, offered a sacrifice, a great sacrifice, Landn. 2, 29.

SACRIFICE. • 37

lihamina.blotelsd holocaustum, Molbech's ed. pp. 171. 182. 215. 2-1'J. Also the O.Swed. Uplandslag, at the very beginning of the church- balkr has : sengin skal affgiiSum hlotcc, with dat. of person, implying an ace. of the thing. — The true derivation of the word I do not know.^ At all events it is not to be looked for in bloS sanguis, as the dis- agreeing consonants of the two Gothic words plainly show; equally divergent are the OHG. pluozan and pluot from one another ; besides, the worship so designated was not necessarily bloody. A remarkable passage in the Livonian rhyming chronicle 4683 tells of the Sameits (Schamaits, Samogits) :

ir hluotcldii der warf zuo hant sin loz nach ir alden site, zuo hant er Uiiotete alles mite ein quek.

Here, no doubt, an animal is sacrificed. I fancy the poet retained a term which had penetrated from Scandinavia to Lithuania with- out understanding it himself ; for bluotkirl is merely the O.Swed. blotkarl, heathen priest ; the term is foreign to the Lithuanian language.^

A few more of these general terms for sacrifice must be added (see SuppL). — OHG. antheiz (hostia, victima), Diut. 1, 240^ 246, 258. 278'' ; and as verbs, both aiitheizon and inheizan (immolare), Diut. 1, 246. 258.— OHG. msaken (litare), Gl. Hrab. 968^ insaket pirn (delibor), ibid. 959" 960*, to which add the Bavarian stapfsaken, liA. 927 ; just so the AS. onseegan, Cod. exon. 171, 32. 257, 23. onsecgcm to fibre (devote as sacrifice), Cisdm. 172, 30. fiber onscegde, 90, 29. 108, 17. tifer onsecge, Ps. 65, 12. lac onsecge Cod. exon. 254, 19. 257, 29; lac onscegde, Ca^dm. 107, 21. 113, 15. Cod. exon. 168, 28. gild onscegde, Csedm. 172, 11. and onscegdnes (oblatio). — As inheizan and onseegan are formed with the prefix and-, so is apparently the OHG, ineihan pini (delibor), Hrab. 960*, which would yield a Goth, anddllcan ; it is

^ Letter for letter it agrees ^vitli (fiXoiSda) I light up, burn, which is also ex- pressed in 6{jco and the Lat. sulUo ; Imt, if the idea of bumt-olfering was originally contained in blotan, it must have got obscured very early.

-Even in AlIIG. the word seems to have already become extinct; it may survive still in tenns referring to place, as blot:.graben, 6/o<;.'garten in Hessen, conf. the phrase ^blotzcn miissen,' to have to fork out (sacrifice) money. An old knife or sword also is called blotz (see SuppL).

38 . "VVOKSHIP.

from this OHG. ineihhan, which I think Graff 1, 128 has misread ireihan, that a later neihhan immolare, libare Graff (2, 1015) seems to have risen by aphseresis (Gramm. 2, 810), as neben from inebeu ; conf. eichon (dicare, vindicare), Graff 1, 127. To this place also belongs the OHG. 'pifelahan (libare, immolare), Diut. 1, 245. 248. — All this strictly denotes only the ' on-saying,' dedication, conse- cration of the offering ; and it follows from the terminology at least that particular objects were selected beforehand for sacrifice.^ Thus antheiz is elsewhere simply a vow, votum, solemn promise, inthcizan vovere ; hence also the AS. onsecgan has determinative substantives added to it.

In the same sense hmdan (offerre) seems to have been in use very early, AS. lac Icbcodan, Ciedm. 173, 9. ON. hodn (oblatio). From this biudan I derive Muds (mensa), ON. hioffr (discus), AS. leod (mensa, lanx), OHG. plot, from its having originally signified the holy table of offerings, the altar.

The Goth, fidlafalijan (with dat. of pers.) prop, to please, give satisfaction, is used for Xarpeveiv, Lu. 4, 8 (see SuppL). — In Mk. 1, 44. Lu. 5, 14 athairan adferre, Trpoa^ipeiv, is used of sacrifice ; and in AS. the subst. bring by itself means oblatio ; so Wolfram in Parz. 45, 1 says : si hrahtcn opfer vil ir goten, and Tundgr. II. 25 : ein lam zopphere hrdhtc. — It is remarkable that the Goth, salj'an, which elsewhere is intransitive and means divertere, manere [put up, lodge, John 1, 39. 40] is in Lu. 1, 9. Mk. 14, 12. 1 Cor. 10, 20. 28 used transitively for Ovfitdv and dueLv, and hunsla saljan, John 16, 2 stands for Xarpelav Trpoaipepeiv, which brings it up to the meaning of OHG. and AS. sellan, ON. selja, tradere, to hand over, possibly because the solemn presentation included a personal approach. The OHG. ingangan (obire) is occasionally applied to worship : piganc (ritus), Diut, 1, 272\ afgoda hegangan, Lacomblet 1, 11. — Gildan, Jceltan, among its many meanings, has also to do with worship and sacrifice ; it was from the old sacrificial banquets that our guilds took their name. OS. waldandes (God's) geld, Hel. 3, 11. 6, 1. that geld lestian, Hel. 16, 5. AS. hvjnegicld, holo- caustum, Credm. 175, 6, 177, 18. gild onsecgan, 172, 11. Abel's offering is a gield, 60, 5. deofolgield, idololatria, Beda 3, 30. Cod.

1 So the O.Boh. ohiecati obiet (Koniginh. lis. 72) is strictly opfer verheissen, to promise or devote an offering.

SACRIFICE. 39

exon. 245, 29. 251, 24. hse^engield, Cod. exon. 243, 23. OHG. heida,n]ceU sacrilegiurn : gote ir gdt bringent, Warn. 2906. offer- nncffJielstar, sacrificium, Is. 395. dbiu blostar iro ghelstro, Is. 382. — Peculiar to tbe AS. dialect is the general term Idc, neut., often rendered more definite by verbs containing tbe notion of sacrifice : onbl^ot ]78et lac gode, CcX<lm. 177, 26. drybtne Idc brohton, 60, 2. Idc bebeodan, 173, 9. Idc onsregde, 107, 21. 113, 15. ongan Idc, 90, 19 (see Suppl.). Tbe word seems to be of the same root as the Goth. masc. laiks (saltatio), OHG. leih (Indus, modus), ON. leikr, and to have signified at first the dance and play that accompanied a sacrifice, then gradually the gift itself.^ That there was playing and singing at sacrifices is shown by the passages quoted further on, from Gregory's dialogues and Adam of Bremen,

The following expressions I regard as more definite (see Suppl.), Ulph. in Eom. 11, 16 renders d7rapxv> the offering of firstfruits at a sacrifice, delibatio, by ufarskafts, which I derive not from skapan, but from skaban (shave) radere, since dirapxal' were the first clippings of hair off the victim's forehead, Odyss. 14, 422. 3, 446. If we explain it from skapan, this word must have passed from its meaning of creare into that of facere, immolare. — The Goth, vitod is lex, the OHG. icizot (Graff 1, 1112. Fundgr. 1, 398^) both lex and eucharistia, the Fris. vitat invariably the latter alone ; just as zakon in Serv. has both meanings [but in Euss. only that of lex]. —Ulph. translates dvaia by Goth, hunsl, Matt. 9, 13. Mk. 9, 49. Lu. 2, 24 ; then again Xarpeiav Trpoa^epetv in John 10, 2 by hunsla saljan, where the reference is expressly to killing. And dvo-iaaWjptov is called hunslastniSs, ]\latt. 5, 23-4. Lu. 1, 11. But the corre- sponding AS. husd, Engl, hoiisd, allows of being applied to a Christian sacrament, and denotes the eucharist, hilsdgong the partaking of it, Msc/fa^t the sacred vessel of sacrifice ; conf. CiTedni. 260, 5 hiisdhtu halegu for the sacred vessels of Jerusalem. Like- wise the OK hihl in the Norw. and Swed. laws is used in a christian, never in a heathen sense. No hunsal is found in OHG.; neither can I guess the root of the word. — Twice, however, Ulph.

1 Sci-v. frilCg offering, -what is laid before, prilozhiti to offer ; Sloven, dar, darina, daritva = Swpov. [Euss. clarii sviatiiye = Soipa "lepa means the eucharist.] The Sloven aldov, bloodless oflering, eeenis not to be Slavic, it resembles Huns,', aldozat. evaia is rendered in 0. Slav, by zhrtva (Kopitar's Glagol. 72<=), in^Russ. by zhertva [fr. zhariti to roast, burn I or zlu-ati devour, zhera glutton ?].

40 WORSHIP.

renders Ovata by sducfs, pi, saudeis, Mk. 12, 33. Rom. 12, 1. I sup- suppose he thought of the sacrifice as that of an animal slaughtered and boiled ; the root seems to be siuSan to seethe, and the ON. has sauffr a ram, probably because its flesh is boiled.^ In Eph. 5, 2 we have ' hu7isl jah sdud' ' side by side, for irpocr^opav koI Ovaiav, and in Skeir. 37, 8 gasaljands sik hunsl jah sauS. — The OHG. zepar is also a sacrifice in the sense of hostia, victima, Hymn. 10, 2. 12, 2. 21, 5. Gl. Hrab. 965^ Diut. 240'^ 272'' (see Suppl). We could match it with a Goth, tihr, if we might venture on such an emendation of the unique dihr Scopov, Matt. 5, 23 (conf. Gramm. 1, 63). My con- jecture that our German ungeziefer (vermin), formerly ungezihcr,- and the O.Er. atoivre also belong to this root, has good reasons in its favour. To this day in Franconia and Thuringia, ziefer, gezicfcr (insects) not only designate poultry, but sometimes include even goats and swine (Reinwald henneb. id. 1, 49. 2, 52. conf. Schm. 4, 228). "Wliat seems to make against my view is, that the A.S. tihcr cannot even be restricted to animals at all, Ceedm. 90, 29. 108, 5. 172, 31. 175, 3. 204, 6. 301, 1. ^igntiher, 203, 12. ^igoxtifer, Cod. exon. 257, 30 ; on the contrary, in 60, 9 it is Cain's offering of grain that is called titer, in distinction from Abel's gield ; and in ^Ifr. gl. 62^^ we find wmtifer, libatio. But this might be a later confusion ; or our ungezieiev may have extended to weeds, and con- sequently zepar itself would include anything fit for sacrifice in plants and trees.^ Meanwhile there is also to be considered the ON. tafn, victima and esca ferarum. — Lastly, I will mention a term peculiar to the ON. language, and certainly heathen : forn, fern, victima, hostia, fdrna, immolare, or instead of it fornfcera, conf. Fornm. sog. 1, 97 2, 76. this forna at the same time, according to Biorn, meaning elevare, tollere. AS. forn porcus, porcaster (?).

^ Rom. 12, 1. 'present your bodies a Krwigr .sauS' was scarcely a happy combination, if sauSs conveyed the notion of something boiled ! Can nothing be made of s6t5jan satiare sootlie (Milton's ' the soothest shepherd ' = sweetest, Goth. sutista).P Grimm's law of change in mutes has many exceptions : pater father fseder vater (4 stages instead of 3, so mater) ; sessel a settle, and sattel a saddle, both from sit sat ; treu true, but trinken drink, &c. — Trans.

^ Titur. 5198, ungezihere stands for monster ; but what can ungeziheU mean in Lanz. 5028 vor grozem ungezibele 1 nibele 1

^ Caidm. 9, 2 : ^pa, seo tid gewat ofer tiher sceacan middangeardes. This passage, whose meaning Thorpe himself did not rightly seize, I understand thus : As time passed on over (God's) gift of this earth. The inf. sceacan (elabi) depends on gewat ; so in Judith anal. 140, 5 : gewiton on fleam sceacan, began to flee ; and still more freq. gewiton gangan.

SACKIFICE. 41

If tlio 6 did not hinder, we could identify it with the adj. fom vetus, fom sorcerer, fornccskia sorcery, and the OHG. furnic antiquiis, prisons, canus (Graff 3, 628) ; and in particular, use the same glosses for the illustration of baccha pluostar. Fom would then be the term apphed by the christians to heathen sacrifices of the former olden time, and that would easily glide into sorcery, nay, there would be an actual kinship conceivable between z'epar and zoupar (zauber, magic), and so an additional link between the notions of sacrifice and sorcery, knowing as we do that the verbs garaican, wihan and perhaps zouivan [AS. gearwian to prepare, Goth, veihan to consecrate, and taujan to bring about] are appli- cable to both, though our OHG. karo, haraiui victima, Graff 4, 241 (Germ, gar, AS. gearw, yare) expresses no more than what is made ready, made holy, consecrated."^ We shall besides have to separate more exactly the ideas vow and sacrifice, Mid. Lat. votum and census, closely as they border on one another : the vow is, as it were, a private sacrifice.

Here then our ancient language had a variety of words at its command, and it may be supposed that they stood for different tilings ; but the difficulty is, to unravel what the differences in the matter were.

Sacrifice rested on the supposition that human food is agreeable to the gods, that intercourse takes place between gods and men. The god is invited to eat his share of the sacrifice, and he really enjoys it. Not till later is a separate divine food placed before him (see Suppl.). The motive of sacrifices was everywhere the same : either to render thanks to the gods for their kindnesses, or to appease their anger ; the gods were to be kept gracious, or to be made gracious again. Hence the two main kinds of sacrifice : (!/ia7i/j-oirerings and si?i-offerings.2 When a meal was eaten, a head of

1 The Skr. kratu sacrifice, or accord, to Benfey 2, 307 process, comes from kri facerc , and in Latin, facere. (agnis, vitula, Virg. eel. 3. 77) and operarl were used of the sacred act of sacrifice ; so in Grk, pi^^iv — e'pSfti/, Bu'ot. peBdnv of olfering the liecatomb, and fpSeti/ is epyeiv, our ivirken, ivoric , iinppj^fiv Od. 17, 211. Biieiv, pi(eiv, 8pav, AtlienaJUS 5, 403, as 8pqv for Oveiv, so dpuais = dvcria. The Catluilic priest also uses conficcre, im-JioTc for consecrare (Ciesar. heisterbac. 9, 27) ; compare the ' alicpiid i)lus novi facere ' in Burcard of Worms 10, 16 and p. 193'=. The Lat. cujcre signified the slaughtering of the victim.

• &'«7ui-opl'er, strictly, conciliatory offerings ; but as these were generally identical witli .S/f»rf-opfer, sin-offerings, I have used the latter expression, as short and familiar. — Tiians.

42 WORSHIP.

game killed, the enemy conquered (see Suppl), a firstling of the cattle born, or grain harvested, tlie gift-bestowing god had a first right to a part of the food, drink, produce, the spoils of war or of the chase (the same idea on which tithes to the church were afterwards grounded). If on the contrary a famine, a failure of crops, a pestilence had set in among a people, they hastened to present propitiatory gifts (see Suppl.). These sin-offerings have by their nature an occasional and fitful character, while those performed to the propitious deity readily pass into periodically recurring festivals. There is a third species of sacrifice, by which one seeks to know the issue of an enterprise, and to secure the aid of the god to whom it is presented (see Suppl.). Divination however could also be practised without sacrifices. Besides these three, there were special sacrifices for particular occasions, such as coronations,, births, weddings and funerals, which were also for the most part coupled with solemn banquets.

As the gods show favour more than anger, and as men' are oftener cheerful than oppressed by their sins and errors, thank- offerings were the earliest and commonest, sin-offerings the more rare and impressive. Whatever in the world of plants can be laid before the gods is gay, innocent, but also less imposing and effective than an animal sacrifice. The streaming blood, the life spilt out seems to have a stronger binding and atoning power. Animal sacrifices are natural to the warrior, the hunter, the herdsman, while the husbandman will offer up grain and flowers.

The great anniversaries of the heathen coincide with po- pular assemblies and assizes.^ In the' Ynglinga saga cap. 8 they are specified thus : J?a skyldi biota i moti vetri (towards winter) til ars, enn at miSjum vetri biota til groSrar, it J^riSja at sumri, J?at var sigrblot (for victory). In the Olafs helga saga cap. 104 (Fornm. sog. 4, 237) . en jjat er siSr ]?eirra (it is their custom) at hafa blot a haustum (autumn) ok fagna ];a vetri, annat blot hafa ]?eir at miSjum vetri, en hit ]?riSja at sumri, ];a fagna ];eir sumari ; conf. ed. holm. cap. 115 (see Suppl.). The Autumn sacrifice was offered to welcome the winter, and til ars (pro annonae ubertate) ; the Mid- winter sacrifice til groSrar (pro feracitate) ; the Summer one to welcome the summer, and til sigrs (pro victoria). Halfdan the Old

1 RA. 245. 745. 821-5.

SACRIFICE. 43

held a great midwinter sacrifice for the long duration of his life and kingdom, Sn. 190. But the great general blot held at Upsal every winter included sacrifices ' til ars ok friSar ok sigrs,' Fornm. sog. 4, 154. The formula sometimes runs ' til arbotar ' (year's increase), or ' til friSar ok vetrarfars goSs (good wintertime). In a striking passage of the Gutalagh, p. 108, the great national sacrifices are distinguished from the smaller offerings of cattle, food and drink : ' firi J?ann tima oc lengi eptir si];an tro];u menu a hult oc a hauga, vi ok staf-gar|7a, oc a haij^in gu]? blotajm J?air synum oc dydrum sinum, oc fdcjyi mi]? riiati oc tnundgcdi, jjat gier]?u J^air eptir vantro sinni. Land alt hafj^i sir hoystu hlotan mi]? fulki, ellar hafjn liuer Jjrijjiungr sir. En smeri ]?ing hafjju mindri hlotan med, Jilepi mati oc mungati, sum haita siipnautar : ])i et J^air s%i]yu allir saman.'

Uaster-Jlrcs, Mayday-fires, Midsummer-fires, with their numerous ceremonies, carry us back to heathen sacrifices ; especially such customs as rubbmg the sacred flame, running through the glowing embers, throv/ing flowers into the fire, baking and distributing large loaves or cakes, and the circular dance. Dances passed into plays and dramatic representations (see ch. XIII, drawing the ship, ch. XXIII, and the witch-dances, ch. XXXIV).. Afzelius 1, 3 describes a sacrificial play still performed in parts of Gothland, acted by young fellows in disguise, who blacken and rouge their faces (see ch. XVII, sub fine). One, wrajDt in fur, sits in a chair as the victim, holding in his mouth a bunch of straw-stalks cut fine, which reach as far as his ears and have the appearance of sow- bristles : by this is meant the boar sacrificed at Yule, which in England is decked with laurel and rosemary (ch. X), just as the devil's offering is with rue, rosemary and orange (ch. XXXIII). — The great sacrificial feast of the ancient Saxons was on Oct. 1, and is traced to a victory gained over the Thuringians in 534 (see ch. VI) ; in documents of the Mid. Ages this high festival stills bears the name of the gemcinwoche or common week (see ch. XIII, Zisa), Wiirdtwein dipl. magimt. 1 praef. III-V. Scheffers Haltaus p. 142.' conf. Hofers ostr. wb. 1, 306. Another chronicle places it on Sept. 25 (Ecc. fr. or. 1, 59) ; Zisa's day was celebrated on Sept. 29, St. Michael's on the 28th; so that the holding of a harvcst-ofering nmst be intended all through.— In addition to the great festivals, they also sacrificed on special occasions, particularly when famine or

44 WOESHIP.

disease was rife ; sometimes for long life : ' biota til langlifl,' Landn, 3, 4; or for favour (thockasaeld) with the people: ' Grimr, er blotinn var dauSr (sacrificed when dead) fiir thokkasaeld, ok kallaGr kamban', Landn. 1, 14. 3, 16. This epithet Jcamhan must refer to the sacrifice of the dead man's body ; I connect it with the OHG. jnchim^ida funus, r^Iid. Dut. hiitiban comere, Diut. 2, 207*. conf. note to Andr. 4.

Human Sacrifices are from their nature and origin expiative ; some great disaster, some heinous crime can only be purged and blotted out by human blood. AVith all nations of antiquity they were an old-established custom ^ ; the following evidences place it beyond a doubt for Germany (see Suppl.). Tac. Germ. 9 : Deorum maxime Mercurium colunt, cui certis diebus Jmmanis quoque liostiis litare fas habent. Germ. 39 : stato tempore in silvam coeunt, caesoque puUice (in the people's name) homine celebrant barbari ritus horrenda primordia. Tac. Ann. 1, CI : lucis propinquis bar- barae arae, apud quas tribunos ac primorum ordinum ccnturiones mactaverant. Tac. Ann. 13, 57 : sed bellum Hermunduris pros- perum, Cattis exitiosius fuit, quia victores diversam aciem Marti ac Mercurio sacravere, quo voto equi, viri, cuncta victa occidioni danUir. Isidori chron. Goth., aera 446 : quorum (regum Gothi- corum) unus Eadagaisus . . . Italiam belli feritate aggreditur, promittens sangwincm Christianorum diis suis litare, si vinceret. Jornandes cap. 5: quem Martem Gothi semper asperrima placavere cultura, nam victimae ejus mortcs fuere caidorum, opinantes bellor- um praesulem aptius humani sanguinis effusione placandum.^ Orosius 7, 37 of Eadagaisus, whom he calls a Scythian, but makes him lead Goths to Italy : qui (ut mos est barbaris hujusmodi generis) sanguinem diis suis proimiare dcvovcrat.^

^ Lasaulx die siilmopfer der Griechen u. Eomer, Wurzburg 1841, pp. 8—13.

• Conf. C?es. de B. Gall. 6, 17 on the worship of Mars among the Gauls ; and Procop. de B. Goth. 3, 14 on the Slavens and Antes : Bebv yih yap i'va tov TTji aaTpanris drjjjLiovpyov unavTcov Kvpiov povov avTov vopl^ovatv flvai, Kal dvovcriv avTo) [iuas re Ka\ Upela anavTa. . . . aX\ eVetSai/ avrols iv tvoctlv iJStj 6 6i'ii/aTos fir], T] voam ciXovcxi, rj es TvoKepov KaditTTCipevois, eTrayyeWovrai ptv, rjv dtafPvycocri, Qvaiav ro) 6«o avrt rrji '^v)(^rjs avTiKa TTOirjcrav, 8ia(pvy6i/T€s de dvovaiv onep VTrea^ovTO, /cat o'iourai ti)v acorrjpiav ravrr^s Si) t^s Bvaias avrols fcovrjcrOai.

^ Of him Avigustine says, in sermo 105, cap. lO : Rhadagaysus rex Goth- oruiu , . . Romae . . . Jovi sacrijlcahat quotidie, nuutialjaturc|ue ubique, qnod a sacriliciis non desisteret.

teAuniFiuE. 45

Trocopius de bello Goth. 2, 15 of the Thulites, i.e. Scandinavians : 6vovai Se ivSeXex^cTT^^TO, lepela iravra koI ivayl^ovai. rcov Se lepeicov crcpicrt, to KciXkiaTOV dv6 pcoir 6<i iariu, ovrrep av So p ta- XoiTov ■7roi7](Tatvro ir pwrov. tovtov yap ra> "Apet Ovovaiv, eVel Oeov avTov vo/mi^oucrt niytarov elvai. Ibid. 2, 14, of tlie Heriili : ttoXvv rwa voixl^ovTe<i deojv ofiiXov, o&? Sr] koX dvd p(07r (ov 6uaiai<; IXdaKeaOai, oaiov avToU iSoKet eivat. Ibid. 2, 25, of the ah^eady converted Franks at their passage of the Po : eirtka^ofjievoi, he Tri<i <ye(pvpa<; ol ^pdyyot, tt a 1 8 a 9 re Kau yvvai- Ka<i Twv TotOcov, ov<i7rep evTavOa evpov lepevov re /cat avrcDv rd a-cofxara i^ Tov irorajxbv dupoOivia rov 7ro\e/j,ov epptir- Tovv. ol /Sdp^apoi yap ovroi, Xpiariavol yeyov6Te<i, rd iroWd t^? 'KaXai.d^ ho^T]^ <^v\dcraovaL, Ovaiaiq re XP^I^^^°^ dvdpcoircov Kol dWa ovx ocTia lepevovre'?, ravrj] re ra? /xavreia'i irocovfievoi. Sidonius ApoUinaris 8, 6 of the Saxons: mos est remeaturis decimum quemque captorum per aequales et cruciarias poenas, plus ob hoc tristi quod superstitioso ritu necare. Capitul. de partib. Saxon. 9 : si quis hominem diabolo sacrificaverit et in hostiam, more paganorum, daemonibus oUulerit. Lex Frisionum, additio sap. tit. 42 : qui fanum effregerit . . . immolatur diis, quorum tempi a violavit ; the law affected only the Frisians ' trans Laubachi,' who remained heathens longer. What Strabo relates of the Cimbri, and Dietmar of the Northmen, will be cited later. Epist. Bonif 25 (ed. Wlirdtw.) : hoc quoque inter alia crimina agi in partibus illis dixisti, quod quidam ex fidelibus ad immolandum paganis sua vemtndcnt mancipia ; masters were allowed to sell slaves, and christians sold them to heathens for sacrifice. Tlie captive prince Graecus Avar de (a) Suevis pccudis more litatus (ch. XIII, the goddess Zisa).^ For evidences of human sacrifice among the Norse, see Miiller's sagabibl. 2, 560. 3, 93. As a rule, the victims were captive enemies, purchased slaves or great criminals ; the sacrifice of women and children by the Franks on crossing a river reminds of the Greek Sta^aT7]pLa ; - the first fruits of war, the first prisoner

1 Adam of Bremen de .■'itu Daniae cap. 24, of the Litlinanians : draconc:^> adorant cum volucribus, qiiibus etiam vivos litcmt homines, quos a mercatoribus emunt, diligenter omnino probates, iie mactilam in corpore habeant.

2 Hence in onr own Iblk-tales, the first to cross the bridge, the first to enter the new bnihling or tlie country, pays with his life, Avhich meant, falls a sacrifice. Jornandes cap. 25, of thcHiins : ad Scythiam properant, et quantos- cwuitie prius in iwjressu Scytharum habuere, Utavere Vidorine.

46 WORSHIP.

taken, was supposed to bring luck. In folk-tales we find traces of the immolation of children ; they are killed as a cure for leprosy, they are walled up in basements (oh. XXXV, XXXVI, end) ; and a feature that particularly points to a primitive sacrificial rite is, that toys and victuals are handed in to the child, while the roofing-in is completed. Among the Greeks and Romans likewise the victims fell amid noise and flute-playing, that their cries might be drowned, and the tears of children are stifled with caresses, ' ne flebilis hostia immoletur '. Extraordinary events might demand the death of kings' sons and daughters, nay, of kings themselves. Thoro offers up his son to the gods ; Worm mon. dan, 285. King Oen the Old sacrificed oiine sons one after the other to OSin for his long life ; Yngl. saga cap, 29. And the Swedes in a grievous famine, when other great sacrifices proved unavailing, offered up their oion king Domaldi; ibid. cap. 18.

Animal sacrifices were mainly thank-offerings, but sometimes also expiatory, and as such they not seldom, by way of mitigation, took the place of a previous human sacrifice. I will now quote the evidences (see Suppl.). Herculem et Martem conccssis animalihcs placant, Tac, Germ. 9 ; i.e., with animals suitable for the purpose (Hist. 5, 4), ' concessum ' meaning sacrum as against profanum ; and only those animals were suitable, whose flesh could be eaten by men. It would have been unbecoming to offer food to the god, which the sacrificer liimself would have disdained. At the same time these sacrifices appear to be also banquets ; an appointed portion of the slaughtered beast is placed before the god, the rest is cut up, distributed and consumed in the assembly. The people thus became partakers in the holy offering, and the god is regarded as feasting with them at their meal (see Suppl.). At great sacri- fices the kings were expected to taste each kind of food, and down to late times the house-spirits and dwarfs had their portion set aside for them by the superstitious people. — Quadraginta rustici a Langobardis capti carnes immolatitias comedere compellebantur, Greg. M. dial, 3, 27 ; which means no more than that the heathen Langobards permitted or expected the captive christians to share their sacrificial feast.^ These 'immolatitiae carnes' and 'hostiae im-

^ I do not know how comjiellere can be softened down to * permitting or expecting '. — Trans.

SACRIFICE. 47

molatitiae, quas stulti homines juxta ecclesias ritu pagano faciuut ' are also mentioned in Bonifacii epist. 25 and 55, ed. Wlirdtw.

In tlie earliest period, the Horse seems to have been the favourite animal for sacrifice ; there is no doubt that before the introduction of Christianity its flesh was universally eaten. There was nothing in the ways of the heathen so offensive to the new converts, as their not giving up the slaughter of horses (hrossa-sldirj and the eating of horseflesh ; conf Nialss. cap. 106, The Christian Northmen reviled the Swedes as hross-ceturnar ; Fornm. sog. 2, 309. Fagrsk. p. 63. King Hakon, whom his subjects suspected of Christianity, was called upon 'at hann skyldi eta hrossasldtr ;' Saga Hak. g6(5a cap. 18. From Tac. ami. 13, 57 we learn that the Her- munduri sacrificed the horses of the defeated Catti. As late as the time of Boniface (Ei^ist. ed. Wlirdtw. 25. 87 Serr. 121. 142),i the Thuringians are strictly enjoined to abstain from horseflesh. Agathias bears witness to the practice of the Alamanni : 'iTrirovi re Kab l3oa^, kuI aXXa arra [xvpLa k a par o fiovPT €<; (beheading), i7n6etd^ov(TL, ed bonn. 28, 5. — Here we must not overlook the cutting o^ of the head, which was not consumed with the rest, but consecrated by way of eminence to the god. When Cacina, on approaching the scene of Varus's overthrow, saw horses heads fastened to the stems of trees (equorum artus, simul trtincis arlorum antefixa ora, Tac. ann. 1, 61), these were no other than the Eoman horses, which the Germans had seized in the battle and offered up to their gods^ (see Suppl). A similar ' immolati diis eqid ahscissum cainit' meets us in Saxo gram. p. 75 ; in the North they fixed it on the neidstange (niSstong, stake of envy) which gave the power to bewitch an enemy, Egilss. p. 389. In a Hessian kindermarchen (no. 89) we have surviving, but no longer understood, a reminiscence

^ Inter cetera afjrestem cahallum caliquantos comedere adjunxisti, plerosque et doviesticum. hoc nequaciuam lieri deiiiceps sinas. And , inprimis de volatiU- bus, id est graculis et cornicnlis atque ciconiis, quae omnino cavendae sunt ab esu christianorum. etiani et fibri et lepores et cqui silvatici luulto aniplius vitandi. Af^^ain, Hieronymus adv. Jov. lib. 2 (ed. basil. 1553. 2, 75) • Sar- niatae, Quadi, Vandali et innumerabiles aliae gentes equai-inn et vulpium carnibus delectantur. Otto frising. 6, 10 . audiat, quod Pecenati (the wild Peschen;ere, Nik 1280, 2) et hi qui Falones vocantur (the Vahven, Nib. 1279, 2. Tit. 4097), Orudis et ininmndis carnibiLs, ut^jote cquinis et catinis usque hodie vescuiitur. Rol. 98, 20 of the heathen : sie ezzent diu ros. Witches also are charged with eating horseflesh (see Suppl.).

■■' Also in that passage of Jornandes about Mars : huic truncis suspende- bantur exuviae.

48 WORSHIP.

of tlie mysterious meaning of a suspended Iwrscs head} — But on horse-sacrifices among the heatlien Norse we have further informa- tion of peculiar vahie. The St. Olaf s saga, cap. 113 (ed. holm. 2, 181), says: ]?at fylgSi ok }?eirri stign, at j^ar vseri drepit naut ok liross til arbotar (followed the saying that there were slain neat and liorse for harvest-boot). A tail-piece at the very end of the Hervararsaga mentions a similar sacrifice offered by the apostate Swedes at the election of king Svein (second half of 11th century): var ]?a framleidt hross eitt a J?ingit, ok hoggvit i sundr, ok sJcipt til ids, en rio]?U(5u bloSinu hluttre ; kostuSu ]?a allir Sviar kristni ok liofust blot ; then was led forward ahorse into the Thing, and hewed in sunder, and divided for eating, and they reddened with the blood the blot-tree, &c. Tornald. sog. 1, 512. Dietmar of Merseburg's description of the great Norse (strictly Danish) sacrificial rite, which however was extinct a hundred years before his time, evidently contains circumstances exaggerated legendwise and dis- torted ; he says 1, 9 : Sed quia ego de hostiis (ISTorthmannorum) mira audivi, haec indiscussa praeterire nolo, est unus in his partibus locus, caput istius regni, Lederun nomine, in pago qui Selon^ dicitur, ubi post novcm annos mense Januario, post hoc tempus quo nos theophaniam domini celebramus, omnes con- venerunt, et ibi diis suismet Ixxxx, et ix. homines, et totidem cqms, cum canibus et gallis pro accipitribus oblatis, immolant, pro certo, ut praedixi, putantes hos eisdem erga inferos servituros, et commissa crimina apud eosdem placaturos. quam bene rex noster (Heinrich 1. an. 931) fecit, qui eos a tam execrando ritu prohibuit ! — A grand festive sacrifice, coming once in nine years, and costing a consider- able number of animals — in this there is nothing incredible. Just as the name hecatomb lived on, when there was nothing like that number sacrificed, so here the legend was likely to keep to a high- sounding number; the horror of the human victims perhaps it threw in bodily. But the reason alleged for the animal sacrifice is evidently wide of the mark ; it mixes up what was done

1 Gregory tlie Great ('ej-iist. 7, 5) admonishes Branichild to take pre- cautions with her Franks, ' ut de animalium cajntibus sacrilicia sacrilega non exhibeant.'

" Selon for Selond, ON. Siclundr, afterwards Sioland, Seeland, t.e., Zea- land. Lederun, the Sax. dat. of Ledera, ON. HleiSra, afterwards Lethra, Leire ; conf. Goth, hleijjra tahernacuhim.

SACRIFICE. 49

at funerals ^ witli what was done for expiation. It was only the bodies of nobles and rich men that were followed in death by bondsmen and by domestic and hunting animals, so that they might have their services in the other world. Suppose 99 men, we will say prisoners of war, to have been sacrificed to the gods, the animals specified cannot have been intended to escort those enemies, nor yet for the use of the gods, to whom no one ever set apart and slaughtered horses or any beasts of the chase with a view to their making use of them. So whether the ambiguous eisdem refers to homines or diis (as eosdem just after stands for the latter), either way there is something inadmissible asserted. At the new year's festival I believe that of all the victims named the horses alone were sacrificed ; men, hounds and cocks the legend has added on.^ How Dietmar's story looks by the side of Adam of Bremen's on the Upsal sacrifice, shall be considered on p. 53.

Among all animal sacrifices, that of the liorse was preeminent and most solemn. Our ancestors have this in common with several Slavic and Finnish nations, with Persians and Indians : with all of them the horse passed for a specially sacred animal.^

Sacrifice of Oxen (see SuppL). The passage from Agathias (iTTTrof? re koX ^oaq) proves the Alamannic custom, and that from the Olafssaga (nmct ok hross) the Norse. A letter to Saint Boniface (Epist. 82, Wiirdtw.) speaks of ungodly priests ' qui tauros et liircos diis paganorum immolabant.' And one from Gregory the Great ad Mellitum (Epist. 10, 76 and in Beda's hist. eccl. 1, 30) affirms of the Angles : hovcs solent in sacrificio daemonum multos occidere.

^ With Sigiirt5r servants and hawks are burnt, Ssem. 225^ ; elsewhere horses and dogs as well, conf. RA. 344. Asvitiis, morbo consumptus, cum caneetequo terreno mandatur antro ; Saxo gram. p. 91, who misinterprets, as though the dead man fed upon them : nee contentus equi vel canis esu, p. 92.

^ ' Pro accipitribus ' means, that in default of hawks, cocks were used. Some have taken it, as though dogs and cocks were sacrificed to deified birds of prey. But the ' pro ' is immistakable.

^ Conf. Bopp's Nalas and Damajanti, p. 42, 268. The Hyperboreans sacri- ficed asses to Apollo ; Pindar Pyth. 10. Callimach. fr. 187. Anton. Liberal, metam. 20. The same was done at Delphi ; Buckh corp. inscr. I, 807. 809. In a Mod. Greek poem Tadupov, Xvkov koI aXcoTroCy 8u]yT]ais w. 429-434, a .'similar oft'ering seems to be spoken of ; and Hagek's bohm. chrou. p. 62 gives an instance among the Slavs. That, I suppose, is why the Silesians are called ass-eaters (Zeitvertreiber 1668, p. 153) ; and if the Gottingors receive the same nickname, these popular jokes must be very old in Germany itself (see Suppl.).

4

50 WORSHIP.

The Hack ox and hlack cow, which are not to be killed for the house- hold (Superst. 887), — were they sacred sacrificial beasts? Val. Suplit, a free peasant on the Samland coast (Samogitia or Semi- galia), sacrificed a Hack hull with strange ceremonies.^ I will add a few examples from the Norse. During a famine in Sweden under king Domaldi : ]?a eflSo (instituted) Sviar blot stor at Uppsolum, it fyrsta haust (autumn) blotuSu j^eir yxmim ; and the oxen proving insufficient, they gradually went up to higher and higher kinds ; Yngl. saga, c. 18. ]7a gekk hann til hofs (temple) Freyss, ok leiddi jjagat uxan gamlan (an old ox), ok maelti sva : ' Freyr, nu gef ek ]?er uxa ]?enna ' ; en uxanum bra sva viS, at hann qvaS vi3, ok fell niSr dauSr (dealt the ox such a blow, that he gave a groan and fell down dead) ; Islend. sog. 2, 348. conf. Vigaglumssaga, cap. 9. At a formal duel the victor slew a hull with the same weapons that had vanquished his foe: J?a var leiddr fram grdc^ungr mikill ok gamall, var ];at kallat hlotnaut, ]?at skyldi sa hoggva er sigr hefSi (then was led forth a bull mickle and old, it was called blot-neat, that should he hew who victory had), Egilss. p. 506. conf, Kormaks- saga p. 214-8. — Sacrifice of Cotvs, Sa^m. 141. Fornm. sog. 2, 138.

The Greek cKarofji^r} (as the name shows, 100 oxen) consisted at

first of a large number of neat, but very soon of other beasts also. The Indians too had sacrifices of a hundred ; Holzmann 3, 193.^

Boars, Pigs (see SuppL). In the Salic Law, tit. 2, a higher composition is set on the nmjcdis sacrivus or votivus than on any other. This seems a relic of the ancient sacrifices of the heathen Franks ; else why the term sacrivus ? True, there is no vast differ- ence between 700 and 600 den. (17 and 15 sol.) ; but of animals so set apart for holy use there must have been a great number in heathen times, so that the price per head did not need to be high. Probably they were selected immediately after birth, and marked, and then reared with the rest till the time of sacrificing. — In Frankish and Alamannic documents there often occurs the word friscin^, usually for porcellus, but sometimes for agnus, occasionally in the more limited sense of porcinus and agninus; the word may by

1 Berlin, monatsclir. 1802. 8, 225. conf. Lucas David 1, 118-122.

2 In many districts of Germany and France, the butchers at a set time of the year lead through the streets a fatted ox decked with flowers and ribbons, accompanied by drum and fife, and collect drink-money. In Holland they call the ox hdder, and hang gilded apples on his horns, while a butcher %valks in front with the axe (beil). All this seems a relic of some old sacriiicial rite.

SACRIFICE. 51

its origin express recens natus, new-l)orn,^ but it now lives only in the sense of porcellus (frischling). How are we to explain then, that this OHG. friscing in several writers translates precisely the Lat. liostia, victima, holocaustum (ISTotker cap. 8, ps. 15, 4, 26, 6. 33, 1. 39, 8. 41, 10. 43, 12. 22. 50, 21. 115, 17. osterfriscing, ps. 20, 3. lamp unkawemmit kakepan erdu friscing, i.e. lamb unblemished given to earth a sacrifice, Hymn 7, 10), except as a reminiscence of heathenism ? The Jewish paschal lamb would not suggest it, for in friscing the idea of porcellus was predominant. — In the North, the expiatory boar, sdnargoltr, offered to Freyr, was a periodical sacri- fice; and Sweden has continued down to modern times the practice of baking loaves and cakes on Yule-eve in the shape of a boar. This golden-bristled boar has left his track in inland Germany too. According to popular belief in Thuringia,^ whoever on Christmas eve abstains from all food till suppertime, will get sight of a young golden pig, i.e. in olden times it was brought up last at the even- ing banquet. A Lauterbach ordinance (weisthum) of 1589 decreed (3, 369), that unto a court holden the day of the Three-kings, therefore in Yule time, the holders of farm-steads (hiibner) should furnish a clean goldferch (gold-hog) gelded while yet under milk ; it was led round the benches, and no doubt slaughtered afterwards.^ So among the Welsh, the swine offered to the gods

1 Ducange sub v. Eccard Fr. or. 2, 677. Dorows denkm. I. 2, 55. Lacom- blet 1, 327. Grati" 3, 833. Sclimeller wtb. 1, 619.

2 Gutgesells beitr. zur gesch. des deutschen alterthums, Meiningen 1834, p. 138.

^ This passage from the Lauterb. ordin. I can now match by another from those of Vinkbuch in the Alamann country. It says 1, 436 ; the provost shall pick out in the convent a swine worth 7 schilling pfennig, and as soon as harvest begins, let it into the convent crewyard, -where it must be allowed generous fare and free access to the corn ; there it is left till the Thursday after St. Adolf's day, when it is slaughtered and divided, half to the farm-bailiff, half to the parish ; on the same day there is also a distribution of bread and cheese to the parish. — The price of seven shillings tallies with the seven and a half fi.xed by the Lauterb. ordin., and is a high one, far exceeding the ordinary value (conf GiJtt. anz. 1827, pp. 336-7) ; it was an arrangement long continued and often employed in these ordinances, and one well suited to a beast selected for sacrifice. The Lauterbach goldferch, like that of Vinkbuch, is doled out and consumed at a festive meal ; the assize itself is named alter it (3, 370) ; at Vinkbuch the heathenish name only has been forgotten or suppressed. Assuredly such assize-feasts were held in other parts of Germany too. St. Adolf was a bishop of Straszburg, his day falls on August 29 or 30 (Conr. v. Dankr. namenb. p. 117), and the assize therefore in the beginning of September. Swine are slaughtered for the household when winter sets in, in Nov. or Dec. ; and as both of these by turns are called schlachtmoivat, there might linger iu

52 WOESEIP.

became one destined for the King's table. It is the 'sivin ealgylden, eofor irenheard ' of the Anglo-Saxons, and of its exact relation to the worship of Froho (Freyr) we have to treat more in detail by and by. The Greeks sacrificed swine to Demeter (Ceres), who as Nerthus stands very near to NiorSr, Freyr and Freyja,

Rams, Goats (see Suppl.). — As friscing came to mean victima, so conversely a name for animal sacrifice, Goth. sauSs, seems to have given rise to the OjST. name for the animal itself, sau&r=^Qi\Qv. This species of sacrifice was therefore not rare, though it is seldom expressly mentioned, probably as being of small value. Only the saga Hakonar goGa cap. 16 informs us : ];ar var oc drepinn (killed) allskonar small, ok sva hross. Small {firj\a) denotes principally sheep, also more generally the small beasts of the flock as opposed to oxen and horses, and as ' alls . konar (omnis generis) ' is here added, it seems to include goats. The sacrifice of he-goats (hircos) is spoken of in the above-quoted Epist. Bonif. 82. In the Swedish superstition, the water-sprite, before it wiU teach any one to play the harp, requires the sacrifice of a llach lamb ; Svenska folkv. 2, 128. Gregory the Great speaks once of she-goats being sacrificed ; he says the Langobards offer to the devil, i.e.,io one of their gods, caput caprae, hoc ei, per circuitum currentes, carmine nefando dedicantes ; Dial. 3, 28. This head of a she-goat (or he-goat ?) was reared aloft, and the people bowed before it. The halloiclng of a he-goat among the ancient Prussians is well known (Luc. David 1, 87, 98). The Slavonian god Triglav is represented with three goats' heads (Hanka's zbjrka 23). If that Langobardic ' carmen nefandum ' had been preserved, we could judge more exactly of the rite than from the report of the holy father, who viewed it with hostile eyes.

About other sacrificial beasts we cannot be certain, for of Diet- mar's dogs and hawks and cocks, hardly any but the last are to be depended on (see Sup^^l.). But even then, what of domestic poultry, fowls, geese, pigeons ? The dove was a Jewish and christian

this also a reference to heathen sacrifices ; an AS. name for Xov. is expressly tWtmoneS. The common man at his yearly slaughtering gets up a feast, and sends meat and sausages to his neighbours (conf. maiichli, Stalder 2, 525), which may be a survival of the common sacrifice and distribution of flesh. It is remarkable that in Sei-via too, at the solemn burning of the badnyak, which is exactly like the yule-log (ch. XX, Fires), a ivhole swine is roasted, and often a sucking fig along with it ; Vuk's Montenegro, pji. 103-4.

SACRIFICE. 06

sacrifice, the Greeks offered cocks to Asklepios, and in Touraine a white cock used to be sacrificed to St. Christopher for the cure of a bad finger (Henri Estienne cap. 38, 6). Of game, doubtless only those fit to eat were fit to sacrifice, stags, roes, wild boars, but never bears, wolves or foxes, who themselves possess a ghostly being, and receive a kind of worship. Yet one might suppose that for expiation uneatable beasts, equally with men, might be offered, just as slaves and also hounds and falcons followed the burnt body of their master. Here we must first of all place Adam of Bremen's descrip- tion (4, 27) of the great sacrifice at Upsala by the side of Dietmar's account of that at Hlethra (see p. 48) : — Solet quoque post novevi annos communis omnium Sveoniae provinciarum solennitas celebrari, ad quam nulli praestatur immunitas ; reges et populi, omnes et singuli sua dona ad Ubsolam transmittunt, et, quod omni poena crudelius est, illi qui jam induerunt christianitatem ab illis ceremoniis se redimunt. Sacrificium itaque tale est : ex omni animante quod masculinum est, novem capita offeruntur ; quorum sanguine deos tales placari mos est. Corpora autem suspenduntur in lucum qui proximus est templo. Is enim lucus tam sacer est gentilibus, ut singulae arbores ejus ex morte vel tabo immolatorum divinae credantur. Ibi etiam canes, qui pendent cum hominibus, quorum corpora mixtim suspensa narravit mihi quidam christian- orum se scptuaginta duo vidisse. Ceterum naeniae, quae in ejusmodi ritibus libatoriis fieri solent, multiplices sunt et inhonestae, ideoque melius reticendae. — The number nine is prominent in this Swedish sacrificial feast, exactly as in the Danish ; but here also all is conceived in the spirit of legend. First, the heads of victims seem the essential thing again, as among the Franks and Langobards; then the dogs come in support of those Hlethra * hounds and hawks,' but at the same time remind us of the old judicial custom of hanging up wolves or dogs by the side of criminals (RA. 685-6). That only the viale sex of every living creature is here to be sacrificed, is in sti"ilcing accord with an episode in the Eeinardus, which was composed less than a century after Adam, and in its groundwork might well be contemporary with him. At the wedding of a king, the males of all quadrupeds and birds were to have been slaughtered, but the cock and gander had made their escape. It looks to me like a legend of the olden time, which still circulated in the ll-12lh centuries, and which even a nursery-tale (No. 27, the Town-

54 WOKSHIP.

musicians) knows something of.^ Anyhow, in heathen times male animals seem to be in special demand for sacrifice.^ As for killincr one of every species (and even Agathias's koL aWa arra /xvpia does not come up to that), it would be such a stupendous affair, that its actual execution could never have been conceivable ; it can only have existed in popular tradition. It is something like the old Mirror of Saxony and that of Swabia assuring us that every living creature present at a deed of rapine, whether oxen, horses, cats, dogs, fowls, geese, swine or men, had to be beheaded, as well as the actual delinquent (in real fact, only when they were his property) f or like the Edda relating how oaths were exacted of all animals and plants, and all beings were required to weep. The creatures belonging to a man, his domestic animals, have to suffer with him in case of cremation, sacrifice or punishment.

Next to the kind, stress was undoubtedly laid on the colour of the animal, tvJiite being considered the most favourable. White horses are often spoken of (Tac. Germ. 10. Weisth. 3, 301. 311. 831), even so far back as the Persians (Herod. 1, 189). The friscing of sacrifice was probably of a spotless white ; and in later law- records snoiv-whitc pigs are pronounced inviolable.* The Votiaks sacrificed a red stallion, the Tcheremisses a tohite. When under the old German law dun or pied cattle were often required in pay- ment of fines and tithes, this might have some connexion with sacrifices^; for witchcraft also, animals of a particular hue were requisite. The water-sprite demanded a hlack lamb, and the huldres have a Hack lamb and hlack cat offered up to them (Asb. 1. 159). Saxo Gram. p. 16 says; rem divinam facere fnrvis hostiis ; does that mean hlack beasts ? — We may suppose that cattle were

1 Or will any one trace this incident in the Reynard to the words of the Vnlgate in Matt. 22, 4 : tauri mei et altilia occisa sunt, venite ad nuptias ; which merely describe the preparations for the wedding-feast ? Any liint about males is just what the passage lacks.

^ The Greeks ofiered male animals to god?., female to goddesses, II. 3, 103 : a white male lamb to Helios (sun), a hlack eive lamb to Ge (earth). Tiie Lithuanians sacrificed to their earthgod Zemiennik utriusque sexus domestica animalia ; Haupt's zeitschr. 1, 141.

^ Reyscher and Wilda zeitschr. fiir deutsches recht 5, 17, 18.

• RA. 261. 594. Weisth. 3, 41. 46. 69. conf. Virg. Aen. 8, 82 : Candida cum foetu concolor albo sus ; and the Umbrian : trif apruf rufru ute fciu (tres apros rubros aut piceos), Aufrecht und Kirchh. umbr. si^rachd. 2, 278-9.

s RA. 587. 667. Weisth. 1, 498. 3, 430. White animals hateful to the gods ; Tettau and Temme preuss. sag. 42.

SACEIFICE, 55

garlanded and adorned for sacrifice. A passage in the Edda requires gold-horned cows, Saem. 141* ; and in the village of Fienstadt in Mansfeld a coal-black ox with a white star and white feet, and a he-goat with gilded horns were imposed as dues.^ There are indi- cations that the animals, before being slaughtered, were led round within the circle of the assembly — that is how I explain the leading round the benches, and ^^e?' circuituni currere, pp. 51, 52 — perhaps, as among the Greeks and Romans, to give them the appearance of going voluntarily to death^ (see Suppl.). Probably care had to be taken also that the victim should not have been used in the service of man, e.g., that the ox had never drawn plough or waggon. For such colts and bullocks are required in our ancient law-records at a formal transfer of land, or the ploughing to death of removers of landmarks.

On the actual procedure in a sacrifice, we have scarcely any information except from Norse authorities. While the animal laid down its life on the sacrificial stone, all the streaming blood (ON. hlaut) was caught either in a hollow dug for the purpose, or in vessels. With this gore they smeared the sacred vessels and utensils, and sprinkled the participants.^ Apparently divination was performed by means of the blood, perhaps a part of it was mixed with ale or mead, and drunk. In the North the blood- bowls (hX^wibollar, hloibollar) do not seem to have been large ; some nations had big cauldrons made for the purpose (see Suppl.). The Swedes were taunted by Olafr Tryggvason with sitting at home and licking their sacrificial pots, ' at sitja heima ok sleikja hlot- holla sina,' Fornm. sog. 2, 309. A cauldron of the Cimbri is noticed in Strabo 7, 2 : e^o? 8e ri rwv Klfi/Spcov BLrjyovvTaL tocovtov, on Tal<s jvvai^lv avrcjv avarpaTevovcraLf; irapriKoXovOovv 7rpo/jidvTet<i lepeiai TroXAor/at^e?, \ev)(eliJiove<i, Kapiraalva'^ e^aTrr/Sa? eViTreTTop-

1 Neue mitth. des thiiv. siiclis. vereins V. 2, 131, conf. II. 10, 292. Od. 3, 382 :

o"oi 8 av iyoi pi^co ^ovv tJvlv, evpvfJLfrconov,

u8fJ.r]TT]i), ijv oi/'tto) vtto ^vyoi/ 'jyayev dui'jp •

TTjv Toi iyui pf^co, )(^pvaov Kfpacriv 7rfpt.)(evas. ^ Oc eingii skyldi tortyna hvurki I'e ne monnuni, neiiia sialft gengi i hurt. Eyrb. saga, ix 10. And none shoiald they kill (tortima 0 neither beast nor man, unless of itself it ran a-tilt.

^ Saga Hakonar g6?a, cap. 16. Eyrb. saga p. 10. rauS horgin, reddened the (stone) altar, Fornald. sog. 1, 413. stalla lata rioSa bloSi, 1, 454. 527. Stem. 114'^ rioiSutiih bloSinu hl6ttre, Fornald. sog. 1, 512. the Grk ai/xa r« ^o>}i(o TTfpixffiv. conf. E.xod. 24, 8.

56 WORSHIP.

irr^jjiivaL, ^ojcrfia ')(CLkKovv e^ovaat, 'yvfivoTroSe'i • Totf ovv al)(jiaXu)- T0t9 hia Tov arparoTTeSov avv^VTcov ^t(f>7]peL<; ' Karaare-^aaai 8' avroii<i rjr^ov eVl k p arr) p a ')(^a\Kovv, oaov d/Kpopecov e'cKoai, • et;^oy Se ava^dOpav, tjv dva/3d<Ta (jj fidvTt'?) uTre/OTrerr/? tov X e y3 t; t o 9 eXaifiOTo/xeL eKaarov fierecopiadevra' etc he tov 7rpo-)(^eofievov aL/u,aTO<i et? TOV Kparrjpa, fxavTe'iav Tcvd eiroiovvTo} Another cauldron of the Suevi, in the Life of St. Cohimban : Sunt etenim inibi vicinae nationes Suevorum ; quo cum moraretur, et inter habitatores illius loci progrederetur, reperit eos sacrificium profanum litare velle, vasque magnum, quod vulgo cwpam vocant, quod viginti et sex modios amplius minusve capiebat, cerevisia plenum in medio habe- bant positum. Ad quod vir Dei accessit et sciscitatur, quid de illo fieri vellent ? Illi aiunt : deo suo Wodano, quem Mercurium vocant alii, se velle litare. Jonas Bobbiensis, vita Columb. (from the first half of the 7tli cent. Mabillon ann. Bened. 2, 26). Here we are expressly told that the cauldron was filled with ale, and not that the blood of a victim was mixed with it ; unless the narrative is incomplete, it may have meant only a drink-offering.

Usually the cauldron served to cook, i.e. boil, the victim's flesh ; it never was roasted. Thus Herodotus 4, 61 describes a boiling (eyp-eiv) of the sacrifice in the great cauldron of the Scythians. From this seething, according to my conjecture, the ram was called smips, and those who took part in the sacrifice sudiiautar (partakers of the sodden), Gutalag p. 108 ; the boilings, the cauldrons and pots of witches in later times may be connected with this.^ The distri- bution of the pieces among the people was probably undertaken by a priest ; on great holidays the feast^ was held there and then in the assembly, on other occasions each person might doubtless take

^ ' They say the Cimbri had this custom, that their women marching with them were accompanied by priestess-proplietesses, gray-haired, wliite-robed, with a linen scarf buckled over the shoulder, wearing a brazen girdle, and bare-footed ; these met the prisoners in the camp, sword in hand, and having crowned them, led them to a brass hasin as large as 30 amphorsB (180 gals) ; and they had a ladder, which the priestess mounted, and standing over the basin, cut the throat of each as he was handed up. With the blood that gushed into the basin, they made a prophecy.'

^ The trolds too, a kind of elves, have a wpiper kettle in the Norw. saga, Faye 11 ; the christians long believed in a Saturni dolium, and in a large cauldron in hell (chaudiere, Meon 3, 284-5).

^ They also ate the strong broth and the fat swimming at the top. The heathen offer their king Hakon, on his refusing the flesh, drecka sot^it and eta Jlotit ; Saga Hakonar goSa cap. 18. conf. Forum, sog. 10, 381.

SACKIFICE. 57

his share home with him. That priests and people really ate the food, appears from a number of passages (conf. above, p. 46). The Capitularies 7, 405 adopt the statement in Epist. Bonif. cap. 25 (an. 732) of a Christian ' presbyter Jovi mactans, et immolatitias carnes vescens,' only altering it to ' diis mactanti, et immolatitiis carnibus vescenti'. We may suppose that private persons were allowed to offer small gifts to the gods on particular occasions, and consume a part of them ; this the Christians called ' more gentilium offerre, et ad honorem daemonum comedere,' Capit. de part. Sax. 20. It is likely also, that certain nobler parts of the animal were assigned to the gods, the head, liver, heart, tongue} The head and skin of slaughtered game were suspended on trees in honour of them (see SuppL).

Whole lurntofferings, where the animal was converted into ashes on the pile of wood, do not seem to have been in use. The Goth, allhrunsts ]\Ik 12, 33 is made merely to translate the Gk. 6\o/cavT(o/na, so the OHG. alhrandopher, N. ps. 64, 2 ; and the AS. hryncgield onhred& rommes bloSe, Coedm. 175, 6. 177, 18 is meant to express purely a burntoffering in the Jewish sense.^

Neither were incense-offerings used ; the sweet incense of the christians was a new thing to the heathen. Ulphilas retains the Gk. tliymiama Lu. 1, 10. 11 ; and our weih-rauch (holy-reek), 0. Sax. wiroc Hel. 3, 22, and the OK reykelsi, Dan. rogelse are formed according to christian notions (see SuppL).

While the sacrifice of a slain animal is more sociable, more universal, and is usually offered by the collective nation or community ; fruit or flowers, milk or honey is what any household, or even an individual may give. These Fruit-offerings are therefore more solitary and paltry ; history scarcely mentions them, but they have lingered the longer and more steadfastly in popular customs (see SuppL).

When the husbandman cuts his corn, he leaves a clump of ears standing for the god who blessed the harvest, and he adorns it with

^ yXo}(T(Ta Koi Koikla (tongue and entrail.-^) lepetov SianeTTpayfifvov, Phitarcli, Phoc. 1. yXayacras rdfiveiv and eV irvpl /iiuXXeti/, Od. 3, 332. 341. conf. De linguae usu in sacriliciis, Nitzsch ad Horn. Od. 1, 207. In the folk-tales, who- ever has to kill a man or beast, is told to bring in proof the tongue or heart, apparently as being eminent portions.

• aiav. 2}dliti obiet, to kindle an offering, Koniginh. hs, 98.

58 -■ WORSHIP.

ribbons. To this day, at a fruit-gathering in Holstein, five or six apples are left hanging on each tree, and then the next crop will thrive. More striking examples of this custom will be given later, in treat- ing of individual gods. But, just as tame and eatable animals were especially available for sacrifice, so are fruit-trees (frugiferae arbores, Tac. Germ. 10), and grains; and at a formal transfer of land, boughs covered with leaves, apples or nuts are used as earnest of the bargain. The MHG. poet (Fundgr. II, 25) describes Cain's sacrifice in the words : ' eine garb er nam, er wolte sie oppheren mit cheren joch mit agcnen' a sheaf he took, he would offer it with ears and eke with spikes : a formula expressing at once the upper part or beard (arista), and the whole ear and stalk (spica) as well. Under this head we also put the crowning of the divine image, of a sacred tree or a sacrificed animal with foliage or floioers ; not the faintest trace of this appears in the Norse sagas, and as little in our oldest documents. From later times and surviving folk-tales I can bring forward a few things. On Ascension day the girls in more than one part of Germany twine garlands of white and red flowers, and hang them up in the dwellingroom or over the cattle in the stable, where they remain till replaced by fresh ones the next year.^ At the village of Questenberg in the Ilarz, on the third day in Whitsuntide, the lads carry an oak up the castle-hill which overlooks the whole district, and, when they have set it upright, fasten to it a large garland of branches of trees plaited together, and as big as a cartwheel. They all shout ' the qucste {i.e. garland) hangs,' and then they dance round the tree on the hill top - both tree and garland are renewed every year.^ ISIot far from the Meisner mountain in Hesse stands a high precipice with a cavern opening under it, which goes by the name of the Hollow Stone. Into this cavern every Easter Monday the youths and maidens of the neighbouring villages carry nosegays, and then draw some cooling water. No one will venture down, unless he has flowers with him.^ The lands in some Hessian townships have to pay a hunch of mayflov)ers (lilies of the valley) every year for rent.* In all these examples, which can easily be multiplied, a heathen

1 Bragnr VI. 1, 126.

2 Otmars volkssagen, pp. 128-9. What is told of tlie origin of the custom seems to be fiction.

^ Wigands archiv 6, 317,

• Wigands archiv 6, 318. Casselsches wochenbl. 1815, p. 928*'.

MINNE-DRINKING. 59

practice seems to have been transferred to christian festivals and offerings.^

As it was a primitive and widespread custom at a iDanquet to set aside a part of the food for tlie household gods, and particularly to place a dish of 'broth before Berhta and Hulda, the gods were also invited to share the festive drink. The drinker, before taking any himself, would pour some out of his vessel for the god or house- sprite, as the Lithuanians, when they drank beer, spilt some of it on the ground for their earth-goddess Zemynele.^ Compare with this the Norwegian sagas of Thor, who appears at weddings when invited, and takes up and empties huge casks of ale. — I will now turn once more to that account ot the Suevic ale-fuh (cupa) in Jonas (see p. 56), and use it to explain the heathen practice of viinne- drinking, which is far from being extinct under Christianity. Here also both name and custom appear common to all the Teutonic races.

The Gothic man (pi. munum, pret. munda) signified I think ; gaman (pi. gamunum, pret. gamunda) I bethink me, I remember. From the same verb is derived the OHG. minna = minia amor, minnon = minion amare, to remember a loved one. In the ON. lansuase we have the same man, munum, and also minni memoria, minna recordari, but the secondary meaning of amor was never developed.

It was customary to honour an absent or deceased one by making mention of him at ■ the assembly or the banquet, and draining a goblet to his memory: this goblet, this draught was called in ON. crfi dryckja, or again minni (erfi = funeral feast).

At grand sacrifices and banquets the god or the gods were remembered, and their minni drunk: minnis-ol (ale), Sa^m. 119'' (opposed to ominnis ol), minnis-\orn, minnis-ixxM (cupful), furo minni morg, ok skyldi horn dreckia 1 minni hvert (they gave many a m., and each had to drink a horn to the m.). um golf ganga at minnom oUum, Egilss. 206. 253. minniol signod' a.som, Olafs helga.

^ Beside cattle and grain? other valuables were offered to particular gods and in special cases, as even in christian times voyagers at sea e.g., would vow a silver sliip to their church as a votive gift ; in Swedish folk-songs, offra en (jryta af malm (vessel of metal), Arvidss. 2, 11(5 ; en giyta af blankaste malm (of silver) Ahlqvists Ohind II. 1, 214 ; also articles of clothing, e.g. red shoes.

' In the Teut. languages I know of no technical term like the Gk. aivivba, Xfi'/So), Lat. libo, for drink-offerings (see SiippL).

60 WORSHIP.

saga (ed. holm.) 113. signa is the German segnen to bless, conse- crate, signa full OSni, Thor. OSins full, MarSar full, Freys fall drecka, Saga Hakonar goSa cap. 16.18. In the Herrau5s-saga cap. 11, Thor's, OSin's and Freya's minne is drunk. At the burial of a king there was brought up a goblet called Bragafull (funeral toast cup), before which every one stood up, took a solemn vow, and emptied it, Yngl. saga cap. 40 ; other passages have hragarfuU, Stem. 146^ Fornald. sog. 1, 345, 417. 515. The goblet was also called minnisvcig (swig, draught), Sa3m. 193^ After conversion they did not give up the custom, but drank the minne of Christ, Mary, and the saints : Krists minni, Michaels minni, Fornm. sog.

1, 162. 7, 148. In the Fornm. sog. 10, 1781, St. Martin demands of Olaf that his minni be proposed instead of those of Thor, OSin, and the other ases.

The other races were just as little weaned from the practice ; only where the term minne had changed its meaning, it is trans- lated by the Lat. amor instead of memoria ;^ notably as early as in Liutprand, hist. 6, 7 (Muratori II. 1, 473), and Liutpr. hist. Ott. 12: diaboli in aniorcm vinum bibere. Liutpr. antapod. 2, 70 : amoris salutisque mei causa bibito. Liutpr. leg. 65 : potas in amo^x heati Johannis prsecursoris. Here the Baptist is meant, not the Evan- gelist; but in the Fel. Faber evagat. 1, 148 it is distinctly the latter. In Eckehard casus S. Galli, Pertz 2, 84: amoreque, ut nioris est, osculato et epoto, laetabundi discedunt. In the Rudlieb

2, 162:

post poscit vinum Gerdrudis amove, quod haustum participat nos tres, postremo basia fingens, quando vale dixit post nos gemit et benedixit.

In the so-called Liber occultus, according to the Munchen MS., at

the description of a scuffle :

hujus ad edictum nullus plus percutit ictum, sed per clamorem poscunt Gertrudis amorem.

In the Peregrinus, a 13th cent. Latin poem, v. 335 (Leyser 2114) : et rogat ut potent sanctae Gertrudis amove, ut possent omni prosperitate frui.

1 The 12th cent, poem Von dem gelouben 1001 says of the institution of the Lord's Supper, whose cup is also a drink of remembrance to Christians : den cof nam er mit dem wine, imde scgente darinne ein vil guote mmne. Lout. loving cuf, Tliom's Ai.ecd. 82.

MINXE-DRINKIXG. 61

At Erelc's departure : der wirt neig im an den fuoz, ze hand truog cr im do ze heiles gewinne sant Gertrude Tninnc, Er. 4015. The armed champion 'tranc sant Johannes segcn,' Er. 8651. Hagene, while killing Etzel's child, says, Nib. 1897, 3 :

nn trinken wir die minne unde gelten skiincges win,

iz mac anders niht gesin

wan trinkt imd geltet Ezeln win ; Helbl. G, 160. 14. 86.

Here the very word gcltcn recalls the meaning it had acquired in connexion with sacrificing ; conf. Schm. 2, 40. si do zucten di suert unde scancten eine minne (drew their swords and poured out a m.), Herz. Ernst in Hoffm. fundgr. 1, 230, 35. minne schenken, Berthold 276-7. sant Johannis minne geben, Oswald 611. 1127. 1225 (see Suppl.). No doubt the same thing that was afterwards called ' einen ehrenwein schenken ' ; for even in our older speech era, ere denoted verehrung, reverence shown to higher and loved beings.

In the Mid. Ages then, it was two saints in particular that had minne drunk in honour of them, John tlie evangelist and Gertrude. John is said to have drunk poisoned wine without hurt, hence a drink consecrated to him prevented all danger of poisoning. Gertrude revered John above all saints, and therefore her memory seems to have been linked with his. But she was also esteemed as a peacemaker, and in the Latinarius metricus of a certain Andreas rector scholarum she is invoked :

0 pia Gerdrudis, quae pacis commoda cudis bellaque concludis, nos caeli mergito ludis !

A clerk prayed her daily, ' dass sie ilim schueffe herberg guot,' to find him lodging good; and in a MS. of the 15th cent, we are informed : aliqui dicunt, quod quando anima egressa est, tunc prima nocte pernoctabit cum beata Gerdrude, secunda nocte cum arch- angelis, sed tertia nocte vadit sicut diffinitum est de ea. This remarkable statement will be found further on to apply to Freya, of whom, as well as of Hulda and Eerhta, Gertrude reminds us the more, as she was represented spinning. Both John's and Ger- trude's minne used especially to be drunk by parting friends, travellers and lovers of peace, as the passages quoted have shown. I know of no older testimony to Gertrude's minne (which presup- poses John's) than that in Paidlieb ; in later centuries we find

62 WORSHIP.

plenty of tliem : der brahte ., mir sant Johans segen, Ls. 3, 336. sant Johans scgen txvak&n, Ls. 2, 262. ich daht an sant t/(?/^.a?^s minne, Ls. 2, 264. varn (to fare) mit sant Gertr'Ade minne, Anigb. 33*^. setz sant Johans ze blirgen mir, daz du komest gesunt lierwider scliier, Hatzl. 191''. sant Johannes namen trinken, Altd. bl. 413. sant Gertrude minne, Cod. kolocz. 72. trinken sant Johannes scgen und scheiden von dem lande, Morolt. 3103. diz ist sancte Johans minne, Cod. pal, 364, 158. S. Johans segen trinken, Anshelm 3, 416. Johans segen, Fischart gescli. kl. 99^ Simpliciss. 2, 262.^

Those Suevi then, whom Columban was approaching, were pro- bably drinking Wuotan's minne ; Jonas relates how the saint blew the whole vessel to pieces and spoilt their pleasure : manifesto datnr intelligi, diaholum in eo vase fuisse occultatum, qui per pro- fanum litatorem caperet animas sacrificantium. So by Liutprand's devil, whose minne is drunk, we may suppose a heathen god to have been meant, (jcfa priggja sdlda 61 OSni (give three tuns of ale to OSinn), Fornm. sog. 2, 16. gefa Thor ok 0(5ni 61, ok signa fidl asum, ibid. 1, 280. drecka minni Thors ok OGins, ibid. 3, 191. As the North made the sign of Thor's hammer, christians used the cross for the blessing (segnung) of the cup ; conf. poculum signare, Walthar. 225, precisely the Norse sig7ia full.

Minne-drinking, even as a religious rite, apparently exists to this day in some parts of Germany. At Otbergen, a village of Hildesheim, on Dec. 27 every year a chalice of wine is hallowed by the priest, and handed to the congregation in the church to drink as Johannis segen (blessing) ; it is not done in any of the neigh- bouring places. In Sweden and Norway we find at Candlemas a dricka eldhorgs skcd, drinking a toast (see Superst. Z:;, Swed. 122).

1 Thomasius de poculo S. Johannis vulgo Johannistrunk, Lips. 1675. Scheffers HaUans p. 165. Oberlin s. vb. Johannis minn und trunk. Schmeller 2,593. Hannov. mag. 1830, 171-6. Ledeburs archiv 2, 189. On Gertrude espec, Huyd. op St. 2, 343-5. Clignett's bidr. 392-411. Hoffni. horae belg. 2, 41-8. Antiqvariske annaler 1, 313. Hanka's Bohem. glosses 79'' 132* render Johannis amor by suxitd mma (holy m.). And in that Slovenic docu- ment, the Freysinger MS. (Kopitar's Glagolita xxxyii, conf. xliii) is the combination : da klanyamse, i modlimse, im i tchesti ich piyem, i obieti nashe im nesem (ut genutiecttmius et precemur eis et honores eorum bibamus et obli- gationes nostras illis feramus); tchest is honor, Ti^rj, cultus, our old era ; but I also find slava (fame, glory) used in the sense of minne, and in a Servian song (Vuk, 1 no. 94) wine is drunk ' za slave bozhye ' to the glory of God. In the Finnish mythology is mentioned an Ukkon malja, bowl of Ukko ; malja = Swed. skal, strictly scutella, potatio in memoriam vel sanitatem.

MINNE-DRINKING. 63

Now that Suevic cnpa filled with beer (p. 75) was a hallowed sacrificial cauldron, like that which the Cimbri sent to the emperor Augustus.^ Of the Scythian cauldron we have already spoken, p. 75 ; and we know what part the cauldron plays in the Hymis- qviSa and at the god's judgment on the seizure of the cauldron (by Thor from giant Hymir). Nor ought we to overlook the ON. proper names Ashctill, Thorhctill (abbrev. Thorkel) AS. Oscytcl (Kemble 2, 302) ; they point to kettles consecrated to the as and to Tlior.

Our knowledge of heathen antiquities will gain both by the study of these drinking usages which have lasted into later times, and also of the shapes given to laked meeds, which either retained the actual forms of ancient idols, or were accompanied by sacrificial observances. A history of German cakes and bread-rolls might contain some unexpected disclosures. Thus the Indicul. superstit. 26 names simidacra de consparsa farina. Baked figures of animals seem to have represented animals that were reverenced, or the attributes of a god.^ From a striking passage in the Fridthiofssaga (fornald. sog. 2, 86) it appears that the heathen at a disa blot halced images of gods and smeared them with oil : ' satu konur viS eldinn ok bokuSu goSin, en sumar smurSu ok J?erSu meS dukum,' women sat by the fire and baked the gods, while some anointed them with cloths. By Fri(5]?iof's fault a baked Baldr falls into the fire, the fat blazes up, and the house is burnt down. According to Voetius de superstit. 3, 122 on the day of Paul's conversion they placed a figure of straw before the hearth on which they were baking, and if it brought a fine bright day, they anointed it with butter ; other- wise they kicked it from the hearth, smeared it with dirt, and threw it in the water.

Much therefore that is not easy to explain in popular offerings and rites, as the colour of animals (p. 54), leading the boar round (p. 51), flowers (p. 58), minne-drinking (p. 59), even the shape of cakes, is a reminiscence of the sacrifices of heathenism (see Suppl.).

^ eneii-^av ra 2f/3n(TTa) 8S)pov rov Upmrarov Trap' avroi^ Xe^rjra, tlie most sacred cauldron tney had, Strabo VII. 2.

• Baking in the shape of a boar must have been much more widely spread than in the North alone, see below, Fn'j's boar ; even in France they baked cochelins lor New Year's day, Mem. de I'ac. celt. 4, 429.

64 WORSHIP.

Beside prayers and sacrifices, one essential feature of the heatlien cultus remains to be brought out : the solemn carryinfj about of divine images. The divinity was not to remain rooted to one spot, but at various times to bestow its presence on the entire compass of the land (see ch. XIV). So Nerthus rode in state (in- vehebatur populis),and Berecynthia (ch. XIII), so Fro travelled out in spring, so the sacred ship, the sacred plough was carried round (ch. XIII Isis). The figure of the unknown Gothic god rode in its waggon (ch. VI). Fetcliing-in the Summer or May, carrying-out Winter and Death, are founded on a similai»view. Holda, Berhta and the like beings all make their circuit at stated seasons, to the heathen's joy and the christian's terror ; even the march of Wuotan's host may be so interpreted (conf. ch. XXXI. Frau Gaudeu). When Fro had ceased to appear, Dietrich with the ber (boar) and Dietrich Bern still showed themselves (ch. X. XXXI), or the sonargoltr (atonement-boar) was conveyed to the heroes' banquet (ch. X), and the boar led round the benches (p. 51), Among public legal observances, the progress of a newly elected king along the highways, the solemn lustration of roads, the beating of bounds, at which in olden times gods' images and priests can hardly have been wanting, are all the same kind of thing. After the conversion, the church permanently sanctioned such processions, except that the Madonna and saints' images were carried, particu- larly when drought, bad crops, pestilence or war had set in, so as to bring back rain (ch. XX), fertility of soil, healing and victory ; sacred images were even carried to help in putting out a fire. The Indicul. paganiar. XXVIII tells ' de simulacra quod per camjyos portant' on which Eccard 1, 437 gives an important passage from the manuscript Vita Marcsvidis (not Maresvidis) : statuimus ut annuatim secunda feria pentecostes patronum ecclesiae in parochiis vestris lo7i(/o amUtu circumfcrentes et domos vestras lustrantes, et pro gcntilitio amlarvali in lacrymis et varia devotione vos ipsos mactetis et ad refectionem pauperum eleemosynam comportetis, et in hac curti pernoctantes super reliquias vigiliis et cantibus solennisetis, ut praedicto mane determinatum a vobis amhitum pia lustratione com- plentes ad monasterium cum honore debito reportetis. Confido autem de patroni hujus misericordia, quod sic ah ea gyrade terrae semina liberius proveniant, et variae aeris inclementiae ccssent. The Koman ambarvalia were purifications of fields, and sacrifices were

PROCESSIONS. 65

offered at the terminus publicus ; the May lirocession and the riding of hounds and roads during the period of German heathenism must have been very similar to them. On the Gabel-heath in Mecklen- burg the Wends as late as the 15th century walked round the budding corn with loud cries ; Giesebrecht 1, 87

CHAPTER IV. TEMPLES.

In our inquiries on the sacred dwelling-places of the gods, it will be safest to begin, as before, with expressions which preceded the christian terms temple and church, and were supplanted by them.

The Gothic alhs fem. translates the Jewish- Christian notions of mo? (Matt. 27, 5. 51. Mk. 14, 58. 15, 29. Lu. 1, 9. 21. 2 Cor. 6, 16) and iep6v (Mk. 11, 11. IG. 27. 12, 35. 14, 49. Lu. 2, 27. 46. 4, 9. 18, 10. 19, 45. John 7, 14. 28. 8, 20. 59. 10, 23). To the Goth it would be a time-hallowed word, for it shares the anomaly of several such nouns, forming its gen. alhs, dat. alh, instead of alhais, alhai. Once only, John 18, 20, gudhiis stands for lepov ; the simple hus never has the sense of domus, which is rendered razn. Why should Ulphilas disdain to apply the heathen name to the christian thing, when the equally heathen templum and va6<i were found quite inoffensive for christian use ?

Possibly the same word appears even earlier ; namely in Tacitus, Germ. 43 : apud Naharvalos antiquae religionis lucus ostenditur ; praesidet sacerdos muliebri ornatu, sed deos interpretatione romana Castorem Pollucemque memorant. Ea vis numini, nomen Aids ; nulla simulacra, nullum peregrinae superstitionis vestigium. Ut fratres tamen, ut juvenes venerantur. — This alcis is either itself the nom., or a gen. of alx (as falcis of falx), which perfectly corresponds to the Gothic alhs. A pair of heroic brothers was worshipped, without any statues, in a sacred grove ; the name can hardly be ascribed to them^ it is the abode of the divinity that is called alx. Numen is here the sacred wood, or even some notable tree in it.^

1 Unless it were dat. pi. of alcus [or alca akKr)]. A Wendicliolz, Boliem. holec, which has been adduced, is not to the point, for it means strictly a bald naked wretch, a beggar boy, Pol. golec, Russ. gholiak. Besides, the Naharvali and the other Lygian nations can scarcely have been Slavs.

^ I am not convinced that numen can refer to the place. The plain sense seems to be : ' the divinity has that virtue (which the Gemini have), and the name Alcis,' or 'of Alx,' or if dat. pi., 'the Alcae, Alci '. May not Alcis be conn, with oKkt] strength, safeguard, and the dat. ciKkI pointing to a nom. aX| ; * uXkw I defend ; or even Caesar's alces and Pausanias's aXfcai elks % — Trans.

TEMPLES. 67

Four or five centuries after Ulphilas, to the tribes of Upper Germany their word alah must have had an old-fashioned heathen- ish sound, but we know it was still there, preserved in composition with proper names of places and persons (see Suppl.) : Alaholf, Alahtac, Alahhilt, Alahgund, Alahtrut ; Alahstat in pago Hassorum (a.d. 834), Schannat trad. fuld. no. 404. Alahdorp in Mulahgowe (a.d. 856), ibid. no. 476. The names Alahstat, Alahdorf may have been borne by many places where a heathen temple, a hallowed place of justice, or a house of the king stood. For, not only the fanum, but the folk-mote, and the royal residence were regarded as consecrated, or, in the language of the Mid. Ages, as frono (set apart to the fro, lord), Alstidi, a king's pfalz (palatium) in Thuringia often mentioned in Dietmar of Merseburg, was in OHG. alahsteti, nom. alahstat. Among the Saxons, who were converted later, the word kept itself alive longer. The poet of the Heliaud uses alah masc. exactly as Ulphilas does alhs (3, 20. 22. 6,2. 14,9. 32,14. 115,9. 15. 129, 22. 130, 19. 157, 16), seldomer goclcs htis loo, 8. 130, 18, or, that helaga M%s 3, 19. Caxlm. 202, 22 alhn (1. ulh hCiligne =holy temple) ; 258, 11 calhstcde (palatium, aedes regia). In Andr. 1042 I would read ' ealde ealhstcdas ' (delubra) for ' eolhstedas', conf. the proper names Ealhstdn in Kemble 1, 288. 296 and Ealh- hcard 1, 292 quasi stone-hard, rock-hard, which possibly leads us to the primary meaning of the word.^ The word is wanting in OiST. documents., else it must have had the form air, gen. als.

Of another primitive word the Gothic fragments furnish no example, the OHG. ivih (nemus), Diut. 1, 492* ; 0. Sax. vAh masc. (templum), Hel. 3, 15. 17. 19. 14,8.115,4. 119,17. 127,10. 129, 23. 130, 17. 154, 22. 169, 1 ; friduwih, Hel. 15, 19 ; AS. wih wiges, or weoh weos, also masc. : wiges (idoli), Csedm. 228, 12. Jjisne wig wurSigean (hoc idolum colere), Caedm. 228, 24. conf. wigweorSing (cultus idolorum), Beow. 350. weohweorSing Cod. exon. 253, 14. wihgild (cultus idol.), Csedm. 227,5. weobedd (ara), for weolibedd, wihbedd, Ccedm. 127, 8. weos (idola), for weohas. Cod. exon. 341, 28.— The alternation of i and eo in the AS. indicates a sliort vowel ; and in spite of the reasons I have urged in Gramm. 1, 462, the same seems to be true of the ON", vc, which in the sing., as

1 There is however a noun Hard, the name of many landing-places in the south of England, as Cracknor Hard, &c.— Tkans.

68 TEMPLES.

Ve, denotes one particular god ; but has a double pi., namely, a masc. vear dii, idola, and a neut. ve loca sacra. Gutalag 6, 108. Ill : haita a liult ej^a hauga, a vi ejja stafgar]?a (invocare lucos aut tumulos,, idola aut loca palis circumsepta) ; trua a liult, a hauga, vi oc staf- gar];a ; han standr i vi (stat in loco sacro). In that case we have here, as in alah, a term alternating between nemus, templum, fanum, idolum, numen, its root being doubtless the Gothic veiha (I hallow), vaili, vaihum, OHG. wihu, weih, wihum, from which also comes the adj. veihs sacer, OHG. wih ; and we saw on p. 41 that wihan was applied to sacrifices and M^orsliip. In Lappish, vi is said to mean silva.

Still more decisive is a third heathen word, which becomes specially important to our course of inquiry. The OHG. Jiaruc masc, pi. haruga, stands in the glosses both for fanum, Hrab. 96 o^. for delubrum, Hrab. 959^ for lucus, Hrab. 969% Jun. 212. Diut. 1, 495^ and for nemus, Dint. 1, 492^ The last gloss, in full, runs thus : ' nemus plantavit=:/t>?^si; flanzota, edo (or) Jiaruc, edo wih.' So that haruc, like will, includes on the one liand the notion of templum, fanum, and on the other that of wood, grove, lucus.^ It is remarkable that the Lex Eipuar. has preserved, evidently from heathen times, harahus to designate a place of judgment, wliich was originally a wood (RA. 794. 903), AS. Jicarg masc, pL heargas (fanum), Beda 2, 13. 3, 30. Orosius 3, 9, p. 109. heargtviBf (fani tabulatum), Beow. 349. set hcarge, Kemble, 1, 282. ON. horgr masc, pi. horgar (delubrum, at times idolum, simulacrum) Sffim. 36^ 42^ 91^ 114^ 141^ ; especially worth notice is Siem. 114*^ : hoj^gr hlaSinn steinom, griot at gleri orSit, roSit i nyio nauta bloSi (h.paven with stones, grit made smooth, reddened anew with neat's blood). Sometimes Iidrg/^ is coupled with hof (fanum, tectum), 36=^ 141% in which case the former is the holy place amidst woods and rocks, the built temple, aula ; conf. ' liamarr ok liorgrl Fornm. sog. 5, 239. To both expressions belongs the notion of the place as well

■^ And in one place liaraga = arae. Elsewhere the heathen term for altar, Gk /3a)/x6y, was Goth, hiuds, OHG. fiot, AS. heoA, strictly a table (p. 38) ; likewise the Goth, hadi, OHG. fdti, AS. hed, hedd (lectus, p. 30) gets to mean ara, areola, fanum, conf. AS. wihbed, weohbed, weobed, afterwards distorted into loeofed (ara, altare), OHG. kotapetti (gods'-bed, lectus, pulvinar templi), Graff 3, 51 ; with which compare Brunhild's bed and the like, also the Lat. lectister- nium. 'Ad altare S. Kiliani, quod vulgo lectus dicitur,' Lang reg. 1, 239. 255 (A.D. 1160-5) ; (see Suppl.).

GPtOVES. 69

as that of tlic nunien and the image itself (see Supj)!.). Hariic seems unconnected with the 0. Lat. haruga, amga, bull of sacrifice, whence hanispex, anispex. The Gk re/iew? however also means the sacred grove, II. 8, 48. 23, 148. re'/xei'o? rdf^ov, II. 20, 184.

Lastly, synonymous with haruc is the OHG. j^aro, gen. parawes, AS. hcaro, gen. bearwes, which betoken lucus^ and arbor, a sacred u, grove or a tree ; tet bearwe, Kemble. 1, 255. OX. harr (arbor), Ssem. 109=^; harri (nemus) 86'^ 87^ qui ad aras sacrificati^de za demo j^rtrawc (al. za themo we) ploazit, Dint. 1, 150; ara, or rather the pi. arae, here stands for templum (see SuppL). [^ — Temple then means also ivood. What we figure to ourselves as a built and walled house, resolves itself, the farther back we "o into a holy place untouched by human hand, embowered and shut in by self-grown trees. There dwells the deity, veiling his form in rustling foliage of the boughs ; there is the spot where the hunter has to present to him the game he has killed, and the herdsmen his horses and oxen and rams.

What a writer of the second century says on the cultus of the Celts, will hold good of the Teutonic and all the kindred nations : KeXroi cre^ovat fxev Ala, a<ya\ixa Se ALo<i KekrcKov vy^rfkrj Spy?, Maximus Tyrius (diss. 8, ed. Eeiske 1, 142). Compare Lasicz. 46 : deos nemora incolere persuasum liabent (Samogitae). Habitarunt di quoque sylvas (Haupts zeitschr. 1, 138).

I am not maintaining that this forest-worship exhausts all the conceptions our ancestors had formed of deity and its dwelling- place ; it was only the principal one. Here and there a god may haunt a mountain-top, a cave of the rock, a river ; but the grand general worship of the people has its seat in the grovc^ And no- where could it have found a worthier (see Suppl.).

At a time when rude beginnings were all that there was of the builder's art, the human mind must have been roused to a higher devotion by the sight of lofty trees under an open sky, than it could ^ feel inside the stunted structures reared by unskilful liands. When long afterwards the architecture peculiar to the Teutons reached its

1 To the Lat. lucus would correspond a Goth, liuhs, and this is confirmed by the OHG. Wi, AS. Icdh. The En<,d. lea, ley has acquired the meaning of meadow, fiehl ; also the Slav, lug, Boh. lutz, is at once grove, glade, and meadow. Not only the wood, but wooded meadows were sacred to gods (see Suppl.).

70 TEMPLES.

perfection, did it not in its boldest creations still aim at reproducing the soaring trees of the forest ? Would not the abortion of miserably carved or chiselled images lag far behind the form of the god which the youthful imagination of antiquity pictured to itself, throned on the bowery summit of a sacred tree ? In the sweep and under the shade^ of primeval forests, the soul of man found itself filled with the nearness of sovran deities. The mighty influence that a forest life had from the first on the whole being of our nation, is attested by the ' march-fellowships ; ' marJca, the word from which they took their name, denoted first a forest, and afterwards a boundary.

The earliest testimonies to the forest-cultus of the Germans are furnished by Tacitus. Germ. 9 : ceterum nee cohibere parietibus deos, neque in uUam humani oris speciem adsimulare ex magni- tudine coelestium arbitrantur. Litcos ac nemora consccrant, deorum- que nominibus adpellant secretum illud quod sola reverentia vident.^ Germ. 39, of the Semnones ; Stato tempore in silvcim auguriis patrum et prisca fonnidinc sacram^ omnes ejusdem sanguinis populi legationibus coiiunt. est et alia luco reverentia. nemo nisi vinculo ligatus ingreditur, ut minor et potestatem numinis prae se ferens. si forte prolapsus est, attolli et insurgere baud licitum : per humum evolvuntur.* cap. 40 : est in insula oceani castum

^ Waldes hleo, hlea (umbra, iimbracuUim) , Hel. 33, 22. 73, 23. AS. hleo, ON. hlie, OHG. liwa, Graff 2, 296, MHG. lie, liewe.

2 Euodolf of Fuld (f 863; has incorporated the whole passage, with a few alterations, in his treatise De translatione Alexandri (Pertz 2, 675), perhaps from some intermediate source. Tacitus's words must be taken as they stand. In his day Germany possessed no masters who could build temples or chisel statues ; so the grove was the dwelling of the gods, and a sacred symbol did instead of a statue. Moser § 30 takes the passage to mean, that the divinity common to the whole nation was worshipped unseen, so as not to give one dis- trict the advantage of possessing the temple ; but that sejsarate gods did have their images made. This view is too political, and also ill-suited to the isolation of tribes in those times. No doubt, a region which included a god's hill would acquire the more renowoi and sacredness, as spots like Ehetra and Loreto did from containing the Slavic sanctuary or a Madonna : that did not prevent the same worship from obtaining seats elsewhere. With the words of Tacitus compare what he says in Hist. 2, 78 : est Judaeam inter Syriamque Carmelus, ita vocant montem deumque, nee simulacrum deo aut templum, sic tradidere majores, ara tantuni et reverentia ; and in Dial, de Orat. 12 : nemora vero et luci et secretum ipsum. In Tacitus secretum ;= secessus, seclusion, not arcanum.

^ This hexameter is not a quotation, it is the author's own.

• Whoever is engaged in a holy office, and stands in the presence and pre- cincts of the god, must not stumble, and if he falls to the ground, he forfeits his privilege. So he who in holy combat sinks to the earth, may not set

GROVES. 71

nemus, dicatumque in eo veliiculum veste contectum. cap. 43 : apud Naharvalos antiquae religionis lucus ostenditur . . numini nomen Aids, nulla simulacra, cap 7 : effigies et signa (i.e. effigiata signa) quaedam detractae lucis in proelium ferunt ; with which connect a j^assage in Hist. 4, 22 : inde depromptae silvis lucisque ferarum imagines, ut cuique genti inire proelium mos est, Ann. 2, 12 : Caesar transgressus Visurgim indicio perfugae cognoscit delectum ab Arminio locum pugnae, convenisse et. alias nationes in silvaiii Herculi sacram. Ann. 4, 73 : mox conpertum a transfugis, nongentos Eomanorum apud hccum, quern Baduhennae vocant, pugna in posterum extracta con- fectos ; though it does not appear that this grove was a con- secrated one.^ Ann. 1, 61 : Incis propinquis harharac arae, apud quas tribunos mactaverant ; conf. 2, 25 : propinquo hico defossam A^'arianae legionis aquilam modico praesidio servari. Hist. 4, 14 : Civilis primores gentis . . . sacrum in nemus vocatos. These expressions can be matched by others from Claudian three centuries later, Cons. Stilich. 1, 288 :

Ut procul Hercyniae per vasta silentia silvae venari tuto liceat, ^ucosque vetusta religione truces, et robora numinis instar harbarici nostrae feriant impune bipennes. De bello Get. 545 :

Hortantcs his adde deos. Non somnia nobis, nee volucres, sed clara palam vox edita luco est : ' rumpe omnes, Alarice, moras ! ' It is not pure nature- worship that we are told of here ; but Tacitus could have had no eye for the ' mores Germanorum,' if their most essential feature had escaped him. Gods dwell in these groves ; no images (simulacra, in human form) are mentioned by name as being set up, no temple walls are reared.^ But sacred vessels and altars

himself on liis legs, but must finish the fight on his knees, Danske viser 1, 115 ; so in certain places a stranger's carriage, if overturned, must not be set upright again, RA. 554. What is fabled of an idol called Sompar at Gorlitz (neue lausitz. luonatsschr. 1805, p. 1-18) has evidently been spun out of this passage in Tac. ; the Semnones are placed in the Lausitz country, as they had been previously by Aveutiu (Fnuikf. 1580, p. 27*^), who only puts a king Schwab in the place of Sompar.

1 Badulumna, perhaps the name of a place, like Arduenna. Miillenhoff adds Badvinna, Patimna (Haupts zeitschr. 9, 241).

2 Brissonius de regno Pcrs. 2, 28 ; ' Persae diis suis nulla templa vel altaria constituuntj nulla simulacra ' ; after Herodot. 1, 131.

72 TEMPLES.

stand in the forest, heads of animals (feramm imagines) hang on the boughs of trees. There divine worship is performed and sacrifice offered, there is the folk-mote and the assize, everywhere a sacred awe and reminiscence of antiquity. Have not we here alah, ivih, faro, liaruc faithfully portrayed ? How could such technical terms, unless they described an organized national worship presided over by priests, have sprung up in the language, and lived ?

During many centuries, down to the introduction of Christianity, this custom endured, of venerating deity in sacred woods and trees.

I will here insert the detailed narrative given by Wilibald (t 786) in the Vita Bonifacii (Canisius II. 1, 242. Pertz 2, 348) of the holy oak of Geismar (on the Edder, near Fritzlar in Hesse) .^ The event falls between the years 725 and 731. Is autem (Boni- facius) ... ad obsessas ante ea Hessorum metas cum consensu Carli ducis {i.e. of Charles Martel) rediit. tum vero Hessorum jam multi catholica fide subditi ac septiformis spiritus gratia confirmati manus impositionem acceperunt, et alii quidem, nondum animo confortati, intemeratae fidei documenta integre percipere renuerunt, alii etiam Unguis et faucibus clanculo, alii vero aperte sacrificabant, alii vero auspicia et divinationes, praestigia atque incantationes occulte, alii quidem manifeste exercebant, alii quippe auspicia et auguria intendebant, diversosque sacrificandi ritus incoluerunt, alii etiam, quibus mens sanior inerat, omni abjecta gentilitatis pro- phanation-e nihil horum commiserunt. quorum consultu atque consilio arhorcm quandam mirae magnitudinis, qii&e prisco Pagan- orum vocabtdo appellatur robur Jovis, in loco, qui dicitur Gaesmere, servis Dei secum astantibus, succidere tentavit. cumque mentis constantia confortatus arborem succidisset, magna quippe aderat copia Paganorum, qui et inimicum deoriim suoriim intra se diligen- tissime devotabant, sed ad modicum quidem arbore praecisa confestim immcnsa roboris moles, divino desuper flatu exagitata, palmitum confracto culmine, corruit, et quasi superi nutus solatio in quatuor etiam partes disrupta est, et quatuor ingentis magnitu- dinis aequali longitudine trunci, absque fratrum labore astantium apparuerunt. quo viso prius devotantes Pagani etiam versa vice benedictionem Domino, pristina abjecta maledictione, credentes

1 A shorter account of the same in the annalist Saxo, p. 133.

GROVES. / 6

reddiclerunt. Tunc autem summae sauctitatis antistes consilio inito cum fratribus ex supradictae arboris materia ^) oratorium constmxit, illudque in lionore S. Petri apostoli dedicavit. From that time Christianity had in this place a seat in Hesse ; hard by was the ancient capital of the nation, 'Mattium (Marburg), id genti caput,' Tac. Ann. 1, 06 ; which continued in the ]\Iid. Ages to be the chief seat of government. According to Landau, the oak and the church built out of it stood on the site of St. Peter's church at Fritzlar. The whole region is w^ell wooded (see Suppl.).

Not unsimilar are some passages contained in the Vita S. Amandi (f 674), on the wood and tree w^orship of the northern Franks: Acta Bened, sec. 2. p. 714, 715, 718) : Amandus audivit pagum esse, cui vocabulum Gandavum, cujus loci habitatores ini- quitas diaboli eo circumquaque laqueis vehementer irretivit, ut incolae terrae illius, relicto deo, arhores et ligna pro deo colerent, atque fana vel idola adorarent. — Ubi fana destruebantur, statim monasteria aut ecclesias construebat. — Amandus in pago belvacense verbum domini dum praedicaret, pervenit ad quendam locum, cui vocabulum est Eossonto juxta Aronnam fluvium , . . respondit ilia, quod non ob aliani causam ei ipsa coecitas evenisset, nisi quod auguria vel idola semper coluerat. insuper ostendit ei locum, in quo praedictum idolum adorare consueverat, scilicet arhorem, quae erat daemoni dcdicata . . . ' nunc igitur accipe securim et banc nefandam arhorem quantocius succidere festina'.

Amonsj the Saxons and Frisians the veneration of groves lasted much longer. At the beginning of the 11th century, bishop Unwan of Bremen (conf. Adam. Brem. 2, 33) had all such woods cut down •among the remoter inhabitants of his diocese : lucos in episcopatu suo, in quibus paludicolae regionis illius errore veteri cum profes- sione falsa christianitatis immolahant, succidit; Vita IMeinwerci, cap- 22. Of the holy tree in the Old Saxon IrminsM I will treat in ch. W. Several districts of Low^er Saxony and Westphalia have until quite recent times preserved vestiges of Iwhj oaks, to which the people paid a half heathen half christian homage. Tims, in the principality of Minden, on Easter Sunday, the young people of both sexes used with loud cries of joy to dance a reigen (rig,

1 Otlier MS. have ' mole ' or ' metallo '. A brazen image on tlie oak is not to be tliought of, as such a thing would have been alluded to in what precedes or follows.

74 TEMPLES.

circular dance) round an old oak} In a thicket near the village of Wormeln, Paderborn, stands a Jioly oak, to which the inhabitants of Wormeln and Calenberg still make a solemn procession every year.2

I am inclined to trace back to heathenism the proper name of Hobj Wood so common in nearly all parts of Germany. It is not likely that from a christian church situated in a wood, the wood itself would be named holy ; and in such forests, as a rule, there is not a church to be found. Still less can the name be explained by the royal ban-forests of the Mid. Ages; on the contrary, these forests themselves appear to have sprung out of heathen groves, and the king's right seems to have taken the place of the cultus which first withdrew the holy wood from the common use of the people. In such forests too there used to be sanctuaries for crimi- nals, EA. 886-9.

An old account of a battle between Franks and Saxons at Notteln in the year 779 (Pertz 2, 377) informs us, that a badly wounded Saxon had himself secretly conveyed from his castle into a holy wood : Hie vero (Luibertus) magno cum merore se in castrum recepit. Ex quo post aliquot dies mulier egrotum humeris clam in sylvam Sytheri, quae fuit tlicgatlwn sacra, nocte portavit. Vulnera ibidem lavans, exterrita clamore effugit. Ubi multa lamentatione animam expiravit. The strange expression thegathon is explained by t' a'yaOov (the good), a name for the highest divinity (summus et princeps omnium deorum), which the chronicler borrowed from Macrobius's somn. Scip. 1, 2, and may have chosen purposely, to avoid naming a well-known heathen god (see Suppl). Sytheri, the name of the wood, seems to be the same as Sunderi (southern), a name given to forests in more than one district, e.g. a Sundernhart in Franconia (Hofers urk. p. 308). Did this heathen hope for heal- ing on the sacred soil ? or did he wish to die there ?

The forest called Dat hillige holt is mentioned by a document in Kindlinger's Mtinst. beitr. 3, 638. In the county of Hoya there stood a Heiligcn-loh (Pertz 2, 362). A long list of Alsatian documsnts in Schopflin allude to the holy forest near Hagenau; no. 218 (a.d. 1065) : cum foresto heiligenforst nominate in comitatu Gerhardi comitis in pago Nortcowe. no. 238 (1106): in sylva

1 Weddigen's westphal. mag. 3, 712.

2 Spilckers beitrage 2, 121.

GEOVES. 75

JipAligeforst. no. 273 (1143) : praedium Loubacli in sacro nemore situm. no. 297 (1158) : utantur pascuis in sacra silva. no. 317 (1175) : in silva sacra, no. 402 (1215) : in sacra silva. no. 800 (1292) conventum in konigesbriicken in hcilirjeyiforst. no. 829 (1304) nemus nostrum et imperii dictum heiligvorst. no. 851 (1310) pccora in foresta nostra^ quae dicitur der hcilige forst, pascere et tcnere. no. 1076 (1356) : porcos tempore glaudium nutriendos in silva sacra. The alternating words ' forst, silva, nemus/ are enough to show the significance of the term. The name of the well-known Drcieich (Drieichahi) is probably to be explained by the heathen worship of three oaks ; a royal ban-forest existed there a long time, and its charter (I, 498) is one of the most primitive.

The express allusion to Thuringia and Saxony is remarkable in the following lines of a poem that seems to have been composed soon after the year 1200, Eeinh. F. 302 ; the wolf sees a goat on a tree, and exclaims :

ich sihe ein obez hangen^ I see a fruit hanging,

ez habe har ode borst ; That it has hair or bristles ;

in einem hciligcn vm^stc In any holy forest

ze Diiringen noch ze Sachscn Of Thuringia nor of Saxony enkunde niht gewahsen There could not grow

bezzer obez uf rise. Better fruit on bough.

The allusion is surely to sacrificed animals, or firstfruits of the chase, hung up on the trees of a sacred wood ? Either the story is based on a more ancient original, or may not the poet have heard tell from somewhere of heathenish doings going on in his own day among Saxons and Tliuringians ? (see Suppl.).

And in other poems of the Mid. Ages the sacredness of the ancient forests still exerts an after-influence. In Alex. 5193 we read ' der edelc wait frone ' ; and we have inklings now and again, if not of sacrifices offered to sacred trees, yet of a lasting indestruc- tible awe, and the fancy that ghostly beings haunt particular trees. Thus, in Ls. 2, 575, misfortune, like a demon, sat on a tree ; and in Altd. w. 3, 161 it is said of a hollow tree:

da sint heiligen inne. There are saints in there,

die hoerent aller liute bet.^ That hear all people's prayers

(see Suppl.).

^ From the notion of a forest temple the transition is easy to payinj^ divine honours to a sinL'le tree. Festus has : delubrum liistis delibratiLs (staff with

76 TEMPLES.

Still more immistakably does this forest cultus prevail in the North, protected by the longer duration of heathenism. The great sacrifice at Ledera described by Dietmar (see p. 48) was performed in the island which, from its even now magnificent beech- woods, bore the name of Scclundr, sea-grove, and was the finest grove in all Scandinavia. The Swedes in like manner solemnized their festival of sacrifice in a grove near Upsala ; Adam of Bremen says of the animals sacrificed: Corpora suspenduntur in lucum qui proximus est templo ; is enim lucus tam sacer est gentibus, ut singulae arlores ejus ex morte vel tabo immolatorum divinae credantur. Of HloSr HeiSreksson we are told in the Hervararsaga cap. 16 (fornald. sog. 1, 491), that he was born with arms and horse in the Jiolij wood (a mork hinni helgu). In the grove Glasislundr a bird sits on the boughs and demands sacrifices, a temple and gold-horned cows, Ssem. 140-1. The sacred trees of the Edda, Yggdrasil and M'Wiamei&r, Ssem. 109% hardly need reminding of.

Lastly, the agreement of the Slav, Prussian, Finnish and Celtic paganisms throws light ujjon our own, and tends to confirm it. Dietmar of Merseburg (Pertz 5, 812) affirms of the heathen temple at Eiedegost ; quam undique sylva ab incolis intacta et venerabilis circumdat magna; (ibid. 816) he relates how his ancestor Wibert about the year 1008 rooted up a grove of the Slavs : litcum Zuti- bure dictum, ab accolis td deum in omnibus lw7ioratum, et ab aevo antique nunquam violatum, radicitus eruens, sancto martyri Eomano in eo ecclesiam construxit. Zutibure is for Sveti bor = holy forest, from bor (fir), pine-barren ; a Merseburg document of 1012 already mentions an ' ecclesia in Scutibure,' Zeitschr. f. archivkunde, 1, 162, An OIST. saga (Fornm. sog. 11, 382) names a hlotlundr (sacrificial grove) at Straela, called Boku, Helmold 1, 1 says of the Slavs ; usque hodie profecto inter illos, cum cetera

bark peeled off) qiiem venerabantur pro deo. Names given to particular trees are at the same time names of goddesses, e.g. ON. Hlin, Gna. It is worthy of notice, that the heathen idea of divine figures on trees has crept into christian legends, so deeply rooted was tree worship among the peo^^le. I refer doubters to the story of the Tyi-olese image of grace, which grew up in a forest tree (Deutsche sageu, no. 348). In Carinthiayou find iladonna figures fixed on the trees in gloomy groves (Sartoris reise 2, 165). Of like import seem to be the descriptions of wonderful maidens sitting inside hollow trees, or perched on the boughs (Marienkind, hausmarchen no. 3. Eomance de la infantina, see ch. XVI.). Madonna in the wood, ]\Iar. legend, 177. Many oaks with Madonnas in Normandy, Bosquet 196-7.

GROVES. 77

omnia comraunia sint cum nostris, solus proliibetur accessus hicorum ac fontium, quos autumaut pollui christiauorum accessu. A song in the Koniginhof MS. p. 72 speaks of the grove {hain, Boh. hai, liag, Pol. gay, Sloven, gaj ; conf. gains, gahajus. Lex Eoth. 324, kaheius, Lex Bajuv. 21, G) from which the christians scared away the holy sparrow.^ The Esth. sallo, Finn, snlo means a holy wood, especially a meadow with thick nnderwood ; the national god Thara- ])ila is described by Henry the Letton (ad. ann. 1219): in confinio Wironiae erat mons et silva 2y^dchcrrima, in quo dicebant indigenae magnum deum Osiliensium natum qui Tharapila- vocatur, et de loco illo in Osiliam volasse, — in the form of a bird ? (see Suppl.). To the Old Prussians, Romove^N^'s, the most sacred spot in the land, and a seat of the gods ; there stood their images on a liohj oak hung witli cloths. No unconsecrated person was allowed to set foot in the forest, no tree to be felled, not a bough to be injured, not a beast to be slain. There were many such sacred groves in other parts of Prussia and Lithuania.^

The Vita S. Germani Autisiodorensis (b. 378, d. 448) written by Constantius as early as 473 contains a striking narrative of a IKcirtrec which stood in the middle of Auxerre and was honoured by the heathen.* As the Burgundians did not enter Gaul till the beginning of the 5th century, there is not likely to be a mixture in it of German tradition. But even if the story is purely Celtic, it deserves a place here, because it shows how widely the custom prevailed of hanging the heads of sacrificial beasts on trees.^ Eo tempore (before 400) territorium Autisiodorensis urbis visitatione propria gubernabat Germanus. Cui mos erat tirunculorum potius industriis indulgere, quam christianae religioni operam dare, is ergo assidue venatui invigilans ferarum copiam insidiis atque artis streuuitate frequentissime capiebat. Erat autem arhor pirus in

' Brzetislav burnt down the heathen groves and trees of the Bohemians in 109.3, Pelzel 1, 76. The Poles called a sacred grove roZ; and nroczysJco, conf. Russ. roshtclia, grove [root rek role = fari, fatum ; roshtcha is from rosli, rasti = glow]. On threat of hostile invasion, they cut rods (wicie) from the grove, and sent them round to summon their neighbours. Mickiewicz 1, oG.

'- Conf. 'furupid in Formn. sog. 11, 385; but on Slav nations conf. Schief- ner on Castren 329.

^ Joh. Voigts gesch. Preussens 1, 595 — 597.

• Acta sanctor. BoUand. July 31, p. 202 ; conf. Legenda aurea, cap. 102.

^ Huic (Marti) praedac primordia vovebantur, huic truncis suspendebantur exuviae, Jurnandes cap. 5.

78 TEMPLES.

itrhe media, amcenitate gratissima : ad cujus ramusculos ferarum ab eo deprehensarum capita pro admiratione venationis niniiae depen- dchant. Quern Celebris ejusdem civitatis Amator episcopus his frequens compellebat eloquiis : ' desine, quaeso, vir honoratorum spleiididissime, haec jocularia, quae Christianis ofFensa, Paganis vero imitanda sunt, exercere. hoc opus idololatriae cultura est, non chris- tianse elegantissimae disciplinae.' Et licet hoc indesinenter vir deo dignus perageret, iile tamen nullo modo admonenti se adquiescere voluit aut obedire. vir autem domini iterum atque iterum eum horta- batur, nt non solum a consuetudine male arrepta discederet, verum etiam et ipsam arhorem, ne Christianis offendiculum esset, radici- tus exstirparet sed ille nullatenus aurem placidam applicare voluit admonenti. In hujus ergo persuasionis tempore quodam die Ger- manus ex urbe in praedia sui juris discessit. tunc beatus Amator opportunitatem opperiens sacrilcffam arhorem cum caudicibus ab- scidit, et ne aliqua ejus incredulis esset memoria igni concreman- dam illico deputavit. oscilla^) vero, quae tanquam trophaea cujus- dam certaminis umbram dependentia ostentabant, longius a civitatis terminis projici praecipit. Protinus vero fama gressus suos ad aures Gennani retorquens, dictis animuni incendit, atque iram suis suasionibus exaggerans ferocem effecit, ita ut oblitus sanctae religionis, cujus jam fuerat ritu atque munere insignitus, mortem beatissimo viro minitaret.

A poem of Herricus composed about 876 gives a fuller descrip- tion of the idolatrous j)eartree :

altoque et lato stabat gratissima quondam urbe jpirus media, populo spectabilis omni ; non quia pendentum flavebat honore pirorum, nee quia perpetuae vernabat munere frondis :

^ Virg. Georg. 2, 388 : tibiqiie (Bacche) oscilla ex alta suspenduut mollia pinu. In the story, however, it is not masks that are hung up, but real heads of beasts; are the ferarum imagines in Tac, Hist. 4, 22 necessarily images ? Does osciUa mean caj^ita oscillantia ? It appears that when they hung up the heads, they propped open the moiith with a stick, conf. Isengr. 645. Reinardus 3, 293 (see Suppl.). Nailing birds of prey to the gate of a burg or barn is well known, and is practised to this day. Hanging up horses' heads was mentioned on p. 47. The Grimnismal 10 tells ns, in OSin's mansion there hung a wolf outside the door, and over that an eagle ; were these mere simulacra and insignia 1 Witechind says, the Saxons, when sacrificing, set up an eagle over the gate : Ad orientalem portam ponuntaquilam, aramque Victoriae construentes ; this eagle seems to have been her emblem. A dog hung up over the threshold is also mentioned, Lex. Alam. 102.

BUILDINGS. 79

sed deprensarum passim capita oMo, ferai^m arhoris ohscoenae patuiis haercntia ramis praebebant vano plausum spectacula vulgo. horrebant illic trepidi ramalia ccrvi et dirum frendentis ap)ri, fera spicula, denies, acribus exitium meditantes forte molossis. tunc qiioque sic variis arbos induta tropaeis fundebat rudibus lascivi semina risus-

ft was not the laughter of the multitude that offended the christian priests ; they saw in the practice a performance, however degene- rate and dimmed, of heathen sacrifices.^

Thus far we have dwelt on the evidences which go to prove that the oldest worship of our ancestors was -connected with sacred forests and trees.

At the same time it cannot be doubted, that even in the earliest times there were temples built for single deities, and perhaps rude images set up inside them. In the lapse of .centuries the old forest worship may have declined and been superseded by the structure of temples, more with some populations and less with others. In fact, we come across a good many statements so indefinite or incom- plete, that it is impossible to gather from them with any certainty whether the expressions used betoken the ancient cultus or one departing from it.

The most weighty and significant passages relating to this part of the subject seem to be the following (see Suppl.) :

Tac. Germ. 40 describes the sacred grove and the worship of Mother Earth ; when the priest in festival time has carried the goddess round among the people, he restores her to her sanctuary : satiatam conversatione mortalium deani templo reddit.

Tac. ann. 1, 51 : Caesar avidas legiones, quo latior populatio foret, quatuor in cuneos dispertit, quinquaginta millium spatium ferro flammisque pervastat ; non sexus, non aetas miserationem

■• St. Benedict found at Montecassino vetustissinmm fanuni, in quo ex antiqiio more gentilium a stulto rusticano populo Apollo colebatur, circumquaque enini in cultuni daemoniorum luci succreverant, in quilius adluic eodem tempore infideliuni insana multitudo sacrificiis saciile^'is insudaliat. Greg. Ma<.,'. dialogi 2, 8. These were not German heathens, but it proves the custom to have been the more universal.

80 TEMPLES,

attulit: profana simul et sacrcij et celehcrrimum illis gentibus templum, quod Tanfanae^ vocabant, solo aequantur. The nation to which this temple belonged were the Marsi and perhaps some neighbouring ones (see SuppL).

Vita S. Eugendi abbatis Jurensis ("t circ. 510), auctore monacho Condatescensi ipsius discipulo (in Actis sanctor. BoUand. Jan. 1, p. 50, and in Mabillon, acta Ben. sec. 1, p. 570) : Sanctus igitur famulus Christi Eugendus, sicut beatonim patrum Eomani et Lupicini in religione discipulus, ita etiam natalibus ac provincia extitit indigcna atque concivis. ortus nempe est hand longe a vico cui vetusta paffanitas ob celebritateni clausuramque fortissimam siiperstitiosissimi templi Gallica lingua Isarnodori, id est, ferrei ostii indidit nomen : quo nunc quoque in loco, dchihris ex parte jam dirutis, sacratissime micant coelestis regni culmina dicata Christi- colis ; atque inibi pater sanctissimae prolis judicio jDontificali plebisque testimonio extitit in presbyterii dignitate sacerdos. If Eugendus was born about the middle of the 5th century, and his father already was a priest of the christian cluirch which had been erected on the site of the heathen temple, heathenism can at the latest have lingered there only in the earlier half of that century, at whose commencement the West Goths passed through Italy into Gaul. Gallica lingua here seems to be the German spoken by the invading nations, in contradistinction to the Eomana ; the name of the place is almost pure Gothic, eisarnadai'iri, still more exactly it might be Burgundian, Isarnodori.^ Had either "West Goths or Burgundians, or perhaps even some Alamanns that had penetrated so far, founded the temple in the fastnesses and defiles of the Jura?^ Tlie name is \vell suited to the strength of the position and of the building, which the christians in part retained (see Suppl.).

A Constitutio Childeberti I of about 554 (Pertz 3, 1) contains the following : Praecipientes, ut quicunque admoniti de agro suo, ubicumque fuerint simidacra construda vel idola daemoni dedicata

1 An inscription foimd in Neapolitan territory, but supj)osed by Orelli 2053 to have been made by Ligorius, has ' Tamfanae sacrum ' (Gudii inscript. iintiq. p. Iv. 11, de Wal p. 188) ; tlieword is certainly Geiman, and formed like Hludana, Sigana (Sequana), Liutana (Lugdunum), Eabana (Eavenna), &c.

" Yet the Celtic forms also are not far removed, Ir. iaran, Wei. haiarn, Armor, uarn (ferrum) ; Ir. doras, Wei. dor (porta) : haearndor = iron gate, •luoted in Davies's Brit. Mythol. pp. 120, 560.

^ Frontier mountains held sacred and made places of sacrifice by some nations ; Ritters erdkunde 1, aufl. 2, 79. vol. 2, p. 903.

BUILDINGS. 8]

ab hommibus, factum non statim abjecerint vel sacerdotibus haec destruentibus prohibuerint, datis fidejussoribus nou aliter discedant nisi in nostris obtutil:»us praesententur.

Vita S, Eadegundis (t 587) the wife of Clotaire, composed by a contemporary nun Baudonivia (acta Bened, sec. 1, p. 327) : Dum iter ageret (Eadegundis) seculari pompa se comitante, interjecta longinquitate terrae ac spatio, fanuiii quod a Francis colebatur in itinere beatae reginae quantum miliario uno proximum erat. hoc ilia audiens jussit famulis fanuin igne comburi, iniquum judicans Deum coeli contemni et diabolica machinamenta venerari. Hoc audientes Franci universa multitudo cum giadiis et fustibus vel omni fremitu conabantur defendere. sancta vero regina immobilis perseverans et Christum in pectore gestans, equum quem sedebat in antea {i.e. ulterius) non movit antequam et fanum perureretur et ipsa orante inter se populi pacem firmarent. The situation of the temple she destroyed I do not venture to determine; Eadegund was journeying from Thuringia to France, and somewhere on that line, not far from the Ehine, the fanum may be looked for.

Greg. Tur. vitae patrum 6 : Eunte rege (Theoderico) in Agrip- pinam urbem, et ipse (S. Gallus) simul abiit. erat autem ibi fanum quoddam diversis ornamentis refertum, in quo barbaris (1. Barbarus) opima lihamina exhibens usque ad vomitum cibo potuque repleba- tur. ibi et simulacra ut deum adorans, membra, secundum quod unumquemque dolor attigisset, sculpebat in ligno. quod ubi S. Gallus audivit, statim illuc cum uno tantum clerico properat, ac- censoque igne, cum nullus ex stultis Paganis adesset, ad fanum applicat et succendit. at illi videntes fumum dehd)ri ad coelum usque conscendere, auctorem incendii quaerunt, inventumque eva- ginatis giadiis prosequuntur ; ille vero in fugam versus aulae se regiae condidit. verum postquam rex quae acta fuerant Paganis minantibus recognovit, blandis eos sermonibus lenivit. This Gallus is distinct from the one who appears in Alamannia half a century later ; he died about 553, and by the king is meant Theoderic I of Austrasia.

Vita S. Lupi Senonensis (Duchesne 1, 562. Bouquet 3, 491) : Pex Chlotarius virum Dei Lupum episcopum retrusit in pago quodam Neustriae nuncupante Vinemaco (le Vimeu), traditum duci pagano {i.e. duci terrae), nomine Bosoni Landegisilo (no doubt a Frank) quem ille direxit in villa quae dicitur Andesagina super fluvium

6

82 TEMPLES.

Auciam, ubi erant templa fanatica a decurionihus cidta. (a.D. 614.) Andesagina is Anseuiie, Aiicia was afterwards called la Bresle, Briselle.

Beda, hist. eccl. 2, 13, relates how the NorthumLrian king Eadwine, baptized 627, slain 633, resolved after mature consultation wdth men of understanding to adopt Christianity, and was especially made to waver in his ancient faith by Coifi (Coefi) his chief heathen priest himself: Cumque a praefato pontifice sacrorum suorum quaereret, quis aras et fana idolorum cum septis quihus erant cir- cumdata primus profanare deberet ? respondit : ego. quis enim ea, quae per stultitiam colui, nunc ad exemplum omnium aptius quam ipse per sapientiam mihi a Deo vero donatam destruam ? . . . Accinctus ergo gladio accepit lanceam in manu et ascendens emissarium regis (all three unlawful and improper things for a heathen priest), pergebat ad idola. quod aspiciens vulgus aesti- mabat eum insanire. nee distulit ille. mox ut appropinquabat ad fanum, profanare illud, injecta in eo lancea quam tenebat, multum- que gavisus de agnitione veri Dei cultus, jussit sociis destruere ac succendere fanum cum omnibus septis suis. ostenditur autem locus ille quondam idolorum non longe ab Eboraco ad orientem ultra amuem Dorowentionem et vocatur hodie Godmundinga ham, ubi pontifex ipse, inspirante Deo vero, polluit ac destruxit eas, quas ipse sacra verat, aras.^

Vita S. Bertuffi Bobbiensis (t 640) in Acta Bened. sec. 2, p. 164 : Ad quandam viUam Iriae fluvio adjacentem accessit, ubi fanum quoddam ariorihus consitum videns allatum ignem ei admovit, congestis in modum pirae lignis. Id vero cernentes fani cultores Meroveum apprehensum diuque fustibus caesum et ictibus . con- tusum in fiuvium iUud demergere conantur. — The Iria runs into the Po ; the event occurs among Lombards.

Walafridi Strabonis vita S. GaUi (f 640) in actis Bened. sec. 2 p. 219, 220 : Venerunt (S. Columbanus et Gallus) infra partes Alemanniae ad fiuvium, qui Lindimacus vocatur, juxta quem ad superiora tendentes pervenerunt Turicinum. cumque per littus ambulantes venissent ad caput lacus ipsius, in locum qui Tucconia dicitur, placuit Hlis loci qualitas ad inhabitandum. porro homines

iThe A. S. translation renders arae hj wigbed (see p. 67), fana by heargas, idola by deofolgild, septa once by hegas (hedges), and the other time by getymbro. The spear hurled at the hearg gave the signal for its demolition.

BUILDINGS. 83

ibidem commanentes crudeles erant et inipii, simulacra colentes, idola sacrificiis venerantes, observantes aiiguria et divinationes et multa quae contraria sunt cultui divino superstitiosa sectantes. Sancti igitur homines cum coepissent inter illos liabitare, docebant eos adorare Patrem et Filium et Spiritum sanctum, et custodire fidei veritatem. Beatus quoque Gallus sancti viri discipulus zelo pietatis armatus fana, in quibus dacmoniis sacrificahant, igni suc- cendit et quaecumque invenit oblata demersit in lacum. — Here follows an important passage which will be quoted further on ; it says expressly : cumque ejusdem templi solemnitas ageretur.

Jonae Bobbiensis vita S. Colunibani (-f- 615) cap. 17. in act. Bened. 2, 12. 13 : Cumque jam multorum monachorum societate densaretur, coepit cogitare, ut potiorem locum in eadem eremo {i.e. Vosago saltu) quaereret, quo monasterium construeret. in- venitque castrum firmissimo munimine olim fuisse cultum, a supra dicto loco distans plus minus octo niillibus, quem prisca tempora Luxovium nuncuj^abant, ibique aquae calidae cultu eximio constru- ctae habebantur. ibi imaginum lapidearum densitas vicina saltus densabat,^ quas ctdfu miserahili rihique profano vetusta Paganorutii tempora honorabant. — This Burgundian place then (Luxeuil in Frauche Comte, near Vesoul) contained old Eoman thermae adorned with statues. Had the Burcfundian settlers connected their own worship with these ? The same castrum is spoken of in the

Vita S. Agili Eesbacensis (f 650), in Acta Ben. sec. 2, p. 317 : Castrum namque intra vasta eremi septa, quae Vosagus dicitur, iwoxoXj fanaticorum cnltui olim dedicatum, sed tunc ad solum usque dirutum, quod hujus saltus incolae, quamquam ignoto praesagio, Luxovium [qu. lux ovium ?] nominavere. A church is then built on the heathen site : ut, ubi olim prophano ritu veteres cohicrunt fana, ibi Christi figerentur arae et erigerentur vexilla, habitaculum Deo militautium, quo adversus aerias potestates dimicareut superni Eegis tirones. p. 319 : Ingressique (Agilus cum Eustasio) hujus itineris viam, juvante Christo, Warascos praedicatori accelerant, qui agrestium fanis decepti, quos vulgi faunos vocant, gentiliurn

^ The nniltitiule of statues made the adjoining wood thicker ? Must we not supply an ace. copiam or speciem after imag. lapid. 1 [vicina saltus densabat evidently means '■crowded the adjoining part of the wood . So in Ovid: densae foHis buxi. — Traxs.]

84 TEMPLES,

quoqiie errore seducti, in perfidiam devenerant, Fotini seu Bonosi virus infecti, quos, errore depulso, matri ecclesiae reconciliatos veros Christi fecere servos.

Vita S. Willibrordi (f 789), in Acta Bened. sec. 3, p. 609 : Pervenit in confinio Fresonum et Danorum ad quandam insulam, quae a quodam deo suo Fosite ab accolis terrae Fositesland appel- latur, quia iu ea ejusdem dei fana fuere constructa. Qui locus a paganis tanta veneratione liabebatur, ut nil iu eo vel animalium ibi pascentium vel aliarum quarumlibet rerum gentilium quisquam tangere audebat, nee etiam a fonte qui ibi ebulliebat aquam liaurire nisi tacens praesumebat.

Vita S. WiUehadi (f 793), in Pertz 2, 381 : Unde contigit, ut quidam discipulorum ejus, divino coni]3uncti ardore,/rt.?ia in morem gentilium circumquaquc ercdct coepissent evertere et ad nihilum, prout poterant, redigere ; quo facto barbari, qui adliuc forte perstiterant, furore nimio succensi, irruerunt super eos repente cum impetu, volentes eos funditus iuterimere, ibique Dei famulum fustibus caesum multis admodum plagis affecere. — This happened in the Frisian pagus Thrianta (Drente) before 779.

Vita Ludgeri (beginning of the 9th cent.) 1,8 : (In Frisia) Paganos asperrimos . . . niitigavit, ut sua iilum deluhra clestruere coram oculis paterentur. Inventum in fanis aurum et argentum pluriraum Albricus in aerarium regis intulit, accipiens et ipse praecipiente Carolo portionem ex illo. — Couf. the passage cited p. 45 from the Lex Frisionum.

Folcuini gesta abb. Lobiensium (circ. 980), in Pertz 6, 55 : Est locus intra terminos pagi, quem veteres, a loco ubi sicperstitiosa gentilitas fanum Marti sacravcrat, Fanum Martinse dixeruut. — This is Famars in Hainault, not far from Valenciennes.

In all probability the sanctuary of Tanfana which Germanicus demolished in a.d. 14 was not a mere grove, but a real building, otherwise Tacitus would hardly have called the destruction of it a ' levelling to the ground '. During the next three or four centuries we are without any notices of heathen temples in Germany. In the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th centuries, as I have shown, we come upon castra, templa, fana among Burgundians, Franks, Lombards, Alamanns, Anglo-Saxons, and Frisians. By fanum {whence fana- ticus) seems often to have been understood a building of smaller

BUILDINGS. 85

extent, and by templum one of larger ; the Indiculus superstit. xxxi. 4 has : ' de casulis (huts), i.e. fanis ' (see Suppl.). I admit that some of the authorities cited leave it doubtful whether German heathen temples be intended, they might be Roman ones which had been left standing ; in which case there is room for a twofold hj'^pothesis : that the dominant German nation had allowed certain communities in their midst to keep up the Eoman-Gallic cultus, or that they themselves had taken possession of Eoman buildings for the exercise of their own religion^ (see Suj^pl.). No thorough investigation has yet been made of the state of religion among the Gauls immediately before and after the irruption of the Germans ; side by side with the converts there were still, no doubt, some heathen Gauls; it is difficult therefore to pronounce for either hypothesis, cases of both kinds may have co-existed. So much for the doubtful authorities ; but it is not all of them that leave us in any doubt. If the Tanfana temple could be built by Germans, we can suppose the same of the Alamann, the Saxon and the Frisian temples; and what was done in the first century, is still more likely to have been done in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.

Built Temijles must in early times have been named in a variety of ways (see Suppl.) : OHG. AS. OS. ON", liof, aula, atrium f— OHG. halla, templum (Hymn. 24, 8), AS. heal, ON. holt (conf. hallr, lapis, Goth, hallus) ;— OHG. sal, ON. salr, AS. sele, OS. sell, aula ;— AS. reccd, domus, basilica (C?edm. 145, 11. 150, 16. 219, 23), OS* rakml (Hel. 114, 17. 130, 20. 144, 4. 155, 20), an obscure word not found in the other dialects ;— OHG. piitapur, delubrum (Diut. 1,

^ As the vulgar took Eoman fortifications for devil's dikes, it was natural to associate with Roman castella the notion of idolatry. Eupertus Tuitiensis (t 1135) in his account of the fire of 1128 that levelled such a castcllum at Deuz, which had been adapted to christian worship, informs us that some thought it was built by Julius Caesar, others by Constantius and Constantine. In the emperor Otto's time, St. Mary appears by night to archbishop Heribert: ' surge, et Tuitiense castrum petens, locum in eodem mundari praecipe, ibique monastcrium Deo mihique et omnibus Sanctis constitue, ut, ubi quondam habitavit peccatiun et cultus daemoniivi, ibi jnstitia regnet et memoria sanctorum,' with more of the like, in the Vita Heriberti cap. 15. Conf. the fanum ut Cologne above, p. 81.

• The asylum that atrium and temple offered within their precincts is in ON. gric^astui^r, OHG. frUhof, OS. vrUhoh, Hel. 151, 2, 9. MHG. vrone vuthof. Nib. 1795. 2 ; not at all oiu- friedhof [but conn, with frei, free], conf. Goth, freidjan, OS. fridon fparcere). That the constitution of the Old German sanctuaries was still ibr the most part heathenish, is discussed in EA. 886-92.

86 TEMPLES.

195=^)^; — to which were afterwards added petah'ds, minores ecclesiae (Gl. sletst. 21, 32) and cUrililid, AS. cyrice. The MHG. poets like to use heteh'ds of a heathen temple as opposed to a christian church (En. 2695. Barl. 339, 11.28. 342,6. Athis D 93. Herb. 952. Wigal. 8308. Pass. 356, 73. Tit. 3329), so in M. Nethl. bedehus (Maerl. 1, 326. 3, 125), much as the Catholics in their own countries do not allow to Protestants a church, but only a bethaus, praying-house (see SuppL). 0. iv. 33, 33 has the periphrase gotes Mis, and ii. 4, 52 drulitines /wis. Notker cap. 17 makes no scruple of translating the Lat. fanis by chilechon, just as bishop does duty for heathen priest as well. In the earliest times temple was retained. Is. 382. 395. T. 15,4. 193,2. 209,1. Diut. 1, 195.^

The hut which we are to picture to ourselves under the term fanum or pirr (A.S. bur, bower) was most likely constructed of logs and twigs round the sacred tree ; a wooden temple of the goddess Zisa will find a place in ch. XIII. With halla and some other names w^e are compelled to think rather of a stone building.

We see all the christian teachers eager to lay the axe to the sacred trees of the heathen, and fire under their temples. It would almost seem that the poor people's consent was never asked, and the rising smoke was the first thing that announced to them the broken power of their gods. But on a closer study of the details in the less high-flown narratives, it comes out that the heathen Avere not so tame and simple, nor the christians so reckless. Boniface resolved on hewing down the Thunder-oak after taking counsel with the already converted Hessians, and in their presence. So too the Thuringian princess might not have dared to sit so immovable on her palfrey and give the order to fire the Prankish temple, had not her escort been numerous enough to make head against the lieathen. That these did make an armed resistance, appears from Eadegund's request, after the fane was burnt down, ut inter se populi pacem firmarent.

In most of the cases it is expressly stated that a church was erected on the site of the heathen tree or temple.^ In this way the

^ Actiim in illo betap4re (the church at Fulda) publice, Trad. Fuld. ed. Schannat no. 193. in bedebur, Lacombl. no. 412 (a.d. 1162). in bedebure, Erhard p. 148 (A.D. 1121). bctbur, Meyer Ziirch. ortsn. 917.

" Sulp. Severus (ed. Amst. 1665), p. 458 : Nam ubi fana destruxerat (Martiniis), statim ibi aut ecdesias ant monasteria construcbat. Dietniar of Merseb. 7, 52, p. 859 (speaking of Bishop Reinbern on Slav, territory, a.d. 1015) :

TEMPLES. 87

people's habits of thinking were consulted, and they conld believe that the old sacredness had not departed from the place, but hence- forth flowed from the presence of the true God (see Suppl.).

At the same time we here perceive the reason of the almost entire absence of heathen monuments or their remains, not only in Germany proper, but in the North, where certainly sucli temples existed, and more plentifully ; conf. in chaps. VI. X. XVI. the temple at Sigtun, baer i Baldrshaga, and the Nomas' temple. Either these were levelled with the ground to make room for a christian church, or their walls and halls were worked into the new building. We may be slow to form any high opinion of the build- ing art among the heathen Germans, yet they must have understood how to arrange considerable masses of stone, and bind them firmly together. We have evidence of this in the grave-mounds and places of sacrifice still preserved in Scandinavia, partly also in Friesland and Saxony, from which some important inferences miglit be drawn with regard to the old heathen services, but these I exclude from my present investigation.

The results are these : the earliest seat of heathen worship was in groves, whether on mountain or in pleasant mead ; there the first temples were afterwards built, and there also were the tribunals of the nation.

Fana idolorura destruens incendit, et mare daemonibus cultum, immissis quatiior lapidibus sacro chrismate penmctis, et aqua puryans benedicta, novam Domino . . . plantationem ednxit.— On the conversion of the Pantheon into a fluirch, see Massmann's Eradius 476.

CHAPTEK V. PKIESTS.

The most general term for one who is called to the immediate service of deity (minister deorum, Tac. Germ. 10) is one derived from the name of deity itself. From the Goth. guS (deus) is formed the adj. gaguch (godly, pius, eva-e^ij<i), then gagudci (pietas, euae^eia). In OHG. and MHG., I find pius translated erJiafi, strictly reverens, hut also used for venerandus ; our froinm has only lately acquired this meaning, the MHG. vrum being simply able, excellent. The God-serving, pious man is in Goth, gudja (t'epeu?, Matt. 8, 4, 27, 1. 63. Mk. 10, 34. 11, 27. 14, 61. Lu. 1, 5. 20, 1. Jo. 18, 19. 22. 19,6. w/«7^^wf?/'a(dp;!^i6/3ei'9) MklO, 33. gudjinon (lepareueiv), Lu. 1, 8. gudjinassus {leparela) Lu. 1, 9. (see Suppl.).

That these were heathen expressions follows from the accordance of the OK go&i (pontifex), liofs go&i (fani antistes), Egilss. 754. Freys gocfi, Nialss. cap. 96. 117. Eornm. sog. 2, 206. go&ord (sacerdotium). An additional argument is found in the disappear- ance of the word from the other dialects, just as our alah dis- appeared, though the Goths had found alhs unobjectionable. Only a faint vestige appears in the OHG. cotinc by which tribunus is glossed, Diut. 1, 187 (Goth, gudiggs ?). — Now as Ulphilas^ associates gudja and sinista {'Trpea/Surepo';, elder, man of standing, priest), a remarkable sentence in Amm. MarcelL 28, 5 informs us, that the high priest of the Burgundians was called sinisto: Nam sacerdos omnium m,axivius apud Burgundies vocatur sinistus, et est perpetu- us,2 obnoxius discriminibus nuUis ut reges. The connexion of priests with the nobility I have discussed in EA. 267-8 (see Suppl.).

More decidedly heathen are the OHG. names for a ]3riest lianigari, Diut. 1, 514V and jjarawar-i, Diut. 1, 150% (being derived from haruc and paro, the words for temple given on p. 68-9, and

^ Strictly the Evangelist ; the. translator had no choice. — Trans.

^ For the sense of perpetuity attaching to sin- in composition, see Gramm. 2, 554-5.

• If haruc meant wood or rock, and harugari priest, they are very like the Ir. and Gael, cam, cairn, and cairneac priest. O'Brien 77^.

PRIESTS. 89

confirming what I have maintained, that these two terms were synonymous). They can hardly have been coined by the glossist to interpret the Lat. aruspex, they must liave existed in our ancient speech. — A priest who sacrificed was named loluostrari (see p. 36).

The fact that cotinc could bear the sense of tribunus shows the close connexion between tlie offices of priest and judge, "which comes out still more clearly in a term peculiar to the High Germ, dialect : eiva, ea signified not only the secular, but the divine law, these being closely connected in the olden times, and equally sacred ; hence eoiuart, ewart law- ward, administrator of law, vojjLVKO'i, AS. se-gleaw, se-lareow, Goth, vitodafasteis, one learned in the law, K. 55=^ 56%^ Gl. Hrab. 974^ N. ps. 50, 9. eioarto of the weak decl. in O.I. 4, 2, 18. 72. gotes evmrto I. 4, 23. and as late as the 12th century ewarte, Mar. 21. and, without the least reference to the Jewish office, but quite synonymous with priest : der heilige ewarte, Eeinh. 1705. der baruc und die eicartcn sin, Parz. 13, 25. Wh. 217, 23 of Saracen priests (see Suppl.). The very similar eosago, esago stood for judex, legislator, EA. 781.

The poet of the Heliand uses the expression* wihes ward (templi custos) 150, 24; to avoid the heathen as well as a foreign term, he adopts periphrases: the gierodo mail (geehrte, honoured), 3, 19. the frodo man (frot, fruot, prudens) 3, 21. 7, 7. frodgumo (gumo, homo) 5, 23. 6, 2. godcund gumo 6, 12, which sounds lilvc gudja above, but may convey the peculiar sense in which Wolfram uses ' der guote man'} In the Eomance expressions prudeTis homo, bonus homo (prudhomme, bonhomme) there lurks a reference to the ancient jurisprudence. — Once Ulphilas renders apxiepev^ by auhu- mists veiha, John 18, 13, but never Upev<i by veiha.

With Christianity there came in foreign words (see Suppl.). The Anglo-Saxons adopted the Lat. sacerdos in abbreviated form : sacerdj, pi. sacerdas ; and Alfred translates Beda's pontifex and summus pontificum (both of them heathen), 2, 13 by hisco]) and caldorhiscop. T. and 0. use in the same sense hisgof, hiscof (from

1 Parz. 457, 2. 458, 25. 460, 19. 476, 23. 487, 23. The godo gumo, Hel. 4, 16 is said of John ; ther giiato man, 0. ii. 12, 21. 49 of Nicodemus ; in Uhich's Lan- zelot, an abbot is styled der guote man, 4013. 4639. conf. 3857, 4620 ewarte, 4026 priester. But with this is connected diu r/uote frouve (v. infra), i.e. originally bona socia, so that in the good man also there peeps out something heathenisli. heretical. In the great Apologue, the cricket is a clergyman, and is called (Ken. 8 125) preuchms and Frobert = Fruotbert (see Suppl.).

90 PRIESTS,

episcopus), 0. I. 4, 4. 27. 47; and the Hel. 150, 24 hiscop. Later on, 'priester (from presbyter, following the idea of elder and superior), imdijyfaffe (papa) came to be the names most generally used; AS. prcost, Engl, priest, Fr. prcstrc, pretre ; in Veldek, prester rhymes with mester. En. 9002.

Wlien Cffisar, bell. Gall. 6, 21, says of the Germans: Neque druides habent qui rebus divinis praesint, neque sacrificiis student, — the statement need not be set down as a mistake, or as contra- dicting what Tacitus tells us of the German priests and sacrifices. C£esar is all along drawing a contrast between them and the Gauls. He had described the latter 6, 16 as excessively addicted to sacrifices ; and his ' non studere sacrificiis ' must in the comiexion mean no more than to make a sparing use of sacrifices. As little did there prevail among the Germans the elaborately finished Druid-system of the Gauls ; but they did not want for priests or sacrifices of their own.

The German priests, as we have already gathered from a cursory review of their titles, were employed in the worship of the gods and in judging the people. In campaigns, discipline is entrusted to them alone, not to the generals, the w^hole war being carried on as it were in the presence of the deity : Ceterum neque animad- vertere neque vincire nee verberare quidem nisi sacerdotibus per- missum, non quasi in poenam, nee ducis jussu, sed velut deo imperante, quem adesse- bellantibus credunt. Germ. 7 (see SuppL). The succeeding words must also refer to the priests, it is they that take the ' efligies et signa ' from the sacred grove and carry them into battle. We learn from cap. 10, that the sacerdos civitatis superintends the divination by rods, whenever it is done for the nation. If the occasion be not a public one, the paterfamilias himself can direct the matter, and the priest need not be called in : — a remarkable limitation of the priestly power, and a sign how far the rights of the freeman extended in strictly private life ; on the same principle, I suppose, that in very early times covenant transac- tions could be settled between the parties, without the interven- tion of the judge (RA. 201). Again, when the chvination was by the neighing of the white steeds maintained by the state, priests accompanied the sacred car, and accredited the transaction. The^^ncs^ alone may touch the car of Nerthus, by him her approaching presence is perceived, he attends her full of reverence, and lead?

TEIESTS. 91

lier back at last to her sanctuary, cap. 40. Segimund, the son of Seo-estes whom Tae. Ann. 1, 57 calls sacerdos, had been not a German but a Eoman priest (apud aram Ubiorum), and after tearing up the alien chaplet (vittas ruperat), had fled to his home.

Tkese few incidental notices of priests give us anything but a complete view of their functions (see SuppL). On them doubtless devolved also the performance of public prayers, the slaying of victims, the consecration of the kings and of corpses, perhaps of marriages too, the administering of oaths, and many other duties. Of their attire, their insignia and gradations, we hear nothing at all ; once Tacitus cap. 43 speaks of a sacerdos muliebri ornatu, but gives no details. No doubt the priests formed a separate, possibly a hereditary order, though not so powerful and influential as in Gaul. Probably, beside that sacerdos civitatis, there were higher and lower ones. Only one is cited by name, the Cattian, i.e. Hessian, Libes in Strabo (Ai^t]<; rwv Xdrrav lepeiK;), who with other German prisoners was dragged to Eome in the pompa of Germanicus. Of him Tacitus (so far as we still have him) is silent.^ Jornandes's statement is worthy of notice, that the Gothic priests were termed pileati in distinction from the rest of the people, the capillati, and that during sacrifice they had the head covered with a hat ; conf. EA. 271 (see Suppl.). OSinn is called SiShottr, broadhat.

The succeeding period, down to the introduction of Christi- anity, scarcely yields any information on the condition of the priesthood in continental Germany ; their existence we infer from that of temples and sacrifices. A fact of some importance has been preserved by Beda, Hist. eccl. 2, 13 : a heathen priest of the Anglo- Saxons was forbidden to carry arms or to ride a male horse : Non enim licuerat, pontificem sacrorum vel arma ferre, vel praetcrquam in equa equitare. Can this have any connexion with the regulation which, it is true, can be equally explained from the Bible, that christian clergymen, when riding about the country, should be mounted on asses and colts, not horses (KA. 86-88) ? Festus also remarks : Uquo vehi flamini diali non licebat, ne, si longius digre- deretur, sacra neglegerentur (see Suppl). The transmission of such customs, which have impressed themselves on the habits of

1 Libes might be Leip, Leb, O.N. Leifr, Goth. Laibs ? A var. lect. has Ai/3us.

92 PEIESTS.

life, would seem to have been quite admissible. I shall try else- where to show in detail, how a good deal in the gestures and atti- tudes prescribed for certain legal transactions savours of priestly ceremony at sacrifice and prayer (see Suppl.). It is not unlikely, as heathen sacred places were turned into christian ones, that it was also thought desirable amongst a newly converted people to attract their former priests to the service of the new religion. They were the most cultivated portion of the people, the most capable of comprehending the christian doctrine and recommending it to their countrymen. From the ranks of the heathen priesthood would therefore proceed both the bitterest foes and the warmest partizans of innovation.^ The collection of the Letters of Boniface has a passage lamenting the confusion of christian and heathen rites, into which foolish or reckless and guilty priests had suffered themselves to fall.^ This might have been done in blameless ignor- ance or from deliberate purpose, but scarcely by any men except such as were previously familiar with heathenism.

Even the ;N"orse priesthood is but very imperfectly delineated in the Eddas and sagas. A noteworthy passage in the Ynglingasaga cap. 2 which regards the Ases altogether as colonists from Asia, and their residence Asgard as a great place of sacrifice, makes the twelve principal Ases sacrificial priests (hofgoGar) : skyldu Jjeir raSa fyrir bio bum ok domum manna 1 milli (they had to advise about sacrifices and dooms) ; and it adds, that they had been named diar (divi) and drottnar (domini). This representation, though it be but a conjecture of Snorri's, shows the high estimation in which the priestly order stood, so that gods themselves were placed at the head of sacrifices and judgments. But we need not therefore con- found diar and drottnar with real human priests.

-1 Just as the Catholic clergy furnished as well the props as the opponents of the Reformation. The notable example of a heathen priest abjuring his ancient faith, and even putting forth his hand to destroy the temple he had once held sacred, has been quoted from Beda on p. 82. This priest was an English, not a British one, though Beda, evidently for the mere purpose of more exactly marking his station, designates him by a Gaefic word Coifi (choibi, choibhidh, cuimhi, see Jamieson, supplement sub. v. coivie, archdruid). Coifi is not a proper name, even in Gaelic ; and it is incredible that Eadwine king of Nor- thumbria should have adopted the British religion, and maintained a British priest.

2 Ed. Wurdtw. 82. Serr. 140 : Pro sacrilegis itaque presbyteris, ut scripsisti, qui tauros et hircos diis paganorum immolabant, manducantes sacrificia mor- tuorum. . . . modo vero incognitum esse, utrum baptizantes trinitatem dixissent an non, &c. — Connect with this the presbyter Jovi mactans, Ep. 25.

PRIESTS. 93

T must draw attention to the fact, that certain men who stood nearer to the gods by services and veneration, and priests first of all, are entitled /mwfZs of the, gods^ (see Suppl.). Hence such names as Frcysvinr, AS. Fredtvinc, Bregowine for heroes and kings (see ch. X, Frowin). According to Eyrbygg. pp. 6, 8, 16, 26, Eolfr was a Thors vinr ; he had a hof of that god on a meadow, and was there- fore named Thorrolfr, he dedicated to him his son Steinn and named liim Thorsteinn, who again dedicated his son Grimr to the god and named him Thorgrimr ; by this dedicating (gefa), was meant the appointing to the office of goGi or priest. And (according to Landn. 2, 23) Hallstein gave his son as goSi to Thorr. Here we see the priestly office running on through several generations (see Suppl.). However, Odysseus is also called All ^t'Xo?, II. 10, 527. Also AloXo'i <})l\o<; ddavdroKTi OeoiaL, Od. 10, 2 ; but then in Od. 10, 21 he is ra/uLLTj'i dv6/j,(ov, director of winds, therefore a priest.

How deeply the priestly office in the North encroached on the administration of justice, need not be insisted on here ; in their judicial character the jDriests seem to have exercised a good deal of control over the people, whereas little is said of their political influence at the courts of kings ; on this point it is enough to read the Nialssaga. In Iceland, even under Christianity, the Judges retained the name and several of the functions of heathen godar, Gragas 1, 109-113. 130. 165. Convents, and at the same time state-farmers, especially occupiers of old sanctuaries (see p. 85, note) apparently continue in the Mid. Ages to have peculiar privileges, on which I shall enlarge in treating of weisthiimer. They have the keeping of the county cauldron, or weights and measures, and above all, the hrood-animals, to which gTeat favour is shown everywhere (see Suppl.).

The goSi is also called a hlotmad'r (sacrificulus), hliotr (Egilssaga p. 209), but all blotmenn need not be priests ; the word denoted rather any participant in sacrifices, and afterwards, among christians, the heathen in general. It tallies with the passage in Tacitus about the paterfamilias, that any iarl or hersir (baron) might per- form sacrifice, though he was not a priest. Saxo Gramm. p. 176

1 The MHG, poets still bestow on hermits and monks the epithets gotes frhmt, gotes degen (J^egn, warrior). In the Eenner 24587, St. Jost is called heiliger gotes kneht (cniht, servant). [See however 'serviis dei, famulus dei' passim in the lives of saints].

94 PEIESTS.

relates of Harald after liis baptism : Delubra diruit, vidimarios proscripsit, flaminium abrogavit. By victimarii he must mean blotmenn, by flamens the j)riests. He tells us on p. 104, that at the great Upsala sacrifices there were enacted effoeniinati corporum motus, scenicique mimorum plausus, ac mollia nolarum crepitacula ; Greek antiquity has also something to tell of choruses and dances of priests.

On the clothing of the ISTorse priests, I have not come across any information. Was there a connexion between them and the poets ? Bragi the god of song has nothing to do with sacrifices ; yet the poetic art was thought a sacred hallowed thing : OSinn spoke in verse, he and his Iwfgo&ar are styled liod'asmi&ir (song- smiths), Yngl. saga cap. 6. Can sMlcL (poeta, but neut.) be the same as the rare OHG. sgalto (sacer) ? Diut. 1, 183. Gl. ker. 69, scaldo. Even of christian minstrels soon after the conversion one thing and another is told, that has also come down to us about heathen skalds.

Poetry borders so closely on divination, the Eoman vates is alike songster and soothsayer, and soothsaying was certainly a priestly function. Amm. Marcell. 14, 9 mentions Alamannian auspices, and Agathias 2, 6 fiavrei'; or 'x^prjafMoXoyot 'AXaixavviKoL

Ulphilas avoids using a Gothic word for the frequently occur- ring 7rpo(jii]T7]^, he invariably puts praiifetus, and for the fern. irpo^rjTL'i praufeteis, Lu. 2, 36 ; why not veitaga and veitago ? The OHG. and AS. versions are bolder for once, and give wizago, vAtcga} Was the priest, when conducting auguries and auspices, a veitaga ? conf, inveitan, p. 29. The ON. term is sjmmad'r (spae-man), and for prophetess spdkona (spae- woman, A.S. witegestre). Such diviners were Mimir and Gripir. In old French poems they are devi7i (divini, divinatores), which occasionally comes to mean poets : uns devins, qui de voir dire est esprovez, Meon 4, 145. ce dient li devin, Een. 7383 ; so Tristr. 1229 : li contor dient (see Suppl.).

We have now to speak of the prophetesses and priestesses of antiquity. — The mundium (wardship) in which a daughter, a sister, a wife stood, appears in the old heathen time not to have excluded

1 The ). is become ei in our weissager, MHG. Avissage for wizege ; equally erroneous is oui' verb weissagen, MHG. wissagen, Iw. 3097 (OHG. wizagon, AS. witegian).

PRIESTESSES. 95

tliem from holy offices, such as sacrificing (see Suppl.), or from a good deal of influence over the people. Tacitus, after telling us how mightily the German women wrought upon the valour of their warriors, and that the Eomans for greater security demanded noble maidens from particular nations, adds : Inesse quin etiam sanctum et providum (feminis) putant^, ncc aut consilia earum aspernantur, aut rcsponsa negiigunt. And before that, Caesar 1. 50 : Quod apud Germanos ea consuetudo esset, ut matres fam. eorum sortihns et vaticinationibus declararent, utrum proelium committi ex usu esset, necne ; eas ita dicere : non esse fas Germanos superare,, si ante novam lunam proelio contendissent (see Suppl.).

While history has not preserved the name of one German vates, it has those of several prophetesses. Tac. Germ. 8 : Vidimus sub divo Vespasiano Veledam (as a prisoner in his triumph) diu apud plerosque num.inis loco habitam. Hist. 4, 61 : Ea virgo nationis Bructerae, late imiKritalat, vetere apud Germanos more, quo plerasque feminarum/a^idJz'cas, et augescente superstitions arbitrantur dcas. Tuncque Veledae auctoritas adolevit ; nam ' prosperas Germanis res et excidium legionum ' praedixerat. In 4, 65, when the people of Cologne were making an alliance with the Tencteri they made the offer : Arbitrum habebimus Civilem et Veledam apud quos pacta sancientur. Sic lenitis Tencteris, legati ad Civilem et Veledam missi cum donis, cuncta ex voluntate Agrippinensium perpetravere. Sed coram adire, alloquique Veledam negatum. Arcebantur aspectu, quo venerationis plus inesset. Ipsa edita in turrc ; delectus e propinquis consulta responsacjitc ut internuntius numinis portabat. 5, 22 : Praetoriam triremem flumine Luppia donum Veledae traxere. 5, 25 ; Veledam propinquosque monebat. Her captivity was probably related in the lost chapters of the fifth book.2 This Velcda had been preceded by others : Sed et oKm Auriniam (hardly a translation of any Teutonic name, such as the ON. Gullveig, gold-cup ; some have guessed Aliruna, Olrun, Albruna) et complures alias venerati sunt, non adulatione nee tamquam facerent dcas. Germ. 8. A later one, named Ganna, is

1 A ^^l(l force of phantasy, and the state called clairvoyance, have shown themselves preeminently in women.

• Statius silv. I. 4, 90 : Captivaeque preces Veledae ; he scans the first two syllables as short, which seems more correct than Dio's BeX^Sa. Zeuss 436 thinks BeXe'Sa, BtXtSa = Vilida. Graff has a n. prop. Wallodu 1, 800. I would suggest the Gothic fern, name Ka/ftf^rtmarca in Jornandescap. 48, and the Thur- ingiau name of a place JFalada in Pertz I. 308.

96 PRIESTS.

cited by Dio Cassius, 67, 5 ;i and in the year 577 Gunthcramnus consulted a woman ' habentem spiritum pldtonis, ut ei quae erant eventura narraret,' Greg. Tur. 5, 14 (in Aimoin 3, 22 she is mulier phytonissa, i.e. irvdoivhaaa). One much later still, TMota, who had come to Mentz out of Alamannia, is noticed in the Annals of Fulda, anno 847 (Pertz 1, 365).- As Cassandra foretold the fall of Troy, our prophetesses predict the end of the world (v, infra) ; and Tacitus Ann. 14, 32 speaks of British druidesses in these words : Feminae in furore turbatae adesse cxitium canebant ; conf. 14, 30. But we have the sublimest example before us in the Voluspa (see Suppl.).

Those grayhaired, barefooted Cimbrian priestesses in Strabo (v. supra, p. 55) in white robe and linen doublet, begirt with brazen clasps, slaughtering the prisoners of war and prophesying from

^ Vavva (al. Tavva) rrapdevos fiera T7]u Bf\rj8av iv rrj lifXriKr} deia^ovcra, conf. the masc. name Gannascus in Ann. 11, 18. 19 ; the fern. Ganna, dat. Gan- nane, in a Lothr. urk., as hxte as 709, Don Calmet, ed. 1728, torn. 1. preuves p. 265.

2 Traditions, which Hubertus Thomas of Luttich, private secretary to the Elector Palatine, according to his book De Timgris et Ebnronibiis 1541, pro- fesses to have received fi'om an antiquary Joan. Berger out of an old book (libello vetustissimis characteribus descripto), and which he gives in his treatise De Heidelbergae antiquitatibus, relate as follows : Quo tempore Velleda virgo in Bruchteris imperitabat, vetula quaedam, cui nomen Jettha, eum coUem, ubi nunc est arx Heidelbergensis et Jetthae collis etiam nunc nomen liabet, inhabitabat, vetustissim unique ^:»/iamtm incolebat, cujus fragmenta adhuc nuper vidimus, dum comes palatiniis Fridericus factus elector egregiam domura construxit, quam novam aulam ajjpellant. Haec mulier vaticiniis inclyta, et quo venerabilior foret, raro in conspectum hominum prodiens, volentibus con- silium ab ea petere, de fenestra, non 'prodeunte viiltu, respondebat. Et inter cetera praedixit, ut inconditis versibus canebat, suo colli a fatis esse datum, ut futuris temporibus regiis viris, quos nominatim recensebat, inhabitaretur et templis celeberrimis ornaretur, Sed ut tandem fabulosae antiquitati valedicamus, lubet adscribere quae is liber de infelici morte ipsius Jetthae continebat. Egressa quondam amoenissimo tempore plumum, ut deambulatione recrearetur, progre- diebatur juxta montes, donee pervenit in locum, quo montes intra convallem declinant et multis locis scaturiebant pulcherrimi fontes, quibus vehementer ilia coepit delectari, et assidens ex illis bibebat, cmn ecce lupa famelica cum catulis e silva prorupit, quae conspectam mulierem nequicquam divos invocan- tem dilaniat et frustatim discerpsit, quae casu suo fonti nomen dedit, vocaturque quippe in hodiernum diem fons lujwrum ob amoenitatem loci omnibus notus. It is scarcely worth while trying to settle how much in this may be genuine tradition, and how much the erudition of the 16th century foisted in, to the glorification of the new palace at Heidelberg ( = Heidberg) ; the very mndow on the hill Avould seem to have been copied from Veleda's tower, though Brynhild too resides upon her rock, and has a high tower (Vols, saga, cap. 20, 24, 25 ; conf. MenglotS, OHG. Maniklata 1) on the rock, with nine virgins at her knees (Siem. 110. 111). If the enchantress's name were Hcida instead of Jettha, it would suit the locality better, and perhaps be an echo of the ON. Heidr.

PRIESTESSES. 97

their blood in the sacrificial cauldron, appear as frightful witches by the side of the Bructerian IMaid ; together with divination they exercise the priestly oftice. Their minutely described apparel, we may suppose, resembled that of the priests.

While in Tac. Germ. 40 it is a 'priest that attends the goddess, and guides the team of kine in her car ; in the North conversely, we have handmaids waiting upon gods. From a remarkable story in the Olaf Tryggv. saga (Fornm. sog. 2, 73 seq.), which the christian composer evidently presents in an odious light, we at all events gather that in Sweden a virgin attended the car of Freyr on its travels among the people : Frey var fengin til J?ionosto hona ung ok friS (into Frey's service was taken a woman young and fair), and she is called hona Freys. Otherwise a priestess is called gyffja, Iwfgycfja, corresponding to goSi, hofgoSi ; ^ see TuriSr hofgySja, Islend. sog. 1, 205. Jjorlaug gySja, Landn. 1, 21. Steinvor and FridgerSr, Sagabibl. 1, 99. 3, 268.

But the Norse authorities likewise dwell less on the priestly functions of women, than on their higher gift, as it seems, of divination: Perita angurii femina, Saxo Gram. 121. A''aldamarr konungr atti moSur miok gamla ok orvasa, sva at hun la i rekkju, en ]70 var hun framsyn af Fitons anda, sem margir heiSnir menn (King V. had a mother very old and feeble, so that she lay in bed, and there was she seized by a spirit of Python, like many heathen folk), Fornm. sog. 1, 76. — Of like import seems to be a term whicli borders on the notion of a higher and supernatural being, as in the case of Veleda ; and that is dis (nympha, numen). It may be not accidental, that the spakona in several instances bears the proper name Tliordis (Vatnsd. p. 186 seq. Fornm. sog. 1, 2.55. Islend. sog. 1, 140. Kormakkss. p. 204 seq.) ; dis however, a very early word, which I at one time connected with the Gothic filudeisei (astutia, dolus), appears to be no other than our OHG. itis, OS. idis, AS. ides (femina, nympha). — As famous and as widely spread was the term volva^ which first denotes any magic- wielding soothsayeress (Vatnsd. p. 44. Fornm. sog. 3, 214. Fornald. sog. 2, 165-6. 50G), and is afterwards attached to a particular mythic Volva, of whom one of the oldest Eddie songs, the Vuluspd, treats. Either volu

^ Can our gotte, gothe, goth for godmother (taufpathin, susccptrix e saci'O fonte) be the sur\ival of an old heathen term '} Murolt 3184 has gode of the baptized vir;^in.

"^ The Slavic volkhv magus. — Trans.

7

98 PRIESTS.

stands here for volvu, or the claim of the older form Vala may be asserted ; to each of them woiild correspond an OHG. Walawa or Wala, which suggests the Walada above, being only derived in a different way. In the saga Eiriks ranSa we come upon Thorhiorg, the little Vala (Edda Ssem. Hafn. 3, 4). — Hei&r is the name not only of the volva in the Edda (Ssem. 4^, conf. 118^) but also of the one in the Orvarodssaga (conf. Sagabibl. 3, 155). — Hyndla (canicula) is a prophetess that rides on wolves, and dwells in a cave. — I guess also that the virgins Thorger&r and Ir-pa (Fornm. sog. 2, 108. 3, 100. 11, 134-7. 142. 172), to whom all but divine honours were paid, and the title of horgabruSr (nympha lucorum) and even the name of guS (numen) was accorded, Nialss. cap. 89, are not to be excluded from this cii'cle. So in the valkyrs, beside their godhood, there resides somewhat of the priestly, e.g. their virginity (see ch. XVI and Suppl.).

We shall return to these ' gleg ' and ' wise ' women (and they have other names besides), who, in accordance with a deeply marked feature of our mythology, trespass on the superhuman. Here we had to set forth their connexion with sacrifice, divination and the priesthood.

CHAPTEE VL GODS.

Now, I think, we are fully prepared for the inquiry, whether real gods can be claimed for Germany in the oldest time. All the branches of our language have the same general name for deity, and have retained it to the present day ; all, or at any rate most of them, so far as the deficiency of documents allows the chain of evidence to be completed, show the same or but slightly varying terms for the heathen notions of worship, sacrifice, temples and priesthood. Above all there shines forth an unmistakable analogy between the Old Norse terminology and the remains, many cen- turies older, of the other dialects : the Norse ffisir, biota, horgr, goSi were known long before, and with the same meanings, to the Goths, Alamanns, Franks and Saxons. And this identity or similarity extends beyond the words to the customs themselves : in sacred groves the earliest human and animal victims were offered, priests conducted sacrifices and divinations, ' wise women ' enjoyed all but divine authority.

The proof furnished by the sameness of language is of itself sufficient and decisive. When the several divisions of a nation speak one and the same language, then, so long as they are left to their own nature and are not exposed to violent influences from without, they always have the same kind of belief and worship.

The Teutonic race lies midway between Celts, Slavs, Lithu- anians, Finns, all of them populations that acknowledge gods, and practise a settled worship. The Slav nations, spread over ■widely distant regions, have their principal gods in common ; how should it be otherwise in Teutondom ?

As for demanding proofs of the genuineness of Norse mythology, we have really got past that now. All criticism cripples and anni- hilates itself, that sets out with denying or doubting what is trea- sured up in song and story born alive and propagated amongst an entire people, and which lies before our eyes. Criticism can but collect and arrange it, and unfold the materials in their historical sequence.

100 GODS.

Then the only question that can ftirly be raised, is : Whether the gods of the North, no longer disputable, hold good for the rest of Teutondom ? To say yea to the question as a whole, seems, from the foregoing results of our inquiry, altogether reasonable and almost necessary,

A negative answer, if it knew what it was about, Avould try to maintain, that the circle of Norse gods, in substance, were formerly common to all Germany, but by the earlier conversion were extin- guished and annihilated here. But a multitude of exceptions and surviving vestiges would greatly limit the assertion, and materially alter what might be made out of the remainder.

In the meanwhile a denial has been attempted of quite another kind, and the opinion upheld, that those divinities have never existed at all in Germany proper, and that its earliest inhabitants knew nothing better than a gross worship of nature without gods.

This view, drawing a fundamental distinction between German and Scandinavian heathenism, and misapprehending all the clues which discover themselves to unprejudiced inquiry as infallible evidence of the unity of two branches of a nation, lays special stress upon a few statements on the nature of the heathen faith, dating from about the sixth century and onwards. These for the most part proceed from the lips of zealous christians, who did not at all concern themselves to understand or faithfully portray the paganism they were assailing, whose purpose was rather to set up a warning against the grosser manifestations of its cultus as a detestable abo- mination. It will be desirable to glance over the principal passages in their uniformity and one-sidedness.

Agathias (i* before 582), himself a newly converted Greek, who could only know from christianly coloured reports what he had heard about the distant Alamanns, thus exhibits the Alamannic worship as opposed to the Frankish : SiuSpa re yap rtva IXdaKovTat, Kol peWpa TTora/xMV koX \d(f)ov‹i koX (f)dpa'y›ya<;, Kai rovTOi<; wairep oaia BpMvre'i 28, 4. Then foUow the words quoted on p. 47 about their equine sacrifices.

But his contrast to the Franks breaks down at once, when we hear almost exactly the same account of thc7n from the lips of their first historian Gregory : Sed haec generatio fanaticis semper cultibus visa est obsequium praebuisse, nee prorsus agnovere Deum, sibique silvarum atque aquarum, avium bestiarumque et alioruui

GODS. 101

quoque elementorum finxere formas, ipsasque ut deum colere eisque sacrificia delibare consueti. Greg. Tur. 2, 10. — Similarly, Einliard (^ginhard) in Vita Caroli cap. 7, about the Saxons : Sicut onmes fere Gerraaniam incolentes nationes et natura feroces et cidtui daemonum dediti, nostraeque religion! contrarii. — Ruodolf of Fuld, after quoting Tacitus and Einhard, adds (Pertz 2, 676) : Nam et frondosis arboribus fontibusque venerationem exhibebant ;^ and then mentions the Irminsfd, which I shall deal with hereafter (see Suppl.). — Lastly, Helmold 1, 47 affirms of the Holsteiners : Nihil de religione nisi nomen tantum christianitatis habentes ; nam lucoruui et fontiuni ceterarumque superstitionum multiplex error apud eos habetur . . . Vicelinus . . . lucos et onmes ritus sacrilegos destruens, &c.'

Conceived in exactly the same spirit are the prohibitions of heathenish and idolatrous rites in decrees of councils and in laws. Concil. Autissiod. anno 586, can. 3 : Non licet inter sentes aut ad arbores sacrivos vel ad fontes vota exsolvere ; conf. Concil. Turon. II. anno 566, can. 22. — Leges Liutpr. 6, 30 : Simili modo et qui ad arborem, quam rustici sanguinum (al. sanctivam, sacrivam) vocant, atque ad fontanas adoraverit. — Capit. de partibus Sax. 20 : Si quis ad fontes aut arbores vel lucos votum fecerit, aut aliquid more gentilium obtulerit et ad honorem daemonum comederit. And tlie converters, the christian clergy, had for centuries to pour out their wrath against the almost ineradicable folly. — It is sufficient merely to allude to the sermons of Caesarius episcopus Arelatensis (f 542) ' Contra sacrilegos et aruspices, contra kalendarum quoque pagan- issimos ritus, coutraque augures lignicolas, fonticolas,' Acta Bened. sec. 1, p. 668.

All these passages contain, not an untruth, yet not the whole truth. That German heathenism was destitute of gods, they can- not possibly prove; for one thing, because they all date from periods when heatlienism no longer had free and undisturbed sway, but had been hotly assailed by the new doctrine, and was well- nigh overmastered. The general exercise of it had ceased, isolated partizans cherished it timidly in usages kept up by stealth ; at the same time there were christians who in simplicity or error con- tinued to practise superstitious ceremonies by the side of christian ones. Such doings, not yet extinct here and there among the

^ Adain of Bremen again copies Ruodolf, Pertz 9, 286.

102 GODS.

common people, but withdrawn from all regulating guidance by heathen priests, could not fail soon to become vulgarized, and to appear as the mere dregs of an older faith, which faith we have no right to measure by them. As we do not fail to recognise in the devils and witches of more modern times the higher purer fancies of antiquity disguised, just as little ought we to feel any scruple about tracing back the pagan practices in question to the untroubled foun- tainhead of the olden time. Prohibitions and preachings kept strictly to the practical side of the matter, and their very purpose was to put down these last hateful remnants of the false religion. A sentence in Cnut's AS. laws (Schmid 1, 50) shows, that fountain and tree worship does not exclude adoration of the gods themselves : HseGenscipe biS, Jjset man deofolgild weorSige, J?ait is, ]?a3t man weorSige haeSene godas, and sunnan oSSe monan, fyre o55e floSwse- ter, wyllas oGCe stfmas oSSe teniges cynnes wudutreowa; conf Homil. 1, 366. Just so it is said of Olaf the Saint, rornm, sog. 5, 239, that he abolished the heathen sacrifices and gods : Ok morg onnur (many other) blotskapar skrimsl, bseSi hamra ok horga, skoga, votn ok tre ok oil onnur blot, baeSi meiri ok minni.

But we can conceive of another reason too, why on such occa- sions the heathen gods, perhaps still unforgotten, are passed over in silence : christian priests avoided uttering their names or describing their worship minutely. It was thought advisable to include them aU under the general title of demons or devils, and utterly uproot their influence by laying an interdict on whatever yet remained of their worship. The Merseburg poems show how, by way of exception, the names of certain gods were still able to transmit themselves in formulas of conjuring.

Pictures of heathenism in its debasement and decay have no right to be placed on a level with the report of it given by Tacitus from five to eight centuries before, when it was yet in the fulness of its strength. If the adoration of trees and rivers still lingering in the habits of the people no longer bears witness to the existence of gods, is it not loudly enougli proclaimed in those imperfect and defective sketches by a Ptoman stranger ? When he expressly tells us of a deus terra editus, of heroes and descendants of the god (plures dco ortos), of the god who rules in war (velut deo imperante), of the names of gods (deorum nominibus) which the people trans- ferred to sacred groves, of the priest who cannot begin a divination

GODS.

103

without invoking the gods (precatus deos) and who regards himself as a servant of the gods (niinistros deorum), of a regnator omnium dens, of the gods of Germany (Germaniae deos in aspectu, Hist. 5, 17), of the diis patriis to whom the captured signa Eomana were hung up (Ann. 1, 59) ; when he distinguishes between penetrates Germaniae deos or dii penatcs (Ann. 2, 10. U, 16), communes dii (Hist. 4, 64), and conjugalcs dii (Germ. 18) ; when he even distin- guishes individual gods, and tries to suit them with Eoman names, and actually names (interpretatione Eomana) a Mars, Mercurius, Hercules, Castor and Pollux, Isis, nay, has preserved the German appellations of the deus terra editus and of his son, and of a goddess, the terra mater ; how is it possible to deny that at that time the Germans worshipped veritable gods ? How is it possible, when we take into account all the rest that we know of the language, the liberty, the manners, and virtues of the Germani, to maintain the notion that, sunk in a stolid fetishism, they cast themselves down before logs and puddles, and paid to them their simple adoration ?

The opinion of C?esar,^ who knew the Germans more super- ficially than Tacitus a hundred and fifty years later, cannot be allowed to derogate from the truth. He wants to contrast our ancestors with the Gauls, with whom he had had more familiar converse ; but the personifications of the sun, fire, and the moon, to which he limits the sum total of their gods, will hardly bear even a forced ' interpretatio Eomana'. If in the place of sun and moon we put Apollo and Diana, they at once contradict that deeply rooted ])eculiarity of the Teutonic way of thinking, which conceives of the sun as a female, and of the moon as a male being, which could not have escaped the observation of the Eoman, if it had penetrated deeper. And Vulcan, similar to the Norse Loki, but one of those divinities of whom there is least trace to be found in the rest of Teutondom, had certainly less foundation than the equally visible and helpful deities of the nourishing earth, and of the quickening, fish-teeming, ship-sustaining water. I can only look upon Caesar's statements as a half-true and roughcast opinion, which, in the face of the more detailed testimony of Tacitus, hardly avails to cast a

^ Dporum nimiero eos solos ducimt, quos eernuiit, et quorum opibus aperte juvantur, Solan et Vulcaiuim et Lunam ; reliquos lie fania quideiii acceperuiit. li.G. G, 21. Compare witli this B.G. 4, 7 where the Uisiiietes and Tenchtheri say to Cjesar : Sese iinis Suevis concedere, quibus no dii quideia imiiwrtales pares esse possint.

104 GODS.

doubt on other gods, much less to prove a bare worship of elements among the Germani.

All the accounts that vouch for the early existence of individual gods, necessarily testify at the same time to their great number and their mutual relationship. When Procopius ascribes a ttoXu? Oewv o/xiXo'i to the Heruli, this ' great host ' must also be good for the Goths, just those of whom we know the fewest particulars, and for all the Germans together. Jornandes would have us believe that Diceneus was the first to make the Goths acquainted with gods, cap. 11 : Elegit ex eis tunc nobilissimos prudentiores viros, quos theologian! instruens numina quaedam et sacella venerari suasit ; here evidently we see the ruler who promoted the service of particular gods. But that Jornandes himself credited his Goths with unmistakably native gods, is plain from cap. 10 : Unde et sacerdotes Gothorum aliqui, illi qui pii vocabantur, subito patefactis portis cum citharis et vestibus candidis obviam sunt Qg\Q?>^\ patcrnis d'iis, ut sibi propitii Macedones repellerent voce supplici modulantes. The fact here mentioned may even have been totally alien to the real Goths, but anyhow we gather from it the opinion of Jornandes. And if we also want evidence about a race lying quite at the opposite extremity of Germany, one that clung with great fidelity to their old-established faith, we have it in the Lex Frisionum, addit. tit. 13, where the subject is the penalty on temple-breakers : Immolatur diis quorum templa violavit.

We have now arrived at the following result.' In the first century of our era the religion of the Germans rested mainly upon gods ; a thousand or twelve hundred years later, among the northern section of the race, which was the last to exchange the faith of its fathers for a new one, the old system of gods is preserved the most perfectly. Linked by language and unbroken tradition to either extremity of heathenism, both its first appearance in history and its fall, stands central Germany from the fifth to the ninth century. During this period the figures of the heathen gods, in the feeble and hostile light thrown upon them by the reports of recent con- verts, come before us faded and indistinct, but still always as gods.

I must here repeat, that Tacitus knows no simulacrum of German gods, no image ^ moulded in human shape ; what he had

^ Grk. (iyaXfia, signum, statue ; Gotli. manleika, OHG. manaUhho, ON. Ukneski (see Suppl.) ; can the Sloven, malik, idol, have sprung from manleika?

IMAGES. 105

stated generally in cap. 9, ho asserts of a particular case in cap. 43, and we have no ground for disbelieving his assertion. The exist- ence of real statues at that time in Germany, at least in the parts best known to them, would hardly have escaped the researches of the Romans. He knows of nothing but signa and foTvias, appar- ently carved and coloured, which were used in worship as symbols, and on certain occasions carried about ; probably they contained some reference to the nature and attributes of the several deities. The model of a boat, signuni in modura liburnae figuratum (cap. 9), betokened the god of sailing, the formac aprorum (cap. 45) the god to whom the boar was consecrated ; and in the like sense are to be taken the ferarum imagines on trees and at certain sacrifices (see SuppL). The vehiculum veste coutectum of the goddess Earth will be discussed further on.

The absence of statues and temples, considering the impotence of all artistic skill at the period, is a favourable feature of the German cultus, and pleasing to contemplate. But it by no means follows that in the people's fancy the gods were destitute of a form like the human ; without this, gods invested with all liuman attributes, and brought into daily contact with man, would be simply inconceivable. If there was any German poetry then in existence, which I would sooner assert than deny, how should the poets have depicted their god but ^vith a human aspect ?

Attempts to fashion images of gods, and if not to carve them out of wood or stone, at least to draw and paint them, or quite roughly to bake them of dough (p. C3), might nevertheless be made at any period, even the earliest ; it is possible too, that the interior parts of Germany, less accessible to the Eomans, concealed here and there temples, statues and pictures. In the succeeding cen- turies, however, when temples were multiplied, images also, to fill their spaces, may with the greatest probability be assumed.

The terminology, except where the words simulacra, imagines, which leave no room for doubt, are employed, makes use of several

Bohem. malik, the little finger, also Tliumbkin, Tom Thumb? which may have to do with idol [In the Slavic languages, mal = little, s-mall]. Other OHG. terms are avard; piladi, pilidi (bild) ethgies or imago in general ; in the !Mid. Ages they said, lor making or forming (p. 23), cin hilde giezcn, eine scha-ne junclrouwen enjiezen, Cod. Vindob. 428, num. 211, without any refer- ence to metal-casting ; em bUde mezzen, Troj. 19(526, mezzen, IMisc. 2, IttO. On the Lith. halwrnum, idolum, statua, conf. Pott de ling. Litth. 2, 51, Russ. bolvdn, Hung, hulcany ; Russ. humlr, idol, both lit. and tig. (object of affeL;tion).

lOG GODS.

terms whose meaning varies, passing from that of temple to that of image, just as we saw the meaning of grove mixed up with that of numen. If, as is possible, that word alah originally meant rock or stone (p. 67), it might easily, like haruc and ivih, melt into the sense of altar and statue, of ara, fanurn, idolum. In this way the OHG. ahcut, ahcuti (Abgott, false god) does signify both fana and idola or statuae, Diut. 1, 497^ 513'' 515^ 533^ just as our gotze is at once the false god and his image and his temple (see above, p. 15. Gramm. 3, 69-1). Idolum must have had a similar ambiguity, wdiere it is not expressly distinguished from delubrum, fanum and templum. In general phrases such as idola colere, idola adorare, idola destruere, we cannot be sure that images are meant, for just as often and with the same meaning we have adorare fana, des- truere fana. Look at the following phrases taken from OHG. glosses : ahcuti wihero stetio, fana excelsorum, Diut. 1, 515\ abcut in heilogem stetim, fana in excelsis, Diut. ], 213^ steininu zeihan inti ahcuti, titulos et statuas, Diut. 1, 49 7^ altara inti manalihun inti haruga, aras et statuas et lucos, Diut. 1, 513^ afgoda began- gana, Lacombl. arch. 1, 11. — Saxo Gram, often uses simulacra for idols, pp. 249, 320-1-5-7= The statement in Aribonis vita S. Emmerammi (Acta sanct. Sept. 6, 483) : * tradidero te genti Saxonum, quae tot idolorum cultor existit' is undeniable evidence that the heatlien Saxons in the 8th century served many false gods (Aribo, bishop of Freisingen in the years 764-783). The vita Lebuini, written by Hucbald between 918-976, says of the ancient Saxons (Pertz 2, 361-2): Inservire idolorum cultibus . . . numinihus suis vota solvens ac sacrificia . . . simulacra quae deos esse putatis, quosque venerando colitis. Here, no doubt, statues must be meant (see SuppL).

In a few instances we find the nobler designation deus still employed, as it had been by Tacitus : Cumque idem rex (Eadwine in 625) gratias ageret diis suis pro nata sibi filia, Beda 2, 9.

The following passages testify to visible representations of gods ; they do not condescend to describe them, and we are content to pick up hints by the way.

The very earliest evidence takes us already into the latter half of the 4th century, but it is one of the most remarkable. Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6, 37, mentions the manifold dangers that beset Ulphilas among the heathen Goths : Wliile the barbarians were yet heathens

IMA.GES. 107

(ert Twv ^ap^dpcov eWrjvi.Kco'i 6pT](TK€v6vT(ov) — eX\7]viK(oi here means in heathen fashion, and 6pr)aK6vetv (to worship) is presently described more minutely, when the persecution of the Christians by Athanaric is related — Athanaric, liaving set the statue (evidently of the Gothic deity) on a umggon {^oavou e0' apfiafid^rj'i eo-Too?), ordered it to be carried round to the dwellings of those suspected of Christianity ; if they refused to fall down and sacrifice {irpoaKv- velv Kol 6v€Lv), their houses were to be fired over their heads. By dppbd[ia^a is understood a covered carriage ; is not this exactly the vcMculum veste contectum, in which the goddess, herself unseen, was carried about (Tac. Germ. 40) ? Is it not the vagn in which Freyr and his priestess sat, when in holy days he journeyed round among the Swedish people (Fornm. sog. 2, 74-5) ? The people used to carry about covered images of gods over the fields, by which fertility was bestowed upon them.'^ Even the harrdsclien in our poems of the Mid. Ages, with Saracen gods in them, and the carroccio of the Lombard cities (EA. 263-5) seem to be nothing but a late reminis- cence of these primitive gods'-waggons of heathenism. The Eoman, Greek and Indian gods too were not without such carriages.

What Gregory of Tours tells us (2, 29-31) of the baptism of Chlodovich (Clovis) and the events that preceded it, is evidently touched up, and the speeches of the queen especially I take to be fictitious ; yet he would hardly have put them in her mouth, if it were generally known that the Franks had no gods or statues at all. Chrothild (Clotilda) speaks thus to her husband, whom she is try- ing to prepossess in favour of baptism : Nihil sunt dii quos colitis, qui neque sibi neque aliis poterunt subvenire ; sunt enim aut ex hqnde aut ex ligno aut ex metallo aliquo scidpti, nomina vero, quae eis indidistis, homines fuere, non dii. Here she brings up Satiirnns and JiijAtcr, with arguments drawn from classical mythology; and then : Quid Mars Mcrcuriusi^iwe potuere ? qui potius sunt magicis artibus praediti quam divini numinis potontiam habuere. Sed ille magis coli debet qui coelum et terram, mare et omnia quae in eis sunt, verbo ex non extantibus procreavit, &c. Scd cum haec regina diceret, nullatenus ad credendum regis animus movebatur, sed diccbat : Dcorum nostrorum jussione cuncta crcantur ac j)ro-

1 De simulacro quod percanipos portant (Indie, snperstit. cap. 28) ; one vita S. Martini cap. 9 (Suiius 6, 252) : Quia essut liaec Gallonini rusticis consne- tiulo, simulacra (kiemomim, candido teda vdamine, niisera per agros sues cii'- cumierre dementia.

108 GODS.

(leunt; deus vero vester nihil posse manifestatur, et quodmagis est, nee de deorum gcnere esse probatur (that sounds German enough!). When their little boy dies soon after receiving christian baptism, Chlodovich remarks : Si in nomine deorum meorum puer fuisset dicatus, vixisset utique ; nunc autem, quia in nomine dei vestri baptizatus est, vivere omuino non potuit. — So detailed a report of Chlodovich's heathenism, scarcely a hundred years after the event, and from the mouth of a well instructed priest, would be absurd, if there were no truth at the bottom of it. When once Gregory had put his Latin names of gods in the place of the Frankish (in which he simply followed the views and fashion of his time), he would as a matter of course go on to surround those names with the appro- priate Latin myths ; and it is not to be overlooked, that the four deities named are all gods of the days of the week, the very kind which it was quite customary to identify with native gods. I think myself entitled therefore, to quote the passage as proving at least the existence of images of gods among the Franks (see SuppL). The narrative of an incident from the early part of the Vtli century concerns Alamannia. Columban and St. Gallus in 612 came upon a seat of idolatry at Bregenz on the Lake of Constance : Trcs ergo imagines aereas et dcauratas superstitiosa gentilitas ibi colebat, quibus magis quam Creatori mundi vota reddenda credebat. So says the Vita S. Galli (Pertz 2, 7) written in the course of the next (8th) century. A more detailed account is given by Walafrid Sti'abo in his Vita S. Galli (acta Bened. sec. 2. p. 233) : Egressi de uavicula oratorium in honore S. Aureliae constructum adierunt. . . . Post orationem, cum per gyrum oculis cuncta lustrassent, placuit illis qualitas et situs locorum, deinde oratione praemissa circa oratorium mansiunculas sibi fecerunt. Eepererunt autem in templo ires imagines aereas deauratas parieti afjixas^ quas populus, dimisso altaris sacri cultu, adorabat, et ohlatis sacrificiis dicere consuevit : isti sunt dii veteres et antiqui hujus loci tutores, quorum solatio et nos et nostra perdurant usque in praesens. . . . Cumque ejusdem templi solemnitas ageretur, venit multitude non minima promiscui sexus et aetatis, non tantum propter festivitatis honorem, verum etiam ad videndos peregrines, quos cognoverant

1 So then, in a churcli really christian, these old heathen gods' images had heen let into the wall, probaLly to conciliate the people, wlio ^vere still attached to tliem ? There are several later instances of this practice, couf. Ledebur's archiv. 14, 363. 378. Thiir. mitth. VI. 2, 13 (see iSuppl.).

IMAGES. 109

advenisse. . . . Jussu venerandi abbatis (Columbani) Gallus coepit viam veritatis ostendere populo, . . . et in conspectu omnium arripiens simulacra, et lapidibus in frusta comminucns jiro- jccit in lacum. His visis nonnulli conversi sunt ad dominum. — Here is a strange jumble of lieatlien and christian worship. In an oratory built in honour of St. Aurelia, three heathen statues still stand against the wall, to which the people continue to sacrifice, without going near the christian altar: to them, these are still their old tutelary deities. After the evangelist has knocked the images to pieces and thrown them into Lake Constance, a part of these heathen turn to Christianity. Probably in more places than one the earliest christian communities degenerated in like manner, owing to the preponderance of the heathen multitude and the supineness of the clergy. A doubt may be raised, however, as to whether by these heathen gods are to be understood Alamannish, or possibly Roman gods ? Eomau paganism in a district of the old Helvetia is quite conceivable, and dii tutores loci sounds almost like the very thing. On the other hand it must be remembered, that Alamanns had been settled here for three centuries, and any other worship than theirs could hardly be at that time the popular one. That sacrifice to Woden on the neighbouring Lake of Zurich^ (supra, p. 56) mentioned by Jonas in his older biography of the two saints, was altogether German. Lastly, the association of three di- vinities to be jointly worshipped stands out a prominent feature in our domestic heathenism ; when the Eomans dedicated a temple to several deities, their images were not placed side by side, but in separate celiac (chapels).— Eatpert (Casus S. Galli, Pertz 2, 61) seems to have confounded the two events, that on L. Zurich, and the subsequent one at Bregenz: Tucconiam (to Tuggen) advenerunt, quae est ad caput lacus Turicini, ubi cum consistere vellent, popu- lumque ab errore demonum revocare (nam adhuc idolis immolahant), (Jallo idola vana confringcnte ct in lacum vicinuvi demergcnte, populus in iram conversus. . . . sanctos exinde pepulerunt. Inde iter agentes pervenerunt ad castrum quod Arbona nuncupatur, juxta

^ Curionsly, Moiie (Gesch. des hcid. 1, 171-5) tries to put tliis W(jden- worship at 'J'liK'^'cn upon the Heruli, who had never been heard of there, instead of the Ahunanns, because Jonas says : Sunt inibi vicinae naliones Suevoruin. But this means simply tliose settled thereabouts ; there was no occasion to speak of distant ones. Columban was staving in a place not ai,'reenl)le to himself, in order to convert tlie heathen inhabitants ; and by Wal'atVid's description too, the district lies infra partes Alamanniae, where intra would do just as well.

110 GODS.

lacum potamicum, ibique a Willimaro presby tero honorifice suscepti, septem dies cum gaudio permanserunt. Qui a Sanctis interrogatus, si sciret locum in solitudine illorum proposito congruum, ostendit eis locum jocundissimum ad inhabitandum nomine Brigantium. Ibique reperientes templum olim christianae religioni dedicatum, nunc autem demomim imaginihiis pollutum, mundando et conse- crando in pristinum restituerunt statum, atque pro statuis quas ejecerunt, sanctae Aureliae reliquias ibidem collocaverunt. — By this account also the temple is first of all christian, and afterwards occupied by the heathen (Alamanns), therefore not an old Eoman one. That Woden s statue was one of those idola vana that were broken to pieces, may almost be inferred from Jonas's account of the beer-sacrifice offered to him. Eatpert's cantilena S. Galli has only the vague words :

Castra de Turegum adnavigant Tucconium, Decent fidem gentem, Jovcm linquunt ardentem. This Jupiter on fire, from whom the people apostatized, may very well be Donar (Thunar, Thor), but his statue is not alluded to. According to Arx (on Pertz 2, 61), Eckehardus IV. quotes ' Jovis et Neptuni idola,' but I cannot find the passage ; conf. p. 122 Ermoldus Nigellus on Neptune. It is plain that the three statues have to do with the idolatry on L. Constance, not with that on L. Zurich ; and if Mercury, Jupiter and Neptune stood there together, the first two at all events may be easily applied to German deities. In ch. VII, I will impart my conjecture about Neptune. But I think we may conclude from all this, that our tres imagines have a better claim to a German origin, than those imagines lapideae of the Luxovian forest, cited on p. 83^

1 Two narratives by Gregory of Tours on statues of Diana in the Treves country, and of Mercury and Mars in the soiith of Gaul, though they exchide all thought of German deities, yet offer striking comparisons. Hist. 8, 15 : Deinde territorium Trevericae urbis expetii, et in quo nunc estis monte habitaculum, quod cernitis, proprio labore construxi ; reperi tamen hie Dianae simulacrum, quod populus hie incredulus quasi deum adorahat. columnam, etiam statui, in qua cum grandi cruciatu sine ullo pedum stabam tegmine. . . . A^'erum ubi ad me multitudo vicinarum civitatiun confluere coepit, praedicabam jugiter, nihil esse Dianam, nihil simulacra, nihilque quae eis videbatur exerceri cultura : indigna etiam esse ipsa, quae inter pocula luxuriasque profluas cantica proferebant, sed potius deo omnipotenti, qui coelum fecit ac terram, dignum sit sacrificium laudis impendere. orabam etiam saepius, ut simulacro dominus diruto dignaretur populum ab hoc errore discutere. Flexit domini miseri- cordia menteiu rusticam, ut inclinaret aurem suam in verba oris mei, ut scilicet relictis idolis dominum aequeretur, (et) tunc convocatis quibusdam ex eis simulacrum hoc immensum, quod elidere propria virtute non poteram, cum

BIAGES. Ill

The chief authority for images of gods among the Saxons is the famous passage in Widekind of Corvei (1, 12), where he relates their victory over the Thuringians on the E. Unstrut (circ. 530),

• ut majorum memoria prodit ' : Mane autem facto, ad orientalem portam (of castle Schidungen) ponunt aquilam, aramque vidoriae construentes, secundum errorem paternum, sacra sua propria vener- atione venerati sunt, nomine Martem, effigie cohimnarum imitantes Herculem, loco Solem quem Graeci appellant AjJoIlinem. — This important witness will have to be called up again in more than one connexion.

To the Corvei annals, at year 1145, where the Eresburg is spoken of, the following is added by a 12th century hand (Pertz 5, 8 note) : Hec eadem Eresburg est corrupto vocabulo dicta, quam et Julius Cesar Eomano imperio subegit, quando et Arispolis nomen habuit ab eo qui Aris Greca designatione ac 3Iars ipse dictus est Latino famine. Duobus siquidem idolis hec dedita fuit, id est Aris, qui urhis mcniis insertus, quasi dominator dominantium, et Ermis, qui et Mcrcurius mercimoniis insistentibus colebatur in forensibus. — According to this, a statue of Mars seems to have stood on the town-wall.

That the Frisian temples contained images of gods, there seems to be sufficient evidence. It is true, the passage about Fosite (p. 84) mentions only fana dei ; we are told that Wilibrord laid violent hands on the sacred fountain, not that he demolished any image.

eorura adjutorio possem eruere ; jam enim reliqiia sigillorum (tlie sniallor figures) quae faciliora erant, ipse confregeram. Convenientibus autem multis ad hanc Dianae statuam, missis funibus traliere coeperunt, sed nihil labor eorimi proficere poterat. Then came prayers ; egressusque post orationem ad operarios veni, adprehensumque funem ut prime ictu trahere coepimus, protinus simula- crum ruit in terram, confradumque cum malleis ferreis m pulverem redegi. So images went to the ground, whose contemplation we should think very in- structive now. This Diana was probably a mixture of Roman and Gallic worship ; there are inscriptions of a Diana arduiiina (Bouquet 2, 319). — The second passage stands in Mirac. 2, 5 : Erat autem baud procul a cellula, quam sepulchrum, martyris (Juliani Arvernensis) haec matrona constrnxerat (in vico Brivatensi), cjrande delubrum, ubi in columna altissima siinulachrum Martis Mercuriiqne colebatur. Cumque delubri illius festa a gentilibus agerentur ac mortui mortuis thura deferrent, medio e vulgo commoventur pueri duo in scandalum, nudutociue unus gladio alterum appetit trucidandum. The lioy runs to the saint's cell, and is saved. Quarta autem die, cum gentilitas vellet iterum diis exhibere liljamina, the christian priests offer a fervent jirayer to the martyr, a violent thunderstorm arises, the heathens are terrified : Kecedente autem tempestate, gentiles baptizati, statuas quas coluerant confringentes!, in lacnm vico amnitjue proximum projecerunt. — Soon after this, the Burgundians settled in tlie district. The statues broken d(n\n, crushed to powder, and tlimg into the lake, every bit the same as in that story of Ratpert's.

112 GODS.

On the otiier hand, the Vita Bonifacii (Pertz 2, 339), in describing the heathen reaction under King Eedbod (circ. 716), uses this language : Jam pars ecclesiarum Christi, quae Francorum prius subjecta erat imperio, vastata erat ac destructa, idolorum quoque cultura exstructis delubrorum fanis lugubriter renovata. And if it should be thought that idolorum here is equivalent to deorum, the Vita Willehadi (Pertz 2, 380) says more definitely : Insanum esse et vanum a lapidibus auxilium petere et a simulacris mutis et surdis subsidii sperare solatium. Quo audito, gens fera et idololatriis nimium dedita stridebant dentibus in eum, dicentes, non debere profanum longius vivere, imo reum esse mortis, qui tam sacrilegia contra dcos suos invidissimos proferre praesumsisset eloquia. — The event belongs to the middle of the 8th century, and the narrator Anskar (f 865) comes a hundred years later ; still we are not warranted in looking upon his words as mere ilourishes. And I am not sure that we have a right to take for empty phrases, what is said in a Vita S. Goari (f 649), which was not written till 839 : Coepit gentilibus per circuitum (i.e. in Eipuaria), simulacrorum cultui deditis et vana idolorum superstitionis deceptis, verbum salutis annuntiare (Acta Bened. sec. 2, p. 282), Such biographies are usually based on older memorials.

The Frisians are in every sense the point of transition to the Scandinavians ; considering the multifarious intercourse between these two adjoining nations, nothing can be more natural than to suppose that the Frisians also had in common with their neighbours the habit of temple and image worship. Even Fosete's temple in Heligoland I can hardly imagine destitute of images.

Some facility in carving figures out of wood or chiselling them out of stone is no more than we should have expected from those signa and effigies in Tacitus, and the art might go on improving up to a certain stage. Stone weapons and other implements that we find in barrows testify to a not unskilful handling of difficult materials. That not a single image of a Teutonic god has escaped the destructive hand of time and the zeal of the christians, need surprise us less than the total disappearance of the heathen temples. "Why, even in the North, where the number of images was greater, and their destruction occurred much later, there is not one preserved; all the Lethrian, all the Upsalian idols are clean gone. The technical term in the Norse was shurdgo^ (Fornm. sog. 2, 73-5), from skera

IMAGES. 113

(sculpere), skurd (sculptura) ; in the two passages referred to, it is likueski af Freyr. Biorn gives sJcdrgoff, idolum, sculptile, from skur, subgrundium (penthouse), because it had to be placed under cover, in sheds as it were ; with which the OHG. skurguta (Graff 6, 536) seems to agree. But there is no distinct proof of an ON, skurgoS.

Dietmar's account is silent about the gods' images at Lethra ^ ; in Adam of Bremen's description of those at Upsal (cap. 233), the most remarkable thing is, that three statues are specified, as they were in that temple of the Alamanns : Nunc de superstitione Sveonum pauca dicemus. Nohilissinium ilia gens templum habet, quod Ubsola dicitur, non longe positum a Sictona civitate (Sigtiin) vel Birka. In hoc templo, quod totum ex auro paratum est, statuas trium deorum veneratur populus, ita ut potentissimus eorum Thor in medio solium habeat triclinio. Hinc et inde locum possident Wodau et Fricco. The further description w-e have nothing to do with here, but there occurs m it also the term scidpere ; as the whole temple was ex auro paratum, i.e., decorated with gold, he might doubtless have described the figures of tlie gods above all as gilded, j\ist as those in Alamannia were aereae et deaiiratae. — Saxo p. 13 tells of a golden statue of Othin ; Cujus numen Septentrionis reges propensiore cultu prosequi cupientes, effigiem ipsius cmreo complexi sivmlacro, statnam suae dignationis indicem maxima cum religionis simulatione Byzantium transmiserunt, cujus etiani brachiorum lineamenta confertissimo armillarum pondere per- stringebant. The whole passage, with its continuation, is not only unhistorical, but contrary to the genuine mytlis ; we can only see in it the view of the gods taken by Saxo and his period, and inasmuch as golden and bedizened images of gods were consonant with such view, we may infer that there still lived in his time a recollection of such figures (see SuppL). Ermoldus Nigellus, in describing Herold's (Harald's) interview with King Charles, mentions 4, 444 seq. (Pertz 2, 509-10) the gods images (sculpta) of the heathen, and that he was said to have had ploughshares, kettles and water-buckets forged of that metal. According to the Nialssaga cap. 89, in a Norwegian temple (goSahus) there were to be seen three figures again, those of Thor and the two half-goddesses ThorgerSr and Irpa, of human size, and adorned with armlets ;

^ On recently discovered figures of ' Odin,' v. infra, Wudan.

114 GODS.

probably Thor sat hi the middle on his car. Altogether the portraitures of Thor seem to have been those most in vogue, at least in Norway.^ One temple in which many skurdgoS were wor- shipped, but Thor most of all, is descriljed in Fornm. sog. 2, 153 and 159, and his statue 1, 295. 302-6; in 2, 44 we read: Thorr sat i midju ok var mest tignaSr, hann var mikill ok allr gidli hiXinn ok silfri (ex auro et argento confectus) ; conf. Olafs helga saga, ed. Holm. cap. 118-9, where a large standing figure of Thor is described ; and Fornm. sog. 4, 245, ed. Christ, p. 26. Freyr gioir af silfri, Isl. sog. 1, 134. Landn. 3, 2. One man carried a statuette of Thor carved in whalebone (likneski Thors af tonn gert) in his pocket, so as to worship him secretly, when living among christians, Fornm. sog. 2, 57. Thor's figure was carved on the ondvegis -pillars, Eyrbygg. p. 8. Landnamab. 2, 12 ; and on the prows of ships, Fornm. sog. 2, 324. A figure of ThorgerSr holgabriiSr, with rings of gold round the arm, to which people kneel, Fornm. sog. 2, 108.^

1 Finn Magnnsen, bidrag til norclisk archaeologie, pp. 113-159.

2 There is another thing to notice in this passage. The fignre of ThorgerSr lent its hand up, when some one tried to snatch a ring off its arm, and the goddess was not disposed to let him have it. Tlie same man then brought a lot of money, laid it at the figure's feet, fell on his knees and shed tears, then rose up and once more grasped at the ring, which now the figure let go. The same is tokl in the Foereyingasaga, cap. 23, p. 103. I regard it as a genuine tiait of heathen antiq^uity, like others which afterwards passed into christian iolk-tales of the Mid. Ages (see Suppl.). Of more than one image of grace we are told that it dropt a ring off its finger or a shoe off its foot as a gift to those who prayed before it. A figure of Christ gave its shoes to a poor man (Nicolai abbatis peregrinatio, ed. Werhiuft" p. 20), and a saint's image its gold slippers (Mones anz. 7, 584. Archiv. des Henneb. vereins, pp. 7«, 71). A figure of Mary accepts a ring that is presented to it, and bends her finger as a sign that she will keep it (Meon nouv. recueil 2, 296-7. Maerl. 2, 214). The two Virgin-stories in Meon and Maerlant, though one at bottom, have very differ- ent turns given them. In the latter, a young man at a game of ball pulls the ring off his finger, and puts it on the hand of a Madonna ; in the former, the youth is boxing in the Colosseum at Rome, and puts his ring on the finger of a heathen statue, which bends the finger. Both figmes now hold the man to his c-ngagement. But the O. French poem makes the afilicted youth bring an image of Mary to bear on the heathen one, the Mary takes the ring oil the other figure, and restores it to the youth. Conf. Kaiserchr. 13142. 13265. 13323. "Forduni Scoti chronicon 1, 407 (W. Scott's minstr. 2, 136), relates tliis fable as an event of the 11th century : a nobleman playing at ball slips his ring on the finger of a broken statue of Venus, and only gets it back with the help of a priest Palumbus who understands magic. We see the story had spread at an early time, but it is old Teutonic in its origin [' wndeutsch,' evid. a slip for itrdeutsch]. Even in a painting of Mary, the infant in her lap hands her a casket to give to a suppliant, Cod. pal. 341 fol. 63). Similarly, statues turn the face aivaij, stretch out the arm to •protect, they speaJc, laugh, weep, eat and walk ; tluis a figure of Christ turns itself away (Ls. 3, 78. 262), another begins to eat and grow bigger (Kinderm. legenden no. 9), to weep, to beckon, to run away

IMAGES. 115

Frcy's statue of silver, (Frcyr markaSr af silfri), Vatnsd. p. 44. 50 • carried abuiit in a waggon in Sweden, Fornm. sog. 2, 73-7. The Jonisvikingasaga tells of a temple on Gautlaud (I. of Gothland), in which were a Imndred gods, Fornm. sog. 11, 40 ; truly a ' densitas imaginuni,' as Jonas has it (see p. 83). Saxo Gram. 327 mentions a simulacrum qucrcii factum, carved in oak ? or an oaktree worshipped as divine ? (see Suppl).

Not only three, but occasionally two figures side by side are mentioned, particularly those of Wuota7i and Donar or of Mars and Merciirius, as w^e see from the passages cited. Figures of Freyr and Thor together, and of Frigg and Freyja, occur in Miiller's sagabibl. 1, 92. Names of places also often indicate such joint worship of two divinities, e.g. in Hesse the Donnerseiche (Thor's oak) stood close by the Wodansberg ; and explorers would do well to attend to the point.

But noitlier the alleged number of the statues, nor their descrip- tions in the sagas can pass for historical ; what they do prove is, that statues there were. They appear mostly to have been hewn out of wood, some perhaps were painted, clothed, and overlaid with silver or gold ; but no doubt stone images were also to be met with, and smaller ones of copper or ivory .^

I have put off until now the mention of a peculiar term for statue, with which some striking accounts of heathen idols connect themselves.

OHG. glosses have the word irmansidi, pyramides, Mons. 360. aveirUn, irmansiUt, pyramides. Doc. 203^ irmansid, colossus, altissima columna, Florent. 987^^, Bias. 86. colossus est irminsiM, Gl. Schletst. 18, 1. 28, 1. The literal meaning seems to be statue, to judge by the synonym avard, which in Gl. Jun. 226 is used for

(Deutsche Scaqen, no. 347. Tettaus, preuss. sagen, pp. 211-5-8). In Eeinbot's Georg tlie idol Apollo is flogged with rods by a child, and forced to walk away (3258-69), which reminds one of the god Perun, Avhom, according to monk Nestor, Vladimir the Apostolic caused to be scourged with rods. In an Indian story I find a statue that eats the food set before it, Poller 2, 302-3. Antiquity then did not regard these images altogether as lumps of dead matter, but as penetrated l)y the life of the divinity. The Greeks too have stories of statues that move, shake the lance, fall on their kness, close their eyes {KaTajj-vaeis), bleed and sweat, which may have been suggested by the attitudes of ancient images ; but of a statue making a movement of the hand, bending a finger, I have nowhere read, significant as the position of the arms in images of gods was held to be. That the gods themselves x^ 'P" vneptxovcnv over those whom they wish to protect, occurs as early us in Homer. 1 Finn Maynusen ibid. 132-7.

116 GODS.

statua and imago. It was not yet extinct in the 12th century, as appears from two places in the Kaiserchronik, near the beginning of the poem, and very likely there are more of them ; it is said of Mercury (Massmann 129) : —

uf einir ynnensule Upon an yrmensul

stuont ein abgot ungehiure, Stood an idol huge,

den hiezen sie ir koufman. Him tliey called their

merchant. Again of Julius Csesar (Massm. 624) : —

Eomere in ungetruweliche Eomans him untruly slew,

sluon-en. On an yrm. they buried him.

uf einir yrmensul sie in begruoben. And of Simon Magus 24° (Massm. 4432) :—

lif eine yrmensul er steic. On an yrmensul he climbed,

daz lantvolc im allesamt neic. The land-folk to him aU bowed. That is, worshipped him as a god. Nay, in Wolfram's Titurel, last chapter, where the great pillars of the (christian) temple of the Grail are described, instead of ' inneren seul ' of the printed text (Hahn 6151), the Hanover MS. more correctly reads irmensdl Further, in the Frankish annals ad ann. 772 it is repeatedly stated, that Charles the Great in his conquest of the Saxons destroyed a chief seat of their heathen superstition, not far from Heresburg ^ in Westphalia, and that it was called Irin insul. Ann. Petav. : Domnus rex Karolus perrexit in Saxoniam et conquisivit Erisburgo, et pervenit ad locum qui dicitur Ermensul, et succendit ea loca (Pertz 1, 16). Ann. Lauresh. : Fuit rex Carlus hostiliter in Saxonia, et destruxit /a?iM?/i eorum quod vocatur Irminsul (Pertz 1, 30). The same in the Chron. Moissiac, except the spelling Hir- minsul (Pertz 1, 295), and in Ann. Quedlinb., &c. (Pertz 5, 37). Ann. Juvavenses : Karolus idolum Saxonorum combussit, quod dicebant Irminsul (Pertz 1, 88). Einhardi Fuld. annales : Karolus Saxoniam bello aggressus, Eresburgum castrum cepit, et idolum Sax- onum quod vocabatur Irminsul destruit (Pertz 1, 348). Ann. Eatis- bon. : Carolus in Saxonia conquesivit Eresburc et Irminsul (Pertz 1, 92). Ann. Lauriss.: Karlus in Saxonia castrum Aeresburg expugnat, fanum et lucum eovum. famosum Irminsul subvertit (Pertz 1, 117).

1 Now Stadtbergen, conf. the extract from Dietmar ; but strong reasons incline us to pusli the pillar (seule) some 15 miles deeper into the Osning forest ; Clostermeier Eggesterstein, pp. 26-7 : Eresburg, Horohus in pago Hessi Saxonico Saracho 735. 350. Conf. Massmann's Eggesterst. p. 34.

GODS. 117

Ann. Lauriss. : Et hide pen-exit partibus Saxoniae prima vice, Aeresburgum castrum cepit, ad Ermensul usque pervenit, et ipsum fanum destruxit, et aurum et argentum quod ibi repperit abstulit. Et fuit siccitas magna, ita ut aqua deficeret in supradicto loco ubi Ermeimd stabat, &c. (Pertz 1, 150). Einhardi Ann. : Ferro et igni cuncta depopulatus, Aeresburgum castrum cepit, idoluvi quod Irmin- sul a Saxonibus vocabatur evertit (Pertz 1, 151) ; repeated in Ann. Tilian., and Cliron. Piegin.,with spelling Ormensul (Pertz 1, 220, 557).^ And Dietmar of Merseburg (Pertz 5, 744) further tells us, in connex- ion with later events: Sed exercitus capta urbe (Eresburcli) ingressus, juvenem praefatum usque in ecclesiam S. Petri, ubi prius ah antiqids Irminsul colehatur, bello defatigatum depulit. — Taking all these passages together, Irminsul passes through the very same grada- tions of meaning we unfolded in ch. IV, and signifies now fanum, now lucus, now idolum itself. It can scarcely be doubted, that vast w^oodlands extended over that region : what if Osning^ the name of the mountain-forest in which the pillar stood, betokened a lioly- loood ? The gold and silver hoard, which Charles was supposed to have seized there, may well be legendary embellishment.^ Ptuodolf of Fuld goes more into detail about the Irminsul ; after his general statement on the heathen Saxons, that ' frondosis arboribus fonti- busque venerationem exhibebant ' (p. 101), he goes on: Truncum quoque liyni non parvae magnitudinis in altum erectum sub divo colebant, patria eum lingua Irminsul appellantes, quod Latine dicitur universalis columna, quasi sustinens omnia (Pertz 2, 67G),

1 Poeta Saxo 1, 65 (Bouquet 5, 1.37) :

Gens eadein coluit simulacrum quod vocitaliant Irminsul, cujus factura simulque columna Non operis parvi fuerat, pariterque decoris.

2 6s is the Sax. form for cms (p. 25), which denoted a god, and also a moun- tain ; in High G. the name would be Ansninc, Ensninc. But, beside this mons Osnengi near Theotmelli, i.e. Detmold (Pertz 2, 447), there stood also a silva Osning not far from Osnabriick (Mdser urk. no 2), and a third in Eipuaria on the Lower Rhine (Lacomblet no 310. 34.'}. 354), which seems to have ex- tended towards the Ardennes as far as Aachen (Aix la Chap.), mentioned in Vilkinasaga cap. 40 ; and according to Barsch on Schannat's Eiflia, illustr. 1, 110, and llattemerS, 602% the Ardennes itself was called Osninka, Oseninch. By the Osnabruck charter above, the forest there appears even to have been modelled on the Osning of Aachen (ad similitudinem foresti Aquisgranum per- tinentis). That Osning is met with in several places, speaks for a more general meaning [than that of a mere proper name] ; like as, ans, and fairguni, it is the sacred mountain and forest. Ledebur takes the Teutoburgiensis saltus to be Osning. OA'?iabrtick, ylsvicl^ruggi (bridge of the ases) seems nearly related.

3 Is this Ermen-pillar hoard an allusion to the legend of Ermenrich's hoard I (Saxo Gram. 106. Keinh. fuchs CLII.)

118 GODS.

(see Suppl.). Here was a great wooden pillar erected, and wor- shipped under the open sky, its name signifies universal all-sustain- ing pillar. This interpretation appears faultless, when we take with it other words in which the meaning is intensified by composition with irmin. In the Hildebrands lied, irmingot is the supreme god, the god of all, not a peculiar one, agreeing in sense with thiodgod, the (whole) people's god, formed by another streng- thening prefix, Hel. 33, 18. 52, 12. 99, 6. irminman, an elevated expression for man, Hel. 38, 24. 107, 13. 152, 11. irminthiod, the human race, Hel. 87, 13 and in Hildebr.^ In the same way I explain proper names compounded with irman, irmin (Gramm. 2, 448). And irmanslXl, immmilis the great, high, divinely honoured statue ; that it was dedicated to any one god, is not to be found in the term itself — In like manner the AS. has eormcncgn (genus humanum), Beow. 309. Cod. Exon. 333, 3. eormcngrv.nd (terra), Beow. 1711. (and singularly in an adj. form : ofer ealne yrmcnne grund. Cod. Exon. 243, 13). eormenstri)nd (progenies). — ON. iommngrund (terra), iormungandr (anguis maximus), iormunrehr (taurus maximus). Erom all this may be gathered the high mythic antiquity of these appellations, and their diffusion among all branches of the Teutonic race ; for neither to the Goths can they have been strange, as their famous king's name Ermanaricus (Airmanareiks, ON. lormunrekr) shows ; and beyond a doubt the Hcvmunduri are properly Ermunduri (Gramm. 2, 175), the H being often prefixed to all such forms.

Now whatever may be the probable meaning of the word irman, iormun, eormen, to which I shall return in due time, one thing is evident, that the Irman-piUar had some connexion, which continued to be felt down to a late period (p.ll6),with Mercury or Hermes, to whom Greek antiquity raised similar posts and pillars, which were themselves called Hermae, a name which suggests our Teutonic one.

The Saxons may have known more about this ; the Eranks, in Upper Germany, from the 8th to the 13th century, connected with irmansUl, irminsul the general notion of a heathen image set up on a pillar. Probably Euodolf associated with his truncus ligni the

1 The Slav, ramo, Bohem. ramenso, is with transposition the Lat. armus, OHG. aram, and means both arm and shoulder ; in the Sloven, compound ramen-velik, valde magnus, it intensifies exactly like irman ; doe^ this pouit to an affinity between irman and arm % Arminius too is worth considering ; conf. Schaftarik 1, 427.

IMAGES. ll'J

thoiiglit of a choice and hallowed tree-stem (with, or without, a god's image ?), rather than of a pillar hewn into shape by the hand of man ; this fits in too with the worshipping sub divo, with the word lucus used by some of the chroniclers, and with the simplicity of the earliest forest- worship. As the image melts into the notion of tree, so does the tree pass into that of image ; and our Wesi- phalian Irmen-pillar most . naturally suggests the idea of that Thor's-oak in Hesse ; the evangelists converted both of them into churches of St. Peter. I suspect an intimate connexion between the Irman-pillars and the Boland-pillars erected in the later Mid. Ages, especially in ISTorth Germany ; there were in Sweden Thors- pillars, and among the Anglo-Saxons JEthelstdn-jnllars (Lappenberg 1, 376). There yet remains to be given an account of a sacred post in Neustria, as contained in the Vita Walarici abbatis Leuconeusis (t622), said to have been composed in the 8tli century : Et juxta ripam ipsius fluminis slips erat magmis, divcrsis imaginibus figurahis, atque ibi in terram magna virtute immissus, qui nimio cultu morem gentilium a rusticis colebatur. Walaricus causes the log to be thrown down : et his quidem rusticis habitantibus in locis non l)arvum tam moerorem quam et stuporem omnibus praebuit. Sed undique illis certatim concurrentibus cum armis et fustibus, iudigne hoc ferentes invicem, ut injuriam dei sui vindicarent (Acta Bened. sec. 2, pp. 84-5). The place was called Augusta (bourg d' Angst, near the town of Eu), and a church was built on the spot.

I think I have now shown, that in ancient Germany there were gods and statues. It will further be needful to consider, how antiquity went to work in identifying foreign names of gods with German, and conversely German with foreign.

The Romans in their descriptions cared a great deal more to make themselves partially understood by a free translation, than, by preserving barbarous vocables, to do a service to posterity. At the same time they did not go arbitrarily to work, but evidently with care.

Caesar's Sol, Luna and Vulcan are perhaps what satisfies us least ; but Tacitus seems never to use the names of Roman deities, except advisedly and with reflection. Of the gods, he names only Mercury and Mars (Germ. 9. Ann. 13, 57. Hist. 4, 64) ; of deified heroes, Hercules, Castor and Pollux (Germ. 9, 43) ; of goddesses,

120 GODS.

Isis (Germ. 9), the terra mater by her German name (Germ. 40), and the mater deum (Germ. 45). Incompatible deities, such as Apollo or Bacchus, are never compared. What strikes us most, is the absence of Jupiter, and the distinction given to Mercury, who was but a deity of the second rank with the Eomans, a mere god of merchants, but here stands out the foremost of all: Deorum maxime Mercurium colunt : to him alone do human sacrifices fall, while Mars and Hercules content themselves with beasts. This prominence of Merciiry is probably to be explained by the fact, that this god was worshipped by the Gauls likewise as their chief divinity, and was the most frequently portrayed (deum maxime Mercurium colunt, hujus sunt plurima simulacra, Caes. B. Gall. 6, 17) ;^ and that the looks of the Eomans, when directed towards Germany, still saw Gaul in the foreground ; besides, it may have been Gallic informants that set the German divinity before them in this light. Observe too the Gaulish juxtaposition of Mars and Mercurius in statues (p.lll), precisely as Tacitus names the German ones together (Ann. 13, 57). The omission of Jupiter is obviously accounted for, by his worship yielding the precedence to that of Mercury in those nations which Tacitus knew best : we shall see, as we go on, that the northern and remoter branches on the contrary reserved their highest veneration for the thunder-god. On Isis and Hercules I shall express my views further on. Whom we are to understand by the Dioscuri, is hard to guess ; most likely two sons of Woden, and if we go by the statements of the Edda, the brothers Baldr and HermoSr would be the most fitting.

This adaptation of classical names to German gods became universally spread, and is preserved with strict unanimity by the Latin writers of the succeeding centuries ; once set in circulation, it remained current and intelligible for long ages.

The Gothic historian names but one god after the Roman fashion, and that is Mars : Quern Gothi semper asperrima placavere cultura (Jornandes cap, 5), with which the Scythian Ares, so early as in Herodotus 4, 62-3, may be compared.

Paulus Diaconus winds up his account of Wodan with the express announcemtnt (1, 9): Wodan sane, quern adjecta litera Gwodan dixerunt, ipse est qui apud Eomanos Mercurius dicitur, et

• Schopflin, Als. ill. 1, 435-60 ; esp. on a faniuii of Mercury at Ebermiinster 1, 58. Conf. Hummel, bibl. deutscli. alterth. p. 229. Creuzer, altrom. cultiu-aiu Oberrhein, pp. 48, 98.

GODS. . 121

ab universis Germaniae gentibus ut deus adoratirr. Just so his older countryman Jonas of Bobbio, in that account of the sacrificing Alamanns, declares : Illi aiunt, deo suo Vodano, quem Mcrcurium vocant alii, se velle litare ; upon which, a gloss inserted by another hand says less correctly : Qui apud eos Vuotant vocatur, Latini autem Martem ilium appellant ; though otherwise Woden greatly resembles Mars (v. infra).

Gregory of Tours (supra, p.l07) makes Saturn and Jiqnfcr, and again 3Iars Mcrciwufsqne the gods whom the heathen Chlodovich adored. In 1, 34 he expresses himself in more general terms: Pri- vatus, Gabalitanae urbis episcopus. = . . daemoniis immolare com- pellitur a Chroco Alamannorum rege (in the third cent.). Wide- kind of Corvei names Mais and Hercules as gods of the Saxons (see p. Ill); and that little addition to the Corvei Annals (see p.lll) couples together the Greek and Latin denominations Aris and Mars, Ermis and JMercurius.

The Indiculus paganiarum reckons up, under 8: De sacris Mcrcurii vel Jovis^ ; under 20 : De feriis quae faciunt Jovi vel Mcrcurio. So that the thunder-god, of whom Tacitus is silent, is in other quarters unforgotten ; and now we can understand Wili- bald's narrative of the robur Jovis (see p. 72), and in Bonifac. epist. 25 (a.d. 723) the presbyter Jovi mactans (see Suppl.).

In the Additamenta operum Matthaei Paris, ed. W. Watts, Paris 1644, pp. 25-6, there is an old account of some books w^hich are said to have been discovered in laying the foundation of a church at Verlamacestre (St Albans) in the tenth century, and to have been burnt. One of them contained ' invocationes et ritus idololatrarum civium Varlamacestrensium, in quibus comperit, quod specialiter Fliochum dcum solis invocarunt et coluerunt, secundario vero Mcr- curium, Voden anglice appellatum, deum videlicet mercatorum, quia cives et compatriotae . . . fere omnes negotiatores et institores fuerunt.' Evidently the narrator has added somewhat ovit of his own erudition ; the invocations and rites themselves would have given us far more welcome information.

Passages which appear to speak of a German goddess by the name of Diana, will be given later. JS'cptune is mentioned a few times (supra, p. 110).

1 Had these been Roman gods, Jupiter would certainly have been named first, and Mercury after.

122 GODS.

Saxo Grammaticus, though he writes in Latin, avoids applying the Eoman names of gods, he uses Othinus or Othin, never Mercurius instead; yet once, instead of his usual Thor (pp. 41, 103), he has Jupiter, p. 236, and malleus Jovialis; Mars on p. 36 seems to stand for Othin, not for Tyr,. who is never alluded to in Saxo. Ermoldus Mgellus, citing the idols of the Normanni, says 4, 9 (Pertz 2, 501), that for God (the Father) they worshipped Neptune, and for Christ Jupiter ; I suppose Neptune must here mean OSin, and Jupiter Thor ; the same names recur 4, 69. 100. 453-5.

Melis-Stoke, as late as the beginning of the 14th century, still remembers that the heathen Frisians worshipped Mercury (1, 16. 17) ; I cannot indicate the Latin authority from which no doubt he drew this.^

If the supposition be allowed, and it seems both a justifiable and almost a necessary one, that, from the first century and during the six or eiglit succeeding ones, there went on an uninterrupted transfer of the above-mentioned and a few similar Latin names of gods to domestic deities of Gaul and Germany, and was familiar to all the educated ; we obtain by this alone the solution of a remarkable phenomenon that has never yet been satisfactorily explained : the early diffusion over half Europe of the heathen nomenclature of the days of the week.

These names are a piece of evidence favourable to German heathenism, and not to be disregarded.

The matter seems to me to stand thus.^ — From Egypt, through the Alexandrians, the week of seven days (e^So/ia?), which in Western Asia was very ancient, came into vogue among the Romans, but the planetary nomenclature of the days of the week apparently not till later. Under Julius Caesar occurs the earliest mention of 'dies Saturni' in connection with the Jewish sabbath, TibuU. 1, 3, 18. Then tjXiov rjfiepa in Justin Mart, apolog. 1, 67. 'Epfiov and A^poScTr]^ rjfiepa in Clem. Alex, strom. 7, 12. The institution fully carried out, not long before Dio Cassius 37, 18, about the close

1 Our MHG. poets impart no such information ; they only trouble tlieir heads about Saracen gods, among whom it is true Jupiter and Apollo make their appearance too. In Rol. 97, 7 are named Mars, Jovinus, Saturnus.

^ I can here use only the beginning, not the conclusion, which would be more useful for my investigation, of a learned paper by Julius Hare on the names of the days of the week (Philolog. Mus., Nov." 1831). Conf. Idelers handb. der chronol. 2, 177-180, and Letronne, observations sur les representa- tions zodiacales, p. 99.

GODS OF THE WEEK. !-•->

of the 2nd century .^ The Eomans had previously had a week of nine days, nundinae=noveudinae. Christianity had adopted from the Jews the hebdomas, and now it could not easily guard the church against the idolatrous names of days either (see Suppl).

But these names, together with the institution of the week, had passed on from Eome to Gaul and Germany, sooner than the christian religion did. In all the Eomance countries the planetary names have lasted to this day (mostly in a very abridged form), except for the first day and the seventh : instead of dies solis they chose dies dominica (Lord's day). It. domenica, Sp. domingo, Fr. dimanche ; and for dies Saturni they kept the Jewish sahbahim, It. sabbato, Sp. sabado, Fr. samedi (=sabdedi, sabbati dies). But the heathen names of even these two days continued in popular use long after : Ecce enim dies solis adest, sic enim barbaries vocitare diem dominicum consueta est, Greg. Tur. 3, 15.

Unliappily a knowledge of the Gothic names of days is denied us. The sahhate dags, sabbato dags, which alone occurs in Ulphilas, proves nothing, as we have just seen, against a planetary designation of the remaining six or five days. A sunnons dags, a menins dags may be guessed ; the other four, for us the most im]Dortant, I do not venture to suggest. Their preservation would have been of the very highest value to our inquiry.

Old High Germ. — I. sunwAn dag, 0. v. 5, 22. Gl. bias. TG'^. Lacombl. arch. 1, 6. — II. mdnin tac (without authority, for manitag, manotag in Graff 2,795. 5, 358 have no reference ; manetag in Notker, ps. 47, 1). — III. dies Martis, prob. Ziuivcs tac among Alamanns; in the lltli cent. Cks dac, Gl. bias. 70^;^ prob. different among Bavarians and Lombards. — IV. dies INIercurii, perhaps still Wuotancs tac ? our abstract term, diu mittawccha already in N. ps. 93, and mittwocha, Gl. bias. 7G^. — V. dies Jovis, Donares tac, Toniris tac, N. ps. 80, 1. c/o?i?rstac, Gl. bias. 76^ Burcard von Worms 195*^: quintam feriani in honorem Jovis honorati. — VI. dies Veneris, Fria dag, 0. V. 4, 6. Frije tag, T. 211, 1.— VII. at last, like the Romance and Gothic, avoiding the heathenish dies Saturni, samlaziag, T. 68,

1. N. 91, 1.^ samiztag, N. 88, 40. sunnun dband, our sonnabend,

1 An old hexameter at the end of the editions of Aiisoniiis : Ungnes Mercurio, barbam Jove, Cypride crines (nails on Wednesday, heard on Thursday, hair on Fri(hiy).

2 Cies for Zies, as the same glossist SG'^ writes gicinibere and cinnum. ' hiambazolus n. prop, in Karajan.

124 GODS.

already in 0. v. 4, 9, prob. abbreviation of sunnundages aband, feria ante dominicam, for vespera solis cannot have been meant [conf. Engl. Whitsun-eve] ; and occasionally, corresponding to tlie Eom- ance dies dominica, frontaQ, N. ps. 23.

Mid. High Gerim. — Would any one believe, that the names of the days of the week are not easily to be picked out of the abun- dant remains of our MHG. literature ? It is true, sunnen tac (suntac in Berth. 118) and mdntac (Parz. 452, 16. mcentac 498, 22. Amis 1648)^ admit of no doubt. Neither do Donrestac (Donerstag, Uolrich 73^ Dunrestac, Berth. 128), spelt Duristag in a Semi- Low Germ. urk. of 1300 in Hofer p. 57), and Dornstag in one of 1495, Useners femgerichten p. 131 ; nor Fritac {Parz. 448, 7. 470,

1. Walth.   36,  31.     Berth.  134),    Vricgtag,  Uolrich   73^  nor  yet
   

samztac (Parz. 439, 2. Berth. 138), sunnen dbcnt (Trist. 3880).— But uncertainty hangs about the third and fourth days. The former, by a remarkable variation, was in Bavaria named Eritac, Erdac (the true form not quite certain, eritag in Adelung's vat. hss. 2, 189. ergetag in Berth. 122 ; see examples collected from urkunden, Schm. 1, 96-7), in Swabia on the contrary Zicstac, for Ziewestac. Both of these forms, which have nothing to do with each other, live to this day in the speech of the common people : Bav. ierte, Austr. idrta, irita, Vicentino-Germ. corta, ortd, Alem. zicstag, zinstag, ziestig, zistig, zienstig, zeinstig, zinstag. The insertion of the liquid has corrupted the word, and brought in quite irrelevant notions. In central Germany the form diestag, ticstag seems to predominate (dicstik in the Pdion), whence our dicnstag (less cor- rectly dinstag, there is good reason for the ie) ; the spelling ding- stag, as if from ding, thing, judicium, is false ; dinstag occurs in Gaupps magdeb. recht p. 272. — The fovnth day I have never seen named after the god, either in MHG. or in our modern dialects, unless indeed the gwontig cited in the note can be justified as standing for Gwuotenstag, Wuotenstag; everywhere that abstrac- tion ' midweek ' has carried all before it, but it has itself become

1 Zuemtig for Monday, Staid. 2, 470 ought perhaps to be zue mentig, _ze mantage ; yet 1, 490 he has gueiiti, giienti, Tobler 248b has gwontig, guentig, and Zellwegers iirk. P, 19 guonti, for which Urk. no. 146 has 'an gutem tag,' which seems to 1)6 supported by Haltaus iahrzeitb. Or is only this particular ]\Iondav after Lent called so? In the Cod. pal. 372, 103 (ann. 13S2) wo have ' guotem tag.' The resemblance of this good day to the Westphalian Gudensdag (Woden's day) is purely accidental.

GODS OF THE WEEK. 125

almost unintelligible by being changed into a masculine mitiwocJi, viittich, Berth. 24, mdktig, Staid. 2, 194, conf. the Gothl. miijkadag, Almqv. 442=^), ' an der mitkun' fern., is found in the Cod. zaringobad. no. 140 (a.d. 1261). So even for the fifth day, the numeric name 2Mnztac (Berth. 128. Ottoc. 144^ Griitzer urk. of 1338. Schwa- benspiegel, p, 196. Schm. 1, 322), or pliingstag, has made its way into some districts of Upper Germany through Grseco-Slavic influences, irefiirrr], petek, piatek, patek, though by these the Slavs mean Friday (see Suppl.).

New High Germ. — I. sonntag. II. montag. III. Dienstag.

IV. mittwoch. V. Bonnerstag. VI. Freitag. VII. samstag, sonnaiend.

Old Saxon. — The OS. names are wanting, but must have differed in some essential points from the OHG., as the derived dialects prove. We may pretty safely assume Wodanes dag for the fourth day of the week, for in Westphalia it is still called Godenstag, Gonslag, Gaunstag, Gunstag, at Aix Goucsdag, in Lower Rhen. urkunden Gudestag, Gunther, 3, 585. 611 (a.d. 1380-7), Gudenstag, Kindlinger horigk. p. 577-8 (a.d. 1448). — The third day was probably Tiwesdag, the fifth Thunaresdag, the sixth Friundag. The most unlike would doubtless be the seventh, was it formed after dies Saturni, Sdteresdag ? conf. the Westph. Saterstag, Saiter- staig, Giinter 3, 502 (a.d. 1365). In Sachsensp. 2, 6Q one MS. reads for sunavend Saiersdach (see Suppl.).

Mid. Dutch. — I. sondach, Maerl. 2, 159. II. mancndach, Huyd. op St. 3, 389. maendach, Maerl. 2, 139. III. Disendach, Maerl. 2, 140. al. Dicendach, Dissendach, Cannaert strafrecht, pp. 124, 481 apparently corrupted from Tisdach. IV. Wocnsdach, ]\Iaerl. 2, 143.

V. Donresdach, Maerl. 2, 144. VI. Vridach, Maerl. 2, 159. gen. Vrindaglm, Maerl. 2, 143. 157. VII. Saterdach, Maerl. 2, 114. 120-3. 157-9. 276. 3, 197. 343. also sonnacM, Maerl. 2, 164. 3, 240. (see Suppl.).

New Dutch. — I. zondag. II. mdndag. III. dingsdag, for- merly dinsdag, Disseiidag. IV. Woensdag, Belg. Goensdag. V. Donderdag. VI. Vridag. VII. Zaterdag.

Old Frislvn. — I. sonnadei. II. monadei. III. Tysdei. IV. Wernsdci. V. Thmiresdei, Tornsdei. VI. Frigendci, Fredei. VII. Saterdei (references for all these forms in Pdchthofen).

New Frislvn. — I. s?ic?/?i, abbrev. from sinnedey, sendei, senned

126 GODS.

(conf. Fred) ; the final n in sneyn, no doubt, as in OFris. Frigendei, a relic of the old gen. sing, in the weak decl. II. moandey. III. Tycsdcy. IV. Wdnsdey. V. Tongersdey. VI. Fred, abbrev. from Fredey. VII. sniuwn, snioun, abbrev. from sinnejuwn = Sun(day)- even. Conf. tegenwoordige staat van Friesland 1, 121. Was- senbergh's bidraghen 2, 56. Halbertsma naoogst p. 281-2 (see Suppl.).

North Frisian. — I, sennendei. II. monncndci. III. Tirsdei. IV. Winsdei. V, Tilrsdei. VI. Fridei. VII. sennin (i7i=:eYen').

Anglo-Saxon. — I. sonnan dseg. II. monan deeg. III. Thoes daeg. IV. Wodenes or Wodnes dseg. V. TImnores dreg. VI. Frige dseg. VII. Scetrcs or Sceternes doeg.

Old Korse. — I. sunnudagr} II. mdnadagr. III. Tyrsdagr, Tysdagr. IV. Offinsdagr. V. Thorsdagr. VI. Friadagr, Frcy- judagr. VII. laugardagr.

Swedish. — I. sondag. II. mandag. III. Tisdag, whence even Finn, tystai. IV. Onsdag. V. Tliorsdag. VI. Frcdag VII. lordag.

Danish. — I. sondag. II. mandag. III. Tirsdag. IV. Ows- ^a<7. V. Torsdag. VI. Frcdag. VII. lovcrdag (see Suppl.).

We see, it is only in the seventh day that the Scandinavian names depart from the Saxon, Frisian and Dutch : laugardagr means bath-day because people bathed at the end of the week. Yet even here there may be some connexion ; a Latin poem of the 9th century on the battle of Fontenay (Bouquet 7, 301) has the singular verse : Salhatum non illud fuit, sed Saturni dolium ; a devil's bath ? conf. ch, XII, Saturn. [The Germ, for carnage is blutbad, blood-bath.]

Even if the Germans from the earliest times knew the week of seven days from the four j)hases of the lunar change,^ yet the

^ This ON. sunnudagr is noticea])le, as in other cases sol is used rather than sunna ; sunnudagr seems to have been formed by the christian teachers in imita- tion of the other Teutonic languages. The Swed. and Dan. sondag (instead of soldag) must have been taken bodily from a Plattdeutsch form.

" To the Lat. word vix, gen. vicis (chauge, turn) corresponds, without the usual consonant-change, the Gothic viko, OHG. wecha and wehsal, both refer- able to the verb veilia, vaik, OHG. wichu (I give way), because change is a giving way [in German, ' der wechsel ist ein weichen ']. Ulph. has viko only once, Lu. 1, 8, where evrrj ra^ei r^s ((firjixeplas is translated ' in vikon kimjis ' ; it is evidently something more than rd^is here, it expresses at the same time a part of the gen. i(^r]fiepiai, therefore lit. ' in vice generis ', which the Vulg. renders

GODS OF THE WEEK. 127

naming of the days and tlie order in wiiich they stand is manifestly an importation from abroad. On the contrary supposition, there would have been variation in details ; and Saturn, for whom no Teutonic god seems prepared to stand sponsor, would have been left out in the cold.

But it would be no less absurd to attribute the introduction of the week and the names of the days to the Christians. As they came into vogue among the heatlien Eomans, they could just as well among heathen Gauls and Germans ; nay, considering the lively intercourse between the three nations, a rapid diffusion is altogether natural.^ Christianity had the Jewish week, and it tolerated names which were a frequent offence to it, but were already too deeply rooted, and could only be partially dislodged. Those words of Gregory reveal the utter aversion of the clergy, which comes out still more plainly in the language (publ. in Syn- tagma de baptismo, p. 190) of an Icelandic bishop in 1107, who actually did away with tliem in Iceland, and replaced them by mere numeric names. How should the christian teachers ever have suffered hateful names of idols to be handed over to their recent converts for daily use, unless they had already been long established among the people ? And in Germany, how should the Latin gods have been allowed to get translated into German ones, as if on pur- pose to put them within easy reach of the people, had they not already been familiar with them for centuries ?

Again, the high antiquity of these translations is fully establish- ed by their exact accordance with the terminology used in the first centuries, as soon as people came to turn German gods into Roman. In my opinion, the introduction of the seven days' names

by 'in ordine vicis '. Now whether viko expressed to the Goths the alterna- tion of the moon's quarters, we do not know for certain ; I incline to believe it, as the OHG. weha, woclia, AS. wice, wnce, ON. vika, Swed. vecka, Dan. nge, are all limited to the one meaning of septimana. The very absence of con- sonant-change points to a high antiquity in the word. It is remarkable that the Javanese vt(ku means a section of time, the year falling into 30 vukus (Ilumb. Kawispr. 1, 196). The Finn, wijkko is more likely to have been borrowed from the Norse than from so far back as the Gothic. I remark further, that an observance liy the Germani of sections of time must be inferred from the mere fact that certi dies were fixed for the sacrifices to Mercury, Tac. Germ. 9.

^ Jos. Fuchs, gesch. von I\Iainz 2, 27 seq. (Knpfert 4, no 7) describes a Roman round altar, piob. of the 3rd or -Ith century, on which are carved the .seven gods of the week (1 Saturn, 2 Apollo, 3 Diana, 4 Mars, 5 Mercury, U Jupiter, 7 Venus), and in an 8lh place a genius.

128 GODS.

amongst us must be placed at latest in the fourth or fiftli century ; it may not have taken place simultaneously in all parts of Teuton- dom.

Our forefathers, caught in a natural delusion, began early to ascribe the origin of the seven days' names to the native gods of their fatherland. — William of Malmesbury, relating the arrival of the Saxons in Britain, says of Hengist and Horsa, that they were sprung from the noblest ancestry: Erant enim abnepotes illius antiquissimi Voden, de quo omnium pene barbararum gentium regium genus lineam trahit, quemque gentes Anglorum deum esse delirantes, ei quartum diem septimanae, et sextum uxori ejus Freae perpetuo ad hoc tempus consecraverunt sacrilegio (Savile 1601. p. 9). — More circumstantially, Geoffrey of Monmouth (lib. 6. ed. 1587, p. 43) makes Hengist say to Vortigern : Ingressi sumus maria, regnum tuum duce Mcrcurio petivimus. Ad nomen itaque Mer- curii erecto vultu rex inquirit cujusmodi religionem haberent? cui Hengistus : deos patrios Saturnum, atque ceteros, qui mundum gubernant, colimus, maxime Mcrcurmm (as in Tac. 9.), quem Woden lingua nostra appellamus. Huic veteres nostri dicaverunt quartam septimanae feriam, quae usque in hodiernum diem nomen Wodenes- dai de nomine ipsius sortita est. Post ilium colimus deam inter ceteras potentissimam, cui et dicaverunt sextam feriam, quam de nomine ejus Fredcd vocaraus. — As Matthew of Westminster (Flores, ed. 1601, p. 82) varies in some details, his words may also be inserted here : Cumque tandem in praesentia regis (Vortigerni) essent constituti, quaesivit ab eis, quam fidem, quam religionem patres eornm coluissent ? cui Hengistus : dcos patrios, scilicet Saturnum, Jovcm atque ceteros, qui mundum gubernant, colimus, maxime autem Me^rurium, quem lingua nostra Voden appellamus. Huic patres nostri veteres dedicaverunt quartam feriam septimanae, quae in hunc hodiernum diem Vodencsday appellatur. Post ilium colimus deam inter ceteras potentissimam, vocabulo Fream, cujus vocabulo Friday appellamus. Prea ut volunt quidani idem est quod Venus, et dicitur Preu, quasi Proa a frodos [A-frod-ite = from froth ?] quod est spuma maris, de qua nata est Venus secundum fabulas, unde idem dies appellatur dies Veneris. — Anglo-Saxon legend then, unconcerned at the jumbling of foreign and homespun fable, has no doubt at all about the high antiquity of the names among its people.

GODS. 129

Saxo Grammaticus, more critical, expresses his opinion (p. 103) of the Norse nomenclature, that it is derived from the native gods, but that these are not the same as the Latin. Tliis he proves by Othin and Thor, after whom the fourth and fifth days of the week are named, as in Latin after Mercury and Jupiter. For Thor, being Othin's son, cannot possibly be identified with Jupiter, who is Mercury's father; consequently, neither can the Norse Othin, Thor's father, with the Eoman Mercury, who is Jupiter's son. The discrepancy is certainly strong, but all that it can prove is, that at the time when Othin and Mercury began to be placed on the same pedestal, JMercury was thought of as a Celtic divinity, probably with attributes differing widely from his classical namesake. Saxo is quite right in what he means, and his remark confirms the early heathen origin of these names of days ; ^ yet upon occasion, as we saw on p. 122, he lets himself be carried away after all by the over- powering identity of Thor and Jupiter (see Suppl.).

The variations too in the names of the seven days among the various Teutonic races deserve all attention ; we perceive that they were not adopted altogether cut-and-dry, nor so retained, but that national ideas still exercised some control over them. The later heathenism of Friesland and Saxony caused the- old names of Wednesday and Saturday to live on, while in Upper Germany they soon sank into oblivion. But what is especially significant to us, is the deviation of the Alamanns and Bavarians when we come to the third day ; how could it have arisen at a later (christian) time, when the idea of the heathen god that does duty for Mars had already become indistinct ? how came the christian clergy, supposing that from them the naming had proceeded, ever to sanction such a divergence ?

The nations that lie behind us, the Slavs, the Lithuanians, do not know the planetary names of days, they simply count like the Greeks,^ not because they were converted later, but because they became acquainted with Latin culture later. The Finns and Lapps

1 Conf. Pet. Er. Miiller om Saxo, p. 79.

• The Indian nations also name their days of the week after planets ; and it seems worth remarking here, that Wednesday is in Sanskrit Budhuvaras, Tamil Budhunld/ramei, because some have identified Buddha with Woden. In reality Budhas, the ruler of Mercury and son of the moon, is quite distinct from the prophet Buddhas (Schlegel's ind. bibl. 2. 177).

9

130 GODS.

do not count, while the Esthonians again mostly do (see SuppL). Even the christianizing influence of Byzantium decided nothing on this point; Byzantium had no influence over Lithuanians and Finns, and had it over a part only of the Slavs. These in their counting begin with Monday, as the first day after rest, consequently Tues- day is their second, and Thursday their fourth,^ altogether deviating from the Latin and Icelandic reckoning, which makes Monday second and Thursday fifth. Hence the Slavic piatek (fifth) means Friday, and that Up. Germ, pfinztag (fifth) Thursday. Wednesday they call middle, sreda, sereda, srida (whence Lith. serrada), which may have acted upon our High German nomenclature ; the Finns too have keskivnjcko (half- week, from keski medium). It would be well worth finding out, when and for what reason the High German and the Slav first introduced the abstract names mittewoche and sreda (Boh. sti-eda), while the Low German and the Eomance have kept to Woden and Mercury. Alone of Slavs, the Wends in Llineburg show a trace of naming after a god; dies Jovis was with them Perendan, from Peren, Perun, thunder-god: apparently a mere imitation of the German, as in all the other days they agree with the rest of the Slavs.^

The nett result of these considerations is, that, in Latin records dealing with Germany and her gods, we are warranted in interpret- ing, with the greatest probability, Mercurius as Wuotan, Jiqnte^- as Donar, and 3Iars as Ziu. The gods of the days of the week translated into German are an experiment on Tacitus's ' interpretatio Eomana'.

^ E.g. in Kussian : 1, voskresenie, resurrection (but O.Sl. ne-delia, no- cloing). 2, po-nedel'nik, day after-no-work. 3, vtdrnik, second day. 4, sereda, middle. 6, chetverg, fourth day. 6, piatnitsa, fifth day. 7, subbota, sabbath. — Trans.

'^ It is striking, that in 0. Bohem. glossaries (Hanka 54. 165) Mercury, Venus and Saturn are quoted in the order of their days of the week ; and that any Slav deities that have been identified with Latin ones are almost sure to be of the number of those that preside over the week. And whilst of the Slav gods, Svatovit answers to Mars (Ziu), Eadigast to Mercury (Wuotan), Perun to Jupiter (Donar), iafZa (golden dame, zolotababa, in Hanusch 241, ^o^) to Venus (Fria), and perhaps Sitivrat to Saturn ; the names of the planets are construed quite otherwise, Mars by Smrto-nos (letifer), Mercury by Dobro-pan (good lord, or rather bonorum dator), Jupiter- by Krcde-moc (rex potens), Venus by Ctitd (cupitor ? venerandus 1), Saturn by Hlado-kt (famelicus, or annonae caritatem afferens). Respecting Sitivrat I give details at the end of eh. XII.

CHAPTEE VII. WUOTAN, WODAN (ODINN).

The highest, the supreme divinity, universally honoured, as we have a right to assume, among all Teutonic races, would in the Gothic dialect have been called Vodans ; he was called in OHG. Wuotan, a word which also appears, though rarely, as the name of a man : Witotan, Trad. Fuld. 1, 149. 2, 101-5-8. 128. 158. 161. Woatan 2, 146, 152. The Longobards spelt it Wddan or Guodan, the Old Saxons Wuodan, Wddan, but in Westphalia again with the g prefixed, Guodan, Gudan, the Amrlo-Saxons Woden, the Frisians Weda from the propensity of their dialect to drop a final n, and to modify 6 even when not followed by an i} The Norse form is O&inn, in Saxo Othinus, in the Faroe isles Ouvin, gen. Ouvans, ace. Ouvan. Up in the Grisons country — and from this we may infer the extent to which the name was diffused in Upper Germany — the Eomance dialect has caught the term Vut from Alamanns or Burgundians of a very early time, and retained it to this day in the sense of idol, false god, 1 Cor. 8, 4.- (see Suppl.).

It can scarcely be doubted that the word is immediately derived from the verb OHG. woatan ivuot, ON", vacfa, od', signifying meare, transmeare, cum impetu ferri, but not identical with Lat. vadere, as the latter has the a long, and is more likely connected with OS. gavitan, AS. gewitan. From watan comes the subst. wuot (our wuth, fury), as /ieVo? and animus properly mean mens, ingenium, and then also impetuosity, wildness ; the ON. o&r has kept to the

^ A Frisian god Wains has simply been invented from the gen. in the compound Warnsdei, Wernsdei (Richth. p. 1142), where Werns pkinly stands for Wedens, Wodens, an r being put for d to avoid collision with the succeeding sd ; it will be hard to find anywhere a noni. Wern. And the present West Frisians say Wansdey, the North Frisians Winsdei, without such r.

• Conradis worterb. 263. Christmann, pp. 30 — 32.

132 WODAN.

one meaning of mens or sensus.^ According to this, Wuotan, Ocfinn would be the all-powerful, all-penetrating being, qui omnia permeat ; as Lucan says of Jupiter : Est quodcunque vides, quo- cunque raoveris, the spirit-god^ ; conf. Virg. Georg. 4, 221 : Deum ire per omnes terras, and Eel. 3, 60 : Jovis omnia plena. In the popular language of Bavaria, wudcln is to bestir oneself, to swarm, grow luxuriantly, thrive, Schm. 4, 203 (see SuppL).

How early this original meaning may have got obscured or extinguished, it is impossible to say. Together with the meaning of wise and mighty god, that of the wild, restless, vehement, must also have prevailed, even in the heathen time. The christians were the better pleased, that they could bring the bad sense into promin- ence out of the name itself. In the oldest glosses, wotan is put for tyrannus, herus malus, Diut. 1, 276\ gl. Ker. 270 ; so wucterich, wiltcrich (Gramm. 2, 516) is used later on, and down to the present day, conf. ein ungestiiemer wiieterich, Ben. 431 ; as in Mar. 217. Herod's messengers of murder are wiieterich e, O.i. 19, 18 names the king himself gotewuoto. The form wuotunc seems not to differ in sense ; an unprinted poem of the 13th century says ' Wiietunges her ' apparently for the ' wiitende heer,'^ the host led as it were by Wuotan ; and Wuotunc is likewise a man's name in OHG., Wodunc, Trad, patav. no. 19. The former divinity was degraded into an evil, fiendish, bloodthirsty being, and appears to live yet as a form of protestation or cursing in exclamations of the Low German people, as in Westphalia : 0 Woudan, Woudan ! Firmenich 1, 257, 260 ; and in Mecklenburg : Wod, Wod ! (see SuppI).

Proofs of the general extension of Woden's worship present themselves, for one thing, in the passages collected in the preceding chapter on Mcrcurius, and again in the testimonies of Jonas of Bobbio (pp. 56 and 121) and Paulus Diaconus, and in the Abre- nuntiatio, which deserves to be studied more closely, and lastly in the concurrence of a number of isolated facts, which I believe have liitherto been overlooked.

If we are to sum up in brief the attributes of this god, he is the

1 A word that has never been fully explained, Goth, vopis dulcis, 2 Cor. 2, 15, OHG. wuodi, Diut. 2, 304% OS. wuothi, Hel. 36, 3. 140, 7, AS. u-e&e, must either l^e regarded as wholly unconnected, or its meaning be harmonized.

• Finn Magnusen comes to the same conclusion, Lex. myth. 621. 636.

3 The belief, so common in the Mid. Ages, in a 'furious host' or 'wild hunt,' is described in ch. XXXI. — Trans.

woDAN. 13:^

all-pervading creative and formative pmvcr, who bestows shape and beauty on men and all things, from whom proceeds the gift of song and the management of war and victory, on whom at the same time depends the fertility of the soil, nay wishing, and all highest gifts and blessings, Saem. 113^'^

To the heathen fancy Wuotan is not only the world-ruling, wise, ingenious god, he is above all the arrancjer of wars and battles.^ Adam of Bremen cap. 233, ed. 1595 says of the Norse god : Wodau, id est fortior, bella gerit, hominique ministrat virtutem contra inimicos . . . Wodanem sculpunt (Sveones) armatum, sicut nostri Martem sculpere solent. To the fortior, fortis, would answer his ON", name of Svi&r, i.e. the strong, masterful, swift (OS. suith) : but fortior is, no doubt, a false reading, all the MSS. (conf. Pertz 3, 379) read 'Wodan, id est /«ror,' which agrees with the conclusion arrived at above. To him, says the Edda, belong all the nobles who/a// in battle (Seem. 77^). and to Thor the common folk, but this seems added merely to depreciate the latter ; in another passage (Seem. 42^), Freya shares i\Q, fallen with OSinn; he is named valfa&ir oxiA herfa&ir (val, choice ; her, host). Od'inn vildi J'iggja mann at hlut- falli at hanga or herinom, Fornald. sog. 3, 31. Eidem prostratorum manes muneris loco dedicaturum se pollicetur (Haraldus), Saxo p. 146. Othinus armipotens, p. 37, auctor aciei corniculatae, ordinandi agminis disciplinae traditor et repertor, pp. 138-9, 146. When old, he teaches arraying of battle, p. 17, the hamalt at fyll-ja, svinfjlkja, Fornald. sog. 1, 380 ; he teaches how to bring down with pebbles those whom sword will not wound, ibid. p. 157 (see Suppl.).

We need not be surprised then to find him confounded with Ziu or Tyr, the special god of war, or Mereurius coupled with Mars (pp. 107, 111), or a gloss on Jonas of Bobbio, who had rightly identified him with Mercury (p. 121), correcting him thus : Qui apud eos (Alamannos) Vuotant (part. pres. of wuotan) vocatur, Latini autem Martem ilium appellant. Are Adam's words also, ' sicut nostri Martem sculpere solent,' to be so taken that nostri

1 Got waldes an der sige hiir ! Wh. 425, 24. sigehafte hende fiiege in got ! Dietr. 84». OSinn, when he sejit the people forth to war, laid his hands on their heads and blessed, ace. to Yngl. cap. 2, gaf J^eim bianac ; Ir. beannact, bean- nugad, beandacht, Gael, beanuachd, Wei. bianoch (Villemarque, essai LIX) = benedictio, prob. all I'rom the Lat. word ? conf. Fr. benir, Ir. beannaigini.

134 WODAN.

should mean Saxones ? He, it is true, may have meant those acquainted with Eoman mythology.

Especially does the remarkable legend preserved by Paulus Diaconus 1, 8 show that it is Wodan who dispenses victory, to whom therefore, above all other gods, that antique name siliora (p. 27) rightfully belongs, as well as in the Eddas the epithets Sigtyr (god of victory), Seem. 248% Sn. 94, Sigfoffr (father of victory), Saem. 68^ ; AS. vigsifjor (victor in battle), Beow. 3107, sigmetod (creator of victory), Beow, 3554 (see Suppl.) : — Eefert hoc loco antiquitas ridi- culam fabulam, quod accedentes Wandali ad Wodan, victoriam de Winilis postulaverint, illeque responderit, se illis victoriam daturum, quos primum oriente sole conspexisset. Tunc accessisse Gambaram ad Fream, uxorem Wodan, et Winilis victoriam postidasse, Frcam- que consilium dedisse, Winilorum mulieres solutos crines erga faciem ad barbae similitudinem componerent 7?ia?tcque primo cum viris adessent, seseque a Wodan videndas pariter e regione, qua ille per fenestram orientem versus erat solitus adspicere, colloca- rent ; atque ita factum fuisse. Quas cum Wodan conspiceret oriente sole, dixisse : qui sunt isti Langobardi ? tunc Fream subjunxisse, ut quibus nomen tribuerat, victoriam condonaret, sicque Winihs Wodan victoriam concessisse. Here deacon Paul, as a good chris- tian, drops the remark : Haec risu digna sunt, et pro nihilo habenda : victoria enim non potestati est adtributa hominum, sed e coelo potius ministratur ; and then adds a more exact interpretation of the name Longobard : Certum tamen est Longobardos ab intactae ferro barbae longitudine, cum primitus Winili dicti fuerint, ita postmodum appellatos. Nam juxta illorum linguam lang longam, bart barbam significat. Wodan sane, quem adjecta litera Givodan dixerunt, et ah universis Germaniae gentihus ut deus adoratur, qui non circa haec tempora, sed longe anterius, nee in Germania, sed in Graecia fuisse perhibetur.'-

The whole fable bears the stamp of high antiquity ; it has even been related by others before Paul, and with variations, as in the Hist. Francor. epitomata, which has for its author, though not Fre- degar, yet some writer of the seventh century. Here Chuni

1 Godfrey of Viterbo (in Pistorius, ed. Struve 2, 305) has the legend out of Paul Diac. with the names corrupted, Godam for Wodan, Feria for Frea. Godam or Votam sets him thinking of the Germ, word got (deus). The unheard-of ' Toclacus historiographus ' has evidently sprung out of ' hoc loco ' in Paid.

WODAN. 135

(Huns) are named instead of Vandals : — Cum a Chunis (Lango- bardi) Danubium transeuntes fuissent comperti, eis bellum conati sunt inferre. Interrogati a Chunis, quare gens eorum terminos introire praesumeret ? At illi mulieribus suis praecipiunt, comam capitis ad maxillas et mentum ligare, quo potius virorum habitum simulantes plurimam multitudinem hostium ostenderent, eo quod erant mulierum comae circa maxillas et mentum ad instar barbae valde longae : fertur desuper utraeque plmlangae vox dixisse : ' hi sunt Langobardi ! ' quod ab his gentibus fertur eorum deum fuisse locutum, quem fanatici nominant Wodanum (al. Wisodano, a mere copyist's or reader's error for Wuodano). Tunc Langobardi cum cla- massent, qui instituerat nomen, conccdcrd victoriam, in hoc praelio Chunos superant. (Bouquet 2, 406 ; according to Pertz, all tli.e MSS. read Wodano.) In this account, Frea and her advice are nowhere ; the voice of the god, giving the name, is heard up in the air.

It was the custom for any one who bestowed a name, to follow it up with a gift.^ Wodan felt himself bound to confer the victory on those for whom he had found a new national name. In this consisted the favour of fortune, for the people, in dressing up their wives as men, had thought of nothing but swelling the apparent numbers of their warriors. I need scarcely remind the reader, that this mythical interpretation of the Lombard name is a false one, for aU the credit it found in the Mid. Ages.^

There is one more feature in the legend that must not escape our notice. Wodan from his heavenly dwelling loolis doum on the earth through a window, which exactly agrees with ON. descrip- tions. OSinn has a throne named fflicfshicdf, sitting on which he can survey the whole world, and hear all that goes on among men : ]?ar er einn staSr er HliSscialf heitir, oc )?aer OSiun settiz Jjar i hasoeti, oc }?a sd hann of alia heima, oc vissi aUa luti, J?a er hann sa (there is a stead that H. hight, and when 0. sat there on high-seat, then saw he over all countries, and wist, &c.), Sn. 10. oc Jxi er AllfoSr sitr i ]?vi soeti, ]?a ser hann oj allan heim, Sn. 21. hlustar (listens) OSinn HliSscialfo i, Sjem. 89^.

1 Lata fylgja nafni, Sfcm. 142*. 150\ Fornm. sog. 3, 182. 203. gefa at nafnfesti (name-feast), Sn. 151. Fornm. sog. 2, 51. 3, 133. 203. Islend. sog. 2, 143. 194. Vocabuli largitionem muneris additione commendare, Saxo Gram. 71.

2 Longobardi a longis barbis vocitati, Otto fris. de gest. Frid. 2, 13. But OSinn himself was named LdiigbarSr.

136 WODAN.

When Loki wanted to hide, it was from this seat that OSinn espied his whereabouts, Sn. 69. Sometimes also Frigg, his consort, is imagined sitting by his side, and then she enjoys the same prospect : OSinn ok Frigg sdto i HliSscialfo, ok sd urn heima alia, Ssem, 39. The proem to the Grimnismal bears a strong resemblance to the legend in Paul ; for, just as Frea pulls her favourites the Winili through, in opposition to Wodan's own resolve, so Frigg brings to grief GeirroSr, whom OSinn favoured. — Sensuous paganism, how- ever, makes the god-like attribute of overseemg all things depend on the position or structure of a particular chair, and as the gift forsakes the god when he does not occupy the seat, others can enjoy the privilege by taking his place. This was the case when Freyr spied the beautiful GerSr away down in lotunheim ; Freyr hafffi sctsc i HliSskialf, oc sd um heima alia, Ssem. 81. Sn. 39. The word hlid'scialf seems to mean literally door-bench, from hli3 (ostium, conf. Engl, lid), and skiaK (scamnum), AS. scylfe, Csedm. 79, 4. Engl, shelf (see Suppl). Mark the language in which the OS. poet describes the Ascension of Christ : sohta imo thena helagon stol, sitit imo thar an thea suidron (right) half Godes, endi thanan all gisihit (seeth) waldandeo Crist, so huat so (whatso) thius werold behabet, Hel. 176, 4—7, conf. Ceedm. 265, 16.

This idea of a seat in the sky, from which God looks on the earth, is not yet extinct among our people. The sitting on the right hand is in the Bible, but not the looking down. The formulas 'qui haut siet et de loing mire, qui haut siet et loins voit ' (supra, p. 23) are not cases in point, for men everywhere have thought of the Deity as throned on high and seeing far around. Zeus also sits on Ida, and looks on at mortal men ; he rules from Ida's top, "ISijdev fieSiav, even as Helios, the eye of the sun, surveys and discerns all things, II. 3, 277. But a widely-circulated marcheu tells us of a mortal man, whom St. Peter admitted into heaven, and who, led on by curiosity, ended by climbing into the chair of the Lord, from, which 07ie can look down and see all that is done on the whole earth. He sees a washerwoman steal two lady's veils, and in his anger seizes the footstool of the Lord, which stands before the chair (al. a chair's leg), and hurls it down at the thief.^ To such lengths has the ancient fable travelled.

1 Kindermarchen no. 35. First in Bebel, ed. 1, Tub. 1506, p. 6. Frey's gartengesellscliaft cap. 109, ed. 1556 p. 106, ed. 1590 p. 85. Rollwagenbiichlein 1590, pp. 98-9 (here a golden settle). Moserrf vermischte schriften 1, 332. 2,

WODAN. 137

Can it be alluded to in tlie MHG. poem, Amgb. 3^ ?

Der nu den himel hat erkorn,

der geiselt uns bi uuser habe ;

ich viirhte sere, unt wirt im zorn,

den slegel wirft er uns her abe.^ In a Servian song (Vuk 4, 9) the angels descend to earth out of God's window (od Bozhieg prozora ; pro-zor (out-look, hence window) reminds one of zora (dawn), prozorie (morning twilight), and of Wodan at early morn looking toward the sunrise. The dawn is, so to speak, the opening in heaven, through which God looks into the world.

Also, what Paulus Diac. 1, 20 tells of the anger of the Lord (supra, p. 18), whereby the Herulian warriors were smitten before their enemies, I am inclined to trace up to "VVuotan : Tanta super eos coelitus ira res^jcxit ; and again : Vae tibi, misera Herulia, quae coeiestis Domini flecteris ira! Conf. Egilssaga p. 305: reiffr se rogn ok OSinn ! wrathful see the gods and 0.,; and Fornald. sog. 1, 501 : grainr er ySr OSinn, angry is 0. with you.

Victory was in the eyes of our forefathers the first and highest of gifts, but they regarded Wuotan not merely as dispenser of victory ; I have to show next, that in the widest sense he repre- sented to them the god to whose bounty man has to look for every other distinction, who has the giving of all superior blessings ; and in this sense also Hermes (Mercury) was to the Greeks pre- eminently SctiTcop idcov, giver of good things, and I have ventured to guess that the name Gihika, KijncJw originally signified the same to us-.

235. ed. 1842, 4, 5, 39. H. Sachs (1563) v. 381. According to Greek and 0. Norse notions, the gods have a throne or cliair : tha gengengo regin oil a rokstola ginheilog goS, S;eni. 1''. Compare in the Bible : heaven is God's throne, the earth his footstool, Matt. 5, 34-5 ; and Hel. 45, 11. 12 (see Suppl.).

1 Also MS. 2, 254'' : ze hus wirf ich den slegel dir. MS. 2, 6'' : niit einem sleijel er zuo dem kinde warf. This cuchjel-throicing resembles, what meant so much to our ancestors, the hammer's throw, and the OHG. slaga is malleus, sledge-hanimev (Grail' 6, 773). The cudgel thrown from heaven can hardly be other than a thunderbolt ; and the obscure proverb, ' swer irre rite daz der den sler/el fihide,' wJioso astray should ride, that he the s. might fiml, Parz. 180, 10, .may refer to a thunder-stone (see cli. VIII, Donar) which jwints to hidden treasure and brings deliverance, and which only those can light upon, who have accidentally lost tlieir way in a wood ; for which reason Wolfram calls trunks of trees, from under which peeps out the stone of luck, ' slegels urkiinde und zil,' slegcl's document and mark (aim).

• Haupts zeitschr. 1, 573. Lasicz. 47 names a Latanus donator bonorum.

138 WODAN.

The sum total of well-being and blessedness, the fulness of all graces, seems in our ancient language to have been expressed by a single word, whose meaning has since been narrowed down ; it was named tvunsch (wish). This word is probably derived from wunja, wunnja, our wonne, bliss ; wunisc, wunsc, perfection in whatever kind, what we should call the Ideal. Thus, Er. 1699 ' der wunsch Avas an ir garwe,' wish was in her complete ; Iw. 3991 ' daz mir des wunsches niht gebrast,' nought of wish was wanting ; Iw. 6468 ' der rat, des der wunsch an wibe gert,' such store as wish can crave in wife ; Gerh. 1754! ' an der got wunsches niht vergaz,' in whom God nought of wish forgot (left out) ; Parz. 742, 15 ' der wunsch wirt in beiden ' ; Trist. 3710 ' dir ist der wunsch gegeben'; Frauend. 87 ' der wunsch von edlem obze,' the pick of noble fruit ; Parz. 250, 25 ' erden wunsches riche,' rich in all gifts of the earth ; 235, 24, 'erden wunsches iiberwal'; Trist. 4696. 4746 ' der wunsch von worten, von bluomen ' ; Trist. 1374 ' in dem wunsche sweben,' i.e., in perfect satisfaction. And the magic wand, by whose impact treasures are acquired, was a wunschiligerta, wishing-rod ; conf. Parz. 235, 22 ' wurzel unde ris des wunsches,' root and spray of wish. The (secondary) meaning of ' desiring and longing for ' these perfections would seem to have but accidentally attached itself to the wunsc, ON. osk (see Suppl.).

Among other Eddie names of 06inn, appears Osci, Ssem. 46^ Sn. 3, 24, i.e. he who makes men partakers of wunsch, of the highest gift. Osk, gen. Oskar, a woman's name, Fornm. sog. 1, 246. Eyrbyggja saga cap. 7. Laxd. p. 12.

Another thing seems to me to be connected with this, and there- fore to be a relic of the heathen religion : the fact that our poets of the 13th century personify wunsch, and represent it as a mighty creative being. Instances in proof of this are found chiefly in Hartmann, Eudolf and Conrad :

Got erloubte dem WimscJie liber About him, God gave to Wish

in, full leave,

daz er lib unde sin that he body and mind

meistert nach sim werde. fashioned according to his worth,

swa von ouch uf der erde Of whatsoever upon earth,

deheinem man ze loben geschiht, to any man, praiseworthy falls,

desn gebrast im niht ; thereof lacked him nought ;

der Wicnsch hat in gemeistert so Wish had him fashioned so,

WODAN.

139

daz er sin luas ze kinde vrS, wande er nihts an im vergaz : er hetn geschaffet, kunder, baz.

Greg. 1091-1100.

man sagt daz nie kint gewan ein lip so gar dem Wunsche glich. Ex. 330.

also was ez (daz phert) gestalt, und ob er (der werltwise man)

danne den gewalt von dem Wunsche hmte, daz ez belibe st^ete

swes er darzuo gedsehte,

und swenne erz volbra^hte,

daz erz fiir sich stalte

und er von sinem givalte

dar abe noeme

swaz daran im missezaeme,

also was ez volkomen

daz er dar abe niht hete geno-

men alse groz als umb ein bar.

Er. 7375-87.

tliat he was glad of liim for child, for he nought in him forgot : he had him shapen, if he could, better.

They say that never a child won a body so wholly equal to Wish (or, exactly like Wish).

So was it wrought (tlie horse), that if he (the wright) had had

the command from Wish,

that (liis work) should be left

unaltered, whatever he attempted thereon, and when he had completed it, that he should set it before Him, and He at his discretion therefrom should take away whatever therein mislilvcd him, — so perfect was it that he therefrom nought would

have taken so great as a hair.

als ez der Wmisch gehot (bade). Er. 8213.

was ein wunschldnt (was a child of wish). Ex. 8277,

Enite was des Witnschcs kint,

der an ir nilites vergaz. Er. 8934.

da was ir har und ir lich (lyke, lych, body)

so gar dem Wunsche gelich (like). Iw. 1333.

diz was an ir (zuht, schoene, jugent) und gar der rat (all the store)

des der Wunsch (or wunsch ?) an wibe gert (desires.) Iw. 6468.

wande sie nie gesahen (for they never had seen)

zwene riter gestalt (two knights fashioned)

so gar in Wunsches gewalt

an dem libe und an den siten (manners). Iw. 6913.

der Wimsch vluochct (curses) im so. Iw. 7066.

140 WODAN.

mil- hat der Wunsch gevluochet. Hartm. biichl. 2, 113.

er was schcene und wol gevar (for gefarwet, coloured),

rehte, als in der Wunsch erkos (chose). Gerh. 771.

mill herze in (ihnen, to them) des begunde jehen (acknowledge),

in wsere des Wunsches fiiz (zeal, care) bereit, Gerh. 1599.

an der der Wunsch mit kiusche har

sine sileze lebcnde fruht. Gerh. 1660,

daz ich ir schoene kroene

ob alien frouwen schoiie

mit des Wimsches krone. Gerh. 1668.

ein regen uz dem wolken vloz

der uf des Wimsches ouwe goz

so heizen regen (?). Gerh. 2307.

an lobe (praise) des Wunsches hronc. Gerh. 2526.

swes ich begunde daz geschach (was accomplished),

der Wunsch ie niinen werken jach (ever to my works said yea)

des wunsches als ich wolte

und als ich wiinschen solte. Gerh. 2945.

nach des Wunsches lere (lore). Gerh. 4500.

der Wttnsch mit siner hende

vor wandel (change, fault) hete si getwagen (cleansed). Troj. 1212.

der Wunsch hat ane lougen (without lying, undeniably)

erzeiget an ir sine kmftj

und siner Jcilnste meisterschaft

mit vlize an ir bewert (carefully evinced in her). Troj. 7569.

der Wunsch hat in gemachet wandels vri (free of fault). Troj. 3154.

der Wunsch der hete an si geleit (gelegt, laid out, spent)

me flizcs denne uf elliu wip (more pains than on any woman).

Troj. 19620. so daz er niemer wibes leben fur sie gesdwpfen wolde baz (better) ; do sin gewcdt ir bilde maz (measured), do leit (legte) er an -sie manec model. Troj. 19627 und hsete sin der Wtinsch gesworn, er wolde bilden ein schoener wip, und schepfcn also klaren lip als Helena min frouwe treit (tragt, bears) er miieste brechen sinen eit (eid, oath) wan er kunde niemer (for he could never),

WODAN. 141

unci solte Uldcn iemer (were he to shape for ever),

(jcschcpfen wunneclicher fruht. Troj. 19526-32.

ez hat ze sinem telle der Wunsch vergezzen niender. Engelh. 579.

daz haete an si der Wunsch geleit. Engelh. 4703.

der Wunsch der hete niht gespart

an ir die sine mcisterscliaft,

er hete sine beste hraft

mit ganzem fiiz an sie geleit. Der werlde Ion. 84.

Other poets personify too (not, however. Wolfram nor Gotfried): der zweier kurtesie sich ze dem Wimsche het geweten, si ware niender uz getreten. Wigal. 9246. an ir schoene was wol schin, daz ir der Wunsch gedahte. Wigal. 9281. der Wunsch het sich gcneigct in ir gewalt. ibid. 904. in was der Wunsch bereit. ib. 10592. des Wunsches amic. ib. 7906. 8735. wen mohte da erlangen, da der Wunsch inne was. ib. 10612. der Wunsch het si gemachet so, imd ist ir ze kinde vrS. Amur 1338. (Pf. 1343). des Wuoischcs ougenweicle (food for the eye) sit ir und miner sfelden spil (are ye, and the play of my delight).

Wigal. 8760. Amur 1068. (Pf. 1072). si schepfet uz des Wunsches hcilctwdgc (lioly water). Martina, 259. (diu hant) ist im groz, lane unde wiz, zuo der het sich der Wunsch gesellct. Turl. Wh. 38=*. hie stuont (here stood) der Wunsch. ib. 137^ dar an lit (therein lieth) wol des Wunsches vliz. Tyrol E, 3. si ist des Wunsches hostez zil (highest mark or aim). Ms. 1, 84^ sie ist der Wunsch uf erde. Ms. 2, 100^.

sie ist des Wunsches ingesinde (one of W.'s household). Ms. 1, 6^ von ir scheitel uf ir zehen (from her crown to her toes) so ist niht an minneclichen widen wan (save, but) des Wunsches

blic. MsH. 3, 493^ des Wwischcs blucte sint entsprungen in mine herzen. Fragm. 45^ si trage des Wunsches hildc. Ms. 1, 191^ des Wunsches krdnc tragen. Docen misc. 2, 186.

142 WODAN.

sie hat des Wimsches gewalt. Amgb. 31^ er was so gar des Wunschcs hint,

daz alle man gein (against, before) siner schoene waren blint, und doch menlich gestalt bi clarem velle (complexion) ; der Wunsch im niht gebrechen liez (let nought be lacking) da von man 's Wtinsches hint den stolzen hiez (should call the stately one). Lohengr. ed. Eiickert str. 625.

The following is outside the bounds of MHG. : an yr yst Wensches vlyt geleit. Haupts zeitschr. 3, 221. Mid. Dutch poems have no personification Wensch ; nor is there a Wunsch in the Nibelungen or Gudrun ; but in Wolfdietrich 970 : des W'lmsches ein amie ! There must be many more instances ; but the earliest one I know of is found in the Entekrist from the 12th century (Hoffm. fundgr. 2, 107) :

mit Wunschis gewalte With Wish's might

segniti sie der alte. Tlie old man blessed her.

We see Wish provided with hands, power, looks, diligence, art, blossom, fruit ; he creates, shapes, produces master-pieces, thinks, bows, swears, curses, is glad and angry, adopts as child, handmaid, friend : all such pretty- well stock phrases would scarcely have sprung up and lived in a poetry, in a language, if they did not unconsciously relate to a higher being, of whom earlier times had a livelier image; on such a basis indeed nearly all the personifications made use of by MHG. poets seem to me to rest. In the majority of our examples we might fairly put the name of God in the place of Wish, or that of Wish in the phrases quoted on pp. 17-8, which describe the joyous or the angry God : freudenvoll hat sie Got gegozzen, MS. 1, 226^ ; der Wunsch maz ir bilde, as mezzen is said of God, p. 23 ; and gebieten, to command, is just as technically applied to the one as to the other, p. 24. The 'gramr er ySr OSinn,' p. 137, might be rendered in MHG, 'der Wunsch zlirnet iu, fluochet iu,' meaning, the world is sick of you. At times the poet seems to be in doubt, whether to say God or Wish: in the first passage from Gregor, Wish is subordinated, as a being of the second rank, so to speak, as a servant or messenger, to the superior god; the latter has to give him leave to assume his creative function, which in other cases he does of his own might. Again, when body, figure, hair are said to be 'like Wish,' it exactly reminds us of Homer's KOfiav

WODAN. 143

XapkeaaLv ofjLolat, II, 17, 51; and Xdpire'i, the Gratiae, creatresses of grace and beauty, play precisely the part of our Wish, even down to the circumstance, that in addition to the personal meaning, there is an abstract %a/3t9, gratia, as there is a wish.^ Piiterich of Eeicherzhausen (Haupts zeitschr. 6, 48) speaks of ' die ivuntsclics fiiesse ' of a princess ; the older phrase would have been ' ir fiieze waren deni Wunsche gelich'. It is a genuine bit of German heathenism to make this creative faculty reside in a god, and not, after the Greek fashion, in a female personage. And there are other features too, that point back to our native heathen eld. Wish's aue and heilwac can be matched by Phol's ouwa and brunno, or the meads and holywells of other gods ; Wish's crovm by that worn by gods and kings. And, most remarkable of all, Wish rejoices in his creature as in a child ; here Woden's self comes upon the scene as patriarcli or paterfamilias, before whom created men make their appearance like children, friends, domestics ; and ' wunschkint ' is also used in the sense of an adopted, i.e. wished for, child.^ Her- bort 13330 makes Hecuba exclaim : ich han einen sun verlorn, er gezseme gote ze kinde (would suit God as a child) ; which does not mean in a christian sense, ' God has doubtless been joleased to take him to Himself,' but in a heathen sense, ' he was so lovely, he might be called Wish's child '. For the Norse OSinn too has these marvellous children and wish-maidens in his train (see Suppl.)^

To the ON. Oshi ought by rights to correspond an OHG. Wunsco, Wunscjo, (weak deck), which I am not able to produce even as a man's name (see Suppl.).^ A ]\IHG. Wtinsche cannot be proved

1 In many places it is doubtful, whetlier tlie poet meant icish or Wish. In Wolfram and Gotfiied, who abstain from distinct personification, I always prefer the abstract interpretation, while Hartmann admits of both by turn's. When we read in Parz. 102, 30 : si was gar ob dem wunsches zil (over wish's goal, beyond all that one could wish), the phrase borders close upon the above- quoted, _' si ist des Wunsches hustez zil (the highest that Wish ever created) ' ; and it is but a step from ' mines wunschesparadis,' MS. 2, 126% to ' des Wunsches paradis ' or ' ouwe '. So, ' da ist wunsch, und niender breste (here is one's wish, and nothing wanting),' MS. 1, SS'' = 'der Wunsch liez im niht gebrechen,' W. left him nothing lacking (see Suppl.).

2 The Germ, an-wiinschen verbally translates the Lat. ad-opto. — Trans.

3 Tluit Wish was personified, and very boldly, by the christian poets, is abundantly proved, lliat he was ever believed in as a person, even in heathen times, is, to my Ihinldiig, far from clear. I believe some German scholars regard the notion as little better than a mare's nest. — Trans.

•* The name does occur later : Johannes dictus de ( = der) Wunsch, Ch. ann. 1324 (Neue mittli. des thiir. vereius I. 4,()5), In the Oberhess. wochen- blatt, Marburg 1830, p. 420, I read of a Joh. Wunsch who is probably alive at this moment.

144 WODAN.

from Troj. 3154. 7569. 19620. 19726 (Straszb. MS.), both the metre and the strong gen. in -es forbidding. But the whole idea may in the earliest times have taken far stronger root in South Germany than in Scandinavia, since the Edda tells next to nothing of Oski, while our poetry as late as the ] 5th century has so much to say of Wunsch. That it was not foreign to the North either, is plainly proved by the Oshmcyjar = Wunschdfrauen, wish-women; by the Oskasteinn, a philosopher's stone connected with our Wunschelrute, wishing-rod, and Mercury's staff; by Oskabyrr, MHG. Wunschivint, fair wind ; by Oshabiorn, wish-bear, a sea-monster ; all of which will be discussed more fully by and by. A fem. proper name Osk occurs in a few places ; what if the unaccountable Oskopnir, Saem. 188% were really to be explained as Osk-opnir ? Opnir, Ofnir, we know, are epithets of OSinn. Both word and meaning seem to grow in relevancy to our mythology , it is a stumbling-block indeed, that the AS. remains furnish no contribution, even the simple wusc (optio, votum) seeming to be rare, and only wyscan (optare) in common use ; yet among the mythic heroes of Deira we meet with a WiXscfred, lord of Wish as it were ; and to the Anglo-Saxons too this being may have merely become extinct, though previously well known (see Suppl.).

But to make up for it, their oldest poetry is still dimly conscious of another name of Wuotan, which again the Edda only mentions cursorily, though in Ssem. 46^ it speaks of Oski and Omi in a breath, and in 91^ uses Omi once more for OSinn. Now this Omi stands related to omr, sonus, fragor, as the AS. woma to wom, clamor, sonitus ; I have quoted instances in Andr. and El. pp. xxx, xxxi, to which may now be added from the Cod. exon. : heofonwoma 52, 18. 62, 10 ; dtegredwoma 179, 24; hHdewoma 250, 32. 282, 15 ; wiges woma 277, 5 ; wintres woma 292, 22 : in this last, the mean- ing of hiemis impetus, fragor, furor, is self-evident, and we see ourselves led up to the thought which antiquity connected with Wuotan himself : out of this living god were evolved the abstrac- tions wuot (furor), wunsch (ideal), woma (impetus, fragor). The gracious and grace-bestowing god was at other times caUed the stormful, the terror-striking, who sends a thrill through nature; even so the ON. has both an Yggr standing for OSinn, and an yggr for terror. The AS. woma is no longer found as Woma ; in OHG. wuomo and Wuomo are alike unknown. Thorpe renders the

WODAN. 145

' heofonwoman ' above in a local sense by 'heaven's corners,' I doubt if correctly ; in both the passages coeli fragores are meant. We may liowever imagine Onii, Woma as an air-god, like the Hindu Indras, whose rush is heard in the sky at break of day, in the din of battle, and the tramp of the ' furious host ' (see Suppl.).

Precisely as the souls of slain warriors arrive at Indra's heaven,^ the victory-dispensing god of our ancestors takes up the heroes that fall in fight, into his fellowship, into his army, into his heavenly dwelling. Probably it has been the belief of all good men, tliat after death they would be admitted to a closer com- munion witli deity. Dying is therefore, even according to the christian view, called goiuff to God, turning home to God : in AS. metodsceaft seon, Beow. 2360. Ca?dm. 104,31. Or seeking, visiting God: OS. god suokian, Hel. 174:,26 ; fadar suohion, Hel. 143, 23; ujjodashem, lioht odar, sinlif, godes riki siLokian, Hel. 85, 21. 17, 17. 63, 14. 137, 16. 176, 5. In a like sense the Thracians, ace. to Herodotus 4, 94, said levat irapa ZdX/jio^iv (Fe/SeXei^Lv) Smfiova, which Zalmoxis or Zamolxes is held by Jornandes to be a deified king of the Goths (Getae). In the Novth, faring to Off inn, being guest with Offinn, visiting Offinn, meant simply to die, Fornald. sog. 1, 118. 422-3. 2, 366. and was synonymous with faring to Valholl, being guest at Valholl, ib. 1, 106. Among the christians, these were turned into curses : far p4 til O&ins ! Offins eigi J?ik ! may OSin's have thee (see Suppl). Here is shown the inversion of the kindly being, with whom one fain would dwell, into an evil one,2 whose abode inspires fear and dread. Further on, we shall exhibit more in detail the way in which Wuotan was pictured driving through the air at the head of the ' furious (wtitende) host ' named after him. Valholl (aula optionis) and Valkyrja obviously express the notion of wish and choice (Germ, wahl, Scotch wale).

Of the peculiarities of figure and outward appearance of this god, which are brought out in such bold relief in the northern

1 Bopp's Nalas, p. 264.

2 So Wuotan's name of itself degenerates into the sense of hwy (wut) and anger ; the Edda has instances of it. In revenge he pricked Brynhild with the sleei)ing-thorn, S:em. 194% and she says : OSinn ])\ veldr, er ek eigi nmttak bregSa bhmnstofom. He breeds enmit5^ and strife : einn vehh- OSinn ollu bolvi, jpviatmeS sifjungom sakrunar bar, S;cm. 165''. ininiicitias Othinus serit, Sa.\o gram. p. 142, as christians say of the devil, that he sows the seeds of discord, gremi OCins, Sa^m. 151^ (see Suppl.).

le

146 WODAN.

myths, I have found but few traces left among us in Germany, The Norse OSinn is one-eyed, he wears a hroad hat and wide mantle: Grimnir 1 feldi hldm, blue cloak, Stem. 40. 1 hekhi grmnni ok hldm hrokum, green cloak and blue breeks, Fornald. sog. 1, 324. heldumaffr, cloaked man, 1, 325. When he desired to drink of Mimi's fountain, he was obliged to leave one of his eyes in pawn, Sfem. 4% Sn. 15.^ In Saxo, p. 12, he a.^-pears as cprcndaevus, altera orhus oculo ; p. 37, armipotens, uno semper contentus ocello ; p. 138, sencx ortus ocidis, hispido amictu. So in the Sagas : kom ]?ar maSr gamall, miok orSspakr, einsynn ok aatgdapr, ok hafSi hatt siSan ; there came an old man, very word-wise, one-eyed and sad-eyed, and had a wide hat, Fornm. sog. 2, 138. hann hafir lieklu flekkdtta yfir ser, sa maSr var berfcettr ok hafSi knytt linbrokum at beini, hann var har miok (very high), ok eldiligr ok einsynn, Fornald. sog. 1, 120. ]9a kom maSr 1 bardagann meS sid'an hatt ok heldu Ud^ hann hafSi eitt avga, ok geir (spear) i hendi, ib. 1, 145. J^etta mun Odinn gamli verit hafa, ok at visu var maSrinn einspnn, ib. 1, 95. sa hann mann mikinn meS si&im hetti, ib. 5, 250. meS hctti Hangatyss ganga, cum cidari Odiniana incedere, Vigagl. saga, p. 168. Othinus, OS inleo, ne cultu proderetur, ohnubens, Saxo Gram. 44. An Eddie song already names him Siffhottr, broad-hatted, Saem. 46^ and one saga merely Hottr, hatted, Fornald. sog. 2, 25-6 ; conf. Mlillers sagabibl. 3, 142. Were it not for the name given him in the Grimnismal, I should have supposed it was the intention of the christians to degrade the old god by mean clothing, or else that, wrapt in his mantle, he was trying to conceal himself from christians. Have we a right here to bring in the pileati of Jornandes ? A saga in Saxo, p. 12, tells prettily, how the Mind old god takes up a proteg^ in his cloak, and carries him through the air, but Hading, peeping through a hole in the garment, observes that the horse is stepping over the sea-waves. As for that heklumad'r of the hat with its rim turned up, he is our Hakolberend at the head of the wild host, who can at once be turned into a Gothic

^ Conf. Tritas in the fountain, Kulin in Hofer 1, 290. Ace. to the popiilar religion, you must not look into running water, because you look m<o God's eye, Tol)ler's Appenzel p. 369'' ; neither must you point at the stars with your fingers, for fear of sticking them into the angels' eyes.

2 There is a Swed. miirchen of Greymantle (grakappan), Molbech 14, who, like Mary in German tales, takes one up to heaven and forbids the opening of a lock, Kinderm. 3, 407.

WODAN. 147

Ilahdahairands, now that hakuls for (f)e\6vr]<i is found in 2 Tim. iv. 13. — Swedish folk-tales picture Odin as bald-headed, Iduna 10, 231. In the ancient poetry he is Harharffr, Sidgrani, Sidskcggr, all in allusion to his thick growth of hair and beard. The name Eedbeard I have elsewhere understood of Thor, but in Fornald. sog. 2, 239 — 257 the Grani and Rau&grani are expressly OSinn (see Suppl.).

The Norse myth arms OSinn with a wonderful S'pcar (geir), GiXngnir by name, Stem. 196. Sn. 72 ; which I put on a par with the lance or sword of Mars, not the staff of Mercury. Sigmund's sword breaks, when he hacks at OSinn's spear, Vols, saga cap. 11, lie lends this spear to heroes to win victories with, Ssem. 165. A remarkable passage in the Fornm. sog. 5, 250 says : seldi honum reyrspiota (gave him the reeden spear) t hond, ok baS hann skiota honum yfir liS Styrbiarnar, ok )?at skyldi hann ma^la : 05in a ySr alia ! All the enemies over whom the spear he shoots shall fly, are doomed to death, and the shooter obtains the victory. So too the Eyrbyggja saga p. 228 : }?a skaut Stein];6rr spioti at fornom si& til heilla ser yfir flock Snorra ; where, it is true, nothing is said of the spear launched over the enemy being the god's. Saim. 5% of OSinn himself : fieigSi ok 1 folk um skaut (see Suppl.).

To the god of victory are attached two ivolves and two ravens, which, as combative courageous animals, follow the fight, and pounce upon the fallen corpses, Andr. and El. xxvi. xxvii. The wolves are named Gcri and FrcJci, Sn. 42 ; and so late as in Hans Sachs (i. 5, 499), we read in a schwank, that the Lord God has chosen wolves for his hounds, that they are his cattle. The two ravens are Hvginn and Muninn, from hugr (animus, cogitatio) and munr (mens) ; they are not only brave, but cunning and wise, they sit on the shoidders of OSinn, and whisper in his ear whatever they see and hear, Sa^m. 42'' 88^ Sn. 42. 56. 322. To the Greek Apollo too the wolf and raven were sacred ;^ his messenger the raven informed him when Koronis was unfaithful, and Aristeas accompanied him as a raven, Herod. 4, 15 ; a raven is perched aloft on the mantle of Mithras the sun-god. The Gospels represent the Holy Ghost as a

^ In Marc. Cap. 1, 11, the words: 'augiirales vero alitcs ante curriini Delio coiistiterunt, are transl. by Notker 37 : to warcn garo ze Apollinis reito sine wizegfogela, ralena unde albisze. To Ot5inn hawks are sometimes given instead of ravens : OtJins haukar Saem. 167^.

148 WODAN.

dove descending upon Christ at his baptism, Lu. 3, 22, and resting upon him, ejxeivev ctt' avrov, mansit super eum, John 1, 32 : 'in Krist er sih gisidalta,' says 0. i. 25, 24; but Hel. 30, 1 of the dove : sat im icppan uses drohtines ahslu (our Lord's shoulder). Is this an echo of heathen thoughts ? None of the Fathers have this circumstance, but in the Mid. Ages there is talk enough about doves resting on shoulders ;^ and the dove, though frequently contrasted with the raven (which, like the wolf, the christians applied to the Evil one), may nevertheless be put in the place of it. Oswald's raveii flies to his shoulder and arm, 749. 942. Oswald talks to it, 95-6, and kneels before it, 854. Conf. Ziugerle, Oswalt p. 67 (see Suppl.).^

Now under that figure of the bearded old man, Wuotan is apparently to be regarded as a water-sprite or water-god, answering well to the Latin name of Mptunus which some of the earlier writers put upon him (p. 122). In OK he is Hnikar, Hnihuffr, Mkarr, Nilcuz, and the hesitation between the two forms which in Sn. 3 are expressly made optional — ' Nikarr e&a (or) Nikuz ' — may arise from the diversity of old dialects. Nikarr corresponds to the AS. Nicor, and Nikuz to OHG. Nichus ; the initial Hn seems to be ON. alone. On these I shall have more to say, when treating of water-sprites (see Suppl.) — Another epithet of OSinn is equally

1 Gregor. Nyssen. encom. Ei)hraemi relates, that when Basil the Great was preaching, Ephraem saw on his rujlii shoulder a ^vhite dove, which put words of wisdom in his mouth. Of Gregory the Great Ave read in Pauh Diac, vita p. 14, that when he was expounding the hist vision of Ezekiel, a xuhite dove sat u'pon his head, and now and then put its beak in his mouth, at which times he, the writer, got nothing for his stvlus to put down ; conf. the narrative of a poet of the 12th cent., Hoffm. fundgr. 2, 229 ; also Myst. 1. p. 226-7. Augus- tine and Thomas Aquinas are portrayed with a white dove perched on their shoulders or hovering over their heads. A nursery-tale (Kinderm. no. 33) makes two doves settle on the pope's shoulder, and tell him in his ear all that he has to do. A white dove descends singing on the head of St. Devy, and instructs him, Buhez santez Nonn. Paris 1837, p" 117. And on other occasions the dove flies down to make known the will of heaven. No one will trace the story of Wuotan's ravens to these doves, still the coincidence is striking (see Suppl.l

• There are said to have been found lately, in Denmark and Sweden, representations of Odin, which, if some rather strange reports are well-founded, ought to be made known without delay. A ploughman at Boeslund in Zealand turned up two golden urns filled with ashes ; on the lids is carved Odin, standing up, with two ravens on his shoulders, and the two wolves at his feet ; Kunstbl. 1843, no. 19, p. 80^. Gold coins also were discovered near the village of Gomminga in Oeland, one of which represents Odin with the ravens on his shoulder ; the reverse has ruues , Kunstbl. 1844, no. 13, p. 52».

WODAN. 149

noticeable for its double form : Bijii&l eSa Bijlindi, Sn. 3 ; Sicm. 46'' has Biblindi. As bif (Germ, beben) signifies motus, aer, aqua, the quaking element, and the AS. \vSq is lenis, OHG. lindi, ON. linr (for linnr) ; an AS. BifliSe, BeofliSe, OHG. Pepalindi, might be suggested by the soft movement of the air, a very apt name for tlie all-penetrating god ; but these forms, if they gave rise to the Norse term, are no longer found in AS. or OHG. Wuotan's dominion both over the air and over the water explains, how it is that he walks on the waves, and comes rushing on the gale. — It is 05inn that sends wind to the ships, Fornm. sog. 2, 16, hence a good sail- ing wind is called oshahjrr, Ssem. 16o^, i.c^Oskahyrr ; >yrv is from byrja, OHG. purran, to rise, be lifted up. It is in striking accord with this, that the MHG. poets use wunschivint in the same sense ; Hartmann says, Greg. 615 :

Do sande in (to them) der slieze Krist den vil rehten wunschwint (see Suppl.)

But other attributes of Wuotan point more to Hermes and Apollo. He resembles the latter, in as much as from him proceed contagious diseases and their cure ; any severe illness is the stroke of God, and Apollo's arrows scatter ])estilence. The Gauls also imagined that Apollo drove away diseases (Apollinem morbos depellere, Caes. B. G. 6, 17) ; and Wodan's magic alone can cure Balder's lamed horse. The raven on the god's shoulder exactly fits Apollo, and still more plainly the circumstance that OSinn invented the poetic art, and Saga is his divine daughter, just as the Greek Muses, though daughters of Zeus, are under Apollo's protection, and in his train. — On the other hand, writing and the alphabet were not invented by Apollo, but by Hermes. Tlie Egyptian priests placed Hermes at the head of all inventions (lamblich. de myst. Aegypt. 8, 1), and Theuth or Thoth is said to have first discovered letters (Plato's Phaedr. 1, 96, Bekker) , while, ace. to Hygin. fab. 143, Hermes learnt them by watching the flight of cranes. In tbe AS. dialogue between Saturn and Solomon, we read (Thorpe's anal, p. 100): 'saga me, hwa aerost bocstafas sette?' 'ic the secge, Mercurius se gyqcmd'. Another dialogue, entitled Adrian and Epictus (MS. Brit. mus. Arund. no. 351. fol. 39) asks: 'quis primus fecit literas ? ' and answers ' Seitli," which is either a corruption of Theuth, or the Scth of the Bible. Just so the Eddie Palnatals ]?attr seems to ascribe the first teaching of runes to OSinn, if we may so

150 WODAN.

interpret the words : nam ec uj'ip riXnar, Ssem. 28^ Jjser ofreS, Jjfer ofreist, ]?aGr ofhiigSi Hroptr, i.e., them OSinn read out, cut out, thought out, Srem. 195^ Also Snorri, Yngl. cap. 7 : allar J^essar idrottir kendi hann meS rlXnum ok lio&um. Hincmar of Eheims attributes to Mercury the invention of dice-playing : sicut isti qui de denariis quasi jocari dicuntur, quod omnino diabolicum est, et, sicut legimus, primum cliahohis hoc per Mercuriuw prodidit, unde et Mercurius inventor illius dicitur, 1, 656. Conf. Schol. to Odyss. 23, 198, and MS. 2, 124^ : der tiuvel schuof das wiirfelspil. Our folk-tales know something about this, they always make the devil play at cards, and entice others to play (see Suppl.).^ When to this we add, that the wishing-rod, i.e.. Wish's staff, recals Mercury's caduceus, and the wish-wives, t.e.,osknieyjar, valkyrior, the occupa- tion of the Psychopompos ; we may fairly recognise an echo of the Gallic^ or Germanic ]\lercury in the epithet Trismcgistos (Lactantius i. 6, 3. vi, 25, 10. ter maximus Hermes in Ausonius), which later poets, Romance and German, in the 12tli and 13th centuries^ transferred to a Saracen deity Termagant Tervcigan, Tervigant, Terviant. Moreover, when Hermes and Mercury are described as dator bonorum, and the Slavs again call the same god Dobro-pan (p. 130, note), as if mercis domains ; it is worth noticing, that the Misnere Amgb. 42% in enumerating all the planets, singles out Mercury to invoke in the words : jSTu hilf mir, daz mir s^lde wache! schin er mir ze geliicke, noch so kum ich wider uf der sselden phat (pfad). Just so I find Odin invoked in Swedish popu- lar songs : Hielp nu, Oden Asagrim ! Svenska fornsangor 1, 11. hielp mig Othin ! 1, 69. To this god first and foremost the people turned when in distress ; I suppose he is called Asagrim, because amons the Ases he bore the name of Grimnir ?

^ Eeuscli, sagen des preiiss. Samlands, no. 11. 29.

2 In the Old British mythology there appears a Gwydion ah Don, G. son of Don, whom Davies (Celtic researches pp. 168, 174. Brit. myth. p. 118, 204, 263-4, 353, 429, 504, 541) identities with Hermes ; he invented Avriting, practised magic, and Inult the rainbow ; the milky way was named caer Gwydion, G.'s castle (Owen, sub v.). The British antiquaries say nothing of Woden, yet Gwydion seems near of kin to the above Givodan = Wodan. So the Irish name for dies Mercurii, dia Geden, whether modelled on the Engl. Wednesday or not, leads lis to the form Goden, Gwoden (see Suppl.).

3 Even nursery-tales of the present time speak of a groszmachtige Mercurius, Kinderm. no. 99. 2, 86.

■* This Termagan, Termagant occurs especially in 0. Engl, poems, and may have to do with tlie Irish tormac augmentum, tormacaim augere.

WODAN". 151

It is therefore not without significance, that also the ivanderings of the Herald of gods among men, in whose hovels he now and then takes up his lodging, are parallelled especially by those of Offinn and Hcenir, or, in christian guise, of God and St. Pdcr.

Our olden times tell of Wuotan's wanderings, his waggon, his way, his retinue (duce ]\Iercurio, p. 128). — We know that in the very earliest ages the seven stars forming the Bear in the northern sky were thought of as a four-wheeled waggon, its pole being formed by the three stars that hang downwards :

"ApKTov 6\ rjv Koi d/jia^av i7rii{\i](nv KoXeovaiv. II, 18, 487. Od. 5, 273. So in OHG. glosses : ursa ivagen, Jun. 304 ; in MHG. himclwagcn, Walth. 54, 3.^ hcrwagen Wackern. lb. 1. 772, 26. The clearest explanation is given by Notker cap. 64 : Selbiu ursa ist pi demo norde mannelichemo zeichenhaftiu fone dien siben glaten sternon, die aller der liut wagc7i heizet, unde nah einemo gloccun joclie^ gescafien sint, unde ebenmichel sint, ane (except) des mittelosten. The Anglo-Saxons called the constellation wmnes Jyisl (waggon's thill, pole), or simply pisl, but carles wccn also is quoted in Lye, the Engl, charles wain, Dan. karlsvogn, Swed. harlwagn. Is carl here equivalent to lord, as we have herrenwagen in the same sense ? or is it a transference to the famous king of christian legend ? But, what concerns us here, the constellation appears to have borne in heathen times the full name of Wtwkmes ivagan, after the highest god of heaven. The Dutch language has evidence of this in a MS. of as late as 1470 : ende de poeten in heure fablen heetend (the constell.) ourse, dat is te segghene Woenswaghcn. And elsewhere : dar dit teekin Arcturus, dat wy heeten Woonswaghcn, up staet ; het sevenstarre ofde Wocnswaglicn ; conf. Huydec. proeven 1, 24. I have nowhere met with plaustrum Mercurii, nor with an ON. OSins vagn ; only vagn d himnum.

It is a question, whether the great open highway in heaven — to which people long attached a peculiar sense of sacredness, and perhaps allowed this to eclipse the older fancy of a ' milky way ' (caer Gwydion, p. 150) — was not in some districts called Wuotancs luec or strdza. (way or street). Wodcncsurg, as the name of a place, stood its ground in Lower Saxony, in the case of a village near Magdeburg, Ch. ad ann. 973 in Zeitschr. fiir archivk. 2, 349 ; an

1 Septentrion, que nos char d del apelon ; Roman de Eon.

2 Crossbeam, such as bells (glocken) are suspended on; conf. ans, as, p. 125.

152 WODAN.

older doc. of 937 is said to have Watancsweg (conf. Wiggert in the Neu. mitth. des thiir. vereins VI. 2, 22). praedium in Wocleneswegc, Dietm. Merseb. 2, 14 p. 750. Annal. Saxo 272. Johannes de Wden- sivege, Heinricus de Wodcnsiveghe (Lenz.) Brandenb. urk. p. 74 (anno 1273), 161 (anno 1301). later, Wutenswege, GodenscMvege, Gutensivegen, conf. Ledebur n. arch. 2, 165, 170. Gero ex familia Wodcnswcgiorum., Ann. Magdeb. in chron. Marienthal. Meibom 3, 263. I would mention here the lustration der Iwninges stratc, EA. 69 ; in the Uplandslag vidherb, balkr 23, 7 the highway is called harlsveg, like the heavenly wain above. But we shall have to raise a doubt by and by, whether the notion of way, via, is contained at all in Wodensweg.

Plainer, and more to the purpose, appear the names of certain mountains, which in heathen times were sacred to the service of the god. At Sigt^s hergi, Ssem. 248^ Othenshcrg, now Onsherg, on the Danish I. of Samsoe ; Odeoisherg in Schonen. Godesberg near Bonn, in docs, of Mid. Ages Gudenesberg, Glinther 1, 211 (anno 1131), 1, 274 (anno 1143), 2, 345 (anno 1265) ; and before that, Wodenesberg, Lacomblet 97. 117, annis 947, 974 So early as m Caesarius heisterb. 8, 46 the two forms are put together : Gudins- b'erg vel, ut alii dicunt, Wudinsberg. Near the holy oak in Hesse, which Boniface brought down, there stood a Witodenesberg, still so named in a doc. of 1154 (Schminke beschr, von Cassel, p. 30, conf. Wenk 3, 79), later Vdenesberg, Gudensberg ; this hill is not to be confounded with Gudensberg by Erkshausen, district Eotenburg (Niederhess. wochenbl. 1830, p. 1296), nor with a Gudcnbcrg by Oberelsungen and Zierenberg (ib. p. 1219. Eommel 2, 64. Guden- hurg by Landau, p. 212) ; so that three mountains of this name occur in Lower Hesse alone ; conf. ' montem Vodinberg, cum silva eidem monti attinente,' doc. of 1265 in Wenk II, no. 174. In a different neighbourhood, a Henricus comes de Wodenesberg is named in a doc. of 1130, Wedekind's notes 1, 367 ; acurtis Wddcnesberg in a doc. of 973, Falke tradit. corb. 534. Gotansberg (anno 1275), Langs reg. 3, 471 : vineas duas gotansbcrge vocatas. Mabillon's acta Bened. sec. 5, p. 208 contain the following : ' in loco ubi mons quem dicunt Wonesberth (1. Wdnesberch = Wodanesberg) a radicibus astra petit,' said to be situate in pagus Gandavensis, but more cor- rectly Mt. Ardenghen between Boulogne and St. Omer. Comes Wadanimontis, aft. Vaudemont in Lorraine (Don Cahnet, tome 2,

WODAN. 153

preiives XLVIII. L.), seems to be the same, and to mean Wodarii- mons} A Wodnes heorg in the Sax. Chron. (Ingram pp. 27. 62), later Wodnesboroiigli, Wanshorough in Wiltshire ; the corruption already in Ethelwerd p. 835 : ' facta ruina magna ex utraque parte in loco qui dicitur Wodnesbyrg ' for Wodnesberg ; but Florence, ed. 1592, p. 225, has ' Wodncsbeorh, id est mons Wodeni '.^ A Wodnes- heorg in Lappenberg's map near the Bearucwudu, conf. Wodncsbiiry, Wodnesdyke, Wddanesfdd in Lappenb. engl. gesch. 1, 131. 258. 354. To this we must add, that about the Hessian Gudensberg the story goes that King Charles lies prisoned in it, that he there won a victory over the Saxons, and opened a well in the wood for his thirsting army, but he will yet come forth of the mountain, he and his host, at the appointed time. The mythus of a victorious army pining for water is already applied to King Carl by the Frankish annalists (Pertz 1, 150. 348), at "the very moment when they bring out the destruction of the Irminsul ; but lieyond a doubt it is older and heathen: Saxo Gram. 42 has it of the victorious Balder. The agree- ment of such legends with fixed points in the ancient cultus can- not but heighten and confirm their significance. A people whose faith is falling to pieces, will save here and there a fragment of it, by fixing it on a new and unpersecuted object of veneration. After such numerous instances of ancient Woden-hills, one need not be afraid to claim a mo7is Mercurii when mentioned in Latin annalists, such as Fredegar.

Other names occur, besides those of mountains. The brevi- arium Lulli, in Wenk II. no. 12, names a place in Thuringia : 'in Wudancs/msun,' and again Wotencshusun (conf. Schannat no. 84. 105) ; in Oldenburg there is a Wodensholt, now Godensholt, cited in a land-book of 1428, Ehrentraut Fries, arch. 1, 445 : ' to Wodensholte Tideke Tammen gut x schillinge ' ; Wothenower (W6- denover ?), seat of a Brandenburg family, Hofers urk. p. 270, anno 1334 ; not far from Bergen op Zoom and the Scheldt, towards Ant- werp, stands to this day a Woensdrccht, as if Wodani trajectum. Wocnsd = Wodenssele, Wodani aula, lies near Eindhoven on the

1 "VVe know of Graisivaudan, a valley near Grenoble in Dauphine, for ■which the Titurel has Graswaldane ; but there is no around for connecting it with the god. "

• Our present -borough, -burj-, stands both correctly for hurh, byrig, castle, town (Germ, burg), and incorrectly for the lost beorg, beorh, mountain (Germ, berg).— Trans. i/. . v

154 WODAN.

Dommel in N. Brabant ; a remarkable passage on it in Gramaye's Taxandria, p. 23, was pointed out to me by J. W. Wolf: Imo amplius supersunt aperte Cymbricorum deorum pagis aliquot, ubi forte culti erant, indita nomina, nominatim Mercurii in Woensel, honoris in JSersel,- Martis in Roysel. Uti enim Woen Mercurium eis dictum alias docui, et eer lionorem esse omnes sciunt, ita Roy Martem a colore sanguineo cognominatum ostendunt illi qui tertiam hebdomadis feriam Eoydach indigitant In due time I shall speak of Eersel and Eoysel, which lie in the neighbourhood of Woensel, and all of them in the N. Brabant district of Oirschot. This Woensel is like the OSinssalr, Othansale, Onsala named on p. 158. Wunstorp, Wunsdorf, a convent and small town in Lower Saxony, stands unmutilated as Wodcnstorp in a doc of 1179, Ealke tradit. corb. 770. Near Windbergen in the Ditmar country, an open space in a wood bears the name of Wodcnslag, Wonslag. Near Hadersleben in Schleswig are the villages of Wonsbcke, Wonski, Woyc7is formerly Wodensycn, An AS. doc. of 862 (Kemble 2, 73) contains in a boundary-settlement the name Wonstoc = Wodencsstoc, Wodani stipes, and at the same time betrays the influence of tlie god on ancient delimitation. Wuotan, Hermes, Mercury, all seem to be divinities of measurement and demarcation ; conf. Woedcns- spanne, Woenslct, p. 160 (see Suppl.).

As these names, denoting the waggon and the mountain of the old god, have survived chiefly in Lower Germany, where heathenism maintained itself longest ; a remarkable custom of the people in Lower Saxony at harvest-time points the same way. It is usual to leave a clump of standing corn in afield to Woden for his horse. OSinn in the Edda rides the eight-footed steed Sleipnir, the best of all horses, Sffim. 46=^ 93^. Sn. 18. 45. Q>5. Bleipnis ver&r (food) is a poetic name for hay, Yngl. saga cap. 21 : other sagas speak of a tall white hm^se, by which the god of victory might be recognised in battles (see Suppl.). Christianity has not entirely rooted out the harmless practice for the Norse any more than for the Saxon peasant. In Schonen and Blekingen it continued for a long time to be the custom for reapers to leave on the field a gift for Odens horses} The usage in Mecklenburg is thus described by Gryse :

1 Geyers schwed. gesch. 1, 110. orig. 1, 123. In the Hogmmssocken, Oeland, are some large stones named Odi7is fiisor, Odini lamellae, of which the

WOUAN. 155

Ja, im heidendom hebbeii tor tid der arne (at harvest-tide) de meiers (mowers) dem afgade Woden umme god korn angeropen (invoked for good corn), denn wenn de roggenarne geendet, heft men up den lesten platz eins idem (each) veldes einen kleinen ord unde humpel korns unafgemeiet stan laten, datslilve baven (b' oben, a-b'ove) an den aren drevoldigen to samende geschortet, unde besprenget (ears festooned together three times, and sprinkled). Alle meiers sin darumme her getreden, c?'C hade (their hats) vam Tcoppe genamcn (v. supra, p. 32), unde ere seisen (scythes) na der siilven wode [mode ?] unde geschrenke (encircling) dem kornbusehe upgerichet, nnd hebben den WodendiXvel dremal semplik lud averall also angeropen unde gebeden :

^Yodc, hale (fetch) dincm rossc nu voder,

nu distil unde dorn,

tom andern jar beter korn !

welker afgodischer gebruk im Pawestom gebleven. Daher denn ok noch an dissen orden dar heiden gewanet, bi etliken ackerliiden (-leuteu, men) solker avergelovischer gebruk in anropinge des Woden tor tid der arne gesporet werd, und ok oft desiilve helsche jcger (the same hellish hunter), sonderliken im winter, des nachtes up dem velde mit sinen jagethunden sik horen let.^

David Franck (Meklenb. 1, 56-7), who has heard the same from old people, quotes the rhyme thus :

story is told, that Odin, in turning his horse out to graze, took the hit off him and laid it on a huge block of stone ; the weight of the bit sjijlit tlie stone into two pieces, which were set upriglit as a memorial. Another story is, that Oden was about to tight an adversary, and knew not where to tie his horse up. In the hurry he ran to the stone, pierced it with his sword, and tied his horse fast through the hole. But the horse broke loose, the stone burst in pieces and rolled away, and from this arose the deep bog named Hogrumstrask ; people have tied poles together, but never could reach the bottom. Abrah. Ahkpiist, Oelands historia, Calmar 1822. 1, 37. 2, 212. There is a picture of the stones in Liliengren och Brimius, no. xviii. In the Hcigbysocken of Oeland is also a smooth block of granite named Odinssten, on which, ace. to the folk-tale, the warriors of old, when marching to battle, used to whet their swords ; Ahl- quist 2, 79. These legends confirm the special importance of Odin's horse in his mythus. Verelii notae on the Gautrekssaga p. 40 quote from the Clavis computi runici : ' Odin heter hesta srna i lielg bunden,' which I do not (juite understand. In the Fornm. sog. 9, 55-G OSinn has his horse shod at a black- smith's, and rides away by enormous leaps to Sweden, where a war breaks out (see Suppl.).

^ Spegel des antichristischen pawestdoms (popery), dorch Nicolaum Grysen, predigem in Rostock, Eost. 1593. 4, sheet E iiii''. With the verses cited by him, conf. the formula in weisthiimer : Let it lie fallow one year, and bear thistle and thorn the next.

156 WODAN.

Wode, Wode,

hal dinen rosse nu voder,

nu distel un dorn,

acliter jar beter korn ! He adds, that at tlie squires' mansions, when the rye is all cut, there is Wodel-hccr served out to the mowers ; no one weeds flax on a Wodenstag, lest Woden's horse should trample the seeds ; from Christmas to Twelfth-day they will not spin, nor leave any flax on the distaff, and to the question why ? they answer, Wode is galloping across. We are expressly told, this wild hunter Wode xidiQS, a tuhite Jwrse} Near Siituna in Yestergotland are some fine meadows called Onsdngarne (Odens angar, ings), in which the god's horses are said to have grazed, Afzelius 1, 4. In S. Germany they tell of the lord of the castle's grazing gray (or white), Mone anz. 3, 259 ; v. infra, the ' wutende heer'. I have been told, that in the neigh- bourhood of Kloppenburg in Oldenburg, the harvesters leave a bunch of corn-stalks uncut on the field, and dance round it. There may be a rhyme sung over it still, no doubt there was formerly.

A custom in Schaumburg I find thus described :^ the people go out to mow in parties of twelve, sixteen or twenty scythes, but it is so managed, that on the last day of harvest they all finish at the same time, or some leave a strip standing which they can cut down at a stroke the last thing, or they merely pass their scythes over the stubble, pretending there is still some left to mow. At the last stroke of the scythe they raise their implements aloft, plant them upright, and beat the blades three times with the strop. Each spills on the field a little of the drink he has, whether beer, brandy, or milk, then drinks himself, while they wave their hats, beat their scythes three times, and cry aloud Wold, Wold, Wold ! and the women knock all the crumbs out of their baskets on the stubble. They march home shouting and singing. Fifty years ago a song was in use, which has now died out, but whose first strophe ran thus :

Wold, W6ld, W6ld! havenhiine weit wat schiit, jiimm hei dal van haven siit.

1 Mussaus meklenb. volkssagen no. 5 ; in Liscli meklenb. jahrb. 2, 133 it is spelt Wavxl, and a note is made, that on the Elbe they say //it'i Wod, i.e. froho, lord ; conf. infra, fru Gane and fru Gaiiden in the ' wutende heer ',

• By Miinchhaiisen in Bragur VI. 1, 21 — 34.

WODAN. 157

Vulle kruken un sangen hat liei, upen holte wiisst (grows) manigerlei : liei is nig barn un wert nig old. Wdld, ivdld, Wdld!

If the ceremony be omitted, the next year will bring bad crops of hay and corn.

Probably, beside the libation, there was corn left standing for the venerated being, as the fourth line gives us to understand : ' full crocks and shocks hath he ' ; and the second strophe may have brought in his horse. ' Heaven's giant knows wiiat happens, ever he down from heaven sees,' accords with the old belief in Wuotan's chair (p. 135) ; the sixth line touches off the god that ' ne'er is born and ne'er grows old ' almost too theosophically. Wold, though excused by the rhyme, seems a corruption of Wod, Wode^ rather than a contraction from waldand (v. supra, p. 21). A Schaumburg man jDronounced the name to me as Waudcn, and related as follows : On the lake of Steinhude, the lads from the village of Steinhude go every autumn after harvest, to a hill named Heidenhligel, light a fire on it, and when it blazes high, wave their hats and cry Waiiden, Waudcn ! (see Suppl.).

Such customs reveal to us the generosity of the olden time. Man has no wish to keep all his increase to himself ; he gratefully leaves a portion to the gods, who will in future also protect his crops. Avarice increased when sacrificing ceased. Ears of corn are set apart and offered here to AVuotan, as elsewhere to kind spirits and elves, e.g., to the brownies of Scotland (see Suppl. to Elves, pixy-hoarding).

It was not Wuotan exclusively that bestowed fertility on the fields ; Donar, and his mother the Earth, stood in still closer con- nexion with agriculture. We shall see that goddess put in the place of Wuotan in exactly similar harvest-ceremonies.

In what countries the worship of the god endured the longest, may be learnt from the names of places which are compounded with his name, because the site was sacred to him. It is very unlikely that they should be due to men bearing the same name as the god, instead of to the god himself ; Wuotan, OSinn, as a man's

1 Conf. Dutch Olid, goud for old, gold ; so Woade, which approximates the form Wode. Have we the latter in * Thcodericud de IVodestede '^ ' Scheldt's mantissa p. 433, anno 1205.

] 58 WODAN.

name, does occur, but not often ; and tlie meaning of the second half of the compounds, and their reappearance in various regions, are altogether in favour of their being attributable to the god. From Lower Germany and Hesse, I have cited (j). 151) Wodenesv.ieg, Wodencsberg, WodeneshoU, WodeneshAsun, and on the Jutish border Wonsild ; from the Netherlands Woensdrecht ; in Upper Germany such names hardly show themselves at all.^ In England we find : Woodneshoro' in Kent, near Sandwich : Wcdnesbury and Wednes- field in Staffordsliire ; IVcdncsham in Cheshire, called Wodncs/leld in Ethelwerd p. 848.^ But their number is more considerable in Scandinavia, where heathenism was preserved longer : and if in Denmark and the Gothland portion of Sweden they occur more frequently than in Norway and Sweden proper, I infer from this a preponderance of Odin-worship in South Scandinavia. The chief town in the I. of Funen (Fion) was named Odinsve (Fornm. sog. 11, 266. 281) from ve, a sanctuary ; sometimes also O&insey (ib. 230. 352) from cy, island, meadow ; and later again Odcnsc, and in Waldemar's Liber censualis^ 530. 5-42 Othdnso, In Lower Norway, close to Frederikstad, a second OSinsey (Ileimskr, ed. Havn. 4, 348. 398), aft. called Onso. In Jutland, Othdnshylld (-huld, grace, Wald. lib. cens. 519), aft. Onsild. Othdnslef (Othini reliquiae, leavings, ib. 526), now Onslev. In Halland, Othd7isdle (-saal, hall, ib. 533), now Onsala (Tuneld's geogr. 2, 492. 504) ; as well as in Old Norway an Odhinssalr (conf. Woensel in Brabant, Woenssele ?). In Schonen, Othdnslidrd (Wald. lib. cens. 528) ; OthensMlrat (Bring 2, 62. 138. 142),* now Onsjo (Tuneld 2, 397) ; Onslunda (-grove, Tuneld 2, 449) ; Othensvara (Bring 2, 46-7, Othenvara 39) ; Othenstrdo (Bring 2, 48), from vara, foedus, and tro, fides ? In Smaland, OdensvalakuU (Tuneld 2, 146) and Odcnsjo (2, 109. 147. Sjoborg forsok p. 61). In Ostergotland, Odenfors (Tuneld 2, 72). In Vestergotland, Odenshulla (2, 284) and Odcnskdlla (2, 264), a medicinal spring ; Odensaker, Onsdker (-acre, field, 2, 204. 253). In

1 An Odensherg in tlie Mark of Bibelnheim (now Biebeslieim below Gerns- heim in Darmstadt) is named in a doc. of 1403. Climels reg. Ruperti p. 204 ; the form Wodensberg would look more trustworthy-

" If numbers be an object, I fancy the English contribution might be swelled by looking up in a gazetteer the names beginning with Wans-, Wens-, Wadden-, Weddin-, Wad-, Wed-, Wood-, Wam-, Wem-, Worn-.— Trans.

^ Langebek script, torn. 7.

• Sven Bring, monuinenta Scanensia, vol 2, Lond. goth. 1748.

WODAN. 159

Westmanland, Odensvi (1, 266. conf. Gran, p. 427)/ like tlie Odinsve of Fliuen ; and our Lower Saxon Wodeneswege may have to do with tins vc (not with weg, via), and be explained by the old iviff, ivih, templuni (see p. 67). This becomes the more credible, as there occurs in the Cod. exon. 341, 28 the remarkable sentence :

Woden worhte tucos, wuldor alwealda rume roderas ; I.e., Woden construxit, creavit fana (idola), Deus omnipotens amplos coelos ; the christian writer had in his recollection the heathen sanctuaries assigned to Woden, and contrasts with them the greater creations of God. The plur. weos is easily justified, as wih is resolved into weoh, and weohas contracted into weos : so that an AS. Wodenesweoh would exactly fit the OS. Wodanesweg = W6- daneswih, and the ON. OSinsve. Also in Westmanland, an Odensjo (Grau p. 502). In Upland, Odensala (Tuneld 1, 56) ; Odensfors (1, 144) ; Onsike (1, 144). In Nerike, OdcnshacTce (1, 240), (see Suppl.).

It seemed needful here to group the most important of these names together, and no doubt there are many others wdiicli have escaped me f in their very multitude, as well as the similarity or identity of their structure, lies the full proof of their significance. Few, or isolated, they might have been suspected, and explained otherwise ; taken together, they are incontestable evidence of the wide diffusion of Odin's worship.

Herbs and plants do not seem to have been named after this god. In Brun's beitr.j). 54, icodcsterne is given as the name of a plant, but we ought first to see it in a distincter form. The Ice- landers and Danes however call a small waterfowl (tringa minima, inquieta, lacustris et natans) Offmshani, Odenshane, Odcns fugl^ which fits in with the belief, brought out on p. 147, in birds conse- crated to him. An OHG. gloss (Haupts altd. bl. 2, 212) supplies a doubtful-looking vtinsivaluwe, fulica (see Suppl.).

Even a part of the human body was named after the god : the

^ Olof Grau, beskrifning ofver Wastiuanland. Wasteras 1754. conf. Dybeck rima I. 3, 41.

2 There are some in Finn Magnusen's lex. niytli. 648 ; Imt I do not agree with him in including the H. Germ, nanu'8 Odeuwald. Odenheim, whicli lack the HG. form Wuotan and the -s of the genitive ; nor the Finn. Odenpii, which means rather bear's head.

160 WODAN.

space between the thumb and the forefinger when stretched out, which the Greeks name Xt^a?, was called in the Netherlands Wocdcnsspanne, Woede7ispanne, Wocnslet. The thumb was sacred, and even worshipped as thumbkin and Pollux = pollex ; AVodan was the god of play, and lucky men were said to have the game running on their thumb. We must await further disclosures about the name, its purport, and the superstition lying at the bottom of it (see Suppl.).

I started with assuming that the worship of this divinity was common to all the Teutonic races, and foreign to none, just because we must recognise him as the most universal and the supreme one. Wuotan — so far as we have succeeded in gleaning from the relics of the old religion an idea of his being — Wuotan is the most intellectual god of our antiquity, he shines out above all the other gods ; and tlierefore the Latin writers, when they speak of the German cultus, are always prompted to make mention first of Mercury.

We know that not only the Norsemen, but the Saxons, Thurin- gians, Alamanns and Langobards worshipped this deity ; why should Franks, Goths, and the rest be excluded from his service ?

At the same time there are plain indications that his worship was not always and everywhere the dominant one. In the South of Germany, although the personification of Wish maintahied its ground, Wuotan became extinct sooner than in the North ; neither names of places, nor that of the fourth day of the week, have pre- served him there. Among the Scandinavians, the Swedes and Norwegians seem to have been less devoted to him than the Got- landers and Danes. The ON. sagas several times mention images of Thor, never one of OSinn ; only Saxo Gram, does so in an altogether mythical way (p. 113) ; Adam of Bremen, though he names Wodan among the Upsala gods, assigns but the second place to him, and the first to Thor. Later still, the worship of Freyr seems to have predominated in Sweden.

An addition to the St. Olaf saga, though made at a later time, furnishes a striking statement about the heathen gods whom the introduction of Christianity overthrew. I will quote it here, intending to return to it from time to time: ' Olafr konungr kristnaSi J^etta riki allt, oil blot braut hann niSr ok oil goS, sem

WODAN. 161

Thor Engilsmanna gO(5, ok Od'in Saxa go5, ok SkioM Skanimga goc5, ok Frey Svla goS, ok GoSorm Dana goS ' ; i.e. king 0. christened all this kingdom, broke down all sacrifices and all gods, as Thor the Englishmen's god, ()5in the Saxons' god, &c., Fornm. sog. 5, 239. — This need not be taken too strictly, but it seems to nie to express the still abiding recollections of the old national gods : as the Swedes preferred Freyr, so probably did the Saxons Woden, to all other deities. Why, I wonder, did the writer, doubtless a Norwe- gian, omit the favourite god of his own countrymen ? To them he ought to have given Thor, instead of to the English, who, like other Saxons, were votaries of Woden.

Meanwhile it must not be overlooked, that in the Abrenuntiatio, an 8th century document, not purely Saxon, yet Low German, 0. Frankish and perhaps Ripuarian, Thunar is named before Vuodan, and Saxnot occupies the third place. From this it follows at all events, that the worship of Thunar also prevailed in those regions; may we still vindicate Wuodan's claims to the highest place by supposing that the three gods are here named in the order in which their statues were placed side by side? that Wuodan, as the greatest of them, stood in the middle ? as, according to Adam of Bremen, Thor did at Upsala, with Wodan and Fricco on each side of him.

In the ON. sagas, when tivo of these gods are named together, Thorr usually precedes OSinn. The Laxdailasaga, p. 174, says of Kiartan : At hann ]?ykist eiga meira traust undir afli sinu ok vapnum (put more trust in his strength and weapons, conf. pp. 6, 7) heldr enn J?ar sem er Thorr ok O&inn. The same passage is repeated in Fornm. sog. 2, 34. Again, Eyvindr relates how his parents made a vow before his birth: At sa maSr skal alt til dauGadags ];iona TJior ok Odlii (this man shall until death-day serve, &c.), Fornm. sog. 2, 161.^ But it does not follow from this, that Thorr was thouglit the greatest, for Eyvindr was actually dedicated to OSinn. In Fornm. sog. 5, 249, Styrbiorn sacrifices to Thorr, and Eirekr to Oc5inn, but the former is beaten. Thorr tok

^ So in an AS. homily De temporibus Anticliristi, in Wheloc's Bedap. 495, are eiimnerated ' Tlior and EotStven, \c li,'vSeue men hciiai^ swiSe' ; and before that, ' Erculus se ent (Hercules ^igas) and ApoUinis (Apollo), J^e hi mterne god leton'. The preacher was thinking of the Greek and the Norse deities, not of the Saxon, or he vould have said Thunor and Woden. And in other cases, where distinctly Norse gods are meant, AS. writers use the Norse form of name. F. ]\lagnusen3 lex. p. 919.

11

162 WODAN.

jolaveizlu fra Haraldi, cnn Offinn tok fra Halfdani, Fornm. sog. 10, 178. In the popular assembly at Thrandheim, the first cvip is drunk to Off inn, the second to Thorr, ibid. 1, 35. In the famous Bravalla fight, Othin under the name of Bruno acts as charioteer to the Danish king Harald, and to the latter's destruction; on the Swedish side there fight descendants of Frcyr, Saxo Gram. 144-7. Yet tlie Eddie HarbarzlioS seems to place OSinn above Thorr. A contrast between OSinn and Thorr is brought out strongly in the Gautrekssaga quoted below, ch. XXVIII. But, since Thorr is repre- sented as OSin's son, as a rejuvenescence of him, the two must often resolve into one another.^

If the three mightiest gods are named, I find OSinn foremost : O&inn, Tlior, Frcyr, Sn. edda 131. According to Fornm. sog. 1, 16, voyagers vow money and three casks of ale to Freyr, if a fair wind shall carry them to Sweden, but to Thorr or O&inn, if it bring them home to Iceland (see Suppl.).

It is a different thing, when OSinn in ON. documents is styled Thricli, the third f in that case he appears not by the side of Thorr and Freyr, but by the side of Hdr and lafnhdr (the high and the even-high or co-equal, OHG. epan hoh) as the Third High^ (see Suppl.), Sn. 7. Yngl. saga 52. Stem. 46*. As we might imagine, the grade varies : at other times he is Tvcggi (duplex or secundus). Again, in a different relation he appears with his brothers Vili and Ve, Sn. 7 ; with Hoenir and Lo&r, Seem. 3^^, or with Hmnir and Loki Sffim. 180. Sn. 135; all this rests upon older myths, which, as peculiar to the North, we leave on one side. Yet, with respect to the trilogy Offinn, Vili, Vc, we must not omit to mention here, that the OHG. %oillo expresses not only voluntas, but votum, impetus and spiritus,^ and the Gothic viljan, velle, is closely con- nected with valjan, eligere; whence it is easy to conceive and

1 When OSinn is called Thundr in the songs of the Edda, S<Tm. 281^ 47^ this may be derived from a lost l^ynja = AS. l)unian, tonare, and so be equivalent to Donar ; it is true, they explain Jmndr as loricatus, from l^und lorica. But Wuotan, as Voma, is the noise of the rushing air, and we saw him hml the cudgel, as Thorr does the hammer.

• As Zeus also is rplros, from which Tpiroyiveta is more easily explained than by her birth from his head (see Suppl.).

• iElfric's glosses 56% Altanus : Woden. Altanus, like Summanus, an epithet of Jove, the Altissimus ; else Altanus, as the name of a wind, might also have to do with the storm of the ' wiitende heer '.

• The Greek fiivos would be well adapted to unite the meanings of courage, fury (mut, wut), wish, will, thought.

WODAN. 1G3

believe, liow Wuotau, Wish and Will should touch one another (see Suppl.). With the largitor opum may also be connected the AS. wela, OS. welo, OHG. wolo, welo = opes, felicitas [weal, wealth], and Wela conies up several times almost as a personification (conf. Gramm. 4, 752), like the Lat. goddess Ops (conf. infra Seelde, note) ; there is also a Vali among the Norse gods. In the case of Ve, gen. vea, the sense may waver between wiho, sanctus (Goth. Alima sa veiha. Holy Ghost), and wih, idolum. In Seem. 63, Loki casts in the teeth of Frigg her intrigues with Ve and Vili ; this refers to the story in Yngl. saga cap. 3, from which we clearly gather the identity of tlie three brothers, so that Frigg could be considered the wife of any one of them.^

Lastly, a principal proof of the deeply-rooted worship of this divinity is furnished by Wodan's being interwoven with the old Saxon genealogies, which I shall examine minutely in the Appendix.^

Here we see Wodan invariably in the centre. To him are traced up all the races of heroes and kings ; among his sons and his ancestors, several have divine honours paid them. In parti-

1 According to this story, OSinn was alroad a long time, during which his brothers act for him ; it is worthy of note, that Saxo also makes Othin travel to foreign lands, and Milhothin fill his place, p. 13 ; this Mithothin's position throws light on that of Vili and Ve. But Saxo, p. 45, represents Othin as once more an exile, and puts Oiler in his place (see Suppl.). The distant journeys of the god are implied in the Norse by-names GdngratSr, Gungleri, Vegtamr, and Vitf/uridl, and in Saxo 45 viator indefcssus. It is not to be overlooked, that even Paulus Diac. 1, 9 knows of Wodan's residence in Greece (qui non circa haec tempora — of the war between Langobards and Vandals — sed longe anterius, nee in Germania, sed in Graecia fuisse perhibetur ; while Saxo removes him to Byzantium, and Snorri to Tyrkland). In the passage in Paul. Diac. : 'Wodan sane, quern adjecta litera G wodan dixerunt, ipse est qui apud Romanos Mercurius dicitur, et ab universis Germaniae gentibus ut deus adoratur, qui non circa haec tempora, sed longe anterius, nee in Germania, sed in Graecia fuisse perhibetur ' — it has been proposed to refer the second ' qui ' to Mercurius instead of Wodan (Ad. Schmidt zeitschr. 1, 2G4), and then the harmony of this account with Snorri and Saxo would disappear. But Paul is dealing with the absurdity of the Langobardic legend related in 1, 8, whose unhistoric basis he lays bare, by pointing out that Wodan at the time of the occurrence between the Wandali and Winili, had not ruled in Germany, biit in Greece ; which is the main point here. The notion that Mercury should be confined to Greece, has wider bearings, and would shock the heathen faith not only of the Germans but of the Romans. The heathen gods were supposed to be omnij^resent, as may be seen by the mere fact that Woden-hills were admitted to exist in various spots all over the country ; so that the community of this god to Germans, Greeks and Romans raised no difficulty.

• This Appendix forms part of the third volume. In the meanwhile, readers may be glad to see for themselves the substance of these pedigrees, which I have extracted from the Appendix, and placed at the end of this chapter. — TiiANa.

164 WODAN.

ciilar, there appear as sons, Balder and that Saxnot who in the 8th century was not yet rooted out of N.W. Germany ; and in the line of his progenitors, Hercmod and Gedt, the latter expressly pro- nounced a god, or the son of a god, in these legends, wliile Wodan himself is regarded more as the head of all noble races. But we easily come to see, that from a higher point of view both Geat and Wodan merge into one being, as in fact OSinn is called 'alda Gautr' Ssem. 93^ 95*^ ; conf. infra Goz, Koz.

In these genealogies, which in more than one direction are visibly interwoven with the oldest epic poetry of our nation, the gods, heroes and kings are mixed up together. As heroes become deified, so can gods also come up again as heroes ; amid such reap- pearances, the order of succession of the individual links varies [in different tables].

Each pedigree ends with real historical kings : but to reckon back from these, and by the number of human generations to get at the date of mythical heroes and gods, is preposterous. The earliest Anglo-Saxon kings that are historically certain fall into the fifth, sixth or seventh century ; count four, eight or twelve genera- tions up to Woden, you cannot push him back farther than the third or fourth century. Such calculations can do nothing to shake our assumption of his far earlier existence. The adoration of Woden must reach up to immemorial times, a long way beyond the first notices given us by the Eomans of Mercury's worship in Germania.

There is one more reflection to which the high place assigned by the Germans to their Wuotan may fairly lead us. Monotheism is a thing so necessary, so natural, that almost all heathens, amidst their motley throng of deities, have consciously or unconsciously ended by acknowledging a supreme god, who has already in him the attributes of all the rest, so that these are only to be regarded as emanations from him, renovations, rejuvenescences of him. This explains how certain characteristics come to be assigned, now to this, now to that particular god, and why one or another of them, according to the difference of nation, comes to be invested with supreme power. Thus our Wuotan resembles Hermes and Mercury, but he stands higher than these two ; contrariwise, the German Donar (Thunor, Thorr) is a weaker Zeus or Jupiter •, what was added to the one, had to be subtracted from the other ; as for Ziu

WODAN.

165

(Tiw, Tyr), he hardly does more than administer one of Wuotan's offices, yet is identical in name with the first and highest god of the Greeks and Eomans : and so all these god-phenomena keep meet- ing and crossing one another. The Hellenic Hermes is pictured as a youth, the Teutonic Wuotan as a patriarch : OSinn hinn gamli (the old). Yngl. saga cap. 15, like ' the old god' on p. 21. Ziu and Froho are mere emanations of Wuotan (see Suppl.).

Genealogies of Anglo-Saxon Kings.

Descending Series.

Kent. Woden Wecta Witta Wihtgils Hengest (d. 489) Eoric (Oesc) Octa

Eormenric iEthelbeorlit (567)

Eastanglia. Woden Casere Titmon Trigel Hrothniund Hrippa Quichelm Uffa Tidel

Riedwald (d. 617) Eorpwald (632)

Essex. Woden Saxneat Gesecg Andsecg Sweppa Sigelugel Bedeca Offa

iEscwine (527) Sledda Sa3l)eorht (604)

Mercia.

Woden

Wihtlaeg

Wsermimd

Offa

Angeltheow

Eomser

Icel

Cnebba

Cynewald

Creoda

Wibba

Penda (d. 656)

Deira. Woden Wffigdseg Sigegar Swiei'diieg Sigegeat Sa;bald Sajfugel Westerl'alcna Wilgisl Uscfrea. Yffe ^Ue (d. 588)

Bernicia. Wessex. Lindesfaran.

Woden Woden Woden

Bseldseg Baeldieg Winta

Brand Brand Cretta

Beonoc Fridhogar Queldgils

Aloe Freawiue Ceadbed

Angenwit Wig Bubba

Ingwi Gewis Bedeca

Esa Esla Biscop

Eoppa Elesa Eanferth

Ida (d. 560) Cerdic (d. 534) Eatta

Cynrio Ealdfritli

Ceawlin

According to this, Woden had seven sons (Bfeldfeg being common to two royal lines) ; elsewhere he has only three, e.g. Wil. Malm. p. 17 : tres filii, Weldegms, Withlegius et Beklegius, from whom the Kentish kings, the ^lercian kings, and the West Saxon and Northumbrian kings respectively were descended.

Ascending Series.

Woden Finn Beaw Hathra (Itermod)

tndhuwald Godwulf (Folcwald)Sceldwa Hwala (Hathra)

Freawine (Frealaf) Geat Heremod (Sceaf) Bedwig (Hwala)

Fndliuwulf Tietwa Itermon (Herem6d)Sceaf (Bedwig)

Some accounts contain only four links, otliers eight, others sixteen, stopping either at Fridhuwulf, at Geat, or at Sceaf. Sceaf is the oldest heathen name ■ but alter the conversion the line was connected with Noah, and so with Adam '

CHAPTEE VIII.

DONAE, THUNAE, (THOEE).

The god who rules over clouds and rain, who makes himself known in the lightning's flash and the rolling thunder, whose bolt cleaves the sky and alights on the earth with deadly aim, was designated in our ancient speech by the word Donar itself, OS. Tliiinar, AS. Thunoi\ OiST. Tlwrr} The natural phenomenon is called in OX. ]?ruma, or duna, both fem, like the Gothic J?eihv6, which was perhaps adopted from a Finnic language. To the god the Goths would, I suppose, give the name Thunrs. The Swed, tordon, Dan. torden (tonitru), which in Harpestreng still keeps the form thordyn, thordun, is compounded of the god's name and that same duna, ON. Thorduna ? (see Suppl.). In exactly the same way the Swed. term usM (tonitru, fulmenj, in the Westgothl. Laws asikkia,^ has arisen out of asaka, the god's waggon or driving, from as, deus, divus, and aka, vehere, vehi, Swed. aka. In Gothland they say for thunder Thorsakan, Thor's driving ; and the OJST. reid' signifies not only vehiculum, but tonitru, and reiSarslag, reiSar- ]?ruma, are thunderclap and lightning. For, a waggon rumbling over a vaulted space comes as near as possible to the rattling and crashing of thunder. The comparison is so natural, that we find it spread among many nations : BoKel o^vi^^ "^ov Zito? rj /Spovrr) elvai, Hesychius sub. v. eXaai^povra. In Carniola the rolling of thunder is to this day gotta fahren. [To the Eussian peasant it is the prophet Ilia driving his chariot, or else grinduig his corn.] Thorr in the Edda, beside his appellation of AsaJ>6rr, is more minutely described by Oku];6rr, i.e. Waggon-thorr (Sn. 25) ; his waggon is drawn by two he-goats (Sn. 26). Other gods have their

1 So even in High German dialects, durstag for donrstag, Engl. Thursday, and Bav. doren, daren for donnern (Schm. 1, 390). In Thorr it is not ER, but only the first R (the second being flectional), that is an abbrev. of NR. ; i.e. N suffers syncope before R, much as in the M. Dut. ere, mire, for enre minre.

• Conf. Onsike (Odin's drive ?) supra, p. 159.

THUNAR. 1G7

waggons too, especially OSinn and Freyr (see pp. 107, 151), but Thorr is distinctively thought of as the god who drives ; he never appears riding, like OSinn, nor is he supposed to own a horse : either he drives, or he walks on foot. We are expressly told : ' Thorr gengr til domsius, ok veSr ar,' walks to judgment, and wades the rivers (Sn. 18).^ The people in Sweden still say, when it thunders : godguhhen aker, the good old (fellow) is taking a drive, Ihre 096. 740. 926. gofar akar, goffar kor, the gaffer, good father, drives (see Suppl.). They no longer liked to utter the god's real name, or they wished to extol his fatherly goodness (v. supra, p. 21, the old god, Dan. vor gamle fader). The Norwegian calls the lightning Tkors- varmc, -warmth, Faye p. 6.

Thunder, lightning and rain, above all other natural phenomena, proceed directly from God, are looked upon as his doing, his business (see Suppl.). ^ When a great noise and racket is kept up, a common expression is : you could not hear the Lord thunder for the uproar ; in France : le bruit est si fort, qu'on n'entend pas Dieu tonncr. As early as the Roman de Eenart 11898 :

Font une noise si grant quen ni oist pas Dieu tonant.

29143 : Et commeuQa un duel si grant, que len ui oist Dieu tonant.

Ogier 10915 : Lor poins deterdent, lor paumes vont batant, ni oissiez nis ame Dieu toiumt.

Garin 2, 38 : Nes Dieu tonnant ni possiez oir.

And in the Eoman de Maugis (Lyon 1599, p. 64) : De la noyse quils faisoyent neust Ion pas ouy Dieu tonner.

But thunder is especially ascribed to an angry and avenging god ; and in this attribute of anger and punishment again Donar resembles Wuotan (pp. 18, 142). In a thunderstorm the people say to their children : the gracioiis God is angry ; in Westphalia : tise Iter got kift (chides, Strodtm. osnabr. 104) ; in Franconia : God is out

1 Scarcely contrailicted by his surname HldrritFi ; this I'iSi probably points to rei3, a wa^^gon ; H16riit)i seems to me to come by assimilation from hloSriSi, conf. ch. XIll, the goddess HloSyn.

• A peasant, being reqnested to kneel at a procession of the Host, said : I don't believe the Lord can be there, 'twas only yesterday I heard him thunder up in heaven ; Weidners apophthegmata, Amst. 1643, p. 277.

1G8 THUNAE.

there scolding ; in Bavaria : der Ummdtatl (-daddy) greint (Schm. 1, 462). In Eckstrom's poem in honour of the county of Honstein 1592, cii^ it is said:

Gott der herr muss warlich from sein (must be really kind),

dass er nicht mit donner schlegt drein.^ The same sentiment appears among the Letton and Finn nations. Lettic : wezzajs kahjas, wezzajs tehws barrahs (the old father has started to his feet, he chides), Stender lett. gramm. 150. With dievas (god) and dievaitis (godkin, dear god) the Lithuanians associate chiefly the idea of the thunderer : dievaitis grauja ! dievaitis ji numusse. Esthonian : wanna issa hliab, wanna essa waljan, miirrisep (the old father growls), Eosenpliinters beitr. 8, 116. 'The Lord scolds,' 'heaven wages war,' Joh. Christ. Petris Ehstland 2, 108 (see Suppl.).

Now with this Donar of the Germani fits in significantly the Gallic Taranis whose name is handed down to us in Lucan 1, 440 ; all the Celtic tongues retain the word taran for thunder, Irish toran, with which one may directly connect the ON. form Thorr, if one thinks an assimilation from rn the more likely But an old inscription gives us also Tanarus (Forcellini sub v.) =. Taranis. The Irish name for Thursday, dia Tonlain (dia ordain, diardaoin) was perhaps borrowed from a Teutonic one (see Suppl.).

So in the Latin Jupiter (literally, God father, Diespiter) there predominates the idea of the thunderer ; in the poets Tonans is equivalent to Jupiter {e.g., Martial vi. 10, 9. 13, 7. Ovid Heroid. 9, 7. Fasti 2, 69. Metam. 1, 170. Claudian's Stilicho 2, 439) ; and Latin poets of the Mid. Ages are not at all unwilling to apply the name to the christian God (c.r7.,Dracontius de deo 1, 1. satisfact. 149. Yen. Fortunat. p. 212-9. 258). And expressions in the lingua vulgaris coincide with this : celui qui fait toner, qui fait courre la nue (p. 23-4). An inscription, Jovi tonanti, in Gruter 21, 6. The Greek Zeus who sends thunder and lightning {Kepavv6<;) is styled Kepavveco<;. Zeu? eKTvire, I. 8, 75. 170. 17, 595. Jio^ «Tu7ro9, II. 15, 379.2 And because he sends them down from the

1 In a poem made up of the first lines of hymns and songs : Ach gott vop himmel sieh darein, iind werfe einen donnerstein, ^s ist gewislieh an der zeit, dass schwelgerei und iippigkeit zerschmettert werden mansetodt ! sonst schrein wir bald aus tiefer noth.

2 One might be tempted to connect the Etruscan Tina = Jupiter with Tonans and Donar ; it belongs more immediately to Zrjv (v. inira, Zio).

TIIUNAE. 169

height of heaven, he also bears the name aKpw;, and is . pictured dwelling on the mountain-top (aKpi<;). Zeus is enthroned on Olympus, on Atlios, Lycaeus, Casius, and other mountains of Greece and Asia Minor.

And here I must lay stress on the fact, that the thundering god is conceived as emphatically a fatherly one, as Jupiter and Diespiter, as far and tatl. For it is in close connexion with this, that the mountains sacred to him also received in many parts such names as Etzcl, Altvatcr, Grossvatcr} Tliorr himself was likewise called Atli, i.e. grandfather.

A high mountain, along which, from the earliest times, the main road to Italy has lain, in the chain between the Graian and Pennine Alps, what we now call the St. Bernard, was in the early Mid. Ages named mons Jovis. This name occurs frequently in the Prankish annals (Pertz 1, 150. 295. 453. 498. 512. 570. 606. 2, 82), in Otto fris. de gest. Frid. 2, 24, in Eadevicus 1, 25, who designates it via Julii Caesaris, modo mons Jovis ; in AS. writers 7nunt Jofes (Lye sub. v.), in ^Ifr. Boet. p. 150 muntgiow ; in our Kaiserchro- nik 88^^ nionte job. — The name and the worship carry us back to the time of the Komans ; the inhabitants of the Alps worshipped a Fenimis deus, or a Pcnina dea : i^eque montibus his ab transitu Poenorum ullo Veragri, incolae jugi ejus norunt nomen inditum, sed al3 eo (al. deo) quem in summo sacratum vertice -peninum montani adpellant ; Livy 31, 38. Quamvis legatur a poenina dea quae ibi colitur Alpes ipsas vocari ; Servius on Virg. Aen. 10, 13. An inscription found on the St Bernard (Jac. Spon miscellanea antiq. Lugd. 1685, p. 85) says expressly : Lucius Lucilius deo Pcnino opt. max. donum dedit ; from which it follows, that this god was understood to be no other than Jupiter. Conf. Jupiter apenni- nus, Micali storia 131-5. Zev^; Kapaco^ occurs in Hesych. [Kapa means head, and so does the Celtic ^^f?i., hen]. The classic writers never use mons Jovis, and the tabula Antonini names only the sumnms Penninus and the Penni lucus ; but between the 4th and 7th centuries Jovis mons seems to have taken the place of these,

1 Zeitschr. des hess. vereins 2, 139-142. Altd. blatt. 1, 288. Haupta zeitschr. 1,26. Finnish: isainen panee (Kenval. 118-'), the lather thnnders. To the Finns nl-ko signifies proavus, senex, and is a surname of the gods Wainasnoinen and Ilniarinen. But also Ukko of itself denotes the thunder- god (v. iui'ra). Among the Swedish Lapps aija is both aviis and touitrus (see Suppl.).

170 THUNAB.

perhaps with reference [not so much to the old Eoman, as] to the Gallic or even German sense which had then come to be attached to the god's name. Eemember that German isarnodori on the Jura mountains not far off (p. 80).^

Such names of mountains in Germany itself we may with perfect safety ascribe to the worship of the native deity. Every one knows the Donnersberg (mont Tonnerre) in the Ehine palatinate on the borders of the old county of Falkenstein, between Worms, Kaiserslautern and Kreuznach ; it stands as Thoneresberg in a doc. of 869, Schannat hist, wormat. probat. p. 9. Another Thuneresberg situate on the Diemel, in Westphalia, not far from Warburg, and surrounded by the villages of Wormeln, Germete and Welda, is first mentioned in a doc. of 1100, Schaten mon. paderb. 1, 649 ; in the Mid. Ages it was still the seat of a great popular assize, originally due, no doubt, to the sacredness of the spot : ' comes ad Thunercsberhc ' (anno 1123), Wigands feme 222. comitia de Dionris- berg (1105), Wigands arch. I. 1, 56. a judicio nostro Thonresberch (1239), ib. 58. Precisely in the vicinity of this mountain stands the holy oak mentioned on p. 72-4, just as the roh/r Joris by Geismar in Hesse is near a Wuotansberg, p. 152. To all appearance the tAvo deities could be worshipped close to one another. The Kniillge- birge in Hesse includes a Donnerkaute. In the Bernerland is a Donnei'buhcl (doc. of 1303, Joh. Miiller 1, 619), called Tonrbiil in Justingers Berner chron. p. 50. Probably more Donnersbergs are to be found in other parts of Germany. One in the Eegensburg country is given in a doc. of 882 under the name of Tuniesberg, Eied, cod. dipl. num. 60. A Sifridus marschalcus de Donnersperch is named m a doc. of 1300, MB. 33, pars 1, p. 289 ; an Otto de Donersperg, MB. 4, 94 (in 1194), but Duonesberc, 4, 528 (in 1153), and Tunniesberg 11, 432. In the Thiiringer wald, between Steui-

1 This mons Jovis must be distinguished from mons gaudii, by which the Mid. Ages meant a height near Rome : Otto frising 1. c. 2, 22 ; the Kaiserchr. 88^ translates it verbally mendelberc. In Romance poems of the 12- 13th centuries, monjoie is the French battle-cry, generally with the addition of St Denis, e.g. monjoya, monjoya sant Denis ! Ferabras 365. monjoie errseigne S. Denis ! Garin 108. Ducange in his 11th dissertation on Joinville declares monjoie inadmissible as a mere diminutive of mont, since in other passages (Roquefort 2, 207) it denotes any place of joy and bliss, a paradise, so that we can fairly keep to the literal sense ; and there must have been mountains of this name in more than one region. It is quite possible that monjoie itself came from an earlier monjove (mons Jovis), that with the god's hill there associated itself the idea of a mansion of bliss (see Sup pi.).

THUNAR. 171

bach and Oberhof, at the 'rennsteig' is a Donershauk (see Suppl.). — A Donarcs eih, a rohur Jovis, was a tree specially sacred to the god of lightning, and of these there grew an endless abundance in the German forests.

Neither does Scandinavia lack mountains and rocks bearing the name of Thorr : Thors Jdint in East Gothland (conf. Wildegren's Ostergotland 1, 17); Tliorsborg in Gothland, Molbech tidskr. 4, 189. From Norway, where this god was pre-eminently honoured, I have nevertheless heard of none. The peasant in Vermland calls the south-west corner of the sky, whence the summer tempests mostly rise, Thorshala (-hole, cave, Geijer's Svearikes hafder 1, 268).

And the Thunder-mountains of the Slavs are not to be over- looked. Near Milleschau in Bohemia stands a Hromolan, from hrom, thunder, in other dialects grom. One of the steepest moun- tains in the Styrian Alps (see Suppl.) is Grwiming, i.e., SI. germnik, OSl. gr"mnik, thunder-hill (Sloven, gr'mi, it thunders, Serv. gi'mi, Ptuss. grom gremit, quasi ^pojxo^ ^pe/jiet) ; and not far from it is a rivulet named Donnershach} The Slavs then have two different words to express the phenomenon and the god: the latter is in OSl. Penln, Pol. Piorun, Boh. Pcraun f- among the Southern Slavs it seems to have died out at an earlier time, though it is still found in derivatives and names of places. Dobrowsky (inst. 289) traces the word to the verb peru, ferio, quatio [general meaning rather pello, to push], and this tolerably apt signification may have contributed to twist the word out of its genuine form.^ I think it has dropt a k : the Lithuanian, Lettish and OPrussian thundergod is Perkunas, Pehrhons, Pcrhunos, and a great many names of places are com- pounded with it. Lith., Perkunas grauja (P. thunders), Perkunas musza (P. strikes, ferit) ; Lett., Pehrkons sperr (the lightning strikes, see Suppl.). The Slav, perun is now seldom applied personally, it is used chiefly of the lightning's flash. Procopius (de Bello Goth. 3, 14) says of the Sclaveni and Antes: deov fj,ev <yaf} eva Tov ri]^ aa t p airi] <; Sr]ixLovp<yov airdvTWV Kvpiov /xovov avTov

^ Kindermann, abriss von Steiermark pp. 66, 67, 70, 81.

' The Slovaks say Parom, and ixiromova strela (P.'s bolt) for perunova ; phrases about Parom, from Kollar, in Hanusuh 259, 260.

3 Mif,'ht perun be connected with Kepawus = irfpawos 1 Still nearer to Perun would seem to be the Sansk. Farjanyas, a name borne by Indra as Jupiter pluvius, literally, fertilizing rain, thunder-cloud, thunder. A hymn to this rain-s^od in Eosen's Vedae specimen p. 23. Coui'. Hitzig PhiUst. 296, and Holtzmauul, 112, 118.

172 THUNAR.

vo/xi^oucTiv eivaty Kat Ovovaiv avrut ^6a<; re kol lepeca cnrdvra. Again, the oak was consecrated to Perun, and old documents define boundaries by it (do perunova duha, as far as P.'s oak) ; and the Eomans called the the SLCovnjuglans, «.e.j"oviglans, Jovis glans, the fi'uit of the fatherly god. Lightning is supposed to strike oaks by preference (see SuppL).

Now PcrJcun suggests that thundergod of the Morduins, Porguini (p. 27), and, what is more worthy of note, a Gotliic word also, which (I grant), as used by Ulphilas, was already stript of all per- sonification. The neut. noun fairguni (Gramm. 2, 175. 453) means opos, mountain.^ What if it were once especially the Thunder-mountain, and a lost Fairguns the name of the god (see Suppl.) ? Or, starting with fairguni with its simple meaning of mons unaltered, may we not put into that masc. Fairguns or Fai'r- gimeis, and consequently into Perkunas, the sense of the above- mentioned uKpio^, he of the mountain top ? a fitting surname for the thundergod. Fergunna, ending like Patunna, p. 71, signifies ill the Chron. moissiac. anno 805 (Pettz 1, 308) not any particular spot, but the metal-mountains (erzgebirge) ; and Virgunnia (Vir- gundia, Virgunda, conf. Zeuss p. 10) the tract of wooded mountains between Ansbach and Ellwangen. Wolfram, Wh. 390, 2, says of his walt-swenden (wood-wasting ?) : der Swarzwalt und Virgunt miiesen da von cede ligen. Black Forest and V. must lie waste thereby. In the compounds, without which it would have perished altogether, the OHG. mrgnn, AS. firgen may either bear the simple sense of mountainous, woody, or conceal the name of a god. — Be that as it may, we find fairguni, virgun, firgen connected with divinely- honoured beings, as appears plainly from the ON". Fiorgyn, gen. Fiorgynjar, which in the Edda means Thor's mother, the goddess Earth : Thorr Jar&ar burr, Seem. 70^ 68^ Offiois son, Ssem. 73^ 74^ And beside her, a male Fiorgynn, gen. Fiorgyns, Fiorgvins, appears as the father of OSin's wife Frigg, Sn. 10, 118. Seem. 63^ In all these words we must take fairg, firg, fiorg as the root, and not divide them as f air-guni, fir-gun, fior-gyn. Now it is true that all the Anzeis, all the Aesir are enthroned on mountains (p. 25), and Firgun might have been used of more than one of them; but that we have a right to claim it specially for Donar and Ms mother, is shewn by Perun,

1 Matt. 8, 1. Mk 5, 5. 11. 9, 2. 11, 1. Lu. 3, 5. 4, 29. 9, 37. 19, 29. 37. 1 Cor. 13, 2. Bairgahei (17 opeivrj) in Lu. 1, 39, 65 ; never the simple bairgs.

THUNAE. 173

Perkun, and v>-ill be confirmed presently by the meaning of mount and rock which lies in the word hamar. As Zeus is called ivdKpLo<;, so is his daughter Pallas aKpia, and his mother opearepa Td, fxdrep avrov Ai6<; (Sophocl. Philoct. 389) ; the myth transfers from him to his mother and daughter. Of Donar's another our very miirchen have things to tell (Pentam. 5, 4) ; and beyond a doubt, the stories of the devil and his bath and his grandmother are but a vulgarization of heathen notions about the thundergod. Lasicz 47 tells us : Per- cuna tete mater est fulminis atque tonitrui quae solem fessum ac pulverolentum balneo excipit, deinde lotum et nitidum postera die emittit. It is just matertera, and not mater, tliat is meant by teta elsewhere.

Christian mythology among the Slav and certain Asiatic nations has handed over the thunderer's business to the prophet Elijah, who drives to heaven ioi the tempest, whom a chariot and horses of Jive receive, 2 Kings 2, 11. In the Servian songs 2, 1. 2, 2 he is expressly called gromovnik Iliya} lightning and thunder (munya and grom) are given into his hand, and to sinful men he shuts up the clouds of heaven, so that they let no rain fall on the earth (see SuppL). This last agrees with the O.T. too, 1 Kings 17, 1. 18, 41-5, conf. Lu. 4, 25, Jam. 5, 17 ; and the same view is. taken in the OHG. poem, 0. iii. 12, 13 :

Quedent sum giwaro, Helias sis ther mdro, ther thiz lant so tharta, then himil so hisparta, ther iu ni liaz in notin rcgonon then liutin, thuanffta si ciwaro harto filu suilro.'^

But what we have to note especially is, that in the story of Anti- christ's appearance a little before the end of the world, which was current throughout the Mid. Ages (and whose striking points of agreement with the ON. mythus of Surtr and Muspellsheim I shall speak of later), Helias again occupies the place of the northern thundergod. Thorr overcomes the great serpent, but he has scarcely moved nine paces from it, when he is touched by its venomous breath, and sinks to the ground dead, Sn. 73. In the

1 Udri gromom, gromovit Iliya I smite with thunder, tlnmderer Elias, 1,77.

2 Grccj. tur., pref. to bk 2 : Meminerit (lector) sub Ilehac tempore, qui pluvias ciim voluit abstulit, et cum libuit areutibus terris infudit, &c.

174 THUNAE.

OHG. poem of Muspilli 48 — 54, Antichrist and the devil do indeed fall, but Elias also is grievously wounded in the fight :

Doh wanit des vilu gotmanno^

daz Elias in demo wige arwartit :

sar so daz Eliascs pluot

in erda kitriufit,

so inprinnant die perga ;

his blood dripping on the earth sets the mountains on fire, and the Judgment-day is heralded by other signs as well. ^Yithout knowing in their completeness the notions of the devil, Antichrist, Elias and Enoch, which were current about the 7th or 8th century ,2 we cannot fully appreciate this analogy between Elias and the Donar of the heathens. There was nothing in christian tradition to warrant the supposition of Elias receiving a wound, and that a deadly one. The comparison becomes still more sug- gestive by the fact that even half-christian races in the Caucasus worship Elias as a god of thunder. The Ossetes think a man lucky who is struck hy lightning, they believe Ilia has taken him to himself ; survivors raise a cry of joy, and sing and dance around the body, the people flock together, form a ring for dancing, and sing : 0 Ellai, Ellai, eldaer tchoppei ! (0 Elias, Elias, lord of the rocky summits). By the cairn over the grave they set up a long pole supporting the skin of a black he-goat, which is their usual manner of sacrificing to Elias (see Suppl.). They implore Elias to make their fields fruitful, and keep the liail away from them.^ Olearius already had put it upon record, that the Circassians on the Caspian sacrificed a goat on Ellas s clay, and stretched the skin on a pole with prayers.* Even the Muhammadans, in praying that a thunder- storm may be averted, name the name of Ilya.^

Now, the Servian songs put by the side of Elias the Virgin Mary ; and it was she especially that in the Mid. Ages was invoked for rain. The chroniclers mention a rain-procession in the Liege

1 Gotman, a divine, a priest ] Conf. supra, pp. 88-9.

2 The Eabbinical legend likewise assumes that Elias will retiu-n and sluy the malignant Sammael ; Eisenmenger 2, 696. 851.

3 Klaproth's travels in the Caucasus 2, 606. 601.

• Erman's archiv flir Russland 1841, 429.

^ Ad. Olearius reiseschr. 1647, pp. 522-3.

THUNAR. 175

country about the year 1240 or 1244 ;^ three times did priests and people march round (nudis pedibus et in laneis), but all in vain, because in calling upon all the saints they had forgotten the Mother of God ; so, when the saintly choir laid the petition before God, Mary apposed. In a new procession a solemn ' salve regina ' was sung : Et cum serenum tempus ante fuisset, tanta inundatio pluviae facta est, ut fere onines qui in processione aderant, hac illacque dispergerentur. With the Lithuanians, the holy goddess (dievaite sventa) is a rain-goddess. Heathendom probably addressed the petition for rain to the thundergod, instead of to Elias and Mary.^ Yet I cannot call to mind a single passage, even in ON. legend, where Thorr is said to have bestowed rain when it was ashed for ; we are only told that he sends stormy weather when he is angry, Olafs Tryggv. saga 1, 302-6 (see SuppL). But we may fairly take into account his general resemblance to Zeus and Jupiter (who are expressly veTto<;,p)luvius, II. 12, 25 : ve Zev<; crwe^e?), and the pre- valence of votis imbrem vocare among all the neighbouring nations (see SuppL).

A description by Petronius cap. 44, of a Eoman procession for rain, agrees closely with that given above from the Mid. Ages : Antea stolatae ibant nudis pedibus in clivum, passis capillis, menti- bus puris, et Joveiii aquam exorabant ; itaque statini urceatim (in bucketfuls) pluebat, aut tunc aut nunquam, et omnes ridebant, uvidi tanquam mures. M. Antoninus (et? eavrov 5, 7) has preserved the beautifully simple prayer of the Athenians for rain : evxv ' Ad-qvaCwv, vcrov, vaov. Si ^I'Xe Zei), Kara tt}? apovpa^ tt}? AOrjvaiwv Kal TOiv irehlwv (see Suppl.). According to Lasicz, the Lithuanian prayer ran thus : Pcrcune devaite niemuski und mana dirvu (so I emend dievu), melsu tavi, palti miessu. Cohibe te, Percune, neve in meum agrum calamitatem immittas (more simply, strike not), ego vero tibi banc succidiam dabo. The Old Prussian formula is said to have been : Dievas Ferkunos, absolo mus ! spare us, = Lith. apsaugok mus ! To all this I will add a more extended petition in Esthonian, as Gutslaff^ heard an old peasant say it as late as the

1 Aegidius aureae vallis cap. 135 (Chapeauville 2, 267-8). Chron. belg. magu. ad ann. 1244 (Pistorius 3, 263). .

• Other saints also grant rain in answer to prayer, as St Slansuetus m Pertz 6, 512'>. blS^ ; the body of St Lupus carried about at Sens m lOJi, Pert/, 1, 106-7. Conl'. infra, Kain-making.

3 Joh. Gutslatf, kurzer beiicht und unterricht von der ialsch heilig ge-

176 THUNAR.

17th century : ' Dear Thunder (woda Picker), we offer to thee an ox that hatli two horns and four cloven hoofs, we would pray thee for our ploughing and sowing, that our straw be copper-red, our grain be golden-yellow. Push elsewhither^ all the thicJc hlack clouds, over great fens, high forests, and wildernesses. But unto us ploughers and sowers give a fruitful season and svjeet rain. Holy Thunder (poha Picken), guard ovir seedfield, that it bear good straw below, good ears above, and good grain within.' Picker or Picken would in modern Esthonian be called Pitkne, which conies near the Finnic piilcdinen = thunder, perhaps even Thunder ; Hiipel's Esth. Diet, however gives both pikkcnne and pikne simply as thunder (impersonal). The Einns usually give their thundergod the name Ukko only, the Esthonians that of Turris as well, evidently from the Norse Thorr (see Suppl.).^

As the fertility of the land depends on thunderstorms and rains, Pitkdinen and Zeus appear as the oldest divinity of agri- cultural nations, to whose bounty they look for the thriving of their cornfields and fruits (see Suppl.). Adam of Bremen too attri- butes thunder and lightning to Tlior expressly in connexion with dominion over weather and fruits : Thor, inquiunt, praesidet in aere, qui tonitrua et fulmina, ventos imbresque, serena et frugcs guhernat. Here then the worship of Thor coincides with that of Wuotan, to whom likewise the reapers paid homage (pp. 154 — 7), as on the other hand Thor as well as OSinn guides the events of war, and receives his share of the spoils (p. 133). To the Norse mind indeed, Thor's victories and his battles wdth the giants have thrown his peaceful office quite into the shade. Nevertheless to Wuotan's mightiest son, whose mother is Earth herself, and who is also named Per- kunos, we must, if only for his lineage sake, allow a direct relation to Agriculture.^ He clears up the atmosphere, he sends fertilizing

nandten baclie in Liefland Wohhanda. Dorpt. 1644, pp. 362-4. Even in his time the language of the prayer was hard to understand ; it is given, corrected, in Peterson's Finn, mythol. p. 17, and Rosenpliinter's beitr., heft 5, p. 157.

^ Ukko is, next to Yumala (whom I connect with Wuotan), the highest Finnish god. Pitkainen literally means the long, tall, higli one.

2 Uhland in his essay on Thorr, has penetrated to the heart of the ON. myths, and ingeniously worked out the thought, that the very conflict of the summer-god with the winter-giants, itself signifies the business of bringing land under cultivation, that the crushing rock-splitting force of the thiuiderbolt prepares the hard stony soil. This is most happily expounded of the Hrungnir and Orvandill saj/as : in some of the others it seems not to answer so well.

THUNAR. 177

showers, and his sacred tree supj^lies the nutritious acorn. Thor's niinni was drunk to the prosperity of cornfields.

The German thundergod was no doubt represented, like Zeus and Jupiter, with a long heard. A Danish rhyme still calls him ' Thor med sit lange skidg' (F. Magnusen's lex. 957). But the ON. sagas everywhere define him more narrowly as red-learded, of course in allusion to the fiery phenomenon of lightning : when the god is angry, he blows in his red beard, and thunder peals through the clouds. In the Fornm. sog. 2, 182 and 10, 329 he is a tall, handsome, red-bearded youth : Mikill vexti (in growth), ok ungligr, friSr synum (fair to see), ok rau&skcggja&r ; in 5, 249 maSr ra%i&- skeggja3r. Men in distress invoked his red beard : Landsmenn toko ]?at raS (adopted the plan) at heita J^etta hit rmicfa skegg, 2, 183. When in wrath, he shakes his beard: ReiSr var }7a, sccgg nam at hrista, scur nam at dyja (wroth was he then, beard he took to bristling, hair to tossing), Sam. 70^ More general is the ]3lirase : let siga brynnar ofan fyrir augun (let sink the brows over his eyes), Sn. 50. His divine rage (asmoSr) is often mentioned : Thorr varS reiGr, Sn. 52. Especially interesting is the story of Tlior's meeting with King Olaf 1, 303 ; his power seems half broken by this time, giving way to the new doctrine ; when the christians ap]jroach, a follower of Thorr exhorts him to a brave resistance : pvijt ];u i mot ];eim skeggrodd J?ina (raise thou against them thy beard's voice). J;a gengu J^eir ut, ok hies Thorr fast i kampana, ok Jjajtti skcggraiistlna (then went they out, and Th. blew hard into his beard, and raised his beard's voice), kom ]3a ]?egar andviSri moti konungi sva styrkt, at ekki matti vi5 halda (inmiediately there came ill-weather against the king so strong, that he might not hold out, ie.,at sea). — This red beard of the thunderer is still remembered in curses, and that among the Frisian folk, without any visible connex- ion with Norse ideas: 'diis niadhiirct donner regiir!' (let red-haired thunder see to that) is to this day an exclamation of the North Fris- ians.'^ And when the Icelanders call a fox holtaporr, Thorr of the holt,2 it is probably in allusion to his red fur (see SuppL).

The ancient languages distinguish three acts in the natural

1 Der geizhalz auf Silt, Flensburg 1809, p. 123 ; 2nd ed. Sonderburg 1833,

]). ii;3.

• Nucleus lat. in usuin scholae scliallioltinae. Hafniae 1738, p. 2088.

12

178 THUNAR.

phenomenon: the i\asli,fulgu7% aaTpairrj, the sound, tonitnts, /Spovri], and the stroke, fulmen, Kepavv6<i (see SuppL).

The lightning's flash, which we name blitz, was expressed in onr older speech both by the simple plih, Graff 3, 244, MHG. hlic, Iw. 049. Wirral. 7284, and by plechazunffa (coruscatio), derived from plechazan/ a frequentative of j;/ccAe7i (fulgere), Diut. 1, 222-4; they also used plcchunga, Diut. 1, 222. Pleccatcshem, Pertz 2, 383, the name of a place, now Blexen ; the MHG. has Uil'ze (fulgur) : die Uihzni und die donerslege sint mit gewalte in siner pflege, MS. 2^ 166^ — Again lohazan (micare, coruscare), Goth, lauhatjan, pre- supposes a lohen, Goth, lauhan. From the same root the Goth forms his Idnhmuni {aaTpa-m')), while the Saxon from blic made a llicsmo (fulgur). AS. Icoma (jubar, fulgur), ON. liomi, Swed. Ijungeld, Dan. hjn. — A Prussian folk-tale has an expressive phrase for the lightning : ' He with the Uue whip chases the devil,' i.e. the giants; for a hhie flame was held specially sacred, and people swear by it, North Pris. ' donners hlosJcen (blue sheen) help ! ' in Hansens geizhals p 123; and Schiirtlin's curse was hlau feuer ! (see SuppL).

Beside dona)% the OHG. would have at its command capreh (fragor) from prelihan (frangere), Gl. hrab. 963'', for which the MHG. often has Mac, Troj. 12231. 14693, and krach from krachen, (crepare) : mit krache gap der doner duz, Parz. 104, 5 ; and as krachen is synonymous with rizen (strictly to burst with a crash), we also find wolkenriz fern, for thunder, Parz. 378, 11. Wh. 389, 18 ; gegenH;:;, Wartb. kr. jen.. 57; reht als der wilde dunrslac von himel kam gcrizzen, Ecke 105. der chlafondo doner, K Cap. 114 ; der chlaflcih heizet toner ; der doner stet gcspanncn, Apollon. 879. I connect the Gothic peiJvvd fem. with the Finnic teuhaan (strepo), teuhaus (strepitus, tumultus), so that it would mean the noisy, uproarious. Some L. Germ, dialects call thunder grummel, Strodtm. Osnabr. 77, agreeing with the Slav, grom, hrom (see Suppl.).

For the notion of fulmen we possess only compounds, except

1 While writing plechazan, I reinemlier pleckan, plahta (patere, nudari ; l.leak), MHG. blecken, blacte, Wigal. 4890 ; which, when used of the sky, means : the clouds open, heaven opens, as we still say of forked and sheet li'ditning ; conf. Lohengr. p. 125 : relit alsani des himniels bliz von doner sicli erblecket. If this plechan is akin to plih (fulgur), we must suppose two verbs plihhan pleih, and plehhan plah, the second derived from the first. Ulav. bksic, blisk, but Boh. bozhi posel, god's messenger, lightning-flash. Euss. molniya, iServ. munya, fem. (see SuppL).

THUNAR. 179

when the simple donner is used in that sense : sluoc alse ein doner, ]ioth. 1747. liiure hat der scliiir (shower, storm) erslagen, MS. 3, 228* ; commonly donnerschlag, Uitzschlag. OHG. Uig-scuz (-shot, fulgurum jactiis), N. cap. 13; MHG. Uickcschoz, Barl. 2, 26. 253, 27, and Uicschoz, Martina 205=^; fiurin doncrstrdlc, Parz. 104, 1; do7i- rcslac, Iw. G51; ter scuz tero fiurentun donerstrdlo (ardentis fulminis), erscozen mit tien donerstrdlon, N. Bth. 18. 175; MHG. u-etterstrahl , hlitzstrahl, donnerstrahl. MHG. wilder donerslac, Geo. 751, as lightning is called icild fire, Eab. 412, Schm. 1, 553, and so in ON. vUli-cldr, Sn. GO (see Sup pi.).

So tlien, as the god who lightens has red hair ascribed to him, and lie who thunders a waggon, he who smites has some weapon .that he shoots. But here I judge that the notion of arrows being shot {loildcr ffU der liz dem donre snellet, Troj. 7073. doners pfUe, Turnei von Nantlieiz 35. 150) was merely imitated from the Krjka Aiof, tela Jovis ; the true Teutonic Donar throws wedge-shaped stones from the sky : ' ez wart nie stein geworfen dar er enkieme von der schure,' there was never stone thrown there (into the castle high), unless it came from the storm, Ecke 203. ein vlins (flint) von donrestrtden. Wolfram 9, 32. ein lierze daz von vlinse ime donrc gewahsen wsere (a heart made of the Hint in thunder), Wh. 12, 16. schilrestein, Bit. 10332. sehmverstein, Suchenw. 33, 83. so slahe mich ein doncrstein ! Ms. H. 3, 202^ "We now call it donnevkeil, Swed. ksk-vigg (-wedge) ; and in popular belief, there darts out of the cloud together with the flash a black iccdgc, which buries itself in the earth as deep as the liighest church-tower is high.'^ But every time it thunders again, it begins to rise nearer to the surface, and after seven years you may find it above ground. Any house in which it is preserved, is proof against damage by lightning ; when a thunder-storm is coming on, it begins to sweat.^ Such stones are also called donnerdxie (-axes) donnersteine, donnerhammer, alhschossc (elfshots), strahlsteine, teufelsfinger , Engl, thunder -holts, Swed. Thors viggc, Dan. tordcnhile, tordenstraale (v. infra, ch. XXXVII),^ and stone hammers and knives found in ancient tombs bear the same name. Saxo Gram. p. 236 : Inusitati ponderis malleos, quos Jovialcs voca-

^ Tliis depth is variously expressed in curses, &c. e.g. May tlie thunder strike you into the earth as far as a liare can run in a hundred years !

• Weddigens westfiiL mag. 3, 713. Wigands arcliiv 2, 320, has nine vears instead of seven.

^ The Grk name for the stone is /SfXe/xvtVT;? a missile.

180 THUNAR.

bant, , . . prisca virorum religione cultos ; . . . cupiens enim antiquitas tonitruorum causas usitata reruin similitudine com- prehendere, malleos, quibus coeli fragores cieri credebat, ingenti aere complexa fuerat (see SuppL). To Jupiter too the silex (flins) was sacred, and it was held by those taking an oath. From the mention of ' elf-shots ' above, I would infer a connexion of the elf-sprites with the thundergod, in whose service they seem to be employed.

The Norse mythology provides Tliorr with a wonderful hammer named Miolnir (mauler, tudes, contundens), which he hurls at the giants, Seem. 57^ 67^ 68^ ; it is also called pru&hamar, strong hammer, Sam. 67^ 68^ and has the property of returning into the god's hand of itself, after being thrown, Sn. 132, As this hammer files tlirough the air (er hann kemr a lopt, Sn. 16), the giants know it, lightning and thunder precede the throwing of it : J?vi naest sa hann (next saw he, giant Hrungnir; cldingar oc heyrSi prumur storar, sa hann J^a Thor i asmoSi, for hann akaflega, oc reiddi liamarin oc Jcastaffi, Sn. 109. This is obviously the crushing thunderbolt, which descends after lightning and thunder, which was nevertheless regarded as the god's permanent weapon ; hence perhaps that rising of the bolt out of the earth. Saxo, p. 41, represents it as a club (clava) without a handle, but informs us that Bother in a battle with Thor had Icnoched off the manubium clavae ; tliis agrees with the Eddie narrative of the manufacture of the hammer, when it was accounted a fault in it that the handle was too short (at forskeptit var heldr skamt), Sn. 131. It was forged by cunning dwarfs,^ and in spite of that defect, it was their masterpiece. In Saxo p. 163, Thor is armed with a torrida chabjhs.^ It is noticeable, how Frauenlob MS. 2, 214^ expresses himself about God the Father: der smit uz Oberlande warf sinen hamer in mine schoz. The ham- mer, as a divine tool, was considered sacred, brides and the bodies of the dead were consecrated with it, Ssem. 74^ Sn. 49. 66 ; men blessed with the sign of the hammer,^ as christians did with the sign of the cross, and a stroke of lightning was long regarded in the

^ As Zeus's lightning was by the Curetes or Cyclopes.

^ That in ancient statues of the thundergod the hammer had not been for- gotten, seems to be proved by pretty late evidence, e.g. the statue of a dorper mentioned in connexion with the giants (ch. XVIII, quotation from Fergut). And in the AS. Solomon and Saturn, Thunor wields ajiery axe (ch. XXV, Mus-

^ In the Old Germ, law, the throwing of a hammer ratifies the acquisition of property.

THUNAR. 181

Mid. Ages as a happy initiatory omen to any undertaking. Thorv with his hammer hallows dead bones, and makes them alive again, Sn. 49 (see Supph). — But most important of all, as vouching for the wide extension of one and the same heathen faith, appears to me that beautiful poem in the Edda, the Hamars heimt (hammer's homing, mallei recuperatio),^ whose action is motived by Thor's hammer being stolen by a giant, and buried eight miles underground: ' ek hefi HlorriSa hamar umtolginn Citta rostom for iorS nedan,' Stem. 71^ This unmistakably hangs together with the popular belief I have quoted, that the thunderbolt dives into the earth and takes seven or nine years to get up to the surface again, mounting as it were a mile every year. At bottom Thrymr, ]?ursa drottinn, lord of the durses or giants, who has only got his own hammer back again, seems identical with Thorr, being an older nature-god, in whose keeping the thunder had been before the coming of the ases; this is shown by his name, which must bo derived from }7ruma, tonitru. The compound Jjrumketill (which Biorn explains as aes tinniens) is in the same case as the better-known J?6rketiIL (see Suppl.).

Another proof that this myth of the thundergod is a joint pos- session of Scandinavia and the rest of Teutondom, is supplied by the word hammer itself. Hamar means in the first place a hard stone or rock,^ and secondly the tool fasliioned out of it ; the ON. hamarr still keeps both mennings, rupes and malleus (and sahs, seax again is a stone knife, the Lat. saxum). Such a name is particularly well-suited for an instrument with which the mountain-god Donar, our 'Fairguneis,' achieves all his deeds. Now as the god's hammer strikes dead, and the curses ' tlmnder sXrikQ you' and 'hammer strike you' meant the same thing, there sprang up in some parts, especially of Lower Gemany, after the fall of the god Donar, a personification of the word Hamar in the sense of Death or Devil : ' dat die de Hamer ! i vor den Hamer ! de Hamcr sla ! ' are phrases still

1 No other lav of the Edila shows itself so intergrown with the people's poetry of the Noiih ; its plot survives in Swedish, Danish and Norwegian songs, which Lear the same relation to that in the Edda as our folk-song of Hilde- brand and Alebrand does to our ancient poesy. Thor no longer appears as a god, but as Thorkar (Thorkarl) or Thord af Hafsgaard, who is robbed of hi.s golden hammer, conf. Iduna 8, 122. Nyerups udvalg 2, 18S. Arvidsson 1. 3. Schade's beskrivelse over oen Mors, Aalborg 1811, p. 93. Also the remarkable legend of Thor me(^ tuvgum hamri in Faye's norske sagn. Arendal 1833, p. 5, where also he loses and seeks his hammer.

2 Slav, kamen gen. kamnia, stone ; Lith. ahnu gen. akmens ; /cam = /lam.

182 THUNAR.

current among the people, in which you can exchange Ilamer for Duvcl, but which, one and all, can only be traced back to the god that strikes with the hanuner. In tlie same way : ' dat is en Ha7ner, en hamerskcn kerl,' a rascally impudent cheats de Hamcr kennt se all ! the devil may know them all, Schiitze 2, 96. Hem- merlein, meister Hdmmerkin, signified the evil spirit. Consider also the curses which couple the two names ; donner und teujd ! both of which stood for the ancient god. By gammel Tlwr, old Thor, the common people in Denmark mean the devil; in Sweden they long protested by Thore gud. The Lithuanians worshipped an enormous hammer, Seb. Frankes weltbuch 55^ (see SuppL).

It must have been at an earlier stage that certain attributes and titles of the Saviour, and some Judeo-christian legends, were transferred to the heathen god, and particularly the myth of Leviathan to lornmngandr. As Christ by his death overmastered the monster serpent (Barl. 78, 39 to 79, 14), so Thorr overcomes the miGgarSs- orni (-worm, snake that encircles the world), and similar epithets are given to both.'^ Taking into account the resemblance between the sign of the cross and that of the hammer, it need not seem surprising that the newly converted Germans should under the name of Christ still have the lord of thunder and the giver of rain present to their minds ; and so a connexion with Mary the Mother of God (p. 174) could be the more easily established. The earliest troubadour (Diez p. 15. Raynouard 4, 83) actually names Christ still as the lord of thunder, Jliesus del tro.

A Neapolitan fairy-tale in the Pentamerone 5, 4 personifies thunder and lightning {truone e lampe) as a beautiful youth, brother of seven spinning virgins, and son of a wicked old mother who knows no higher oath than ' pe truone e lampe '. Without assert- ing any external connexion between this tradition and the German

1 Brem. wtb. 2, 575. dat di de hamer sla ! Strodtm. p. 80, conf. Schm. 2, 192. the hammer, or a great hammer strike you ! Abeles kihistl. imordn. 4, 3. Ge- richtsh. 1, 673. 2, 79. 299. 382. verhamert diir, kolt, Schiitze 2, 96 = verdonnert, verteufelt, bksted, cursed, &c. How deeply the worship of the god had taken root among the people, is proved by these abnost ineradicable curses, once solemn protestations : donner ! donnerwetter ! heiliges gewitter (holy thunder- storm) ! And, adding the christian symbol : kreuz donnerwetter ! Then, euphemistically disguised : bim (by the) dummer, potz dummer ! dummer auch ! Slutz 1,123. 2, 161-2. 3, 56. bim dummer hammer 3, 51. bim dumstig, dunnstig ! as in Hesse : donnerstag ! bim /tamer .' In Flanders : bi Vids morkel hamer! Willem's vloeken, p. 12.

2 Finn Magnusen lex. 48 4-5.

THUNAR. 183

one,^ we discover in it the same idea of a kind and beneficent, not a hostile and fiendish god of thunder.

The large beetle, which we call stag-beetle or fire-beetle, lucanus cervus, taurus (ch. XXI, beetles), is in some districts of South Ger- many named don7ier<jue(j, donncrgu(/c, donnerpuiype (gueg, guegi, beetle), perhaps because he likes to live in oak-trees, the tree sacred to thunder. For he also bears the name eichochs, Swed. ekoxe (oak- ox); but then again feuerschroter, iurbuter (fire-beeter, -z'.e. kindler),^ borner or haus-brenner (-burner), whicli indicates his relation to thunder and lightning. It is a saying, that on his horns he carries redhot coals into a roof, and sets it alight; more definite is the belief mentioned in Aberglaube, p. xcvi, that lightning will strike a house into which this beetle is carried. In Swed. a beetle is still named horntroll (see Suppl.).

Among herbs and plants, the following are to be specially noted : the donnerbart, stonecrop or houseleek, sempervivum tectoruni, which, planted on the roof, protects from the lightning's stroke^ : harba Jovis vulgari more vocatur (Macer Floridus 741), Fr. Joubarbc (conf. Append, p. Iviii); — the donnerbescn (-besom), a shaggy tangled nest-like growth on boughs, of which superstition ascribes the gen- eration to lightning ; otherwise called alpruthe ; — the donnerJcraut, sedum; — the donncrjhifj, fumaria bulbosa; — the donncrdistd, eryng- ium campestre; — the Dan. tordcnskreppe, burdock. — The South Slavs caU the iris perunik, Perun's flower, while the Lettons call our

^ How comes the Ital. to have a trono (Neap, truono, Span, trueno) by the side of tuono l and the Provenral a Irons with the same meaning % Has the R .sliptin from our donar, or still better from the Goth, drunjus, sonus, Rom. 10, 18 (conf. dronen, 'cymbal's droning sound' of Dryden) ] or did the Lat. thronva pass into the sense of sky and thunder? ' forclist nicht, wanns tonnert, eiu tron werd vom himmel fallen ? ' Garg. 181'^. The troubadour's ' Jhesus del tro ' might then simply mean lord of the tirmament.

• • I wol dou sacritice, and lyres beete,' Chaucer. Hence beetle itself ] AS. bytel. — Trans.

3 A Provencal troubadour, quoted by Raynouard sub v. barbajol, says : e da- quel erba tenon pro li vilan sobra lur maiso. Beside this hauswurz (hauswurzcl, Superst. 60), the hatdhorn, albaspina, is a safeguard against lightning (Mem. del' acad. celt. 2, 212), as the laurel was among the ancient Romans, or the tohite vine planted round a house; conf. brennessel (Superst. 3;3()) ; ^palni hranchc^ laid upon coals, lighted candles, a tire made on the hearth, are good ibr a thunderstorm,' Braunschw. anz. 17G0, p. 1392. The crossbill too is a protector (Superst. 335) ; because his beak forms the sign of the cross or hammer ] but the nest-making redbreast or redstart appears to attract lightning (ch. XXI, redbreast ; Superst. 629. 704) ; was he, because of his red plumage, sacred to the redbearded god 1 (see Suppl.).

184 THUNAR.

hedericli (ground-ivy? hedge-mustard?) pehrJcones; Perunika is also, like Iris, a woman's name. The oak above all trees was dedicated to the Thunderer (pp. 67, 72): quercics Jovi placuit, Phaedr. 3, 17 ; magna Jovis antiquo robore quercus, Virg. Georg. 3, 332. At Dodona stood the Spv^ v^lkoixo^ J/.o?, Od. 14, 327. 19, 297, but at Troy the lieech often named in the Iliad: ^7770? v-\lr7]\7] zJto? alyio-x^oco, 5, 693. 7, 60. A particular kind of oak is in Servian grm, and grmik is quercetum, no doubt in close connexion wdth groin (tonitrus), grmiti or grmlieti (tonare). The acorn is spoken of above, p. 177.

Apparently some names of the snipe (scolopax gallinago) have to do with this subject : donncrziegc (-goat), donnerstagspfcrd (Thursday horse), himmelsziege (capella coelestis) ; because he seems to bleat or whinny in the sky ? But he is also the ivcathcrhird, stormbird, rainbird, and his flight betokens an approaching thunder- storm. Dan. myreliest, Swed. horsgjok, Icel. hrossagaukr, horsegowk or cuckoo, from his neighing; the first time he is heard in the year, he prognosticates to men their fate (Biorn sub v.) ; evidently superstitious fancies cling to the bird. His Lettish name pehrhona kasa, pehrhona ahsis (thunder's she-goat and he-goat) agrees exactly with the German. In Lithuanian too, Mielcke 1, 294. 2, 271 gives Perhuno ozhys as heaven's goat, for which another name is tikkutis. — Kannes, pantheum p. 439, thinks the name donners- tagspfcrd belongs to the goat itself, not to the bird ; this would be welcome, if it can be made good. Some confirmation is found in the AS. firgengcct (ibex, rupicapra, chamois), and firginhucca (capri- cornus), to which would correspond an OHG. virgungeiz, virgun- pocch ; so that in these the analogy of fairguni to Donar holds good. The wild creature that leaps over rocks would better become the god of rocks than the tame goat. In the Edda, Thorr has he-goats yoked to his thunder-car : between these, and the weather- fowl described by turns as goat and horse (always a car-drawing beast), there might exist some half-obscured link of connexion (see Suppl.). It is significant also, that the devil, the modern repre- sentative of the thunder god, has the credit of having created goats, both he and she ; and as Thorr puts away the bones of his goats after they have been picked, that he may bring them to life again (Sn. 49. 50),i so the Swiss shepherds believe that the goat has 1 The myth of the slaughtered goats brought to life again by hammer-coiise-

THUNAT?. 185

something of the devil in her, she was made by him, and her feet especially smack of their origin, and are not eaten, Tobler 214^ Did the German tlmndergod in particular have hc-goats arid she- f/oats sacrificed to him (supra, p. 52) ? The Old Roman or Etruscan hidental (from bidens, lamb) signifies the place where lightning had struck and killed a man : there a lamb had to be sacrificed to Jupiter, and the man's body was not burned, but buried (Plin. 2, 54). If the Ossetes and Circassians in exactly the same way offer a goat over the body killed by lightning, and elevate the hide on a pole (supra, p. 174), it becomes the more likely by a great deal that the goat-offering of the Langobards was intended for no other than Donar. For hanging tip hides was a Langobardish rite, and was practised on other occasions also, as will presently be shown. In Carinthia, cattle struck by lightning are considered sacred to God ; no one, not even the poorest, dares to eat of them (Sartoris reise 2, 158).

Other names of places compounded with that of the thundergod, besides the numerous Donnersbergs already cited, are forthcoming in Germany. Near Oldenburg lies a village named Donnerschwee,

oration, and of tlie hoar Ssehrimnir (Sn. 42) being boiled and eaten every day and coming whole again every evening, seems to re-appear in more than one shape. In Wolf's Wodana, p. xxviii, the following passage on witches in Ferrara is quoted from Barthol. de Spina (t 1546), quaestio de strigibus : Dicunt etiam, quod postquam comederunt aliquem pinguem bovem vel aliquam vegetem, vino vel arcani seu cophinuin panibus evacuarunt et consunipserunt ea vorantes, doniina \\v\ iiercutit aurea virga quam manugestat ea vasavel locu, et statim ut prius plena sunt vini vel panis ac si nihil iude fuisset assumptum. Similiter congeri jubet ossa morttii bovis su-per corixmi ejus extensnm, ipsumque per quatuor partes super ossa revolvens virgaque percutierts, vivuni bovem reddit ut prius, ac reducendum jubet ad locum suum. The diabolical witches' meal very well matches that of the thundergod. But we are also told in legends, that the saint, after eating up a cock, reanimated it out of the bones ; and so early as parson Amis, we find the belief made use of in playing-off a deception (1. 969 seq.). Folk-tales relate how a magician, after a Jisli had been eaten, threw the bones into water, and the fish came alive again. As with these eatable creatures, so in other tales there occurs the reanimation of persons who have been cut to pieces : in the marchen vom Machandelbom (juniper-tree) ; in the myth of Zeus and Tantalus, where tlie shoulder of Pelops being devoured by Demeter (Ovid 6, 406) reminds us of the he-goat's leg-bone being split for the marrow, and remaining lame after he came to life again ; in the myth of Osiris and St Adalljert (Temme p. 3;J) ; conf. 1)S. no. 62, and Ezekiel .37. Then in the eighth Finnish rune, Lemminkaimen's mother gathei-s all the limbs of his dismembered body, and makes them live again. "The fastening of heads that have been chopped off to their trunks, in Waltharius 11 f)? (conf. p. 93) seems to imply a belief in their reanimation, and agrees with a circumstance in Morske eventyr pp. 199, 201.

18G THUNAR.

formerly Donerswe,^ Donnerswehe, Donnerswede (Kohli handb. von Oldenb. 2, 55), which reminds us of OSinsve, Wodeneswege (p. 151), and leaves us equally in doubt whether to understand wih a temple, or weg a way. The Norwegian folk-tale tells us of an actual Thors vej (way, Faye p. 5). A village Donnersrcut is to be found in Franconia towards Bohemia, a Donnersted in Theding- hausen bailiwick, Brunswick, a Thunresfeld [Tliurfield] in AS. documents, Kemble 2, 115. 195, 272, &c. &c.— Many in Scan- dinavia, e.g., in Denmark, Torslunde (Thors lundr, grove), Tosingo (Thors engi, ing) f several in Sweden, Tors mase (gurges) in a boundary-deed of Ostergotland, Broocman 1, 15, TJiorshorg in Goth- land, Gutalag p. 107. 260. Thorsbiorg (mountain) and Thorshofn (haven) in Norway, Fornm. sog. 4, 12. 843 ; Thorsmork (wood, a holy one ? ), Nialss. cap. 149. 150.^ Thors ncs (nose, cape), Sreni. 155^ and Eyrb. saga cap. 4 (see Suppl.). Thors bra (Thors brii, bridge) in Schonen, like the Norwegian Thor's-way, leads us to that prevalent belief in devil's bridges and other buildings, which is the popular way of accounting for peculiarly shaped rocks, precipices and steep mountain paths : only God or the devil could have burst them so.

As a man's name, Donar in its simple form is rarely found ; one noble family on the Ehine was named Bonner von Lorheim, Sieb- mach. 5, 144. Its derivatives and compounds are not common in any High Germ, dialect ; a Carolingian doc. in the Cod. lauresh. no. 464 has Donarad, which I take to be the ON. Thorffr ; and the Trad. fuld. 2, 23 AlUhonar, which is the ON. Thordlfr inverted. Such name-formations are far more frequent in the North, where the service of the god prevailed so long : Thorarr (OHG. Donarari ? ), Thorir, Thord'r, Thorhallr, Thordlfr (OS. Thunerulf in Calend. merseb. Septemb.), Thoroddr, and the feminines Thorn, Thorun, Thorarna (formed like diorna, Gramm. 2, 336), Thorhxtla, IVidi'hildr, Thordis, &c. I cannot see why the editors of the Forn- manna sogur deprive such proper names as Thorgeirr, Thorhiorn,

^ ' to Donersice, dar heft cle herscup den tegeiiden (teind, tithe),' Land- register of 1428.

^ Others specified in Suhm, krit. hist. 2, 651.

^ The settlers in Iceland, when they consecrated a district to Thorr, named it Thorsmork, Landn. 5, 2. ed. nova p. 343. From Donnersmark (Zschotcir tokely) in the Hungarian county of Zips, comes the Silesian family of Henkel von Donnersmark. Walacli. manura : die Donnersmarkf.

THUNAR. 187

Thorsieinn, Tlioihdill, Thorvaldr, Thorfinnr, Thorgcrff)', &c. of tlieir l()ii<^ vowel ; it is not the abstract J^or, audacia, that they are com- pounded witli, and the Nialssaga, e.g. cap. 65, spells IVw/'geiiT, ^/idrkatla. — The frequent name Thorketill, abbrev. Thorkell, Dan, Torkild, AS. Turketulus, Thurkytel (Kemble 2, 286, 349. v. suprn, >. 63), if it signifies a kettle, a vessel, of the thundergod, resembles Wuotan's sacrificial cauldron (p. 56). The HymisqviSa sings of Thorr fetching a huge cauldron for the ases to brew ale with, and wearing it on his head, Saem. 57 ; which is very like the strong man Hans (ans, as ? ) in the nursery-tale clapping the church bell on his head for a cap. — The coupling of Alp (elf) with Donar in Albthonar and Thoralfr is worthy of notice, for alpgcschoss (elf-shot) is a synonym for the thunderbolt, and Alpruthe (elf-rod) for the donnerkraut [donnerbesen ? see p. 183]. An intimate relation must subsist between the gods and the elves (p. 180), though on the part of the latter a subordinate one (see Suppl.).^

It is observable that in different lays of the Edda Thorr goes by different names. In Lokaglepsa and HarbardslioS he is ' Thorr, Asa]?6rr,' but in Hamarsheimt ' Vingjwrr, HlorriSi' (yet Thorr as well), in Alvismtll always ' Ving};6rr,' in HymisqviSa 'Veorr, HlorriSi,' not to mention the periphrases vagna verr (curruum dominus), Sifjar verr, OSins sonr. Illorriffl was touched upon in p. 167, note. Vingthurr they derive from Vfengr, ala ; as if Wing-thunder, the winged one. aiira quatiens ? This appears to be far from certain, as he is else- where called fostri Vingnis, Sn. 101, and in the genealogies this Vingnir appears by the side of him. Especially important is Veorr, which outside of HymisqviSa is only found once, Sa3m. 9^, and never except in the nom. sing. ; it belongs doubtless to ve, wih, and so betokens a holy consecrated being, distinct from the Ve, gen. Vea on p. 163 ; the OHG. form must have been Wihor, Wihar ? (see Suppl.).

As OSinn was represented journeying abroad, to the Eastern land (p. 163), so is Thorr engaged in eastward travels : Thorr var i austrvegi, Saem. 59, a austrvega 68* ; for or austrvegi, 75 ; ec var austr, 78*'^ ; anstrforom Jjinom scaltu aldregi segja seggjom fra, 68*. In these journeys he fought with and slew the giants : var haim

1 To the Bori;\t Mongols beyond L. Baikal, fairy-rings in f^rass are "where the sons of tlie Ivjldninfj have danced." — Trans.

188 THUNAR.

f((rinn i anstcrvcg at berja troll, Sn. 46. And tliis again points to the ancient and at that time still unforgotten connexion of the Teutonic nations with Asia ; this ' faring east-ways ' is told of other heroes too, Sn. 190. 363 ; e.g., the race of the Skilfingar is expressly placed in that eastern region (sii kynsloS er i austrve- gum), Sn. 193 ; and lotunheim, the world of the giants, was there situated.

Tlwrr was considered, next to OSinn, the mightiest and strongest of all the gods ; the Edda makes him OSin's son, therein differing entirely from the Eoman view, which takes Jupiter to be Mercury's father ; in pedigrees, it is true, Thorr does appear as an ancestor of OSinn. Thorr is usually named immediately after OSinn, some- times before him, possibly he was feared more than OSinn (see SuppL). In ^axo Gramm., Eegner confesses : Se, Thor deo excepto, nullam monstrigenae virtutis potentiam expavere, cujus (sc. Thor) virium magnitudini nihil humanarum divinarumque rerum digna possit aequalitate conferri. He is the true national god of the Norwegians, landds (patrium numen), Egilss. p. 365-6, and when ass stands alone, it means especially him, e.g., Saem. 70=^, as indeed the very meaning of ans (jugum mentis) agrees with that of Fair- guneis. His temples and statues were the most numerous in Norway and Sweden, and dsmcgin, divine strength, is understood chiefly of him. Hence the heathen religion in general is so frequently expressed by the simple Thor biota, Srem. 113^, het (called) d Thor, Landn. 1,12, truffi (believed) d Thor, Landn. 2, 12. He assigns to emigrants their new place of abode : Thorr visaffb honum (shewed him), Landn. 3, 7 3, 12. From the Landnamabok we could quote many things about the worship of Thorr: ]?ar stendr enn Thors steinn, 2, 12. ganga til fretta viS Thor, 3, 12. Thorr is worshipped most, and Freyr next, which agrees with the names Thorvi&r and Freyvi&r occurring in one family line 2, 6 ; viSr is wood, does it here mean tree, and imply a priestly function? OSinviSr does not occur, but Tyvi&r is the name of a plant, ch. XXXVII. It is Thor's hammer that hallows a mark, a marriage, and the runes, as we find plainly stated on the stones. I show in ch. XXXIII how Thorr under various aspects passed into the devil of the christians, and it is not surprising if he acquired some of the clumsy boorish nature of the giant in the process, for the giants likewise were turned into fiends. The foe and pursuer

THUNAR. ISO

of all giants in the time of the Ases, he himself appeared a lubber to the christians ; he throws stones for a wager with giants (conf. eh. XVIII). But even in the Eddie ThrymsqviSa, he eats and drinks immoderately like a giant, and the Norwegian folk-tale makes him take up cask after cask of ale at the wedding, Fay e p. 4; conf. the proverb : mundi enginn Asathor afdrecka (outdrink). Conversely, the good-natured old giant Thrymr is by his very name a Donar (conf. ch. XVIII). The delightful story of the hobergs- gubbe (old man of the mountain, giant) was known far and wide in the North : a poor man invites him to stand godfather to his child, but he refuses to come on hearing that TJwr or Tordenveir is also a bidden guest (conf. ch. XVIII) ; he sends however a handsome present (conf. Afzelius 2, 1 58. JMolbech's eventyr no. 62, F. Magn. p. 935). In spite of all divergences, there appears in the structure of this fable a certain similarity to that of Gossip Death, ch. XXVII, for death also is a devil, and consequently a giant ; conf. Miillen- hoff, schl. hoist, p. 289. That is why some of the old tales which still stood their ground in the christian times try to saddle him with all that is odious, and to make him out a diabolic being of a M'orse kind than OGinn; conf, Gautrekssaga p. 13. Finnr drags the statue of Thorr to King Olafr, splits and burns it up, then mixes the ashes in furmety and gives it to dogs to devour ; * 'tis meet that hounds eat Thorr, who his own sons did eat,' Fornm. sog. 2, 163. This is a calumny, the Edda knows of no sucli thing, it relates on the contrary that M65i and Magni outlived their father (see Suppl.), Several revived sagas, like that of the creation of wolves and goats, transform Wuotan into the good God, and Donar into the devil

From the time they became acquainted with the Homan theogony, the writers identify the German thundergod with Jupiter. Not only is dies Jovis called in AS. Thunresd?eg, but Latona Jovis mater is Thunrcs modur , and capitoliuni is trans- lated Thorshoi by the Icelanders. Conversely, Saxo Gram. p. 23() means by his 'Jupiter ' the Teutonic Thor, the Jupiter ardens above (p. 110) ; did that mean Donar "^ As for that Thorr devouring his children, it seems [a mere importation, aggravated by] a down- riglit confusion of Jupiter with his fatlier Saturn, just as the Norse genealogy made Thorr an ancestor of OSinn. Tlie ' presbyter Jovi

190 THUNAR.

mactans/ and the ' sacra ' and ' feriae Jovis ' (in Indicul. pagan,) have been dealt with above, p. 121.

Letzner (hist. Caroli magni, Hildesh. 1G03, cap. 18 end) relates: The Saturday after Laetare, year by year, cometh to the little cathedral-close of Hildesheim a farmer thereunto specially ap- pointed, and bringeth hco logs of a fathom long, and therewith two lesser logs pointed in the manner of skittles. The two greater he planteth in the ground one against the other, and a-top of them the skittles. Soon there come hastily together aU manner of lads and youth of the meaner sort, and with stones or staves do pelt the skittles down from the logs ; other do set the same up again, and the pelting beginneth a-new, By these skittles are to be under- stood the devilish gods of the heathen, that were thrown down by the Saxon-folk when they became christian.

Here the names of the gods are suppressed,^ but one of them must have been Jupiter then, as we find it was afterwards.^ Among the farmer's dues at Hildesheim there occurs down to our own times a Jupitergeld. Under this name the village of Grossen- Algermissen had to pay 12 g. grosch. 4 pfen. yearly to the sexton of the cathedral •, an Algermissen farmer had every year to bring to the cathedral close an eight-cornered log, a foot thick and four feet long, hidden in a sack. The schoolboys dressed it in a cloak and crown, and attacked the Japitcr as they then called it, by throwing stones first from one side, then from the other, and at last they burnt it. This popular festivity was often attended with disorder, and was more than once interdicted, pickets were set to carry the prohibition into effect; at length the royal treasury remitted the Jupiter's geld. Possibly the village of Algermissen had incurred the penalty of the due at the introduction of Christi- anity, by its attachment to the old religion.^ Was the pelting of

1 In the Corbel chron., Hamb. 1590, cap. 18, Letzner thinks it was the god of the Irmensul. He refers to MS. accounts by Con. Foutanus, a Helmers- haus Benedictine of the 13th century.

^ A Hiklesheim register di-awn up at the end of the 14th century or beginn. of the 15th cent, says : ' De abgotter (idols), so sunnabends vor laetare (Letzn. ' sonnab. imch laet.') von einem hausniann von Algermissen gesetzet, davor (for which) ihm eine hofe (hufe, hide) landes gehort zur sankmeisterie (chantry ?), iind wie solches von dem hausmann nicht gesetzt worden, gehort Cantori de liove landes.' Hannoversche landesblatter 1833, p. 30.

3 Liintzel on farmers' burdens in Hildesheim 1830, p. 205. Hannov. mag. 1833, p. 693. Protocols of 1742-3 in an article ' On the Stoning of Jupiter,' Hannov. landesbl., ubi supra.

THUNAR, 191

the logs to express contempt ? In Swit;^erland the well-known throwing of stones on the water is called Heidcn werfen, heathen- pelting ; otherwise : ' den Herrgott losen, vater nnd mutter losen,' releasing, ransoming ? Tobler 174*^ (see Suppl.).

I do not pretend to think it at all established, that this Jupiter can be traced back to the TImnar of the Old Saxons. The custom is only vouched for by protocols of the last century, and clear evidence of it before that time is not forthcoming; but even Letzner's account, differing as it does, suggests a very primitive practice of the people, which is worth noting, even if Jupiter has nothing to do with it. The definite date ' laetare ' reminds one of the custom universal in Germany of 'driving out Death,' of which I shall treat hereafter, and in which Death is likewise set up to be pelted. Did the skittle represent the sacred hammer ?

An unmistakable relic of the worship paid to the thunder-god is the special observance of Thursday, which was not extinct among the people till quite recent times. It is spoken of in quite early documents of the Mid. Ages : ' nuUus diem Jovis in otio observet,' Aberglaube p. xxx. 'de feriis quae faciunt Jovi vel Mercurio,' p. xxxii. quintam feriam in honorem Jovis honorasti, p. xxxvii. On Thursday evening one must neither spin nor hew ; Superst., Swed. 55. 110. and Germ. 517. 703. The Esthonians think Thursday holier than Sunday.^ What punishment overtook the transgressor, may be gathered from another superstition, which, it is true, substituted the hallowed day of Christ for that of Donar : He that shall work on Trinity Sunday (the next after Pentecost), or shall wear anything sewed or knitted (on that day), shall be stricken by thunder ; Scheffer's Haltaus, p. 225 (see Suppl.).

If Jupiter had these lionours paid him in the 8tli century, if the Capitulare of 743 thought it needful expressly to enjoin an ' ec forsacho Thunarc,' and much that related to his service remained uneradicated a long time after ; it cannot well be doubted, that at a still earlier time he was held by our forefathers to be a real god, and one of their greatest.

If we compare him with Wuotan, though the latter is more intellectual and elevated, Donar has the advantage of a sturdy material strength, which was the very thing to recommend him to

^ Etwas iibcr die Elisten, pp. 13-4.

192 THUNAR.

the peculiar veneration of certain races ; prayers, oaths, curses retained his memory oftener and longer than that of any other god. But only a part of the Greek Zeus is included in him.

CHAPTER IX. ZIO, (TIW, TYR).

The ON", name for dies Martis, Tysdagr, has the name of tlie Eddie god Tyr (gen. Tys, ace. Tj) to account for it. The AS. Tiwesdseg and OHG. Ziestac scarcely have the simple name of the god left to keep them company, but it may be safely inferred from them : it must have been in AS. Tiio} in OHG. Zio. The runic letter Tl, ZiiL, will be discussed further on. The Gothic name for the day of the week is nowhere to be found ; according to all analogy it would be Tivisdags, and then the god himself can only have been called Tilts. These forms, Tiu-s, Tiw, Trj-r, Zio make a series like the similar J?iu-s, J?eow (]?iw), ]?y-r, dio = puer, servus.

If the idea of our thundergod had somewhat narrow limits, that of Zio lands us in a measureless expanse. The non-Teutonic cognate [Aryan] languages confront us with a multitude of terms belonging to the root div, which, while enabling us to make up a fuller formula div, tiv, zio, yield the meanings ' brightness, sky, day, god '. Of Sanskrit words, dyaus (coelum) stands the closest to the Greek and German gods' names Zeu?, Tins.

Greek. Gothic.

Zev<i Tius

Zev Tiu

Alfa, Ala Tiu

Aif6<;, Aio<; Tivis

AlFi., All Tiva

To the digammated and older form of the Greek oblique cases there corresponds also the Latin Jovcm, Jovis, Jovi, for which we

^ It might have been TeoAV, from the analogy of l^eow to ]j<!t. Lye quotes, without references : ?'«>/, Mars, Tiiges- vel Tiis-daeg, dies Martis. The Epinal glosses lironght to light l)y ]\Ione actually furnish, no. 520 (Anzeiger 18.38, p. 145), Tiirj, Mars ; also Oeliler p. 351 . The change of letters is like that of briig, jnsculuni, for briw ; and we may at least infer from it, that the vowel is long,

13

Sanskeit.

Nom.

dyaus

Voc.

dyaus

Ace.

divam

Gen.

divas

Dat.

dive

194 zio.

must assume a nom. Ju, Jus, though it has survived only in the compound Jupiter = Jus pater, Zeu9 irarrip. For, the initial in Jus, Jovis [pronounce j as y] seems to be a mere softening of the fuller dj in Djus, Djovis, wliich has preserved itself in Dijovis, just as Zeu9 presupposes an older Jey? which was actually preserved in the ^olic dialect. These Greek and Latin words likewise contain the idea of the heavenly god, i.e., a personification of the sky. Dium, divum is the vault of heaven, and Zeus is the son of heaven, Ovpavov vio^, ovpduio<;, Zev<; aWepi vaiwv (see Suppl.).

But apart from 'dyaus, Zeus and Jupiter,' the three common nouns devas (Sansk.), 6e6<i and deus express the general notion of a divinity ; they are related to the first three, yet distinct from them. The Lat, deus might seem to come nearest to our Tins, Zio ; but its u, like the o in 6e6<;, belongs to the flexion, not to the root, and therefore answers to the a in devas.^ Nevertheless deus too must have sprung from devus, and 6e6<i from 6eF6<i, because the very 6 instead of S in the Greek word is accounted for by the reaction of the digamma on the initial. In the shortness of their e they both differ from devas, whose e (=ai) grew by guna out of i, so that the Lith. dievas comes nearer to it.^ But the adjectives 8409 (not from S/io?, but rather for Sifo?) and divus correspond to devas as dives divitis (p. 20) to devatas (deus). This approximation between divus and deus serves to confirm the origin of deus out of devus or divus with short i (see Suppl.)^, Still more helpful to us is the fact that the Edda has a plur. tivar meaning gods or heroes. Stem. 30^ 41^ ; rikir tivar (conf. rich god, p. 20), Sam. 72^ Qo'^ ; valtivar, 52=^ ; sigtivar, 189* 248=^ ; the sing, is not in use. This tivar, though not immediately related to Tyr, yet seems related to it as Sto?, 6e6<i, Oelo'i are to Zeu? ; its i is established by the fact that the ON. dialect contracts a short iv into y ; thus we obtain by the side of tiv a tiv, in Sanskrit by the side of div a dev, and in Latin by the side of deus a divus, these being strengthened or guna forms of the

1 Kiilin, in Zeitschr. f. cl. alt. 2, 231, has rightly pointed out, that Zio can be immediately related only to dyaus and Zevs, not to deus and deos ; but he ought to have admitted that mediately it must be related to these last also. That div was the root of Zeus, had aheady been shown by 0. Miiiler in Gott. anz. 1834, pp. 79o-6.

^ Conf. piemu iroifiriv, and kiemas ku/xtj haims.

3 If, as hinted on p. 26, 8'ios deus were conn, with Se'co, the notion of bind- ing must have arisen hrst out of the divine band, which is hardly conceivable.

zio. 195

root div, tiv (splendcre).'^ If the earthborn Tuisco, the ancestral god of our nation, stands (as Zeuss p. 72 has acutely suggested) for Tivisco, Tiusco, it shews on its very face the meaning of a divine heavenly being, leaving it an open question whether we will choose to understand it of Wuotan or any other god, barring always Tius himself, from whom it is derived (see Suppl.).

The light of day is a notion that borders on that of heaven, and it was likewise honoured with personification as a god : Lucetiuni Jovem appellabant, quod eum lucis esse causam credebant ; Festus sub V. To begin with, dies (conf. interdiu, dio) is itself connected with deus and divus ; Jupiter was called Diespiter, ic.,diei pater, for the old gen. was dies. Then the word in the sing, fluctuates between the masc. and fem. genders; and as the masc. Ju, Dju with the suffix n, is shaped into the fem. forms Juno for Jovino, Djovino, and Diana, just so the Lith. name for day, diena, is fem., while the Slav, den, dzien, dan, is masc. The Teutonic tongues have no word for sky or day taken from this root, but we can point to one in Crreek : Creteuses Aia ttjv rj^iepav vocant (call the day Zeus), ipsi quoque Eomani Diespitrem appellant, ut diei patreni ; Macrob. Sat. 1, 15. The poetic and Doric forms Zrjva, Zrjvoq, Zrjvi, and Zava, Zav6<;, Zavl, for Aia, Ato^, Au, correspond to the above formations f and the Etruscans called Jupiter Tina, i.e. Dina ; 0. Miiller 2, 43 (see Suppl.).

A derivative from the same root with another suffix seems to present itself in the ON. tivor (deus ? ),^ Ssem. 6^, AS. tir, gen. tires (tiir. Cod. exon. 331, 18 gloria, splendor), and OS. tir, gen. tiras, tireas; with which I connect the OHG. ziori, ziari, zieri (splendiilus), and the Lat. dccus, decor, decorus. The AS. poets use the wcfrd tir only to intensify other words : tirmetod (deus gloriae, summus deus), Ciedm. 143, 7 ; aisctir wera (hasta gloriosa virorum), 124, 27 ; jcsca tir, 127, 10 ; tirwine, Boiith. metr. 25, 41 ; tirfruma, Cod. exon. 13, 21 ; tirmeahtig (potentissimus), 72, 1 ; tireadig (felicissimus), Ccedm. 189, 13. 192, 16; tirfa^st (firmissimus), 64, 2. 189, 19;

1 Somelimcp!, thoiigh rarely, we find another ON. dlar, S;eni. 91'». Sn. 17G. Yngl. saga cap. 2 ; it agrees with 6e6i more than with 5Ior.

^ We know to what shifts Socrates is driven in trying to explain the forms Z^i/a and At'a (Plato's Cratylus p. 29, Bekker) ; 6e6s he derives from dtlv, currere (p. 32).

• Or must wc read it tivor, and connect it with the AS. tifer, tiber, OHG. 7X'par ]

196 zio.

much in the same way as the AS. eormen, OIIG. irman is prefixed. Now when a similar prefix t'§ meets us in the OaST. writings, e.g. tyhraustr (fortissimus), tyspakr (sapientissimus), Sn. 29, it confirms the afiinity between tir and Ty-r.

These intricate etymologies were not to be avoided : they entitle us to claim a sphere for the Teutonic god Zio, Tiw, Tyr, which places him on a level with the loftiest deities of antiquity. Eepresented in the Edda as Oc5in's son, he may seem inferior to him in power and moment ; but the two really fall into one, inas- much as both are directors of war and battle, and the fame of victory proceeds from each of them alike. For the olden time resolved all glory into military glory, and not content with Wuotan and Zio, it felt the need of a third war-god Hadu ; the finer distinc- tions in their cultus are hidden from us now. — It is not to be over- looked, that OSinn is often named Sigtyr, Hroptatyr, Gautatyr, haugatyr, farmatyr (Seem. 30. 47. 248^ Sn. 94-6), bodvartyr, quasi pugnae deus, geirtyr (Fornm. sog. 9, 515-8) ; and that even Thorr, to whom Jupiter's lightning has been handed over, appears as EeiGartyr, Eeidityr (Sn. 94), i.e. god of the waggon.^ In all these poetical terms, we see that iyr bears that more general sense which makes it suitable for all divinities, especially the higher ones. Tyr has a perfect right to a name identical with Zeus. Add moreover, that the epithet of father was in a special degree accorded, not only to Jupiter, Diespiter, but to victory's patron MarspitcrP-

Further, this lofty position is claimed for Zio by the oldest accounts that have reached us. 3Iars is singled out as a chief god

^ I do not reckon Angant^r among this set of words. It occurs frequently, both in the Hervararsaga and in Sajm. 114* 119'' 9^; this last passage calls 0'5'inn ' Priggjar angantf r '. The true form is douLtless Anganjrtjr, as appears from the OHG. Angandeo (Trad. fuld. 1, 67), and the AS. Ongenpeow, OngenJ^io (Beow. 4770. 4945-67. 5843-97. 5917-67) ; -tyr would have been in AS. -teow, in OHG. -zio. Graff gives an Agandeo 1, 132. 5, 87, which seems to be a mis- .spelling, though the Trad, wizenb. no. 20 have a woman's name Agathiu (for Anganthiu), to which add the ace. Agathien, Agacien (Walthar. 629). The meaning of angan, ongen, is doubtful; ' angan illrar brudhar' is said to be ' deliciae malae mulieris,' but Biurn interprets it pedisequa, and O'Sinn might fitly be called Friggae pedisequus. That some proper names in the Edda are corrupt, is plain from Hamdir, wliich ought everywhere to be Hamjiyr, OHG. llamadio, Hamideo (Schaunat no. 576. Cod. huiresh. 2529), MHG. Hamdie (MsH 3, 213''). This much I am sure of, that neither Anganj^^^r nor Hamjnr can contain a tCr, which is almost always compounded with genitives in a figurative sense.

2 Gellius 5, 12.

zio. 107

of all tlie Germanic nations, and mentioned side by side with Mer- cury. The evidence is collected on p. 44.^ Tacitus, in Hist. 4, 64, makes the Tencteri say right out : Communibus deis, et prac- cipuo deorum Marti grates agimus ; we have no occasion to apply the passage to Wuotan, to whom the highest place usually belongs, as particular races may have assigned that to Zio. The still clearer testimony of Procopius 12, 15 to the worship of Ares among the dwellers in the North,^ wliich says expressly : eVct 6eov avrov vofil^ovan fieyiaTov elvai, ought to be compared with the statements of Jornandes on the Gothic Mars ; in both places human sacrifices are the subject, and therefore Zeuss, p. 22, is for understanding it of Wuotan again, because to him Tacitus says that men were sacrificed ; but he does not say to him alone, — on the contrary, anent the Hermundurian offering, Ann, V6, 57, where ' viri ' were also slain, Mars stands mentioned before Llercury. And Jornandes, who identifies the ' Gradivus pater ' of the Getae in Virg. Aen. 3, 35 with the Mars of the Goths, must have been thinking of the special god of war, not of a higher and more general one, intimately as they interpenetrate one another in name and nature. All in favour of this view are the Scythian and Alanic legends of the war-sword, which will be examined by and by : if the Getic, Scythian and Gothic traditions meet anywhere, it is on this of il/ars- worship. Neither can we disregard Widukind's representa- tion at a later time (Pertz 5, 423) of the Saxon Mars set up on high. Donar and Wuotan, with whom at other times he is combined in a significant trilogy, appear, like Jupiter and Mercury, to retire before him. But it is quite conceivable how the glossist quoted on p. 133 could render Wuotan by Mars, and Widukind glide easily from Mars to Hermes, i.e., Wodan, particularly if he had in his mind the analogy of those prefixes irman- (of wliich he is speaking) and tir-. The OlST. writers, while they recognise OSin's influence on war and victory, speak no less distinctly of Ttjr, who is em-

1 A passaj,'e in Floras 2, 4: 'nlox Ariovisto duce vovere de nostronuu mili- tum pnieda Marti suo toniuem : intercepit Jupiter votuiii, nam dc torquilius eoruni uureum tiopaeum Jovi Flaminius erexit,' speaks of the hisubiian Gaids, who were beaten in the consulship of Flaminius B.C. 225. But these CJalli are both in other respects very like Germani, and the name of their leader is that of the kSuevic (Swabian) king in Caesar.

• eovAtrat (men of Thule) is their generic name, but he expressly includes among them the Tavrol, whom he rightly regards as a dilierent people from the TotSoi, conf. Gott. auz. 1828, p. 553.

198 zio.

phatically their Vigagucf (deus proeliorum), Sn. 105, and again : hann er diarfastr ok best liugaSr, ok lianu rcecfr niioc sigri i orostom, Sn. 29 (see Suppl.).

No doubt there were mountains hallowed to Zio, as well as to Wuotan and Donar ; the only difficulty is, to know which god, Wuotan or Zio, was meant by a particular name. May we place to his credit the name of the abbey of Siegburg in the Lower Ehine, which was founded in 1064 on a mountain where the ancient assize of the people was held? From that time the moun- tain was to have been called Mons sancti Michaelis after the christian conqueror, but the \&Bi\i&i\Sigebcrg could not be dislodged, it was only distorted into Siegburg •} or are we to explain the name by the river Sieg, which flows through the district ? The ON. Sigtysberg (OS. Sigu-tiwis-berag ?), Saem. 348^ might belong to OSinn or to Tyr. The Weimar map has in section 38 a Tisdorf, and in section 48 a Zieshcrg, both in Lower Saxon districts on the Elbe. A place in Zealand, about which there are folk-tales, is Tyhierg (Thiele 2, 20) ; also in Zealand are Tisvdde (Ti's well), Tysting ; in Jutland, Tystathe, Tiislunde. In Sweden : Tistad, Tishy, Tisjo, Tyved. Zierberg in Bavaria (Cirberg, Zirberc, MB. 11, 71-3-5-6) and Zierenberg in Lower Hesse may be derived from the collateral form (see Suppl.). The mons Martis at Paris (Montmartre), of which even Abbo de bell. Par. 2, 196 makes mention, has to do with the Gallic Mars, whom some take to be Belus, others Hesus. With far better right than the Parisian mons Martis (yet conf. Waitz's Salic law, p. 52), we may assign to Zio the fanum Martis, now Famars in Hainault (p. 84), according to Herm. Mliller the Old Frankish ' Dishargum (or Disbargus) in termino Toringorum ' of Greg. tur. 2, 9, Chlodio's castellum. Dis- would be a Latinized form of Tis = Tives, perhaps recalling Dispiter, Diespiter ; there is no Gallic word like it looking towards Mars, and the district is thor- ouglily Prankish, with Liphtinae close by, where we have Saxnot named by the side of Thunar and Wodan. As for Eresberg and Mersberg (3 or 4 pp. on), I have compared the oldest documents in Seibertz: no. 11 (anno 962) gives us Eresburg; no. 25 (1030) already Mersburg ; 1, 98 (1043) mons Eresburg; no. 51 (1150) mons Eres- berg; no. 70 (1176) mons Eresberch ; no. 85 (1184) Heresburg ;

1 Dociim. in Lacomblet, no. 203-4.

zio. 199

no. 115 (1201) mons Martis; no. 153 (1219 Mersberch ; no. 167 (1222) Eresberch; no. 179 (1228) mons Martis; no. 186 (1229) mons Heresberg; no. 189 (1230) mons Martis and Mersberg. Mons Martis was the learned name, Mersberg the popular, and Eresberg the oldest. As mons and castellum are used by turns, berg and burg are equally right. Widukind 2, 11 and Dietmar 2, 1 spell Hercshurg and Eresburch, when they describe the taking of the place in 938. According to the Ann. Corb. (Pertz 5, 8), they are sacred to both Ares and Hermes (]\Iars and Mercury).

The names of plants also confess the god : ON. Tyfifiola, I dare- say after the Lat. viola Martis, march-violet; Tyrhialm (aconitum), otherwise Thorhialm, Thorhat (helmet, hat), conf. Germ, sturmhut, eisenhut, Dan. troldhat, a herb endowed with magic power, whose helmet-like shape might suggest either of those warlike gods Tyr and Thorr; Tyvi&r,Tf& wood, Dan. Tyvcd, Tysvccl (daphne mezereum), in the Helsing. dial, tis, tisthast, the mezereon, a beautiful poison- flower (see Suppl.).

While these names of places and plants sufficiently vouch for the wide-spread worship of the god, we must lay particular stress on one thing, that the name for the third day of the week, which is what we started with, bears living witness to him at this moment, not only in Scandinavia and England (ON". Tysdagr, Swed. Tisdag, Dan. Tirsdag, AS. Tiwesdseg), but among the common people in Swabia and Switzerland (Ziestag, Tiestag, diestik, beside our uni- versal Dienstag); Schm. 4, 214 brings all the forms together. And there is yet one more testimony to the high antiquity of Zio- worship in Swabia, which we may gather from an old "Wessobrunn gloss ' Cyuvari = Suapa,' MB. 7, 375 and Diut. 2, 370 ; which I take to be not Teutonoari, as Zeuss does, pp. 146-9, but Zioivari ]\Iartem colentes, warian expressing, like Lat. colore, both habitare and depairevetv, so that the Suevi are OepdirovTe'i "Apr]o<i.

But that is not all : further and weighty disclosures on the name and nature of the war-god await us at the hands of the Pauiic alphabet.

It is known that each separate rune has a name to itself, and these names vary more or less according to the nations that use them, but they are mostly very ancient words. The OHG. runes having to bestow the name dorn on D, and tac on T, require for their aspirate Z which closes the alphabet the name of Zio. In the ON.

200 zio.

and AS. alphabets, dag stood for D, T/jr and Tito for T, ]7orn for ]>, being the same three words, only in different places ; occasionally the Anglo-Saxons wrote Tir or Tis. Whenever a list of runes keeps thorn for Th, and dag for D, it is sure to have Ti for T (as the Cod. Isidori paris. and bruxell.) ; so it is in the St Gall cod. 260 and the Brussels 9565, except that dorn is improperly put for thorn, and tag for dag, but Ti stands correctly opposite T. The Paris cod. 5239 has dhron (dhorn), tac, Ziu, that of Salzburg dhorn, Ti, daeg : everywhere the form Ziu shows the High Germ, accepta- 'tion, and the form Ti (once, in Cod. vatic. Christinae 338, spelt Tu, perh, Tii) the Low Germ., the Saxon. The u in Ziu seems to be more archaic than the o of Zio, which has kept pace with the regular progress of the OHG. dialect, and follows the analogy of dio, servus ; this relation between u and o may perhaps be seen still more in its true light, as we go on. But what is very remark- able, is that in the Vienna cod. 140 the name Tyz is given to T in an alphabet which uses the Gothic letters, for Tyz comes very near to our conjectural Goth. Tins. As well the retention as the unavoid- able alterations of this divine name in the runes of the various races, may be taken as proofs of the antiquity and extent of Zio-worship. How comes it that no rune has taken its name from Wuotan or OSinn, the inventor of writing itself ? ' K = reiS, rad,' i.e., waggon, may indirectly at least be referred to the god of the Thunder-car ; and F according to one interpretation signifies Freyr. Anyhow, 'T=Tyr' appears to have been a supremely honoured symbol, and the name of this god to have been specially sacred : in scratching the runes of victory on the sword, the name of Tyr had to be twice inserted, Ssem. 194^ The shape of the rune ^ has an obvious resemblance to the old-established symbol of the planet Mars when set upright '^, and an AS. poem on the runes expressly says : tir biS idcna sum (tir is one of the tokens, is a certain sign) ; where again the derivative form tir is employed to explain the the simple Tiw or Ti. Occasionally the poets speak of ' tire tacnian,' to mark with tir (El, 753. Jud. 137, 18), and 'tires to tacne,' as mark of tir (Beow. 3306) ; we may expound it as ' gloria, decore insignire, in gloriae signum,' and still think of the heathen symbol of the god, pretty much as we saw it done at the solemn blessing of the ale- cups (see Suppl.).^

1 Conf. note to Elene 155-6.

EOR. 201

Thus far we have dealt with tlie runic name Tyr, Tiw, Zio, and no otlier. But here the same alphabets come out with a sharp dis- tinction between two names of the selfsame god. First, in the AS. lists, in addition to ^ Tir, we come upon a similar arrow with two barbs added ^ and the name Ear attached to it.^ Then the OHG. alphabets, after using ^ for tac, find a use for that very symbol ^^ to which some of them give the name Zio, others again Uo, Uor, Aer. And there are AS. alphabets that actually set down by ^ the two names Tir and Ear, though Tir had already been given to ^ . It is evident then, that Tir and Ear — Zio and Eo, Ear — were two names for one god, and both must have been current among the several races, both Low German and High.

Evidence as regards Low Germany is found both in the rune Ear occurring in Anglo-Saxon, and in the remarkable name of Ereshurg, Aereshurg being given to a notable seat of pagan worship in a district of Westphalia, in the immediate neighbourhood of the Irmansul (v. supra, p. 116). That it was strictly EresScr^ (as Sieg- burg was originally Sigberg, p. 198), follows both from the Latin rendering vions Martis, and from its later name Mersberg^ whose initial M could be explained by the contraction of the words ' in dem Eresberge, Aresberge,'^ or it may be an imitation of the Latin name. There was a downright Marsherg in another district of West- phalia.* This Eresberc then is a Ziesherc, a Sig-tiwes-berg, and yet more closely an Areopagus, Mars' hill, Apeioira'yo^, irerpa irdyo'i t' 'Apeco<i (Aeschyl. Eum. 690).

Still more plainly are High German races, especially the Bavarian (jMarcomannic) pointed to by that singular name for the third day of the week, Ertag, lertag, Irtag, Eritag, Ercldag, Erichtag, which answers to the rune Eor, and up to this moment lives to part off the Bavarians, Austrians and Tyrolese from the Swabians and Swiss (who, as former Ziowari, stick to Ziestag); along the boundary- line of these races must also have run formerly the frontier between Eor-worship and Zio-worship. True, the compound Ertac lacks

1 In one poem, Cod. exon. 481, 18, the rune contains simply the vowel sound ea.

2 This Eresburg or Mersberg stands in the pagus Hessi saxonicus (registr. Sarachonis p. 42, 735) ; conf. Wigands archiv I. 1, 36-7. II. 143. 268.

3 So : Motgers = in dem Otgers hove [and, the nonce = then once, &c.].

• In the pagus Marstem, J^Iarshem, Marsem (close to the Wcser, near Marklu), reg. Sarachonis 42, 727.

202 zio.

the genitive ending -s which is preserved in Ziestac, and I have not been so fortunate as to hunt up an Erestac^ in the older records of the 13-14th centuries ; nevertheless the coincidence of the double names for the day and for the rune should be conclusive here, and we must suppose an OHG. Erestac, to match the Eresberg. One might be led to imagine that in Ertag the Earth (Erde according to the forms given at the beginning of ch. XIII) was meant. But the ancient way of thinking placed the earth in the centre of the world, not among the planets ; she cannot therefore have given name to a day of the week, and there is no such day found in any nation, unless we turn Venus and Freyja into the earth. — To bear this Ertag company, there is that name of a place Eersel, quoted p. 154 from Gramaye, in which neither era honor, nor its personifi- cation Era (ch. XVI, XXIX) is to be thought of, but solely a god of the week. It is worth noticing, that Ertac and Erdag occur as men's names ; also, that the Taxandrian Eersel was but a little way off the Tisberg or Fanmars in Hainault (see Suppl.). — Xow comes something far more important. As Zio is identical with Zeus as director of wars, we see at a glance that Eor, Er, Ear, is one with "'Apr)<i the son of Zeus ; and as the Germans had given the rank of Zeus to their Wuotan, Tyr and consequently Eor appears as the son of the highest god. Have we any means now left of getting at the sense of this obscure root Eor ?

The description of the rune in the AS. poem gives only a slight hint, it runs thus :

Ear biS egle eorla gehwilcum,

]?onne feestlice flsesc onginneS

hrsew colian, hrusan ceosan

blac to gebeddan. blseda gedreosaS,

wynna gewitaS, wera geswicaS ; i.e., Ear fit importunus hominum cuicumque, quum caro incipit refrigescere, pallidumque corpus terram eligere conjugem. tunc enim gloriae dilabuntur, gaudia evanescunt, foedera cessant. The description is of death coming on, and earthly joys dropping off; but who can that be, that at such a time is burdensome (egle, ail-some) to men ? The ordinary meaning of car, spica, arista, can be of no use here ; I suppose that approaching dissolution, a personified death

^ In a passage from Keisersberg quoted by Schm. 1, 97, it is spelt Eristag, apparently to favour tlie derivation from * dies aeris.'

EOR, SAXNOT, CHERU. 203

is to be understood, from whicli a transition to the destructive god of battles, the ^poTo\ot'y6<;, fiLai(})6vo<; "Apr]<; is easy to conceive.^ "Apr]'i itself is used abstractly by the Greeks for destruction, murder, pestilence, just as our Wuotan is for furor and belli impetus,^ and the Latin Mars for bellum, exitus pugnae, furor bellicus, conf. ']\Iars =cafeht,' gcfecht, fight, in Gl. Hrab. 969'^; as conversely the OHG. wij pugna, bellum (Graff 1, 740) seems occasionally to denote the personal god of war. * Wicgch quoque Mars est ' says Ermoldus Nigellus (Pertz 2, 468), and he is said to farneman, AS. forniman, carry off, as Hild (Bellona) does elsewhere : dat inan wic fornam, Hildebr. lied ; in AS. : wig ealle fornam, Beow. 2155 ; wig fornom. Cod. exon. 291, 11. Do we not still say, war or battle snatched them all away ? A remarkable gloss in the old Cod. sangall. 913, p. 193, has 'turbines = ziu ' (we have no business to write zui), which may mean the storm of war, the IMars trux, saevus, or possibly the literal whirlwind, on which mythical names are sometimes bestowed; so it is either Zio himself, or a synonymous female personification Ziu, bearing tlie same relation to Zio as diu (ancilla) to dio (servus).

Here comes in another string of explanations, overbold as some of them may seem. As Eresburg is just as often spelt Hcrcsburg by the Frankish annalists, we may fairly bring in the Goth, hairus, AS. heor, OS. heru, ON. Morr, ensis, cardo, although the names of the rune and the day of the week always appear without the aspirate. For in Greek we already have the two unaspirated words ''ApT]<i and aop, sword, weapon, to compare with one another, and these point to a god of the sword. Then again the famous Abre- nuntiatio names three heathen gods, Thunar, Woden, Saxnot, of whom the third can have been but little inferior to the other two in power and holiness. Sahsnot is word for word gladii consors, ensifer [Germ, genoss, sharer] ; who else but Zio or Uor and the Greek Ai'tsP The AS. genealogies preserve the name of Saxnedt

^ Or, without the need of any transition, Ear might at once be Ares : * war is burdensome in old age'. — Transl.

• The notions of raving (wiitcn) and insanire are suitable to the blustering stormful god of war. Homer calls Ares 0ovpns the wild, and ("tcj)p(cv the insensate, 6y nvriva oi'Sf depia-ra, II. 5, 761. But naiverai is said of other gods too, particularly Zeus (8, .300) and Dionysos or Bacchus (6, l;-i2).

^ One might think of Fro, Freyr (ch. X), but of course glittering swords were attributed to more than one god ; thus Poseidon (Ke])tune) wields a Sfivov aop, II. 14, 38 j, and Apollo is called xpvo-<iopos, 5, 5(J9. Id, 250.

204 zio.

as the son of Woden, and it is in perfect accordance with it, that Tyr was the son of O'Sinn, and Ares the son of Zeus (see SuppL). But further, as the Saxons were so called, either because they wielded the sword of stone (saxum), or placed this god at the head of their race, so I think the Chcruscans of Tacitus, a people synonymous, nay identical with them, were named after Chcru, Hcru = Eor, from whom their name can be derived.^ After this weighty consonance of facts, which opens to us the meaning of the old national name, and at the same time teaches that ' heru ' was first of all pronounced ' cheru,' and last of all ' eru, er,' I think we may also bring in the Gallic war-god Hesus or Esiis (Lucan 1, 440), and state, that the metal iron is indicated by the planetary sign of Mars, the AS. ' tires tacen,' and consequently that the rune of Zio and Eor may be the picture of a sword with its handle, or of a spear.2 The Scythian and Alanic legends dwell still more emphati- cally on the god's sword, and their agreement with Teutonic ways of thinking may safely be assumed, as Mars was equally prominent in the faith of the Scythians and that of the Goths.

The impressive personification of the sword matches well with that of the hammer, and to my thinking each confirms the other. Both idea and name of two of the greatest gods pass over into the instrument by which they display their might.

Herodotus 4, 62 informs us, that the Scythians worshipped Ares under the semblance or symbol of an ancient iron sword {aKLvuKT)^), which was elevated on an enormous stack of brushwood [' three furlongs in length and breadth, but less in height '] : eVl TOVTOV Orj Tov ojKOV u K t V d K r] <} (J ihr) fjeo<i I'Bpvrac dp-)(abo<i eKciaTOLao- Kol tovt'' earc tov "A prjos to ajakixa. Ammianus Marcellinus 31, 2 says of the Alani : Nee templum apud eos visitur aut delubrura, ne tugurium quidem culmo tectum cerni usquam potest, sed glacUus barharico ritu huvii figitur nudus, eumque ut Martem, regionum quas circumcircant praesulem, verecundius colunt. And he had previously asserted of the Quadi also, a decidedly German people, 17, 12 (a.d. 358): Eductis mucroniUts,quos fro numiwibus co/^w^i{, juravere se permansuros in fide. Perhaps all

1 The suffix -Rk would hardly fit with the material sense of heru, far better with a personal Heru.

2 Does the author overlook, or deliberately reject, the ON. or, Ren. orrar, AS. arwi^ arrow % Among the forms for Tuesday occur Erigtag, Ergetag ; erge is to arwe, as serge to sorwe, morgen to niorwen, &c. — Trans.

zio. 205

tlie Teutonic nations swore by their weapons, with a touching of the weapon/ just as the Scythians and Eomans did per Martis frameam, Juvenal 13, 79. So Arnobius 6, 11 : Ridetis temporibus priscis coluisse acinacem Scythiae nationes, . . . pro Marte Iiomanos hastam, ut Varronis indicant Musae ; this franaea and hasta of the Eomans is altogether like the Scythian sword.^ Jornandes, following Priscus 201, 17, tells of the Scythian sword, liow it came into the hands of Attila, cap. 35 : Qui (Attila), quamvis hujus esset naturae ut semper confideret, addebat ei tamen confidentiam gladius Martis inventus, apud Scytharum reges semper habitus. Quern Priscus historicus tali refert occasione detectum, quum pastor, inquiens, quidam gregis unam buculam conspiceret claudicantem (noticed one heifer walking lame), nee causam tanti vulneris iuveniret, sollicitus vestigia cruoris insequitur, tandemque venit ad gladiura, quern depascens herbas bucula incaute calcaverat, elfossumque protinus ad Attilam defert. Quo ille munere gratu- latus, ut erat magnanimus, arbitratur se totius mundi principem constitutum, et per Martis gladiuvi potestatem sibi concessam esse liellorum. — But the sword degenerated into an unlucky one, like some far-famed northern swords. Lambert relates, that a queen, Solomon of Hungary's mother, made a present of it to Otto, duke of Bavaria, that from this Otto's hands it came by way of loan to the younger Dedi, margrave Dedi's son, then to Henry IV., and lastly to Lupoid of Mersburg, who, being thrown by his horse, and by the same sword transpierced, w^as buried at Mertenefeld. It is a question whether these local names Mersburg and Mertenefeld can liave any reference to the sword of Mars. A great while after, the duke of Alba is said to have dug it out of the earth again after the battle of Mtihlberg (Deutsche heldensage p. 311). We see through what lengthened periods popular tradition could go on nourishing itself on this world-old worship (see Suppl.).

With the word "ApT)<i the Lat. Mars appears to have nothing to do, being a contraction of Mavors, and the indispensable initial being even reduplicated in Mamers ; so the fancied connexion between Eresburg and Marsberg will not hold.

In the Old Eomau worship of ]\Iars a prominent place is given

1 Conf. RA. 896 ; and so late as Wigal. G517 : ' Swert, uf dinem knopfe ich des swer,' Sword, on thy poiiuuel I swear it.

• Juro per Dianam et Martem, Plaut. Mil. glor. 5, 21.

206

zio.

to the legend of Pious, a son of Saturn, a wood-spirit who helped to nurse the babes Eemus and Romulus ; certain features in our antiquities seem to recall him, as will be shown later. Eomulus consecrated the third month of the year to Mars, his progenitor ; our ancestors also named it after a deity who may perhaps be identified with Mars. That is to say, the Anglo-Saxons called March Hreffcmonad', which Beda without hesitation traces to a goddess HreSe; possibly other races might explain it by a god Hre&uJ. These names would come from hroS gloria, fama, OX. hroSr, OHG. hruod, OFrank. chrod, which helped to form many ancient words, e.g. OHG. Hruodgang, Hruodhilt, OFrank. Chrodo- gang, Chrodhild ; did Hruodo, Chrodo express to certain races the shining god of fame V- The Edda knows of no such epithet for Tyr as HroSr or HroeSi (see Suppl.).

To these discoveries or conjectures we have been guided simply by the several surviving names of one of the greatest gods of our olden time, to whose attributes and surroundings we have scarcely any other clue left. But now we may fairly apply to him in tlie main, wliat the poetry of other nations supplies. Zio is sure to have been valiant and fond of war, like Ares, lavish of glory, but stern and bloodthirsty {aiixaroQ aaai ^'Aprja, II. 5, 289. 20, 78. 22, 267); he raves and rages like Zeus and Wuotan, he is that 'old blood-shedder ' of the Servian song, he gladdens the hearts of ravens and wolves, who follow him to fields of battle, although these creatures again must be assigned more to Wuotan (p. 147); the Greek phrase makes them oIwvol and Kvves, (birds and dogs), and

^ In this connexion one mitjht try to rescue the suspicious and discredited legend of a b^axon divinity Krodo ; tliere is authority for it in the 15th century, none whatever in the earlier Mid. Ages. Bothe's Sassenchronik (Leibn. 3, 286) relates under the year 780, that King Charles, during his conquest of the East Saxons, overthrew on the Hartesburg an idol similar to Saturn, which the people called Krodo. If such an event had really happened, it would most likely have been mentioned by the annalists, like the overthrow of the Irniansul. For all that, the tradition need not be groundless, if other things would only correspond. Unfortunately the form Crodo for Chrodo, Hrodo, Rodo [like Catti, alterw. Chatti, Hatti, Hessen] is rather too ancient, and I can find no support for it in the Saxon speech. A doc. of 1284 (Langs reg. 4, 247) has_ a Walt herus dictus Krode, and a song in Nithart's MsH. 3, 208'' a Krotolf, which however has no business to remind us of Hruodolf, Ruodolf, being not a proper name, but a nickname, and so to be derived from krote, a toad, to which must be referred many names of places, Krotenpful, &c., which have been mistakenly ascribed to the idol. The true form for Upper Germany would not tolerate a Kr, but only Hr or R (see Suppl.).

zio. 207

the fields of the slain, where the hounds hold revel, are called kvvwv fieXir-ndpa, II. 13, 233. 17, 255. 18, 179. Battle-songs were also sure to be tuned to the praises of Zio, and perhaps war-dances executed (fieXirea-daL "Aprj'i, II. 7, 241), from which I derive the persistent and widely prevalent custom of the solemn sword-dance, exactly the thing for the god of the sword. The Edda nowhere lays particular stress on the sword of war, it knows nothing of Sahsnot, indeed its sverSas is another god, HeiniSallr -^ but it sets Tyr before us as onc-handcd, because the wolf, within whose jaws he laid his right hand as a pledge, bit it off at the joint, whence the wrist was called iiltliSr, wolf-lith, Sa^m. 65^ Sn. 35-6. This incident must have been well-known and characteristic of him, for the OlSr. exposition of runes likewise says, under letter T : Tyr er einhendr Asa ; conf. Sn. 105. The rest of Teutonic legend has no trace of it,^ unless we are to look for it in AValther's onehandcdness, and find in his name the mighty ' wielder of hosts '. I prefer to adopt the happy explanation,^ that the reason why Tyr appears onc-handcd is, because he can only give victory to one part of the combatants, as Iladu, another god who dispenses the fortune of war, and Plutos and Eortuna among the Greeks and Eomans, are painted blind, because they deal out their gifts at random (see Suppl.). Now, as victory was esteemed the highest of all fortune, the god of victory shares to the full the prominent characteristics of luck in general, partiality and fickleness. And a remoter period of our nation may have used names which bore upon this.^

Amongst the train of Ares and Mars there appear certain mythic beings who personify the notions of fear and horror. Ae2/jL0<; and ^6l3o^ (II. 4, 440. 11, 317. 15, 119) answer to the Latin Fallor

^ Conf. Apollo xp^t^aopos above, p. 203, note.

2 Cod. pal. 361, 65'* tells of Julian, that he was forced to piit his hand into the mouth of Mercury's statue : Die hant stiez er im in den niuiit dar, darinne uobte sich der valant (devil), er clemniete im die hant, und gehabete sie im so vaste, daz er sich niht irlosen mohte (could not get loose). Besides, the wolfs limb has a likeness to the Wuotan's limb, Woens-let, p. 160.

^ Wackernagel's, in the Schweiz. mus. 1, 107.

• The Greek epos expresses the changei'ulness of victory {v'lkt] eTepaXKrjs, II. 8, 171. 16, 362 ; vUrj eVajueijSfrai ai/S/KK, 6, 339) by an epithet of Arcs, "AX\o7rp6aa\os 5, 831. 88!). A certain many-shaped and all-transionning being, with a name almost exactly the same, Vilandcrs (Ls. 1, 369-92), Bald- andcrst, Jlaldander (H. Sachs 1, 537. Simpliciss. bk 6, c. 9), has indeed no visil)le connexion with the god of war, but it may have been the name of a god. The similarity of this Vilandcrs to the name of a place in the Tyrol, Villandera near lirixen (Velunutris, Vuluuuturusa, ucc. to Steub. p. 79. 178) Ls merely accidental.

208 zio.

and Favor ; it is the two former that harness the steeds of Ares, '^o^os is called his son (13, 299), and in Aeschylus he is provided with a dwelling (/xeXadpov tectum), out of which he suddenly leaps. So in the old Bohemian songs, Tras (tremor) and Strakh (terror) burst out of forest shades on the enemy's bands, chase them, press on their necks and squeeze out of their throats a loud cry (Kouiginh. hs. 84. 104) ; they are ghostly and spectral. This borders upon Voma, Om.i and Yggr (pp. 119, 120), terms which designate the .god himself, not his companions, sons or servants, yet they again bear witness to the community there was between Wuotan and Zio. Thorr was called 6tti iotna, terror gigantum. When in our modern phraseology fear 'surprises, seizes, shakes, deprives of sense,' personification is not far off; in the Iliad also 17, 67 ■)(\wpov ceo'i (neut.) aipel, pale fear seizes ; but masculine embodiments like Be2/io<;, (f)6/3o<;, pallor, pavor, tras, strakh, bring it more vividly before us, and pavor was weakened by passing into the fem. paura, peur of the Eomance. AS. Ipn, hine se broga ongeat (terror eum invasit), Beow. 2583. OHG. forhta cham mih ana, N. ps. 54, 5 ; forhta anafiel ubar inan, T. 2, 4 ; conf. MHG. diu sorge im was so verre entriten, sie mohte erreichen niht ein sper, fear was fled so far from him, a spear could not reach it, Wh. 280, 10 (see Suppl.). But further on, we shall get acquainted with a female Ililta, comparable to the Lat. Bellona and the Gr. Enyo and Eris, who is really one with war and the war-god.

Tyr is described in Sn. 105 as a son of OSinn, but in the HymisqviSa as a kinsman of the giants. His mother, whose name is not found, but whose beauty is indicated by the epithet all-gullin, all-golden, Ssera. 53% must have been a giant's daughter, who bore to OSinn this immortal son (see Suppl.).

CHAPTEE X.

FRO, (FEEYR).

The god that stands next in power and glory, is in the Norse mythology Frcijr (Landn. 4, 7) ; with the Swedes he seems even to have occupied the third place. His name of itself proclaims how widely his worship prevailed among the other Teutonic races, a name sacred enough to he given to the Supreme Being even in christ- ian times. There must have been a broad pregnant sense underlying the word, which made it equally fit for the individuality of one god, and for the comprehensive notion of dominion, whether sacred or secular : to some nations it signified the particular god, to others the soverain deity in general, pretty much as we found, connected with the proper names Zio, Zeus, the more general term deus, 6eo<i. While the names of other heathen gods became an abomination to the christians, and a Gothic Vodans or Thunrs would have grated harshly on the ear; this one expression, like the primitive guj? itself, could remain yet a long time without offence, and signify by turns the heavenly lord and an earthly one.

It is true, the names do not correspond quite exactly. The ON. Freyr gen. Freys, which Saxo gives quite correctly in its Danish form as Fro gen. Fros (whence Froso, Fro's island), the Swed. like- wise Fro, ought to be in Gothic Fraus or Fravis,^ instead of which, every page of Ulphilas shows /raiya gen. fniujins, translating KvpLo^; on the other hand, the ON. dialect lacks both the weak form (Freyi, Freyja), and the meaning of lord. The remaining languages all huld with the Gothic. In OHG. the full form frouwo was already lost, the writers preferring truhtin; it is only in the form of address 'fro min ! ' (0. i. 5, o5. ii. 14, 27. v. 7, 35. Ludw. bed) that the

^ Frey = Fravi, as liey — luivi (hay), mey = inavi (maid), ey = avi (isle), &c.

14

210 FRO.

word for a divine or earthly lord was preserved, just as that antique sihora and sire (p. 27) lasted longest in addresses. In the Heliand too, when the word is used in addressing, it is always in the short- ened form fro min ! 123, 13. 140, 23. fr6 min the godo ! 131, 6. 134, 15. 138, 1. 7. waldand fro min ! 153, 8. drohtin fro min ! 15, 3 ; but in other cases we do find the complete />'d/io gen. frohon 3, 24 ; frdho 119, 14, gen. frahon 122, 9, fraon 3, 24. 5, 23 ; froio 93, 1, 107, 21. Still the OS. poet uses the word seldomer than the synonyms drohtin and herro, and he always puts a possessive with it, never an adjective (lilce mari drohtin, riki drohtin, craftag drohtin, liob herro), still less does he make compounds with it (like sigi- drohtin) : all symptoms that the word was freezing up. The AS. fredj gen. frean (for freaan, freawan) has a wider sweep, it not only admits adjectives (frea ?elmihtig, Csedm. 1, 9. 10, 1), but also forms compounds: agendfrea, Csedm. 135, 4. aldorfreii 218, 29. folcfrea 111, 7 ; and even combines with dryhten : freadryhten, Crodm. 54, 29, gen. freahdrihtnes, Beow. 1585, dat. freodryhtne 5150. — But now by the side of our OHG. fro there is found a rigid (indecl.) frono, which, placed before or after substantives, imparts the notion of lordly, high and holy ; out of this was gradually developed a more flexible adj. of like meaning /ro?i, and again an adj. fronisc (pulcher, mundus, inclytus, arcanus), OS. fronish, frdnish. In MHG. and even modern German we have a good many compounds witli vron, as also the adj. in the above sense, while/ro7t7zc?i,/rd'A?ie?i is to do service to one's lord, to dedicate. The Frisian dialect contri- butes difrdn, dominions, and/rawa, minister publicus. The added -n in all these derivatives can be explained by the Gothio, frdujlnon dorninari, though there was probably no Gothic fraujinisks, as fronisc seems not to have been formed till after the contraction fro and frono had set in.

But even the Gothic frduja does not present to us the simple stem, I look for it in a lost adj. fravis (like navis v€Kp6<i, Eom. 7, 2), the same as the OHG. /ro gen. frouwes, OS. /ra gen. fralies, MHG. vro, and our froh [frohlich, frolic, &c.], and signifying mitis, laetus, blandus ; whence the same dialects derive frouwi, gaudium, frouwan, laetum reddere, frouwida, laetitia, &c. (see Suppl.).

I do not mean to assert that a god Frauja, Frouwo, Fraho was as distinctly worshipped by the Goths, Alamanns, Franks and Saxons in the first centuries of our era, as Freyr was long after in

FRO. 211

Scandinavia, it is even possible that the form frauja already harboured a generalization of the more vividly concrete Travis = Freyr, and therefore seemed less offensive to the christians. But in both words, the reference to a higher being is unmistakable, and in the Mid. ages there still seems to hang about the compounds with won something weird, unearthly, a sense of old sacredness; this may account for the rare occurrence and the early disappearance of the OHCt. fro, and even for the grammatical immobility of frono ; it is as though an echo of heathenism could be still detected in them.

A worship of Fro may be inferred even from the use of certain proper names and poetic epithets, especially by the Anglo-Saxons. The Goths even of later times use Frduja as a man's name, to which we can hardly attribute the sense of lord simply : an envoy from king Hadafus to Charles the Great is called Froia (Pertz 1, 184. 2, 223), perhaps Froila (Fraujila) ; an OHG. Frcvnlo occurs in a document in Neugart no. 162. The AS. genealogies contain WlXscfred; the name is often found elsewhere (Beda 138, 19. 153, 5), and seems suitable to Woden the god or lord of wishing (p. 144). Equally to the point is the poetic fredivine (fredwine folca) in Beow. 4708. 4853. 4871, where it is a mere epithet of divine or god- loved heroes and kings. But the Wessex pedigree can produce its Fred2cine, whom Saxo Gram, calls Frowinus (better Frowinus) ; OHG. documents likewise have the proper name Froivin (Trad. juvav. p. 302, Cod. lauresh. 712, but Frioivini 722), and in several noble families, e.rj., the distinguished one of the Von Huttens, it has been kej)t up till modern times. What is remarkable, the Edda uses of a hero Freys vinr (Saera. 219^), like the AS. fredwine, only uncompounded : SigurSr is Frey's friend and protege, or perhaps his votary and servant, in the way shown on p. 93. Here again fred, fro, freyr, cannot have merely the general meaning of lord, any lord. The Swedish heroes in the Bravalla fight, who boast their descent from Fro, are in Saxo, p. 144, called Fro dei necessarii, which is exactly our Freys vinar. In the same way the AS. and ON. poetries, and consequently the myths, have in common the expression fred Ingwina (gen. pi.), Beow. 2638, Ingvinar (gen. sing.) freyr, Ingunnar /?'cyr, Ssem, 65^ Ingifreyr (Thorlac. obs. bor. spec. 6, p. 43), by which is to be understood a hero or god, not ' juiiior dominus,' as Thorlacius, p. 68, supposes. Yngvi/rt-y?- is called OSin's son, Sn.

212 FRO.

211=*. I shall come back to this mysterious combination of two mythical names, when I come to speak of the hero Ingo. The ON. skalds append this freyr to other names and to common nouns, e.g., in Kormakssaga, pp. 104 122, ' fiornis freyr, myv^\freyr' mean no more than hero or man in the heightened general sense which we noticed in the words irmin, tir and t^r. In the same way the fern. freyja means frau, woman, lady, Kormakss. p. 317.

All that I have made out thus far on the name and idea of the o-od, will receive new light and confirmation when we come to ex- amine his divine sister Freyja. The brother and sister are made alike in all their attributes, and each can stand for the other.

Fro does not appear in the series of gods of the week, because there was no room for him there ; if we must translate him by a Eoman name, it can scarcely be any other than that of Liher, whose association with Libera is extremely like that of Fro with Frowa (Freyr with Freyja). As Liber and Libera are devoted to the service of Ceres or Demeter, Fro and Frowa stand in close union with Nerthus, Fro's godhead seems to hold a middle place between the notion of the supreme lord and that of a being who brings about love and fruitfulness. He has Wuotan's creative quality, but performs no deeds of war ; horse and sword he gives away, when consumed with longing for the fair GerSr, as is sung in one of the most glorious lays of the Edda. Snorri says, rain and sunsliine are in the gift of Freyr (as elsewhere of AVuotan and Donar, pp. 157. 175) ; he is invoked for fertility of the soil and iov peace {til drs oc fricfar, Sn. 28 ; conf. Yngl. saga cap. 12). The Swedes revered him as one of their chief gods, and Adam of Bremen says that at Upsal his statue stood by those of Thor and Wodan (see SuppL). Also in Stem. 85^ he is named next to OSinn and Thorr (asabragr) as the third god. Adam calls him Fricco^ which is precisely parallel to the frequent confusion of the two goddesses- Freyja and Frigg, which I shall deal with at a future time. But he paints him as a o^od of peace and love: Tertius est Fricco, pacem voluptatemque largiens mortalibus, cujus etiam simulaclnaim fingunt inycnti

1 Which occurs elsewhere as a man's name, e.g., Friccheo in Schannat, Trad. fiUd. 386.

FRO. 213

priajjo ;^ si niiptiae celebrandae sunt, (sacrificia offcrunt) Fricconi. Then there is the story, harmonizing with this, though related from the christian point of view and to the heathen god's detriment, of Freys statue being carried round the country in a waf/r/on, and of his beautiful young priestess, Fornm. sog. 2, 73-8. This progress takes place, ' ]?a er hann skal gera monnum drbot' when he shall make for men year's boot ; the people flock to meet the car, and bring their offerings, then the weather clears up and men look for a fruitful year. The offerings are those which Saxo,p. 15, names Frohlut ; live animals w^ere presented, particularly oxen (Vigagl. saga, p. 56. Islend. sog. 2, 348), which seems to explain why Freyr is reckoned among the poetic names for an ox, Sn. 221^; in like manner, horses w^ere consecrated to him, such a one was called Frcyfaxi and accounted holy, Vatnsd. p. 140 ; and human victims fell to him in Sweden, Saxo Gram. 42. Freyr possessed a hoar named Gulliribursti, whose ' golden bristles ' lighted up the night like day, who ran with the speed of a horse and drew the deity's car, Sn 66. 132. It is therefore in Frey's worship that the atonevient-boar is sacrificed (p. 51) f in Sweden cakes in the shape of a hoar are baked on Yule-eve. — And here we come upon a good many relics of the service once done to the god, even outside of Scandinavia. We hear of the clean gold-liog {-ferch, whence dimin. farrow) in the popular customs of the Wetterau and Thuringia (p. 51). In the Mid. Dutch poem of Lantslot ende Sandrin, v. 374, a knight says to his maiden : ' ic heb u liever dan en everswtn, al waert van Jlnen goude glicwraclitl I hold you dearer than a boar- swine, all were it of fine gold y- wrought ; were they still in the habit of making gold jewels in the shape of boars ? at least the remembrance of such a thing was not yet lost. Fro and his boar may also have had a hand in a superstition of Gelderland, which however puts a famous hero in the place of the god : Derh met den

1 With priapns TTpiairos I would identify the ON. friof semen, friofr foecimdus ; conf. (Jotli. fraiv, seed. The stutement of Aduimis Bremensis hmks better, since Wolf in Ids Wodana xxi. xxii. xxiii brought to light the festivals and images of Priapns or Ters at a late period in the Netherlands. This ters is the AS. tmrs, OHG. zers, and Herbort 4054 is shy of uttering the name Xerses. Phallus-worship, so widely spread among tlie nations of anti([uity, must have arisen out of an innocent veneration of the generative i)rinciph', which a later age, conscious of its sins, prudishly avoided. After all is said, there is an inkling of the same in Phol too and the avoidance of his name (ch. XI), though I do not venture exactly to identify him with (fxiWos.

^ Not only Demeter, but Zeus received loar-ojj'erings, II, 19, 197. '2ol.

214 FRO.

leer (Theoderic, Derrick with the boar) goes his round on Christmas- eve night, and people are careful to get all implements of Imsbandry within doors, else the boar will trample them about, and make them unfit for use.^ In the same Christmas season, dame Holda or Berhta sallied out, and looked after the ploiiffhs and spindles, motherly goddesses instead of the god, Frouwa instead of Fro. With this again are connected the formae aprorum worn as charms by the remote Aestyans, who yet have the ' ritus habitusque Suevorum'. Tacitus Germ. 45 says, these figures represent the worship of the 'mater deum,' of a female Fro, i.e.,oi Freyja ; and, what is conclusive on this point, the Edda (Sajm. 114=^) assigns the Gullinlursti to Freyja, though elsewhere he belongs to Freyr (see Suppl.). — Anglo-Saxon poetry, above all, makes mention of these hoar-hadges, these gold swine. When Constantine sees a vision in his sleep, he is said to be eoforcumUe bejjeaht (apri signo tectus), El. 76 ; it must have been fastened as an auspicious omen over the head of the bed. Afterwards again, in the description of Elenc's stately progress to the east : >a3r wa?s on eorle eSgesyne grimhelm manig, cenlic eoforcumbul (tunc in duce apparuit horrida cassis, ex- cellens apri forma). El. 260. The poet is describing a decoration of the old heathen time, cumbul is the helmet's crest, and the king's helmet appears to be adorned with the image of a boar. Several passages in Beowulf place the matter beyond a doubt: eoforlic scionon ofer hleor beran gehroden golde, fah and fyrheard ferhwearde heold (apri formam videbantur supra genas gerere auro comptam, quae varia igneque durata vitam tuebatur), 605 ; het ])& inberan eofor hedfodsegn, heaSosteapne helm (jussit afferri aprum, capitis signum, galeam in pugna prominentem), 4300 ; swin ofer helme (sus supra galea), 2574; swin ealgylden, eofor irenheard (sus aureus, aper instar ferri durus), 2216, i.e., a helmet placed on the funeral pile as a costly jewel ; helm befongen Fredwrdsomm (= OHG. Fro- reisanum), swa hine fyrndagum worhte wsepna smiS, besette s%oi7i- licum, Jjffit hine siSJ^an no brond ne beadomecas bitan ne meahtan (galea ornata Frohonis signis, sicut earn olim fabricaverat armorum •faber, circumdederat earn apri formis, ne gladius ensesve laedere eam possent), 2905 ; as a sacred divine symbol, it was to protect in

1 Staring, in the journal Mnemosyne, Leyden 1829. 1, 323 ; quoted thence in Westendorp's Noordsche mythulogie, Dordrecht 1830. p. 495.

FRO. 215

battle and affright the foe.^ The OHG. proper name Epurhelm, Eimrhelm (eber, eofor, aper), placed by the side of Frohelm (both occur in the Trad, patav. no. 20; MB. 28^, 18) acquires thus a special and appro2)riate meaning. Such boar-crests might still serve as ornaments even to christian heroes, after the memory of Fro was obliterated, and long continue to be wrought simply as jewels (see Suppl.). — Some other traces of boar consecration have lasted still later, especially in England. The custom of the boar-voiv I have explained in RA. 900-1. As even at the present day on festive occasions a wild boar's head is seen among the other dishes as a show-dish, they used in the Mid. Ages to serve it up at banquets, garnished with laurel and rosemary, to carry it about and play all manner of pranks with it : ' Where stood a hoars head garnished With bayes and rosemarye,' says one ballad about Arthur's Table ; when three strokes have been given with a rod over it, it is only the knife of a virtuous man that can carve the first slice. At other times, even a live boar makes its appearance in the hall, and a bold hero chops its head off. At Oxford they exhibit a hoars head on Christmas day, carry it solemnly round, singing: Caput apri defero, Reddens laudes Domino (see Suppl.). Those Aestyans may prove a link of fellowship between the Germanic nations and the Finnish and Asiatic ; it is well worth noticing, that the Tcherkass (Circas- sians) worship a god of woods and hunting, Mesitch by name, who rides a wild hoar ivith (/olden bristles} To most of the other gods tame animals are sacred, to Fro the daring dauntless boar, as well befits a god of the chase. Perhaps also a huge hoar with white tusks,^ who in Slavic legend rises foaming out of a lake, is that of a kindred deity.

The Edda attributes to Freyr a sivord of surpassing virtue, which could put itself into motion against the brood of giants, Stem. 82. His giving it away when in straits, proved his ruin afterwards ; it was held to be the cause of his death, when at the Ragnarokr he had to stand single combat with Surtr (swart), and missed his

» On this point again, the statement of Tacitus about the Aestyans agrees so exactly, that it seems wortli (juoting in full : Aestyorum gentes. . . . quibus ritus habitusque Suevorum. . . ]\Iatreni deum venerantur :

insigne superstitionis, formas aprorum gestant ; id pro armis omniumque tutela securum deae cultorem etiam inter hostes praestut. — Trans.

• Erman's archiv fur wissenschaltl. kunde Kusshxnds 1842, heft 1, p. 118.

3 AfvKov odovra, 11. II, 41G. avs XtvKco uSupti, Od. 19. 405,

216 FRO.

trusty blade. Sn. 73. There appear to have been other traditions also afloat about this sword f- and it would not seem far-fetched, if on the strength of it we placed the well-known trilogy of ' Thunar, Wodan, Saxnot ' beside Adam of Bremen's ' Wodan, Thor and Fricco ' or the Eddie ' OSinn, Asabragr, Freyr/^ that is to say, if we took Freyr, Fricco = Fro to be the same as Sahsnot the sword- possessor. Add to this, tliat the Edda never mentions the sword of Tyr. Nevertheless there are stronger reasons in favour of Sahsnoz being Zio : this for one, that he was a son of Wuotan, whereas Freyr comes of NiorSr, though some genealogies to be presently mentioned bring him into connexion with Woden.

For the brilliant Freyr, the beneficent son of NiorSr, the dwarfs had constructed a wonderful ship SkiSblaSnir, which could fold up like a cloth, Sam. 45^ Sn. 48. Yngl. saga cap. 7 (see Suppl.).3

Besides the Swedes, the Thrtendir in Norway were devoted to Freyr above all other gods, Fornm. sog. 10, 312. Occasionally priests of his are named, as ThorSr Freys goffi (of the lOtli century), Landn. 4, 10 and Nialss. cap. 96 ; Flosi appears to have succeeded his father in the office ; other FreysgycFlingar are cited in Landn. 4, 13. The Vigaglumssaga cap. 19 mentions Freys liof at Upsala, and cap. 26 his statue at Thvera in Iceland, though only in a night- vision : he is pictured sitting on a chair, giving short and surly (stutt ok reiSuliga) answers to his supplicants, so that Glumr, who in cap. 9 had sacrificed an old ox to him, now on awaking from his dream neglected his service. In the Landn. 3, 2 and Vatnsd. pp. 44. 50 we are told of a Freyr giorr af silfri (made of silver), which was used in drawing lots ; conf Verlauffs note, p. 362. In the Landn. 4, 7 is preserved the usual formula for an oath : Hialpi mer sva Freyr ok JVidrcFr ok hinn almdttki as (so help me F. and N". and that almighty as) I by which last is to be understood Thorr rather

^ In old French poetry I find a famous sword wrought by Galant himself (Wielant, Wayland), and named Froberge or Floberge (Garin ], 263. 2, 30-8) ; the L^itter reading has no discoverable sense, though onr hiter Fhxmberge seems to have sprung from it. Froberge niiglit very well be either a mere fro-bergende (lord-protecting) weapon, or a reminiscence of the god Fro's sword ; conf. the word-formations quoted in my Gramm. 2, 486. There are townships called in OHG. Helidberga, Marahaberga (horse-stable). The ON. has no Freybiorg that I know of, though it has Thorbibrg fem., and Thorbergr niasc.

2 Also in Sn. 131, OiSinn, Thorr, Freyr are speakers of doom.

3 Pliny N. H. 5, 9 mentions Ethiopian ' naves plicatiles humeris translatas.'

KIKDU. 217

tlian OSinn, for in the Egilssaga p. 3G5, Frcijr, Niorffr and the laiidds ' (Thorr) are likewise mentioned together. In tlie same Egilss. p. G72, Fi'cyr ok Niordr are again placed side by side. The story of the Brisinga-men (-monile ; append, to Sn. 354) says, OSinn had appointed both Freyr and Morcfr to be sacrificial gods. Hall- frec5r sang (Fornm. sog. 2, 53, conf. 12, 49) :

]\Ier skyli Freyr oc Frcyja, fiarcS loet ek aSul XiarSar, liknist grom vi5 Grimni gramr ok Thorr enn rammi !

That Freyr in these passages should be brought forward with Freyja and NiorCr, is easy to understand (see SuppL).

Of Niur&r our German mythology would have nothing to tell, any more than Saxo Gram, ever mentions him by that name, had not Tacitus put in for us that happy touch of a goddess jS'eiihns, whose identity with the god is as obvious as that of Fro with Frouwa. The Gothic form Nairpus would do for either or even for both sexes ; possibly Fravija was considered the son of the goddess NairJ)us, as Freyr is of the god NiorSr, and in the circuit which the goddess makes in her car, publishing peace and fertility to mortals, we can recognise that of Freyr or of his father XiorSr. According to Yngl. saga cap. 11, these very bless- ings were believed to proceed from NiorSr also : ' auSigT seni NiorSr ' (rich as N.) was a proverbial saying for a wealtliy man, Vatnsd. p. 202. Snorri, in Formali 10, identifies him with Saturn, for he instructed mankind in vine-dressing and husbandry ; it would be nearer the mark to think of him and Freyr in connexion with Dionysus or Liber, or even with Noah, if any stress is to be laid on NiorS's abode being in Noatun. As ' freyr ' was affixed to other names of heroes (p. 211-2), I find geirniorffr used for a hero in general, Siem. 266^ ; conf. geirmimir, geirniflungr, &c. The name itself is hard to explain ; is it akin to north, AS. norS, ON". norSr, Goth. naur])s ? In Sa3m. 109^ there is niarSlas for sera firma, or pensilis ? I have met with no Nirdu, Nerd, Nird among OHG. proper names, nor with a NeorS in the AS. writings. Irminon's polyptych 22 2** has Narthildis (see Suppl.).

Niorffr appears to have been greatly honoured : hofum oc horgum hann raiSr hundmorgum, Siem. 30=^ ; esj)ecially, no doubt, among people that lived on the sea coast. The Edda makes him rule over wind, sea and fire, he loves waters and lakes, as Nertlius in Tacitus bathes in the lake (Sn. 27) ; from the mountains of the

218 FRO.

midland he longs to be away where the swans sing on the cool shore ; a water-plant, the spongia marina, bears the name of Niar&ar vdttr, NiorS's glove, which elsewhere was very likely passed on to his daughter Freyja, and so to Mary, for some kinds of orchis too, from their hand-shaped root, are called Mary's hand, lady-hand, god's hand (Dan. gudshaand).

As Dionysus stands outside the ring of the twelve Olympian gods, so MorSr, Freyr and Freyja seem by rights not to have been reckoned among the Ases, though they are marshalled among them in Sn. 27-8. They were Vanir, and therefore, according to the view of the elder Edda, different from Ases ; as these dwelt in AsgarS, so did the Vanir in Vanaheim, the Alfar in Alfheim, the lotnar in lotunheim. Freyr is called Vaningi, Sa;m. 86^. The Vanir were regarded as intelligent and wise, Saim. 36* ; and they entered into intimate fellowship with the Asen, while the Alfs and lotuns always remained opposed to them. Some have fancied that the Alfs and lotuns stand for Celtic races, and the Vanir for Slav; and building chiefly on an attempt in the Yngl. saga cap. 1 to find the name of the Tanais in Tanaqvisl (or Vana- qvisl !), they have drawn by inference an actual boundary-line between Aesir and Vanir = Germani and Slavi in the regions formerly occupied by them (see Suppl.). And sure enough a Eussian is to this day called in Finnish Wenailainen, in Esth. Wennelane ; even the name of the Wends might be dragged in, though the Vandili of Tacitus point the other way. Granting that there may be some foundation for these views, still to my mind the conceptions of Aesir, Vanir, Alfar in the Edda are sketched on a ground altogether too mythical for any historical meaning to be got out of them ; as regards the contrast between Ases and Vanir, I am aware of no essential difference in the cultus of the several gods ; and, whatever stress it may be right to lay on the fact that Froiiwa, Freyja answers to a Slavic goddess Priye, it does not at all follow that Fro, Frouwa and Nerthus were in a less degree Germanic deities than the rest. Tacitus is silent on the German Liber, as he is on our Jupiter, yet we are entitled to assume a universal veneration of Donar, even though the Gothic fai'rguni is better represented in Perkunas or Perun ; so also, to judge by what clues we have, Frauja, Fro, Freyr appears so firmly established, that, considering the scanty information we have about our

FRO. 219

antiquities, no German race can be denied a sliare in liini, tliougli some nations may have worshipped liim more than others; and even that is not easy to ascertain, except in Scandinavia.^

It is worthy of notice, that the AS. and ON. genealogies brino' Fred into kinship witli Wuden, making Finn the father of a Frealaf (P'riGleifr), and him again of Woden ; some of them insert two more links, FriSuwulf and FriSuwald, so that the complete pedigree stands thus : Finn, Fri&uwulf, Frcdldf, Fri&awald, Wdclen (or, in the place of Frealaf, our old acquaintance Freawine). Here evidently FriSuwulf, Frealaf, FriSuwald are all the same thing, a mere expansion of the simple Fred. This follows even from a quite different OX. genealogy, Fornald. sog. 2, 12, which makes Burr (= Finn; conf. Eask, afh. 1, 107-8) the immediate progenitor of OSinn, and him of Freyr, NiorSr and a second Freyr. The double Freyr corresponds to the AS. FriSuwulf and FriSuwald, as the words here expressing glad, free and fair are near of kin to one another. Lastly, when the same AS. genealogies by turns call Finn's father Godwulf and Folcimld, this last name is supported by tlie 'Fin Folcwalding' (-ing = son) of Cod. exon. 320, 10 and of Beow. 2172, where again the reference must be to Frea and his race, for the Edda (Siem. 87% conf. 10=^) designates Freyr ' folcvcddi (al. folcvaldr) goSa'. Now this folkvaldi means no other than dominator, princeps, i.e. the same as frea, fr6, and seems, like it, to pass into a proper name. On the linking of Freyr and NiorSr with OSinn, there will be more to say in ch. XV (see Suppl.). If Snorri's comparison of NiorSr with Kronos (Saturn) have any justification, evidently Poseidon (Neptune) the son of Kronos would come nearer to our Teutonic sea-god; and IloaeiScov might be referred to iroacs (lord, Lith. pats, Sansk. patis, Gotli. faj^s), which means the same as Fro. Only then both Fro and Nirdu would again belong to the eldest race of gods.

Wh. Miiller, Nibehingensage pp. 136—148, wishes to extend the Vanir gods only to the Siieves and Goths, not to the western Germans, and to draw a distinction between the worship of Freyr and tliat of "Wiiotan, wliicli to me looks very dou)tful. As little can I give up the point, that Nior^r and Nerthus were brother and sister, and joint parents of Freyr and Freyja ; this is grounded not only on a later re])resentuti(jn of Snorri in the Yngl. saga cap. 4, where yet the female NidrS is nowhere named, as Tacitus conversely knows only a female Nerthus and no god of that name ; but also on tSu'm. 65» : ' vi(5 svstor thiuni gaztu slikan niog,' with thy sister begattest thcu such brood, though here again the sister is left muiamed.

CHAPTEE XI.

PALTAR (BALDER).

The myth of Balder, one of the most ingenious and beautiful in the Edda, has happily for us been also handed down in a later form witli variations : and there is no better example of fluctuations in a god-myth. The Edda sets forth, how the pure blameless deity is struck with Mistiltein by the blind HoSr, and must go down to the nether world, bewailed by all ; nothing can fetch him back, and Nanna the true wife follows him in death. In Saxo, all is pitched in a lower key : Balder and Hother are rival suitors, both wooing Nanna, and Hother the favoured one manages to procure a magic sword, by which alone his enemy is vulnerable ; when the fortune of war has wavered Ions; between them, Hother is at last victorious and slays the demigod, to whom Hel, glad at the near prospect of possessing him, shews herself beforehand. But here the grand funeral pile is prepared for Gelder, a companion of Balder, of whom the account in the Edda knows nothing whatever. The worship of the god is attested chiefly by the Fri5']?iofssaga, v, Eornald. sog. 2, 63 seq. (see Suppl.).

Baldr, gen. Baldrs, reajDpears in the OHG. proper name Paltar (in Meichelbeck no. 450. 460. 611) ;^ and in the AS. Icaldor, haldor, signifying a lord, prince, king, and seemingly used only with a gen. pi. before it : gumena baldor, Caidm. 163, 4. wigeua baldor, Jud. 132, 47. sinca bealdor, Beow. 4852. winia bealdor 5130. It is remarkable that in the Cod. exon. 276,18 mtegSa bealdor (virginum princeps) is said even of a maiden. I know of only a few examples in the ON. : baldur t brynju, Ssem. 272^ and herbaldr 218'' are used for a hero in general ; atgeirs baldr (lanceae vir), Fornm. sog. 5, 307. This conversion from a proper name to a noun appellative

1 Graff 1, 432 tliinks this name stands for Paltaro, and is a compoiuul of aro (aar, aquila), bnt this is nnsujiported by analogy ; in tlie ninth and tenth centuries, weak forms are not yet curtailed, and we always find Epiu-aro (.eberaar, boar-eagle), never Epurar.

PALTAR. 221

exactly reminds us of fniuja, iVu, fred, and the OTsT. ty*r. As bealdor is already extinct in AS. prose, our proper name Paltar seems likewise to have died out early ; heathen songs in OHG. may have knuwn a paltar = princeps. Such Gothic forms as Baldrs, gen. Ualdris, and baldrs (princeps), may fairly be assumed.^

This Baldrs would in strictness appear to have no connexion with the Goth, bal|7s (bold, audax), nor Paltar with the OHG. paid, nor Baldr with the ON. ballr. As a rule, the Gothic Id is represented by ON. Id and OHG. It: the Gothic 1> by ON. 11 and OHG. ld.2 But the OS. and AS. have Id in both cases, and even in Gothic, ON. and OHG. a root will sometimes appear in both forms in the same lan- guage;^ so that a close connexion between bal]9s and Baldrs,* paid and Paltar, is possible after all. On mythological grounds it is even probable : Balder's wife Nanna is also the bold one, from nenna to dare ; in Gothic she would have been Nanjjo from nan];jan, in OHG. Naiuld from gi-nendan. The Baldr of the Edda may not distinguish himself by bold deeds, but in Saxo he lights most valiantly ; and neither of these naiTatives pretends to give a complete account of his life. Perhaps the Gothic Bedtime (Jor- nandes 5, 29) traced their origin to a divine Bal];s or Baldrs (see Suppl.).

Yet even this meaning of the ' bold ' god or hero migiit be a later one : the Lith. laltas and Lett, halts signify the white, the good ; and by the doctrine of consonant-change, baltas exactly answers to the Goth. bal];s and OHG. paid. Add to this, that the AS. genealogies call Woden's son not Bealdor, Baldor, but Bceldceg, Beldcg, which would lead us to expect an OHG. Paltac, a form that I confess I have nowhere read. But both dialects have plenty of other proper names compounded with da,'g and tac : OHG, Adaltac,

1 Balilr.^, Paltar, must be kept distinct from the compound Baldhcri (Scliannat no. 420. 448 j, Faldheri (Trad, patav. no. 35), AS. Baldhere. This Paldheri is the same as Paldachar (Trad, patav. no. 18).

^ Goth. kalds ) ( vilJKds hull:)S gi-d}?.

ON. kaldr }- but -J villr hollr guU.

OHG. chalt j ( wikli h.dd kokk

3 Conf. Gothic al]->an and a^rs aklis, also aldrs ; Goth, faljmn and OHG. faklan, afterwards faltan. As k def,'ent'rates into d, and d into t, any d put for k, or t for d, mai'ks a kiter form : the Goth, fadr stands for fakr, as we see by- pater [the AS. ' fieder, modor,' after a usur2)ation of 1000 years, must have given jdace to the truer ' father, mother' again]. In the ON. vakki pret. oUi, we must regard tlie 11 as older than tlie Id, in spite of tke Goth, valdan and OHG. waltan [soTne would prefer to call valda an archaism]. ■* Ualdr may be related to bal]?, as tir to ty, ajid zior to no.

222 PALTAR.

Alptac, Ingatac, Kertac, Helmtac, Hruodtac, Eegintac, Sigitac ; OS. Alacdag, Alfdag (Albdag, Pertz 1, 286), Hildidag, Liuddag, Osdag, Wulfdag ; AS. Wegdieg, Swefdieg ; even the ON", has the name Svipdagr. Now, either Bteldseg simply stands for Bealdor, and is synonymous with it (as e.^r., Eegintac with Eeginari, Sigitac with Sigar, Sigheri)^ ; or else we must recognise in the word dcc(j, dag, tac itself a personification, such as we found another root undergoing (p. 1 94-5) in the words div, divan, dina, dies ; and both alike would express a shining one, a white one, a god. Prefixing to this the Slavic Uel, hel, we have no need to take Bsldeeg as standing for Bealdor or anything else, Bcd-dmg itself is white-god, light-god, he that shines as sky and light and day, the kindly BiUhogh, Bel- hogh of the Slav system (see SuppL). It is in perfect accord with this explanation of Bsel-dseg, that the AS. tale of ancestry assigns to him a son Brond, of whom the Edda is silent, brond, brand, ON. brandr, signifying jubar, fax, titio. Bcneldteg therefore, as regards his name, would agree with Berhta, the bright goddess.

We have to consider a few more circumstances bearing on this point. Baldr's beauty is thus described in Sn. 26: ' Hann ersva /a-^rr &,litum ok hiartr svd at lysir af homwi, oc eittgras er sva hvitt, at iafnat er til Baldrs hrdr, ]7at er allra grasa hvitast oc ];ar eptir mattu marka bans fegurS ba38i a hari ok liki ' ; he is so fair of countenance and bright that he shines of himself, there is a grass so white that it is evened with Baldr's brows, it is of all grasses whitest, and thereby mayest thou mark his fairness both in hair and body. This plant, named Baldrsbrd after the god's white eyebrow,^ is either the anthemis cotula, still called Barhro in Sweden, Balsenshro, Ballensbm in Schonen, and Barhrogras in Denmark, or the matricaria maritima inodora, whi^h retains the original name in Iceland (see Suppl.).^ In Skane there is a Baldursbcrg, in the Ottingen country a Balder7i, and in the Vorarlberg, east of Bregenz, Baldcrschivang ; such names of places demand caution, as they may be taken from men, Baldar or Baldheri, I therefore withhold the mention of several more. But the heavenly abode of the god was called Brei&ablih, nom. pi. (Sa^m. 41'', Sn. 21-7), i.e. broad splendors,

1 The cases are hardly analogous : Bseld-opr/ and Regin-frtc. — Trans.

2 Homer emphasizes the dark brows ot Zeus and Hera, ocfipus Kvavia. Conf. XevKocppvt and Artemis XevKo(f)pvvT], white-browed Diana.

' Germ, names of the camomile : kuhauge, rindsauge, ochsenauge (ox-eye). Dalecarl. hvitet-oja (white eye), in Buhuslan hvita-piga (white girl).

HADU. 223

which may have reference to tlie streaks of the milky way ; a place near Letlira, not far from Eoeskild, is said to have borne the name of Brcdehlick} This very expression re-appears in a poem of the twelfth century, though not in reference to a dwelling-place, but to a host of snow-white steeds and heroes advancing over the battle- field : Do brahte Pietheriches vane zvencik dusint lossam in hreither Uiclcin uber lant, Eoth. 2635. In Wh. 381, 16 : ' daz bluot liber die Uiclce floz, si \vurdn almeistic rotgevar,' did the blood flow over the paths of the field, or over the shining silks ?

If BaMa-g and Brond reveal to us that the worship of Balder had a definite form of its own even outside of Scandinavia, we may conclude from the general diffusion of all the most essential proper names entering into the main plot of the myth there, that this myth as a whole was known to all Teutons. The goddess lid, as will be more fully shown in ch. XIII, answers to the Gothic im- personal noun halja, OHG. hella. Hoffr (ace. Ho(5, gen. HaSar, dat. HeSi), pictured as a blind god of tremendous strength (Sn. 31), who without malice discharges the fatal arrow at Baldr, is called Hotherus in Saxo, and implies a Goth. Hapus, AS. Hcaffo, OHG. Hadu, OFrank. Chado, of which we have still undoubted traces in proper names and poetic compounds. OHG. Hadupraht, Hadufuns, Hadupald, Hadufrid, Hadumar, Hadupurc, Hadulint, Haduwic (Hedwig), &c., forms which abut close on the Catumerus in Tacitus (Hadumar, Hadamar). In AS. poetry are still found the terms heaSorinc (vir egregius, nobilis), Credm. 103, 4 Beow. 737. 4927 ; heaSowelm (belli impetus, fervor), Coedm. 21, 14. 147, 8. Beow. 164. 5633; heaSoswat (sudor bellicus), Beow. 2919. 3211. 3334; heaSowa^d (vestis bellica), Beow. 78 ; heaSubyrne (lorica bellica), Cod. exon. 297, 7 ; heaSosigel and heaSogleam (egregium jubar). Cod. exon. 486, 17 and 438, 6; heaSolac (pugnae Indus), Beow. 1862. 3943 ; heaSogrim (atrocissimus), Beow. 1090. 5378 ; heaSosioc (pugna vulneratus), Beow. 5504 ; heaSosteap (celsus), Beow. 2490. 4301. In these words, except where the meaning is merely intensi- fied, the prevailing idea is plainly that of battle and strife, and tlie god or hero must have been thought of and honoured as a warrior. Therefore Ilapus, Hoffr, as well as Wuotan and Zio, expressed phenomena of war ; and he was imagined blind, because he dealt out at random good hap and ill (p. 207). — Then, beside Ho5r, we

» Suhm. crit. lii.st. 2, 63,

224 PALTAR.

have Hcrmodr interweaving himself in the thread of Balder's history ; he is dispatched to Hel, to demand his beloved brother back from the underworld. In Saxo he is already forgotten ; the AS. genealogy places its Hereinod' among Woden's ancestors, and names as his son either Sceldwa or the Sceaf renowned in story, whereas in the North he and Balder alike are the offspring of 06inn ; in the same way we saw (p. 219) Freyr taken for the father as well as the son of XiorSr. A later Heremod appears in Beow. 1795. 3417, but still in kinship with the old races ; he is perhaps that hero, named by the side of Sigmundr in Ssem. 113=^, to whom OSinn lends helm and hauberk. AS. title-deeds also contain the name; Kemb. 1, 232. 141 ; and in OHG. Hcrimuot, Hcrimaot, occurs very often (Graff 2, 699 anno 782, from MB. 7, 373. Neugart no. 170. 214. 244. 260. annis 809-22-30-34. Eied. no. 21 anno 821), but neither song nor story has a tale to tell of him (see Suppl.).

So much the more valuable are the revelations of the ilerseburg discovery ; not only are we fully assured now of a divine Balder in Germany, but there emerges again a long-forgotten mythus, and with it a new name unknown even to the North.

When, says the lay, Phol (Balder) and Wodan were one day ridino- in the forest, one foot of Balder's foal, ' demo Balderes volon,' was wrenched out of joint, whereupon the heavenly habitants bestowed their best pains on setting it right again, but neither Sinngund and Sunna, nor yet Frua and Folia could do any good, only Wodan the wizard himself could conjure and heal the limb (see Suppl.).

The whole incident is as little known to the Edda as to other Norse legends. Yet what was told in a heathen spell in Thuringia before the tenth century is still in its substance found lurking in conjuring formulas known to the country folk of Scotland and Denmark (conf. ch. XXXIII, Dislocation), except that they apply to Jesus what the heathen believed of Balder and Wodan. It is somewhat odd, that Cato (Dere rust. 160) should give, likewise for a dislocated limb, an Old Eoman or perhaps Sabine form of spell which is unintelligible to us, but in which a god is evidently invoked: Luxum si quod est, hac cantione sanum fiet. Harundinem prende tibi viridem pedes IV aut V longam, mediam diffinde, et duo homines teneant ad coxendices. Incipe cantare in alio S.F.

IIERIMUOT. PHOL. 225

motas vaeta claries dardaries astataries Dissunapiter ! usque duiii coeant. "What follows is nothing to our purpose.

The horse of Balder, lamed and checked on his journey, acquires a full meaning the moment we think of him as the god of light or day, whose stoppage and detention must give rise to serious mis- chief on the earth. Probably the story in its context could have informed us of this ; it was foreign to the jjurpose of the conjuring- spell.

The names of the four goddesses will be discussed in their proj)er place ; what concerns us here is, that Balder is called by a second and hitherto unheard-of name, Phol. The eye for our antiquities often merely wants opening: a noticing of the unnoticed has resulted in clear footprints of such a god being brought to oar hand, in several names of places.

In Bavaria there was a PJiolesamva, Fholesouioa, ten or twelve miles from Passau, which the Traditiones patavienses first mention in a document drawn up between 774 and 788 (MB. vol. 28, pars 2, p. 21, no. 2.3), and afterwards many later ones of the same district: it is the present village of Pfalsau. Its composition with anc quite fits in with the supposition of an old heathen worship. The gods were W'orsliipped not only on mountains, but on ' eas' inclosed by brooks and rivers, where fertile meadows yielded pasture, and forests shade. Such was the castum nemus of Nerthus in an msitZa Oceani, . such Fosetesland .with its willows and well-springs, of which more presently. • Baldrshagi (Balderi pascuum), mentioned in the FriS- J?iofssaga, was an enclosed sanctuary (griSastaSr), which none might damage. I find also that convents, for which time-hallowed vener- able sites were preferred, were often situated in * eas ' ; and of one nunnery the very word is used : ' in der megde ouioe^ in the maids' ea (Diut. 1, 357).^ The ON. mythology supplies us with several eas named after the loftiest gods : OSinsey (Odensee) in Fiineu, another O'Sinsc// (Onsoe) in Norway, Fornm. sog. 12, 33, and Thorse?/, 7, 234. 9, 17 ; Hlessc?/ (Lassoe) in the Kattegat, &c., &c. We do not know any OIIG. AVuotanesouwa, Donaresouwa, but Pholesouwa is equally to the point.

Very similar must have been PJiolcsjnant (MB. 9, 404 circ. 1138.

1 So tlie Old Bavarian convent of Chienisee was called ounu (]MB. 28% lO.'J an. 890), and afterwards the monastery there 'der herren wcrd,' and the nunnery 'der nunnen loerd'. Stat ' zo gottes ouwe' in Lisch. mekl. jb. 7, 227, from a fragment belonging to Bertholds Crane. Demantin 242.

15

226 PALTAR.

Pfalspiunt, 5, 399 anno 1290), now Pfalzpoint on the Altmiihl, between Eichstadt and Kipfenberg, in a considerable forest. Piunt means an enclosed field or garden ;^ and if an ea could be conse- crated to a god, so could a field. Graff 3, 342 has a place called Yra-wimpiunt, which, to judge by the circumstances, may with like reason be assigned to the goddess Frouwa; no doubt it also belongs to Bavaria (see Suppl.).

In the Fulda Traditions (Schannat p. 291, no. 85) occurs this remarkable passage : Widerolt comes tradidit sancto Bonifacio quicquid proprietatis habuit in Pholesbrunnen in provincia Thur- ingiae. To this Pholesbrunno, the village of Plmlsborn has the first claun, lymg not far from the Saale, equidistant from the towns Apolda, Dornburg and Suiza, and spelt in Mid. Age documents Phulsborn and Pfolczborn ; there is however another village, Fals- hrunn or Falsbronn, on the Ptauhe Eberach in the Franconian Steigerwald. Now Ffoleshrunno all the more plainly suggests a divinity (and that, Balder), as there are also Baldersbrunnen : a Baldebrunno has been produced from the Eifel mts, and from the PJiine Palatinate,^ and it has been shown that the form ought to be corrected into Baldershrunno as well as the modern Baldenhain to Baldershain (Zeitschr. f. d. alt. 2, 256) ; and Bellstadt in the Klingen district of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was formerly Baldersteti, Schannat dioec. Fuld. p. 244, anno 977 (see Suppl.). From the Norse mythus of Balder, as given by Saxo, we learn that Balder in the heat of battle opened a fountain for his languishing army : Victor Balderus, ut afflictum siti militem opportuni liquoris beneficio recrearet, novos humi laticcs terram altius rimatus aperuit, quorum erumpentes scatebras sitibundum agmen hianti passim ore captabat. Eorundem vestigia sempiterna firmata vocabulo, quamquam pristina admodum scaturigo desierit, nondum prorsus exolevisse creduntur. This spot is the present Baldershrdnd near Eoeskild (note to JMiiller's Saxo, p. 120). But the legend may be the same as old German legends, which at a later time placed to king Charles's account (p. 117, and infra, Furious host) that which heathendom had told of

1 A Salzburg doc. of the tenth cent., in Kleinniayrn p. 196 : Curtilem locum cum duobus pratis, quod piimti dicimus.

2 Conf. Schopflin's Alsat. dipl. no. 748, anno 1285 : in villa Baldeburne. A Westphal. doc. of 1203 (Falke trad. corb. p. 566) names a place Balderbroc, which might mean palus, campus Balderi.

PHOL. 227

Balder ; in that case the still surviving name has itself proved a fountain, whence the myth of Balder emerges anew.^

But the name of Phol is established more firmly still. A Heinricus de Flioling frequently appears in the Altacli records of the 13th century, MB. part 11, a Eapoto de PhoUngcn, Fhaling, in MB. 12, 56. GO ; this place is on the left bank of the Danube below Straubingen, between the two convents of Altacli. I doubt if the Polling in other records (and there are several Pollings in the Ammer country) can be the same word, as the aspirate is wanting and the liquid doubled. Pfullendorf or Follendorf near Gotha is in docs, of the 14th century Phulsdorf. A Pholcnheim in Schannat, Vind. lit. coll. 1, 48. 53. Not far from Scharzfeld, between the Harz mts and Thuringia, is an old village named Folde, called in early records and writings Polldi, Palidi, PalitJii, Pholidi (Gramm. 2, 248), the seat of a well-known convent, which again may have been founded on the site of a heathen sanctuary. If a connexion with the god can be established in this case, we at the same time gather from it the true value of the varying consonant in his name.

Of Phol so many interpretations crowd upon us, that we should be puzzled if they could all be made good. The Chaldaic hd or hcd seems to have been a mere title pertaining to several gods : bel:= Uranus, bel=Jupiter, bel=rMars. The Finnish palo means fire, the ON. hdl, AS. hael rogus, and the Slav, ydliti to burn, with which connect Lat. Pales and the Palilia. Of 2J^iaUus we have already spoken. We must first make sure of the sounds in our native names for a divinity of whom as yet we know nothing but the bare name (see Suppl.). On the question as to the sense of the word itself, I set aside the notion one might stumble on, that it is merely a fondling form of Paltar, Balder, for sucli forms invariably preserve the initial of the complete name ; we should expect Palzo, Balzo, but not Phol.2 Nor does the OHG. Ph seem here to be equivalent

1 Greek tradition tells of Herakles and Zeus : (jyaa-l rhv 'UpaKXea 8i\l/(i nore Karaxivra ev^aadai to Au irarpX 67rtSel|at aiir^ fiiKpav \ifiaba. 6 be fii] 6e\av avTuv KnTaTpv^eadaL, pl'^as Kepavvov avibu>K€ fiiKpav \i[3uba, fjv 6ea(Tdp(vos 6 HpaKXfjs KOL o"Ka//'as els to ifkovaiuiTepov iivoirjcTe (fiepeadai (Scholia in 11. 20, 74). This sprin,^' was Scamander, and the Xt/Sa? 'HpaKXijos may be si-t ]>y the side of Pf(jlesljruniio as well as Pt'olesouwa, Xi[:in8tou bcinj,' both mead and ea ; and does not the Grecian deniirjod's pyre kindled on Oeta snjrgcst that of Balder ?

• So I explain the proper name Folz from Folbreht, Folrat, Folmar, and the like ; it therefore stands apart from Phol. [The Suppl. ([tialities the sweep- injT assertion in the text ; it also takes notice of several other solutions, as ApoUu, PuUux, foal, &c.]

228 PALTAR.

to the ordinary F which corresponds to the Saxon F, but rather to he an aspirate which, answering to the Saxon tenuis P, represents an Old-Aryan media B. But we know that a Saxon initial P=:OHG. Ph is found almost exclusively in foreign words^ (porta, phorta ; putti, phuzi ; peda, pheit) ; it follows that for Phol, in case tlie Sax. form Pol is really made out, we must either look for such a foreign P, or as a rare exception, in which the law of consonant-change does assert itself, an Old- Aryan B. I incline to this last hypothesis, and connect Phol and Pol (wdiose o may very well have sprung from a) with the Celtic Bcal, Beul, Bel, Bdcnus, a divinity of light or fire, the Slav. BiUhogh, Belhogh (white-god), the adj. biel, bel (albus), Lith. baltas, which last with its extension T makes it pro- bable that Baeldseg and Baldr are of the same root, but have not undergone consonant-change. Phol and Paltar therefore are in their beginning one, but reveal to us two divergent historical develop- ments of the same. word, and a not unimportant difference in the mythology of the several Teutonic races.^

So far as we can see, the god was worshipped under the name of Phol chiefly by the Thuringians and Bavarians, i.e. according to ancient nomenclature the Hermunduri and Marcoriianni, yet they seem to have also known his other name Pultar or Balder, while

1 That is, really horrowed words, as port, paternal, palace, in which the Low Germ, makes no change (like that in tirth, father), anil therefore the High Germ, stands only one stage instead of two in advance oi Latin : I'forte, Pfalz, &c. Such words stand outside the rule of consonant-change. — Trans.

^ I have thus far gone on the assumption that Phol and Balder in the Merseberg spell designate one and the same divine being, which is strongly supported by the anak\gy I have pointed out between Pholesouwa and Baldishagi, Pholesbrunno and Baldrsbrunnr ; and his cultiis must have been very familiar to the people, for the ])oem to be able to name him by different names in suc- cession, without fear of being misunderstood. Else one might suppose by the names, that Phol and Balder were two different gods, and there would be plenty of room left for the question, who can possibly be meant by Phol ? If PH could here represent V = VV^, which is contrary to all analogy, and is almost put out of court by the persistent PH, PF in all those names of places ; then we might try the ON. Ullr, Ollerus in Saxo, p. 45, which (like nil, OHG. wolla, wool) would be in OHG. J-FoZ, so that ' Wol endi Wodan (UUr ok Ooinnj' made a perfect alliteration. And Ullr was connected with Baldr, who in Stem. 93* is called ' Ullar seti,' sib to U., Ulli cognatus (see SuppL). But the gen. would have to be Wolles, and that is contradicted by the invariably single L in Pholes. The same reason is conclusive against Wackernagel's proposal to take Fol for the god of fulness and plenty, by the side of the goddess Folia ; I think the weak form Folio would be demanded for it by an OHG. Pilnitis ; v. Haupts zeitschr. 2, 190. Still more does the internal consistency of the song itself require the identity of Phol and Balder ; it would be odd for Phol to be named at the beginning, and no further notice to be taken of liim.

rosiTE. 229

Baldaj, Bccldwg prevailed among the Saxons and "Westphalian.s, and the AS. bealdor had passed into a common noun. Now as tlie Bavarian p]or stood opposed to the Alamannic Zio, we ouglit to find out whether Phol was in like manner unknown to the Alamanns and the races most akin to them.^

Lastly, from eastern Germany we are transported to the north- west by a name appertaining closely to the Balder cultus, and again linking itself with the Edda. The Edda cites among the Ases a son of Baldr and Nanna, Forscti, who like his father dwelt in a shining hall Glitnir (glit, nitor, splendor, OHG. kliz) built of gold and silver, and who (as Baldr himself had been called the wisest, most eloquent and mildest god, whose verdicts are final, Sn. 27) passed among gods and men for tlie wisest of judges; he settled all disputed matters (Stem. 42^ Sn. 31. 103), and we are told no more about him (see Suppl.).

This Forseti is well entitled to be compared with the Frisian god Fosite, concerning whom some biographies composed in the ninth century gives us valuable information. The vita sancti Wilibrordi (f 739), written by the famous Alcuin (f 804), relates as follows, cap. 10 : Cum ergo plus verbi Dei praedicator iter agebat, pervenit in confinio Fresonum et Danorum ad quamdam insulam, quae a quodam deo suo Fosite ab accolis terrae Fositesland appella- tur, quia in ea ejusdem dei fana fuere constructa. qui locus a paganis in tanta veneratione habebatur, ut nil in ea, vel animalium ibi pascentium, vel aliarum quarumlibet rerum, gentilium quiscpunu tangcre audebat, nee etiam el f ante qui ibi ebulliebat aquam hauriic nisi taccns praesumebat. Quo cum vir Dei tempestate jactatus est, mansit ibidem aliquot dies, quousque sepositis tempestatibus opportunum navigandi tempus adveniret. sed parvipendens stultam

1 The inquiry, how far these names reach back into antiquity, is far from exhausted yet. 1 have called attention to the P/'oZgraben (-ditch), the P/((/liecke (-hedge, -fence), for which devil's dyke is elsewhere used ; then the raising of the whirlwind is ascribed in some parts to the devil, in others to Ilerodias [meaning H.'s daughter the dancer], in others again to Pfol. Eastern Hesse on the "\Verra has a ' very queer' name for the whirlwind, beginning with BuU- or Boil- ; and in the neighbouring Eichsleld Pulhineke is pronounced with shyness and reluctance (Miinchner gel. anz. 1842, p. 7Gli). A Kidduwitz ortlinance of the same district (."3, 327) contains the family name L'o///,sperg (Polesberc 0, Pfoylsperg. The spelling Pull, Boil, would agree witli the con- jecture hazarded "above, but I do not connect with this the idol Bid in the Harz, for Bielstein leads back to bilstein, i.e. beilstein. Scliniid's westerw. id. 145 hixa 'polkcktr, holkcker for spectre, bugbear (see Suppl.).

230 PALTAR.

loci illius religionem, vel fcrocissimurn regis animiim, qui violatores sacrorum illius atrocissima morte damnare solebat ; tres homines in eo fonte cum invocatione sanctae Trinitatis baptizavit. sed et animalia in ea terra pascentia in cibaria suis mactare praecepit. Quod pagani intuentes, arbitrabantur eos vel in furorem verti, vel ctiam veloci morte perire ; quos cum nil mali cernebant pati, stupore perterriti, regi tamen Eadbodo quod viderant factum retulerunt. Qui nimio furore succensus in sacerdotem Dei vivi siiorum injurias clcorum ulcisci cogitabat, et per tres dies semper tribus vicihus sortcs suo more mittehat, et nunquam damnatorum sors, Deo vero defendente suos, super servum Dei aut aliquem ex suis cadere potuit ; nee nisi unus tantum ex sociis sorte monstratus martyrio coronatus est.— Eadbod feared king Pippin the Frank, and let the evangelist go unhurt.^ What Wilibrord had left unfinished, was accomplished some time after by another priest, as the vita sancti Liudgeri, composed by Altfrid (-f- 849), tells of the year 785 : Ipse vero (Liudgerus) .... studuit/a?ia destruere, et omnes erroris pristini abluere sordes. curavit quoque ulterius doctrinae derivare flumina, et consilio ab imperatore accepto, trans- fretavit in confinio Fresonum atque Danorum ad quandam insulam, quae a nomine dei sui falsi Fosde Fosctcslant est appellata .... Pervenientes autem ad eandem insulam, destruxerunt omnia ejus- dem Fosetis fana, quae illic fuere constructa, et pro eis Christi fabricaverunt ecclesias, cumque habitatores terrae illius fide Christi imbueret, baptizavit eos cum invocatione sanctae Trinitatis in fonte, qui ibi ebulliebat, in quo sanctus Willibrordus prius homines tres baptizaverat, a quo etiam fonte nemo prius haurire aquam nisi tacens praesumebat (Pertz 2, 410). — Altfrid evidently had the work of Alcuin by him. Prom that time the island took the name of helegland, Helgoland, which it bears to this day; here also the evangelists were careful to conserve, in the interest of Christianity, the sense of sacredness already attaching to the fiite. Adam ol Bremen, in his treatise De situ Daniae (Pertz 9, 3G9), describe, the island thus : Ordinavit (archiepiscopus episcopum) in Pinni (Fiihnen) Eilbertum, quem tradunt conversum (1. captum) a piratis Farriam insulam, quae in ostio fluminis Albiae longo secessu latet in oceano, primum reperisse constructoque monasterio in ea fecisse habitabilem. haec insula contra Hadeloam sita est. cujus longi-

^ Acta sanctor. Bene J., sec. 3. pars 1, p. 609.

FOSITE. 231

tudo vix VIII milliaria panditur, latitiido quatuor; liomincs stramine fragmentisque navium pro igne utuntur. Sermo est piratas, si quando 2^'>'acdam inch vd minimam tulcrint, aut mox pcrissc nau- fragio, aut occisos ah aliquo, nullum redisse indcmpnem ; quapropter Solent hercmitis ibi vivcntihus decimas praedarum offerre ciivi magna devotione. est enim feracissima frug-iim, ditissima volucrum et pecudum nutrix, coUem habet unicuin, arborem nullain, scopulis includitur asperrimis, nullo aditu nisi uno, ubi et aqua dulcis (the spring whence they drew water in silence), locus vcnerahilis omnibus nautis, praecipue vero piratis, unde nomen accepit ut Heiligeland dicatur. hanc in vita sancti Willebrordi Fosetisland appellari dicimus, quae sita est in confinio Danorum et Fresonum. sunt et aliae insulae contra Fresiam et Daniam, sed nulla earum tarn memo- rabilis. — The name Farria, appearing here for the first time, either arose from confounding the isle of Folir with Helgoland, or we must emend the passage, and read ' a piratis Farrianis.' By the customs of these mariners and vikings even of christian times, we may assure ourselves how holy the place was accounted in the heathen time (see Suppl.).

In an island lying between Denmark, Friesland and Saxony, we might expect to find a heathen god who was common to all three. It would be strange if the Frisian Fusite were unknown to the Norsemen ; and stranger still if the Eddie Forscti were a totally different god. It is true, one would have expected a mention of this deity in particular from Saxo Gram., who is quite silent about it ; but then he omits many others, and in his day Fosite's name may have died out amongst the Frisians.

There is some discrepancy between the two names, as was natural in the case of two nations : ON. Forscti gen. Forscta, Fris. Fosite gen. Fosites. The simplest supposition is, that from Forsite arose by assimilation Fossite, Fosite, or that the II dropt out, as in OHG. mosar for morsar, Low Germ, mosar; so in the Frisian Angeln, according to Hagerup p. 20, fost, foste = forste, primus. Besides, there is hardly any other way of explaining Fosite. In ON. forscti is praeses, princeps, apparently translatable into OHG. forasizo, a fitting name for the god who presides over judgment, and arranges all disputes. The Gothic fauragaggja bears almost the same sense, which I also find, even in much later writings, attached to our word vorgdnger (now = predecessor). More complete AS.

232 PALTAE.

genealogies would perhaps name a Forscta or Forsete as Baeldseg's son.^

Forseti, Fosite are a proof of the extent of Balder's worship. If we may infer from Pholesouwa and Baldrshagi that the god loved isles and ' eas,' Helgoland is a case iu point, where the flocks of his son grazed ; and so is perhaps the worship of the Hercules-pillars, which, following Tacitus, we might fix on some other island near it.^

1 Later writers have turned Fosete into a goddess Foseta, Phoseta, Fosta, to approximate her to the Roman Vesta ; maps of Helgoland, in which are found marked a ' templum Fostae vel Phosetae ' of tlie year 768, and a ' templuin Vestae' of 692, were made up in Major's Cimbrien (Plon, 1692), conf. Wiebel's programm iiber Helgoland, Hanib. 1842. The god Foste and Fosteland could easily find their way into the spurious Vita Suiberti cap. 7.

2 Another thought has struck my mind about Fosete. In the appendix to the Heldenbuch, Ecke, Vasat, Abentrot are styled brothers. The form Fasat instead of the usual Fasolt need not be a mistake ; there are several QHG. men's names in -at, and OS. in -ad, -id, so that Fasat and Fasolt can hold their ground side by side. Now Fasolt (conf. ch. XX. Storm) and Ecke were known as god-giants of wind and water, Abentrot as a da;mon of light. As Ecke-Oegir was worshipped on the Eider and in Lassoe, so might Fosite be in Helgoland. The connexion with i'^orse^i must not be let go, l)ut its meaning as For-seti, Fora-sizo becomes dubious, and I feel inclined to explain it as For.'-eti from fors [a whirling stream, ' force ' in Cmnbld], Dan. fos, and to assume a daemon of the whirlpool, a Fossegrimm (conf. ch. XVII. Nichus), with which Fosite' s sacred spring would tally. Again, the Heldenbuch gives those three brotliers a father Nentiger (for so we must read for Mentiger) = OHG. Nandgerj and

CHAPTER XIL

OTHEEGODS.

In addition to the gods treated of thus far, who could with perfect distinctness be pointed out m all or most of the Teutonic races, the Norse mythology enumerates a series of others, whose track will be harder to pursue, if it does not die out altogether. To a great extent they are those of wliom the North itself has little or nothin" to tell in later times.

1. (Heimdall.) Heim&allr, or in the later spelling Heimdallr, though no longer mentioned in Saxo, is, like Baldr, a bright and gracious god : hvitastr asa (whitest of ases, Siem. 72^),^ sverSas hvita, Sa?m. 90^ hviti as, Sn. 104 ; he guards the heavenly bridge (the rainbow), and dwells in Himinhiorj (the heavenly hills). The heim in the first part of his name agrees in sound with himinn ; ]iallr seems akin to J^oll, gen. ])allar (pinus), Swed. tall, Swiss dale, Engl, deal (Staid. 1, 259, conf. Sclim. 2, G03-4 on mantala), but ]?oll also means a river, Sn. 43, and Ereyja bears the by-name of MardoU, gen. Mardallar, Sn. 37. 154. All this remains dark to us. No proper name in the other Teutonic tongues answers to HeimSallr; but with Himiii- hiorg (Sffim. 41^ 92*') or the common noun himinfioll (Soem. 148* Yngl. saga cap. 39), we can connect the names of other hills : a Himiliiibcrg (mons coelius) havmted by sj)irits, in the vita S. Galli, Pertz 2, 10 ; Himclhcrc in Lichtenstein's frauend. 199, 10 ; a Iluni- h'shcrr/ in the Fulda country, Schannat Buchon. vet. 33 G ; several in

1 When this passaf^e says further, ' vissi hann vol fram, sem Vanir aiyrir,' liter. ' he Ibreknew well, like other Vanir,' his wisdoni is merely likened to that of the Vanir (Graium. 4, 456 on ander), it is not meant that he was one of them, a thin<,' never asserted anywhere [so in Homer, ' Greeks and otiiei- Trojans' means ' and Trojans as weU']. The Fornald. so^. 1, 373 calls him, I know not why, ' heimskastr allra asa,' heimskr usually signifying ignorant, a greenhorn, what the MHG. poets mean by tump.

234 OTHER GODS.

Ilesse (Kuclienb. anal. 11, 137) near Ibaand Waldkappel (Niederh. wochenbl. 1834 pp. 106, 2183); a Himmelsherg in Vestgotlaud, and one, alleged to be Heimdall's, in Halland. At the same time, Himinvdnrjar, Stem. 150% tlie OS. hebanwang, hebeneswang, a paradise (v. ch. XXV), tlie AS. Heofcnfcld coelestis campus, Beda p. 158, and tbe like names, some individual, some general, deserve to be studied, but yield as yet no safe conclusion about the god.

Other points about him savour almost of the fairy-tale : he is made out to be the son of nine mothers, giantesses, Seem. 118^■^ Sn. 106. Laxd. p. 392 ; he wants less sleep than a bird, sees a hundred miles off by night or day, and hears the grass grow on the ground and the wool on the sheep's back (Sn. 30).^ His horse is Gulltoppr, gold-tuft, and he himself has golden teeth,^ hence the by-names Gullintanni and Hallinski&i, * tennur HallinskiSa,' Fornm. sog. 1, 52. It is worthy of remark, that HallinskiSi and Heimdali are quoted among the names for the ram, Sn. 221.

As watchman and warder of the gods (vorSr goSa, Ssem. 41), Heimdali w4nds a powerful horn, Giallarlwrn, which is kept under a sacred tree, Ssem. 5^ 8^ Sn. 72-3. What the Voluspa imparts, must be of a high antiquity (see Suppl.).

Now at the very outset of that poem, all created beings great and small are called mcgir Heim&allar, sons or children of the god ; he appears therefore to have had a hand in the creation of the world, and of men, and to have played a more exalted part than is assigned to him afterwards. As, in addition to Wuotan, Zio pre- sided over war, and Fro over fruitfulness, so the creative faculty seems to have been divided between OSinn and HeimSallr.

A song of suggestive design in the Edda makes the first arrangement of mankind in classes proceed from the same Heim- ffallr, who traverses the world under the name of Mgr (see Suppl.). There is a much later German tradition, very prevalent in the last few centuries, which I have ventured to trace to this heathen one, its origin being difficult to explain otherwise,^ As for the name Bigr, it seems to me to have sprung, like dis from idis, by aphseresis from an older form, which I cannot precisely determine, but would connect with the MHG. Irinc, as in ON. an n before g or k often

1 Conf. KM. 3, 125.

2 Li diente cV oro, Pentam. 3, 1. Of a certain Haraldr : tennr voru miklor ok gulls litr a, Fornald. sog. 1, 366.

3 Zeitsclirift f. d. alt. 2, 257—267. Conf. ch. XIX.

HKIMDATL, BKAGI. 235

drops out (conf. stiiiga stack, ]?acka Jjanki), and, as will be shown later, Iringes straza, Iringes wee answers to a Swedish Eriksgata.^ The shining galaxy would suit extremely well the god who descends from heaven to earth, and whose habitation borders on Bifrost.

Norwegian names of places bear witness to his cultus : Hcim- dallarvattn, a lake in Guldbrandsdalen (GuSbrandsdalr), and Heimdallslmirj, a hill in Nummedalen (Naumudalr) ; neither is mentioned in the ON. sagas.

2. (Bragi, Bkego.)

Above any other god, one would like to see a more general veneration of the ON. Bragi revived, in whom was vested the gift of poetry and eloquence. He is called the best of all skalds, Soem. 46^ Sn. 45, frumsmiSr bragar (auctor poeseos), and poetry itself is hragrp' In honour of him the i>Va^afull or hragarivll was given (p. 60) ; the form appears to waver between bragi gen. braga, and bragr gen. bragar, at all events the latter stands in the phrase ' hragr karla ' = vir facundus, praestans, in ' asa hragr ' deorum princeps = Thorr (Stem. 85^ Sn. 21 1% but Bragi 211^), and even ' hragr qvenna ' femina praestantissima (Soem. 218^).^

Then a poet and king of old renown, distinct from the god, himself bore the name of Bragi hiim gamli, and his descendants were styled Bragningar. A minstrel was pictured to the mind as old and long-bearded, siSskeggi and skeggbragi, Sn. 105, which recalls OSinn with his long beard, the inventor of poetry (p. 146) , and Bragi is even said to be OSin's son, Sn. 105 (see Suppl.).

In the AS. poems there occurs, always in the nom. sing., the term hrcgo or hrcogo, in the sense of rex or princeps : bregostol in Beow. 4u87 and Andr. 209 is thronus regius; bregoweard in Cajdm. 140, 26. 166, 13 is princeps.* Now, as gen. plurals are attached to

1 Der ganimel Erih, gamiiiel Erlce (old E.), has now come to mean old Nick in Swedish ; conf. supra p. 124, on Erchtag.

^ Sa'm. 113'', of Otiiun : gel'r hann brag skaldom (dat carmen poetis).

^ Does not the Engl, hrag, Cierm. 'prahlen (gloriari) explain everything ? Showy high-llown speech would apply equally to boasting and to poetry. Then, for the other meaning, ' the boast, glory, master-piece (of men, gods, women, angels, bears),' we can cither go back to the more primitive sense (gloria) in prangen, priink, pi-add, bright, or still keep to brag. ' Beauty is nature's bmg, and must be shewn,' .says Comus.— Trans.

•• In Beda 4, 23 (Stevens, p. 304) a woman's name Bregosiiid, BregoswiS ; in Kemble 5,48 (anno 749) Bregesici&estdn, and 1, 133-4 (anno 762), 5, 46 (anno 747), 5, 59 (anno 798) a man's name Bregowine. In Beow. 3847 bregorof is clarissimus.

236 OTHER GODS.

it : brcgo engla, Cifdm. 12, 7. 60, 4. 62, 3 ; brego Dena, Beow. 8i8 ; ho&leSa brego, Beow. 3905 ; gimiena brego, Aiidr. 61 ; beorna brego, Andr. 305 (conf. brego moncynnes, Cod. exon. 457, 3) ; there grows up an instructive analogy to the above-mentioned * bragr karla,' and to the genitives similarly connected with the divine names Tyr, Fred and Bealdor (pp. 196, 211, 220). The AS. hrego equally seems to point to a veiled divinity, though the forms and vowel-relations do not exactly harmonize.^

Their disagi-eement rather provokes one to hunt up the root under which they could be reconciled : a verb briga brag would suit the purpose. The Saxon and Frisian languages, but not the Scandinavian or High German, possess an unexplained term for cerebrum : AS. bregen (like regen pluvia, therefore better written so than bra^gen), Engl, brain, Fris. brein. Low Sax. bregen ; I think it answers to the notions ' understanding, cleverness, eloquence, imitation,' and is connected with (l>pr']v, (pp€v6<i, -^pcop, -(ppovo<;. Now the ON. bragr, beside poesis, means also mos, gestus, and ' braga eftir einum ' referre aliquem gestu, imitari. OIIG. has nothing like it, nor any such proper name as Prako, Brago, Briigo.

But, as we detected among the Saxons a faint trace of the god or god's son, we may lay some stress on the fact that in an OS. document of 1006 Buniackcr occurs as the name of a place, v. Llinzel's Hildesheim, p. 124, conf. pref. v. (see Suppl.). Now Bragi and his wife ISunn dwelt in Brunnakr, Sn. 121% and she is called ' Brunnakrs beckjar gei'Sr,' Brunnakerinae sedis ornatrix, as Sk. Thorlacius interprets it (Spec. 6, pp. 65-6). A well or spring, for more than one reason, suits a god of poetry ; at the same time a name like ' springfield ' is so natural that it might arise without any reference to gods.

Bragi appears to have stood in some pretty close relation to

Ocgir, and if an analogy between them could be established, which

however is unsupported hitherto on other grounds, then by the

side of ' briga brag ' the root ' braga brog ' would present itself, and

the AS. broga (terror), OHG. pruoko, bruogo, be akin to it. The

connexion of Bragi with Oegir may be seen by Bragi appearing

prominently in the poem Oegisdrecka, and by his sitting next to

Oegir in Sn. 80, so that in intimate converse with him he brings

out stories of the gods, which are thence called Bragarwd'ur,

1 The Iri8h breitlieam, brethemb (judex) is said to be pronounced almost as ' brelion,' Trans, of Irish acad. 14, 1(57.

AKI, UOKI, OIT.IR. 237

speeclies of Bragi. It is with great propriety, no dcniht, that tliese narratives, during which Oegir often interrupts him witli questions (8n. 93), as Gangleri does Har when holding forth in the first part of the Edda, were put in the mouth of the patron of poetry.

3. Aki, Uoki (Oegir, Hler). Fifel, Geofon.

This Oegir, an older god of the giant kind, not ranked among the Ases, but holding peaceable intercourse with them, bears the name of the terrible, the awful. The root ' aga 6g ' had given birth to plenty of derivatives in our ancient speech: Goth, agis 06/3o9, 6g <f)o^eo/j,at, OHG, akiso, egiso, AS. egesa horror, OHG. aki, eki, AS. ege (ege ? awe) terror, ON", oegja terror! esse, which can only be spelt with oe, not te. To the proper name Oegir would correspond a Goth. ()geis, AS. I^ge, OHG. Uogi, instead of which I can only lay my hand on the weak form Uorjo, Oago. But oegir also signifies the sea itself : sol gengr i ceginn, the sun goes into the sea, sets ; cegi-sior pelagus is like the Goth, mari-siiivs ; the AS. eagor and egor (mare) is related to ege, as sigor to sige. I attach weight to tlie agreement of the Greek co/ceai/o'?, 'f2Keav6<i and 'fljijv, whence the Lat. oceanus, Oceanus was borrowed, but aequor (mare placi- dum) seems not cognate, being related to aequus, not to aqua and Goth, ahva (see Supi)l.).i

The boisterous element awakened awe, and the sense of a god's immediate presence. As "Woden was also called "VVoma (p. 144), and OSinn Orni and Yggr, so the AS. poets use the terms woma, sweg, bruga and egesa almost synonymously for ghostly and divine plienomena (Andr. and El. pp. xxx — xxxii). Oegir was therefore a highly appropriate name, and is in keeping with the notions of fear and horror developed on p. 207-8.

This interpretation is strikingly confirmed by other mythical conceptions. The Edda tells us of a fear-inspiring helmet, whose name is Oegishialmr : er oil qvikvendi brwSast at sia, Sn. 137 ; such a one did HreiCmar wear, and then Faihir when he lay on the gold and seemed the more terrible to all that looked upon him, Seem. 188=^; vera (to be) undir Oegishialmi, bera Oegishialm yUr

1 Oe</\v is also called Gymir, Spem. 59. GUmir, Sn. 125. 183 possilily epiilator i but I know no other meaning of the ON. .yaunir than ciira, attentio, thouL^h the OHG. goiinia, OS. goma means both ciua and cpulae, the AS. gyniing both cura and nuptiae.

238 OTHER GODS.

einum, means to inspire with fear or reverence, Laxd. saga, p. 130. Islend. scig. 2, 155 ; ek bar Oegisliialni yfir alia folki, Fornald. sog. 1, 162 ; hafa Oegisliialm i augum, ibid. 1, 406, denotes that terrible piercing look of the eyes, which others cannot stand, and the famous basilisk-glance, ormr i anga, was something similar.^ Now I find a clear trace of this Norse helmet in the OHG. man's name Egihelm (Trad. fuld. 1, 97 ; in Schannat no. 126, p. 286 Eggihelm), i.e. Ar/ihelni, identical with the strengthened-vowel form Uogihelm, which I am unable to produce. But in the Eckenlied itself Ecke's costly magic helmet, and elsewhere even Ortnit's and Dietrich's, are called Hildcgrim, Hildcgrin ; and the ON. grima mask or helmet (in fc'o3m. 51^ a name for night) has now turned up in a Fulda gloss, Dronke p. 15 : ' scenici = crimiln ' presupposes a sing. krimd larva, persona, galea ; so we can now understand KHmJiilt (Gramra. 1, 188) the name of a Walkurie armed with the helmet of terror, and ailso why ' daemon ' in another gloss is rendered by cgisgrimolt. The AS. egcsgrime is equally a mask, and in El. 260 the helmet that frightens by its figure of a boar is called a grim- helm. 1 venture to guess, that the wolf in our ancient apologue was imagined wearing such a helmet of dread, and hence his name of Isangrim, iron-mask, Eeinh. ccxlii (see Suppl.). Nor have we yet come to the end of fancies variously playing into one another : as the god's or hero's helmet awakened terror, so must his shield and sword ; and it looks significant, that a terrific sword fashioned by dwarfs should likewise be named in the two forms, viz. in the Vilkinasaga Eclcisax, in Veldek's Eneit Uokcsahs (not a letter may we alter), in the EckenUed Eckcn sahs, as Hildegrin was Ecken helm, Eckes helm. In the Greek atVtV I do not look for any verbal affinity, but this shield of Zev^ alymxo^ (H. 15, 310. 17, 593), wielded at times by Athena (2, 447. 5, 738) and Apollo (15, 229. 318. 361. 24, 20), spreads dismay around, like Oegishialmr, Hildegrim and Eckisahs ; Pluto's helmet too, which rendered invisible, may be called to mind, — That ancient god of sea, Oceanus and Oegir (see Suppl.), whose hall glittered with gold, Saem. 59,^

1 Fornm. sog. 9, 513 : gekk alvaldr unci Ygishiahni. The spelling with y goes to confirm our cc, and refute fe, as an y can only stand for the former, not ibr the latter ; conf. mor and the deriv. myri = moeri, Gramm. 1, 473.

• In the great feast which he gave to the gods, the ale came up of itself (sialft barsc J^ar ol, f^iem. 59), as Hephaistus's tripods ran avrondroi in and out of the 6eiou dycbva, II. 18, 376. Even so Freyr had a sword cr siaJft vegiz (tliat swings itself), Saan. 82*, and Thor's Miolnir comes back of itself everytime it is thrown.

AKI, UOKI, OEGIR, FIFEL, GEOFON, HLER. 239

would of all others wear the glittering helmet which takes its name from him. From all we can find, his name in OHG. must have been Aki or Uohi ; and it requires no great boldness to supi:)Ose that in the Ecke of our heroic legend, a giant all over, we see a precipitate of the heathen god. Ecke's mythical nature is confirmed by that of iiis brothers Fasolt and Abentrot, of whom more hereafter. As the Greek Okeanos has rivers given him for sons and daughters, the Norse Oegir has by Ean nine daughters, whose names the Edda apj)lies to waters and waves. We might expect to find that similar relations to the seagod were of old ascribed to our own rivers also, most of which were conceived of as female [and still bear feminine names].

And there is one such local name in which he may be clearly recognised. The Eider, a river which divides the Saxons from the Northmen, is called by the Frankish annalists in the eighth and ninth centuries Egidora, Agadora, Acgidora (Pertz 1, 355-70-86. 2, 620-31) ; -Helmold 1, 12. 50 spells Egdora. The ON. writers more plainly write Ocgisdyr (Fornm. sog. 11, 28. 31, conf. Geogr. of a Northman, ed. by Werlauff p. 15), i.e., ocean's door, sea-outlet, ostium, perhaps even here with a collateral sense of the awful. Again, a place called Oegisdyr is mentioned in Iceland, Landn. 5, 2, where we also find 3, 1 an Oegissid'a, latus oceani. Further, it comes out that by the AS. name Fl/cldor in Cod. exon. 321, 8 and by the Wieglesdor in Dietmar of Merseb. ad.ann. 975, p. 760 is meant the Eider again, still the aforesaid Oegisdyr ; while a various reading in Dietmar agrees with the annalist Saxo ad ann. 975 in giving Heggedor=z'E^^gQ&OT, Egidor. Now, seeing that elsewhere the AS. poems use Fifelstredm, Fifelwreg (Boeth. 26, 51. El. 237) for the ocean, and Fifelcynnes card (Beow. 208) for the land of the ocean-sprites, we may suppose Flfcl and its corruption Wicgcl to be another and an obsolete name of Oegir.

The same may hold good of the AS. Geofon, OS. Gelan, a being whose godhead is sufficiently manifest from the ON. Gefjun, who is reckoned among the Asynior, though she bore sons to a giant. The Saxon Gehan however was a god ; the Heliand shows only the compound Gebenesstrom 90, 7. 131, 22, but the AS. poets, in addition to Geofenes begang, Beow. 721, Geofenes staS, Ca^dm. 215, 8, and the less personal geofonhus (navis), Csedm. 79, 34, geofonflod. Cod. exon. 193, 21, have also a Geofon standing independently in

240 OTHER GODS.

the nom., Cfficlm. 206, 6, and gifen geotende, Beow. 3378. An OHG. Kepan is nowhere found, even in proper names, though Stiihlin 1, 598 gives a Gebencsvnlare. I know not whether to take for the root the verb giban to give, in which case Gibika (p. 137) and Wuotan's relation to Neptune (pp. 122, 148) would come in here ; or to look away to the Greek %iaji^ fem. Ij^lFoov, hib-ernus ?] and the notion of snow and ice giants.

And the North itself furnishes some names which are synony- mous with Oegir. In the Fundinn Noregr (Sn. 369. Fornald. sog. 2, 17) we read : Forniotr fitti 3 syni, hett einn Hler, er vcr kollum Ocgi (one hight Hler, whom we call Oegir), annarr Logi, Jnidji Kari (liask, afh. 1, 95 : Kari). Hler, gen. Hies, appears from this to have been the older name, in use among the giants, by which Oegir is spoken of in Sn. 79, and after which his dwelling-place was named Hles-cy (Sicm. 78'^ 159^ 243'^), now Liissoe in the Cattegat.

4. (Forniotr). Of this Hler I have nothing more to tell (see Suppl.), but his father Forniotr. has left a notable trace of himself behind ; he belongs even less than Oegir to the circle of Ases, being one of the older demonic giants, and proving that even these demigods or personified powers of nature must also have borne sway among the Teutonic races outside of Scandinavia. Forniotr is to be explained, not as for-niutr primus occupans, but rather as forn-iotr, the ancient lotr (Rask, afhand. 1, 78), a particularly apt expression for those giants, and closely connected witli iotunn itself, AS. eoton, as will be shown further on. Now in the AS. Liber medicinalis, from which Wanley, pp. 176 — 80 gives insufficient extracts, there is according to Lye's dictionary a plant of healing virtue spoken of (twice apparently, from the various spelling) by the name of Forneotcs folnic, Foriictcs folme {i.e. Forneoti manus). As none of the ON. writings allude to this herb, its name must be a remnant of the Saxon people's own mythology. In OHG. the giant may have been called Firnez, and the plant Firnezes folma. We remember how, in Beow. 1662, Grendel has torn off the hand of a water-sprite, and presents it as tacen of his victory, just as Tristan chops off the giant Urgan's hand, and takes it with him to certify the deed, 16055-65-85. The amputation of the huge giant-hand seems therefore part of an ancient myth, and to have been fitly

LOKI, GRENDEL, SATURN'. 241

retained in the name of a broad-leaved vegetable ; there is also a plant called deviVs-liancl, and in more than one legend the Evil one leaves the print of his hand on rocks and walls.

If these last allusions have led us away from the beneficent deities rather to hurtful demons and malignant spirits, we have here an easy transit to the only god whom the teaching of the Edda repre- sents as wicked and malevolent, though it still reckons him among the Ases.

5. (LoKi, Grendel), Saturn.

Lofji, as we have seen, was a second son of Forniotr, and the three brothers Hler, Logi, Kari on the whole seem to represent water, fire and air as elements. N"ow a striking narrative (Sn. 54. GO) places Logi by the side of Lohi, a being from the giant province beside a kinsman and companion of the gods. This is no mere play upon words, the two really signify the same tiling from different points of view , Logi the natural force of fire, and Loki, with a shifting of the sound, a shifting of the sense : of the burly giant has been made a sly seducing villain. The two may be compared to the Prometheus and the Hephajstus (Vulcan) of the Greeks ; Okeanos was a friend and kinsman of the former. But the two get mixed up. In Loki, sa er flestu iUu raeSr (Sn. 4G), who devises the most of ill, we see also the giant demon who, like Hephaestus, sets the gods a-laughing ; his limping reminds us of Hephsestus and the lame fire (N". Cap. 76), his chaining of Prometheus's, for Loki is put in chains like his son Fenrir. As Hephaestus forges the net for Ares and Aphrodite, Loki too prepares a net (Sn. 69), in which he is caught himself. Most salient of all is the analogy betw^een Hephaestus being hurled down from Olympus by Zeus (II. 1, 591-3) and the devil being cast out of heaven into hell by God (ch. XXXIII, Devil), though the Edda neither relates such a fall of Loki, nor sets him forth as a cunning smith and master of dwarfs , probably the stories of Loki and Logi were much fuller once. Loki's former fellowship with OSinn is clearly seen, both from Srem. 61^ and from the juxtaposition of three creative deities on their travels, Ocfinn, Hcenir, Locfr, Ssem. 3% instead of which w^e have also Offhm, Hmnir, Lohi, Sasm. 180, or in a different order O&inn, Loki, Hcenir, Sn. 80. 135 (conf. supra, p. 162). Tliis trilogy I do not venture to identify with that of Hler, Logi, Kari above, strikingly as OSinn corresponds to the U avi/ioio ; and though from the creating OSinn

16

242 OTHER GODS.

proceed breath and spirit (ond), as from Lod'r (blaze, glow) come blood and colour (la ok litr), the connexion of Hoenir, who imparts sense (6S), with water is not so clear: this Hcenir is one of the most unmanageable phenomena of the Norse mythology, and with lis in Germany he has vanished without leaving a trace. But the fire-god too, who according to that gradation of sounds ought either to be in Goth. Lauha and OHG. Loho, or in Goth. Luka and OHG. Locho, seems with the loss of his name to have come up again purely in the character of the later devil. He lasted longer in Scandinavia, and myths everywhere show how nearly Loki the ^s approaches Logi the giant. Thorlacius (spec. 7, 43) has proved that in the phrase ' Loki fer yfir akra ' (passes over the fields), and in the Danish ' Locke dricker vand ' (drinks water), fire and the burning sun are meant, just as we say the sun is drawing water, when he shines through in bright streaks between two clouds. Loka daun (Lokii odor) is Icelandic for the ignis fatuus exhaling brimstone (ibid. 44) ; Lokah^enna (Lokii incendium) for Sirius ; Loka spcenir are chips for firing. In the north of Jutland, a weed very noxious to cattle (polytrichum comm.) is called Lokkens havre, and there is a proverb ' Nu saaer Lokken sin havre,' now Locke sows his oats, i.e., the devil his tares ; the Danish lexicon translates Lokeshavre avena fatua, others make it the rhinanthus crista galli. When the fire crackles, they say ' Lokje smacks his children,' Faye p. 6. Molbech's Dial. lex. p. 330 says, the Jutland phrase ' Lokke saaer havre idag (to-day),' or what is equivalent ' Lokke driver idag med sine geder (drives out his goats),' is spoken of vapours that hang about the ground in the heat of the sun. When birds drop their feathers in moulting time, people say they ' gaae i Lokkis arri (pass under L.'s harrow ?) ' ; 'at hore paa Lockens eventyr (adventures) ' means to listen to lies or idle tales (P. Syv's gamle danske ordsprog 2, 72), According to Sjoborg's Nomenklatur, there is in Yestergotland a giant's grave named Lokchall. All of them conceptions well deserving notice, which linger to this day among the common people, and in which Loki is by turns taken for a bene- ficent and for a hurtful being, for sun, fire, giant or devil. Exactly the same sort of harm is in Germany ascribed to the devil, and the kindly god of light is thought of as a devastating flame (see Suppl.).

On this identity between Logi and Lold rests another vestige

LOKI, GKEXDEL, SxVTUKN. 243

of tlie Xorse da?mon, which is found among the other Teutonic races. If Logi comes from liuhan ^hicere), Loki will apparently fall to the root lukan (claudere, conf. claudus lame) ; the ON", lok means finis, consummatio, and loka repagulum, because a bolt or bar closes. In Beowulf we come upon an odious devilish spirit, a thyrs (Beow. 846) named Grcndel, and his mother, Grendeles modor (4232-74), a veritable devil's mother and giant's mother. An AS. document of 931 in Kemble 2, 172 mentions a place called Grcndlcs mere (Grendeli palus). Now the AS. grindel, OHG. h'intil, MHG. grintcl is precisely repagulum, pessulus ; so the name Grendel seems related to grindel (obex) in the same way as Loki to loka ; the ON. grind is a grating, which shuts one in like bolt and bar. Gervase of Tilbury (in Leibn. 1, 980) tells of an English fire- demon named Grant. It is very remarkable, that we Germans have still in use a third synonymous expression for a diabolic being, its meaning heightened no doubt by composition with' hell'; hdllric(jel vectis infernalis, hell-bar, a hell-brand, devil or the devil's own ; a shrewish old hag is styled hollriegel or the devil's grandmother ; and Hugo von Langenstein (Martina 4^^) already used this hcUcrigd as a term of abuse. Now hell was imagined as being tightly bolted and barred ; when Christ, says Fundgr. 1, 178, went down to Hades in the strength of a lion, he made ' die grintcl brechen'. Lastly, we may even connect the OHG. drcmil (pessulus, Graff 5, 531) with the ON. trami or tremill, which mean both cacodaemon and also, it seems, clathri, cancelli : ' tramar gneypa J?ik skulo ! ' Stem. 85°' ; and in tlie Swedish song of Torkar, troUtram is an epitliet of the devil who stole the hanmier. As this is the Thrymr of the Edda, one might guess that trami stands for jn-ami, with which our dremil would more exactly accord. Thus from several sides we see the mythical notions that prevailed on this subject joining hands, and the merging of Logi into Loki must be of high antiquity. Foersom (on Jutl. superstit. p. 32) alleges, that the devil is conceived of in the form of a liissetra, i.e., the pole with which a load is tied down. Beside Loki the as, Snorri sets another before ns in the Edda, UtfjarffaloJci, as a king whose arts and power deceive even godlike Thorr ; it was one of his household that outdid the other Loki himself, Sn. 54 seq.^ Saxo, who in the whole of his work

1 ' Tliorlacius's theory, of an older nature-worsliip supplanted by the Aso:=i, rests mainly on the antithesis of an Okul^urr to Asaf^orr, of Lo^'i to Loki, and probably of Hler to Oegir, each pair respectively standing for thunder, tire,

244 OTHEE GODS.

never once names the Eddie Lold, tells wonderful things of this ' Ugarthilocus,' pp. 163-6 : he .paints him as a gigantic semi-divine monster, who dwells in a distant land, is invoked in a storm like other gods, and grants his aid. A valiant hero, named Thorkill, brooks the adventurous journey to Ugarthilocus : all this is but legendary variation of the visit which, in Snorri, Thorr pays to UtgarSaloki. Still it is worth noticing, that Thorkill plucks out one of Ugarthilocus's huge spear-like hairs, and takes it home with him (Saxo 165-6). The titgarcPar were the uttermost borders of the habitable world, where antiquity fixed the abode of giants and monsters, i.e., hell ; and here also may have been present that notion of the bar, closing up as it were the entrance to that inaccessiljle region of ghosts and demons.

Whether in very early times there was also a Saxon Loico and an Alamannic Lohlio, or only a Grcndil and Krentil ; what is of capital importance is the agreement in tlie myths themselves. To what was cited above, I will here add something more. Our nursery -tales have made us familiar with the incident of the haii plucked off the devil as he lay asleep in his grandmother's lap (Kinderm. 29). The corresponding Norwegian tale makes three feathers be pulled out of the dragon's tail, not while he sleeps, but after he is dead.

Loki, in punishment of his misdeeds, is put in chains, like Prometheus who brought fire to men; but he is to be released again at the end of the world. One of his children, Fcnrir} i.e., himself in a second birth, pursues the moon in the shape of a ivolf, and threatens to swallow her. According to Sn, 12. 13, an old giantess in the forest gave birth to these giants in wolfskin girdles, the miglitiest of them being Mdnagarmr (lunae canis) who is to devour the moon ; but in another place, while Skoll chases the sun, Hati, Ilru&vitnis sonr (Stem. 45^^) dogs the moon. Probably tliere were fuller legends about them all, which were never written down ; an old Scotch story is still remembered about ' the tayl of

water. To the elder series must be added Sif= earth, and the mi'(5garL>sormr (world-snake). But what natiire-god can OiSiin have taken the phxce of? None? And was his being not one of the primeval ones 1 ' &c. [Quoted from Suppl., vol. iii.]

^ Goth. Fanareis ? OHG. Fanari, Feniri ? can it be our fahnentrager, pannifer '? But the early Norse does not seem to have the word answering to the Cloth, fana, OHG. fano (flag). [Has the fox holding up his tail as a standard, in the unrighteous war of beasts against birds, anything to do with

this?] ° o . . o

LOKI, GRENDEL, SA-TURN. 245

the wolfe and the warldis end' (see Suppl.). But the popular belief seems to have extended generally, and that from the earliest times, all over Germany, and beyond it. We still say, when baneful and perilous disturbances arise, ' the devil is broke loose/ as in the North they used to say ' Lohi er or bondum ' (ch. XXIII). In the Life of Goz von Berlichingen, p. 201 : ' the devil was every- where at large ' ; in Detmar's chronik 1, 298 : ' do was de duvcl los geworden,' i.e., disorder and violence prevailed. Of any one who threatened from a safe distance, the folk in Burgundy used the ironical phrase : ' Dieu garde la lune des loups ! '^ meaning, such threats would not be fulfilled till the end of the world ; in the same way the French popular song on Henry IV. expresses the far end of the future as the time when the wolf's teeth shall get at the moon : jusqu' a ce que Ton j:>?"c?i?ic la lune avec les dcnts.^ Fischart in several places speaks of this ' ivoJ/ dcs mons,' and most fully in his Aller practik grossmutter : ' derhalben dorft ihr nicht mehr fiir ihn betten, dass ihn Gott vor den vMfcn wolle hchutcn, denn sie werden ihn diss jahr nicht erhaschen ' (need not pray for the moon, they won't get her this year). ^ In several places there circulate among the people rhymes about the twelve hours, the last two being thus distinguished : ' um elfe kommen die ^volfc, um zwolfe bricht das gcivolhe' at 11 come the wolves, at 12 bursts the vault, i.e., death out of the vault. Can there be an echo in this of the old behef in the appearing of the wolf or wolves at the destruction of the world and the bursting of heaven's vault ? In a lighted candle, if a piece of the wick gets half detached and makes it burn away too fast, they say * a wolf (as well as thief) is in the candle ; ' this too is like the wolf devouring the sun or moon. Eclipses of sun or moon have been a terror to many heathen nations ; the incipient and increasing obscuration of the luminous orb marks for them the moment when the gaping jaws of the wolf threaten to devour it, and they think by loud cries to bring it succour (ch. XXII, Eclipses). The breaking loose of the wolf and the ultimate enlargement o( Loki from his chains, who at the time of the Ragnarokr will war against and overcome the gods, is in striking accord with the release of the chained Prometheus, by whom Zeus is then to be overthrown.

1 Lanionnaye, glossaire to the noei bourguignon, Dijon 1776, p. 242.

2 Conf. Ps. 72, 7 : donee auferetur luna.

3 May we in this connexion think of the fable of the wo^f who goes down the well to eat up the moon, which he takes fur a cheese I

246 OTHER GODS.

The formula, ' iinz Loki ver&'r lauss ' (=imz riufaz regin, till the gods be destroyed), answers exactly to the Greek irplv av eV heafiwv XaX-ciadr] UpofiT^devq (Aesch. Prom. 176. 770. 991) ; the writhings of the fettered Loki make the earth to quake (Siem. 69. Sn. 70), just as ')(9(siv a-ea-aXevrai in the case of Prometheus (Aesch. 1081). Only the Greek Titan excites our noblest sympathy, while the Edda presents Loki as a hateful monster.

Loki was fair in form, evil in disposition ; his father, a giant, was named Farhauti (boatman ?), his mother Lcmfey (]eaf-ea) and Ndl (needle ; thin and insinuating, mio ok auSJjreiflig, 355), all of them words easy to translate into OHG. as Farpozo (remex), Loupouwa, Nadala, though such names are nowhere found. He is never called Farbauta sonr, but always after his mother, Loki Laufeyjar sonr (Sffim. 07'' 72^ 73^), which had its origin in alliteration, but held its ground even in prose (Sn. 64) and in the Locke Loje, Loke Lovmand, Loke Lejemand of the later folk-songs. This Laufey (Swed. Lofo) is first of all the name of a place, which was personified, and here again there is doubtless reference to an element. By his wife Slgyn Loki had a son Nari or Narvi, and by a giantess Angrloda three children, the aforesaid Fcnrir, the serpent Idrm.unrjandr and a daughter Hd. It is worthy of notice, that he himself is also called Loirir (aiirius), and one of his brothers Hel- hlindi, which is likewise a name of 05inn. I just throw out these names, mostly foreign to our German mythology, in the hope of enlisting for them future inquiry.

Once again we must turn our attention to a name already brought forward among the gods of the week (pp. 125-6), for which a rare concurrence of isolated facts seems almost to secure a place in our native antiquities. The High German week leaves two days, one in the middle and one at the end, not named after gods. But sambaztag for Saturday, as well as mittwoch for Wuotanstag, was a sheer innovation, wdiich the church had achieved or gladly accepted for those two days at all events. The first six days were called after the sun, the moon, Zio, Wuotan, Donar and Fria : what god was entitled to have the naming of the seventh day ? Four German deities were available for Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, but how was Saturn to be put into German ? The Mid. Ages wxnt on explaining the seventh day by the Poman god : our Kaiserchronik,

LOKI, GRENDEL, SATUEN. 247

which even for the third, fourth, fifth and sixth days names no German gods, but only Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, expresses itself thus clumsily :

An dem sameztage sa Tlien on the Saturday

eiuez heizet rotunda, Is a thing named rotunda

daz was ein herez betehus, That was a lofty temple,

der got hiez Saturmls, The god was named Saturnus,

darnach was iz aller tiuvel §re. Thereafter was it to all devils'

honour.

Here the worship of Saturn is connected with the pantheon built in honour of all the gods or devils, which Boniface converted into a church of St. Mary. The Anglo-Saxons, English, Frisians, Dutch and Low Saxons have left to the 'dies Saturni ' the god's very name: Scvtcresday or Saiernesdieg, Saturday, Saterdei, Saterdnch, Satersdag, and even the Irish have adopted dia Satuirn or Satarn ; whereas the French samedi. Span, sabado, Ital. sabato, agrees with our High Germ, samstag. Here is identity, not only of idea, as in the case of the other gods, but of name, and the absence of conson- ant-change seems to betray downright borrowing: or may the resemblance have been accidental, and a genuine German name have been modified in imitation of the foreign one ? In OHG neither a Satarnes- nor a Sazarnestac can be found ; but in AS. sadere means insidiator (OHG. sazari, conf. saza, MHG. saze insidiae, a sitting in wait, as laga, lage is lying in wait) ; and M'hat is still more remarkable, a document of Edward the Confessor (chart, antiq. rot. M. no. 1. Kemble 4, 157) supplies us with the name of a place Scctercsbijrig, quite on a par with Woduesbyrig ; further, the plant gallicrus, our hahnenfuss, Engl, crowfoot, was in AS. sdtorld(Te Saturni taedium as it were (-loathing, ON. leiSi, OHG. leidi).^ I call to mind, that even the ancient Franks spoke of Saturnus (p. 88) as a heathen god, and of Saturni dolium, though that may have referred to the mere planetary god (see Suppl.).

The last name for the ' sabbath ' brings us to the ON", laugar-

1 In the AS. are preserved various dialogues between Saturn and Solomon, similar to those between Solomon and Marculf in continental Germany, but more anticiue and, apart from their cliristian setting or dressing up, not unlike the questions and discourses carried on in the Edda between Oi^'inn and Vafl'ruS- nir, between Vingj'orr and Alviss, between Har and Gangleri. Here also the name Saturn seems to make for my point, and to designate a god of Teutonic paganism.

248 OTHER GODS.

dagr, Swed. logerdag, Dan. loverdag, by wliicli in later times no doubt washing or bathing day was meant, as the equivalent Jjvottdagr shows; but originally Zo^adagr, LoJcadagv may have been in use/ and Logi, Loki might answer to the Latin Saturnus,^ as the idea of devil which lay in Loki was popularly transferred to the Jewish Satan and [what seemed to be the same thing] the heathen Saturn, and Locki in ON", is likewise seducer, tempter, trapper. We might even take into consideration a by-name of OSinn in Sa3m. 46% Sa&r or perhaps SaSr, though I prefer to take the first form as equivalent to Sannr (true) and Sanngetall,

But that AS. Scetcrcshjrig from the middle of the 11th century irresistibly recalls the ' burg ' on the Harz mts, built (according to our hitherto despised accounts of the 15th century in Bothe's Sachsenchronik) to the idol Saturn, which Saturn, it is added, the common people called Krodo ; to this we may add the name touched upon in p. 206 (HreSe, HreSemonaS), for which an older Hruodo, Chrodo was conjectured.^ We are told of an image of this Saturn or Krodo, which represented the idol as a man standing on a great fish, holding a pot of flowers in his right hand, and a wheel erect in his left; the Eoman Saturn was furnished with the sickle, not a wheel (see Suppl.).*

Here some Slav conceptions appear to overlap. Widukind (Pertz 5, 463) mentions a brazen simidacrum Saturni among the Slavs of the tenth century, without at all describing it ; but Old Bohemian glosses in Hanka 14*^ and 17^ .carry us farther. In the first, Mercurius is called ' Eadihost vnuk Kirtov ' (Eadigast grand- son of Kirt), in the second, Picus Saturni filius is glossed ' ztracec

1 Conf. Finn Magniisen, lex. pp. 1041-2, dagens tider p. 7.

2 I suppose the author had in his mind Homer's constant ejDithet, Kpovos dyKv\ofj.T]Tr]s wily, crooked-counselled Kronos. — TBAJfs.

3 To Hrudo might now be referred those names Boysel (later spelling Reusel) and Koydach in Gramaye, who understands them of Mars ; ancient documents must first place it beyond doubt, which day of the week is meant. There is an actual Hruodtac, a man's name in OHG. (Graff 5, 362), and an OS. Hroddag is found in Trad. corb. § 424, ed. Wigand ; these may be related to Hruodo, Hrodo as Baldag to Balder, and the contraction Roydag, Rodag would be like Roswith for Hrodsuith. If Roydag should turn out to be the seventli day of the week, it would be a strong testimony to the worship of Chrodo ; i^' it remain the third, we have to add, that the third month also was sacred to Mars, and was called Hre S'emona^ by the Anglo-Saxons.

• ' The Kaiserchr. 3750 says, to Saturn we offer quicksilver ; whereas now Saturn's symbol signifies lead. In J\Iegenberi:j, Saturn is called Satjdr. The Saxon Saturn is supported by Hengest's reference to that god '. (Extracted from Suppl., vol. iii.)

LOKI, GEENDEL, SATUKX. - 249

Sitivratov zin' (woodi^ecker, Sitivrat's son); and in a third 20^ Saturn is again called Sitivrat. Who does not see that Sitivrat is the Slavic name for Saturn, which leads us at the first glance to sit = satur ? Eadigast= Mercury (p. loOn.) is the son of Stracec=ricus ; and in fact Greek myths treat Picus (ZTt/fo?) as Zeus, making him give up the kingdom to his son Hermes. Picus is Jupiter, son of Saturn ; but beside Sitivrat we have learnt another name for Saturn, namely Kirt, which certainly seems to be our Krodo and Hruodo. Sitivrat and Kirt confirm Saturn and Krodo ; I do not know whether the Slavic word is to be connected with the Boh. krt, Pol. kret, Euss. krot, i.e., the mole.^ I should prefer to put into the other name Sitivrat the subordinate meaning of sito-vrat, sieve-turner, so that it would be almost the same as kolo-vrat, wheel-turner, and afford a solution of that wheel in Krodo's hand ; both wheel (kolo) and sieve (sito) move round, and an ancient spell rested on sieve-turning. Slav mythologists have identified Sitivrat with the Hindu Sati/dvrata, who in a great deluge is saved by Vishnu in the form of a fish, Krodo stands on a fish ; and Vishnu is represented wearing wreaths of flowers about his neck, and hold- ing a wheel (chakra) in his fourth hand.^ All these coincidences are still meagre and insecure ; but they suffice to establish the high antiquity of a Slavo-Teutonic myth, which starts up thus from more than one quarter.

^ Hardly with Crete, where Kronos ruled and Zeus was born.

2 Edw. Moore's Hindu Pantheon, Lend. 1810, tab. I'd and 23.— * Sitivrat, who corresponds to Saturn, is the Indian Satyavrata, i.e., accordintj to Kulin, he that hath veracious (fulfilled) vows; so Dhritavrata, he that hath kept-vows = Varuuas, Ouranos.' (Quoted from Suppl., vol. ill.)

CHAPTEE XIII. GODDESSES.

In treating of gods, the course of our inquiry could aim at separating the several i^ersonalities ; the goddesses ^ it seems advisable to take by themselves and all at one view, because there is a common idea underlying them, which will come out more clearly by that method. They are thought of chiefly as divine mothers who travel round and visit houses, from whom the human race learns the occupations and arts of housekeeping and husbandry: spinning, weaving, tending the hearth, sowing and reaping. These labours bring with them peace and quiet in the land, and the memory of them abides in charming traditions even more lastingly than that of wars and battles, from which most goddesses as well as women hold themselves aloof.

But as some goddesses also take kindly to war, so do gods on the other hand favour peace and agriculture ; and there arises an inter- change of names or offices between the sexes.

1. Erda, iSTiRDU, Gaue, Firgunia, Hluodana. In almost all languages the Earth is regarded as female, and (in contrast to the father sky encirling her) as the breeding, teem- ing fruit-bearing mother: Goth, airpa, OHG. erada, erda, AS. eor&e, ON. iord", Gr. epa (inferred from epa^e) ; Lat. terra, tcllus, hitmus = Slav, zeme, ziemia, zemlia, Lith. zieme, Gr. %a/A^ (? whence 'XCLfxa^e), ala, "yala, jP] : the ' mother ' subjoined in Arjfnjrrjp, Zema mate, indicates tlie goddess. The form air]?a, erda (also herda) is itself a derivative ; the simpler OHG. eov (in the Wessobr. jjrayer : ero noli ufhimil, earth nor heaven) and hero (in a gloss, for solum,

1 OHG. in Notker lias only the strong form gutin gen. giitinno, MHG. (jotinne, Trist. 4807. 15812. Earl. 246-7. seklomer giitinne, MS. 2, 65'^ ; AS. (jyden pi. gydena, but also weak gydene pi. gydenan, Mones gl. 4185 Proser])i- iiani = to gidenan (1. togydenan, additional goddess) ; ON. gy(^ja (which might be dea or sacerdos fern.), better tisynja (see Suppl.).

EKDA, NIRDU, GAUE, FIKGUNIA, IILUODAXA. 251

Graff 4, 999) might be masc. (like herd = solum, Graff 4, 102G) or fern, still.^ The Goth, mukla, OHG. molta, AS. molde, ON. mold, contain only the material sense of soil, dust ; equally impersonal is tlie OS. folda, AS. folde, ON. fold, conf. feld, field, i^inn. peldo (campus), Hung, fold (terra). But the ON. lOrd' appears in the ilesh, at once wife and daughter of OSinn, and motlier of Thorr (8n. 11. 39. 123), who is often called larSar burr. Distinct from her was liindr, another M'ife of OSinn, and mother of Vali (Siem. 91=^ 95^ 97^), called Rinda in Saxo, and more coarsely painted ; her name is the OHG. rinta, AS. rind = cortex, hence crusta soli vel terrae, and to crusta the AS. hruse (terra) is closely related. As this literal sense is not found in the North, neither is the mythical meaning in Germany (see SuppL).

But neither in lorS nor in Piindr has the Edda brought out in clear relief her specially maternal character ; nowhere is this more purely and simply expressed than in the very oldest account we possess of the goddess. It is not to all the Germani that Tacitus imputes the worship of Nerthus, only to the Langobardi (?), Reudigni, Aviones, Angli, Varini, Eudoses, Suardones and A^uithones (Germ. 40): Nee quicquam notabile in singulis, nisi quod in commune Nerthum^ id est Terrain matrem colunt, eamque intervenire rebus hominum, invehi populis, arbitrantur. Est in insula oceani castum nemus, dicatumque in eo vehiculum, veste contectum, attingere uni sacerdoti concessum. Is adesse penetrali dcam intelligit, vectamque hdus feniinis multa cum veneratione prosequitui\ Laeti tunc dies, festa loca, quaecunque adventu hospitioque dignatur. Non bella ineunt, non arma sumunt ; clausum omne ferrum : pax et quies tunc tantuni nota, tunc tantum amata : donee idem sacerdos satia- tam conversatione mortalium dcam templo reddat. Mox TcMculum et vestes, et, si credere velis, numcn ijisum sccrcto lacii ahluiinr. Servi ministrant, quos statim idem lacus haurit.^ Arcanus hinc

1 The two forms ero and hero remind one of the name Eor, Cheru, attri- buted to Mars (supra, i)p. 203-4).

• The MSS. coUated have this reading, one has nehcrtum (Massmann in Aufsess and Mones anzeiger, 18.34, p. 216); I sliouUl prefer Nertus to Nerthus, liecause no other German words in Tacitus have TH, except Gothini and A'uithones. As for the conjectural Herthus, though tlie asj)irate in herda might seem to plead for it, tlie termination -us is against it, the Gotliic having air]ia, not air]nis. Besides, Aventiu ahcady (Frankf. 1.580, p. 19'') S])eIIs Nerth.

^ The lake swall<»\vs the slaves wlio had assisted at the secret bathing. More than once this incident turns up, of jmtting to death the servants em- ployed in any secret Avork ; as those who dug the river out of its bed fur

252 GODDESSES.

terror sanctaque ignorantia, quid sit illuJ, quod tanturn perituri videut (see Suppl.).^

This beautiful description agrees with what we find in other notices of the worship of a godhead to whom peace and fruitfuhiess were attributed. In Sweden it was Freyr, son of Niorffr, whose curtained car went round tire country in spring, with the people all praying and holding feasts (p. 213); but Freyr is altogether like his father, and he again like his namesake the goddess Nerthus. The spring-truces, harvest-truces, plough-truces, fixed for certain seasons and implements of husbandry, have struck deep roots in our German law and land-usages. Wuotan and Donar also make their appearance in their wains, and are invoked for increase to the crops and kindly rain ; on p. 107, anent the car of a Gothic god whose name Sozomen withholds, I have hinted at Nerthus.

The interchange of male and female deities is, luckily for us here, set in a clear light, by the prayers and rhymes to Wuotan as god of harvest, which we have quoted above (p. 155 seq.), being in other Low German districts handed over straight to a goddess. When the cottagers, we are told, are mowing rye, they let some of the stalks stand, tie flowers among them, and when they have finished work, assemble round the clump left standing, take hold of the ears of rye, and shout three times over :

Fni Gaue, haltet ju fauer, Lady Gaue, keep you some fodder, diit jar up den wagen. This year on the waggon,

dat ander jar up der kare ! ^ Next year on the wheelbarrow. Wliereas Wode had better fodder promised him for the next year, Dame Gaue seems to receive notice of a falling off in the quantity of the gift presented. In both cases I see the shyness of the christians at retaining a heathen sacrifice : as far as words go, the old gods are to think no great things of themselves in future.

In the district about Hameln, it was the custom, when a reaper in binding sheaves passed one over, or left anything standing in the

Alaric's funeral (Jornand. cap. 29), or those who have hidden a treasure, Landn. 5, 12 (.see Suppl.).

1 Speaking of Nerthus, we ought to notice Ptolemy's Nertereans, though he places them in a very different locality from that occupied by the races who revere Nerthus in Tacitus.

2 Braunschw. anz. 1751, p. 900. Hannov. gel. anz. 1751, p. 662 [is not ' haltet ' a mistake for ' hal ' and something else '/] In the Altenburg country they call this harvest-custom building a barn. Arch, des henneb. vereins 2, 91.

ERDA, NIKDU, GAUE, FIRGUNIxV, IILUODANA. 253

field, to jeer at him by calling out: ' sclioll diit del gaucfnie{pT, defnt Gaucn) hebben (is that for dame G.) ? '^

In the Prignitz they say fru Godc, and call the buncli of ears left standing in each field vergodendcelsstrxiss, i.e., dame Code's portion biinch,^ Vcr is a common contraction for frau [as in jungfer] ; but a dialect which says fauer instead of foer, foder, will equally liave Gaue for Gode, Guodc. This Guode can be no other than Gwode, AVode ; and, explaining fru by the older fro, /ro Woden or fro Gaue (conf. Gaunsdag for Wonsdag, p, 125) will denote a lord and god, not a goddess, so that the form of prayer completely coincides with those addressed to "Wuotan, and the fruh Wod sub- joined in the note on p. 156 (see Suppl.). If one prefer the notion of a female divinity, which, later at all events, was undoubtedly attached to the term fru, we miglit perhaps bring in the OK Got (Sn, 358. Fornald. sog. 2, 17), a mythic maiden, after whom February was named. The Greek Fala or Fi] is, I consider, out of tiie question here.

In an AS. formulary for restoring fertility to fields that have been bewitched, there occur two remarkable addresses ; the first is ' ercc, erce, ercc, corpan modor ! ' by which not the earth herself, but her mother seems to be meant; however, the expression is still enigmatical. Can there lie disguised in erce a proper name Ercc gen. Ercan, connected with the OHC. adj. erchau, simplex, genuinus, germanus ? it would surely be more correct to write Uorce ? ought it to suggest the lady Urchc, Hcrkja, Herche, Helche renowned in our heroic legend ? The distinct traces in Low Saxon districts of a divine dame, Hcrkc or Harkc by name, are significant. In Jessen, a little town on the Elster, not far from Wittenberg, they relate of frau Herke what in other places, as will be shown, holds good of Freke, Berhta and Holda. In the Mark she is called frau Harkc, and is said to fly through the country between Christmas and Twelfth-day, dispensing eartlily goods in abundance ; by Epiphany the maids have to finish spinning their flax, else frau Harke gives

1 ITannov. ;to1. anz. 1751, p. 72G. j\rore plensing to the par is the short prayer of the heatlieu Litluiaiiiaiis, to their eartli-gocUIes^s, when in drinking? lliey spilt some of the ale on the ground : Zcmenyle ziedekle, pukylek niusu riinku darbus ! blooming Earth, bless the work of our hands.

„-. '/^[^'^^^'- Knhns markische sagen, pp. 337. 372, prof. p. vii. Conf. in ch. XXII the cry of the dwarfs : ' de gaue fru is uu dot (dead) '.

254 GODDESSES.

tliem a good scratching or soils their distaff (see Suppl.).i In earlier times a simpler form of the name was current ; we find in Gobelinus Persona (Meibom 1, 235) the following account, which therefore reaches back beyond 1418 : Quodautem Hera colebatur a Saxonibus, videtur ex eo quod quidam vulgares recitant se audivisse ab antiquis, prout et ego audivi, quod inter festum nativitatis Christ i ad festum epiphaniae Domini doniina Hera volat per aera, quoniam apud gentiles Junoni aer deputabatur. Et quod Juno quandoque Hera appellabatur et depingebatur cum tintinnabulis et alis, dicebant vulgares praedicto tempore : vrowe Hera sen corrupto nomine vro Here de vlughet, et credebant illam sibi conferre rerum temporalium abundantiam. Have we here still extant the old Ero, "Epa, Hero meaning earth ? and does "Hpa belong to it ? If the AS. Urce also contains the same, then even the diminutive form Herke must be of high antiquity.

The second address in the same AS. ritual is a call to the earth : ' hal wes thu /oleic, fira moJor 1 ' hale (whole) be thou earth, mother of men ; which agrees with the expression terra mater in Tacitus.

The widely extended worship of the teeming nourishing earth would no doubt give rise to a variety of names among our fore- fathers, just as the service of Gaia and her daughter Eliea mixed itself up with that of Ops mater, Ceres and Cybele.^ To me the resemblance between the cultus of Nerthus and that of the Phrygian mother of gods appears well worthy of notice. Lucretius 2, 597 — 641 describes the peregrination of the magna deum mater in her lion-drawn ear through the lands of the earth :

Quo nunc insigni per magnas praedita terras horrifice fertur divinae matris imago . . . Ergo quom primum magnas invecta per urbeis munificat tacita mortaleis muta salute, aere atque argento sternunt iter omne viarum, largifica stipe ditantes, ninguntque rosarum floribus, umbrantes matrem comitumque catervam. The liomans called the A^I. kal. Apr. lavatio matris deum, and kept it as a feast, Ovid. fast. 4, 337 :

1 Adalb. Kulm in the Markisclie forscluuigen 1, 123-4, and Mark, sagen pp. 371-2 ; conf. Singularia magdeburg. 1740. 12, 768.

" Ops mater = terra mater ; Ceres = Geres, quod gerit fruges, antiqnis enim C quod nunc G ; Varro de ling, lat., ed. 0. Miiller p. 25. Her Greek appella- tion ATjurjTTjp seems also to lead to yrj ixtjttjp (see Suppl. ).

ERDA, NIRDU, GAUE, FIRGUNIA, ULUODAN.V. 255

Est locus, ill Tiberin qua lubricus influit Alnio, et nomen magno perdit al) amue minor ;

illic purpurea canus cum veste sacerdos Almonis dominam sacraque lavit aquis. Ammian. Marcell. 23, 3 (Paris 1681, p. 355) : Ad Callinicum, — ubi ante diem sextum kal. quo Eomae matri deorum pompae celebrantur annales, et carpentum qvo vchitur simulacrum Almonis undis ablui perhibetur. Conf. Prudentius, liymn. 10, IS-t :

Nudare plantas ante carpentum scio

proceres togatos matris Idacac sacris.

Lapis nigellus evehendus essedo

muliebris oris clausus argento sedefc,

quem dum ad lavacrum praeeundo ducitis

pedes remotis atterentes calceis

Almonis usque pervenitis rivulum.

Exactly in the same way Nerthus, after she has travelled round the

country, is bathed in the sacred lake in her waggon ; and I find it

noted, that the Indian Bhavani, wife of Shiva, is likewise driven

round on her feast-day, and bathed in a secret lahe by the Brahmans

Csee Suppl.).^

Nerthus's ' island in the ocean ' has been supposed to mean

Eiigen, in the middle of which there is actually a lake, called the

Schwarze see, or Burgsee. What is told as a legend, that there in

ancient times the devil was adored, that a maiden was maintained

in his service, and that when he was weary of her, she was droivncd

^ Gregor. Turon. de glor. conf. cap. 77 compares or confounds with the Plirygian Ctjhele some Gallic goddess, whose worship he describes as follows : — ' Ferunt etiam in hac iirbe (Augustoduno) simulachruvi fuisse Berecynthiae, sicnt sancti martyris Symphoriani passionis declarat historia. Hanc cum in carpento, pro salvatione agrorum et vinearum suarum, misero gentilitatis more dt'ferrent, adfuit supradictus Simplicius episcopus, hand procul adspiciens ccmtantes atque psallentes ante hoc dmulachrum, gemitumque pro stultitia plebis ad Deum emittens ait : illumina quaeso, Domine, oculos hiijus populi, ut cognoscat, c^uia simulachrum Bereeynthiae nihil est ! et facto signo crucis contra protinus simulachrum in terram ruit. Ac detixa solo animalia, quae plaustrum hoc ([uo vehebatur trahebant, moveri non poterant. Stupet vulgus innumerum, et dcam hwsdm onniis caterva conclamat ; immolantur vidimne, animalia verl)i'rantur, sed moveri non possunt. Tunc ([uadringenti de ilia stulta multitudine viri conjuncti simul ajunt ad invicem : si virtus est ulla deitatis, eiigatur spontc, jubeatque boves, qui telluri sunt stabiliti, pi'ocedere ; certe si moveri necpiit, nihil est deitatis in ea. Tunc accedentes, et immolantes unum de pecorihus, cum viderent deam suam nullatenus posse moveri, relicto gentilitatis errore, inquisitoque antistite loci, conversi ad unitatem ecclesiae, cognoscentes veri Dei magnitudinem. sancto sunt baptismate consecrati.' Compare the Legenda aurea cap. 117, v»-here a festuni Veneris is mentioned.

256 GODDESSES.

in the black lake/ must have arisen, gross as the perversion may- be, out of the account in Tacitus, who makes the goddess, when satiated with the converse of men, disappear in the lake with her attendants. But there are no other local features to turn the scale in its favour f and the Danish islands in the Baltic have at least as good a claim to have been erewhile the sacred seat of the goddess.

We have yet more names for the earth-goddess, that demand investigation : pai-tly Old Norse, partly to be gathered from the Eomans. In the Skaldskaparmal, p. 178, she is named both Fiorgyn and Hlod'yn.

Of Fiorgyn I have treated already, p. 172 ; if by the side of this goddess there could stand a god Fiorgynn and a neuter common noun fairguni, if the idea of Thor's mother at the same time passes into that of the thundergod, it exactly parallels and confirms a female Nertlius (Goth. Nair]?us, gen. Nair]?aus) by the side of the masculine Nior&r (Nerthus), just as Treyja goes with Freyr. If it was not wrong to infer from Perkunas a mountain- god Fairguneis, Lithuanian mythology has equally a goddess Ferkunatele.

Hlo&yn is derived in the same way as Fiorgyn, so that we may safely infer a Gotli, Hlopunja and OHO. Hluodunia. In Voluspa 56 Thorr is called ' mogr Hlo&ynjar^ which is son of earth again ; and Fornald. sog. 1, 469 says : i Hloc^ynjar shaut. In the ON". lanuuase Mod' is a hearth,^ the goddess's name therefore means protectress of the fireplace; and our OHG. herd (p. 251), beside solum or terra, also denotes precisely focus, arula, fornacula, the hearth being to us the very basis of a human habitation, a paternal Lar, so to speak, corresponding to the mother earth. The Eomans also worshipped a goddess of earth and of fire under the common name of Fornax, dea fornacalis.'^ But what is still more important to us, there was discovered on Low lihenish ground a stone, first kept at Cleve and afterwards at Xanten, with the remarkable inscription :

^ Deutf^^c'Iie sngen, num. 132.

^ Of Hertlia a proverb is said to be current in Pomerania : * cle Hertha gift gras, imd fiillt schiin und fass (barn and vessel),' Hall. allg. lit. z. 1823, p. 375). But the un-Saxon rhyme of gras with fass (for fat) sufficiently betrays the workmanship. It is clumsily made up after the well-known rule of the farmer : ' Mai kiihl und nass fiillt scheunen und fass ' (see Suppl.).

3 later, strues, ara, from hlaSan hluS, struere, Gramm. 2, 10, num. 83.

• Ovid. fast. 2, 513.

ISIS. 257

DEAE HLUDANAE SACRVM C. TIBEEIVS VERVS. Hliodana is neither a lioman nor a Celtic goddess, but her name answers perfectly to that of the Xorse divinity, and Sk. Thorlacius has the merit of having recognised and learnedly proved the identity of the two.^ In this inscription I see striking evidence of the oneness of Norse and German mythology. Thorlacius, not without reason, compares tlie name with Arjra) and Latona. Might not Hldrri&i, an epithet of Thorr the son of II16c5yn, be explained as Hlod'riffi /

2, Tanfana. Neiialennia.

Another goddess stands wrapt in tliicker darkness, whom Tacitus calls Tanfana, and a stone inscription Tamfana (TAM- FAXAE SACEUM, p. 80). We are sure of her name, and the termination -ana is tlie same as in Illudana and other fern, proper names, Bertana, Eapana, IMadana. The sense of the word, and with it any sure insight into the significance of her being, are locked up from us.

We must also allude briefly to the Belgian or Frisian dea Nehalennia, about whose name several inscriptions of like import*^ remove all doubt ; but the word has also given rise to forced and unsatisfying interpretations. In other inscriptions found on the lower part of the Ehine there occur compounds, whose termination (-nehis, -nchahus, dat. plurals fem.) seems to contain the same word that forms the first half of Nehalennia ; their plural number appears to indicate nymphs rather than a goddess, yet there also hangs about them the notion of a mother [see ch. Xyi, the Walacliuriun).

3. (Isis). The account in Tacitus of the goddess Isis carries us much farther, because it can be linked with living traditions of a cultus that still lingered in the Mid. Ages. Immediately after mentioning tlie worship of j\Iercurius, Hercules, and Mars, he adds (cap. 9) : I'ars Suevorum et Isidi sacrificat. Unde causa et origo peregrine

1 Anti<[. Iior. sjjec. 3, Ilafn. 1782. Coiif. Fiedler, gesch. nndalt. des nnteru Germanieiis, 1, 'J2(3. 8teiner's cod. inscr. l^heiii no. 632. Gotfr. .'^'chiitze, in his essay De dea Hludana, Lips. 1748, perceived the value of the stone, but could not discern the bearings of the matter.

• Montfaucon ant. expl. 2, 443. Vrcdii hist. Flandr. 1, xliv. Mem. de I'acad. celt. 1, 199—245. Mone, heidenth. 2, 346.

17

258 GODDESSES.

sacro, parum comperi, nisi quod signuin ipsuni, in modnm lihurnae figuratum, docet advectam religionem. The importation from abroad can hardly consist in the name Ids, seeing that Mercury, Mars, Hercules, names that must have sounded equally un- German, raised no difficulty ; what looked foreign was the symbol, the figure of a skip, reminding the writer of the Eoman navigium Isidis.

When spring had set in, and the sea, untraversed during winter, was once more navigable, the Greeks and Eomans used to hold a solemn procession, and present a ship to Isis. Tliis was done on the fifth of March (III non. Mart.), and the day is marked in the kalendarium rusticum as Isidis navigium} The principal evidence is found in Apuleius and Lactantius,^ two writers who are later than Tacitus, but the custom must have reached back to a much older date. On Alexandrian coins Isis appears walking by the side of Pharus, unfurling a sail.

Say that from Egypt the worship of Isis had penetrated to Greece, to Eome, how are we to imagine, tliat in the first century, or before, it had got itself conveyed to one particular race inhabiting the heart of Germany ? It must have been a similar cultus, not the same, and perhaps long established amongst other Germans as well.

I will here draw attention to a strange custom of a much later time, which appears to me to be connected with this. About the year 1133, in a forest near Inda (in Eipuaria), a ship was built, set upon wheels, and drawn about the country by men who were yoked to it, first to Aachen (Aix), then to Maestricht, where mast and sail were added, and up the river to Tongres, Looz and so on, every- where with crowds of people assembling and escorting it. Where- ever it halted, there -were joj/ful shouts, songs of triumph and dancing

1 Gesner, script, rei rust., ed. Lips. 1773. 1, 8SG ; so also in tlie Culend. vallense, and in the C'al. lanibec. (Graevii thes. 8, 98).

• Apiileii met. \h. 11 (Ruhnken p. 764-5) : Diem, qui dies ex ista nocte nascetur, aeterna mihi nuncupavit religio ; quo sedatis liibernis tempestatibus et lenitis maris procellosis lluctibus, navigabili jam pelago rudem dedicantcs carinam primitias commeatus libant mei sacerdotes. Id sacrum sollicita nee profana mente debeljis operiri ; nam meo mouitu sacerdos in ipso procinctu pompae roseam manu de.xtra sistro (Egyptian timbrel) coliaerentem gestabit coronam. Incontauter ergo dimotis turl)ulis alacer continuare pompam meam, volentia fretus ; et de proximo dementer velut manum sacerdotis deosculabun- dus rosis decerptis, pessimae mihique detestabilis dudum belluae istius corio te protinus exue. Lactantius, instit. 1, 27 : Certus dies habetur in lastis, quo Iddis naviyium celebratur, quae res docet illam non tranasse, sed navigasse.

ISIS. 250

round the ship kept up till far into the night. The approach of the ship was notified to the towns, which opened their gates and went out to meet it.

We have a detailed, yet not complete, report of it in Eodulfi chronicon abbatiae S. Trudonis, lib. xi., which on account of its importance I will here insert, from Pertz 12, 309 seq.:

Est genus mercenariorum, quorum officium est ex lino et lana texere telas, hoc procax et superbum super alios mercenarios vulgo reputatur, ad quorum procacitatem et superbiam humiliandam et propriam injuriam de eis ulciscendam pauper quidam rusticus ex villa nomine Inda^ banc diabolicam excogitavit technam. Accepta a judicibus fiducia et a levibus hominibus auxilio, qui gaudent jocis et novitatibus, in proxima silva navem composuit, et earn rotis supposiiis affi.gens vehihilem super terram effecit, obtinuit quoque a potestatibus, ut injectis funihus fextorum humeris ex Inda Aquis- granum traheretur.^ Aquis suscepta cum utriiisque sexiis grandi hominum processione: nihilominus a textoribus Trajectum [Maes- tricht] est provecta, ibi emendata, malo veloque insignita Tungris [Tongres] est inducta, de Tungris Los [Looz]. Audiens abbas (sancti Trudonis)^ Rodulfus navim illam infausto oviine covipadam malaque solutam alite cum hvjusmodi gcniilitatis studio nostro oppido adventare, praesago spiritu hominibus praedicabat, ut ejus susceptione abstinerent, quia maligni spiritiis sub hac luditicatione in ea traherentur, in proximoque seditio per earn nioveretur, undo caedes, incendia rapinaeque fierent, et humanus sanguis multus funderetur. Quem ista declamantem onmibus diebus, quibus mcdignorum spirituum illud sinndacrum loci morabatur, oppidani nostri audire noluerunt, sed eo studio et gaudio excipientes, quo perituri Trojani fatalem equum in medio fori sui dedicaverunt, &iTithm[\Q proscriptionis scvtentinm accipiunt villae textores, qui ad profanas hujus simulacri excuhias venirent tardiorcs. Pape ! Quia vidit unquam tantam (ut ita liceat latinisare) in rationalibus animalibus brutitatem ? quis tantam in renatis in Christo gentdi-

^ Indon in the Jiilich country, afterwards Cornehniunster, not far from Aix ; conf. Pertz 1, 394. 4SS. 514. 592. 2, 299. 489.

• This of ships l)eing built in a wood and carried on men's shoulders reminds one of Saxo Gram. p. 93, and of the ' Ari^^o humeris traveeta Alpes' (Pliny N.H. 3, 18 ; their beintf set on ^v]leels, of Nestor's story about Olen' ; conf. the ship of Fro above. [An inadvertence on the author's part : the ship is not ' carried,' but ' drawn by rojjes thrown over the weavers' shoulders '.]

^ St. Tron between Liei/e and Louvain.

260 GODDESSES.

tatcm ? Cogebant sententia proscriptionis textores, iiocte et die navim stipare omni armaturae gcncre, solicitasque ei excubias nocte et die continuare. Mirumque fuit, quod non cogebant eos ante navim Ncptuno hostias immolare, de cujus naves esse solent regione, sed Neptunus eas Marti reservabat, quod postea niultipliciter fac- tum est.

Textores interim occulto sed praecordiali gemitu Deum justum judicem super eos vindicem invocabant, qui ad banc ignominiam eos detrudebant, cum juxta rectam 'itam antiquorum Christianorum et apostolicorum virorum manuum suarum laboribus viverent, nocte et die operantes, unde alerentur et vestirentur, liberisque suis idipsum providerent. Quaerebant et conquerebantur ad invicem lacrymabiliter, unde illis magis quam aliis mercenariis haec ignominia et vis contumeliosa, cum inter Cbristianos alia plura essent officia suo niultum aspernabiliora, cum tamen nullum dicerent aspernabilo, de quo Christianus posset se sine peccato conducere, illudque solum esset vitabile et ignobile quod immun- ditiam peccati contraberet animae, meliorque sit rusticus textor et jjauper, quam exactor orphanorum et spoliator A'iduarum urbanus et nobilis judex. Cumque liaec et eorum similia secum, ut dixi, lacrymabiliter conquererentur, concrepabant ante illud, nescio cujus potius dicam, Bacchi an Veneris, Neptuni sive Martis, sed ut verius dicam ante omnium malvjnorum spirituum execrabile domicilium genera diversorum musicorum, turpia cantica et religion! Christianae indigna concineniium. Sancitum qiioqiie erat ajiidicibus, ut j^radcj- tcxtores, quicumque ad tactum navi appropinquarent, pignus de collo eorum ercptuni tcxtoribus relinquerent, nisi se ad libitum redimerent. Sed quid faciam ? loquarne an sileam ? utinam spiritus mendacii stillaret de labiis meis : sub fugitiva adhuc luce diei imminente luna matronariim ccdervae abjecto femineo pudore audientes strepi- tum hvjus vanitatis, passis capillis de stratis suis exiliehcmt, aliae seminudae, aliae simplice trntum clamide circumdatae, clwrosque du- cerdibus circa navim impudentcr irruinpcndo se admiscebant. Videres ibi aliquando mille bominum animas sexus utriusque p)rodigiosum ft infaustum celcusma usque ad noctis medium celebrare. Quando vero execrabilis ilia cborea rumpebatur, emisso ingenti claviore vo- cum inconditarum sexus uterque bac illacque baccbando ferebatur ; quae tunc videres agere, nostrum est tacere et dellere, quibns modo contingit graviter luere. Istis tam nefandis factis plus quam duo-

ISIS. 20 1

decim diclus supradicto ritu celebratis, confercbaut simul oppidiiiii quid agerent amodo dc deducmda a se navi.

Qui sanioris evant consilii, et qui earn susccptam fuisse do- lebant, timentes Deuni pro his quae facta videiunt et audierant, et sibi pro liis futura conjiciebant, hortahantur ut comhuratitr (combureretur) aut isto vcl illo modo de medio tolleretur ; sed stulta quorundam coecitas huic salubri consilio contumeliose re- nitebatur. ISIam malijui sjnritus, qui in ilia fcrcbanfur, disse- niinaverant in populo, quod locus ille et inhabitantes prohroso nomine amplius notarcntur, apud quos rcmansisse inveniretur. Dedu- cendam igitur earn ad villain, quae juxta nos est, Leugues decre- verunt. Interea Lovaniensis dominus audiens de dacmoiiioso navis illius ridicido, instructusque a religiosis viris terrae suae de illo vitando et terrae suae arcendo monstro, gratiam suam et amicitiam mandat oppidanis nostris, commonefaciens eos Immiliter, ut pacem illam quae inter illos et se erat reformata et sacranientis confir- mata non iufringerent, et inde praecipue illud diaholi ludihrium viciniae suae inferrent ; quod si ludum esse dicerent, quaererent aliuni cum quo inde luderent. Quod si ultra hoc mandatura committerent, pacem praedictam in eum infringerent et ipse vin- diciam in eos ferro et igne exsequeretur. Id ipsum mandaverat Durachiensibus dominis, qui et homines ejus fuerant manuatim, et interpositis sacramentis et obsidibus datis sibi confoederati. Hoc cum jam tertio fecisset, spretus est tam ab oppidanis nostris quam Durachiensibus dominis. Xam propter peccata inhal)itantium vo- lebat Dominus mittere super locum nostrum ignem et anna Lo- vaniensium. Ad lianc igitmjdchciamfatmtatem adjunxit se dominus Gislebertus (advocatus abbatiae S. Trudonis) contra generis sui nobilitatem, trahendamque decrevit navcm illam tcrream usque Leugues ultra Durachiensem villam, quod et fecit malo nostro omine cum omni oppidanorum nostrorum multitudine et ingeuti dehacchantium vociferatione. Leuguenses, oppidanis nostris pru- dentiores et Lovaniensis domini mandatis obsequentes, portas suas clauserunt et infausti ominis monstnim inirare non 'pcr- miserunt.

Lovaniensis autem dominus prccum suarum et mandatorum contemptum nolens esse inultum, diem constituit comitibus tanquam suis hominibus, qui neque ad primum, neque ad secundum, sed nee ad tertium venire voluerunt. Eduxit ergo contra eos et contra

262 GODDESSES.

nos multorum multitudinis exercitum armatorum tain peditum quam militum. Nostro igitur oppido seposito, tanquam firmius munito et bellicosorum hominum pleiio, primum impetum in Dura- clnenses fecit, quibus viriliter resistentibus castellum, nescio quare, cum posset non obsedit, sed inter Leugues et Durachium pernocta- vit. Cumque sequenti die exercitum applicare disponeret et ex quatuor partibus assultum faceret, habebat enim ingentem multi- tudinem, supervenit Adelbero Lletensium primicerius filiorum Lo- vaniensis doniini avunculus, cujus interventu, quia comitissa Dura- chiensis erat soror ejus, et Duracliiense erat castellum sancti Lamberti, Lovaniensis dominus ab impugnatione cessavit et ab obsidione se amovit, promisso ei quod Durachienses paulo post ei ad justitiam suam educerentur. Et cum ista et alia de dominis et inter dominos tractarentur, pedites et milites per omnia nostra circumjacentia se diffuderunt, villas nostras, ecclesias, molendina et quaecumque occurrebant combustioni et perditioni tradentes, recedentes vero quae longe a nobis fuerant prout cuique adjacebaut inter se diviserunt.

Obviously, throughout the narrative everything is put in an odious light ; but the proceeding derives its full significance from this very fact, that it was so utterly repugnant to the clergy, and that they tried in every way to suppress it as a sinful and heathenish piece of work. On the other hand, the secular power had authorized the procession, and was protecting it ; it rested with tlie several townships, whether to grant admission to the approach- ing ship, and the popular feeling seems to have ruled that it would be shabby not to forward it on its way.

Mere dancing and singing, common as they must have been on all sorts of occasions with the people of that time, could not have so exasperated the clergy. They call the ship ' malignorum spirituum simulacrum ' and ' diaboli ludibrium,' take for granted it was knocked together ' infausto omine ' and ' gentilitatis studio,' that ' maligni spiritus ' travel inside it, nay, that it may well be called a shi]3 of Neptune or Mars, of Bacchus or Venus ; they must burn it, or make away with it somehow. " ^

Probably among the common people of that region there still survived some recollections of an ancient heathen worship, which, though checked and circumscribed for centuries, had never yet been entirely uprooted. I consider this ship, travelling about the

ISIS. 2G3

country, welcomed by streaming multitudes, and honoured with festive song and dance, to be the car of the god, or ratlier of that goddess whom Tacitus identifies with Isis, and who (like Nerthus) brought peace and fertility to mortals. As the car was covered uj), so entrance to the interior of the ship seems to have been denied to men ; there need not have been an image of the divinity inside. Her name the people had long ago forgotten, it was only the learned monks that still fancied something about Neptune or Mars, Bacchus or Venus : but to the externals of the old festivity the l")eople's apjDctite kept returning from time to time. How should that ' pauper rusticus ' in the wood at Inden have lighted on the thought of building a ship, had there not been floating in his mind recollections of former processions, perhaps of some in neighbour- ing districts ?

It is worthy of note, that the weavers, a numerous and arrogant craft in the Netherlands, but hateful to the common herd, were compelled to draw the ship by ropes tied to their shoulders, and to guard it ; in return, they could keep the rest of the people from coming too near it, and fine or take pledges from those who did so.^

Piodulf does not say what became at last of the ' terrea navis,' after it had made that circuit ; it is enough for him to relate, how, on a reception being demanded for it and refused, heats and quarrels arose, which could only be cooled in open war. This proves the warm interest taken by contemporaries, fanned as it was to a flame for or against the festival by the secular and the clerical party.

There are traces to be found of similar ship-proccssiom at the beginning of spring in other partsof Germany, especially in Swabia, which had then become the seat of those very Suevi of Tacitus (see Suppl.). A minute of the town-council of Ulm, dated St. Nicholas' eve, 1530, contains this prohibition: ' Item, there shall none, by day nor night, trick or disguise him, nor put on any carnival raiment, moreover shall Iccep him from the going about of the plough and with shi2)s on pain of 1 gulden ',2 The custom of draiving the plough ahont seems to have been the more widely spread, having

1 Doe.^ the antlior imply that the favour of the peasantry, as oiiposed to iutizaiis, makes it likely that this was a relic of the worship of Earth i Supposing even that the procession was that of the German Isis ; Tacitus nowhere tells us what the functions of this Isis were, or that she 'brought ]>eace and fertility'. — Trans.

" Carl Jager, trchwiib. stadtewesen des MA. (]\Iid. Ages), 1, 525.

264; GODDESSES.

originally no doubt been performed in honour of the divinity from W-hom a fruitful year and the thriving of crops was looked for. Like the ship-procession, it was accompanied by dances and bon- fires. Sebast. Frank, p. ol'^ of his Weltbuch : ' On the Ehine, Franconia and divers other places, the young men do gather all the dance-maidens and 'put them in a plough, and draw their piper, who sitteth on the plough piping, into the water ; in other parts they draw 2^. fiery plough kindled with a fire very artificial made thereon, until it fall to wrack.' Enoch Wiedemann's chronik von Hof tells how ' On Shrove-Tuesday evil-minded lads drove a 'plough about, yoking to it such damsels as did not pay ransom ; others went behind them sprinkling chopped straw and sawdust.' (Siichs. provinz. bl. 8, 347.) Pfeiffer, chron. lips, lib, 2, § 53 : ' Mos erat antiquitus Lipsiae, ut liberalibus (feast of Liber or Bacchus, i.e., carnival) personati juvenes per vicos oppidi aratriim circum ducerent, puellas obvias per lasciviam ad illius jugum accedere etiam repugnantes cogerent, hoc veluti ludicro poenam expetentes ab iis quae innuptae ad eum usque diem mansissent '} On these and similar processions, more details will be given hereafter; I only wish at present to shew that the driving of the j^lough and that of the shij) over the country seem both to rest on the same old- heathen idea, which after the dislodgement of the gods by Chris- tianity could only maintain itself in unintelligible customs of the people, and so by degrees evaporate : namely, on the visible mani- festation of a beneficent benign divinity among men, who every- where approached it with demonstrations of joy, when in springtime the soil was loose again and the rivers released from ice, so that agriculture and navigation could begin anew.^ In this w^ay tl:e

1 Scheffer's Haltaus, 202. Hans Sachs also relates I. 5, 508% how the maids who had not taken onen, were forced into the j)lough (see Sujipl.).

• To this day, in the churches of some villages of Holstein, largely inha- bited by seamen, there hang little shi'ps, which in springtime, when navigation re-opens, are decorated with ribbons and flowers : qnite the Roman custom in the case of Isis (p. 258). We also find at times silver ships hung up in churches, which voyagers in stress of weather have vowed in case of a safe arrival home ; an old instance of this I will borrow from the Vita Godehardi Hildesiensis : Fuit tunc temporis in Trajectensi episcopatu vir quidam arti mercatoriae dedi- tus, qui frequenter mare transiret ; hie quodam tempore maxima tempestate in medio mari deprehenditur, ab omnibus conclamatur, et nil nisi ultimus vitae terminus timetur. Tandem tinito aliquanto tempore auxilium beati Godehardi implorabant, et argenteam navim delaturos, si evaderent, devoverunt. Hos in ecclesia nostra navim argenteam deferentes postea vidimus (in King Lothair's time). In a storm at sea, sailors take vows : E chi dice, una nave vo far fare, e 'poi portarla in Vienna al gran barone ; Buovo d'Antona 5, 32. The Lapps at

HOLDA, HOLLE. 265

Sueves of Tacitus's time must have done honour to tlicir goddess by carrying- her ship about. The forcing of unmarried young women to take part in the festival is like the constraint put upon the weavers in Eipuaria, and seems to indicate that the divine mother in her progi-ess at once looked kindly on the bond of love and ivedloclc, and punished the backward ; in this sense she might fairly stand for Dame A^enus, Holda and Frecke.

The Greeks dedicated a ship not only to Isis, but to Athene. At the Panathenoea her sacred peplos was conveyed by ship to the Acropolis : the sliip, to whose mast it was suspended as a sail, was built on the Kerameikos, and moved on dry land by an under- ground mechanism, first to the temple of Demeter and all round it, past the Pelasgian to the Pythian, and lastly to the citadel. The people followed in solemnly ordered procession.^

We must not omit to mention, that Aventin, after transforming the Tacitean Isis into a frau Eiscii, and making iron (eisen) take its name from her, expands the account of her worship, and in addition to the little ship, states further, that on the death of her father (Hercules) she travelled through all countries, came to the German king Schwab, and staid for a time with him ; that she taught him the forging of iron, the sowing of seed, reaping, grinding, kneading and baking, the cultivation of flax and hemp, spinning, weaving and needle work, and that the people esteemed her a holy woman.2 We shall in due time investigate a goddess Zisa, and her claims to a connexion with Isis.

4. Holda, Holle. Can the name under which the Suevi worshipped that goddess

yiile-tide oflFer to their jauloherra small shijis smeared with reindeer's blood, and han;? them on trees ; Hogstrom, elterretninger om Lapland, p. 511. These votive gifts to saints fill the place of older ones of the heathen time to gods, as tlie voyagers to Helgohuid continued long to respect Fosete's sanctuary (p. 231). Now, as silver ylovrjhs too were placed in churches, and later in the Mid. Ages were even demanded as dues, these ships and idoughs together lend a welcome support to the ancient worship of a maternal deity (see Suppl.).

1 Philostr. de vitis sophist, lib. 2 cap. 1, ed. Paris. 1608, p. 549.

• So Jean le Maire de Beiges in his Illustrations de Gaulle, Paris, 1548, bk. 3 p. .xxviii : ' Au temps du([uel (Hercules Allemannus) la deesse Isis, ri)yne *| %'.ypt«, veint en Alh-maigne et montra au rude peuple I'usaige de mouldre la farine et faire du pain.' J. le Maire finished his work in 151'J, Aventin not till 1522 ; did they lioth boirow iiom the spurious Berosus that came out in the 15th century ? Hunibald makes a queen Camhra, who may be compared Mith the Langobardic Gambara, introduce the arts of building, sowing and weaving (see Suppl.).

263 GODDESSES.

wliom the Eomans identified with Isis — may not at least one of her secondary names — have been Holda ? The name has a purely Teutonic meaning, and is firmly grounded in the living traditions of our people to this day.

Holda is the kind, benignant, merciful goddess or lady, from hold (propitius), Goth. hul]?s (Luke 18, 13 ; root, liil}?an hal]? hul];un, to bend, bow), ON. hollr ; the Gothic form of it would be Hulpo. For the opposite notion of a malignant diabolic being, Ulphilas employs both the fem. unhtdpo and the masc. unlmdjja, from which I infer a hulpa by the side of hulpd : one more confir- mation of the double sex running through the idea of these divinities. It is true, such a by-name could be shared by several gods or spirits. Notker in the Capella 81 renders verus genius by ' min ware lioldo '. And in MHG. parlance, holde (fem. and masc.) must have been known and commonly used for ghostly beings. Albrecht of Halberstadt, in translating Ovid's Metamorphoses, uses ivazzcrholde (gen. -en) for nympli ; rhyme has protected the exact words from corruption in Wikram's poetic paraphrase.^ In the largely expanded Low German version of the Ship of Fools (Narragonia, Eostock 1519 ; 96^) we find the following passage which is wanting in the HG, text : ' Mannich narre lovet (be- lieveth) an vogelgeschrei, und der gudcn kollcn (bonorum geniorum) gunst '. Of more frequent occurrence is the MHG. iinholde (fem.), our modern unhold (masc), in the sense of a dark, malign, yet mighty being.

The earliest example of the more restricted use of the name Holda is furnished by Burchard, bp. of Worms, p. 194=" : ^ Credidisti

1 Frankf. 1631 ; 4, ITl'' von einer wazzerliolclen, rh. solden ; 176* wazzer- holde, rh. solde.

• If, in the inscription ' deae Hludanae ' quoted p. 257, we might by a slight transposition substitute Huldanae, this would be even more welcome than the analogy to ON. HloSyn, it would be the most ancient evidence for Hulda, supported as she already is by the Goth. unJmlpo and the OHG. female name Holda, a rare one, yet forthcoming in Schannat, trad. fuld. no. 445 ; also Holdasind in Graif 4, 915. Schutze's treatise De dea Hludana hrst appeared Lips. 1741 ; and when Wolf (in Wodana, p. 50) mentions a Dutch one De dea Hiddea, Trajecti 1746, if that be really the title, this can be no other than a very tempting conjecture by Cannegieter founded on our ' Hulda ' which occurs in Eccard. A Latin dative Hiddanae woidd mean our weak form, OHG. Holdun, AS. Holdan, just as Berta, Hildegarda are in Latin docs, inflected Bertanae, Hildegardanae ; though there may also have sprung up a nom. Bertana, Huldana. So the dat. Tanfanae too would lead us to at all events a German nom. Tanfa, and cut short all the attempts to make out of -fana a Celtic word or the Latin fanum. Tan/a su;7Pests an ON. man's name Dan])r, or the OHG,

UOLDA, IIOLLE. 267

ut aliqua femina sit, quae hoc facere possit, quod quaedam adiabolo deceptae se affirmant necessario et ex praecepto facere debere, id est cum daemonum turba in siniilitudinem mulierum transformata, quara vulgaris stultitia Holdam (al. vnholdain) vocat, certis noctibus equitare debere super quasdam bestias, et in eorum se consortio annumeratam esse. The remarkable varia lectio ' nnholda' is taken from the Cod. vindob. univ. 633. Burchard has here put the German word in the place of the more usual ' Diana paganorum dea,' who in other passages is named in a like sense and in the same connexion. [A still earlier notice of Holda is found in Walafrid Strabo, see Suppl.]

In popular legends and nursery-tales, fraa Holda (Hulda, Holle/ Ilulle, frau Holl) appears as a superior being, who manifests a kind and helpful disposition towards men, and is never cross except when she notices disorder in household affairs. None of the German races appear to have cherished these oral traditions so extensively as the Hessians and Thuringians (that Worms bishop was a native of Hesse). At the same time, dame Holle is found as far as the Voigtland,^ past the Ehon mts in northern Franconia,^ in the Wetterau up to the Westerwald,* and from Thuringia she crosses the frontier of Lower Saxony. Swabia, Switzerland, IJavaria, Austria, North Saxony and Friesland do not know her by that name.

From what tradition has still preserved for us,^ we gather the following characteristics. Frau Holle is represented as a being of the shy, begirdling the earth : when it snows, she is making her

root danipli ; granted a change of F into CH or TH [/ has become ch in sachte, nichte, achter, rnehtliar or ruchbar, «&c.], there would arise yet further possi- bilities, e.(j. a female name Tancha (grata) would correspond to the OHG. masc. Dancho (gratus) Gratf 5, IGi) ; conf. Dank rat = Gibicho, Haupt's zeitschr. 1, 573 — I am not convinced of Iluldaaa, and confess that Hludana may also maintain itself, and be explained as Hli'tda (clara, praeclara) ; the weight of other argmiients must turn the scale. Among these however, the use of gute holden and hollar Vivttir (Siem. 240'') for spirits, and of holl regin (Sa^m. GO^) for gods, is es])ecially worthy of notice. In ON. the adj. hollr had undergone assimilation (Goth. hul])s, OHG. hold), while the proper name Hiddr retained the old form ; for to me the explanation huldr =: occultus, celatus, looks very dubious.

' Holle from Hulda, as FoUe from FuhUi,

" Jul. Schmidt's Ueichenfels p. 152.

' Keinwald, Henneb. id. 1, C8. 2, 62. Schmeller 2, 174.

■• Schmidt's Westerwald. idiot. 73. 341.

^ Kinderm. no. 24. Deutsrche sagen, uos. 4 — 8. Falkenstein's Thur. chronica 1, IGJ-C (see Suppl.),

2GS GODDESSES,

bed, and the feathers of it fly.^ Slie stirs up snow, as Donar does rain : the Greeks ascribed the production of snow and rain to their Zeus : Jio? o/x/3po9, II. 5, 91. 11, 493 as well as vi.<^dhe<i Ato'i, II. 19, 357 ; so that Holda conies before us as a goddess of no mean rank."^ The comparison of snowflakes to feathers is very old ; the Scythians pronounced the regions north of them inaccessible, because they were filled witli feathers (Herod. 4, 7. conf. 31). Holda then must be able to move througli the air, like dame Herke.

She loves to haunt the lake and fountain ; at the hour of noon she may be seen, a fair white lady, hathing in the flood and disappearing; a trait in wiiich she resembles Nerthus. Mortals, to reach her dwelling, pass through the well ; conf. the name wazzerholde?

Another point of resemblance is, that she drives about in a waggon. She had a linchpin put in it by a peasant whom she met ; when he picked up the chips, they were gold.* Her annual progress, wdiich, like those of Herke and Berhta, is made to fall between Christmas and Twelfth-day, when the supernatural has sway,^ and wild beasts like the wolf are not mentioned by their names, brings fertility to the land. Not otherwise does ' Derk with the boar,' that Freyrof the Netherlands (p. 214), appear to go his rounds and look after the ploughs. At the same time Holda, like Wuotau, can also ride on the winds, clothed in terror, and she, like the god, belongs to the ' wiitende heer'. From this arose the fancy, that witches ride in Holla's company (cli. XXXIV, snow-

1 Dame Holle shakes her bed, Modejoiirn. 1816, p. 283. They say in Scotland, when the first flakes fall : The men o' the East are pyking their geese, and sending their feathers here awa' there awa'. In Prussian Samland, when it snows : The angels shake their little bed ; the flakes are the down- feathers, but many drop past, and get down to our earth.

^ As other attriljutes of Holda have passed to Mary, we may here also bring into comparison the Maria ad nives, notre dame aux neiges, whose feast was held on Aug. 6 ; on that day the lace-makers of Brussels pray to her, that their work may keep as white as snow. In a folk-song of Bretagne : Notre dame Marie, sur votre trone de neige ! (Barzas breiz 1, 27). May not the otherwise unintelligible Hildesheim legend of Hillesnee (DS. no. 436) have arisen out of a Holde sne ?

^ If the name brunnenhold in the Marchenbuch of Allj. Ludw. Grimm 1, 221 is a genuine piece of tradition, it signifies a fountain-sprite. [Newborn babes are fetched by the nurse out oH dame HolWs j^ond ; Siippl.]

• A similar legend in Jul. Schmidt's Reichenfels p. 152.

s This must be a purely heathen view. I suppose the christian sentiment was that expressed by Marcellus in Hamlet i. 1 : ' no spirit dares stir abroad, the nights are wholesome, &c. '. — Trans.

HOLD A, HOLLE. 2C9

Wives) ; it was already known to BurcharJ, and now in Upper Hesse and the Westerwald, HoUc-ridinfj, to ride with Holle, is equivalent to a witches' ride.^ Into the same ' furious host,' according to a wide-spread popular belief, were adopted the souls of infants di/ing unhcq^tizcd ; not having been cliristian'd, they remained heathen, and fell to heathen gods, to Wuotan or to llulda.

The next step is, that Ilulda, instead of her divine shape, assumes the appearance of an vglij old ^voman, long-nosed, big- toothed, with bristling and thick-matted hair. ' He's had a jaunt with Holle,' they say of a man whose hair sticks up in tangled disorder ; so cliildrcn are frightened with her or her equally hideous train :2 'hush, there's Hidle-hdz (-bruin), Hidlc-popd (-bogie) coming.' IIolle-2xicr, as well as Hersche, Harsche, Hescheklas, Euprecht, Eupper (ch. XVII, house-sprites';, is among the names given to the muffled servitor who goes about in Holle's train at the time of the winter solstice. In a nurs3ry-tale (Marchen no. 24) she is depicted as an old witch with long teeth ; according to the difference of story, her kind and gracious aspect is exchanged for a dark and dreadful one.

Again, Holla is set before us as a spinning-wife ; the cultivation of flax is assigned to her. Industrious maids she presents with spindles, and spins their reels full for them over night ; a slothful spinner's distaff she sets on fire, or soils it.^ The girl whose spindle dropt into her fountain, she rewarded bountifully. When she

1 Estor's oljerh. idiot., siib v.

• Eiasm. Alberus, fable 16 : * Ea kamen ancli zu diesem lieer Yiel weiber (lie sich forehten selir (were sore afraid), Und trugen sichelii in der hand, Frcm Hulda hat sie ansgesandt.' Lnther's Expos, of the Epistles, Basel 1 J22 fol. ()9''- : ' Here cometh np dame Hulde with the snout (potznase, botch-nose), to wit, nature, and goeth about to gainsay her God and give him the lie, hangeth her old ragfair about her, the straw-harness (stroharnss) ; then falls to work, and scrapes it featly on ]wv fiddle.' He compares nature rebelling against God to the heathenish Hulda with the frightful nose (Oberlin, sub v. potzniiinn- chen), as she enters, mulUed up in straw and frippery, to the tiddle's playing.

3 Bruckner, Contril). to the Henneberg idioticon, p. 9, mentions a popular belief in that part of Franconia : 'On the high day comes the HolLJnai (Hollefra, Hullefra), and tlirows in reels ; whoever does not spin them full, she breaks their necks,' (conf. hA'ra Berlda and Berhtolt and the Devil). 'On the high day she is burnt,' which reminds one of 'Carrying Death out' in 'I'eutonic and Slav countries, and ' Sawing the old woman ' in Italy and Spain. By the addition of -frau after the name (conf. gaue fru, p. 253) v.e perceive its originally adjective character. Cod. pal. ^.35'' : ' ich wen, kain schnsel in haiin ncken wart nie a Is hesslich als du bist,' I ween no scare- crow on a distair was ever as U"lv as tiiou.

270 GODDESSES.

enters the land at Cliristmas, all the distaffs are well stocked, and left standing for her ; by Carnival, when she turns homeward, all spinning must be finished off, and the staffs are now kept out of her sight (Superst. 683) ; if she finds everything as it should be, she pronounces her blessing, and contrariwise her curse ; the formulas ' so many hairs, so many good years ! ' and ' so many hairs, so many bad years ! ' have an oldworld sound. Apparently two thinsis have been run into one, when we are also told, that during the ' twelve-nights ' no flax must be left in the diesse, or dame Holla w^ill come.^ Tlie concealment of the implements shows at the same time the sacredness of her holiday, which ought to be a time of rest.^ In the Khon mts, they do no farm-work on Hidlas Saturday, neither hoe, nor manure, nor ' drive the team a- field '. In the North too, from Yule-day to New-year's day, neither wheel nor windlass must go round (see Superst., Danish, 134; SuppL). This superintendence of agriculture and of strict order in the household marks exactly the office of a motherly deity, such as we got acquainted with in Nerthus and Isis. Then her special care of Jiax and spinning (the main business of German housewives, who are named after spindle and distaff,^ as men are after sword and spear), leads us directly to the ON. Frigg, OSin's wife, whose being melts into the notion of an earth-goddess, and after whom a constellation in the sky, Orion's belt, is called Friggja.r rockr, Friggae coins. Though Icelandic writings do not contain this name, it has remained in use among the Swedish country-folk (Ihre, sub v. Friggerock). The constellation is however called Maridrocli, Dan. Mariroch (Magnusen, gloss. 361. 376), the christians having passed the same old idea on to Mary the heavenly mother. The Greeks put spindle and distaff in the hands of several goddesses, especially Aitemis (')(^pua7j\dKaTo<i, II. 20, 70) and her mother Leto, but also Athene, Amphitrite and the Nereids. All this fits in with Holda, who is a goddess of the chase (the wild host), and of water-springs.

1 Braunsclnv. aiiz. 1760, no. 86 ; the dicsse is the bundle of flax on the dis-staff.

• This makes one think of Gertrude. The peasants' almanacks in Carniola represent that saint by two little mice nibbling at the thread on a spindle (vreteno), as a sign that there ought to be no sjnnning on her dav. The same holds good of the Russian piatnitsa, Friday (Kopitars rec. von Strahls gel. Eussland).

'^ RA. 163-8. 470. Women are c^alled in AS. friSowebban, peace-weavers.

HOLUA, HOLLE. 271

One might be tempted to derive dame Holda from a character in the Old Testament. In 2 Kings 22, U and 2 Chron. 34, 22 we read of a prophetess rT^Sn Iluleddali, Huldah, for which Luther puts Hulda ; tlie Septuagint has 'OxBd, the Vulgate Olda, but the Lat. Bible Viteb. 1529 (and probably others since) Hulda, following Luther, who, with the German Holda in his mind, thus domesticated the Jewish prophetess among his countrymen. Several times in liis writings he brings up the old heathen life ; we had an instance a page or two Ijack.^ I do not know if any one before him had put the two names together; but certainly the whole conception of a dame Holda was not first drawn from the ' Olda ' of the Vulgate, which stands there without any special significance ; this is proved by the deep-rootedness of the name in our language, by its general application [as adj. and com. noun] to several kinds of spirits, and by the very ancient negative unholda.

Were it only for the kinship of the Norse traditions with our own, we should bid adieu to sucli a notion as that. True, the Eddie mythology has not a Holla answering to our Holda ; but Snorri (Yngl. saga c. 16. 17) speaks of a wise woman (volva, seiSkona) named Hiddr, and a later Icelandic saga composed in the 14th century gives a circumstantial account of the enchantress Hidda, beloved of OSinn, and mother of the well-known half- goddesses ThorgerSr and Irpa.^ Of still more weight perhaps are some Norwegian and Danish folk-tales about a wood or mountain wife Hulla, Huldra, Huldre, whom they set forth, now as young and lovely, then again as old and gloomy. In a blue garment and white veil she visits the pasture-grounds of herdsmen, and mingles in the dances of men ; but her shape is disfigured by a tail, which she takes great pains to conceal. Some accounts make her beautiful in front and ugly behind. She loves music and song, lier lay has a doleful melody and is called Inddrcslaat. In the forests you see Huldra as an old woman clothed in gray, marching at the head of her flock, milkpail in hand. She is said to carry off people's unchristened infants from tliem. Often she appears, not alone, but as mistress or queen of the mountain-sprites, who are

1 I believe Luther followed the Hebrew, merely clroiiping the final h, as he does in Jehova, Judn, tS:c. — Trans.

2 Muller's sa-abibl. 1, 3G3— 6.

272 GODDESSES.

called liuldrefolh} In Iceland too they know of tins IluldufdIJc, of the Huldumemi ; and here we find another point of agreement with the popular faith of Germany, namely, that by the side of our dame Holde there are also holden, i.e., friendly spirits, a silent subterranean people, of whom dame Holde, so to speak, is the princess (see Suppl.). For this reason, if no other, it must be more correct to explain the Norse name Hidla, Hiddra from the ON. hollr (lidus, fidelis, pi-opitius) which is huld in Dan. and Swed., and not from the OiST. hulda (obscuritas) as referring to the subterranean abode of the mountain-sprites. In Swedish folk-songs I find ' huldmoder, hulda moder ' said of one's real mother in the same sense as kara (dear) moder (Sv. vis. 1, 2, 9) ; so that huld must have quite the meaning of our German word. It is likely that the term hulduiulk was imported into the Icelandic tongue from the Danish or Norwegian. It is harder to explain the li inserted in the forms Haldra, Hiddrc ; did it spring out of the plural form hulder (boui genii, hollar Victtir) ? or result from composition ?

The German Holda presides over spinning and agriculture, the Norse Hulle over cattle-grazing and milking.

5. Pkrahta, Berchte. A being similar to Holda, or the same under another name, makes her appearance precisely in those Upper German regions where Holda leaves off, in Swabia, in Alsace, in Switzerland, in J>avaria and Austria.^ She is called frau Berchte, i.e., in OHG. Feralita, the bright,^ luminous, glorious (as Holda produces the glittering snow) : by the very meaning of the word a benign and gladdening intluence, yet she is now rarely represented as such ; as a rule, the awe-inspiring side is brought into prominence, and she

1 Details to be found in Miiller's sagab. 1, 367-8. Hallager p. 48. Faye pp. 39-43 and 10. 15. 25. 26. 36. Frigge, nytaarsgave for 1813, p. 85. Strom's 8ondni6r 1, 538-59. Vilses Spydeberg 2, 419. Villes Sillejord. p. 230. Asbiornsen, passim.

2 A portion of Franconia and Thnringia knows both Berchta and Holda, there at all events is the boundary between the two. Matthesius, in his Exposition of the gospels for feastdays, p. 22, names dame Hulda and old Berchte side by side.

=* Among the celebrated maidens of MengloS is a Biort (Seem. Ill*), Mengl63 herself is called 'su in sulbiarta ' (111^), and the father of her betrothed Svipdagr Solbiartr (sun-bright, 112'''). A MengloS in a later story appears to some one in a dream (Fornm. sog. 3, 222-3), and leaves him a marvellous pair of gloves.

PERAIITA, iJERCHTE. 273

appears as a grim bugbear to frighten children with. In the stories of dame Berclda the bad meaning predominates, as the good one does in those of dame Holda; that is to say, the pojjular christian view had degraded Berchta lower than Holda. But she too is evidently one with Herke, Freke and some others (see

Suppl.).

Where their identity comes out most plainly is in the fact that they all go their rounds at the same time, in the so-called ' twelfths' between Christmas and New-year. Berchta however has a particular day assigned her at the end of that period, which I never find named after Holda. And no less similar are their functions.

Berchta, like Holda, has the oversight of spinners; whatever spinning she finds unfinished the last day of the year, she spoOs (Superst. 512). Her festival has to be kept with a certain tradi- tional food, gi'uel and fish. Thorr says he has had sildr ok hafra (herrings and oats) for supper, Saem. 1b^ ; our. white ladij has pre- scribed the country folk a dish of fish and oat-grits for evermore, and is angry whenever it is omitted (Deutsche sagen, no. 267). The Thuringians in the Saalfeld country wind up the last day of the year with dumplings and herrings. Fish and farinaceous food were considered by christians the proper thing for a fast.^

The revenge taken by the wrathful Berclda, when she misses the fish and dumplings, has a quaint and primitive sound : whoever has partaken of other food on her day, she cuts his belly open, fills it with chopped straw, and sews up the gash with a ploughshare for a needle and an iron chain by way of thread (Superst. 525).^

^ Tlie Braunschw. anz. 17G0, p. 1302, says no leguminous plants are to lie eaten when dame Holla is going ronnd in the ' twelve-nights '. Either a niistake, or to be understood of particular kinds of pulse.

^ Almost the same is told iu the Voigtland of the JVerre or dame Holle. Tlie W'erre, on the holy eve of the high New-year, holds a strict inquiry whether all the distaffs are spun off ; if they are not, she defiles the flax. And on that evening you must aat jwlse, a thick pap of Hour and water prepared in a peculiar way ; if any one omits it, she rips his body open, Jul. Schmidt, Reichenfels, p. i.;2. The name IVerra (from her 'gewirrt,' tiinglcd shaggy hair'/) is found in Thoni. Reinesius, Lect. var., Altenbg 1640, p. 57:) (in the critical notes on IJhyakinus's, i.e. Audr. Kivinus or Bachmann's Liber Kirani- dum Kirini, Lips. 1G38) : Nostrates hodie([ue i)etulantioribus et refractariis manducum alii[uem cum ore hiante frendcntem dentibus, aut furibundam silvescente coma, facie lurida, et cetero habitu terriljilem cum comitatu niaena- duni IVerram iriterminantur. Reinesius (1587-16(37) came from Gotha, but lived at Hof in the Voigtland. A werre is also a noisome chirping insect of the cricket kind (Popowitsch 620). In MHG. : 'siBJetdiu IVcrre (i)iscordia) ir samen dai-,' sows her seed, Ms. 2, 251*^, conf. Troj. o85 (see Suppl.) ; and in

18

274 GODDESSES.

And the same threat is lield out in other districts also (see Suppl.).

Borner's Folk-tales of the Orlagau (between the Saale and the Orle) furnish abundant details. At p, 153 : The night before Twelfthday, Perchtha always examines the spinning-rooms of the whole neighbourhood, slie brings the spinners empty reels, with directions to spin them full within a very brief time, and if all she demands cannot be delivered, she punishes them by tangling and befouling the flax. On the same occasion she cuts open any one's body, that has not eaten zemmcdc ^ that day, takes out any other food he has had, and fills the empty space with hay or straw wisps and bricks, and at last sews his body up again, using a ploughshare for a needle, and for thread a rohm chain. — P. 159 : At Oppurg, the same night of the year, Perchtha found the spinning-room full of merrymaking guests, and in a towering rage she handed in through the window twelve cm-pty reels, which were to be spun full to the rim within an hour, when she would come back ; one quarter of an hour had passed after another in fearful expectation, when a saucy girl ran up to the garret, reached down a roll of tow, and wrapped it round the empty reels, then they spun two or three thicknesses of thread over the tow, so that the reels looked full. Perchtha came, they handed over to her their finished work, and she walked off with it, shaking her head, (Conf. the similar story of the white manikin in Bader, p. 3G9). — P. 167: At Langendembach lived an old spinning- wife, who swiftly wound the thread all the winter through, and did not so much as leave off on Twelfth day-eve, though son and daugliter-in-law warned her : ' If Perchtha comes, it will go hard with you '. ' Heyday ! ' was her answer, ' Perchtha brings me no shirts, I must spin them myself After a while the window is pushed open, Perchtha looks into the room, and throws some empty

Selpliartes re^el (Wackernarrel's lb. 903), there is exhibited, together with bruoder Zornli and bruoder Ergerli, a bruoder Wirra, ' der sin herze mit welt- lichen dingen also heworren hat (has so entangled his lieart with worldly things), daz da nilit me in mag '. And that notion of tangled thread and hair, which prevails abont Bertha and Holda, may after all be akin to this. On L. Zurich she is called de Chlungere, because she puts chlungel (knots, Inmps) in the nn- finished yarn of slothful maidens, Alb. Schott, Deutsche colonien in Piedmont, p. 282. In Bavaria and German Bohemia, Berhta is often represented by St. Lucia, though her day comes on Dec. 13. Frau Lufz cuts the belly open, Schmeller 2, 532. Jos. Bank, Bohmerwald, p. 137. Conf. the Lusse in Sweden, Wieselgren. 386-7.

1 Made of flour and milk or water, and baked in a pan : fasting fare, evidently.

PERAHTA, BERCniE. 275

spools to her, wliich she must have back, spun full, in an hour's time. The spinner took heart of grace, spun a few rounds on each spool for dear life, and threiv them, one and all, into the brook that ran past the house (and by that, Perchtha seems to have been appeased). — P. 173 : As a miner was returning from Bucha to Konitz on Perchtha's night, she came up to him at the cross-roads, and demanded with threats, that he should put a icedge in her waggon. He took his knife, cut the wedge as well as he could, and fitted it into Perchtha's waggon, who made him a present of the fallen chips. He picked them up, and at home he drew gold out of every pocket in which he had put Perchtha's gifts. — P. 182 : Two peasants of Jiidewein, after stopping at the alehouse in Kostriz till late on Perchtha's eve, had gone but a little way, when Perchtha came driving in a waggon, and called to them to put a peg in the pole of her waggon. One of the men had a knife, and Perchtha supplied him with wood, the peg was let in, and the handy man carried home several pieces of money in his shoe as a reward. — P. 113 : Between Bucha and Wilhelmsdorf in the fruitful vale of the Saale, Perchtha queen of the heimchen had her dwelling of old ; at her command the heimchen had to water the fields of men, while she worked underground with her plough. At last the people fell out with her, and she determined to quit the country ; on Perchtha's eve the ferryman at Altar village received notice to be ready late in the night, and when he came to the Saale bank, his eyes beheld a tall stately dame surrounded by Vy^eeping children, and demanding to be ferried over. She stept into the craft, the little ones dragged a plough and a number of other tools in, loudly lamenting that they had to leave that lovely region. Arrived at the other side, Perchtha bade the boatman cross once more and fetch the heimchen that had been left behind, which under compul- sion he did. She in the meantime had been mending the plovgh, she pointed to the chii^s, and said to the ferryman, ' There, take that to reward thy trouble '. Grumbling, he pocketed three of the chips, and at home flung them on the window-shelf, and himself, ill at ease, into bed. In the morning, three gold-pieces lay where he had thrown the chips. The memory of Perchtha's passage is also preserved at Kaulsdorf on the Saale, and at Kostriz on the Elstcr, not far from Gera. — P. 126 : Late one night, the master wheel- wright at Colba was coming home from Oppurg, where he had

276 GODDESSES.

been to work ; it was the eve of the Three-kings (Twelfthday), and on the bank of the rivulet Orla he came upon Perchtha, her broken plough surrounded by weeping heimclien. ' Hast thou a hatchet with thee, so help me mend ! ' she cried to the terrified traveller. He gave what help he could, but the fallen chips offered hita for wages he would not touch : ' I have plenty of them at home,' says he. When he got home, he told what had happened to him, and while his people shook their heads incredulously, he pulled off one of his shoes, which something had got into, that hurt his foot, and out rolled a bright new gold-piece. A twelvemonth passed, and one of his men, who had heard him tell the tale, set out on Perchtha's night, and waited by the Orla, just where his master had met Perchtha ; in a little while, on she came with her infant train : ' What seekest thou here at this hour ? ' she cried in anger, and when he stammered out an answer, she continued : ' I am better provided with tools this time, so take thou thy due ! ' and with those words she dug her hatchet into the fellow's shoulder. The same story is repeated near Kaulsdorf at a part of the brook which is called the water over the way, at Presswitz near the Saal-house, and on the sandhill between Possneck and the forester's lodge of Eeichenbach. Below the Gleitsch, a curiously shaped rock near Tischdorf, the story varies in -so far, that there Perchtha along with the helmchen ivas driving a waggon, and had just broken the axle, when she fell in with a countryman, who helped her out with a makeshift axle, and was paid in chips, which however he disdained, and only carried a piece home in his shoe. — P. 133 : A spinning- girl walked over from the Neidenberg during that night, she had done every bit of her spinning, and M^as in high spirits, when Perchtha came marching up the hill towards her, with a great troop of the heimchen-folk, all children of one sort and size, one set of them toiling to push a heavy j^lovgh, another party loaded with farming-tools ; they loudly complained that they had no longer a home. At this singular procession the spinner began to laugh out loud, Perchtha enraged stept up to the giddy thing, Ueio tipon her, and struck her blind on the spot. The poor girl had a trouble to find her way into the village, she led a wretched life, could no longer work, but sat mournful by the wayside begging. When the year was past and Perchtha visited Altar again, the blind one, not knowing one from another, asked an alms of the high dame as she

PERAHTA, BERGHTE. 277

swept by ; Perclitha spoke graciously : ' Here last year I blew a pair of lights out, tliis year 1 will blow tliem in again'. With these words she blew into the maid's eyes, which immediately began to see again. The same legend is found in the so-called Sorge, near Neustadt on the Orla. Touching stories of the weeping children, who tramp along in Perchtha's great troop, will be given when we come to treat minutely of the ' wiitende heer '. (See Suppl.).

To these significant traditions of Thuringia, others can be added from Bavaria and Austria. In the mountain district about Trauen- stein (Up. Bavaria, opposite Salzburg) they tell tlie children on the eve of Epiphany, that if they are naughty, Berchc will come and cut their bellies open. Greasy calces are baked that day, and the workmen say you must grease your stomach well with them, so that dame Berchc s knife may glance off (Schm. 1, 19-4). Is that the reason why she is called icild Bertha, iron Bertha ? Crusius, Ann. Suev. p. 2, lib. 8, cap. 7, p. 266, relates, as his explanation of the origin of the name, that Henry IV. bestowed privileges on the city of Padua : Inde, in signa libertatis, armato carrocio uti coeperunt in bello, Bertha nominato. Hinc dictum ortum puto, quo terrentur inquieti pueri, ' Schweig, oder die eiserne Bertha kommt ! ' ^ In other places, Franconian and Swabian, she is named Hildaherta (apparently a combination of the two names Holda and Berta), and Bildaherta ; with hair all shaggy she walks round the houses at night, and tears the bad boys to pieces (see Suppl.).'^

Dame Preeht with the long nose is what Vintler calls her : and even a MIIG. poem, which in one MS. is entitled * daz msere von der Stempen,' has in another the heading ' von Berchten mit der laiigen nas' (Haupt's Altd. bl. 1, 105). It is only from the former (with corrected spelling) that I am able to extract what has a bearing on our subject :

nu merket rehfe-waz (ich) iu sage : Now mark aright what I you tell: nachwihennaht amzwelften tage, after Christmas the twelfth day, nacli dem lieilgen ebenwihe ^ after the holy New-year's day

(gotgeb, daz er uns gedihe), (God grant we prosper in it),

do man ezzen solt ze nahte, when they should eat supper

1 Conf. Cnisius p. 1, lib. 12, cap. 6, p. 329, where Bertha the mother of Charles is meant. The Lombards called a carrociuni Jlcrta and JJcrteciola (Ducange sub v.), perhaps the carriage of the travelling goddess or queen ?

^ Joacli. Camerarius, chronol. Ni'cephori, p. 129.

3 Even-holy, equally-holy day, Schetfer's llaltaus, p. 68.

278 GODDESSES.

und man ze tische brahte and had to table brought

allez daz man ezzen solde, all that they should eat,

swaz der wirt geben wolde whatso the master would give,

do sprach er zeni gesinde then spake he to his men

iind zuo sin selbes kinde : and to his own child :

' ezzet Mnte fast durch min bete, ' eat fast (hard) to night, I pray, daz iucli die Stempc niht entrctc! that the Stempe tread you not.' daz kintlin do von forhten az, The child then ate from fear,

er sprach: 'veterlin, waz ist daz, he said : ' father, what is this daz du die Slempen nennest ? that thou the Stempe callest ?

sag mir, ob dus erkennest.' tell me, if thou it knowest.'

der vater sprach : 'daz sag ich dir. The father said : ' this tell I thee, du solt ez wol gelouben mir, thou raayest well believe me,

ez ist so griuwelich getan, there is a thing so gruesome done,

daz ich dirz niht gesagen kan : that I cannot tell it thee : wan swer des vergizzet, for whoso forgets this,

daz er nicht fast izzct, so that he eats not fast,

4/ den Icumt ez und trit in.' on him it comes, and treads him.'

Here also children and servants are warned by the master of the house to eat up clean all that is brought on the table, and are threatened with a trampling from Stcmj)e. This cognomen of Berchte must have come from stamping (step, tap, thump, &c.), and perhaps it ought to be spelt Stempfe (German stampfen, to stamp) ; but in Bavaria there is a proper name Stcmpo (jMB. 2, 280, anno 1130), not Stempho, and both stampen and stampfen seem to be correct for trampling and squeezing, Ital. stampare : she is the night hag, similar to alp and schrat [old scratch ?]. Add to this, that in the Nordgau of Franconia, dame Holda is called the Trempc (Doderlein, Antiq. nordg. 41), i.e., the trampling racketing one ; Stalder defines triimpeln as walking with short, measured steps (tripping), and the Drut (night-goblin) approaches with soft foot- fall ; at the same time, trampel, trampelthier, is a heavy clumsy woman. Now, as S is occasionally added before an initial T, it is surely not going too far, to connect Stempe with the more ancient Tamfana, Tanfana, p. 257 (see Suppl.).

Martin of Amberg ^ calls her FercJit mit der eisncn nasen (with

1 His Ge-\vissensspiegel (mid. of 14th cent.) is in two MSS. at Vienna (Hoffni. pp. 335-6) ; conf. Schni. 4, 188. 21U, and tlie Jalirb. der Berliner gesellsch. lur deutsclie spr. 2, fi3 — 65.

PERAHTA, BERCHTE. 279

iron nose), and says that people leave meat and drink standing for her; which means a downright sacrifice.

In the mountains of Salzburg there is kept up to this day, in honour of the terrible Percktel, a so called Perchta-running, Perchta- leaping at the time of the rauchniichte [incense-nights ?]^ In the Pinzgau, from 100 to 300 young fellows (styled the Berchtcn) will roam about in broad daylight in the oddest disguises, carrying cows' bells, and cracking whips.^ In the Gastein valley the procession, headed by from 50 or 100 to 300 stout fellows, goes hopping and skipping from village to village, from house to house, all tlirougii the valley (Muchar, Gastein pp. 145-7). In the north of Switzer- land, where in addition to Berchtli the softened form Bechtli or Bechteli is in use, Bechtclis day is the 2nd (or, if New-year's day falls on a Saturday, the 3rd) of January, and is honoured by the young people in general with social merrymakings ; they call the practice hcrclUeln, hechteln. In the 16th century it was still the custom at Zurich, for men to intercept and press one another to take wine ; this was called ' conducting to Berclitold ' (Staid. 1, 150- 6). There was thus a masculine Bercht or Berchtolt, related to "Wuotan, as Berhta was to Freke ; and from this again there arose in Swabia a new feminine, BrechtoUerin, Prcchtdlterin (Schniid, Schwab, wtb. 93). In Alsace the bechten was performed by pren- tices and journeymen running from one house or room to another, and keeping up a racket (see passages in Oberlin, sub. v. Bechten). Cunrat of Dankrozheim says in his Namenbuch, composed 1435 :^ darnauch so komet die milde Behte, die noch hat ein gar gross geslehte (great kindred). He describes her as the mild, "racious to men, not as the terrible. Berchtolt however is in Swabian legend the wliite mannikin, who brings spools to be filled with spinning (Mone's anz. 8, 179), exactly like Berchta, p. 274 (see Suppl.).

And as a kind benevolent being she appears in many other descriptions, which undoubtedly reach far back into the Mid, Ages. The wliitc lady, by her very name, has altogether the same meaning,

1 This rerchtcnspringen is like the hexentusch in the Bohnierwald, which, Jos. Hank p. 76-7 says, is performed at Whitsnntide, when young men and boys provide themselves with loud cracking whips, and chase all the witches out of houses, stables and barns.

2 Journev through Uiiper (iermany, p. 243. Schm. 1, 195.

3 Ad. Walt. Strobel's beitr., Strasb. 1827, p. 123.

280 GODDESSES.

for peraht, berlit or brecht, signifies bright, light, white. This white lady usually attaches herself to particular families, but even then she keeps the name of Berta, e.g., Eerta of Eosenberg. In snow-white garments she shows herself by night in princely houses, she rocks or dandles the babies, while their nurses sleep : she acts the old grandmother or ayicestrcss of the family {see SuppL).

There is a good deal in the fact, that several women of that name, who are famed in our national traditions, stand connected with the ghostly Bcrhta ; they have been adopted out of the divine legend into the heroic legend. In Italy and France, a far distant past is expressed by the phrase : ' nel tempo ove BerHa Jilava,' when B. span (Pentamerone. Liebrecht 2, 259), ' au tems que la reine Bertlie filait : ' the same idea still, of the spinning matron.^ Berta, the daughter of king Flower and of Whiteflower, afterwards the wife of king Pippin and mother of the great hero Charles, she who in the MLG. poem of Flos is called both Vredelitig and Brehte (1555. 7825), does not belie her mythic origin.^ She is called Berlite viit demfuoze (foot), Flore 309; in French, Berthe au grand pied ; and ace. to the Eeali di Frauza 6, 1 : ' Berta del gran pie, perche ella aveva un pie un poco maggior dell altro, e quello era il pie destro,' had the right foot larger. The French poet Adenez tries apparently to extenuate the deformity by making both her feet large, he calls her 'Berte as grans pies' (Paris ed. LII. 78. 104) ; so the Mid. Dutch, ' Baerte met ten breden voetc7i,' Floris 39G6. But the one big foot is more genuine, as may be seen by the far

^ I can proihice another spinnrng Bertha. The Vita S. Berthae Avenna- censis in dioecesi Remeusi (conf. Flodoardus 4, 47) says (Acta Sanctor., Maii p. 114'^) : Quae dum histraret situs loci illiiLS, pervenit ad quendani hortum, in quo erat fons inirae pulcritudinis. Quern ut vidit Deo devota femina, minime concupivit, sed possessoribus ipsius praedii sic locuta est : 0 fratres, hunc fonteni praedii vestri vendite mihi, et accepta digna jjecunia cedite usibus nostris. Cui sic aiunt : En praesto sunius, si tanien detur pretium a nobis taxatum. Sancta autem, videntibus qui aderant, librani unam denariorum posuit super lapidem qui erat super os ejusdem fontis, doniini vero ac vendi- tores receperuut aes. Tunc sancta mater, Deo plena, colo quani manu tenebat coeY>it tnram fodere, et in moduni sulci rigam facere, ora.ns ac dicens : Ostende nobis, Domine, misericord iam tuam, et salutare tuum da nobis ! Eevertens namque monasterium, colum eadem post se trahebat, tantaque abundantia aquae eam sequebatur, ut ad usus omnes hominibus pertinentes sufficeret, sicut usque hodie apparet. Nomen quoque sancta mater liuviolo ipsi composuit, dicens : Libra vocaberis, quia una libra pro emptione tua data est.

2 How firmly she is rooted, may be seen by her being the link that joins the Carolingian legend to the Laiigobardic : she is mother of Carl, wife of Pippin the son of Kother (4789), and daughter of Flore and BlancheHor, whose name again contains the notion of whiteness.

PERAHTA, BEKCHTE. 281

more ancient tradition of a ' reine Pedauque, regina peclc micae,' whose figure stands carved in stone on old churches.^ It is appar- ently a siuan-maidcns foot, which as a mark of her higher nature she cannot lay aside (any more than Huldra her tail, or the devil his horse hoof) ; and at the same time the spinning-woman's splay- foot that worked the treadle, and that of the t.Mmpling dame •Stem]3e or Trempe. If we had older and minuter descriptions of ' frau Berhta ' in Germany, perhaps this foot would also be mentioned in them (see Suppl.).

It still remains for us to explain her precise connexion with a particular day of the year. It is either on Dec. 25 (dies natalis), or twelve days after Christmas, on Jan, 6, when the star appeared to the Three Kings (magi), that the christian church celebrates the feast of the manifestation of Christ under the name of epiphania (v. Ducange, sub v.), hdhphania or iheopkania (0. Fr. tiephaine, tiphagne). In an OHG. gloss (Emm. 394), theophania is rendered giperahta naht, the bright night of the heavenly vision that appeared to the shepherds in the field.^ Documents of the Mid. Ages give dates in the dative case : ' perchtentag, perhtennaht ' (for OHG. zi demo perahtin taga, zi deru Perahtim naht) ; again,

• an der berechtnaht,' M. Beham (Mone, anz, 4, 451) ; ' ze perh- nahten,' MB. 8, 540 (an. 1302) ; ' imze an den ahtodin tac nah der Perhtage,' till the eighth day after the Perht's (fern.) day, Fundgr. 110, 22 ; ' von dem nehsten Berhtag,' MB. 9, 138 (an. 1317) ; ' an dem Prehentag,' MB. 7, 256 (an. 1349); — these and other contracted forms are cited with references in Scheffer's Ilaltaus p. 75, and Schm. 1, 194.^ Now from this there might very easily grow up a personification, FcrchtentdiC, Perchtomalit, the bright day becoming Bright's, i.e., dame Bright's, day. (Conrad of Dankrotsheim, p. 123, puts his milde Belite down a week earlier, on Dec. 30.) *

Two hypotheses present themselves. Either the entire fabulous existence of a Perhta first arose accidentally and by misunderstand- ing, out of such personification ; or the analogy of the ' bright ' day was tacked on to a previously existing Perhta. Now it is true we

1 AllJ. w. 3, 47-8 ; Paris too connects this Pedauque with Berte, ill. iv. 198 ; rci)ie re'hiuque, Michelet hist, de France 1, 49G-8. 2, 152.

• Luke 2, 0. 0. i. 12, 3. 4. Hel. 12, 8. Maria 182.

3 The OIIG. 'ji/if7-m<rtc = parasceve (Graff 5, 360) is Good Friday, and distinct i'roin Prehentafj, Percht(;ntag.

•* Dec. 28 is Innocents', 29 St. Thomas's, 31 St. Silvester's.

282 GODDESSES.

cannot point out a dame Perhta before the 15tli or 14th century, or at earliest the 13th ; but tlie first supposition need not break down, even if we did manage to liunt up her personal name in older authorities : even in the 9th century the expression 'peraht^n nalit ' might have developed into ' Perahtdn naht '. Still the char- acteristics we have specified of a mythical Berta, and above all, her identity with Holda, seem to me to decide the matter the other way. If, independently of the christian calendar, there was a Holda, then neither can Perahta be purely a product of it ; on the contrary, both of these adjective names lead up to a heathen deity, who made her peregrination at that very season of yule, and whom therefore the christians readily connected with the sacredness of Christmas and New-year.

I will here group together the features which unmistakably make Holda and Bertha appear in this light. They drive about in ^uaggons, like mother Earth, and promote agriculture and navigation among men ; a plough, from which there fall chips of gold, is their sacred implement. This too is like the gods, that they appear suddenly, and Berhta especially hands her gifts in at the vjindow. Both have spinning and weaving at heart, they insist on diligence and the keeping of festivals holy, on the transgressor grim penalties are executed. The souls of infaiit children are found in their host, as they likewise rule over elves and dAvarfs, but night-hags and enchantresses also follow in their train : — all this savours of heathenism.

It is very remarkable, that the Italians too have a mis-shapen fairy Befana, a terror to children, who has sprung out of epiphania (befania) : on that day the women and children set a doll made of old rags in the window ; she is black and ugly, and brings presents. Some say, she is, Herod's daughter; Eanke's hist, zeitschr. 1,717. ' La Befania ' {Pulei's Morg. 5, 42). Berni says : ' il di di Befania vo porla per Befana alia fenestra, perche qualcun le dia d' una ballestra '} It would be astonishing, if twice over, in two different nations, a name in the calendar had caused the invention of a supernatural being; it is more likely that, both in Italy, and among us, older traditions of the people have sought to blend themselves with the christian name of the day.

1 Franc. Berni, rime 105. Crxisca sub v. befana.

HERODIAS, DIANA, ABUNDIA. 283

G. (Herodias. Diana. Abundia).

Hcrodias, of whom we have just been reminded by Befana, will illustrate this even better. The story of Herod's daugliter, whose (lancing brought about the beheading of John the Baptist, must have produced a peculiarly deep impression in the early part of the Mid. Ages, and in more than one way got mixed up with fables, lleligious poets treat the subject in full, and with relish (Hel. 83-5) ; Otfried seems to leave it out designedly. It was imagined, that on account of her thoughtless rather than malicious act (for the proposal came from her revengeful mother), Hcrodias (the daughter) was condemned to roam about in company with evil and devilish spirits. She is placed at the head of the ' furious host ' or of witches' nightly expeditions, together with Diana, with Holda and Perahta, or in their stead. In Burcard of Worms 10, 1 we read : Illud etiam non omittendum, quod quaedam sceleratae mulieres retro post Satanam conversae, daemonum illusionibus et phantas- matibus seductae, credunt se et profitentur nocturnis horis cum Diana paganorum dea vel cum Herodiade et innumera multitudine mulierum equitare super quasdam bestias, et multa terrarum spatia intempestae noctis silentio pertransire, ejusque jussionibus vdut dominae obedire, et certis noctibus ad ejus servitium evocari. — Job. Salisberiensis (f 1182) in Polycr. 2, 17 : Quale est, quod noc- tilucam quandam, vel Herodiadem vel praesidem noctis dominam, concilia et conventus de nocte asserunt convocare, varia celebrari convivia, &c. — Angerius, episcopus Conseranus (an. 1280) : Nulla mulier de nocturnis equitare cum Diana dea paganorum vel cum Herodiade sen Bensozia ^ et innumera mulierum multitudine pro- fitcatur. — Similar statements have passed into later writings, such as those of ]\Iartin von Amberg, and Vintler. It is worth noticing, that to the worship of this Herodias, one third of the whole ivorld is ceded, and so a most respectable diffusion allowed. Eatherius (bishop of Verona, but a Frank, b. at Lobi near Cambray, d. 974) in his Praeloquia (Martene and Durand 9, 798. opp. edit. Ballerini pp. 20. 21) : Quis enim eorum, qui hodie in talibus usque ad per- ditionem animae in tantum decipiuntur, ut etiam eis, quas (Ball.

^ Ducanp;e srib v. Diana spells Benzoria, but has the true meaning under r.ensozia itself ; it seems to mean bona socia, friendly propitious being. Bona dea, Dio Cass. 37, 35. 45. Conf. ch. XXVIII, dobra sretia, bona Fortuna ; ch. XVI, good wife, under Wood-women.

284 GODDESSES.

de quibus) ait Gen.^, Ilcrocliam illam baptistae Christi interfectri- cera, quasi reginam imo deam proponant ; asserentes, tertiam tot ins mundi partem illi traditam : quasi haec merces fuerit propLetae occisi, cum potius sint daemones, talibus praestigiis infelices mulier- culas, bisque niultum vituperabiliores viros, quia perditissimos, decipientes. — A full and remarkable account of the medieval tradition, that was tacked on to Herodias, is contained in the Ptei- nardus 1, 11:39—1164:

Traecipue sidus celebrant, ope cujus, ubi omnes

defuerant testes, est data Eoma Petro, traditaque injusto Fharaildis virgo labor! ;

sed sanctifaciunt qualiacunque volunt. Ilac famosus erat felixque fuisset Herodes

prole, sed infelix banc quoque laesit amor: liaec virgo, thalamos Baptistae solius ardens,

voverat hoc demto nuUius esse viri. Offensus genitor, comperto prolis amore,

insontem sanctum decapitavit atrox, Postulat afferri virgo sibi tristis, et affert ''■

regius in disco tempera trunca cliens. Mollibus allatum stringens caput ilia lacertis

perfundit lacrimis, osculaque addere avet ; oscula captanteni caput anfugit atque resnjfflat,

ilia per impluvium turbine flantis abit. Ex illo nimium memor ira Johannis eandem

per vacuum coeli flabilis urget iter : mortuus infestat miseram, nee vivus amarat,

non tamen banc penitus fata perisse sinunt. Lenit honor luctura, minuit reverentia poenam,

inirs hominum moestae tertia servit herac. Quercuhus et corylis a noctis parte secunda

usque nigri ad galli carmina prima sedet. Nunc ea nomen liabet Fharaildis, Herodias ante

saltria, nee subiens nee subeunda pari. Conf. Aelfrici homiliae 1, 486. Here we have Herodias described as mocsta hcra cui pars tertia hominum servit, the reverential homage she receives assuages her bitter lot ; only from midnight

1 Eallerini cannot understand this Gen. ; is it Gennadius (Massiliensis), a writer at the end of the hfth century ?

IIERODIAS, DIANA, ABUNDLV. 235

till first cockcrow she sits on oaks and hazel-trees, tlie rest of her time she floats through the empty air. She was inflamed by love for John, which he did not return ; when his head is brought in on a charger, she would fain have covered it with tears and kisses, but it draws back, and begins to blow hard at her ; the hapless maid is whirled into empty space, and there she hangs for ever,^ Why she was afterwards (in the twelfth century) called Fharaildis, is not explained by the life of a saint of that name in Flanders (Acta sanct. 4 Jan.) ; nor does anything that the church tells of John the Baptist and llerodias (Acta sanct. 2-i Jun.) at all resemble the contents of the above story : Herodias is Herod's wife, and the daughter is named Salome. Pharaildis on the contrary, M. Dutch Vercldr,' leads us to ver Elde :=frau Hilde or f rem Iliddc, as in a doc. of 1213 (Bodmanns Eheing. alterth. p. 94) there occurs a ' miles dictus Verhildeburrj,' and in a Fiisian doc. of the 14th century a FerhUdcma, evidently referring to the mythic Hildburg. Still more remarkable seems a M. Dutch name for the milky way, Vroneklcnstract = frauen Hilde or Ilulde strasse (street, highway). So that the poet of the Reinardus is entirely in the right, when Herodias sets him thinking of Fharaildis, and she again of the milky way, the sidns in his first line.

There is no doubt whatever, that quite early in the Mid. Ages the christian mythus of Herodias got mixed up with our native heathen fables : those notions about dame Holda and the * furious host ' and the nightly jaunts of sorceresses were grafted on it, the Jewish king's daughter had the part of a heathen goddess assigned her (Eatherius says expressly : imo dea), and her worship found numerous adherents. In the same circle moves Diana, the lunar deity of night, the wild huntress ; Diana, Herodias and Holda

^ This reference to the iurho (the whirlwind of his blast), looks mythical and of high antic^uity. Not only did Ziu or Zio, once a deity, beci^nie with the christians a name for the wliirlwind. p. 203 (and Pulloineken too may have to do with I'hol, J). 2:29) ; l)ut to tliis day such a wind is accounted for in Lower Saxony (about Celle) by the dancing Hcroduis whirling about in the air. Else- where the raising of it is ascribed to the de.vil, and offensive epithets are hurled at him, as in the Saalfeld country : ' Schweinezahl fahret,' there goes swine-tail (Praetorius, Riibezahl 3, 120), and on the Khcin mts. : ' Siiuzagel,' sow- tail (Schni. 4, 110), to shew contempt for tlie demon, and abate his fury (see Suppl.). I shall bring in scjme other stories, when treating of the ■wind- sprites.

• Canneart, strafrecht 153-5. B^lg. raus. 6, 319. Conf. Vergodc for fi-au Gaude.

28G GODDESSES.

stand for one another, or side by side. Diana is denounced by Eligius (Superst. A) ; the passage in the decrees of councils (Superst. C) has found its way into many later writings (Superst. D, G) : like Herodias, she appears as domina and hcra. The life of St. Caesarius Arelatensis mentions a ' daemonium, quod rustici Dianavi vocant,' so that the name was familiar to the common people ; that statue of Diana in Greg. Tur. 8, 15 I have spoken of on p. 110. But the strongest testimony to the wide diffusion of Diana's cultus seems to be a passage in the life of St. Kilian, the apostle of the East Franks (t 689) : Gozbertusdux Franciae . . . volens crebra apud se tractare inquisitione, utrum Ejus quem (Kilianus) praedicabat, vel Dianae potius cultus praeferendus esset. Diana namque apud ilium in summa veneratione .habebatur (Surius 4, 133 ; Acta sanct. Bolland. 8 Jul. (p. 616). As it is principally in Thuringia, Franconia and Hesse that frau Holda survives, it is not incredible that by Diana in the neighbourhood of Wiirzburg, so far back as the 7th century, was meant no other than she.

Lastly, the retrospective connexion of this Herodias or Diana with personages in the native paganism, whether of Celtic or Teutonic nations, receives a welcome confirmation from the legend of a domina Ahundia or dame Hahonde, supplied by French authorities of the IMid. Ages. A bishop of Paris, Guilielmus Alvernus (Guillaume d' Auvergne), who died 1248, speaks thus of n}Tnphs and lamiae (opera. Par. 1 674, fol. 1. 1036) : ' Sic et daemon, qui praetextu mulieris, cum aliis de nocte domos et cellaria dicitur frequentare, et vocant eam Satiam a satietate, et dominam Abundiam pro abundantia,^ quam eam praestare dicunt domibus, quas frequentaverit : hujusmodi etiam daemones, quas dominas vocant vetulae, penes quas error iste remansit, et a quibus solis creditur et somniatur. Dicunt has dominas edere et bibere de escis et potibus, quos in domibus inveniunt, nee tamen consumptionem aut imminutionem eas facere escarum et potuum, maxime si vasa escarum sint discooperta et vasa poculorum non obstructa eis in nocte relinquantur. Si vero operta vel clausa inveniunt seu obstructa, inde nee comedunt nee bibunt, propter quod infaustas et infortunatas relinquunt, nee satietatem nee abun-

^ The Romans also personified Ahundantia as a superior being, but she only appears on coins, she had neither temples nor altars.

HERODIAS, DIANA, ABUNDIA. 287

dantiam eis praestantes.' The like is repeated on p. 1068, but on p. 1066 we read : ' Sunt et aliae luditicationes malignoruni spirituum, quas faciunt interdum in nemoribus et locis anioenis et frondosis arboribus, ubi ajiparcnt in similitudinc pucllarum aut matronaruni ornatu muliebri et candido, interdum etiani in stabulis, cum luminaribus cereis, ex quibus apparent distillationes in comis et collis equorum, et comae ipsorum diligenter tricatae, et audies eos, qui talia se vidisse fatentur, dicentes veram ceram esse, quae de luminaribus hujusmodi stillaverat.^ De illis vero substantiis, quae apparent in domibus, quas dominas nocturnas, et principe7)i earum vocant dominam Ahimdiam, pro eo quod domibus, quas frequentant, abundantiam bonorum temporalium praestare putan- tur, non aliter tibi sentiendum est, neque aliter quam quemadmo- dum de illis audivisti. Quapropter eo usque invaluit stultitia ho- minum et insania vetularum, ut vasa vini et receptacula ciborum discoc perta relinquant, et omnino nee obstruant neque claudant eis noctibus, quibus ad domos suas eas credunt adventuras, ea de causa videlicet, ut cibos et potus quasi paratos inveniant et eos absque difficultate apparitionis pro beneplacito sumant. The Eoman de la rose (Meon 18622 seq.) informs us:

qui les cine sens ainsinc deceit par les fantosmes, quil regoit, dont maintes gens par lor folie cuident estre par nuit estries errans auecques dame Hahonde, et dient, que par tout le monde li tiers enfant de nacion sunt de ceste condicion. qu'il vont trois fois en la semaine, si cum destinee les maine, et par tons ces ostex se boutent, ne cles ne barres ne redoutent, ains sen entrent par les fendaces, par chatieres et par crevaces, et so partent des cors les ames et vont avec les bonnes dames par leus forains et par maisons, et le pruevent par tiex raisons :

^ Conf. Deutsche sagen, no. 122.

288 GODDESSES.

que les diversitcs veiies ne sunt pas en lor liz venues, ains sunt lor ames qui laborent et par le monde ainsinc sen corent, &c. 18686. Dautre part, que li tiers du monde aille ainsinc avcc dame Hahonde, si cum voles vielles le pruevent par les visions que truevent, dont convient il sans nule faille que trestous li mondes i aille.

As Eatlierius and the Reinardus represent a third part of the •World as given up to the service of Herodias, the same statement is here applied to dame Habonde ; Herodias and Ahundia are therefore one. A connexion between Abundia and our native Folia, Ftdla (fulness) will presently be made apparent. The term enfans may refer either to the unchristencd babes above, or to the great multitude pf heathen, who remained shut out of the christian community. It had long been the custom to divide the known world into three parts.^ The domina clothed in white reminds one of Perahta the bright, the bona domina or bona socia'^ of Holda the gracious, and Herodias haunting the oaks by night of the Old German tree-worship. They are originally benignant beings all, whose presence brings prosperity and plenty to mankind ; hence to them, as to friendly spirits or gods, meat and drink are set for a sacrifice in the night season. Holda, Berhta and Werra seem to love a particular kind of food, and look for it on their feast-day.

7. Hruoda (Hrede). Ostara (Eastre).

Thus far we have got acquainted with the names and worship of several goddesses, who were honoured under different names by particular tribes of Teutondom (N"erdu, Hludana, Tanfana, Holda, Berhta), and others resembling them have only become known to us under foreign appellations (Isis, Diana, Herodias, Abundia) : of all these (so long as I consider still doubtful the connexion of

1 Agitiir pars tertia nmncli. Ovid. met. 5, 372 ; tertia pars mundi fiimans perit Alrica ilaiuiuis, Coripp. 1, 47 : tertia pars orbis Europa vocatur, Wal- thar. 1.

2 Is tlie name socia connected with tlie Satia in Guiliehnns Alvernus ?

HRUODA, OSTARA. 289

' Erce ' with our Herke) not one is to be found among the Anglo- Saxons.

On the other hand, the Anglo-Saxon historian tells us the names of two beings, whom he expressly calls ancient goddesses of liis people, but of whose existence not a trace is left amongst other Germans. A clear proof, that here as well as there, heathenism was crowded with divinities of various shape and varying name, but who in their characteristics and cultus corresponded to one another. Why this multiplicity of form should prevail more in the case of the female deities than of the male, can be fairly explained, I think, by the greater respect paid to the chief masculine divinities: they were too famous and too highly thought of, for their principal names not to have penetrated all branches of the nation.

The two goddesses, whom Beda (De temporum ratione cap. 1 3) cites very briefly, without any description, merely to explain the months named after them, are Hrede and Edstre, March taking its Saxon name from the first, and April from the second : ' Rlicdmo- luifh a dca illorum Rheda, cui in illo sacrificabant, nomiuatur.' — 'Antiqui Anglorum populi, gens mea . . . apud eos Aprilis Esturmoiiath, qui nunc paschalis mensis interpretatur, quondam a dca illorum, quae Eostra vocabatur et cui in illo festa celebrantur (?), nomen habuit ; a cujus nomine nunc paschale tempus cogno- minant, consueto aniiquae ohscrvationis vocabulo gaudia novae solennitatis vocantes.' ^

It would -be uncritical to saddle this father of the church, who everywhere keeps heathenism at a distance, and tells us less of it than he knows, with the invention of these goddesses. There is nothing improbable in them, nay the first of them is justified by clear traces in the vocabularies of other German tribes. March is in OHG. lenzinmanot, named after the season lenzo, lengizo [lengthening of days] f but it may have borne other names as well. Oberlin quotes, from Chorion's Ehrenkranz der teutschen sprach, Strassb. 1044, p. 91, Rdmonat for March ; and a doc. of 1404

' One MS. (Kolmesen opusc. p. 287 ; this ref. given in Rathlefs Hoya and Diepholz 3, IG) reads : Veteres Anglicani populi vocant Estormonath paschalem monseni, idque a dea quadam cui Teutonici populi in pagani.snio sacrilii'ia fecerunt tempore mensis Aprilis, quae Eostra est appellata.

2 Gramm. 2, 510. Langez. Diut. 3, 88.

19

290 GODDESSES.

(Weisth. 1, 175) has Rcdtmonet, it is not clear for what month. When we find in the Appeuzeller reimchronik p. 174 :

In dem Redimonet

die puren kamen donet,

do der merzenmonat gieng herzu

an ainem morgen fru

do zundentz Eorschach an ;

here Rcdhnonct seems, by the displacement so common in the names of months, to be the month before March, as Chorion uses his Retmonat for February as well. Von Arx explains the word (p;ite differently, and I think untenably, by a mountain. Apart from the Swiss term altogether, I believe the AS. name was really Hred' or Hreffc = OHG. Hruod or Hruodd, and derived, as I said on p. 20G, from hruod gloria, fama ; so that we get the meaning of a shining and renownful goddess. The Trad. fuld. 2, 196, furnish a female name Hruada, gen. Hruadun, and in 1, 42. 2, 26, another nom. Hruadun, this last apparently formed like ON. Fiorgyn and Hlodyn. The AS. adj. hreS or hreSe means crudelis (Ceedm. 136, 21. 198, 2), perhaps victoriosus ? I am in doubt about hreS, sigehreS, guShreS, Beow. 5146. 974. 1631 ; they waver between an adj. and a subst. sense, and in the last passage, ' Beowulfe wearS guShreS gifeSe,' victoria is evidently meant. When the AS. Menologue, line 70, translates Martius by reSe, this may stand for hre&'e.

We Germans to this day call April ostermonat, and ostarmdnoth is found as early as Eginhart (temp. Car. Mag.). The great christian festival, which usually falls in April or the end of March, bears in the oldest of OHG. remains the name ostard gen. -un •} it is mostly found in the plural, because two days (ostartagil, aostortaga, Diut. 1, 266^) were kept at Easter. This Ostard, like the AS. Edstre, must in the heathen religion have denoted a higher being, whose worship was so firmly rooted, that the christian teachers tolerated the name, and applied it to one of their own grandest anniversaries." All the nations bordering on us have retained the Biblical 'pascha'; even Ulphilas writes paska, not

1 T. 157, 1. 3. 5. 0. i. 22, 8. iii. 6, 16. iv. 9, 8. Hymn. 21, 4. Fragiii. tlieol. xiv. 17.

• Conf. Ideler's chronologie 1, 516.

ziSA. 291

austro, though he must have known the word ; ^ the Norse tongue also has imported its paskir, Svved. pask, Dan. paaske. The OIIG^. adv. 6sta7' expresses movement toward the rising sun (Gramm. 3, 205), likewise the ON", mistr, and probably an AS. eastor and Gotli. austr. In Latin the identical austcr has been pushed round to the noonday quarter, the South. In the Edda a male being, a spirit of light, bears the name of Atistri, so a female one might have been called Aiistra ; the High German and Saxon tribes seem on the contrary to have formed only an Ostard, Edstre (fem.), not Ostaro, Eiistra (masc).- And that may be the reason why the Norsemen said paskir and not austrur : they had never worshipped a goddess Austra, or her cultus was already extinct.

Ostara, Eddre seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing,^ whose meaning could be easily adapted to the resurrec- tion-day of the christian's God. Bonfires were lighted at Easter, and according to a popular belief of long standing, the moment the sun rises on Easter Sunday morning, he gives three joyful leaps, he dances for joy (Superst. 813). Water drawn on the Easter morning is, like that at Christmas, holy and healing (Superst. 775. 804) ; here also heathen notions seems to have grafted themselves on great christian festivals. Maidens clothed in white, who at Easter, at tlie season of returning spring, show themselves in clefts of the rock and on mountains, are suggestive of the ancient goddess (see SuppL).

8. ZiSA.

Beda's account of Hrede and Eastre* shall be followed now by a statement reaching back to the 11th century, and deserving attention if only for its great age, concerning a goddess Zisa worshipped at Augsburg in the heathen time.

^ For oriens he chooses iirruns, for occiJens sagqs, i.e., rising and sinking of the sun, not tliat he did not know vistr (versus occidentem), root vis (repose, stillness, evening).

^ Composite proper names : Ostroberht, Austroberta, Austregisil, Ostro- gotha (like Visigotha, Vistrimund, Westeralap, Sundarolt, Nordberulit, &c. &c.)

• In tlie Busijue language ostnra means May, tlie budding leafing time, from ostoa, leaf, foliage : a mere accidental ies?,niblanee.

• I might introduce into the te,\t an AS. R'ccn, if I knew any more about her than what Lye's glossary quotes from Cod. Cot. 65, 87 : Iticcnne Diana. It is formed like ] inen (aucilla), wylpen (bellouu), &c.

292 GODDESSES.

Tlie Cod. Monach. Lat. 2 (of 1135), and the Cod. Emmeran. F. IX. fol. 4:'' (of 12-13th cent.) contain identic ' Excerpta ex Gallica liistoria'.^

' Dum liec circa rcnum geruntur, in noricorum (interlined bawariorum, Cod. Vind. CII. pauwarioriini) finibus grave vulnus romanus populus accepit. quippe germanorum gentes (interlined suevi), que retias occupaverant, non longe ab alpibus tractu pari patentibus campis, ubi duo rapidissimi amnes [interlined licus et wcrtlialia (CII vuerdalia)] inter se conlluunt, in ipsis noricis finibus (interlined terminis bawariorum et sicevorum) civitatem non quidem muro sed vallo fossaque cinxerant, quam appellabant zizarim (CII. cizarim) ex nomine dee cize,^ quara religiosissime colebant. cujus templum quoque ex lignis harharico ritu constrictum, postquam eo^ colonia romanti deducta est, inviolatum permansit, ac vetustate collapsum nomen* colli servavit. banc urbem titus annius pretor ad arcendas barbarorum excursiones kal. sextilibus (interlined exacta jam estate) exercitu circumvenit. ad meridianam oppidi partem, que sola a continenti (interlined littoribus) erat, pretor ipse cum legione martia castra operosissime communivit. ad occiden- tem vero, qua barbarorum adventus erat, dvar, hogudis regis filius, cum equitatu omni et auxiliaribus macedonum copiis inter fiumen ct vallum loco castris parum amplo infelici temeritate extra fiumen (interlined loerihaha) consedit. pulchra indoles, non minus romanis quam greets disciplinis instructa. igitur quinquagesimo nono die, qua eo ventum est, cum is dies dec cize (CII. de^ ciz^) apud larharos celeberrimus, ludum et lasciviam magis quam formidinem ostentaret, immanis barbarorum (interlined suevorum, CII. svivorum) multitude, ex proximis silvis repente erumpens ex improviso castra irrupit, oquitatum omnem, et quod miserius erat, auxilia sociorum delevit. avarj' cum in hostium potestatem regio babitu vivus venisset, [sed

1 I owe their cominiuiication to Sclimeller's kindness. The same piece is found at Vienna in two forms : in the Cod. Lat. CII (olim hist. prof. WrA) sec. xi. ineuntis fol. 79. 80 ; and in the Cod. CCXXVI (olim univ. '237) sec. xii. In hoth it stands between Jorn. De reb. get. and De regn. succ. CII has interlinear glosses and marginal notes (exactly like the Munich MSS.) by a scarcely later hand, which also writes the heading ' Excerptum ex Gallica historia '. CCXXVI adopts the interlinears into the text, but otherwise agrees.

^ On margin: 'Quern male polluerat cultura nefaria dudum gallns monticulum hunc tibi cv:a tulit '.

' On margin ; 'post conditani urljem avrjnstnni a romanis'.

• Marg. note : 'ut usque hodie ab incolis cizunbcrc nominetur'.

^ Marg. note: 'ex cujus vocabulo, quia ibi inactatus ct tumulatus est chrikesaveron (CII chrekasaver) nomen accepit. grecus enim erat '.

ziSA. 29:5

que apud larharos reverentia ?J more peciulis il)idem mactatur.^ oppidani vero uoii iniuori fortuiia sed luaiori virtute pretorem in auxiliuni sociis properaiitein adoriuntur. romaiii baud segniter resistunt. duo principes oppidanorura hahino^ et caccus^ in primis pugnautes cadunt. et incliiiata jam res oppidauoruui esset, ni maturasseiit auxiliuni ierre socii in altera ripa jam victoria potiti. denique coadunatis viribus castra irrumpunt, pretorem, qui paulo altiorem tumuluni (interlined pcrleih) frustra ceperat, romana vi resistentem obtruncant. legionem-* divinam (interlined martiam), ut ne nuncius cladis superesset, funditus delent. Verres solus tribunus militum arnne transmisso in proximis paludibus sc occultans^ honestam mortem subterfugit. nee multo post sicilie proconsul immani avaricia turpem mortem promeruit. nam cum se magistratu abdicaret, judicio civium damnatus est.'

The same fragment, only without the interlined words and without marginal additions, stands in Goldast's Eerum suev. scrij^t. aliquot veteres, Ulm 1727 tbl. p. 3 under the rubric : * Vellcii GalU fragmentum de victoria Suevorum contra Eomanos ' (conf. Haupts zeitschr. 10,291). It has the readings ' dea Cisa' and ' Cisara,' and for Caccus ' Cams,' but agrees in the other names. Further, for loco parum amjjlo, I find the better reading apto. The paren- thesis ' sed — reverentia ' is wanting, so is the concluding sentence ' nam — damnatus est '. I should believe that Goldast had borrowed it all from Wolfg. Lazius's Eeip. Eom. libri xii. Franco!. 1501 p. 52, if this copy had not some variations too ; the heading runs : ' Velleii excerpta ex Gallica historia ' ; it has Cisara, but Cizi^, also ' Habbino, Caccus, amplo,' and concludes with promeruit. Lazius

^ On margin. :

' Hoc nomen terris bogudis dat regia proles grecavar (CII grecus auar), pecudis de suevis more litatus.' 2 On margin :

' Prefectus haheno se victum liicque sepultuni perpetuo montis nomine notiticat. qui juxta montem oceisus et sepultus nomen monti habenonhcrch dedit, quera rustici havenenbercli (CII havenonpercli) dicunt.'

^ CII : 'a cujus nomine putamus ickingen. nominari.'

• On margin : ' de hac ibi perdita legione adhuc paicich nominatur.' Then in smaller but contemporaneous writing :

' Indicat hie collis romanam nomine cladeni

martia ([uo legio tota simnl periit. sulididit liunc rume jirepcs victoria ^^firo, hoc sibimet templum qui modo constituit.' 5 On margin : ' hie quia in paludibus adjacentibus latuit, lacui ueriase hue usque nomen dedit '.

294 GODDESSES.

says : ' quam nos historiam in pervetusto codice menibran. Uteris autiquissimis scriptam reperimus ' ; that would be the sixth MS. known hitherto, and copies must have been pretty numerous in the 11-1 2th centuries. The one that Goldast had before him may probably have been the oldest.

Either one or the other of them, both Otto von Freisincjen and the author (or continuator) of the Auersberg chronicle seem to have had before them. The former tries to connect the story with Quintilius Varus (instead of Verres), and after relating his over- throw, adds (chron. 3, 4) : ' Tradunt Augustenses banc caedem ibi factam, ostenduntque in argumentum collem ex ossibus mortuorum compactum, quem in vulgari perUich (Mone, anz. 1, 256), eo quod legio ibi perierit, usque hodie vocant, vicumque ex nomine Yari ap- pellatum monstrant '. The Auersberg chronicler's account, though he almost verbally adopts the older fragment, I hold it needful to insert here, because the marginal glosses are curiously interwoven with the text, and referred to ' discovered inscriptions on stone '}

De Augusta Vindelicorum vel Ehetiae. sicut ex scriptis veterum coUigitur haec ci vitas tria nomina accepit. Germanorum quippe geutes primum considentes in partibus Ehetiae, quae nunc est pars Sueviae, non longe ab alpibus in planitie, locotamen munito propter concursum duorum rapidorum fluminum, banc urbem construxerunt, et non muris sed fossatis eam firmaverunt, et ex nomine deae Zizae, quam religiosissime colebant, Zlzerim eam nominabant. liujus quoque deae templum ex lignis barbarico ritu constructum, etiam postquam Eomani eam incolere coeperunt, inviolatum permansit. at vetustate collapsum nomen colli servavit, in quo j)ostmodum in lapide exsculpti hi versus sunt reperti :

quem male polluerat cultura nefaria dudum gallus monticulum hunc tibi Ziza tulit. unde usque in praesens ab incolis idem monticulus Zizcnherg no- minatur. apud banc urbem Eomani deleti sunt magna caede. nam Titus Annius praetor ad arcendas barbarorum excursiones cum exercitu in kal. August! eam circundedit, ipseque ad meri- dianam oppidi partem, quae sola patebat, castra sua cum legione Martia operosissime communivit. ad occidentem vero ultra Huvium, ubi Suevis aut barbaris aditus patebat, Avar Bogudis regis

1 Chron. Conradi ursperg. Argent. 1532, p. 308. ed. 1609, p. 225.

ziSA. 295

filius cum omni equitatii et auxilio maccdonlco conseJit. igitur ({uiuquagesimo nono die, quani eo ventum est, cum is dies deae Ziz^ apud barbaros celeberrimus esset, ludum et lasciviam magis quam formidinem cives ostentarunt. tunc etiam immanis barbarorum multitude, quae de partibus Sueviae illuc convenerat, de proximis silvis repente erumpens ex improviso castra irrupit et Avaris exercitum delevit. ipsum quoque Avar regio habitu iiidutum vivum comprehendeutes crudeliter in modum pecoris mactaverunt. a quo in loco, ubi mactatus est, vicus usque liodie appellatus est Crieclicsavcron, in quo hi versus reperti sunt :

his nomen terris Bogudis dat regia proles

Graemes Avar, pecudis de Suevis more litatus. oppidani vero non minori fortuna sed majori virtute praetorem in auxilium sociis properantem invadunt, quibus Eomani hand segniter resistunt, in quo conflictu duo principes oppidanorum Habino et Caccus in primis pugnantes cadunt, et inclinata jam res esset oppidanorum, ni maturassent auxilium ferre Suevi in altera ripa victoria jam potiti. de uominibus autem illorura principum interfectorum exstant adhuc loca denominata, nam rustici de Ha- hinonc vocant monticulum Habinoberg, in quo lii versus reperti sunt :

praefectus Habino se victum atque sepultum perpetuo mentis nomine notificat. a Cacco vero dicunt Gcgyincn denoniinari. denique coadunatis Suevis et oppidanis castra irrumpunt, et praetorem, qui paulo al- tiorem tumulum frustra ceperat, romana vi resistentem obtruncant, legionemque divinam, ut nee nuncius cladis superesset, funditus delent. de hac perdita legione adhuc perlaich, quasi perdita legio, nominatur, ubi postniodum hi versus sunt reperti :

indicat hie collis romanam nomine cladem, martia quo legio tota simul periit. solus Vcrres tribunus militum amne transmisso in proximis palu- dibus se occultans honestam mortem subterfugit, lacui Vernse hucusque nomen dedit. versus :

das nomen lacui Vcrres quo tu latuisti. hie tamen non niulto post Siciliae proconsul eff'ectus turpem mor- tem promeruit. nam cum se magistratu abdicaret judicio civium damnatus est. propter hunc Verrcm tradunt Augustenses banc caedem fuisse eandem, quam sub Augusto lactam quidam descri-

296 GODDESSES.

bunt, sed Varum ilium nominant his verbis : ea tempestate Varus, romano more, superbe et avare erga subditos ae gereus a Germanis deletus est.

Some later writers also mention the tradition. About 1373 — 91, an ecclesiastic, Klichlin, composed in rhyme a history of Augsburg ^ for the burgomaster Peter Egen the Young, who wished to have his house painted with illustrations from it. Cap. 2, foL 99 says of the Swabians :

Sie bawten einen tempel gross darein zu eren (in honour of) Zise der abgottin, die sie nach heidnischen sitten (after heatlien ways) anbetten zu denselben zeiten (adored in those days). Die stat ward genennt (city got named) auch Zisaris nach der abgottin (after the goddess), das was der pris. Der tempel als lang stund unversert (stood uninjured), bis im von alter was der val beschert (its fall decreed), und da er von alter abgieng (as from age it passed away), der berg namen von im empfieng (the hill took name), daruf gestanden was (whereon had stood) das werck, und haist noch hlit (hight still to-day) der Zisciibcrclc. Conf. Keller's Fastn. sp., p. 1361. Sigism. Meisterlin, in his Augs- burg chronicle ^ (which is in print from the 8th chap, of bk 1), treats of this Cisa in chaps. 5-6 of bk 2. In the unprinted chap. 4 of bk 1, he unmistakably refers to Klichlin, and again at the end of chap. 7 : ' das er auch melt (tells) von der gottin Cisa, die auch genent wird Cizais, das sy geert habend (they honoured her) die doch aus Asia warend ; dawider seind die andern, die von Cysa schreibent, die sprechent, das sy die Vindelici habend nach schwebischen sitten angebettet. von der gottin wirst du hernach mer haben, ob got wil (buch 3. cap. 5. 6).' (See Suppl.)

Hopeless contradictions lie on the face of that fragment. Bogud, a Punic ship's-captain, who lived in the year 494 of Eonie, or 260 B.C.,^ is here turned into a Macedonian king ; and his son Avar is made contemporary with the Ciceronian Verres of 200 years after, or even of the still later Varus. Yet Bogudes and Varus do occur as contemporaries of Pompey in Dio Cassius 41, 42.

1 Cod. Monach. Lat. 61 ; likewise sent me by Schmeller.

• Aitgsb. 15'22 fol. IVIeisterlin wrote it in 1456, and died about 1-184.

2 Niebuhr's Eom. Hist. 3, 677.

zisA. 297

"What Titus Annius was meant by the ' praetor,' I cannot guess ; there is a consul of that name A.U.C. 601 and 626, or B.C. 153, 128. Velleius Paterculus can never have written this sort of thing.^

But all the rubbish it contains does not destroy the value of the remarkable story to us. The comparatively pure Latinity is enough to show that it was not composed so late as the twelfth century ; Lazius and Velser ^ are inclined to place it in the Caro- lingian period, and it looks like the work of a foreigner, to whom the Germans are heathens and barbarians. The glosses confirm the local connexion of the whole tradition with Augsburg and its neighbourhood ; and not only the Latin verses, but the German forms werthaha (R. Wertach), cizunberc, habino, habinonberc, look too old for the 12th century. Habino (Hepino), Habinolf, is an authentic OHG. man's name : Cacus is unknown to me, Cacan, Cagau would seem more vernacular, and the derived local name Geginen leads up to it. Some of the names cpioted are preserved to this day: the eminence in the middle of the city, next the senate- house, is still called Peiiach, on which the monastery and churcli of St. Pdcr were founded in 106-1; so the verse 'subdidit hunc (collem) Eomae praepes victoria Pdro ' was composed after that ? The name pcrlcih, which the legend derives from periens or perdita legio, suggests the OHG. eikileihi, aigilaihi (phalanx), Gl. ker. 124. Diut. 1, 223 ; and in other compounds we find leih in a variety of senses.^ Zisenberg and Havenenberg are names no longer heard, wliile Pfersen (Veris-se) MB. 33^ 108 an. 1343, and Kricgshaher are well known villages. Whatever may be the explanation of the older and correcter form Criechesaveron, it is very plain that the name of the place Criahhes (graeci) avani (imago, conf. pp. 86, 95, yet also avaro proles) first suggested ' Graecus Avar,' as well as Ildbmonberc the hero ' Habino '. The Auersberg chronicler's state- ment, that the Latin verses were found carved in all those places, must be rejected.

We find then, tliat tradition, true to her wont, has mixed up

1 G. Jo. Vossius, De liist. Lat. 1, 24.

• Marci Velseri rer. Augustuuar. lilni 8. 1594 fol. p. 45.

• Henisch p. 293 explains ' berlach ' at Augsburg ' ab ursis in publica cavea ibi altis,' a thing wliich was done in other towns, e.fj. Bern. On the Perlach tower there was fi.ved a figure of St. Michael, which came into view every time the clock struck on Michaelmas-day ; in earlier times a wooden temple of lais (p. 294, ex lignis) is said to have stood on the spot ; Fischart's geschichtkl. 30'' : ' der ama/.onischeu Augspurgcr japetisch fraw Eysen '.

298 GODDESSES.

fact and fiction ; the great point is, that she brings us tidings of a Suevic goddess. Cisa seems the older and better spelling, and Ciza would be harder to explain. Now from this name of the goddess we can hardly derive that of the town Cisara, supposing it to be a purely German derivative ; names of places are never formed with such a termination from male or female proper names. It seems more likely that Cisara = Cisae ara, from the altar and temple of tlie goddess : and later writers might corrupt Cisaram into Zizarim, Zizerim. We read that she was most devoutly (religiosissime) honoured by the Suevi, her anniversary is a grand festival devoted to games and merrymaking, the day is precisely defined as the fifty-ninth after Aug. 1, it fell therefore on Sept. 28. At such a season might be held a feast of the divinity who had prospered the harvest just gathered in. On Sept. 29 the christians kept one of their grandest days, that of St. Michael, who often had to rejDlace a heathen god of war and victory. It seems worthy of notice, that the Saxons had their great feast of victory about the same time, viz., the beginning of October ; Widukind pp. 423-4. With the first Sunday after Michaelmas the holi/ common-week was considered in the Mid. Ages to begin ; Scheffer's Haltaus, pp. 141-2. na der hilligen meinweken, Weisth. 3, 240. In the handing down of a precise and doubtless genuine date, I feel the credibility of the story confirmed.

Now who is Cisa ? One naturally thinks first of that Suevic Isis (p. 257) in Tacitus, whose name even is not unlike Cisa, Zisa, if we make allowance for the mere dropping of the initial, an omission which the Eoman might be prompted to make by the similarity of the Isis that he knew. But even if Zisa be totally dififerent from Isis, she can with all the better right be placed by the side of our Zio, in whom also was displayed a thoroughly Swabian deity (p. 199) ; nay, together with our supposed feminine Ziu (p. 203) there may have been a collateral form Zisa, so tliat her Zisunherg would exactly correspond to the god's Ziewesberg, Zisberg (see Suppl.). Shall I bring forward a reason for this guess, which shall be anything but far-fetched ? The ]\Iid. Dutch name for the third day of the week had the curious form Disendach (p. 125), which being of course a corruption of Tiscndach brings us at once to Tise = Zisa. It is a matter for further researches to demonstrate,^ but

1 DoAvn in the Riess between the rivers Lefh and Wertach, in the niiilst of Siieves^ at a time suimosed to be before even the Romans settled in the region,

miKKA. FROUWA. 299

that three divinities, Zio, Zisa and Isis, are assigned to the Suevi, is ah'eady abundantly clear,

8. Frikka (Frigg). Frouwa (Freyja).

Our inquiry turns at length to the goddesses of the Norse religious system, of whom unequivocal traces are forthcoming in the rest of Teutondom.

Foremost of these are Frigg tlie wife of OSinn, and Freyja the sister of Freyr, a pair easy to confound and often confounded because of their similar names. I mean to try if a stricter etymo- logy can part them and keep them asunder.

The name of Freyja seems the easier : it is motived no doubt by the masculine Freyr (Gramm. 3, 335). Now as we recognised Freyr in the Gothic frauja (p. 209), Freyja leads us to expect a Gothic fraujo, gen. fraujons, both in the general sense of domina mistress, and in the special one of a proper name FrcUijo. The notion of mistress, lady, never occurs in Ulphilas. To make up for it, our OHG. remains express it very frequently, by fruwd, froicd; the 'MUG. frouive,frou and our modern /ra?6 have preserved themselves purely as common nouns, while the masc. fro has vanished altogether. In meaning, frouwe and frau correspond exactly to herre, herr, and are used like it both in addressing and .otherwise.^ Our minnesiingers are divided as to the respective superiority of frouwe (domina) and wip (femina),^ wip expressing more the sex, and frouwe the dignity ; to this day we feel frau to be nobler than weib, though the French femme includes a good deal of what is in our frau. It seems worthy of notice, that the poets

no Slav f^ods need be looked for ; neither does the Slav mythology know any- thing,' at all certain aliout a Ziza, allcfjed to he Ceres nianimosa (Boh. cic, cec, Pol. eye, Russ. titi, niannna), in sujtport of whom forsooth our Cisa must be wronged ; see Hanusch 278. It were better to think of the MHG. name for the zeisig (zeis-chen, siskin) diu 'Jse. ein kleiniu ztse, Ms. 1, 191''. AVh. 275, 30 ; which can scarcely have arisen from cicindela (glow-worm, Graff 5, 711) ; however, no connexion has come to light between the goddess and the form of a bird, though some little birds, the woodj^ecker, the titmouse, were held sacred.

1 Like our fr6, the 0 Fr. dame (dominus) is now lost ; dame (domina) remains, like our /raw.. The Span, keejis both doji and doua, the Ital. only donna. The Romance tongues express the masc. notion by two other M'ords, sire, sicur (p. 27) and seigneur, signore, sehor, i.e., senior, out of which an Ital. signora, a !>pan. senora have sprouted, but no Fr. feminine.

2 Walth. 48-9. 57. Amgb. 45'' 4^''. IMs. 2, 182*' 210^ Docen misc. 2, '^".'^-9. frouwe unde \\p, Parz. 302. 7 (see Supjil.).

300 GODDESSES.

harp on the connexion of fmu with froh glad (fro-lic) and freude joy ; conf. Fridank 106, 5—8. Tit. 15, o5.

The AS. and OS. hinguages have done the very reverse : while their masc. frea, fraho is used far more freely than the OHG. frouwo, tliey have developed no fem. by its side. The M. Dutch dialect has vrauive, vrouwe in addressing and as title (Huyd. op St. 1, 52. 356. Eein. 297. 731. 803. 1365. 1655. 2129. 2288. 2510- 32-57-64, &c.), seldomer in other positions, Eein 2291 ; the modern vrotL'W has extended its meaning even beyond the limits of our frau.

All the above languages appear to lack the fem. proper name, in contrast to the OIST. wdiich possesses Frcyja almost solely as the goddess's name, and no freyja = hera. Yet we find husfreyja house- wife, ScCm. 212^, and Snorri is still able to say that freyja is a tignarnafn (name of honour) derived from the goddess,^ that grand ladies, rikiskonur, are frcyjar, Sn. 29. Yngl. saga c. 13. The readings frur, fruvor here are corrupt, for the Icel. form frit has evidently slipped in from the Dan. frue, Swed. /rw, and these from ( 1 ermany. The goddess should be in Swed. Froa, Dan. Froe, which I have never met with ; the Swed. folk-song of Tlior's hammer calls Freyja Froijenborg (the Dan. Fridlefsborg), a Danish one has already the foreign Fru. Saxo is silent about this goddess and her father altogether ; he would no doubt have named her Froa. Our Merseburg poem has now at last presented us with Fruci = Frowa, as the proper name of the goddess.^

Friyg gen. Friggjar, daughter of Fiorgynn and wife of OSinn, is kept strictly apart from Freyja, gen. Freyju : in the Vaf]?rudnismal and the beginning of the Grimnismal, O&lnn and Frigg are plainly presented as husband and wife ; and as Hroptr and Svafnir are also names of OSinn, ' Hroptr ok Frigg, Svafnir ok Frigg ' in Saem.

^ As fiaiijo from Fraujo, and freyja from Freyja, a song of Frauenlob's, Ettm. p. 112 makes icq? come from a Frankish king JFijypeo. Is this an echo of a mythical Wippo, Wibba (geneal. of Mercia, end of ch. VII) l The expla- nation is as false as when the Edda derives vif i'rom vela, for all a woman's being practically a weaver and a peace-weaver ; we should have to assume two roots, viban and veiban, side by side. The ON. proper name Vefreyja is also worthy of note, Fornald. sog. 2, 459. 3, 250. 594.

" The reasons why we may not take fnld here for a mere title (and so a novm com.) are set forth in tlie Zeitschi-. f. d. a. 2, 189. As for the u in the 5IS., it looks to me quite plain, else Wackernagel's proposal to read Friia = Frija, Friga, Fria, would be acceptable (friiu does occur in T. 93, 3). Frua and Fria are alike welcome and suitable for my explanation.

FRIKKA. FKOUWA, 001

01^ 9?^^ express tlie same relation. Saxo Gram., p. 13, has correcLly ' Frigga Othini conjux '. In prayers the two goddesses even stand side by side : ' sva hialpi ther hollar va^ttir, Frigrj ok Frcyja, ok fleiri gO(5 (more gods), sem Jju feldir mer far af hondom ! ' Sffim. 240^ So they do at the burning of Baldr's body, Sn. 66, conf. 37. And that Danish folk-song has likewise ' Friggc, Fru og Thor '.

The ON. usually has gg where the AS. has eg and OHG. cc or kk, namely, where a suffix i had stood after g or k : thus, ON. egg (acies), AS. ecg, OHG. ekki ; ON. bryggja (ponsj, AS. brycge, OHG. prukka ; ON. hryggr (dorsum), AS. lirycg, OHG. hrukki. In the same way we get an AS. Fricg, OHG. Frikka, Frikkia, even farther away from Frouivd than Frigg from Freyja.

It is the confounding of these two beings that will explain how Adam of Bremen came to put Fricco instead of Fro for Freyr (supra, p. 212) ; he would equally have said Fricca for Freyja. Fricco, Friccho, Friccolf were in use as proper names in OHG.

And now it seems possible to explain, what is otherwise unaccountable, why the sixth day of the week, dies Veneris, should be called in ON. both Firj/Judagr and also FriadnQr, in OHG. never Frouwuntac, but i^rmtac, Frigciac, now Frcitag, in AS. Frigedxg (for Fricgedteg ?), v. supra, pp. 123-6, and in Faroese Fngggjaded (Lyngbye 532).

Among these forms the AS, presents no difficulty : in the OHG. and ON. names we are puzzled by the absence of the guttural. I believe a solution is offered by that most important passage in Paulus Diac. 1, 8 where Wodan's consort is named i^rea, which can only mean Frigg, not Freyja, as Saxo Gram, too, while expressly grounding on Paulus, makes use of the form Frig : ' Paulo teste auctore Frig dea '}

This Langob. Frca accords with the OHG. Fria, I take it to be not only identical with Frigg, but the original form of the name ; it has less to do with Freyja and the AS. masc. frea. As an ON. bru (pons) stands related to bryggia, so will fri to frigg. The Langob. Frea is = Frea, Fria, Frija, Frea. Its root is suggested by

1 The AS. chroniclers (p. 128) borrow Frea from Paulus. With Frea we must above all connect the frea of the Laws of Liutpraiid (5, 40 and 67, an.l tins means uxor, doniina, not libera, iuL^enua. Paulus therefore, in assigning Frea to Wodan as his wife, has put lier in tlie place of the Noi-se Friir<i. The

put lier in tlie pi lus, when Forna .. - . ,, t^i'i.^'S that shov

Ociinii, as is done in the Grimnisnial (^see iSuppI.).

substitution is ol'ten made : thus, when Fornald. sog. 2, 25-6 has ' heita a Freuju ok a Hott (Ofiinn),' it is Frigg that should have been associated wbh

302 GODDESSES.

sucli words as : Goth, freis, frijis (liber), OHG. fri ; Goth, frijon (amare), OH(t. frion ; especially may we take into account the OS. neut. M (mulier), Hel. 9, 21. 13, 16. 171, 21. 172, 1, the AS. freo (mulier), Ca3dra. 29, 28. freolic cwen (pulcra femina), Beow. 1275. freolicu meowle. Cod. exou. 479, 2, freolic wif, Beow. 1222. freolic fcemne, Ctedm. 12, 12. 54, 28.^ Now, as fri (liber) and our frech, ON. frekr (protervus, impudens), fri (mulier formosa) and ON. fric5r (formosus), friSr (pax) seem to be all related, even the adjectival forms betray the shifting sense of the substantival.^

We gather from all this, that the forms and even the meanings of the two names border closely on one another. Frcyja means the gladsome, gladdening, sweet, gracious goddess, Frigg the free, beautiful, loveable ; to the former attaches the general notion of frau (mistress), to the latter that of fri (woman). Holda, from hold (sweet, kind), and Berhta from berht (bright, beautiful) resemble them both. The Swedish folk-song, in naming Froijenborg, calls her ' den vana solen,' the beautiful sun.

Hence the mingling of their mytlis becomes the more con- ceivable. Saxo, p. 13, relates how Frigga, to obtain gold for her ornaments, violated conjugal fidelity; more minutely told, and differing much in the details, the tale about Freyja in Sn. 356 appears to be the same adventure. On quite another ground however the like offence is imputed to Frigg too (Sffim. 63. Yngl. saga cap. 3). In Sn. 81 the valshamr of Frcyja is spoken of, but in 113-9 that of Frigg ; the former is supported by Sa3m. 70.

Hence the variations in the name for the day of the week. The OHG. i^r^Ifftac ought clearly to be Friggjardagr in ON., and the ON. Freyjudagr should be Frouwuntac in OHG. Hence too the uncertainty in the naming of a constellation and of several plants. Orion's belt, elsewhere named Jacob's staff and also spindle (coins rfkaKarrj), is called by the Swedish people Friggerock (coins Friggae, Hire, p. 6G3) or Frejcrock (Finn Magnusen 361*), as we noticed before, or Frojas rock (Wieselgren. 383). The orchis odoratissima, satyrium albidum, a plant from which love-potions are brewed, Icel. Friggjargras, otlierwise hionagras (herba conjugalis) ; the later

1 Conf. the MHG. wiplich wip, Parz. 10, 17. MS. 1, SO"' 202*. 2, 42^ 182'' 258^ wibin wip, MsH. 1, ^59'' ; similarly drjXvrepai ywa'iKfs, Otl. 11, 386. 434. 15, 422. Hesiod scut. 4.

" We might connect Venus with the Goth, qino, qens, as venire with qiman ; the Wei. given would answer to Gvenus for Venus ; the Ir. dia beine, Friday, from becm, ben (lady) = Venus = AS. cwen.

FRIKKA. FROUWA. 303

christian way of thinking has substituted Mary for the heathen goddess. And the labouring man in ZeaLand speaks of the above constellation also by the name of Maridrok, Marirolc. Several kinds of fern, adiantum, polypodium, asplenium, are named lady's hair, maidenhair, Mariewjms, capillus Veneris, Icel. Freyjuhdr, Dan. Fruehaar, Venusstraa, Venusgrds, Norweg. Marigras, &c. Even if the Norse names here have sprung out of Latin ones, they show- how Venus was translated both by Frigg and Freyja and Mary. As for Mary, not only was the highest conception of beauty carried over to her, (frio sconiosta, idiso sconiost, Hel. 61, 13. 62, 1), but she was pre-eminently our lady, frau, domina, donna. Conf. infra frauachxmli, ladycovr, Marienktilblem. In the nursery-tales she sots the girls sewing and spinning like Holda and Berhta, and Ilolda's snow appears to mean the same as Mary's snow (p. 268).

Before so close a contact of the two names I pause, doubting with which of them to connect the strong and incontestable similarity of certain divine names in the non-Teutonic [Aryan] languages. First of all, an OBoh. gloss gives Priye for Aphrodite ; taking into account the Goth, frijon, the OHG. friudil (lover), MHG. vriedel, and the Slav, priyatel (friend). Boh. pijtel, Pol. przyiaciel, it must have meant either Freyja the goddess of love and fruitfulness, or Frigg the divine mother and patroness of marriage. In Sanskrit also pri is to love, priyas a friend, Eamapriya dear-to-Lakshmi = lotus, Yamapriya pleasing-to-Yama = ficus indica, priya in names of gods = husband or wife. Pott's forsch. 2, 424-7. Then |jnY/m'fc is the earth, and matd Prithvi Terra mater, from whom comes fruit and increase (conf. Wei. pridd terra, Bopp's gloss. 223^) ; and the word, though next of kin to prithus {TrXarin: latus), the earth being named the broad and wide, seems nevertheless connected with Fria, Frigg and fridu.

Frigg the daughter of Fiorgynn (p. 172), as consort of the highest god,^ takes rank above all other goddesses : she knows the fates of men (Sa^m. 63^ Sn. 23. 64), is consulted by OSinn (Sasm. 3P), administers oaths, handmaids fulfil her best, she presides over

1 Some of the AS. genealogies have ' Wuden et Frcdlaf ejus uxor,' so that Frigg = Frealaf (OIIG. Froleip ?) which fits in with that Fridlcfsborg in the Danish song, p. 300 ; others make Freahif Woden's father. But in lien of him we have also i'VirVulaf and i'^j-ifVuwulf, a fresh confirmation of the connexion between friS and the troddcss's name.

30 i GODDESSES.

marriages, and her aid is implored by the childless (Fornald. sog. 1, 117) ; hence hionagras is also Friggjargras. We may remember those maidens yet unmarried (p. 264) being yoked to the plough of the goddess whose commands they had too long defied. In some parts of northern England, in Yorkshire, especially Hallamshire, popular customs show remnants of the worship of Fricg. In the neiglibourhood of Dent, at certain seasons of the year, especially autumn, the country folk hold a procession and perform old dances, one called the giant's dance : the leading giant they name Woden, and his wife Frigga, the principal action of the play consisting in two swords being swung and clashed together about the neck of a boy without hurting him.^ Still more remarkable is the clear vestige of the goddess in Lower Saxony, where to the common people she is fru Frehe^ and plays the very parts which we saw assigned to frau Holle (pp. 267-8): a strong argument, by the way, for the divine nature of this latter. Then in Westphalia, legend may derive the name of the old convent FrecJcenhorst, Friclcenhorst, from a shepherd Frickio, to whom a light appeared in the night (like the fall of snow by night at Hildesheim, p. 268) on the spot where the church was to be built ; the name really points to a sacred hurst or grove of Frecica fem., or of FricJco masc, whose site Christianity was perhaps eager to appropriate ; conf. Frmcinghyrst, Kemble 1, 248. 2, 265. There is a Vrckckvc, Frickslchen, not far from Magdeburg (see SuppL).

Freya is the goddess most honoured after or along with Frigg ; her worship seems to have been even the more prevalent and important of the two, she is styled ' agatuz af Asynjum,' Sn. 28, and ' blotgySja,' Yngl. saga cap. 4, to whom frequent sacrifices were offered. HeiSrekr sacrificed a boar to her, as elsewhere to Freyr, and honoured her above all other gods.^ She was wedded to a

1 Communicated by J. M. Kemble, from the mouth of an ' old Yorkshire- man '. I account for the sword by the ancient use of that weapon at weddings ; conf. RA. 426-7. 431 ; esp. tlie old Frisian custom pp. 167-8, conf. Heimreich's Nordfries. cliron. 1, 53-4. In Swabia, as Lite as the 18th century, the brides- men carried hxrge swords with fluttering ribbons before tlie bride ; and there is a striking simihiritv in the Esthonian custom (Superst. M. 1 3).

^Eccard de o^g.^Germ. p. 398: Celebratur in plebe Sa.xonica /rw Freke, cui eadem munia tril^uuntur, ([uae superiores Sax ones Holdae suae adscribunt. Fru Freke has just been unearthed again by Ad. Kuhn, namely in the Uker- mark, where she is called Fruike, and answers to fru Harke in the Mittelmark and fru Gode in the Prignitz.

3 Hervararsaga, ed. Verel. p. 138, ed. 1785 p. 124. By the editors of the Fornald. sog. 1, 493 the passage is banished into the notes as an unsupported reading.

mrKKA. FROUWA. 305

man (not a god, at least not an As), named OiJi-, bnt he forsook her, and she sought him all over the world, among strange fjeoples, shedding tears. Her name Sz/r (Sn. 37) would perhaps be Saurs in Gothic : Wilh. IMliller has detected the very same in the Syritha of Saxo Gram. p. 125, who like^dse goes in search of Othar. Freyja's tears were golden, gold is named after them, and she herself is 'gratfagr,' fair in greeting (weeping), Sn. 37. 119. 133; in our nursery-tales pearls and flowers are wept or laughed out, and dame Holla bestows the gift of weeping such tears. But the oldest authorities make her warlike also ; in a waggon drawn by two cats (as Thorr drives two goats)^ she rides to the battlefield, ' riSr til vigs,' and goes shares with OSinn in the slain (supra p. 133, conf. Sasm. 42^ Sn. 28. 57). She is called ' eigandi valfalls ' (quae sortitur caesos in pugna), Sn. 119 ; valfre2/ja, mistvess, of the chosen, Nialss. p. 118, and of the valkyrs in general; this seems to be in striking accord with Holda or Berhta (as well as Wuotan) adopting the babes that die unchristened into their host, heathen goddesses the heathen souls. Freyja's dwelling is named FoUc- vdngr or FullTdngar, the plains on which the (dead?) folk troop together ; this imparts new credibility to the connexion of St. Gertrude, whose minne is drunk, with Frowa, for the souls of the departed were supposed to lodge with Gertrude the first night (p. 61). Freyja's hall is Sessrymnir, the seat-roomy, capacious of much folk; dying women expect to find themselves in her company after death. ThorgerSr in the Egilss., p. 103, refuses earthly nourishment, she thinks to feast with Freyja soon : * ok engan (nattverS) mun ek fyrr enn at Freyju '. Yet love-songs please her too, and lovers do well to call upon her : ' henni likaSi vel mansongr, a hana er gott at heita til iista,' Sn. 29. That the cat was sacred to her, as the wolf to Wuotan, will perhaps explain why this creature is given to night-hags and witches, and is called donneraas, wetter aas (-carrion). When a bride goes to the wedding in fine weather, they say ' she has fed the cat well,' not offended the favourite of the love-goddess. The meaning of a phrase in Walther 82, 17 is dark to me : ' weder ritest gerner cine giddin' hatze, aid einen wunderlichen Gerhart Atzen ? ' In Westphalia, however, the weasel was named froie,

^ Freyja has a waggon like Nertlms (mother of Freyr?), like Holda and Freyr hinisili', Wuotan and Donar (pp. 105-7, 251-2-4, 275) ; the kingly waggon is proper only to great exalted deities.

20

306 GODDESSES.

Reinli. clxxii, which I suppose means frau, fraulein (froiken), as that ghostly creature was elsewhere called muhmlcin (aunty), fraulein, donna, donnola, titles sure to be connected with myths, and these would doubtless point in the first place to our goddess and her worship. The Greeks said Galinthias was turned into a weasel or cat (yaXeTf), Ovid, metam. 9, 306 (see SuppL).

In so far as such comparisons are allowable, Friffj would stand on a line with Here or Juno, especially the pronuba, Jupiter's spouse ; and Freyja with Venus,^ but also with Isis who seeks Osiris. Frcyr and his sister Freyja are suggestive of Liber and Libera (Dionysus and Proserpina, or even her mother Demeter ; of sun and moon). Mary could replace the divine mother and the goddess of beauty ; verbally Frigg agrees better with Libera, and Adam of Bremen's Fricco, if he was god of love, answers in name to Liber, in character to Freyr.

The passage quoted from Paul Diac. is one of the clearest and most convincing testimonies to the harmony between the German and Norse mythologies. An author of Charles the Great's time tells us that the Langobards named Wodan's wife Frca, and she is called Frigy in the Edda, He cannot have drawn this from Norse tradition, much less can his narrative through Saxo's intermediacy have become the source of the northern faith.

But in favour of Freyja too we possess a weighty piece of external evidence. The Edda makes her the owner of a costly necklace named Brisinga men (Brisingorum monile) ; she is called ' eigandi Brisingamens,' Sn. 37. 119. How she acquired this jewel from the dwarfs, how it was cunningly stolen from her by Loki, is fully narrated in a tale by itself, Sn. 354 — 357. In the poets therefore Loki is Brisings J?iofr (Thorl. obs. 6, 41. 63) ; a lost lay of the Edda related how Heimdallr fought with Loki for this ornament, Sn. 105. When Freyja pants with rage, the necklace starts from her breast (stauk J^at it micla men Brisinga), Ssem. 71^ When Thorr, to get his hammer back, dres:ics up in Freyja's gar- ments, he does not forget to put her famous necklace on: 'hafi

1 In the Tanhauser, as snng in Switzerland (Aufsess. anz. 1832, 240-2 ; Uhland's volksl. p. 771), instead of the usnal dame Venus we find precisely frau Frene, and ace. to Staid. 1, 395 frein is there a collateral form offrei iree. A woman's name Vreneli is known from Hebel. Vrene may be Verena the martyr, or Veronica, v. Vrene, Ben. 328.

FRIKKA. FltOUWA. ' :'>07

hann (liave he) it mikla vicn Brtsimja ! ' Ssem. 72. — Now this very trinket is evidently known to the AS. poet of Beowulf 2399, he names it Brodnga mene, without any allusion to the goddess ; I would read * Brisinga mene,' and derive the word in general from a verb which is in MHG. brisen, breis (nodare, nodis constringere, Gr. KevTelv to pierce), namely, it was a chain strung together of bored links. Yet conf. ch. XX, hrising St. John's fire : perhaps the dwarfs that forged it were called Brisinrjar '!■ The jewel is so closely interwoven with the myth of Freyja, that from its mention in AS. poetry we may safely infer the familiarity of the Saxon race with the story itself ; and if the Goths worshipped a goddess Fraujo, they too would doubtless know of a Breis igge mani.^ Conf. ch. XX, lar&ar men, Earth's necklace, i.e., turf in the ON", legal language.

We cannot but feel it significant, that where the gospel simply speaks of ro ayiov sacrum (Matt. 7, 6), the OS. poet makes it a helag halsmeni (holy necklace), Hel. 52, 7 ; an old heathen remin- iscence came over him, as once before about doves perching on shoulders (p. 148). At the same time, as he names only the swine, not the dogs, it is possible that he meant halsmeni to be a mere amplification of ' merigrioton,' pearls.

But this legend of the goddess's necklace gains yet more in im- portance, when we place it by the side of Greek myths. Brisinga men is no other than Aphrodite's 6piJio<i (Hymn to Venus 88), and the chain is her girdle, the Kearo<i ifia<i 7rot/c/Xo<f which she wears on her bosom, and whose witchery subdues all gods and mortals. How she loosens it off her neck {diro ar7]6ea(piv) and lends it to Hero to charm her Zeus with, is told in a lay that teems with world-old myths, II. 14, 214-8. As the ifxd<i is worn in turn by Here and by Aphrodite, the Norse fable gives the jewel now to Frigg and now to Freyja, for that ' gold of Frigg ' in Saxo is the same as Brisinga men. Then there is another similarity : the same narrative makes Freyja possess a beautiful chamber, so strong that, when the door is locked, no one can enter against her will : ' hun

^ Just as from Freyja proceeded the gonoral notion of a freyja frouwa, so necklace-wearing serves to describe a bcantii'ul wife or maiden. In Sanu. 1)7'' menfjlotS (monili laeta, rejoicing in a necklace) means simply femina, but in 108* 111" Menfjby^ is a proper name (see p. 272 note); in 222* menslcdrjul is used of Brynhildr. Women are commonly named from their ornaments of gold or precious stones, Sn. 128 (see Suppl.).

308 GODDESSES.

utti ser eina skemmu, er var bffiSi fogr ok sterk, sva at ]?at segja menn, ef hurSin var Isest, at eingi matti komast i skemmuna an (without) vilja Freyju,' Su. 354. We are tokl the trick by which Loki after all got in, and robbed her of the necklace ; ^ Homer says nothing about that, but (II. 14, 165-8) he knows of Here's ^aXa/io?,

TOP ol <^t'Xo9 vio<i eTeu^ev " HcjjacaTO'i, TrvKLva-i Se 6upa<i crraO/jLolaiP eTTrjpcre kXtjISi KpviTTfi, TT)v S' ov ^£09 aX.o<i avtpyev. "What can be more exactly in accordance with that inaccessible apartment of Freyja, especially as the t/u.a9 is spoken of directly after ? Hephaistos (Vulcan), who built his mother the curiously contrived bedchamber, answers to the dwarfs who forged the neck- lace for Freyja. The identity of Frigg and Freyja with Here and Aphrodite must after this mythus be as plain as day.

10. FOLLA.. SiNDGUND.

Another thing that betrays the confusion of Frigg with Freyja is, that the goddess Folld, now proved by the Merseburg poem to belong to our German mythology, is according to it a sister of Frua, while the OjST. Falla again is handmaid to Frigg, though she takes rank and order among the Asynjor themselves (Sn. 36-7).^ Her office and duties are sufficiently expressed in her name ; she justi- fies our reception of the above-mentioned Ahundia or da7ne Hahonde into German mythology, and corresponds to the masculine god of plenty Pilnitis, Pilnihcs, whom the Lettons and Prussians adored. Like dame Herke on p. 253, she bestowed prosperity and abundance on mortals, to her keeping was intrusted the divine mother's chest (eski), out of which gifts were showered upon them.

It may be, that FuUa or Folia was at the same time thought of as the full-moon (Goth. fulli]?s, Lith. Pilnatis, masc), as another heavenly body, Orion, was referred to Frigg or Freyja : in the Mer- seburg MS. she is immediately followed by Sannct with a sister Bindgund, whose name again suggests the path of a constellation. The Eddie Sol ranks with the Asynjor, but Sindgund (ON. Sinn-

1 He bored a hole and crept through as a fly, then as a flea he stung the sleeping goddess till she shook off the ornament : an incident still retained in nursery-tales. Conf. the stinging fly at the forging, Sn. 131.

2 If we read Fria for Frua, then Folia would stand nearer to her as in the Norse, whether as attendant goddess or as sister. Yet, considering the insta- bility of those goddesses' names, she may keep her place by Frouwa too.

GAUT. SllTIA. SUXIA. WARA. SAGA. NANDA. ' 309

gunnr ?) is unknown to the Edda. In cli. XXII. on the constella- tions I shall come back to these divinities (see Suppl.).

11. Gakt. Sippia. Sunia. Wag a. Saga. Nanda.

From surviving proper names or even impersonal terms, more rarely from extant myths, we may gather that several more goddesses of the North were in earlier times common to the rest of Teutoudom.

Frey's beloved, afterwards his wife, was named Gcr&r, she came of the giant breed, yet in Sn. 79 she is reckoned among the Asynjor. The Edda paints her beauty by a charming trait : when Freyr looked from heaven, he saw her go into a house and close the door, and then air and water shone with the brightness of her arms (Ssem. 81. Sn. 39). His wooing was much thwarted, and was only brought to a happy issue by the dexterity of his faithful servant Slcirnir. The form of her name Oerffr, gen. GerSar, ace. GerSi (Sicm. 117''), points to a Goth. Gardi or Gardja, gen. Gardjos, ace. Gardja, and an OHG. Gart or Garta, which often occurs in the compounds Hildigart, Irmiugart, Liutkart, &c., but no longer alone. The Latin forms llildegardis, Liudgardis have l^etter preserved the terminal i, which must have worked the vowel-change in GerSr, ThorgcrSr, ValgerSr, HrimgerSr. The meaning seems to be cingens, municiis [Gurth ?], Lat. Cinxia as a name of Juno (see Suppl.).

The Goth, sihja, OHG. sippia, sippa, AS. sib gen. sibbe, denote peace, friendship, kindred; from these I infer a divinity Sihja, Sippia, Sib, corresponding to the ON". Sif gen. Sifjar, the wife of Thorr, for the ON", too has a pi. sifjar meaning cognatio, sifi amicus (OHG. sippio, sippo), sift genus, cognatio. By this sense of the word, Sif would appear to be, like Frigg and Freyja, a goddess of loveliness and love ; as attributes of OSinn and Thor agree, their wives Frigg and Sif have also a common signification. Sif in the Edda is called the fair-haired, ' it harfagra goS,' and gold is Sifjar haddr (Sifae peplum), because, when Loki cut off her hair, a new and finer crop was afterwards forged of gold (Sn. 119. 130). Also a herb, poly- trichum aureum, bears the name haddr Sifjar. Expositors see in this the golden fruits of the Earth burnt up by fire and growing up again, they liken Sif to Ceres, the ^avOt] Ai]fn]r't]p (II. 5, 500) ; and with it agrees the fact that the 0 Slav. Siva is a gloss on 'Ceres dp.i

310 GODDESSES.

frumenti ' (Hanka's glosses 5* 6^^) ; only the S in the word seems to be the Slav, zliivete = Zh, and V does not answer to the Teut. r, B, P. The earth was Thor's mother, not his wife, yet in Sn. 220 we do find the simple Sif standing for earth. To decide, we ought to have fuller details about Sif, and these are wholly want- ing in our mythology. Nowhere amongst us is the mystic relation of seed-corn to Demeter, whose poignant grief for her daughter threatens to bring famme on mankind (Hynm to Cer. 305 — 315), nor anything like it, recorded.

The Gothic language draws a subtle distinction between sunja (Veritas) and simjS (defensio, probatio veritatis) ; in OHG. law, sunna, sunnis means excusatio and impedimentum. The ON. law likewise has this si/n gen. synjar, for excusatio, defensio, negatio, impedimentum, but the Edda at the same time exhibits a personi- fied Si/7i, who was to the heathen a goddess of truth and justice, and protected the accused (Sn. 38). To the same class belongs Vor gen. Varar, goddess of plighted faith and covenants, a dea foederis (Sn. 37-8), just as the Eomans deified Tutela. The phrase ' vigja saman Varar hcndi,' consecrare Tutelae manu (Saem. 74^), is like the passages about Wish's hands, p. 140. As in addition to the abstract wish we saw a Wish endowed with life, so by the side of the OHG. wara foedus there may have been a goddess Wara, and beside sunia a Sunid (see SujipL).

In the same way or sage (saw, tale) is intensified into a heathen goddess Saga, daughter of Wuotan ; like Zeus's daughter the Muse, she instructs mankind in that divine art which Wuotan himself invented. I have argued in a separate treatise (Kleine schr. 1, 83 — 112), that the frou Avcntiure of the Mid. Ages is a relic of the same.

Nanna the wife of Baldr would be in Goth. Nanjjo, OHG. Nandd, AS. Aodc, the bold, courageous (p. 221), but, except in ON, the simple female name is lost ; Procopius 1, 8 has Gotliic Qevhe- vdvda, ON. ThioSnanna (see Suppl.).

Inferences like these, from dying words to dead divinities, could be multiplied ; to attempt them is not unprofitable, for they iiliarpen the eye to look in fresh quarters [for confirmation or con-

EAIIANA. HELLIA. 3 1 1

futation]. The discovery from legend or elsewhere of a liarmony betweeu myths may raise our guesses into demonstrations.^

12. PtAHANA (Ran). Hellia (Hel).

My survey of the gods closed with Oegir and Loki ; and the iXoddesses akin to these sliall be the last mentioned here.

To correspond to the ON. Gcfjon the Old Saxons had, as far as we know, not a female but a male being, Gchan, Gcofon (sea, p. 239). With four giant oxen, according to Sn. 1, Gefjon ploughs Zealand out of the Swedish soil, and a lake arises, whose inward bend exactly fits the projecting coast of Zealand. She is described as a virgin, and all maidens who die virgins wait upon her, Sn. 36. Her name is called upon when oaths are taken : sver ek viS Gcfjon, F. Magn. lex. 386 (see Suppl.). Gefn, a name of Freyja (Sn. 37 and Viga- glumss. cap. 27) reminds one of Gefjon.

Ran was the wife of the seagod Oegir, they liad nine daughters who are cited by name in the Edda, and called Rdnar (or Oegis) dcctr} Men who are drowned fall to the share of Ran, which of itself attests her divinity : fara til Rdnar is to get drowned at sea, Fornald. sog. 2, 78 ; and sifja at Rdnar to be drowned, Fornm. sog. 6, 376. Those who were drowned she drew to her in a net, and

^ It seems almost as if the MHG. poets recognised a female personage fru Fuoge or Gefiwge (fitness), similar in plastic power to the niasc. Wish, a per- sonified compages or apfiovia. Lachmann directs me to instances in point. Er. 7534-40 (conf. Iwein, p. 400) :

So hete des meisters sin So had the master's thought

gepriievet ditz gereite turned out this riding-gear

mit grozer wisheite ; with great wisdom ;

er gap dem helfenbeine he gave the ivory

und da hi dem gesteine and withal the jewelry

sin gevellige stat, each its proper place,

als in diu Geviioge bat. as him dame Fitness bade.

(Couf. Er. 1246 : als in min ware schulde bat).— Parz. 121, 11 :

Wer in den zwein landen wirt, Whoso in the two lands thrives,

Gefuorjc ein wundcr an im biit ; Fitness a wonder in him bears ; he is a miraculous biilh of Fitness, her child, her darling.— Conversely, Wal- ther 64, 38 :

Fr6 Unfuoge, ir habt gesiget. Dame Unfitness, thou hast triumphed.

And 65, 25 :

Swer Ungcfiioge swigen hieze Whoso bade Indecorum hush,

mid sie abe den biirgen stieze ! and hurled her from lier strongholds.

It is true, the prefixes ge-, un-, argue a later and colder allegory. And tlie weak fem. form (ace. in -en) would be preferable, OIIG. Fuoga, gen. FuogCin, as in N. cap. 135 hifuogun, sotigenam (see Suppl.).

2 Sit^m. 79^ 144'>- 153^' 180. Sn. 124-9. 185. Eyrbygg. saga p. 274, and in- dex sub v. Ran. Egilssaga p. 616.

312 GODDESSES.

carried them off, whence the explanation of her name : ran neut. is rapina, rsena rapere, spoliare (see Suppl.).

On the discovery of the rare word rahancn (spoliare) in the Hildebr. lied 57, I build the supposition that other Teutonic lands had also a subst. rahan (rapina, spolium) and a goddess Baliana (conf. Tanfana, Hluodana), as well as an Uogi = Oegir.i

As we passed from Oegir (through Forniot and Logi) to Loki, so we may from Ean to Hel, who is no other than Loki's daughter, and like him a dreadful divinity. Ean receives the souls that die by water, Hel those on land, and Freyja those that fall in battle.

The ON. lid gen. Heljar shows itself in the other Teutonic tongues even less doubtfully than Frigg and Freyja or any of the above-mentioned goddesses : Goth. Halja gen. Haljos, OHG. Hellia, Hdla gen. Hellia, Hella, AS. Hdl gen. Helle ; only, the personal notion has dropt away, and reduced itself to the local one of halja, hellia, hell, the nether world and place of punishment. Originally Hellia is not death nor any evil being, she neither kills nor torments ; she takes the souls of the departed and holds them with inexorable grip. The idea of a place evolved itself, as that of oegir oceanus out of Oegir, and that of geban mare from Geban ; the converted heathen without any ado applied it to the christian underworld, the abode of the damned ; all Teutonic nations have done this, from the first baptized Goths down to the Northmen, because that local notion already existed under heathenism, perhaps also because the church was not sorry to associate lost spirits with a heathen and fiendish divinity .^ Thus hellia can be explained from Hellia even more readily than ostara from Ostara.

In the Edda, Hel is Loki's daughter by a giantess, she is sister to the wolf Fenrir and to a monstrous snake. She is half black and half of human colour {bid half, en half meS horundar lit), Sn. 33, after the manner of the pied people of the Mid. Ages ; in other

1 The Trad, patav. pp. 60-2 assure iis of a man's name Raan, Rhaan (Rahan ?). An OHG. Rahana rests on a very slender foundation.

" Hel has no attinity at all Avith ON. hella petra, hellir antrum, as the Goth, hallus petra shows (from hillan sonare, because a rock resounds) : a likelier connexion is that with our hole antrum, OHG. holi, more frequent in neut. hoi, for which Ave should expect a Goll.ic hul, as in fact a fem. hulundi is caverna, for a cave covers, and so does the nether Avorld (both therefore from hilan celare). Only, the vowels in hole (= hull) and holle (= halja) do not

RAII.VNA. HELLIA. 313

passages her blackness alone is made a subject of comparison : hldr sem Hel, Nialss. 117. Fornm. sog. 3, 188; conf. Hdjarshinn for complexion of deatlily hue, Landnamab. 2, 19. Nialss. cap. 96. Fornald. sog. 2, 59. 60 ;^ death is black and gloomy. Her dwelling is deep down in the darkness of the ground, under a root of the tree Yggdrasill, in Niflheim, the innermost part of which is there- fore called Nifihel, there is her court (rann), there her halls, Ssem. (jb 44a 9j.a_ gjj_ 4_ |-{er platter is named hungr, her knife sultr, synonymous terms to denote her insatiable greed. The dead go down to her, fara til Hdjar, strictly those only that have died of sickness or old age, not those fallen in fight, who people Valhalla, Her personality has pretty well disappeared in such phrases as i hcl sla, drepa, berja i hel, to smite into hell, send to Hades ; i hclju vera, be in Hades, be dead, Fornald. sog. 1, 233. Out of this has arisen in the modern dialects an altogether impersonal and distorted term, Swed. ihjdl, Dan. ihiel, to death.^ These languages now express the notion of the nether world only by a compound, Swed. helvcte, Dan. Jiclvede, i.e., the ON. hclviti (supplicium infernale), OIIG. hellmvizi, MHG. hellewize. One who is drawing his last breath is said in ON. liggja milli heims oc heljar (to lie betwixt home and hell), to be on his way from this world to the other.' The unpitying nature of the Eddie Hcl is expressly emphasized ; what she once has, she never gives back : haldi Hel }?vi er hejir, Sn. 68 ; heJir nu Hel, Sa3m. 257% like the wolf in the apologue (Rein- hart xxxvi), for she is of wolfish nature and extraction ; to the wolf on the other hand a hellish throat is attributed (see SuppL). Two lays in the Edda describe the way to the lower world, the

^ The ancients also painted Demeter, as the wrathful earth-goddess, Mark (Pans. 8, 42. O. Miiller's P]umenides 168, conf. Archteol. p. 509 the black Demeter at Phigalia), and sometimes even her daughter Persephone, the fair maid doomed to the underworld : ^ furva Proserpina,' Hor. Od. 2, 13 (Censorin. De die nat. c. 17). Blade Aphrodite (Melanis) is spoken of by Pausanias 2, 2. 8, G. 9, 27 and by Athenanis bk. 13 ; we know the black Diana of Ephesus, and that in the I\lid. Ages black Madonnas were both painted and carved, the Holy Virgin appearing tlien as a sorrowing goddess of earth or niglit ; such at Loretto, Naples, Einsiedeln, Wurzburg (Altd. W. 2, 209. 28G), 'at Oettingen (Goethe's Corresp. with a child 2, 184), at Puy (Biisching's Nachr. 2, 312-333), Marseilles and elsewhere. I think it specially signilicant, that the Erinnys or Furia dwelling in Tartarus is also represented botli as black and as half ivhite half black.

• 0 Swed. has more, correctly iha>l, i.e., ihal (Fred, af Normandie 1299. 13-56. 1400. 1414). In Ostgotalagen p. 8, one reading has already ihiaill for ihad ; they no longer grasped the meaning of the term.

314 GODDESSES.

HelreiS Lrynhildar and tlie VegtamsqviSa ; in the latter, OSin's ride on Sleipuir for Baldr's sake seems to prefigure that wliich .HermoSr afterwards undertakes on the same steed in Sn. 65-7. But the incidents in the poem are more thrilling, and the dialogue between Vegtamr^ and the vala, who says of herself : var ek snifin sniofi (by snow), ok slegin regni, ok drifin doggo (by dew), dauS (dead) var ek leingi, is among the sublimest things the Edda has to shew. This vala nmst stand in close relationship to Hel herself.

Saxo Gram. p. 43 very aptly uses for Hel the Latin Proserpina, he makes her give notice of Balder's death. In the Danish popular Ijelief Hel is a three-legged horse, that goes round the country, a harbinger of plague and pestilence ; of this I shall treat further on. Originally it was no other than the steed on which the goddess posted over land, picking up the dead that were her due ; there is also a ivaggon ascribed to her, in which she made her journeys.

A passage in Beowulf sliow^s h)w the Anglo-Saxons retained perfectly the old meaning of the word. It says of the expiring Grendel l(i98 : ' feorh alegde, lueSene sawle (vitam deposuit, animam gentilem), }7£er hine Hel onfeng^ the old-heathen goddess took possession of him.

In Germany too the Mid. Ages still cherished the conception of a voracious, hungry, insatiable Hell, an Orcus esuriens, i.e., the man- devouring ogre : ' diu Helle ferslinclet al daz ter lebet, si ne ivirdet niomer sat,' N. Cap. 72. ' diu Helle und der arge wan werdent niemer sat,' Welsch. gast. It sounds still more personal, when she has gaping yaioning jaws ascribed to her, like the wolf ; pictures in the MS. of Ctedmon represent her simply by a wide open mouth. Der tobende wuoterich The raging tyrant

der was der Hellcn gelich, he was like the Hell

diu daz abgrunde who the chasm (steep descent)

hegenit mit ir munde be-yawneth with her mouth

unde den himel zuo der erden. from heaven down^ to earth, unde ir doch niht ne mac werden,And yet to her it cannot hap

1 OSinn calls himself Vegtamr (way-tame, broken-in to the road, gnariis viae), son of Valtamr (assuetus caedibus), as in other places gangtamr (itineri assuetus) is used of the horse, Sa^m. 265'', but OSinn himself is GangraSr or Gangleri. Vegtamr reminds one of the holy priest and minstrel Wechtam in Hunibald.

" I have supposed that ' unde den ' is a slip for ' abe dem '. — Trans.

UAH ANA. HELLIA. 315

daz si iiner werde vol ; that slie ever become full ;

si ist daz ungcsatliche hoi, she is the insatiable cavern,

daz weder uu noeh uie ne sprah : that neither now nor ever said ' diz ist des ih niht ne mac' ' this is what I cannot (manage).'

Lampr. Alex. G671-80. Old poems have frequent allusions to the abgrund (chasm, abyss) and the doors of hell : helligruoba, hella- grunt, helliporta, &c. Gramm. 2, 458 ; der abgrunde tunc, der tiefen helle tunc (the deep hell's dinge, darkness). Mart. 88^ 99°.

Of course there are Bible texts that would in the first instance suggest much of this, e.g., about the insatiableness of hell, Prov. 27, 20. 30, 16 (conf. Freidank Ixxiv), her being uncovered, Job 26, 6, her opening her mouth, Isaiah 5, 14. But we are to bear in mind, that all these have the masc. aS?;? or infernus, with which the idea of the Latin Orcus also agrees, and to observe how the German language, true to its idiosyncrasy, was obliged to make use of a feminine word. The images of a door, abyss, wide gaping throat, strength and invincibility (fortis tanquam orcus, Petron. cap. 62), appear so natural and necessary to the notion of a nether world, that they will keep recurring in a similar way among different nations (see SuppL).

The essential thing is, the image of a greedy, unrestoring, female deity.^

But the higher we are allowed to penetrate into our antiquities, the less hellish and the more godlike may Halja appear. Of this we have a particularly strong guarantee in her affinity to the Indian Bhavani, who travels about and bathes like Nerthus and Holda (p. 268), but is likewise called Kali or Mahahdli, the great llach goddess. In the underworld she is supposed to sit in judgment on souls. This office, the similar name and the black hue (kala niger, conf. caligo and KekaLv6<;) make her exceedingly like Halja. And Halja is one of the oldest and commonest conceptions of our heathenism.

1 In the south of ITollanfl, where the Mouse falls into the sea, is a place named Hdvoeisluis. I do not know it' any forms in old documents confirm tlie idea contained in the name, of Hell-foot, foot of Hell. The Romans have a Helium here : Inter Helium acFlevum, ita appellantur ostia, in quae effusus Rhenus, ah septentrione in lacus, ab occidente in amnem Mosam se spar^it, medio inter haec ore modicum nonnne suo custodiens alveiim, Plin. 4, 29. Tac. also says 2, G : immense ore, Conf. supra ). 198 on Unjjisdijr (see Suppl.).

CHAPTER XIV.

CONDITION" OF GODS.

Now that we have collected all that could be found concerning the several divinities of our distant past, I will endeavour to survey their nature as a whole ; in doing which however, we must be allowed to take more frequent notice of foreign and especially Greek mythology, than we have done in other sections of this work : it is the only way we can find connecting points for many a thread that otherwise hangs loose.

All nations have clothed their gods in human shape, and only by way of exception in those of animals ; on this fact are founded both their appearances to men, or incarnation, their twofold sex, their intermarrying with mankind, and also the deification of certain men, i.e., their adoption into the circle of the gods. It follows moreover, that gods are begotten and born, experience pain and sorrow, are subject to sleep, sickness and even death, that like men they speak a language, feel passions, transact affairs, are clothed and armed, possess dwellings and utensils. The only difference is, that to these attributes and states there is attached a higher scale than the human, that all the advantages of the gods are more perfect and abiding, all their ills more slight or transient.

This appears to me a fundamental feature in the faith of the heathen, that they allowed to their gods not an unlimited and unconditional duration, but only a term of life far exceeding that of men. All that is born must also die, and as the omnipotence of gods is checked by a fate standing higher than even they, so their eternal dominion is liable at last to termination. And this reveals itself not only by single incidents in the lives of gods, but in the general notion of a coming and inevitable ruin, which the Edda expresses quite distinctly, and which tlie Greek system has in the background : the day will come when Zeus's reign shall end.

CONDITION OF GODS. 317

But this opinion, firmly lield even by the fStoics,^ finds utterance only now and then, particularly in the story of Prometheus, which 1 have compared to the Norse ragnarokr, p. 245-6.

In the common way of thinking, the gods are supposed to be immortal and eternal. They are called Oeol alev iovre^, II. 1, 290. 494, aleijeverai 2, 400, dddvaroi 2, 814, n6dvaTo<i Zev^ 14, 434 ; and therefore /Lta/cape? 1, 339. 599 in contrast to mortal man. They have a special right to the name cifi^poTot immortales, while men are ^poToi mortales ; dix^poTo<; is explained by the Sansk. amrita immortalis, the negative of mrita mortalis (conf Pers. merd, homo mortalis) ; in fact both amrita and d/u,/3p6aco<;, next neighbour to dp,^poro^, contain a reference to the food, by partaking of which the gods keep up their immortality. They taste not the fruits of the earth, whereby the ^poroi live, ot dpovpr)<i Kapirov eSovaiv, II. 6, 142. With ySpoTo? again is connected ^p6To<; thick mortal blood, whereas in the veins of the gods flows Ixd^p (H. 5, 340. 416), a light thin liquid, in virtue of which they seem to be called d^poToi =

dfl^pOTOt.

Indian legend gives a full account of the way amrita, the elixir of immortality, was brewed out of water clear of milk, the juice of herbs, liquid gold and dissolved precious-stones f no Greek poem tells us the ingredients of ambrosia, but it was an dix^pocrcy-j rpocj)/] (food), and there was a divine drink besides, fyXvKv veKrap, II. 1, 598, of a red colour 19, 38, its name being derived either from vtj and KTaaOac, or better from veK-rap necem avertens. Where men take bread and wine, the gods take ambrosia and nectar, Od. 5, 195, and hence comes the

dfi^poTov at/xa Oeolo, tx^cop, oco^; irep re peet jxaKapeacn deoicnv • 00 '^ap alrov eSovcr , ov 'rrivova aWoira olvov • TOVveK dvalfiove^ elai Koi dddvaroc KaXiovrai.

—II. 5, 330. Theirs is no thick glutinous alfia (conf. our seim, ON", seimr, slime), nor according to the Indians do they sweat ; and this dvaifirov (bloodless) agrees with the above explanation of d^poTo<i. The

^ Atfjiie omncs pariter cleos perdet mors aliqiia et chaos. Seneca in Here, 1014.

'^ Cleopatra had costly pearls melted in her wine, and it is said to be still a cii.stoni witli Indian princes ; conf. Si;eton. Calig. ^7.

318 CONDITION OF GODS.

adjectives a^poTo<;, a/jb^poTOf, a/x^pocrto';, veKrdpeo'i are passed on from the food to other divine things^ (see Suppl.). Plainly then the gods were not immortal by their nature, they only acquired and secured this quality by abstaining from the food and drink of men, and feasting on heavenly fare. And hence the idea of death is not always nor as a matter of course kept at a distance from them ; Kronos used to kill his new born children, no doubt before nectar and ambrosia had been given them,^ and Zeus alone could be saved from him by being brought up secretly. Another way in which the mortality of certain gods is expressed is, that they fall a prey to Hades, whose meaning borders on that of death, e.g., Perse- phone.

If a belief in the eternity of the gods is the dominant one among the Greeks, and only scattered hints are introduced of their final overthrow ; with our ancestors on the contrary, the thought of the gods being immortal seems to retire into the background. The Edda never calls them eylifir or odauSligir, and their death is spoken of without disguise : ]?a er regin dq/ja, Spem. 37^, or more frequently : regin riufaz (solvuntur), 36^ 40*^ 108^ One of the finest and oldest myths describes the death of Balder, the burning of his body, and his entrance into the lower world, like that of Proserpine ; OSin's destined fall is mentioned in the Voluspa Q'', OSins lani (bane), Sn. 73, where also Tliorr falls dead on the ground ; Hrungnir, a giant, threatens to slay all the gods (drepa guS oil), Sn. 107. Yet at the same time we can point to clear traces of that prolongation of life by particular kinds of food and drink. While the einherjar admitted into Yalholl feast on the boiled flesh of a boar, we are nowdiere told of the Ases sharing in such diet (Srom. 36. 42. Sn. 42) ; it is even said expressly, that OSinn needs no food (onga vist ]?arf hann), and only drinks wine (vin er honum bseSi dryckr ok matr, both meat and drink) ; with the viands set before him he feeds his two wolves Geri and Freki. ViS vin eitt vapngofugr OSinn se lifir (vino solo armipotens semper vivit), Ssem. 42^ ; aj lifir can be rendered ' semper vescitur,

1 Both nectar and ambrosia, like the holy grail of the Mid. Ages, have miraculous powers : poured into the nose of a corpse, they prevent decay, II. 19, 38 ; they ward ott" hunger, II. 19, 347. 353.

^ As hiunan infants may only be exposed before milk and honey have moistened their lips, conf. EA. pp. 458-9. When Zeus first receives in the assembly of the gods the son whom Leto bore him, he hands him nectar in a goklen bowl : by this act he recognised him for his child.

IMMORTALITY'. 319

nutritur,' or ' immortalitatem nanciscitur,' and tlien the cause of his iimnortality would be found in his partaking of the wine. Evi- dently this wine of the Norse gods is to the beer and ale (olr) of men, what the nectar of the Greek gods was to the wine of mortals. Other passages are not so particular about their language ; ^ in Seem. 59 the gods at Oegir's hall hav^e ale set before them, conf. ol giora, 68^ ; Heimdall gladly drinks the good mead, 41^ ; verSar nema oc sumbl (cibum capere et symposium) 52, leaves the exact nature of the food undefined, but earthly fare is often ascrijjed to the gods in so many words.'^ But may not the costly O&hroeris drcckr, compounded of the divine Qvasir's blood and honey, be likened to amrita and ambrosia ? ^ Dwarfs and giants get hold of it first, as amrita fell into the hands of the giants ; at last the gods take possession of both. OShroeris dreckr confers the gift of poesy, and by that very fact immortality : OSinn and Saga, goddess of poetic art, have surely drunk it out of golden goblets, gladly and evermore (um alia daga. Stem. 41^). We must also take into account the creation of the wise Qvasir (conf. Slav, kvas, convivium, potus) ; that at the making of a covenant between the Aesir and Vanir, he was formed out of their spittle (hraki) ; the refining of his blood into a drink for gods seems a very ancient and far- reaching myth. But beside this drink, we have also notices of a special food for gods : ISunn has in her keeping certain apjyles, by eating of which the aging gods make themselves young again (er go'Sin skulo abita, J^a er |?au eldaz, oc verSa ]?a allir ungir, Sn. 30''). This reminds one of the apples of Paradise and the Hesperides, of the guarded golden apples in the Kindcrmiirchen no. 57, of the apples in the stories of Fortunatus and of Merlin, on the eating or biting of which depend life, death and metamorphosis, as elsewhere on a draught of holy water. According to the Eddie view, the gods have a means, it is true, of preserving perpetual freshness and youth,

1 As Homer too makes Ganymede olvoxoeveiv, II. 20, 234, and of Hebe it is even said, viKzap it^voxod 4, .3.

'^ Zeus <,'0L's to bancjuet {Kara ^aiTa) with the Ethiopians, II. 1, 423 ; orav Trpos haira Kai eVl dolvr)v 'Icoai, Plato's Pha;dr. 247, as Tliurr does with tlie Nor- wegians ; even when disguised as a bride, he does not refuse the giants' dishes, Saeni. 73'' ; and the Ases boiled an ox on their journey, Sn. 80.

' In Sanskrit, siulha nectar is distinguished from rnjin'to ambrosia. Every- where there is an eitgli in the l)Usiness : Garuda is called sudhahara, or amrita- harana, nectar-thief or ambrosia-thief (Pott, forsch. 2, 4.'')1) ; it is in the shape of an eagle that Obinn carries off OShrajrir, and Zeus his cupbearer Ganymede (see ch. XXXV and XXX, Path-crossing and Poetry).

320 CONDITION OF GODS.

but, for all that, tliey are regarded as subject to the encroach- ments of age, so that there are always some yoinifi and some old gods ; in particular, Odinn or Wuotan is pictured everywhere as an old greybeard (conf. the old god, p. 21), Thorr as in the full strength of manhood. Balder as a blooming youth. The gods grow hdrir ok gamlir (lioar and old), Sn. 81, Freyr has ' at tannfe ' (tooth-fee) presented him at his teething, he is therefore imagined as growing up. In like manner Uranos and Kronos appear as old, Zeus (like our Donar) and Poseidon as middle aged, Apollo, Her- mes and Ares as in the bloom of youth. Growth and age, the increase and decline of a power, exclude the notion of a strictly eternal, immutable, immortal being ; and mortality, the termination, however long delayed, of gods with such attributes, is a necessity (see SuppL),

Epithets expressing the power, the omnipotence, of the reigning gods have been specified, pp. 21-2. A term peculiar to ON. poetry is ^t?iregin, Saem. 28^ 50^ ol'^ 52^ ^i?iheilog goS 1^ ; it is of the same root as gina, OHG. kinan, hiare, and denotes numina ampla, late dominantia, conf. AS. ginne grund, Beow. 3101. Jud. 131, 2. ginne rice, Ctedm. 15, 8. ginfgest, firmissimus 176, 29. ginf?esten god, terrae dominus 211, 10. garsecges gin, oceani amplitudo 205, 3.

The Homeric pela (= paSi(o<;, Goth, rajnzo) beautifully ex- presses the power of the gods ; whatever they do or undertake comes easy to them, their life glides along free from toil, while mortal men labour and are heavy laden : deol pela ^coovre'i, II. 6, 138. Od. 4, 805. 5, 122. When Aphrodite wishes to remove her favourite Alexander from the perils of battle, tov S' i^ijpira^' 'AcfipoBlTr) pela fidX\ m cr r e ^eo'?, II. 3, 381 ; the same words are applied to Apollo, when he snatches Hector away from Achilles 20, 443. The wall so laboriously built by the Greeks he overturns pela fidXa, as a boy at play would a sand-heap 15, 362. With a mere breath {Trvoifj), blowing a little (?}/ca p,d\a ^Irv^aaa), Athene turns away from Achilles the spear that Hector had thrown 20, 440 (see SuppL). Berhta also blows (p. 276), and the elves breathe (eh. XVII), on people.

The sons of men grow up slowly and gradually, gods attain their full size and strength directly after hirth. No sooner had

STRENGTH. PRECOCITY. SIZE. 321

Themis presented nectar and ambrosia (a/j,/3poaiT)v tpareivi'iv) to the newborn Apollo, than he leapt, Kare/Spco^ cl/x^poTov, out of his swathiiigs, sat down among the goddesses, began to speak, and. unshorn as he was, to roam through the country (Hymn, in Ap. Del. 123 — 133). Not unlike Vali, whom Eindr bore to OSinii ; when only one night old (einn?e.ttr), unwashen and unkempt, he sallies forth to avenge Baldr's death on HoSr, Sajui. 6^ 95^. Here the coincidence of aKepaeKo/xr]^ with the Edda's ' ne hofuS kembr ' is not to be disregarded. Hermes, born at early morn, plays the lute at mid-day, and at eve drives oxen away (Hymn, in Merc. 17 seq.). And Zeus, who is often exhibited as a child among the Kuretes, grew up rapidly {Kap7ra.Lix(o<i fievo<; Kai (^aloLfxa f^vla rjv^ero toIo avaKTo^;), and in his first years had strength enough to enter the lists with Kronos (Hes. theog. 492). Tlie Norse mytho- logy offers another example in Magni, Thor's son by the giantess larnsaxa : when three nights old (]?rina2ttr), he flung the giant Hriingni's enormous foot, under whose weight Thorr lay on the ground, off his father, and said he would have beaten the said giant dead with his fist, Sn. 110 (see Suppl.).

The shape of the gods is like the human (p. 105), only vaster, often exceeding even the gigantic. When Ares is felled to the ground by the stone which Athene flings, his body covers seven roods of land (eTrra S' eVecr^^e irekeOpa ireaoiv, 1. 21, 407), a size tliat wiih a slight addition the Od. 11, 577 puts upon the titan I'ityos. When Here takes a solemn oath, she grasps the earth with one hand and the sea with the other (II. 14, 272). A cry that breaks from Poseidon's breast sounds like that of nine or even ten thousand warriors in battle (14, 147), and the same is said of Ares when he roars (5, 859) ; Here contents herself with the voice of Stentor, which only equals those of fifty men (5, 786). By the side of this we may put some features in the Edda, which have to do with Thorr especially : he devours at a wedding one ox and eiglit salmon, and drinks three casks of mead, Siem. 73^ ; another time, through a horn, the end of which reaches to the sea, he drinks a good portion of this, he lifts the snake that encircles the whole world off one of its feet, and with his hammer he strikes three deep valleys in the rocky mountain, Sn, 59, 60. Again, Teutonic mythology agrees with the Greek in never imputing to its gods the deformity of many heads, arms or legs; they are only bestowed

21

322 CONDITION OF GODS.

on a few heroes and animals, as some of the Greek giants are eKaroyyetpe^. Such forms are quite common in the Hindu and Slav systems : Vishnu is represented with four arms, Brahma with four heads, Svantovit the same, while Porevit has five heads and Rugevit seven faces. Yet Hecate too is said to have been three- headed, as the Eoman Janus was two-faced, and a Laceda3monian Apollo four-armed.^ Khuvera, the Indian god of wealth, is a hideous figure with three legs and eight teeth. Some of the Norse gods, on the contrary, have not a superfluity, but a deficiency of members : OSinn is one-eyed, Tyr one-handed, HoGr blind, and Logi or Loki was perhaps portrayed as lame or limping, like Hepha3stus and the devil. Hel alone has a dreadful shape, black and white ; the rest of the gods and goddesses, not excepting Loki, are to be imagined as of beautiful and noble figure (see Suppl.).

In the Homeric epos this ideally perfect human shape, to which Greek art also keeps true, is described in standing epithets for gods and especially goddesses, with w^hich our ruder poetry has only a few to set in comparison, and yet the similarity of these is signi- ficant. Some epithets have to serve two or three divinities by turns, but most are confined to individuals, as characteristic of them. Thus Here is XevKcoXevo^ or ^ocotti,^; (the former used also of Helen, II. 3, 121,^ the latter of a Nereid 18, 40), Athene rf^avKw- TTi? or i^vKOfio'i (which again does for Here), Thetis dpyvpoTre^a, Iris aeXXo7ro9, iroh/jvefMO'i, ypvaoTTTepo';, Eos poSoSdKTv\o<;, Demeter (Ceres) ^avd?] 5, 500, and Ka\nr\6/ca/jLo<; 14, 326, just as Sif is harfogr (p. 309), in allusion to the yellow colour of the waving corn. As the sea rolls its dark waves, Poseidon bears the name KvavoxaiTi<:, II. 14, 390. 15, 174. 20, 144. Zeus could either be called the same, or Kvavocppv; (a contrast to Baldr brahvitr, brow- white p. 222), because to him belong dfji^pocnat, '^alTai II. 1, 528, the hair and locks of Wish (p. 142), and because with his dark brows he makes signs. This confirmatory lowering of the brows or nodding with the head (veveiv, Karaveiecv Kvaverjacv eir cx^puai II. 1, 527. 17, 209) is the regular expression of Zeus's will: Ke^aXfj Karavevaofxai, ddavdroicri fieyicrrov reK/jLcop, II. 1, 524. In refusing, he draws the head back (dvavevei). Thor's indignant rage is shown by sinking the eyebrows over the eyes (siga bryunar ofan fyrir

1 0. Mi'iller's archseol. p. 515.

• And Aphrodite throws her iri'jx^f XevKcl) round iEneas. — Tran3.

SUAPE. ANGER. 323

angun, Sn. 50), displaying gloomy brows and shaking the beard. Obviously the two gods, Zeus and Donar, have identical gestures ascribed to them for expressing favour or anger. They are the glowering deities, who have the avenging thunder at their command; tliis was shown of Donar, p. 177, and to Zeus is given the grim louring look {Beiva S' virohpa IScov, 11. 15, 13), he above all is the fj,ey oxdi]aa<i (1, 517. 4, 30), and next to him Poseidon of the dingy locks (8, 208. 15, 184). Zeus again is distinguished by beaming eyes {rpeirev oaae <jiaet,voi 13, 3. 7. 14, 236. IG, 645), which belong to none else save his own great-hearted daughter 21, 415 ; Aphrodite has ofijxaTa fiapfiaipovra, 3, 397, twinkling, shimmering eyes (see Suppl.).

Figures of Greek divinities show a circle of rays and a nimbus round the head ;^ on Indo-Grecian coins Mithras has commonly a circular nimbus with pointed rays,^ in other representations the rays are wanting. Mao (deus Lunus) has a halfmoon behind his shoulders ; Aesculapius too had rays about his head. In what century was the halo, the aureole, first put round the heads of christian saints ? And we have also to take into account the crowns and diadems of kings. Ammian. Marc. 16, 12 mentions Chnodomarius, cujus vertici flammeus torulus aptabatur. N. Cap. 63 translates the honorati capitis radios of the Sol auratus by houhctskhno (head- sheen), and to portray the sun's head surrounded with flames is extremely natural. In ON. I find the term ro&a for caput radiatum sancti, which I suppose to be the OHG. riiota rod, since virga also goes off into the sense of flagellum, radius, ON. geisli. A likening of the gods to radiant luminaries of heaven would at once suggest sucli a nimbus, and blond locks do shine like rays. It is in con- nexion with the setting sun that Tac. Germ. 45 brings in formas deorum and radios capitis. Around Thor's head was put, latterly at all events, a ring of stars (Stephanii not. ad Saxon. Gram. p. 139). According to a story told in the G alien restore, a beam came out of Charles the Great's mouth and illumined his head.^ What seems more to the purpose, among the Prilwitz figures, certain Slavic idols, especially Perun, Podaga and Nemis, have rays about their

^ 0. Miiller's archoeol. p. 481. 2 Oottiiif,'. anz. 1838, 229.

• Tliis beam from Charles's mouth is like the one that shines into Im beloved's mouth and lights up the gold inside (see ch. XVI., Menni).

324 CONDITION OF GODS.

heads ; and a head in Hagenow, fig. 6, 12 is encircled with rays, so is even the rune E when it stands for Eadegast. Did rays originally express the highest conception of divine and lustrous beauty ? There is nothing in the Homeric epos at all pointing that way (see Suppl.).

It is a part of that insouciance and light blood of the gods, that they are merry, and lavgh. Hence they are called bliS regin (p. 26), as we find ' froh ' in the sense of gracious applied to gods and kings,^ and the spark of joy is conveyed from gods to men. Frauja, lord, is next of kin to froh glad (p. 210). It is said of the Ases, tcitir varo, Saem. 2^ ; and of Heimdall, dreckr glaffr hinn go5a mioS 41^. And ' in svdso guS ' 33^ contains a similar notion. In this light the passages quoted (pp. 17-8) on the blithe and cheer/til God gather a new importance : it is the old heathen notion still lurking in poetry. When Zeus in divine repose sits on Olympus and looks down on men, he is moved to mirth (opucov cf)peva Tep-yjro- /u,aL, II. 20, 23), then laughs the blessed heart of him {iyeXaa-ae Se 01 <^l\ov rjTop, 21, 389) ; which is exactly the Eddie ' hlo honum hugr i briosti, hlo HlorriGa liugr i briosti,' laughed the mind in his breast : a fresh confirmation of the essential oneness of Zeus and Thorr. But it is also said of heroes : ' hlo ]?a Atla hugr i briosti,' Seem. 238^ ' hlo ];a, Brynhildr af ollum hug,' with all her heart 22 0^ OS. ' hugi ward fromod,' Hel. 109, 7. AS. ' mod ahloh,' Andr. 454. Later, in the EudHeb 2, 174. 203. 3, 17 the king in his speech is said subridcre ; in the Nibel. 423, 2 of Brunhild: ' mit smielinden mnnde si liber ahsel sah,' looked over her shoulder. Often in the song of the Cid: ' sonrisose de la boca,' and ' alegre era'.^ 0v/j,o<; Idvdrj, IL 23, 600 ; conf. Ovfiov Xatvov, Hymn, in Cer. 435. Plalf in displeasure Here laughs with her lips, not her brows : ijeXaacre 'y^etXeaiv, ovSe fiercoTrov evr' ocjipvai Kvaverjaiv lavOrj, 11. 15, 102 ; but Zeus feels joy in sending out his lightnings, he is called T€p7TLKepavvo<; 2, 781. 8, 2. 773. 20, 144. So Artemis (Diana) is lo-x^eaipa, rejoicing in arrows, 6, 428. 21, 480. Od. 11, 198, At the limping of Hephaestus, the assembly of gods bursts into acr/Seo-To^ yeXco^, uncontrolled laughter, II. 1, 599 ; but a gentle smile (/MeiSai') is peculiar to Zeus, Here and Aj^hrodite, As

^ Andreas mid Elene p. xxxvii.

^ Helbl. 7, 518 : diu warheit des crlachet, truth lauglis at that.

Ml Kill. GAIT. PACE, 62^

Aphrodite's beauty is expressed by ^iX.o/x/zetS/j's', smile-loving (II. 4, 10. 5, 375), so is Freyja's on the contrary by ' gnltfogT/ fair in weeping (see Suppl.).

We have to consider next the manner in which the gods put themselves in motion and become visible to the eyes of mortals. We find they have a gait and step like the human, only far mightier and swifter. The usual expressions are /3f;, ^>} i/jLev, ^Pi levui, II. 1, 44. 2, 14. 14, 188. 24, 347, /S6^/?«ei 1, 221, e^r) 14, 224, ^drr^v o, 778, ^y^Tqv 14, 281, TToo-fc irpo^i^d'i 13, 18, 7rpoa€l3/]a6To 2, 48. 14, 292, KarelS/jaeTo 13, 17, aire^i^aero 2, 35 ; and in the Edda gcnfjr, Sa^m. 9% gek 100% gengo 70'' 71^ gengengo 1^ 5% or else /or SP 31^^ 53^ 75% this fara meaning no more than ire, proficisci, and OSinn was even called Gangleri, S^em. 32. Sn. 24, i.e., the walker, traveller ; the AS. poets use geiocit (evasit, abiit) or sidode of God returning to heaven, Andr. 118. 225. 977. El. 94-5. But how enormously the walk of the gods differs from the common, we see in the instance of Poseidon, who goes an immense distance in three steps, II. 13, 20, or that of the Indian Vishnu, who in three paces traverses earth, air and sky. From such swiftness there follows next the sudden ajjpcarance and disappearance of the gods; for wliich our older speech seems to have used Goth, hvairban, OHG. Imerban, AS. hweorfan (verti, ferri, rotari) : ' hivcarf him to heofenum lullig dryhten ' says Credm. IG, 8 ; and ' OGinn livarf ];a,' vanished. Stem. 47. Homer employs, to express the same thing, either the verb ataaw (impetu feror), or the adverbs KapiraXifxco'i (as if ap7ra\ifxo)<; raptim) and Kpanrvco'i raptim. Thus Athene or Here comes al^aGa, Od. 1, 102. H. 2, 167. 4, 74. 19, 114. 22, 187 ; Thetis, the dream, Atliene, Here, all a[)pear KapTrdXi'p.co'i, H. 1, 359. 2, 17. 1G8. 5, 8G8. 19, 115. Od. 2, 40G ; Fuseidon and Here KpatTrvd, KpaLirvo)<^, II. 13, 18. 14. 292 ; even Zeus, when he rises from his throne to look on the earth, arrrj dvai^a<i 15, 6. So Holda and Berhta suddcnUj stand at the window (p. 274). IMuch in the same way I understand the expression used in Sa3m. 53''^ of Thorr and Tyr : foro driugom (ibant tractim, raptim, eXfcrjSov), for driugr is from driuga, Goth, driugan trahere, whence also Goth, drauhts, OHG. truht turba, agmen, ON. drangr larva, phantasma, OHG. gitroc fallacia, because a spectre appears and vanishes quickly in the air. At the same time it means the rush and din

326 CONDITION OF GODS.

that betoken the god's approach, the woma and omi above, from which OSinn took a name (p. 144-5). The rapid movement of descending gods is sometimes likened to a shooting star, or the flight of birds, II. 4, 75. 15, 93. 237 ; hence they often take even the form of some bird, as Tharapila the Osilian god flew (p. 77). Athene flies away in the shape of a apirr] (falcon ?), II. 19, 350, an 6pvi<; bird, Od. 1, 320, or a ^/pr] osprey, 3, 372 ; as a swallow she perches (e^er' avat^acra) on the house's fiekaOpov 22, 239. The exchange of the human form for that of a bird, when the gods are departing and no longer need to conceal their wondrous being, tallies exactly with OSin's taking his flight as a falcon, after he had in the shape of Gestr conversed and quarrelled with Hei'Sreckr: viSbrast i vols liki, Fornald. sog. 1, 487 ; but it is also retained in many stories of the devil, who assumes at departure the body of a raven or a fly (exit tanquam corvus, egressus est in muscae similitudine). At other times, and this is the prettier touch of the two, the gods allow the man to whom they have appeared as his equals, suddenly as they are going, to become aware of their divine proportions : heel, calf, neck or shoulder betrays the god. When Poseidon leaves the two Ajaxes, one of them says, II. 13, 71 : i-Xyca yap fieroTriade ttoBwv i]Be Kvrjfiawv peV ejvcov air i6 vt o<; • dpiyvcoToi, Se deoi irep. So, when Venus leaves Aeneas, Virg. 1, 402 :

Dixit, et avcrtens rosea cervice refulsit et vera incessu patuit dea. Ille ubi matrem agnovit, ta\i fugientem est voce secutus. So, II. 3, 396, Alexander recognises the

6ed<; irepiKaWea ceipi]v, arrjOed 6^ ifiepoevTa koI ofi/xaTa /xap/xaipovra. And in ON. legend, Hallbiurn on awaking sees the shoulder of a figure in his dream before it vanishes : }?ykist sia a herSar honum, Fornald. sog. 3, 103 ; as is likewise said in Olaf the saint's sagr cap. 199. ed. Holm., while the Fornm. sog. 5, 38 has it: sia svi, mannsins er a brutt gekk ; conf. os humerosque deo similis, Aen. 1 589. This also lingers in our devil-stories: at the Evil one's departure his cloven hoof suddenly becomes visible, the 'L-xyia of the ancient god.

As the incessus of Venus declared the goddess, the motion (Jd/jLo) of Here and Athene is likened to that of timorous doves, II. 5, 778,

FLIGHT. VEHICLES. HORSES. 327

But the gliding of the gods over such immense distances must have seemed from first to last like flying, especially as their departure was expressly prepared for by the assumption of a bird's form. It is therefore easy to comprehend why two several deities, Hermes and Athene, are provided witli peculiar sandals {jreZiXa), wliose motive power conveys them over sea and land with the speed of wind, II. 24, 341. Od. 1, 97. 5, 45 ; we are expressly told that Hermes flew with them {irerero, II. 24, 345. Od. 5, 49) ; plastic art represents them as winged shoes, and at a later time adds a pair of wings to the head of Hermes.^ These winged sandals then have a perfect right to be placed side by side with the feather- shift (fiaSrhamr) which Freyja possessed, and which at Thor's request she lent to Loki for his flight to lotunheim, Sa^m. 70=^'^ ; but as Freyja is more than once confounded with Frigg (p. 302), other legends tell us that Loki flew off in the ' valsham Friggjar,' Sn. 113. I shall come back to these falcon or swan coats in another connexion, but their resemblance to the Greek pedila is unmistakable; as Loki is here sent as a messenger from tlie gods to the giants, he is so far one with Hermes, and Freyja's feather-shift suG;£rests the sandals of Athene, Sn. 132-7: 'Loki §,tti shijba, er hann rann d lopt oh log' had shoes in which he ran through air and fire. It was an easy matter, in a myth, for the investiture with winged hamr or sandals to glide insensibly into an actual assumption of a bird's form : GeirroSr catches the flying Loki as a veritable bird, Sn. 113, and when Athene starts to fly, she is a swallow (see Suppl.).

The mighty gods would doubtless have moved whithersoever it pleased them, without wings or sandals, but simple antiquity was not content with even these : the human race used carriages and horses, and the gods cannot do without them either. On this point a sensible difference is to be found between the Greek and German mythologies.

All the higher divinities of the Greeks have a chariot and pair ascribed to them, as their kings and heroes in battle also fight in chariots. An 6xni^(^ for the god of thunder would at once be suggested by the natural phenomenon itself ; and the conception of the sun-chariot driven by Helios must also be very ancient. Tlie

' 0. Miiller's archaeol. 559.

328 CONDITION OF GODS.

car of Here, and how she harnesses her steeds to it, mounts it in company with Athene, and guides it, is gorgeously depicted in II. 5, 720-76 ; so likewise Demeter and Kora appear seated in a carriage. Hermes is drawn by rams,^ as the Norse Thorr [by he- goats]. The Okeanides too have their vehicle, Aesch, Prom. 135. But never are Zeus, Apollo, Hermes or any of the most ancient gods imagined riding on horseback ; it is Dionysos, belonging to a different order of deities, that first rides a panther, as Silenus does the ass, and godlike heroes such as Perseus, Theseus, and above all, the Dioscuri are mounted on horses. Okeanos bestrides a winged steed, Prom. 395. It seems worth remarking, that modern Greek legend represents even Charon as mounted.

In Teutonic mythology the riding of gods is a far commoner thing. In the Merseburg poem both Wuotan and Phol ride in the forest, which is not at all inconsistent with the word used, ' faran ' ; for it is neither conceivable that Wuotan drove while Balder rode, nor that Balder drove a one-horse carriage. Even Hartmann von Aue still imagines God riding a horse, and contented with Euit for his groom (p. 18). Among those that ride in the Edda are OSinn (who saddles his Sleipnir for himself, Sa^m. 93''), Baldr and HermoSr ; in Sfem. 44=^ and Sn. 18 are given the names of ten other horses as well, on which the Ases daily ride to council, one of them being Heimdall's Gulltoppr, Sn. 30. 66 ; the owners of the rest are not specified, but, as there were twelve Ases and only eleven horses are named, it follows that each of those gods had his mount, except Thorr, who is invariably introduced either driving or walking (p. 167), and when he gets Gullfaxi as spoil from Hrungnir, gives him away to his son Magni, Sn. 110. OSin's horse leaps a hedge seven ells high, Eornm. sog. 10, 56. 175. Even tlie women of the gods are mounted : the valkyrs, like O'Sinn, ride through air and water, Sn. 107, Ereyja and Hyndla on a boar and a wolf, as enchantresses and witches are imagined riding a wolf, a he-goat or a cat. Night (fem.) had a steed Hrimfaxi, rimy-mane, as Day (masc.) had Skinfaxi, shiny-mane.

At the same time carriages are mentioned too, especially for goddesses (p. 107). The sacred car of Nerthus was drawn by cows, that of Ereyja by cats, Holda and Berhta are commonly found driving waggons which they get mended, the fairies in our nursery-

1 0. MuUer's archosol. 563.

VEHICLES. iionsES. 329

tales travel tlirougli the air in coaclies, and Brynliiklr drives in her ■wa<T"on to the nether world, Sicm. 227. The imafre of a Gothic deity in a waggon was alluded to on p. 107 ; among the gods, Freyr is expressly described as mounted on his car, while Thorr has a waggon drawn by he-goats : on Woden's waggon, conf. p. 151 (see SuppL).

When we consider, that waggons were proper to the oldest kings also, especially the Frankish kings, and that their riding on horseback is nowhere mentioned ; it seems probable that originally a similar equipage was alone deemed suitable to the gods, and their riding crept in only gradually in the coarser representations of later times. From heroes it was transferred to gods, though this must have been done pretty early too, as we may venture to allow a considerable antiquity to the story of Sleipnir and that of l)alder's horse or foal. The Slavs also generally furnished their god Svantovit with a horse to ride on.

Some few divinities made use of a ship, as may be seen by the stories of Athene's ship and that of Isis, and Frey's SkiSblaSnir, the best of all ships. Stem. 45^

But whichever way the gods might move, on earth, through air or in water, their walk and tread, their riding and driving is represented as so vehement, that it produces a loud noise, and the din of the elements is explained by it. The driving of Zeus or Thorr awakens thunder in the clouds ; mountains and forests tremble beneath Poseidon's tread, II. 13, 18 ; when Apollo lets himself down from the heights of Olympus, arrows and bow clatter (eKXay^av) on his shoulder 1, 44, Betvr) Se KXajyr] yiver'' dpyupeoio ^Lolo, dreadful was the twang of his silver bow 1, 49. In the lays of the Edda this stirring up of nature is described in exactly the same way, while the AS. and OHG. writings, owing to the earlier extinction of heathen notions, have preserved no traces of it : ' framm reiS OSinn, foldvegr dundi,' forth rode 0., earth's \vay thundered, Sa^m. 94^ ; ' biorg brotnoSo, brann iorS loga, ok OSins sonr i lotunheima,' mountains crumbled, earth blazed, when rode, &c, 73=" ; ' flo Loki, fiaSrhamr dundi,' the wing-coat whirred, 70=* 71=" ; * iorS bifaz (quaked), enn aUir for scialfa garSar Gymis ' when Skirnir came riding 83\ The rage and writhing of gods who were bound produced equally tremendous effects (p. 24G).

330 CONDITION OF GODS.

On the other hand, delightful and salutary products of nature are also traced to the mimediate influence of the gods. Flowers spring up where their feet have strayed ; on the spot where Zeus clasped Here in his arms, shot up a thick growth of sweet herbs and flowers, and glittering dewdrops trickled down, II. 14, 346 — 51. So, when the valkyrs rode through the air, their horses' manes shook fruitful dew on the deep vales below, Seem. 145'' ; or it falls nightly from the bit of Hrimfaxi's bridle 32^ (see SuppL).

Of one thing there is scarcely a trace in our mythology, thougli it occurs so often in the Greek : that the gods, to screen themselves from sight, shed a mist round themselves or their favourites who are to be withdrawn from the enemy's eye, II. 3, 381. 5, 776. 18, 205. 21, 549. 597. It is called rjept, KaXxrmeiv, rjepa xeti', a-)(.vv or ve(^o<i (T-ecpecv, and the contrary a^Xw a-Kehd^etv to scatter, chase away, the mist. We might indeed take this into account, that the same valkyrs who, like the Servian vily, favour and shield their beloved heroes in battle, were able to produce clouds and hail in the air ; or throw into the reckoning our tarnkappes and helidhelms, whose effect was the same as that of the mist. And the Norse gods do take part with or against certain heroes, as much as the Greek gods before Ilion. In the battle of Bravik, OSinn mingled with the combatants, and assumed the figure of a charioteer Bruni ; Saxo Gram., p. 146. Fornald. sog. 1, 380. The Grimnismal makes GeirroSr the protege (fostri) of OSinn, Agnarr that of Frigg, and the two deities take counsel together concerning them, Saem. 39 ; in the Vols, saga cap. 42, OSinn suggests the plan for slaying the sons of lonakr. The Greek gods also, when they drew nigh to counsel or defend, appeared in the form of a human warrior, a herald, an old man, or they made themselves known to their hero himself, but not to others. In such a case they stand before, heside or behind him {Trapd, II. 2, 279. eyyvdi, Od. 1, 120. dyxoO, II. 2, 172. 3, 129. 4, 92. 5, 123. irpoaeev 4, 129. oindev 1, 197) ; Athene leads by the hand through the battle, and wards the arrows off 4, 52 ; she throws the dreadful £egis round Achilles 18, 204 ; Aphrodite shields Aeneas by holding her veil before him 5, 315; and other heroes are removed from the midst of the fray by protecting deities (p. 320). Venus makes herself visible to Hippomenes alone, Ovid Met. 10, 650. Now they appear in friendly guise, Od. 7, 201

SLEEP. SICKNESS. LAUGHTER. 331

seq. ; now clothed in terror : ■)(a\e7rol Be deol ^aiveadat ivapyeK,

II. 20, 131 (see SuppL).

The Iliad, 14, 28G seq., relates ho\v"T7r^o<? (sleep), sitting in the shape of a song-bird on the boughs of a fir-tree on Mt. Ida, over- powers the highest of all the gods ; other passages show that the gods went to their beds every night, and partook like men of the benefit of sleep, II. 1, 609. 2, 2. 24, G77. Still less can it be doubted of the Norse gods, that they too slept at night : Thorr on his journeys looks out for night-lodging, Sn. 50 ; of Heimdall alone is it said, that he needs less sleep than a bird, Sn. 30. And from this sway of sleep over the gods follows again, what was maintained above, that of death : Death is the brother of Sleep. Besides, the gods fell a prey to diseases. Freyr was sick with love, and his great hugsott (mind-sickness) awakened the pity of all the gods. OSinn, NiorSr and Freyr, according to the Yngl. saga 10. 11. 12, all sink under sicknesses (sottdauSir). Aphrodite and Ares receive wounds, II. 5, 330. 858 ; these are quickly healed [yet not without medical aid]. A curious story tells how the Lord God, having fallen sick, descends from heaven to earth to get cured, and comes to Arras ; there minstrels and merryandrews receive commands to amuse him, and one manages so cleverly, that the Lord bursts out laughing and finds himself rid of his distemper.^ Tliis may be very ancient ; for in the same way, sick daughters of kings in nursery- talcs are made to laugh by beggars and fiddlers, and so is the goddess SkaSi in the Edda by Loki's juggling tricks, when mourning the death of her father, Sn. 82. lambe cheered the sorrowing Demeter, and caused her, ttoWcL irapaaKOiTnovaa, fieiSfjaac jeXdaai re, Koi XXaov (ryelv dvfMov, Hymn, in Cer. 203 (see Suppl.).

Important above all are the similar accounts, given by Greek antiquity and by our own, of the language of the gods. Thus, passages in the Iliad and the Odyssey distinguish between the divine and liuman names for the same object :

ov BpLupeoiv KokeovcTL deol, dvSpe<; Se re Traz^re?

Acyalcou. II. 1, 403.

rrjp ^Tot avSpe<i Bariecav KLK\rj(jKovaLv,

^ De la veiine de Dieu i Arras, in Jubinal's Nouveaii recueil de contcs 2, 377-8.

332 CONDITION OF GODS.

aOdvajot Si re arjfjia 7ro\v(7Kup9/jLOio Mupu'7]<;. 2, 813. ^aX/ci'Sa KiK\y](TKOvai, 6eoi, civhpe^ he ku/jllvSlv. 14, 291. OP aavOov KoXeovai deoi, ciphpe<i Se ^Kci/jiavSpov. 20, 74.^ fjLoiKv Se /.itv Kokiovcrc OeoL Ocl. 10, 305. A whole song in the Edda is taken up with comparing the languages, not only of gods and men, but of Vanir, elves, dwarfs, giants and subterraneans, and that not in a few proper names and rare words, but in a whole string of names for the commonest objects. At the very outset it surprises us, that while goS and ffisir are treated as synonymous, a distinction is drawn between goS and giuregin. In 13 strophes are given 78 terms in all: on examining these, it soon appears that the variety of names (six) for each thing simply comes of the richness of the Teutonic tongue, and cannot possibly be ascribed to old remnants or later borrowings from any Finnic, Celtic or Slavic languages. They are synonyms or poetic names, which are distributed among six or eight orders of beings endowed with speech, according to the exigencies of alliteration, not from their belonging to the same class, such as poetical or prose. I will illustrate this by quoting the strophe on the names for a cloud : scy heitir meS monnom, en scl),rvdn meS goSom, kalla vindfiot Vanir, llrvdn iotnar, alfar ve&rmcgin, kalla i heljo liidhn huliz. Everything here is Teutonic, and still the resources of our language are not exhausted by a long way, to say nothing of what it may have borrowed from others. The only simple word is sky, still used in the Scandinavian dialects, and connected with skuggi umbra, AS. scuwa, scua, OHG. scuwo. The rest are all appropriate and intelligible periphrases. Scurvan [shower-weening] pluviae expec- tatio, from skur imber, Germ, schauer ; urvan just the same, from ur pluvia, with which compare the literal meaning of Sanskr. abhra nubes, viz. aquam gerens.^ Vindfiot is apparently navigium venti, because the winds sail through the air on clouds. VeSrmegin transposed is exactly the OIlGr. maganwetar turbo ; and hifdmr

1 Perhaps we ouglit also to reckon aleros and jrepKvos 24, 316, which is no mere eV/KXr/o-is: as in 't, 138. 18, 487 (Od. 5, 273). 22, 29. 506, though 'Aarvdva^ in this last passage happens to have 2Kafidv8pios (6, 402) answering to it, as 3dv6os has ^Kanaudpos.

" Bopp, gloss, sanskr. 16=^ 209*.

LANGUAGE. 333

Iiuliz appears elsewhere as luilizhialmr, OS. lielith-lielm, a tavn- lielmet, grima, mask, which \Taps one in like a mist or cloud. Of course the Teutonic tongue could offer several other Avords to stand for cloud, beside those six ; e.g., nifl, OHG. nelial, Lat. nebula. Or. ve(f)e\r] ; Goth, niilhrna, Swed. moln, Dan. mulm ; Sansk. megha, Gr. 6^i-)(.r}, 6/jli)(.7], Slav, mogla ; OHG. wolchan, AS. wolcen, wliich is to Slav, oblako as miluk, milk, to Slav, mleko ; OX. ]?oka nebula, Dan. taage ; M.Dut. swerk nubes, OS. gisuerc, caligo, nimbus ; AS. hoSma nubes, Beow. 4911. And so it is with the other twelve objects whose names are discussed in the Alvisnial. Where simple words, like sol and sunna, mani and skin, or iord and fold, are named together, one might attempt to refer them to different dialects : the periphrases in themselves show no reason (unless mythology found one for them), why they should be assigned in particular to gods or men, giants or dwarfs. The whole poem brings before us an acceptable list of pretty synonyms, but throws no light on the primitive affinities of our language.

I'lato in the Cratylus tries hard to understand that division of Greek words into divine and human. A duality of proper names, like Briareos and Aigaion, reminds us of the double forms Hler and Oegir (p. 240), Ymir and Oergelmir, which last Sn. 6 attributes to the Hrinijnirses ; ISunn would seem by Saam. 89'*' to be an Elvish word, but we do not hear of any other name for the goddess. In the same way Xanthus and Skamander, Batieia and IMyrina might be the different names of a thing in different dialects. More interesting are the doulile names for two birds, the 'xjaXid'^ or KVfiLvBi<; (conf. Plin. 10, 10), and the alero^ and irepKvo^. Xa\Ki<i is supposed to signify some bird of prey, a hawk or owl, which does not answer to the description 6pvi,<; \iyvpd (piping), and the myth requires a bird that in sweet and silvery tones sings one to sleep, like the nightingale. ITep/ci'o? means dark-coloured, which suits the eagle ; to imagine it the bird of the thundergod Perkun, would be too daring. Poetic periphrases there are none among these Greek words.

The principal point seems to be, that the popular beliefs of Greeks and Teutons agree in tracing obscure words and those departing from common usage to a distinction between divine and human speech. The Greek scholiasts suppose that the poet, holding converse with the Muses, is initiated into the language of

334 CONDITION OF GODS.

gods,^ and wliere he finds a twofold nomenclature, he ascribes the older, nobler, more euphonious (to Kpeirrov, ev‹f›cDvov, Trpoyevia-- repov ouofia) to the gods, the later and meaner (to ekarTov, /xera- yeularepov) to men. But tlie four or five instances in Homer are even less instructive than the more numerous ones of the Norse lay. Evidently the opinion was firmly held, that the gods, though of one and the same race with mortals, so far surpassed living men in age and dignity, that they still made use of words which had latterly died out or suffered change. As the line of a king's ancestors was traced up to a divine stock, so the language of gods was held to be of the same kind as that of men, but riglit feeling would assign to the former such words as had gradually disappeared among men. The Alvismal, as we have seen, goes farther, and reserves particular words for yet other beings beside the gods ; what I maintained on p. 218 about the impossibility of denying the Yanir a Teutonic origin, is confirmed by our present inquiry. — That any other nation, beside Greeks and Teutons, believed in a separate language of gods, is unknown to me, and the agreement of these two is the more significant. When Ovid in Met. 11, 640 says : Hunc Icelon supcri, mortale Phobetora vulgus nominat, this is imitated from the Greeks, as the very names" show (see Suppl.). The Indians trace nothing but their alphabet , (devanagari, deva- writing), as our forefathers did the mystery of runes (p. 149), to a divine origin, and the use of the symbol may be connected with that of the sound itself; with the earliest signs, why should not the purest and oldest expressions too be attributed to gods ? Homer's e-nea •mepoevra (winged words) belong to heroes and other men as well as to gods, else we might interpret them strictly of the ease and nimbleness with which the gods wield the gift of speeck

Beside language, the gods have customs in common with men. They love song and play, take delight in hunting, war and banquets, and the goddesses in ploughing, weaving, spinning ; both of them keep servants and messengers. Zeus causes all the other gods to be summoned to the assembly [dyopi], II. 8, 2. 20, 4), just as the Ases

^ cos fiov(TOTpa(f)ris Koi ras irapa 6eois fTri(TTaTai Xf'^fiy, otSf rfjv rcov oeStv btaXeKTOv, olSf ra tcop Bewv {ovofxara), ‹i›s inro (xovcraiv KaraTrvfofifvos. vtktov 6 iroirjTfjs fiei^ai on ^ovcrdXT/TTToy tariv, oii fiovov ra Toav dvOpuTrwv ovofiara iTray- yiXkeTai tlSivai, dXX* wcrTrep koi ol 6eoi Xtyovai,

GRADES. OFFICES. 335

attend at the J?ing (Soera. 93^), on the rokstola, and by the Yggdra- sill (Sxm. 1^ 2^ 44"*), to counsel and to judge. Hehe, youth, is cupbearer of the gods and handmaid to Here (II. 5, 722), as FuUa is to Frigg (Sn. 36) ; the youth Ganymede is cupbearer too, and so is Beyla at the feast of the Ases (Stem. 67^^); Skirnir is Frey's shoemaker (81) and messenger, Beyggvir and Beyla are also called liis servants (59). These services do no detriment to their own divine nature. Beside Hermes, the goddess Iris goes on errands for the Greek gods (see Suppl.).

Among the gods themselves there is a difference of rani: Three sons of Kronos have the world divided among them, the sky is allotted to Zeus, the sea to Poseidon, hell to Hades, and the earth they are supposed to share between them (H. 15, 193). These three tower above all the rest, like Har, lafnhar and ThriSi in tlie Norse religion, the triad spoken of on p. 162. This is not the same thing as ' Wuotan, Donar, Ziu,' if only because the last two are not brothers but sons of "VVuotan, although these pass for the three mightiest gods. Then, together with this triad, we become aware of a circle of twelve (p. 26), a close circle from which some of the gods are excluded. Another division, that into old and neiv gods, does not by any means coincide with this : not only OSinn and his Ases, but also Zeus and his colleagues, appear as upstarts^ to have supplanted older gods of nature (see Suppl.).

All the divinities, Greek and Norse, have offices and function assigned them, which define their dominion, and have had a marked influence on tlieir pictorial representation. In Sn. 27 — 29 these offices are specified, each with the words : ' hann ra-Sr fyrir (he looks after),' or ' a hann skal heita til, er gott at heita til (to him you shall i)ray for, it is good to pray for) '. Now, as any remnants of Greek or Teutonic paganism in the ]\Iid. Ages were sure to connect themselves with some christian saints, to whom the protection of certain classes or the healing of certain diseases was carried over, it is evident that a careful classification of these guardian saints according to the offices assigned them, on the strengtli of which they are good to pray to,^ would be of advan- tage to our antiquities. And the animals dedicated to each

^ Aesch. Prom. 439 Bto'icri to'h veois, 955 vtov vloi Kpare'trf, 9G0 rovs viovs Giovs. Eumen. 156. 748. 799 ol vtwrepoi 6eoL Conf. Otlr. Muller,n). 181. '■' Conf. Haupt's zeitschr. fiir d. alt. 1, 143-4.

336 CONDITION OF GODS.

deified saint (as once tliey were to gods) would liave to be sjDecified too.

The favourite residence of each god is particularly pointed out in the Grtmuismal ; mountains especially were consecrated to the Teutonic, as to the Greek deities : Sigt^sberg, Himinbiorg, &c. Olympus was peculiarly the house of Zeus (zJio? Sw/ia), to which the other gods assembled (II. 1, 494) ; on the highest peak of the range he would sit apart {ccrep aXkwv 1, 498. 5, 753), loving to take counsel alone (aTrdvevOe Oedv 8, 10). He had another seat on Ida (11, 183. 336), whence he looked down to survey the doings of men, as 05inn did from HliSscialf. Poseidon sat on a height in the wooded range of Samos (13, 12). Valholl and Bilskirnir, the dwellings of Oijinn and Thorr, are renowned for their enormous size ; the one is said to have 540 doors, through any one of which 800 einheriar can go out at once, and Bilskirnir has likewise 540 ' golfe ' [ON. golfr, floor] (see Suppl.).

If now we take in one view the relations of gods and men, we find they meet and touch at all points. As the created being is filled with a childlike sense of its dependence on the creator, and prayers and offerings implore his favour, so deity too delights in its creations, and takes in them a fatherly interest. Man's longing goes forth towards heaven ; the gods fix their gaze on the earth, to watch and direct the doings of mortals. The blessed gods do commune with each other in their heavenly abodes, where feasts and revels go on as in earthly fashion ; but they are more drawn to men, whose destinies enlist their liveliest sympathy. It is not true, what Mart. Cap. says 2, 9 : ipsi dicuntur dii, et caelites alias perhibentur . . . nee admodum eos mortalium curarum vota sollicitant, airaOehciwe perhibentur. Not content with making their will known by signs and messengers, they resolve to come down themselves and appear to men. Such appearance is in the Hindu mythology marked by a special name : avatdra, i.e., de-

scensus

Under this head come first the solemn car-proecssions of deities heralding peace and fruitfulness or war and mischief, which for the most part recur at stated seasons, and are associated with popular festivals ; on the fall of heathenism, only motherly wise-women

^ Eopp's gloss, sansk. 21^.

DWELLINGS. INCARNATION. 337

still go their rounds, and heroes ride through field or air. More rarely, and not at regular intervals, there take place journeys of gods through the world, singly or in twos or threes, to inspect the race of man, and punish the crimes they have noticed. Thus Mercury and OSinn appeared on earth, or Heimdall to found the three orders, and Thorr visited at weddings ; OSinn, Hoenir and Loki travelled in company ; medieval legend makes God the Father seek a lodging, or the Saviour and St. Peter, or merely three angels (as the Servian song does, Vuk 4, no. 3). Most frequent however are the solitary a^ipearanccs of gods, who, invoked or uninvoked, suddenly bring succour to their favoured ones in every time of need ; the Greek epos is quite full of this. Athene, Poseidon, Ares, Aphrodite mingle with the warriors, warning, advising, covering ; and just as often do jNIary and saints from heaven appear in christian legends. The Lithuanian Perkunos also walks on earth (see Suppl.).

But when they descend, they are not always visible ; you may hear the car of the god rush by, and not get sight of him bodily ; like ghosts the blessed gods flit past the human eye unnoticed, till the obstructive mist be removed from it. Athene seizes Achilles by the hair, only by him and no other is she seen, II, 1, 197 ; to make the succouring deities visible to Diomed, she has ' taken the mist from his eyes, that was on them before ' 5, 127 :

a')(kvv S' av rot cm oc^daXfioov eXov, fj irplv eTrijev, 6(f>p'' ev 'yi'yvoiaKrj'i ijfxep 6eov rjhe koI avSpa.

Just so Biarco, in Saxo Gram., p. 37, is unable to spy Othin riding a white steed and aiding the Swedes, till he peeps through the ring formed by the arm of a spirit- seeing woman: a medium that elsewhere makes the elfin race visible to the bleared eyes of man. In another way the gods, even when they showed themselves bodily, concealed their divine nature, by assuming the form of a human acquaintance, or of an animal. Poseidon stept into the host, disguised as Kalchas, II. 13, 45, Hermes escorted Priam as a Myrmidon warrior 24, 397, and Athene the young Telemachus as Mentor, In the same way Othin appeared as the chariot-driver Bruno (p. 330), or as a one-eyed old man. Metamorphoses of gods into animals in Teutonic mythology take place only for a definite momentary purpose, to which the character of the animal supplies the key ; e.g., O'iSinn takes the shape of a snake, to slip throu£,di a

22

338 CONDITION OF GODS.

hole lie has bored (Sn. 86), and of an eagle, to fly away in haste (86), Loki that of a fly, in order to sting (131), or to creep through a keyhole (356) ; no larger designs are ever compassed by such means. So, when Athene flies away as a bird, it expresses the divinity of her nature and the suddenness of her departure. But the swan or bvill, into which Zeus transformed himself, can only be explained on the supposition that Leda too, and lo and Europa, whom he was woomg, were thought of as swan-maidens or kine. The form of animal would then be determined by the mythus, and the egg-birth of the Dioscuri can be best understood in this way (see Suppl.).

In the Asiatic legends, it seems to me, the manifestations of deity are conceived deeply and purely in comparison, and nowhere more profoundly than in those of India. The god comes down and abides in the flesh for a season, for the salvation of mankind. Wherever the doctrine of metempsychosis prevailed, the bodies of animals even were eligible for the avatara ; and of Vishnu's ten successive incarnations, the earlier ones are animal, it was in the later ones that he truly ' became man ' (see Suppl.). The Greek and Teutonic mythologies steer clear of all such notions ; in both of them the story of the gods was too sensuously conceived to have invested their transformations with the seriousness and duration of an avatara, although a belief in such incarnation is in itself so nearly akin to that of the heroes being bodily descended from the gods.

I think that on all these lines of research, which could be extended to many other points as well, I have brought forward a series of undeniable resemblances between the Teutonic mythology and the Greek. Here, as in the relation between the Greek and Teutonic languages, there is no question of borrowing or choice, nothing but unconscious affinity, allowing room (and that inevit- ably) for considerable divergences. But who can fail to recognise, or who invalidate, the surprising similarity of opinions on the immortality of gods, their divine food, their growing up overnight, their journeyings and transformations, their epithets, their anger and their mirth, their suddenness in appearing and recognition at parting, their use of carriages and horses, their performance of all natural functions, their illnesses, their language, their servants and

CONDITION OF GODS. 339

messengers, offices and dwellings ? To conclude, I think I see a further analogy in the circumstance, that out of the names of living gods, as Tyr, Freyr, Baldr, Bragi, Zeus, grew up the common nouns tyr, frauja, baldor, bragi, deus, or they bordered close upon them (see SuppL).

N

CHAPTEE XT. HEEOES.

Between God and man there is a step on whicli the one leads into the other, where we see the Divine Being brought nearer to things of earth, and human strength glorified. The older the epos, the more does it require gods visible in the flesh ; even the younger cannot do without heroes, in whom a divine spark still burns, or who come to be partakere of it.

Heroism must not be made to consist in anything but battle and victory : a hero is a man that in fighting against evil achieves immortal deeds, and attains divine honours. As in the gradation of ranks the noble stands between the king and the freeman, so does the hero between God and man. From nobles come forth kings, from heroes gods, r^pw? earlv ef uvOpwirov rt kol deov a-vvOerov, o fxr)Tid dvOpcoTro'i earl, iii^re 6eo<i, Koi avvaix^orepov earl (Lucian in Dial, mortuor. 3), yet so that the human predominates : ' ita tamen ut plus ab liomine habeat,' says Servius on Aen. 1, 200. The hero succumbs to pains, wounds, death, from which even the gods, according to the view of antiquity, were not exempt (p. 318). In the hero, man attains the half of deity, becomes a demigod, semideus : rj fi t6 eo) v yeva avSpcov, II. 12, 23 ; avhpwv i)pu)(Dv delov 7ew9, dl KoXkoviai rjfjblOeoi, Hes. €py. 159. Jornandes applies semidei to the anses (supra p. 25), as Saxo Gram, pronounces Balder a semidcum, arcano superum semine procreatum. Otherwise in OJSr. writings we meet with neither halfgoS nor halfas ;^ but N. Cap. 141 renders hemithei heroesque by ' halhkota unde erdkota (earthgods) '.

Heroes are distinct from daemonic beings, such as angels, elves, giants, who fill indeed the gap between God and man, but have not a human origin. Under paganism, messengers of the gods were

1 Hiklftroll, halfrisi are similar, and the OHG. halpdurinc, halpwalah, halpteni (ON. halfdan) as opposed to altdurinc, altwalah.

HEROES. 341

gods themselves ;'• the Jiulco-christiaii angel is a docmon. Eather may the hero be compared to the christian saint, who througli spiritual strife and sorrow earns a place in heaven (see SuppL).

This human nature of heroes is implied in nearly all the titles given to them. For tlie definite notion of a divine glorified hero, the Latin language has borrowed hcros from the Greek, though its own vir (=Goth. vair ON", ver,^ AS. OHG. wer, Lett, wihrs, Lith. wyras) in the sense of vir fortis (Tac. Germ. 3) so nearly conies up to the Sanskr. vira heros. Heros, ■>/p&)?, which originally means a mere fighter, has been identified with rather too many things: hcrus, "Hpr], 'HpaKXrj<i, even "Apr]<; and dpert) = virtus, so that the Goth, dims, OX. ar, ari— nuntius, minister, might come in too, or the supposed digamma make a connexion with the aforesaid vira look plausible. More undeniably, our held is a prolongation^ of tlie simple ON", hair, AS. hajle vir : the name Halidegastes (like Leudogastes) is found so early as in Vopiscus ; and a Goth, halips, OHG. halid, helid may be safely inferred from the proper names Helidperaht, Helidcrim, Helidgund, Helidniu, Helidberga,'* though it is only from the 12th century that our memorials furnish an actual hdit pi. helide ; the IMHG. helet, belt, pi. helde, occurs often enough. Of the AS. hxled' I remark that it makes its pi. both hffileSas and heeleS {e.g., Beow. 103), the latter archaic like the Goth. men6}?s, whence we may infer that the Gothic also had a pi. ]iaH];s, and OHG. a pi. helid as well as helida, and this is confirmed by a MHG. pi. held, Wh. 44, 20. In OS. I find only the pi. helidos, helithos ; in the Heliand, helithcunni, helithocunni mean simply genus humanum. i\LDut. has helet pi. helde. The ON. lioldr pi. holdar (Spem. 114^ 115^ Sn. 171) implies an older holuSr (like manuSr = Goth. men6|?s) ; it appears to mean nothing but miles, vir, and holdborit (hold-born) in the first passage to be sometliing lower than hersborit, the holdar being free peasants, buendr. The Dan. Kelt, Swed. hjclte (OSwed. halad) show an anomalous t instead of d, and are perhaps to be traced to the

1 At most, we might feel some doubt about SIcirnir, Frey's messenger and servant ; but he seems more a bright angel than a hero.

• With tliis we shoukl have to identify even the veorr used of Thorr (p.

187. in so far as it stoxl for viorr.

3 Fortbildung : thus staff, stack, stall, stem, stare, &c. may be called prolongations of the root sta.— Trans.

• In earlv docs, the town of Heldburg in Tliuringia is already called Helidiberga, MB. 28^ 33.

342 HEROES.

German rather than the ON. form. If we prefer to see both in hair and in halijjs the verb haljan occulere, defendere, tueri, the transition from tutor to vir and miles is easily made ; even the Lat. celer is not far from celo to conceal.

Beside this principal term, the defining of which was not to be avoided here, there are several others to be considered. Notker, who singularly avoids heleda, supplies us in Cap. 141 with : ' heroes, taz chit, hertinga aide chueniga '. This hcrtinga suggests the AS. heardingas, Elene 25. 130, whether it be a particular line, or heroes in general that are meant by it ; and we might put up with the derivation from herti, heard (hard), viri duri, fortes, exercitati, as hartunga in N. ps. 9, 1 means exercitatio. But as we actually find a Gothic line of heroes Azdingi, Astingi, and also an ON. of Haddingjar, and as the Goth, zd, ON. dd, AS. rd, OHG. rt corres- pond to one another, there is more to be said for the Gothic word having dropt an h in the course of transmission, and the forms hazdiggs, haddingr, bearding, hartinc being all one word.^ Now, if the ON. haddr means a lock of hair (conf. p. 309), we may find in haddingr, hazdiggs, &c. a meaning suitable enough for a freeman and hero, that of crinitus, capillatus, cincinnatus ; and it would be remarkable that the meaning heros should be still surviving in the tenth century. No less valuable to us is the other term chucnig, which can hardly be connected with chuning rex, as N. always spells it ; it seems rather to be = chuonig, derived either from chuoni audax, fortis (as fizusig from fizus callidus), or from its still unexplained root.^ Other terms with a meaning immediately bordering on that of hero are: OHG. degan (miles, minister); wigant (pugil) ; chamfio, chempho (pugil), AS. cempa, ON. kappi ; the ON. hetja (bellator), perhaps conn, with hatr odium, helium ; and slmti, better slia&i, AS. sceaSa, scaSa, properly nocivus, then prEedator, latro, and passing from this meaning, honourable in ancient times, into that of heros ; even in the Mid. Ages, Landscado, scather of the land, was a name borne by noble families. That heri (exercitus), Goth, harjis, also meant miles, is shown by OHG.

^ The polypt. Irminon 170^ has a proper name Ardingus standing for Hardingvis. . j ,, ,,

2 Graff 4, 447 places chuoni, as well as chunmc and chunni, under the all- devouring root chan ; but as kruoni, AS. grene viridis, comes from kruoan, AS. growan, so may chuoni, AS. cene, from a lost chuoan, AS. cowan pollere ? vigere ?

HEROES. 343

glosses, Grafif 4, 983, and by names of individual men compounded with heri; conf. ch. XXV, einheri. The OHG. ?tTc'cc7ao, hrecchio, reecho, had also in a peculiar way grown out of the sense of exsul, profugus, advena, which predominates in the AS. wrecca, OS. wrekio, into that of a hero fighting far from home, and the LIHG. reclce, ON. rechr is simply a hero in general.^ Similar develop- ments of meaning can doubtless be shown in many other words ; what we have to keep a firm hold of is, that the very simplest words for man (vir) and even for man (homo) adapted themselves to the notion of hero ; as our inann does now, so the ON. hah; the OHG. gotno (homo), ON. gu7}ii served to express the idea of lieros. In Diut. 2, 314^, heros is glossed by gomo, and gumnar in the Edda has the same force as skatnar (see Suppl.).

Now, what is the reason of this exaltation of human nature ? Always in the first instance, as far as I can see, a relation of bodily kinship between a god and the race of man. The heroes are epigoni of the gods, their line is descended from the gods : settir guma er fra goSom komo, Sa;m. 114^

Greek mythology affords an abundance of ];)roofs ; it is by virtue of all heroes being directly or indirectly produced by gods and goddesses in conjunction with man, that the oldest kingly families connect themselves with heaven. But evidently most of tliese mixed births proceed from Zeus, who places himself at the head of gods and men, and to whom all the glories of ancestors are traced. Thus, by Leda he had Castor and Pollux, who were called after him Dios-curi, Hercules by Alcmena, Perseus by Danae, Epaphusby lo, Pelasgus by Niobe, Minos and Sarpedon by Europa; other heroes touch him only through their forefathers : Agamemnon was the son of Atreus, he of Pelops, he of Tantalus, and he of Zeus ; Ajax was sprung from Telamon, he from Aeacus, he from Zeus and Aegina. Next to Zeus, the most heroes seem to proceed from Ares, Hermes and Poseidon : Meleager, Diomedes and Cycnus were sons of Ares, Autolycus and Cephalus of Hermes, while Theseus was a son of Aegeus, and Nestor of Neleus, but both Aegeus and Neleus

^ Some Slavic expressions for hero are woi-tliy of notice : Kuss. vUiar., Serv. vitez; Russ. boghatyr, Pol. bohater, Boh. bohatyr, not conn, either witli bogh deus, or boghat dives, but the same as the Pers. behddir, Turk, bahadyr, Mongol, baghdtor, Hung, bdtor, Manju butura, and derivable from h(dra lively, merry ; Schott in Erman's zeitschr. 4, 531 [Mongol, bayhd is force, fiia, aiid -tor, -tur an adj. sullix].

344 HEROES.

were Poseidon's children by Aethra and Tyro. Acliilles was the son of Peleus and Thetis, Aeneas of Anchises and Venus.^ These examples serve as a standard for the conditions of our own heroic legend (see Suppl.).

Tacitus, following ancient lays, places at the head of our race as its prime progenitor Tuisco, who is not a hero, but himself a god, as the author expressly names him ' denm terra editum '. Now, as Gaia of herself gave birth to Uranos and Pontes, that is to say, sky and sea sprang from the lap of earth, so Tuisco seems derivable from the word tiv, in which w^e found (pp. 193-4) tlie primary meaning to be sky ; and Tuisco, i.e., Tvisco, could easily spring out of the fuller form Tivisco [as Tuesday from Tiwesda^g]. Tvisco may either mean coelestis, or the actual offspring of another divine being Tiv, whom we afterwards find appearing among the gods : Tiv and Tivisco to a certain degree are and signify one thing. Tvisco then is in sense and station Uranos, but in name Zeus, whom the Greek myth makes proceed from Uranos not directly, but through Kronos, pretty much as our Tiv or Zio is made a son of Wuotan, wdiile another son Donar takes upon him the best part of the office that the Greeks assigned to Zeus. Donar too was son of Earth as well as of Wuotan, even as Gaia brought forth the great mountain-ranges (ovpea /xaKpd, Hes. theog. 129 = Goth, fairgunja mikila), and Donar himself was called mountain and fairguneis (pp. 169. 172), so that ovpav6<; sky stands connected w^ith ovpo<i 6po<i mountain, the idea of deus with that of ans (pp. 25. 188). Gaia, Tellus, Terra come round again in our goddesses Fiorgyn, lorS and Kindr (p. 251) ; so the names of gods and goddesses here cross one another, but in a similar direction.

This earth-born Tvisco's son was 3Tannus, and no name could sound more Teutonic, thougli Norse mythology has as little to say of him as of Tvisco (ON. Tyski ?). No doubt a deeper meaning once resided in the word ; by the addition of the suffix -isk, as in Tiv Tivisco, there arose out of mann a mannisko = homo, the

^ In the Eoman legend, Eomulus and Eemiis were connected tlirongh Silvia with Mars, and through Aniulius witli Venus ; and Eomulus was taken up to heaven. The later apotheosis of the omperors differs from the genuine heroic, almost as canonization does from primitive sainthood ; yet even Augustus, being deified, passed in legend for a son of Apollo, whom the god in the shape of a dragon had by Atia ; Sueton. Octav. 91.

iNGuio. 345

tliinking self-conscious being (see p. 59) ; both forms, tlie simple and the derived, have (like tiv and tivisko) the same import, and may be set by the side of the Sanskr. Manus and manushya. ]\Iannus liowever is the first hero, son of the god, and father of all men. Traditions of this forefather of the whole Teutonic race seem to have filtered down even to the latter end of the Mid. Ages : in a poem of meister Frauenlob (Ettm. p. 112), the same in which the mythical king Wippo is spoken of (see p. ;^00), we read :

Mcnnor der erste was genant, Mennor the first man was named dem diutische rede got tet to whom Dutch language God

bekant. made known.

This is not taken from Tacitus direct, as the proper name, though similar, is not the same (see Suppl.).

As all Teutons come of Tvisco and Mannus, so from the three (or by some accounts five) sons of Mannus are descended the three, five or seven main branches of the race. From the names of nations furnished by the Eomans may be inferred those of their patriarchal progenitors.

1. Inguio. Iscio. Irmino.

The threefold division of all the Germani into Ingaevones, Iscaevones and Herminones^ is based on the names of three heroes, Ingo, Isco, Hermino, each of whom admits of being fixed on yet surer authority.

T7ifj, or Ingo, Tnrjuio has kept his place longest in the memory of the Saxon and Scandinavian tribes. Eunic alphabets in OHG. spell Inc, in AS. Lig, and an echo of his legend seems still to ring in the Lay of Euncs :

Ing wyes arrest mid Eastdenum

gesewen secgum, oc5 he siSSan east

ofer wfieg gewat. wan aefter ran.

J?us Heardingas ];one hrole nemdon. Ing first dwelt with the East Danes (conf. Beow. 779. 1225. 1650), then he went eastward over the sca,^ his wain ran after. The wain

1 Pro.ximi oceano Ingaevones, medii Herniinones, ceteri Istaevones vocan- tur, Tac. Germ. 2.

^ Cajdm. 88, 8 says of the raven let out of Noah's ark : gewat ol'er wonue wa'g sigan.

345 HEROES.

is a distinctive mark of ancient gods, but also of heroes and kings ; its being specially put forward here in connexion with a sea- voyage, appears to indicate some feature of the legend that is unknown to us (see Suppl.). Ing's residence in the east is strikingly in harmony with a pedigree of the Ynglings given in the Islendingabok (Isl. sog. 1, 19). Here at the head of all stands ' Yngvi Tyrkja konungr,' immediately succeeded by divine beings, NiorSr, • Freyr, Fiolnir (a byname of OSinn), Svegdir, &c. In the same way OSinn was called Tyrkja konungr (Sn. ^68) from his residing at Byzantium (p. 163 note).^ The Ynglinga saga on the other hand begins the line with NiorSr, after whom come Freyr, Fiolnir and the rest; but of Freyr, whom the wain would have suited exactly, it is stated that he had another name Yngvi or Yngvifreyr (p. 211-2), and the whole race of Ynglingar were named after him.^ Ingingar or Ingvingar would be more exact, as is shown by the OHG. and AS. spelling, and confirmed by a host of very ancient names compounded with Ing or Ingo : Inguiomerus (Ingimarus, Ingumar, or with asp. Hincmarus), Inguram, Ingimund, Ingiburc, Inginolt, &c. Even Saxo Gram, writes Ingo, Ingimarus. As for Ynglingar, standing for Inglingar, it may be formed from the prolongation Ingil in Ingelwin, Ingelram, Ingelberga and the Norse Ingellus, unless it is a mere confusion of the word with ynglingr juvenis, OHG. jungilinc, AS. geongling, from the root ung, June, geong, which has no business here at all (?). — The main point is, that the first genealogy puts Ingvi before NiorSr, so that he would be Frey's grandfather, while the other version makes him be born again as it were in Freyr, and even fuses his name with Frey's, of which there lurks a trace likewise in the AS. * frea Ingwina' (p. 211). This Ingwina ajjpears to be the gen. pi. of Ingwine, OHG. Inguwini, and * dominus Ingwinorum ' need not necessarily refer to the god, any hero might be so called. But with perfect right may an Ingvi, Inguio be the patriarch of a race that

1 Snorri sends him to Turkland, Saxo only as far as Byzantium. — Trans.

^As the ON. genealogies have Yngvi, NiorSr, Freyr, the Old Swedish tables in Geijer (hafder ""118. 121. 475) give Inge, Neorch, Fro; some have Neoroch for Neorch, both being corruptions of Neorth. Now, was it by running Ingvi and Freyr into one, that the combination Ingvifrerjr (transposed into AS. frea Ingwina) arose, or was he cut in two to make an additional link 1 The Skaldskaparmal in Sn. 211=^ calls Yngvifreyr OSin's son, and from the enumeration of the twelve or thirteen Ases in Sn. 21 !*> it cannot be doubted that Yngvifreyr was regarded as equivalent to the simple Freyr,

INGUIO. HARTUNG. 347

bears the name of Ingvingar ■=■ Ynglingar. And then, what the Norse genealogy is unable to carry farther up than to Ingvi, Tacitus kindly completes for us, by informing us that Inguio is the son of Mannus, and he of Tvisco; and his Ingacvones are one of two things, either the OHG. pi. Inguion (from sing. Inguio), or Ingwini after the AS. Ingwine.

Thus pieced out, the line of gods and heroes would run : Tvisco, Mannus, Ingvio, Nerthus, Fravio (or whatever shape the Gothic Frauja would have taken in the mouth of a Roman). The earth-born Tvisco's mother repeats herself after three intermediate links in Nerthus the god or hero, as a Norse Ingui stands now before NiorSr, now after ; and those Vanir, who have been moved away to the east, and to whom NiorSr and his son Freyr were held mainly to belong (pp. 218-9), would have a claim to count as one and the same race with the Ingaevones, although this associa- tion with Mannus and Tvisco appears to vindicate their Teutonic character.

But these bonds draw themselves yet tighter. The AS. lay informed us, that lug bore that name among the Hcardings, had received it from them. This Heardingas must either mean -heroes and men generally, as we saw on p. 342, or a particular people. Hartiing is still remembered in our Heldenbuch as king of the Eeussen (Rus, Russians), the same probably as ' Hartnit ' or ' Hertnit von Eeussen ' ; in the Alphart he is one of the AYolfing heroes.^ Hartunc and his father Immune (Rudlieb 17, 8) remain dark to us. The Heardingas appear to be a nation situated east of the Danes and Swedes, among whom Ing is said to have lived for a time ; and this his sojourn is helped out both by the Turkish kinfj YnG;ui and the Russian Hartung. It has been shown that to Hartunc, Hearding, would correspond the ON. form Haddingr. Now, whereas the Danish line of heroes beginning with OSinn arrives at FroSi in no more than three generations, 0'5inn being followed by Skioldr, FriSleifr, FroSi ; the series given in Saxo Gram, stands thus : Humbl, Dan, Lother, Skiold, Gram, Hading, Frotho. But Hading stands for Hadding, as is clear from the spelling of ' duo Haddingi ' in Saxo p. 93, who are the Haddingjar often mentioned in the Edda; it is said of him, p. 12 : ' orientalium

1 Hemit = Haixling in the Swedish tale of Dietrich (Iduna 10, 253-4. 284).

348 HEROES.

robore debellato, Suetiam reversus,' which orientals again are Eutheni ; but what is most remarkable is, that Saxo p. 17-8 puts in the mouth of this Danish king and his wife Eegnilda a song which in the Edda is sung by Nior&r and Skaffi (Sn. 27-8).^ We may accordingly take Haddiug to be identical with NiorSr, i.e., a second birth of that god, which is further confirmed by FriSleifr (= Frealaf, whom we have already identified with the simple Frea, p. 219) appearing in the same line, exactly as Freyr is a son of NiorSr, and Saxo says expressly, p. 16, that Hadding offered a Froblot, a sacrifice in honour of Freyr. Whether in Fro&i (OHG. Fruoto, MHG. Fruote), the hero of the Danish story, who makes himself into three, and whose rule is praised as peaceful and bliss- ful, we are to look for Freyr over again, is another question.

In the god-hero of Tacitus then there lingers, still recognisable, a Norse god ; and the links I have produced must, if I mistake not, set the final seal on the reading ' Nerthus '. If we will not admit the goddess into the ranks of a race which already has a Terra mater standing at its very head, it is at all events no great stretch to suppose that certain nations transferred her name to the aod or hero who formed one of the succeeding links in the race.

There are more of these Norse myths which probably have to do with this subject, lights that skim tlie deep darkness of our olden time, but cannot light it up, and often die away in a dubious flicker. The Formali of the Edda, p. 15, calls OGinn father of Yngvi, and puts him at the head of the Ynglingar : once again we see ourselves entitled to identify OSinn with Mannus or Tvisco. Nay, with all this interlacing and interchange of members, we could almost bear to see OSinn made the same as NiorSr, which is done in one manuscript. But the narrative ' fra Fornioti ok bans ffittmonnum' in Fornald. sog. 2, 12 carries us fartlier: at the top stands Burri, like the king of Tyrkland, followed by Burr, Offinn, Freyr, Niorffr, Freyr, Fiolnir ; here tlien is a double Freyr, the first one taking Yngvi's place, i.e., the Yngvifreyr we had before ; but also a manifold O&inn, Fiolnir being one of his names (Siiem. IQa 46^ 184*. Sn. 3). Burri and i/iwr, names closely related to

1 So Wh. Muller (Haupt's zeitschr. 3, 48-9) has justly pointed out, that SkaSi's choice of the muflied bridegroom, whose feet alone were visible (Sn. 82), agrees with Saxo's ' eligendi mariti libertas curiosiore corporum attrecta- tione,'''but here to find a'ing that the flesh has healed over. SkaOi and Eagnhild necessarily fall into one.

INGUIO. PORO. ISCIO. 349

each other like Folkvaldi and Folkvaldr, and given in another Ikt as Burri and Uors, seem clearly to be the Buri and Borr cited by Sn. 7. 8 as forefathers of the three brothers OGinn, Vili, Ve (see p. 162). Now, Buri is that first man or human being, who was licked out of the rocks by the cow, hence the eristporo (erst-born), an OHG. Poro, Goth. Baura ; Borr might be OHG. Parv, Goth. Barns or whatever form we choose to adopt, anyhow it comes from bairan, a root evidently well chosen in a genealogical tale, to denote tlie first-born, first-created men.^ Yet we may think of Byr too, the wish-wind (see Oskaljyrr, p. 144). Must not Buri, Borr, O&inn be parallel, though under other names, to Tvisco, Mannus, Inguio ? Inguio has two brothers at his side, Iscio and Hermino, as OSinn has A^ili and Ve ; we should then see the reason wdiy the names Tyski and MaSr^ are absent from the Edda, because Buri and Bon- are their substitutes ; and several other things would become intelligible. Tvisco is ' terra editus,' and Buri is produced out of stone ; when we see OCinn heading the Ynglingar as well as Inguio the Ingaevones, we may find in that a confirmation of the hypothesis that Saxons and Cheruscans, preeminently worshippers of Wodan, formed the flower of the Ingaevones. These gods and demigods may appear to be all running into one another, but always there emerges from among them the real supreme divinity, AYuotan.

I go on expounding Tacitus. Everything confirms me in the conjecture that Inguio's or Ingo's brother must have been named Iscio, Isco, and not Istio, Isto. There is not so much weight to be laid on the fact that sundry ]\ISS. even of Tacitus actually read Iscaevones : we ought to examine more narrowly, whether the st in Pliny's Istaevones be everywhere a matter of certainty ; and even that need not compel us to give up our sc ; Iscaevo was perhaps liable to be corrupted by the llomans themselves into Istaevo, as Vistula crept in by the side of the truer Viscula (Weichscl). r>ut what seem irrefragable proofs are the Bscio and Hisicion^ of

1 So in the ra.^siiial 10o% Burr is called the first, Barn the second, and lotS (conf. AS. eadcn) the tliird child of Fu5ir and Mouir.

'^ ON. for man : sing. niaSr, nuinnis, nianni, niann ; pi. mcnn, nuunui, mbnnum, nienn.

=» In Nennius § 17, Stevenson and Sanniarte (]'p. 39. 40) have adopted the very worst reading Huilio.

350 HEEOES.

Nennius, in a tradition of the Mid. Ages not adopted from Tacitus, and the Isiocon^ in a Gaelic poem of the 11th century (see Suppl.). If this will not serve, let internal evidence speak : in Tuisco and Mannisco we have been giving the suffix -isc its due, and Tuisto, a spelling which likewise occurs, is proof against all attempt at explanation. Now Isco, as the third name in the same genealogy, would agree with these two. For Tvisco and Mannus the Norse legend substitutes two other names, but Inguio it has preserved in Ingvi ; ought not his brother Iscio to be discoverable too ? I fancy I am on his track in the Eddie Ashr, a name that is given to the first-created man again (Seem. 3. Sn. 10), and means an ash-tree. It seems strange enough, that we also come across this ash (let interpretation understand it of the tree or not) among the Eunic names, side by side with ' inc, ziu, er,' all heroes and gods ; and among the ON. names for the earth is Bskja, Sn. 220^. And even the vowel-change in the two forms of name, Iscio and Askr, holds equally good of the suffix -isk, -ask.

Here let me give vent to a daring fancy. In our language the relation of lineal descent is mainly expressed by two suffixes, ING and ISK. Manning means a son the offspring of man, and mannisko almost the same. I do not say that the two divine ancestors were borrowed from the grammatical form, still less that the grammatical form originated in the heroes' names. I leave the vital connexion of the two things unexplained, I simply indicate it. But if the Ingaevones living ' proximi oceano ' were Saxon races, which to this day are addicted to deriving with -ing, it may be remarked that Asciburg, a sacred seat of the Iscaevones who dwelt ' proximi Eheno,' stood on the Ehine.^ Of Askr, and the relation of the name to the tree, I shall treat in ch. XIX ; of the Iscae- vones it remains to be added, that the Anglo-Saxons also knew a hero Ocsc, and consequently Oescingas.

Zeuss, p. 73, gives the preference to the reading Istaevones, connecting them with the Astingi, Azdingi, whom I (p. 342) took for Hazdingi, and identified with the ON. Haddingjar, AS. Heardingas, OHG. Hertinga. The hypothesis of Istaevones = Izdaevones would require that the Goth, zd = AS. rd, OHG. rt, should in the time of

1 Pointed out by Leo in the zeitschr. f. d. alt. 2, 534.

^ Conf. Askitun (Ascha near Amberg), Askiprunno (Escliborn near Frank- fort), Askipah (Eschbach, Eschenbach) in various parts ; Ascarih, a man's name (see Suppl.).

ISCIO. IKMINO. 351

Tacitus have prevailed even among the Ehine Germans ; I have never yet heard of an OHG. Artinga, Ertinga, nor of an ON. Addingar, Eddingar, According to this conjecture, ingenious anyhow and worth examining further, the ancestral hero would be called Istio= Izdio, Izdvio, OHG. Erfo, ON. Mdi, with which the celebrated term edda proavia would agree, its Gothic form being izd6, OHG. erta. Izdo, Izdio proavus would seem in itself an apt name for the founder of a race. The fluctuation between i and a would be common to both interpretations, ' Iscaevones = Askinga ' and ' Istaevones = Artinga '.

The third son of Mannus will occupy us even longer than his brothers. Ermine's posterity completes the cycle of the three main races of Germany : Ingaevones, Iscaevoncs, Herminones. The order in which they stand seems immaterial, in Tacitus it merely follows their geographical position ; the initial vowel common to them leads us to suppose an alliterative juxtaposition of the ancestral heroes in German songs. The aspirate given by the Eomans to Herminones, as to Hermunduri, is strictly no part of the German word, but is also very commonly retained by Latin writers of the Mid. Ages in proper names compounded with Irmin. In the name of the historical Arminius Tacitus leaves it out.

As with Inguio and Iscio, we must assign to the hero's name the otherwise demonstrable weak form Irmino} Ermino, Goth. Airmana : it is supported by the derivative Herminones, and even by the corruptions * Hisicion, Armenon, Negno ' in Nennius (see Suppl.). Possibly the strong-formed Irman, Irmin, Armin may even be a separate root. But what occurs far more frequently than the simple word, is a host of compounds with irman-, irmin-, not only proper names, but other expressions concrete and abstract : Goth. Ermanaricus (Airmanareiks), OHG. Irmanrih, AS. Eormenric, ON. lormunrekr, where the u agrees with that in the national name Hermundurus ; OHG. Irmandegan, Irmandeo, Irmanperaht, Irmanfrit, Irminolt, Irmandrut, Irmangart, Irmansuint, &c. Atten- tion is claimed by the names of certain animals and plants : the ON. lormungandr is a snake, and lormunrekr a bull, the AS. Eormenwyrt and Eormenleaf is said to be a mallow, which I also

1 Pertz 1. 200. 300. 2, 290. 463. 481 ; the abbas Irmino of Charles the Great's time is known well enough now ; and a female name larmin is met with in deeds.

Zo2 HEROES,

find written geormenwyrt, geormenleaf. Authorities for irmangot, irmandiot, OS. irminthiod, irminman, irmansul, &c., &c., have been given above, p. 118. A villa Irmenlo, i.e., a wood (in ilia silva scaras sexaginta) is named in a deed of 855, Bondam's charterbook, p. 32. silva Irminlo, Lacombl. 1, 31.

In these compounds, especially those last named, irman seems to have but a general intensifying power, without any distinct reference to a god or hero (conf. Woeste, mittheil. p. 44) ; it is like some other words, especially got and diot, regin and megin, which we find used in exactly the same way. If it did contain such reference, Eormenleaf w^ould be Eormenes leaf, like Torneotes folme, Wuotanes wee. Irmandeo then is much the same as Gotadeo, Irmanrih as Diotrih ; and as irmangot means the great god, irmandiot the great people, iormungrund the great wide earth, so irmansul cannot mean more than the great pillar, the very sense caught by Eudolf in his translation universalis columna (p. 117).

This is all very true, but there is nothing to prevent Irmino or Irmin having had a personal reference in previous centuries : have we not seen, side by side with Zeus and Tyr, the common noun deus and the prefix ty-, tir- (p. 195-6) ? conf. p. 339. If Siieteresdeeg has got rubbed down to Saturday, Saterdach (p. 125), so may Eritac point to a former Erestac (p. 202), Eormenleaf to Eormenes leaf, Irmansul to Irmanessul ; we also met with Donnerbiihel for Donnersbiiliel (p. 170), Woenlet for Woenslet, and we say Frankfurt for Erankenfurt [Oxford for Oxenaford, &c.]. The more the sense of the name faded out, the more readily did the genitive form drop away ; the OHG. godes hiis is more literal, the Goth. gu];lius more abstract, yet both are used, as the OS. regano giscapu and regangiscapu, metodo giscapu and metodgiscapu held their ground simultaneously. As for geormen = eormen, it suggests Germanus (Gramm. 1, 11).

It is true, Tacitus keeps the Hermino that lies latent in his Herminones apart from Arminius with whom the Homans waged war ; yet his famous ' canitur adhuc barbaras apud gentes,' applied to the destroyer of Varus, might easily arise through simply misinterpreting such accounts as reached the Eonian ear of German songs about the mythical hero. Granted that irmansul expressed word for word no more than ' huge pillar,' yet to the people that worshipped it it must have been a divine image, standing for

IRMIKO, IRMIN. -353

a particular god. To discover who this was, we can only choose one of two ways : either he was one of the three great divinities, Wodan, Thenar, Tin, or some being distinct from them.

But here we nuist, above all things, ponder the passage partly quoted on p. Ill from Widukind, himself a Saxon; it says, a lieatlien god was worshipped, whose name suggested Mars, his pillar-statue Hercules, and the place where he was set up the sun or Apollo. After that, he continues : ' Ex hoc apparet, aestima- tionem illorum utcumcpie probabilem, qui Saxones originem duxisse putant de Graecis, quia Hirmin vel Hermes graece Mars dicitur, quo vocabulo ad laudem vel ad vituperationem usque hodie etiam ignorantes utimur '. From this it follows, that the god to whom the Saxons sacrificed after their victory over the Thuringians was called Hirmin, Irmin, and in the lOth century the name was still affixed in praise or blame to very eminent or very desperate characters.^ Apollo is brought in by the monk, because the altar was built ad orientalem portam, and Hercules, because his pillar called up that of the native god ; no other idol can have been meant, tlian precisely the irminsul (pp. 115 — 118), and the true form of this name must have been Irmines, Irmctnes or Hirmines sill. The Saxons had set up a pillar to their Irmin on the banks of the Unstrut, as they did in their own home.

The way Hirmin, Hermes and Mars are put together seems a perfect muddle, though Widukind sees in it a confirmation of the story about the Saxons being sprung from Alexander's army (Widuk. 1, 2. Sachsensp. 3, 45). We ought to remember, first, that Wodan was occasionally translated Mars instead of Mercurius (pp. 121. 133), and had all the appearance of the Eoman Mars given him (p. 133); then further, how easily Irmin or Hirmin in this case would lead to Hermes, and Ares to Mars, for the Irminsul itself is connected with Eres-burg (p. IIG). What the Corvei annalist kept distinct (p. Ill), the two images of Ares and of Hermes, are confounded by Widukind. But now, which has the better claim to be Irmin, jl/a?'s or Mcreurijt On p. 197 I have pronounced rather in favour of Mars, as Mlillenholf too (Ilaupt 7, 384) identifies Irmin with Ziu ; one might even be inclined to see

^ Much as we say now : he is a regular devil, or in Lower Saxony hamer (p. 182). The preti.x irmin- likewise intensifies in a good or bad sense ; like ' inningod, inuinthiod,' there may have been an irniinthiob = * meginthiob, regiutliiob '.

23

35'J: HKROES.

in it the name of the war-god brought out on p. 202, ' Eru, Heru,' and to dissect Irman, Erman into Ir-man, Er-man, though, to judge by the forms Irmin, Eormen, Ermun, lormun, this is far from probable, the word being derivative indeed, yet simple, not com- pound ; we never find, in place of Ertag, dies Martis, any such form as Ermintac, Irminestac. On behalf of Mercury there would speak the accidental,^ yet striking similarity of the name Irmansul or Hirmensul to 'Epjxriq and ep/za = prop, stake, pole, pillar (p. 118), and that it was precisely Hermes's image or head that used to be set up on such ep/j^ara, and furtlier, that the Mid. Ages referred tlie irmen-pillars to Mercury (p. 116). In Hirmin the Saxons appear to have worshipped a Wodan imaged as a tvarrior.

If this view be well grounded, we have Wodan wedging himself into the ancient line of heroes ; but the question is, whether Irmin is not to be regarded as a second birth or son of the god, whether even an ancestral hero Irmino is not to be distinguished from this god Irmin, as Hermino in Tacitus is from Arminius ? So from thiod, regin, were formed the names Thiodo, Ilegino. It would be harder to show any such relation between Ing and Ingo, Isc and Isco ; but I think I can suggest another principle which will decide this point: wlien races name themselves after a famous ancestor, this may be a deified man, a demigod, but never a purely divine being. There are Ingaevones, Iscaevones, Herminones, Oescingas, Scilfingas, Ynglin- gar (for Ingingar), Volsungar, Skioldungar, Niflungar,- as there were Heracleidae and Pelopidae, but no Wodeningas or Thunoringas, though a Wodening and a Kronides. The Anglo-Saxons, with Woden always appearing at their head, would surely have borne the name of Wodeningas, had it been customary to take name from the god himself. Nations do descend from the god, but through the medium of a demigod, and after him they name them- selves. A national name taken from the highest god would have been impious arrogance, and alien to human feeling.

As Lower Saxony, especially Westphalia, was a chief seat of the Irmin-worship, we may put by the side of Widukind's account of Hirmin a few other traces of his name, which is not even yet

he Greek aspirate corresponds a Teutonic S, not H : o, 17 sa, so ; ; aXs salt. [There are exceptions : q, t], ol he, her, hig ; oXoy whole,

1 To the fVra sibun hela ; e'Aco haul, holen].

• A patronymic suffix is not necessary : the Gautos, Gevissi, Suapa take name from Gauts, Gevis, Snap, divine heroes.

IRMIN. 355

entirely extinct in that part of Germany, StroJtmann has noted down the tbllowing phrases in Osnabriick : ' he ment, use herrc gott heet Herm (he thinks our Lord is called H., i.e. is never angry) ; use herre gott heet nich Hcria, he heet leve herre, un weet wal to- te-gripen (knows how to fall on) '. Here there seems unconcealed a slight longing for the mild rule of the old heathen god, in contrast to the strictly judging and punishing christian God. In Saxon Hesse (on the Dieniel), in the districts of Paderborn, Kavens- berg and Munster, in the bishopric of Minden and the duchy of Westphalia/ the people have kept alive the rhyme :

Hcrmen, sla dermen,

sla pijjen, sla trummen,

de kaiser wil kummen

met hamer un stangen,^

wil Hcrmen uphangen.

Hermen is challenged, as it were, to strike up his war-music, to sound the catgut, j)ipe and drum ; but the foe draws nigh with maces and staves, and will hang up Hermen (see Suppl.). It is not impossible that in these rude words, which have travelled down the long tradition of centuries, are preserved the fragments of a lay that was first heard when Charles destroyed the Irmensul. They cannot so well be interpreted of the elder Arminius and the Eomans.^ The striking and the staves suggest the ceremony of carrying out the Summer.

In a part of Hesse that lies on the Werra, is a village named Ermschwerd, which in early documents is called Ermeswerder, Armeswerd,* Ermencsioerde (Dronke's trad. fuld. p. 123), Ermcnes- wcrethe (Vita Meinwerci an. 1022. Leibn. 1, 551), = Irmineswerid, insula Irmini, as other gods have their isles or eas. This interpre- tation seems placed beyond a doubt by other such names of places.

Leibn. scr. 1, 9 and Eccard, Fr. or. 1, 883, De orig. Germ. 397

1 Roinniiil's Hessen 1. p. G6 note. Westphalia (Minden 1830) i. 4, 52. The tunc is iriveu in Scluunann's Musical, zeitun;^ lor 183G.

• Variants : mit stangeu und prangeu (wliicli also means staves) ; niit hamer im tani,'cn (tongs).

'^ This explanation has of course been tried : some have put Hermann for Hermen, others aiUl a narrative verse, Avhich I do not suppose is found in the people's mouth : ' un Hcrmen shiug dermen, slaug pipen, slaug trummen, de fiirsten sind kummen met all eren niannen, liebt Varus uphangen '.

• The same vowel-ciiange is seen in Ermensulen (deed of 1:298 in Baring's Clavis dipl. p. -193 no. l.j), a Weslplialian vilkige, now called Armcvseul.

356 HEROES.

give Irmineswagen for tlie constellation arctus, plaustrum coeleste, I do not know on what authority : this wain would stand beside Wuotanswagen, Donnerswagen, and even Ingswagen.

Some of the later AS, and several 0. Engl, authorities, in specifying four great highways that traverse England, name amongst them Er^ningestrdc, running from south to north of the island.^ But we may safely assume the pure AS. form to have been Eormenstrtet or Eormenes-strat, as another of the four ways, Wcetlingastrcct, occurs in the Saxon Chron. (Ingr. 190. Thorpe's anal. p. 38), and in the Treaty of iElfred and Guthrun (Thorpe, p. G6), and ' andlang Wactlinga straet ' in Kemble 2, 250 (an. 944). Lye has Irmingstrcct together with Irmingsul, both without refer- ences. The conjectural Eormenstnet would lead to an OHG. Irmanstraza, and Eormenesstra;t to Irmanesstraza, with the mean- ings via publica and via Irmani.

Now it is not unimportant to the course of our inquiry, tliat one of the four highways, Wcetlingastrffit, is at the same time translated to the sky, and gets to look quite mythical. A plain enough road, extending from Dover to Cardigan, is the milky way in the heavens, i.e., it is travelled by the car of some heathen god.

Chaucer (House of Fame 2, 427), describing that part of the sky, says :

Lo there, quod he, cast up thine eye,

se yondir, lo, the galaxie,

the whiche men clepe the milky way

for it is wdiite, and some parfay

ycallin it lian Watlingestrcte,

that onis was brente with the hete,

whan that the sunnis sonne the rede,

which hite Phaeton, wolde lede

algate his fathirs carte and gie. In the Complaint of Scotland, p. 90, it is said of the comet : ' it aperis oft in the quhyt circle callit circulus lacteus, the quhilk the marynalis callis Vatlanstrcit '. In Douglas's Virgil, p. 85 :

^ IIII clieminii Watlingestrcte, Fcsse, Hickenildestrete, Ermingestrete (Thorjoe's Anc. laws, p. 192; ; conf. Henry of Hunt. (Erningestreet), Kob. of Glouc, Oxf. 1742, p. 299 (also Erning., after the preceding). Eaniilph Higliden's Polyclir., ed. Oxon. p. 19G. Leland's Itinerary, Oxf. 1744. 6, 108— 140. Gibson in App. chron. b'ax. p. 47. Camden's Eritannia, ed. Gibson, Lond. 1753, p. Ixxix. In the map to Lapj)enberg'.'s Hist, of Engl., the direction of the foui" roads is indicated.

iRuiN. 357

Of every stcrne tlic twynkling notis he that in the still hevin move cours we sc, Arthurys house, and Hyades betaikning rane, Watlingestretc, the Home and the Charlewane, the feirs Orion with his goldin glave. Wittlinga is plainly a gen. pi. ; who the Woetlings were, and how they came to give then- name to an earthly and a heavenly street, we do not know. Chaucer perhaps could still have told us, but he prefers to harp at the Greek mythus. Phaethon, also the son of a god, when he presumed to guide his father's sun-chariot, burnt a broad streak in the sky, and that is the track we call the milky way. The more conmion view was, that Here, indignant at the bantling Hermes or Herakles being put to her breast, spilt her milk along the sky, and hence the bright phenomenon. JSTo doubt, among other nations also, fancy and fable have let the names of earthly and heavenly roads run into one another.^

A remarkable instance of this is found in one of our national traditions ; and that will bring us round to Irmin again, whom we almost seem to have lost sight of.

^ I limit myself to briefly quoting some other names for the milhj way. In Arabic it is tarik al thihn (via stramiiiis) ; Syriac schevil tevno (via paleae) ; Mod. Hebrew netibat thcben (semita paleae) ; Pers. rah kah keshan (via stranieu trahentis) ; Copt, pimoit ende pitoh (via straminis) ; Ethiop. hasare zamanegadc (stipida viae) ; Arab, again derb ettubenin (path of the chopped-straw carriers) ; Turk, samau uyhrisi (paleam rapiens, paleae fur) ; Armen. hartacol or hartacoyh (paleae tur) ; all these names run upon scattered chaff, which a thief dropt in his flight. ]\Iore simple is the Arabic majerra (tractus), nahr al majerra ((lumen tractus), and the Roman conception of path of the gods or to the gods ; also Troq. 2Mth of souls, Turk, hadjiler juli (pilgrims' path), hadji is a pilgrim to Mecca and Medina. Very similar is the christian term used in the ]\lid. Ages, ' galaxias via sancti Jacobi ' already in John of Genoa's Catholicon (13th cent.) ; camino di Santiago, chemin de saint Jaques, Jacobsstrasse, Slov. zesta v' Rim (road to Rome), irom the pilgrimages to Galicia or Rome, which led to heaven [was there no thought of Jacob s ladder ?] This James's road too, or pilgrim's road, was at once on earth and in heaven ; in Lacomblet, docs. 184 and 185 (an. lOjl) name a Jacobsiccch together with the via regia. ON. vetrarh, ant (winterway). Welsh caer Gicydion (p. loO), and Arianrod (silver street? which comes near Argentoratum). Finn, linnunrata (birdway), Lith. paukszczitt kid''s, perhaps because souls and spirits tlit in the shape of'birds ; Hung. Hada- kuttija (via belli), because the Hungarians in nngrating from Asia followed this constellation (see Suppl.). Vroneldenstraet (p. 285) and Pharaildis lit intelligibly enough with fraa Holda and Herodias, whose airy voyages easily account for their giving a name to the milky way, the more so, as Wuotan, who joins Holda in the nightly hunt, shows himself here also in the Welsli appellation caer Givgdion. Even the fact of Diana being mixed up with that chase, and Juno with the milky way, is in keeping ; and gods or spirits sweep along the heavenly road as well as iu the heavenly hunt.

358 HEROES.

Widukind of Corvei is the first who gives us out of old songs the beautiful and truly epic story of the Saxons' victory over the Thuringians/ which Euodolf before him (Pertz 2, 674) had barely touched. Irmenfried, king of the Thuringians, being oppressed by Dieterich, king of the Franks, called the Saxons to his aid : they appeared, and fought valiantly. But he began to waver in his inind, he secretly negotiated a treaty with the Franks, and the two nations were about to unite against the formidable Saxon host. But the Saxons, becoming aware of the treachery, were beforehand ; led by the aged Hathugat, they burst into the castle of the Thurin- gians, and slow them all ; the Franks stood still, and applauded the warlike renown of the Saxons. Irmenfried fled, but, enticed by a stratagem, returned to Dieterich's camp. In this camp was staying Irmenfried's counsellor Iring, whose prudent plans had previously rendered him great services. When Irmenfried knelt before Dieterich, Iring stood by, and having been won by Dieterich, slew his own lord. After this deed of horror, the Fraukish king banished him from his sight, but Iring said, ' Before I go, I will avenge my master,' drew his sword, stabbed Dieterich dead, laid his lord's body over that of the Frank, so that the vanquished in life might be the victor iu death, opened a waij for himself with the sword (viam ferro faciens), and escaped. ' Mirari tamen non possumus ' adds Widukind, ' in tantum famam praevaluisse, ut Iringi nomine, quem ita vocitant, lacteus coeli circulus usque in praesens sit notatus.' Or, with the Auersberg chronicler : ' famam in tantum praevaluisse, ut lacteus coeli circulus Iringis nomine Iringesstrdza usque in praesens sit vocatus ' (sit notatus in Pertz 8, 178).

In confirmation, AS. glosses collected by Junius (Symb. 372) give ' via secta : Iringes uuec,' from which Somner and Lye borrow their ' Iringes weg, via secta '. Conf. via sexta iringcsinicc, Haupts zeitschr. 5, 195. XJnpubl. glosses of the Amplonian libr. at Erfurt (10-llth cent. bL 14^^) have 'via secta: luuaringes iiueg ' ; which luwaring agrees very remarkably with the later form Euring in Euringsstrass, Aventin 102^ 103^

1 Conf. the differing but likewise old version, from a H. German district, in Goldast's Script, rer. Suev. p^). 1 — 3, where Swabians take the ph\ce of the Saxons. The Auersberg chron. (ed. Argent. 1609, pp. 146-8) copies Widu- kind. Eckehard, in Pertz 8, 176-8.

IRMIN. IllING. 259

In the Nibelungeulied 1285. 1965 — 2009, these heroes appear again, they are the same, but differently conceived, and more akin to the n. German version in Goldast : ^ Irnvrit of Duringen and Irinc of Tenemarke, one a landgraf, the other a markgraf, both vassals of Etzel (Attila). The Lied von der klage (threnody) adds, that tliey had fallen under the ban of the empire, and fled to Hunland ; here we see a trace of the banishment that Dieterich pronounced on Iring. In the poems of the 13th century, however, Irins is not a counsellor, still less a traitor and a murderer of Irmenfried : the two are sworn friends, and both fall before the irresistible Hagene and Volker.

Add to all this, that the Vilk. saga cap. 360, though silent on Irnfried, tells of h'ung's last combat with Hogni, and makes him sink against a stone wall, which is still called Iriings ver/gr in memory of the hero. The Norse redactor confounded vegr (via) with veggr (niurus) ; his German source must have had Iringcs vec, in allusion to the ' cutting his way ' in Widukind.

So now the road is paved to the conclusions we desire to draw : German legend knew of an Iringes ivcc on earth and in heaven, so did AS. legend of a double Wictlinga-stnet, and so was the road to Eome and St. James set in the firmament as well. These fancies about tcays and vjains, we know, are pagan, and indicate god-myths. The Thuringian Inivrit, originally Trmanfrit, it is reasonable to suppose, is the same as Irman, Irmi7i (conf. Sigfrit, Sigmunt, Sigi), and the Hcrmunduri = Irman-duri are plainly con- nected with the Durings (Thuringians) : so that Irman assumes a peculiar significance in Thuringian tradition. If this would but tell us of an Irmines wee, all would come riglit.

It does tell, however, in three or four places, of an Iringcs ivec. The names Irinc and Irmin, apart from the alliteration which doubtless operated in the ancient lay, have nothing in common; the first has a long i^ and of themselves they cannot have represented

1 As already quoted, Deutsch. heldens. p. 117.

^ Or iu, as some roots shift from the fourth to the fifth vowel-series (like liirat and hiurat, now both heirat and heurat; or tir and tyr, p. 19G), so lurinc (('Xl)anded into luwarinc, as tiie OHG. poss. pron. iur into iuwar) ; so in the 1(5- 17th cent. Eirimj alternates with Euring. A few MSS. read Hiring for Iring, like Hirniin for Irmin, but 1 have never seen a Heuring for Euring, or it miglit have suggested a Haxon hcvenring, as the rainbow is called the ring of lieaven. An old AS. name for Orion, EhuriYrung, EhirtSring, seems somehow connected, es2)ecially with the luwsring above.

360 HEROES.

one another. Now, either the legend has made the two friends change places, and transferred Irmin's way to Iring, or Iring (not uncommon as a man's name too, <?.^.,Trad. Fuld. 1, 79) is of him- self a demigod grown dim, who had a way and wain of his own, as well as Irniin. Only, Irmin's worship seems to have had the deeper foundations, as the image of the Irmansul sufficiently shows. As the name of a place I find Iringcs 'pure (burg), MB. 7, 47. 157. 138. 231. Iringisperc (berg) 29, 58.

Up to this point I have refrained from mentioning some Norse traditions, which have a manifest reference to the eartlily hero- path. It had been the custom from of old, for a new king, on as- suming the government, to travel the great highway across the country, confirming the people in their privileges (EA. 237-8). This is called in the 0. Swed. laws ' Eriksgatu ridha,' riding Eric's road.i Sweden numbers a host of kings named Erik (ON. Eirikr), hut they are all quite historical, and to none of them can be traced this custom of the Eriksgata. With the royal name of Erik the Swedes must from very early times have associated the idea of a god or deified king ; the vita Anskarii written by his pupil Eim- bert, has a remarkable passage on it (Pertz 2, 711). When the adoption of Christianity was proposed to king Olef about 860, a man of heathen sentiments alleged, ' Se in conventu deorum, qui ipsam terram possidere credebantur, et ab eis missum, ut haec regi et populis nunciaret : Vos, inquam,^ nos vobis propitios diu habuis- tis, et terram incolatus vestri cum multa abundantia nostro adjutorio in pace et prosperitate longo tempore tenuistis, vos quo- que nobis sacrificia et vota debita persolvistis, grataque nobis vestra fuerunt obsequia. At nunc et sacrificia solita subtrahitis, et vota spontanea segnius offertis,^ et, quod magis nobis displicet, alienum deum super nos intro ducitis. Si itaque nos vobis propitios habere vultis, sacrificia omissa augete et vota majora persolvite, alterius quoque dei culturam, qui contraria nobis docet, ne apud vos reci- piatis et ejus servitio ne intendatis. Porro, si etiam plures decs

1 The venerable custom still prevcailed in the 15-16th cent. : 'statuta pro- vincialium generose confirmavit et sigillavit in equitatu qui dicitur Eriksgata,' Diarium Vazstenense ad an. 1441 (ed. Benzel, Ups. 1721) p. 86. 'Rex Christoferus Sueciae et Daciae equitatum fecit c[ui dicitur Eriksgata secundum leges patriae,' iliid. ad an. 1442. Even Gustavus Vasa rode his Eriksgata.

• For inquimixs, as elsewliere inquit for inquiunt.

^ Votum, what ah. individual offers, as opposed to the sacrificium presented publicly and jointly ; coi^ supra, p. 57.

IKMIX. IRING. 3G1

habere dcsideratis, et nos vobis non sulUcimus, Ericum, quondiuii re<Tem vestvum, nos unanirnes in collcijium nostrum asciscinms} ut sit unus de nunicro dcomm.' — I have transcribed the wliole passage, because it aptly expresses the attitude of the pagan party, and the liikewarmness already prevailing towards their religion : the heathen priests thought of adding a fresh hero to their throng of gods.2 This seems to exclude all later Erics from any claim to the Eriksgata ; probably there were mixed up even then, at least in Himbert's mind, traditions of a divine Erik.

It can no longer remain doubtful now, what god or divine liero lies hidden in this Erik. I had at one time thought of Er (Mars), because the form Erctag is met with a few times for Ertag (p. 124), but the short vowel in Er, and the long one in Irinc, Eirikr, are enough to warn us off. Instead of Eriksgata we also meet with Riksgata, and this points decidedly to Hic/r, the earthly name of the god Heimdallr, who in the Edda walks the green roads (groenar brautir) of earth, to beget the three races of men. In the green earthly roads are mirrored the white and shining paths of heaven.^ Then the problem started on p. 234, whether the ON. form Bigr arose out of Iringr by aphoeresis and syncope, now finds a solution approaching to certainty. Heimdallr dwells in Himinbiorg on the quaking roost (Bifrost), the rainbow, which is the bridge or path by which the gods descend from heaven to earth. The rainbow is the celestial ring, as the galaxy is the celestial road, and Heimdallr keeper of that road, Heimdallr is Etgr = Iring, walking the earth and translated to the skies ; now we compreliend, why there lived among the nations many a various tale of Eriksgcda, Iringesvjec, Iringesstrdza, and was shifted now to one and now to the otlier celestial phenomenon. Iring, through Inwaring, borders on Ehur- ffrung the old name of Orion (see Suppl.). And if our heroic legend associates Irmenfrit, i.e., Irmin with Iring, and Irmiu-street alternates with Iring-street, then in the god-myth also, there must have existed points of contact between Irmin z=OSinn and Iring = Heimdallr: well, Heimdallr was a son of O'Sinn, and the Welsh milky way was actually named after Gwydion, i.e., Woden. From the IrminsCd four roads branched out across the country, Eriksgata

^ So king Ilakon is admitted into the society of fjods, ITennuSr and Bragi go to meet him : ' siti Hakon met) heiSin goS ' (Hakonarmal). '•^ Dahhnann guesses it may be the Upsul Erik (d. 804). 3 Aitd. blatter 1, 372-3.

3G2 HEROES.

extended in four directions, four such highways are likewise known to English tradition, though it gives the name of Ermingestret to only one, and bestows other nriythic titles on the rest. Of Irniin and of Iring, both the di'ine personality and the lapse into hero- nature seem to be made out.

2. Maeso. Gambaro. Suapo,

Now that I have expounded the primeval triad of Germanic races, I have to offer some conjectures on the sevenfold division. Pliny's quintuple arrangement seems not so true to fact, his Vindili are Tacitus's Vandilii, his Peucini not referable to any founder of a race. But Tacitus to his first three adds four other leading races, the IMarsi, Gambrivii, Suevi and Vandilii, in whose names there exists neither alliteration nor the weak form as a mark of deriva- tion.

The Marsi between Rhine and Weser, an early race which soon disappears, in whose country the Tanfana sanctuary stood, lead up to a hero Maiso, whom we must not mix up with the Eoman Mars gen. Martis, nor with Marsus the son of Circe (who in like manner gives name to an Italian people, Gellius 16, 11. Pliny 7, 2. Augustine in Ps. 57). The Marsigni = Marsingi, a Suevic people, acknowledged the same name and origin. The proper name Marso occurs in Mabillon no. 18, in a deed of 692, also in the polyp t. Irminonis p. 158^ 163^ but seldom elsewhere. Mersihwrg and Jfa?'seburg, Pertz 8, 537. 510, seem to belong here, while some other names given above, p. 201, are open to doubt; I do not know if a MHG. phrase, obscure in itself, is at all relevant : ' zuo alien maoscn varn,' MS. 1, 25% which may signify, to go to all the devils, expose oneself to every danger ; conf. ' einen marscn man,' Crane 2865. The Gothic marzjan (impedire, offendere) might seem allied to the root, but tliat would liave been merrian, merran in OHG.

The name of the Gambrivii I assign to the root gambar, kambar strenuus, from which also is derived the name of Gamhara, ancestress of the Langobards. There may have been likewise a hero Gambaro. And the forest of Gambreta (instead of Gabreta) . is worth considering. Gambara's two sons are called Ibor = OHG. Epur, AS. Eofor, OJST. lofur, i.e. aper, boar, and Ajo : all the three names appear to be corrupt in Saxo Gram.

MARSO. SUAPO. 363

Ought we to assume for the Suevi, OHG. Suapa, an eponymous hero Suevo, Suapo, and perhaps connect with him an old legend of a mountain ? Pliny 4, 13 places in the land of the ' gens Ingae- vonum, quae est prima Germaniae,' a certain 'Scvo mons immensus' I'eaching to the Sinus Codanus ; and Solinus, following him, says 22, 1 : ' Mons Scvo ipse ingens . . . initium Germaniae facit, hunc Inguaeones tenent ; ' but Isidor (Orig. 10, 2) makes out of it : ' dicti autem Suevi putantur a monte Suero, qui ab ortu initium Germaniae facit ', From this evidently is taken the account of the immigrating Swaben in the Lay of Anno 284: 'si sluogen iri gecelte (pitched their tents) ane dem berge Sncho (so several read for Suedo), dannin wurdin si geheizin Suabo '} In the Low (German psalms 57, 17 mons coagulatus is rendered ' berg sueuot' which is perhaps to be explained by the legend of the lebirmer [liver-sea, Tacitus's mare pigrum ? Germ. 45. Agr. 10]. It seems more to the point, that in Sicm. 164-8 the Scfa fioll (fells, moun- tains, of the Sevs) are mentioned in those very Helga-songs, one of which sings of Svafalund, king Svafnir and the valkyr Scava. A V after s is frequently dropped, and the readings Sevo, Suevo can thus be reconciled. Suapo then would be a counterpart to Etzel and Fairguns (pp. 169, 172) ? The AS. Swe2)pa, or rather Swtef- (licg, can hardly be brought in here.

Tacitus's Vandilii and Pliny's Vindili stand in the same relation to each other as Arminius and Irmin, Angrivarii and Inguiones ; both forms come from winding and wending, out of which so many mythic meanings flow. Wuotan is described under several names as the wender, wanderer [Germ, wandeln ambulare, mutare].

On the slight foundation of these national names, IMarsi, Gambrivii, Suevi and Vandilii, it is unsafe as yet to build. Tacitus connects these with Mannus, but the heroes themselves he does not even name, let alone giving any particulars of them.

3. (Hercules), (Ulysses). Alcis.

Clear and definite on the other hand are the historian's notices of another I'amous hero : Fuisse apud eos et Hcrculem memorant, j>rimumque omnium virorum fortium ituri in proelia canunt, Germ.

' Kaiserchr. 285 : sin j:;ecelt liiez cr slalien do uf oiiiiii lifir dor heizit Swero, \on dem berge iSwcro sint t>ie allc gchcizeu Swabo. Fur Swlto read iiwevo (see Suppl.).

364 HEROES.

3. Speaking of sacrifices in cap. 9, after mentioning ^lercuring first, he immediately adds : Herculem ac Martem concessis animali- Lus placant, the demigod being purposely put before even Mars, Chapter 34 tells us of the ocean on the coast of the Frisians, then says : Et superesse adhuc Ilerculis columnas fania vulgavit, sive adiit Hercules, sen quidquid ubique magnificum est, in claritateni ejus referre consensimus. Nee defuit audentia Druso Germanico, sed obstitit oceanus in se simul atque in Herculem inquiri. Mox nemo tentavit, sanctiusque ac reverentius visum de actis deorum credere quam scire. The Annals 2, 12 name a ' silva Hcrcjdl sacra,' between the Weser and Elbe in the land of the Cheruscans ; while the Peutinger Table puts a ' castra Herctdis ' near Novio- magus (Nimwegen). All this means something, it all points to some demigod who is identified, not unadvisedly, with that of the Iiomans. Hercules, whose deeds were accomplished in countries widely remote, is thouglit to have visited Germany also, and the Gaditanian pillars at one end of Europe have a counterpart in the Frisian ocean on another side of it. In the German battle-song the praise of Hercules is sounded first, victims are slain to him as to the highest gods, to him a wood is consecrated. Of pillars, even Widukind still knows something, by his speaking of Hirmin's effigies columnarum (pi.), not columnae. Was the plural irman- suli (p. 115) more exact than irmansul, and had the image several pillars ? Did tlie Roman in liis Hermin and Herminones think of Herakles and Hercules, whose name bore plainly on its face the root "Hpa, Hera ? was that why he retained the aspirate in Her- minones and Hermunduri, and not in Arminius ? An approxima- tion of sound in the names of the two heroes, Roman and German, may surely be presupposed. The position of Herculis silva and columnae does not indeed agree with that of the Herminones, but the worship of such a hero was sure to spread far and not to be confined to the particular race to which he gave his name. In the German Irman, Irmin, it seems correct for the aspirate to be wanting, as in Arminius ; in Cherusci it is indispensable, and therefore the Romans never wa-ote Herusci.

If in this ' Hercules ' we wish to see one of the gi-eat gods themselves, we must apparently exclude Mercury and Mars, from whom he is distinguished in cap. 9, i.e., Wuotan and Zio. And for supposing him to mean Donar, i.e., Jupiter (as Zeuss does, p. 25), I

HERCULES. ULYSSES. 365

■see no other ground than tliat the Norse Thorr, like Hercules, performs iuuuniurable heroic deeds, hut these may equally be placed to the credit of Irmin, and Irniin and the thundergod have nothing else in common. Yet, in favour of 'Hercules' being Donai', we ought perhaps to weigh the AS. sentences quoted on p. 161, note ; also, that Herakles was a son of Zeus, and a foe to giants.

I had thought at one time that Hercules might stand for Sahsnot, Seaxneat, whom the formula of renunciation exalts by the side of Thunar and Wodan ; 1 thought so on the strength of ' Hercules Saxanus,' whose surname might be explained by saxum = sahs. But the inscriptions In which we meet with this Hercules Saxanus extend beyond the bounds of Germany, and belong rather to the Eoman religion. Our Sahsnot has with more justice been assigned to Zio (p. 203), with whom Hercules cannot be connected. I now think the claims of Irrain are better founded: as Hercules was Jupiter's son, Irmin seems to have been Wodan's ; and he must have been the subject of the battle-songs (ituri in proelia canunt), even of those which Tacitus understood of Ar- minius (canitur adhuc) ; though they would have suited Mars too, p. 207 (see Suppl).

It is a harder matter to form an opinion about the ' Ulysses ' : Ceterum et Iflixcm quidam opinantur longo illo et fabuloso errore in hunc oceanum delatum adisse Germaniae terras, Asciburgium- que, (piod in ripa Rheni situm hodieque incolitur, ab illo consti- tutum nominatumque ; arani quin etiam Ulixi consecratam, adjecto Laertae patris nomine, eodem loco olim repertam ; Tac. Germ. 3. In Odysseus people have seen OSinn, in Asciburg Asburg ; but if Woden stood for the god Mercury, it cannot here mean the hero, still less can Askiburg be traced to the ases, a purely Norse form, which in these regions would have been anscs. When Tacitus makes Ulixes the founder of Asciburg, nothing is simpler than to suppose him to have been Tsco, Escio, Asko (p. 350) ; and if it was Isco tliat set the Eomans thinking of Ul-ixes, how it helps to esta- blish the sc in Iscaevones ! Maiinus the father of Isco may have suggested Laertes, inasmuch as \a6<i people, and \ao<i stone, are mixed up in the creation of the first man (the origo gentis) out of stone or rock (see ch. XIX) ; in the same way Asco grew up out of the tree (ash), and hpu<i and ireTpt) stand together in the mytlms,

366 HEROES.

not without meaning. As lint from liotan, \a6<i seems to come from the same root as Xao<f, \aa<;}

The interpretatio Eomana went more upon analogies of sense than of sound ; so, in dealing with Castor and Pollux, I will not take them for the brothers Hadu and Phol = Baldr (see SuppL). These Gemini, however, are the very hardest to interpret ; the passage about them was given on p. 66, and an attempt was made to show that alx referred to the place where the godlike twins were worshipped : I confess it does not satisfy me. Our antiquity has plenty of hero brothers to show, but no twins with a name like Alci, if this plural of Alcus is the true form. It occurs to me, that one of OSin's names is Idlkr (Srem. 46'' 47''), and jolk in tlie Vermland dialect means a boy.^ This comes more home to us than the Samogitic AUjir (angelus est summorum deorum, Lasicz, p. 47), towards which the dictionaries offer nothing but alga, reward. Utterly untrustworthy is any comparison with the Slav deities Lei and Polel, themselves as yet unsupported by authority (see Siippl.).^

4. Beowulf, Sigfrit, Amalo, Ermenrich, Dietericii, &c.

From the above specimens in Tacitus we may conclude that all the Teutonic races had a pretty fully developed Heroology ; and if our ancient stores of native literature had been still accessible to us, we might have gained a much closer insight into its nature and its connexion as a whole. As it is, we are thrown upon dry genealogies, dating from many centuries after, and touching only certain races, namely the Goths, Langobards, Burgundians, but above all, the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. We may learn from them the connexion of the later kings with the ancient gods and heroes, but not the living details of their myths. Yet we could be content, if even such pedigrees had also been preserved of the Franks and other nations of continental Germany.

The Anglo-Saxon genealogies seem the most important, and the

1 " Ulixes = Loki, Sn. 78. For Laertes, whose name Pott 1, 222 explains as protector of the people, conf. Ptolemy's AaKi(3ovpyLov." Extr. from SuppL, vol. ill.

2 Almqvist, Svcnsk spraklara, Stockh. 1840, p. 38.5\

3 In Lith. lele h pupa, akies lele pupilla, Icilas butterfly.

GOZ. FROGER. 367

Appendix gives them in full [but sec above, p. IG;")]. All the families branch out from Woden, as most of the Greek do from Zeus ; it was a proud feeling to have one's root in the highest of all gods. Prominent among his sons are Saxnedt and Bccldceg, who were themselves accounted divine; but several other names can claim a place among the earliest heroes, e.g., Sifjerjcdt and Wodcl- gcuV- (both akin to the Gothic Gduts), Fredwine, Wiiscfred, Scefvgd, Westcrfalcna ; and many are fallen dim to us. Cdscre, which in other AS. writings is used for cyning,^ seems to be a mere appellative, and to have acquired the character of a proper name after the analogy of the Roman casar (?). All these genealogies give us barely the names of the god's sons and grandsons, never those of their mothers or grandmothers; and the legend, which ought like the Greek ones to give life to the relationship, is the very thing we miss.

Some of the Norse traditions gain in value, by being taken with the genealogies. The Volsungasaga sets out with OGin's being the father of Sigi, but all particulars of the relationship are withheld ; Hcrir the son of Sigi is in the immediate keeping of the highest gods, and so on. Another time, on the contrary, we are informed, Sn. 84 — 86, how OSinn under the name of Bolvcrkr (OIIG. Palo- wurcho ?) became servant to the giant Baugi, in order to get at the divine drink, which the giant's brother Suttungr kept, guarded by his daughter Gunnloo; l)L'tween her and the god took place sundry passages of love, dimly liintcd at by Saemund also 12*^ 23^'^ 24=', but we are nowhere told what heroes were begotten in the three nights that OSiim passed with the giant's daughter. Gunnloff belongs to the race of giants, not of men, which is also the case with Ger&r whom Freyr wooed, and perhaps with others, who are not reckoned among the asynjor. The Greeks also held that from the union of gods with titans' daughters might spring a hero, or even a god (like Tyr, p. 208).— Only Saxo, p. m, and no other authority, tells us of a Norwegian king and hero ' Frogcrus, ut quidam ferunt, Otliino patre natus,' to whom the gods gave to be invincible in fight, unless his adversary could grasp the dust from

1 OHG. WuotUfjoz (Zeitschr. f. d. alt. 1, uTT), conf. wiietclii above, p. 132, and W'odel-beer, p. 156 (see Siippl.).

• In Boetli. ;}8, 1 Aganieinnon is stj-lcd casore, ami Ulysses cyning [in the Pref., Ranlgot, Ealleric, Tlieodric are cyningas, the emperor always ca^ere] ; in a doc. in Kenible 2, 304 Eadred is 'cyning and casere '.

"368 HEROES.

under liis feet/ wliicli the Danish king Frotho by fraufl contrived to do. Can this Froger be the AS. FreofSegCir, FreCegar in the Wessex genealogy, who had Brond for father, Ba^klrcg for grandfather, Woden for great-grandfather ? The ON. table of lineage seems to mix up FrioSegar with FroSi, his adversary .^ According to the Formali of the Edda, p. 1 5, and the Yngl. saga c. 9, Norway traced her eldest line of kings to Scemingr, the son of OSinn by Ska8i, previously tlie wife of NiorSr ; some write Semingr, which means pacificator, and would lead to FriSgeir again. SkaSi was daughter to the iotunn Thiassi, and the SigurSardrapa (-killing) calls SigurSr LaSaiarl ' afspringr Thiassa,' (Th. progenies). — The Her- rauSssaga cap. 1 makes Hringr spring from Gavti, and him from OSinn : this Gcvutr or Gauti (conf. Ing and Ingo, Irniin and Irmino), Goth. Gauts, OHG. Koz, AS. Geat, whether surname, son or ancestor of OCinn, cannot belie his divinity (conf. p. 367) ; and his son Godwulf too, confounded by some with Folcwalda (p. 165, last table), looks mythical. It is from Gduts tliat the Gautos (Koza, Tav- roi) professed to be descended, these being other than the GuJ^ians (Tac. Gothones, ForOot), but related to them nevertheless, for the Gothic genealogy starts witli the same Gauts at the head of it. — Again, Sigrlami is called OSin's son, Fornald. sog. 1, 413. But who can ' Bous (gen. Boi), Othini ex Pdnda filius ' be in Saxo Gram. 46 ? Possibly Biar, Biaf, Beav = Beowulf, to whom we are coming (see Suppl.).^

Another OSinsson, Skioldr, is the famed ancestral hero of the Danes, from whom are derived all the Skioldungar (Sn. 146) ; he may have been most nearly related to the people of Schonen, as in the Fornm. sog. 5, 239 he is expressly called Skanunga go5 (see p. 161), and was probably worshipped as a god. In Saxo Gram, he does not take the lead, but follows after Humblus, Dan* and Lother ; Skiold himself has a son Gram,^ from whom come Hadding

1 A toten of victory ? as the vanquished had to present such dust (EA. 111-2).

2 The AS. name Frodheri stands yet farther away (Beda 2, 9 § 113).

3 Saxo 122 mentions one hero he^otten by Thurr : Haldunus Biarggrammus apud Sueones magni Thor filius existimatur. And I know of no other but this one.

■* Don, in Saxo's view the true ancestor of the Danes, is called in the Rigsmal iJanr, and placed together with Dmifr, Saan. 106''.

^ Elsewhere Gramr is the jimiier name of a particular sword, while the appellative gramr denotes king.

GEAT. SCILD, BEOWULF. 369

and then Frotho ; but the AS. genealogy places its Scild after ^cectf, and singularly makes tlieni both ancestors of OSinn. From Scedf descends Sccldwa, from him consecutively Beaio, Tcctiva, Gcdt, and after several more generations comes Wdden last. The ON. version of the lineage is in harmony with this ; and even in the Gothic pedigree, which only begins with Gduts, we may suppose a Sktiufs, Skildva, Taitva to have preceded, to whom the OHG. names Scoup, Scilto, Zeizo would correspond. — None however is so interesting as Sceldwa's son, the Anglo-Saxon Bcaiv, called by the Scandinavians Biar, Biaf, but in the living AS. epos Beowulf. It is true, the remarkable poem of that name is about a second and younger Beowulf, in whom his forefather's name repeats itself ; but fortunately the opening lines allude to the elder Beov/ulf, and call his father Scild (Goth. Skildus, agreeing with Skioldr) a Scefing, i.e., son of Scedf. Beaw is a corruption of Beow, and Beow an abbrevia- tion of Bcoundf: it is the complete name that first opens to us a wider horizon. Beowulf signifies bee-wolf (OHG. PiawolfT), and that is a name for the woodpecker, a bird of gay plumage that hunts after bees, of whom antiquity has many a tale to tell.^ Strange to say, the classical mythus (above, pp. 206, 249) makes this Picus a son of Saturn, inasmuch as it either identifies him with Zeus who is succeeded by a Hermes, or makes him nourisher of Marss sons and father of Faunus. We see Picus (Picumnus) interwoven into the race of Kronos, Zeus, Hermes and Ares, the old Bohemian Stracec = picus into that of Sitivrat, Kirt and Radigost, as Beowulf is into that of Gcdt and Woden. If the groups differ in the details of their combination, their agreement as wholes is the more trustworthy and less open to suspicion. And just as the footprints of Saturn were traceable from the Slavs to the Saxons and to England, but were less known to the Northmen, so those of the divine bird in Stracec and Beowulf seem to take the same course, and never properly to reach Scandinavia. The central Germans stood nearer to Roman legend, although no actual borrowing need have taken place.

What a deep hold this group of heroes had taken, is evidenced by another legend. Scedf {i.e., manipulus frumenti) takes his name

1 Can tlie name in Upper Germany for the timliis or oriolus galbnla, Birolf, Pirolf, bnither Pirolf (Frisch 1, 161), possibly stand for Bmcolf (or Biterolf) ? Tlie Serbs call it Urosh, and curiously this a^^'ain is a hero's name. Conf. the Finn, lu-os [with heros i], p. 341.

24

370 HEROES.

from the circumstance, that when a boy he was conveyed to the country he was destined to succour, while aslecjy^ on a sheaf of corn in the boat. The poetry of the Lower Ehine and Netherlands in the Mid. Ages is full of a similar story of the sleeinng youth whom a swan • conducts in his ship to the afflicted land ; and this swan- knight, is pictured approaching out of paradise, from the grave, as iTg^mSjWhose divine, origin is beyond question. Helias, Gerhart or Loherangrin of the thirteenth century is identical then with a Scof or Scoup of the seventh and eighth, different as the surroundings may have, been, for the song of Beowulf appears to have transferred to Scild what belonged of right to his father Scedf. The beautiful story of the swan is founded on the miraculous origin of the swan- brothers, which I . connect with that of the Welfs ; both however seem to be antique lineage-legends of the Franks and Swabians, to which the proper names are mostly wanting. Had they been preserved, many another tie between the heroes and the gods would come to light.2 — Further, to Sceldwa or Skioldr belongs obviously the name Schiltunc in the Tirol and Parzival,^ as the name Schil- hunc, Nib. 88, 3, points to a race of Scilpungd, corresponding to the AS. Scilfingas, ON. Scil/ingar, of whom Skelfir, Scilfe, Scilpi is to be regarded as the ancestor. This Skelfir the Fornald. sog. 2, 9 makes the father of Skioldr, so that the Shilfinga and Shioldinga a3tt fall into one. Either Scelf is here confounded with Scef, or Scef must be altered to Scelf, but the frequent occurrence of the form Sceaf, and its interpretation (from sheaf), seem alike to forbid this (see Suppl.).

As the Skioldungar descend from Skioldr, so do the Giukungar from Ghiki = Gihika, Kipicho, with whom the Burgundian line begins : if not a god himself (p. 137), he is a divine hero that carries us back very near to Wuotan. The Gibichensteine (-stones) more- over bear witness to him, and it is to the two most eminent women of this race that Grimhildensteine, Brunhildensteine are allotted.*

1 Umborwesende ? Beow. 92.

^ The ship that brought Sceaf and the swan-knight carries them away again at last, but the reason is disclosed only in later legend : it was forbidden to inquire into their origin, Parz. 825, 19. Conr., Schwanritter 1144-73.

^ Zeitschr. fiir deut. alterth. 1,7. '

• Brunehildestein, lectulus Brunihilde, Kriemhiltenstein, Cviemildespil (Heldensage p. 155) ; Krimhilte graben (Weisth. 1, 48) ; in loco Grimhiltaperg noniinato (Juvavia p. 137) ; de Crinihilteperc, MB. 7. 498.

SCEAF. GIBIKA. WELIS. SIGOFRID. 371

Frau Vote however appears as ancestress of the stock.^ It has not been so much noticed as it ought, that in the Lex Burg. Gislahari precedes Gnndahari by a whole generation, whilst our epic (Xibelungen) makes Giselhere Gunthere's younger brother, and the Edda never names him at all. The Law makes no mention of any brothers, and Gisolher the young has merely the name of his elder kinsman. Gemot (from ger = gais) and Gisdher seem to be identical (conf. Gramm. 2, 46). But the Norse Guttormr can hardly be a distortion of Godomar, for we meet with him outside of the legend, e.r/., in Landn. 1, 18. 20, where the spelling GuSormr (Guntwurm) would lead us to identify him with Gunthere, and in Saxo Gram, are found several Guthormi (see Suppl.). Then Hagano the one-eyed, named from hagan (spinosus, Waltharius 1421), is ' more than heroic '}

Even deeper reaching roots must be allowed to the Welisungs ; their name brings us to a divine Valis who has disappeared (conf, the ON. Vali, p. 163), but the mere continuance of an OHG. Welisunc is a proof of the immemorial diffusion of the Volsunga- saga itself (see Suppl.). How, beginning with Wuotan, it goes on to 8igi, Sigimunt, Sigifrit, Sintarfizilo, has been alluded to on p. 367, and has already been treated of elsewhere.^ "With Sigfrit stands connected Hclfrich, Chilpericus, ON. Hialprekr. It is worthy of note, that the AS. Beowulf calls Sigfrit Sigemund, and Signumdr is a surname of OSinn besides.* Such a flood of splendour falls on Siegfried in the poems, that we need not stick at triiles ; his whole nature has evident traces of the superliuman : brought up by an elf Eegino, beloved by a valkyr Brunhild, instructed in his destiny by the wise man Gripir, he wears the helmet of invisibility, is vulnerable oidy on one spot in his body, as Achilles was in the heel, and he achieves the rich hoard of the Nibelungs. His slavin*^ of the dragon Eafnir reminds us of TIvdcDu^

1 Haupts zeitschr. 1, 21.

2 Laulinuinn's examination of the whole Nibelung legend, p. 22. ^ Ilaupts zeitschv. 1, 2 — 6.

• In the Cc " ' "

Magn. lex. G43

I suppose on the ground of the inscriptt. in Grutcr Iviii. 5 : Marti Segomoni sacrum ... in civitate Se([uanorum ; and ii. 2 : Diis deabus omnibus Veturius L.L. Securius (al. Segomunus) pro se quisque (see Suppl.).

5 Ahnost the same, granting a change of tfi into /(as in tirjp, 4>'']p) I of f'ur a standing for Greek J there are more examples : fnasu, blasu = nvfi/a, (pXvo).

.s zeitschr. 1, 2 — 6.

J Copenh. ed. of the Edda, Sajm. 2, 889 Sigemon, and in Finn G43 Scgemon, is said to have been a name of the Celtic Mars ; a the ground of the inscriptt. in Gruter Iviii. 5 : Marti Segomoni

372 . HEROES.

whom Apollo overcame, and as Python guarded the Delphic oracle, the dying Fafnir prophesies.^ We must take into account LoSfdfnir Saem. 24, 30. Sinfiotli, who, when a boy, kneads snakes into the dough, is comparable to the infant Hercules tested by serpents.

Through Siegfried the Prankish Welisungs get linked to the Burgundian Gibichungs, and then both are called Nibelungs.

Among Gothic heroes we are attracted by the Ovida and Cnivida in Jornandes cap, 22, perhaps the same as Offa and Cnehha in the Mercian hue. But of far more consequence is the great Gothic family of Amals or Amalungs, many of whose names in the Jornandean genealogy seem corrupt. The head of them all was Gapt, which I emend to Gaiit (Gauts), and so obtain an allusion to the divine office of casting [giessen, ein-guss, in-got] and meting (pp. 22. 142) ; he was a god, or son of a god (p. 164), and is even imported into the Saxon lines as Gedi, Wodelgeat, Sigegeat (p. 367). In this Gothic genealogy the weak forms Amala, Isarna, Ostro- gotha, Ansila, confirm what we have observed in Tuisco, Inguio, Iscio, Irmino ; but those best worth noting are Amcda, after whom the most powerful branch of the nation is named, Ei^mana- ricus and Theodcricus. Ermanaricus must be linked with Irmino and the Herminones, as there is altogether a closer tie between Goths and Saxons (Ingaevones and Herminones) as opposed to the Franks (Iscaevones), and this shows itself even in the later epics. — Amongst the Amalungs occur many names compounded with vulf, which reminds us of their side-branch, the Wiiltings ; if it be not too bold, I would even connect Isarna (Goth. Eisarna) with Isangrim. To me the four sons of Achiulf seem worthy of particular notice : Ansila, Ediulf, Vuldulf, and Hermenrich. Of the last we have just spoken, and Ansila means the divine ; our present concern is \yith. Ediulf and Viddidf. I find that Jornandes, cap. 54, ascribes to the Scyrians also two heroes Edica and Vulf; the Eugian Odoacer has a father EiicJio and a brother Aonulf ; and

^ The epithet sveinn (Sw. sven, Dan. svend) given to the Norse Sigurd'r appears ah-eady in Fafnir's addiess ' sveinn ok sveinn ! ' and in the headings to ch.' 142-4 of the Vilk. saga. The same hei'o then is meant by the Sivard snaresvtnd (foitis pner) of the Danish folk-song, who, riding on Grani, accompanies to Askereia (see ch. XXXI), and by Svend Fcldivg or Fiillincj of the Danish folk-tale (Thiele 2, 64-7. Muller's sagabibl. 2, 417-9). He drank out of a horn handed to him by elvish beings, and thereby acquired the strength of twelve men. Swedish songs call him Hven Fdrling or Foiling ; Arvidsson 1, 129. 415.

IRMANRIH. ETICIIO. DIETRICH. 373

the legend on the origin of the Welfs has the proper names

Iscnhart, Irmeninul, WeJf and Etico constantly recurring. Now,

welf is strictly catulus (huelf, whelp, OX. hvelpr),and distinct from

wolf ; natiiral history tells us of several strong courageous animals

that are brought into the world blind ; the Langobardic and

Swabian genealogies play upon dogs and wolves being exposed ; and

as Odoacer, Otachcr (a thing that has never till now been accounted

for) is in some versions called Sipicho, ON. Bicki, and this means

dog (bitch), I suspect a similar meaning in Edica, Eticho, Ediulf,

Odacar, which probably affords a solution of the fable about the

' blind Schwaben and Hessen ' : their lineage goes back to the blind

Welfs. In the genealogy Ediulf is described as brother to Ermen-

rich, in later sagas Bicki is counsellor to lormunrekr ; the Hilde-

brandslied has but too little to say of Otacher. Then Vuldulf also

(perhaps Vuldr-ulf) will signify a glorious beaming wolf (see

Suppl.). — As Siegfried eclipsed all other Welisungs, so did Diefcrich

all the Amalungs ; and where the epos sets them one against the

other, each stands in his might, unconquered, unapproachable.

Dieterieh's divine herohood comes out in more than one feature, e.g.,

his fiery breath, and his taking the place of Wuotan or Ero (p.

213-4) at the head of the wild host, as Dietriclibcrn or Bernhard.

The fiery breath brings him nearer to Donar, with whom he can be

compared in another point also : Dietericli is wounded in the

forehead by an arrow, and a piece of it is left inside him, for which

reason he is called the deathless ;^ not otherwise did the half of

Hrungnir's hein (stone wedge) remain in Thor's head, and as

Groa's magic could not loosen it, it sticks there still, and none shall

aim with tlie like stones, for it makes the piece in the god's forehead

stir (Sn. 109 — 111).^ This horn-like stone was very likely shown

in images, and enhanced their godlike appearance.

The renowned race of the Billings or Billungs, whose mythic

roots and relations are no longer discoverable, was still flourishing

in North Germany in the 10-1 1th centuries. The first historically

certain Billing died in 967, and another, above a liundred years

older, is mentioned.^ The Cod. Exon. 320, 7 says : ' Billing weold

1 Simon Keza, chron. Hungaror. 1, 11. 12. Heinr. vou Miiglein (in Kwachic.li p. 8) ; conf. Deutsche lieldeiisage p. 164.

" Hence tlie proverb : seint losnar hein i hoftJi Thors.

m and

3 Weilekin<rs Hermann duke of Saxony, Luneb. 1817, p. 60. Conf. the iles IJillinc, coinca Billiiigus in docs, of 961-8 in Hiifei-s zeitschr. 2, 239. 344, id the OHG. form Billuiigius in Zeuss, Trad, wizenb. pp. 274. 287. 305.

374 HEROES.

Wernum/ he belongs therefore to the stock of Werina, who were near of kin to the Angles. There was a Billinga hseS (heath) near Whalley, and London has to this day a Billingsgate. In OHG. we find a man's name Billxmc (Ried nos. 14. 21-3, a.d. 808. 821-2). If we take into account, that a dwarf Billingr occurs in the Edda, Ssem. 2* 23% a hero Pillunc in Rol. 175, 1, and Billunc and Nidunc coupled together in the Eenner 14126-647, the name acquires a respectable degree of importance (see Suppl.). The derivative Billinc implies a simple bil or bili (lenitas, placiditas), from which directly [and not from our adj. billig, fair] are formed the OHG. names Pilidrut, Pilihilt, Pilikart, Pilihelm ; to which add the almost personified Billich (equity) in Trist. 9374. 10062. 17887. 18027, and the ON. goddess Bil, Sn. 39 ; the II in Billung could be explained through Biliung. Just as OSinn in Ssem. 46^ is called both Bileygr (mild- eyed) and Baleygr (of baleful eye), so in Saxo Gram. 130 a BUvisus (aequus) stands opposed to Bcilvisus (iniquus).

5. Okentil. Wielant. Mimi. Tell, &c.

In addition to the heroes ascertained thus far, who form part of the main pedigree of whole nations, and thence derive weight and durability, there is another class of more isolated heroes ; I can only put forward a few of them here.

We have still remaining a somewhat rude poem, certainly founded on very ancient epic material, about a king Orcndcl or Erentel, whom the appendix to the Heldenbuch pronounces the first of all heroes that were ever born. He suffers shipwreck on a voyage, takes shelter with a master fisherman Eisen^ earns the seamless coat of his master, and afterwards wins frau Breide, the fairest of women : king Eigcl of Trier was his father's name. The whole tissue of the fable puts one in mind of the Odyssey : the ship- wrecked man clings to the plank, digs himself a hole, holds a bough before liim ; even the seamless coat may be compared to Ino's veil, and the fisher to the swineherd, dame Breide's templars would be Penelope's suitors, and angels are sent often, like Zeus's messengers. Yet many things take a different turn, more in German fashion, and incidents are added, such as the laying of a naked sword between the newly married couple, which the Greek story knows nothing of. The hero's name is found even in OHG. documents :

1 Who is also found apparently in a version of the Lay of king Oswald.

BILLUNG. OEENTIL. 375

Orcndil, Meiclielb. Gl; OrcntU, Trad. fuld. 2, 24 2, 109 (Scliannat 308) ; Orcndil a Bavarian count (an. 843 in Eccard's Fr. or. 2, 3G7)- a village Orcndclsal, now Orendensall, in Holieulolie, v. Haupts zeitsclir. 7, 558. — But the Edda lias another myth, wliich was alluded to in speaking of the stone in Thor's head. Groa is busy- conning her magic spell, when Thorr, to requite her for the approaching cure, imparts the welcome news, that in coming from lotunheim in the North he has carried her husband the bold Orvandill in a basket on his back, and he is sure to be home soon ; he adds by way of token, that as Orvandil's toe had stuck out of the basket and got frozen, he broke it off and flung it at the sky, and made a star of it, which is called 6rvandils-td. But Groa in her joy at the tidings forgot her spell, so the stone in the god's head never got loose, Sn. 110-1. Groa, the growing, the grass-green, is equivalent to Breide, i.e., Berhta (p. 272) the bright, it is only another part of his history that is related here : Orvandill must have set out on his travels again, and on this second adventure forfeited the toe which Thorr set in the sky, though what he had to do with the god we are not clearly told. Beyond a doubt, the name of the glittering star-group is referred to, when AS. glosses render ' jubar ' by earendel, and a hymn to the virgin Mary in Cod. Kxon." 7, 20 presents the following passage : .

Eala Earendel, engla beorhtast,

ofer middangeard monnum sended,

and s6i5fa?sta sunnan leoma >

torlit ofer tunglas, ]?u tida gehwane

of sylfuni l^e symle inlihtes ! i.e., 0 jubar, angelorum spleudidissime, super orbem terrarum hominibus misse, radie vere solis, supra stellas lucide, qui omni tempore ex te ipso luces ! Mary or Christ is here addressed under the heathen name of the constellation. I am only in doubt as to the right spelling and interpretation of the word ; an OHG. orentd implies AS. earendel, and the two would demand OaST. aurvendill, eyrvendill ; but if we start with ON. orvendill, then AS. earendel, OHG. erentil would seem preferable. The latter part of the compound certainly contains entil = wentil,^ The first part should

Whence did Matthesius (in Frisch 2, 439*) get his " Pan is the heathens' JVendel and head bagpiper " ? Can the word refer to the metamorphoses of the ' flute-playing demigod l In trials of witches, "Wendelis a name for the devil, Mones anz. y, 124.

376 HEROES.

be either ora, earo (auris), or else ON", or, gen. orvar (sagitta). Now, as there occurs in a tale in Saxo Gram., p. 48, a Horveudilus filius Gervenclili, and in OHG. a name Kerwentil (Schm. 2, 334) and Gerentil (Trad. fuld. 2, 106), and as geir (hasta) agrees better with or than with eyra (auris), the second interpretation may com- mand our assent ;^ a sight of the complete legend would explain the reason of the name. I think Orentil's father deserves attention too : Eigil is another old and obscure name, borne for instance by an abbot of Fulda who died in 822 (Pertz 1, 95. 356. 2, 366. Trad. fuld. 1, 77-8. 122). In the Ehine-Moselle country are the singular Eigelstcine, Weisth. 2, 744 (see Suppl.).^ In AS. we find the names Aeyhs burg (Aylesbury), Aeglcs ford (Aylesford), Aegles Jjorp ; but I shall come back to Eigil presently. Possibly Orentil was the thundergod's companion in expeditions against giants. Can the story of Orentil's wanderings possibly be so old amongst us, that in Orentil and Eigil of Trier we are to look for that Ulysses and Laertes whom Tacitus places on our Ehine (p. 365) ? The names shew nothing in common.^

Far-famed heroes were Wieland and Witticli^ whose rich legend is second to none in age or celebrity. Vidigoia (Vidugauja) of whom the Goths already sang, OHG. Witugouivo as well as Witicho, ]\IHG. Witcgouwe and Witege, AS. Wudga, in either form silvicola, from the Goth, vidus, OHG. witu, AS. wudu (lignum, silva), leads us to suppose a being passing tlie bounds of human nature, a forest-god. Erau Wachilt, a mermaid, is his ancestress, with whom he takes refuge in her lake. At the head of the whole race is placed king Vilkinus, named after Vulcanus as the Latin termination shews, a god or demigod, who must have had another and German name, and who begets with the merwoman a gigantic son Vadi, AS. Wada (Cod. Exon. 323, 1), OHG. Wato, so named I suppose because, like another Christopher, he waded with his child on his shoulder through the Grcenasund where it is nine yards

^ And so Uhland (On Tlior, p. 47 seq.) expounds it : in Groa lie sees the i;;powth of the crop, in Orvandill the sprouting of the blade. Even the tale in Saxo he brings in.

2 The false spelling Eichelstein (acorn-stone) has given rise to spurions legends, Mones anz. 7, 368.

3 1 have hardly the face to mention, that some make the right shifty Ulysses father to Pan, our Wendel above.

** The still imprinted M.Dutch poem, De kinderen van Limburg, likewise mentions JVilant, JVedege and Mimminc,

EIGIL. WITICIIO. WATE. WIELANT. 377

deep (l)etween Zealand, Falster and Moen) ; the Danish hero Wate iu Gudruu is identical with him; the AS. Wada is placed toward Ilelsingen. Old English poetry had much to tell of liim, that is now lost : Chaucer names ' Wades boot Guingelot,' and a place in Northumberland is called Wade's gap ; Wffitlingestret could only ])e brought into connexion with him, if such a spelling as "\Va3dling could be made good. — Now, that son, whom Vadi carried through the sea to apprentice him to those cunning smiths the dwarfs, was Wielant, AS. Weland, Welond, ON. Volundr, but in the Vilk. saga Vclint, master of all smiths, and wedded to a swan- maiden Hervor alvitr. The -rightful owner of the boat, which English tradition ascribes to Wada, seems to have been Wieland ; the Vilk. saga tells how he timbered a boat out of the trunk of a tree, and sailed over seas. Lamed in the sinews of his foot, he forged for himself a winged garment, and took his flight through the air. His skill is praised on all occasions, and his name coupled with every costly jewel, Vilk. saga cap. 24. Witeche, the son he had by Baduhilt, bore a hammer and tongs in his scutcheon in honour of his father ; during the IMid. Ages his memory lasted among smiths, whose workshops were styled JVicland's houses,^ and perhaps his likeness was set up or painted outside them ; the ON. ' Volundar hus ' translates the Latin labyrinth ; a host of similar associations must in olden times have been generally diffused, as we learn from the names of places : Welantes gruoba (pit), .MB. 13, 59 ; Wielantes heim, MB. 28^ 93 (an. 889) ; Wiclan- iu dorf, MB. 29, 54 (an. 1246) ; Wielantes tanna (firs), MB. 28^ 188. 471 (an. 128U) ; Wielandes brunne, MB. 31, 41 (an. 817). The multiplication of such names during long centuries does not admit of their being derived from human inhabitants. The Dan. Vclandswrt (-wort), Icel. Velantswxt, is the valerian, and according to Staid. 2, 450 WielandheQve. the daphne cneorum. Tradition would doubtless extend Wieland's dexterity to Wittich and to Wate, who also gets the credit of the boat, and in the Gudrun-lay of the healing art. In Stem. 270% ' boekur ofnar volundom ' are stragula artificiose contexta, and any artist might be called a volundr or wielant, A gorgeous coat of mail (lirregel, OHG. hregil) is in Beow. 904 Welandes geweorc. /Elfred in Boeth. 2, 7 translates fidelis

• Juxta domiun JVelandi fabri, Ch. ad ann. 1262 in Lang's reg. 3, 181 : couf, Ilaupts zeitsclir. 2, 248. I find also IFUigo faber, MB. 7, 122.

378 HEROES.

ossa Fabricii ' ]?aes wisan goldsmiSes ban Welondes ' (metrically : Welandes ban) ; evidently the idea of faber which lay in Fabricius brought to his mind the similar meaning of the Teutonic name, Wdand being a cunning smith in general. For the name itself appears to contain the ON", v^l = viel (ars, rix^rj, OHG. list), Gramm. 1, 462, and smiSvelar meant artes fabriles ; the AS. form is wll, or better wil, Engl, wile, Fr. guile; the OHG. wiol, wiel (with broken vowel) is no longer to be found. But further, we must pre- suppose a verb wielan, AS. welan (fabrefacere), whose pres. part, wie- lant, weland, exactly forms our proper name, on a par with wlgant, werdant, druoant, &c. ; Graff 2, 234 commits the error of citing Wielant under the root lant, with which it has no more to do than heilant (healer, saviour). The OFr. Galans (Heldens. 42) seems to favour the ON", form Volundr [root val] since Veland would rather have led to a Fr. Guilans ; possibly even the ON. vala (nympha) is a kindred word ? An OHG. name Wieldrud seems the very thing for a wise-woman. — This development of an intrinsic significance in the hero's name finds an unexpected confirmation in the striking similarity of the Greek fables of Hephtestus, Erichthonius and Dsedalus. As Weland offers violence to Beadohild (Volundr to BoSvildr), so Hephoestus lays a snare for Athene, when she comes to order weapons of him ; both Hephaestus and Volundr are punished with lameness, Erichthonius too is lame, and therefore invents the four-horse chariot, as Volundr does the boat and wings. One with Erichthonius are the later Erechtheus and his descendant Daedalus, who invented various arts, a ring- dance, building, &c., and on whose wings his son Icarus was soaring when he fell from the clouds. But AaihaXo^i ^ is Bal8a\o<i, BaiSaX- eo?, cunningly wrought, SatSaX/ia (like dyaXfia) a work of art, and SacMWeiv the same as our lost wielan. As our list [like the Engl, cunning and craft] has degenerated from its original sense of scientia to that of calliditas and fraus, and vel has both meanings, it is not surprising that from the skill-endowed god and hero has proceeded a deformed deceitful devil (p. 241). The whole group of V^'^ate, Wielant, Wittich are heroes, but also ghostly beings and demigods (see Suppl.).

The Vilkinasaga brings before us yet another smith, Mimir, by

1 A reduplication like iraiTToKos, ttanrakoHs tortus, arduus, TratrrdXXet:/ tor- qtiere ; conf. Xaika^, nalfjia^, &c.

WELAND. MBri. 379

whom not only is Velint instructed in his art, but Sigfrit is brought up — another smith's-apprentice. He is occasionally mentioned in the later poem of Biterolf, as Mhnc the old (Heldensage, pp. 146-8) ; an OHG. Mimi must have grown even more deeply into our language as well as legend : it has formed a diminutive Mimilo (MB. 28, 87-9, annis 983-5), and Mima, Mimidrilt, Miviihilt are women's names (Trad. fuld. 489. Cod. lauresh. 211) ; the old name of Miinster in Westphalia was J/imigardiford, il/i;?iigerneford (Indices to Pertz 1. 2), conf. il/i??iigerdeford in Kichthofen 335 ; the AVestphalian Minden was originally J/midun (Pertz 1, 368), and Memleben on the Unstrut J/i7;iileba, The great number of these proper names indicates a mythic being, to which Memerolt (Morolt 111) may also be related. — The elder ZSTorse tradition names him just as often, and in several different connexions. In one place, Saxo, p. 40,^ interweaves a Mimingus, a ' silvarum satyrus ' and possessor of a sword and jewels, into the myth of Balder and Hother, and this, to my thinking, throws fresh light on the vidugauja (wood-god) above. The Edda however gives a higher position to its Mhnir: he has a fountain, in which wisdom and understanding lie hidden ; drinking of it every morning, he is the wisest, most intelligent of men, and this again reminds us of ' Wielandes brunne '. To il/imisbrunnr came OGinn and desired a drink, but did not receive it till he had given one of his eyes in pledge, and hidden it in the fountain (Ssem. 4^ Sn. 17) ; this accounts for OSinn being one-eyed (p. 146). In the Yngl, sa-^a cap. 4, the Ases send Mimir, their wisest man, to the Vanir, who cut his head off and send it back to the Ases. But OGinn spake his spells over the head, that it decayed not, nor ceased to utter speech ; and 05inn holds conversation with it, whenever he needs advice, conf. Yngl. saga cap. 7, and Siem. 8^ 195^. I do not exactly know whom the Voluspa means by Mhnis synir (sons), Siem. 8'' ; MimamQ\d,v 109=^ implies a nom. Mimi gen. Mima, and may be distinct from Mimir (conf. Bragr and Bragi, p. 235). — Mimir is no As, but an exalted being with whom the Ases hold converse, of wdioni they make use, the sura-total of wisdom, possibly an older nature-god ; later fables degraded him into a wood-sprite or clever smith. His oneness with heroes tends to throw a divine splendour

1 P. E. Muller's ed., p. 114, following wliicli I have set aside the readiu" Miiuringiis, in spite of the Danish song of Mimering tand. °

380 HEllOES.

on tliem. S^vedisll folk-song has not yet forgotten Mimes a (Arvidsson 2, 316-7), and in Konga liiirad and Tingas socken in Sniakand there lies a Mimes sjo, inhabited according to the legend by neckar (nixies), ibid. p. 319. Perhaps some of the forms quoted have by rights a short i, as have indisputably the AS. mimor, meomor, gemimor (memoriter notus), mimerian (memoria tenere), our Low German mimeren (day-dreaming), Brem. wtb. 3, 161, and the Memerolt, ]\iemleben above ; so that we might assume a verb meima, maim, mimum. Then the analogy of the Latin memor and CJr. fjLi/x€o/xaL allows us to bring in the giant and centaur Mlfia^i, i.e., the wood-sprite again (see Suppl.).

According to the Edda (Soem. 133), Volundr had two brothers SlagfiSr and Egill, all three ' synir Finnakonungs,' sons of a Finnish king, whereas the saga transplanted to the North from Germany makes its Vilkinus a king of Vilkinaland. Or can Finna be taken as the gen. of Finni, and identified with that Finn Folcwaldansunu on p. 219 ? SlagfiSr might seem = Slagfinnr, but is better explained as SlagfioSr (flap- wing, see ch. XVI, Walachuriun). All three brothers married valkyrs, and Egill, the one that chiefly concerns us here, took Olrun (Aliorima). The Vilk. saga, cap. 27, likewise calls Velint's younger brother Eigill : ■' ok ]?enna kalla menu Olrunar Eigil,'''- but the bride is not otherwise alluded to ; this form Eigill agrees with the OHG. Eigil on p. 376, not with the OK Egill, dat. Agli, for the dat. of Eigill would have been Eigli. Well, this Eigill was a famous archer ; at Mdung's command he shot an apple off the head of his own little son, and when the king asked him what the other two arrows were for, replied that they were intended for him, in case the first had hit the child. The tale of this daring sliot must have been extremely rife in our remotest antiquity, it turns up in so many places, and always with features of its own. As the Vilkinasaga was imported into Scandinavia in the 13th century, the story of Eigill was certainly diffused in Lower Germany before that date. But Saxo Grammaticus in Denmark knew it in the 12th centurv, as told of Toko and king Harald Gormsson, with the addition, wanting in Eigill, that Toko

1 Peringskiold translates ' Egillns Sagittarius,' and Eafn ' Egil den traf^ fende,' but this was merely guessed from the incidents of the story. Arrow is not 61, but or ; Orentil on the contrary, Eigil's son, does seem to have been named from the arrow.

EIGIL. TOKI. IIEMIXG. TELL. 381

after the shot behaved like a hero in the sea-storm. The Icelanders too, particularly the lonisvikinga saga, relate the deeds of this rdlnatoki, but not the shot from the bow, though they agree with Saxo in making Harald fall at last by Toki's shaft, Tiie king's death by the marksman's hand is historical (a.d, 992), the shot at the apple mythical, having gathered round the narrative out of an older tradition, which we must presume to have been in existence in the 10- 11th centuries. To the Norwegian saga of Olaf the Saint (-j-lOoO), it has attached itself another way : Olaf wishing to convert a heathen man, EindriSi, essayed his skill against him in athletic arts, first swimming, then shooting ; after a few successful shots, the king required that EindriSi's boy should be placed at the butts, and a writing-tablet be shot off his head without hurting tlie child. EindriSi declared himself willing, but also ready to avenge any injury. Olaf sped the first shaft, and narrowly missed the tablet, when EindriSi, at his mother's and sister's- prayer, declined the shot (Fornm. sog. 2, 272). Just so king Haraldr SigurSarson (HarSraSa, -f* 1066) measured himself against an archer Hemingr, and bade him shoot a hazelnut off his Biorn's head, and Hemingr accomplished the feat (Midler's sagabibl. 3,. 359, Thattr af Hemingi cap, 6, ed. Eeykjavik p. 55), Long afterwards, the legend was transferred to a Hemming Wolf, or von Wulfen, of WewelsHet in the Wilstermarsch of Holstein, where the Elbe empties itself into the sea. Hemming Wolf had sided with count Gerhard in 1472, and was banished by king Christian. The folk-tale makes- the king do the same as Harald, and Hemming as Toko ; an old painting of Wewelsflet church represents the archer on a meadow with bow unbent, in the distance a boy with the apple on his head, the arrow passes through the middle of the apple, but the archer lias a second between his teeth, and betwixt him and the boy stands a wolf, perhaps to express that Hemming after his bold answer was declared a wolf's head.^ Most appropriately did the mythus rear its head on the emancipated soil of Switzerland : In 1307, it is said, Wilhelm Tell, compelled by Gessler, achieved the same old master-shot, and made the courageous speech ; but the evidence of chroniclers does not begin till toward the 16th century ,2

^ Schleswigholst. prov. berichte 1798, vol. 2, p. 39 seq. Mallenhof, Sclilo8wij,'liolst Raj,'en no. 66.

•^ I suspect the genuineness of tlie verses, alleged to be by lleinricli vou

382 HEROES.

shortly before the first printed edition of Saxo, 1514. Of the unhistorical character of the event there cannot be the sliglitest dovibt. The mythic substratum of the Tell fable shews itself in an Upper Ehine legend of the 15th century (in Malleus malef. pars 2 cap. 16, de sagittariis maleficis) which immediately preceded the first written record of that of Tell : Fertur de ipso (PimcheroJ, quod quidam de optimatibus, cum artis sue experientiam capere voluis- set, eidem prop7^ium filium parvuhtm ad metam posuit, et pro signo super hir return pueri denarium, sibique mandavit, ut denarmm sine hirreto per sagittam amoveret. Cum autem maleficus id se facturum sed cum difiicultate assereret, libentius abstinere, ne per diabolum seduceretur in sui interitum; verbis tamen principis inductus, sagittam unam collari suo circa coUum immisit, et alteram balistae supponens denarium a hirreto pueri sine omni nocumento excmsit. Quo viso, dum ille maleficum interrogasset, ' cur sagittam collari imposuisset ? ' respondit, 'si deceptus per diabolum puerum occidissem, cum me mori necesse fuisset, subito cum sagitta altera vos tranfifixisscin, ut vel sic mortem meam vindicassem '. This shot must have taken place somewhere about 1420, and the story have got about in the middle part of the 15th century. — Beside the above-mentioned narratives, Norse and German, we have also an Old English one to shew in the Northumbrian ballad of the three merry men, Adam Bell, Clym of the Clough, and William of Cloudesle ; this last, whose christian name, like the surname of the first, reminds one of Tell, offers in the king's presence to set an apple on the head of his son, seven years old, and shoot it off at 120 paces. The arrow sped from the bow, and cleft the apple. I suppose that Aegel's skill in archery would be known to the Anglo-Saxons ; and if we may push Wada, Weland and Wudga far up into our heathen time, Aegel seems to have an equal claim. The whole myth shows signs of having deep and widely extended

HiJnenbere of 1315, which Carl Zay has made known in his book on Goldau, Zurich 1807, p. 41 :

Dum pater in puerum telum crudele coruscat Tellius ex jussu, saeve tyranne, tuo,

pomum, non natmn, figit fatalis arundo : altera mox ultrix te, periture, petet. H. von Hlinenberg is the same who, before the battle of Morgarten, shot a warning billet over to the Swiss on his arrow (Joh. Midler 2, 37), hewas therefore a bowman himself. Justinger and Johann von Winterthur are silent about Tell ; Melchior Russ (f 1499) and Petermann Etterlin (completed 1507) were the first who committed the story to writing.

TELL. EIGIL. 383

roots. It partly agrees even with -what Eustathius on II. 12, 292 tells us, that Sarpedon, a hero of the blood of Zeus, was made when a child to stand up and have a ring shot off his breast without injury to him, an action which entailed the acquisition of the Lycian kingdom (see Suppl.).^

With these specimens of particular heroes— crumbs from the richly furnished table of our antiquities — I will content myself, as there are still some reflections of a more general kind to be made.

I started with saying, that in the heroic is contained an exalting and refining of human nature into divine, originally however founded on the affinity of some god with the human race. Now as procreation is a repetition, and the son is a copy of the father (for which reason our language with a profound meaning has avara for image and avaro for child) ; so in every hero we may assume to a certain extent an incarnation of the god, and a revival of at least some of the qualities that distinguish the god. In this sense the hero appears as a sublimate of man in general, who, created after the image of God, cannot but be like him. But since the gods, even amongst one another, reproduce themselves, i.e., their plurality has radiated out of the primary force of a single One (p. 164), it follows, that the origin of heroes must be very similar to that of polytheism altogether, and it must be a difficult matter in any particular case to distinguish between the full-bred divinity and the half-blood. If heroes, viewed on one side, are deified men, they may on the other hand be also regarded as humanized gods ; and it comes to the same thing, whether we say that the son or grandson begotten by the god has attained a semi- divine nature, or that the god born again in him retains but a part of his pristine power. We are entitled to see in individual heroes a precipitate of former gods, and a mere continued extension, in a wider circle, of the same divine essence which had already branched out into a number of gods (see Suppl.).

This proposition can the more readily be demonstrated from the popular faiths of Greece and Germany, which commit themselves to no systematic doctrine of emanation and avatara, as in these

1 Similar legends seem to live in the East. In a JIS. of the Cassel library containing a journey in Turkey, I saw the representation of an archer taking aim at a child with an apple on its head.

384 HEROES.

religions the full-blooded animalism of herohood developed itself the more richly for that very reason. While the Indian heroes are in the end reabsorbed into the god, e.g., Krishna becomes Vishnu, there remains in Greek and German heroes an irreducible dross of humanism, which brings them more into harmony with the historical ingredients of their story. Our hero-legend has this long while had no consciousness remaining of such a thing as incarna- tion, but has very largely that of an apotheosis of human though god-descended virtue.

Herakles can never become one with Zeus, yet his deeds remind us of those of his divine sire. Some traits in Theseus allow of his being compared to Herakles, others to Apollo. Hermes was the son of Zeus by Maia, Amphion by Antiope, and the two brothers, the full and the half-bred, have something in common.

In Teutonic hero-legend, I think, echoes of the divine nature can be distinguished still more frequently ; the Greek gods stood unshaken to the last, and heroes could be developed by the side of them. But when once the Teutonic deities encountered Christianity, there remained only one of two ways open to the fading figures of the heathen faith, either to pass into evil diabolic beings, or dwindle into good ones conceived as human. The Greek heroes- all belong to the flowering time of paganism \ of the Teutonic a part at least might well seem a poverty-stricken attenuation and fainter reproduction of the former gods, such as could still dare to shew its face after the downfall of the heathen system. Christian opinion in the Mid. Ages guided matters into this channel ; unable to credit the gods any longer with godhood, where it did not transform them into devils, it did into demigods. In the Edda the a3sir are still veritable gods ; Jornandes too, when he says, cap. 6 : ' mortuum (Taunasem regem) Gothi inter numina populi svA coluerunt ' — be this Taunasis Gothic or Getic — assumes that there were Gothic gods, but the anses he regards as only victorious heroes exalted into demigods ; and in Saxo, following the same line of thought, we find that Balder (who exhibits some Heraklean features, v. supra p. 226-7), and Hother, and Othin himself, have sunk into mere heroes.^ This capitis deminutio of the gods brought

1 In the AS. Etlielwerd p. 833 we read : ' Hengest et Horsa, hi nepotes fnere JFoddan regis barbarorum, quem post infanda dignitate ut deum honorantes, sacrificium obtulerunt pagani victoriae causa sive virtutis, ut huinanitas saepe credit hoc quod videt'. "Wiu. of Maliuesbury's simihir words were quoted

HEROES. 385

them nearer to heroes, wliilc the heroes were cut off from absolute deification ; how much the two must have got mixed up in the mist of legend ! Yet in every case where bodily descent from the gods is aliened of a hero, his herohood is the more ancient, and really of heathen origin.

Among the heroes tliemselves there occur second births, of which a fuller account will be given further on, and which shew a certain resemblance to the incarnations of gods. As a god renews himself in a hero, so does an elder hero in a younger.

Beings of the giant brood, uniting themselves now to gods and now to heroes, bring about various approximations between these two.

We have seen how in the genealogy of Inguio, first OSinn, then NiorGr and Freyr interweave themselves : NiorSr and Hadding seem identical, as do Heimdall and Rigr, but in NiorSr and Heim- dall the god is made prominent, in Hadding and Rigr the hero. Irmin appears connected with Wuotan and Zio, just as Ares and Herakles approach each other, and Odysseus resembles Hermes. Baldr is conceived of as divine, Baildceg as heroic. In Siegfried is

u])ove, p. 128 ; he also says ^ denm eiise delirantes'. Albericus tr. font. 1, 23 {utter A.D. 274) expresses himself thus : ' In hac generatione decima ab incar- natione Domini regnasse invenitur quidam Mercurius in Gottlandia insula, quae est inter Daciam et Russiam extra Romanum imperium, a quo Merciu-io, qui Woden dictus est, descendit genealogia Anglorinn et multoruni aliorum '. Much in the same way Snorri in the Yngl. saga and Form. 13. 14 lepresents OCinn as a IwfiSincii and hermaf^r come from Asia, who by policy secured the worship of the nations ; and Saxo p. 12 professes a like o])iniou : ' ea tempes- tate ciun Otiiinus quidam, Europa tota, Jalso din'nitatis titulo censeretur,' &c. conf. what he says p. 45. What other idea could orthodox christians at that time form of tlie false god of their forefathers ? To idolatry they could not but impute wilful deceit or presumption, being unable to comprehend that some- thing very ditl'erent from falsified history lies at the bottom of heathenism. As little did there ever exist a real man and king OSinn (let alone two or three), as a real Jupiter or Mercury. — But the attinity of the hero nature with the divine is clearly distinct from a deification arising out of human ]>ride and deceit. Those heathen, who trusted mainly their inner strength (p. 6), like the Homeric heroes irfrrmdoTfs ^ijj4>'' (H- 12, 25(5), were j'et far from setting themselves up for gods. Similar to the stories of K'ebucadnrzar (er wolte selbe sin ein got, would himself be god, Parz. 102, 7. Barl. 60, 35), ol' Kosroes (^lassmann on Eracl. p. 502), of the Greek Salmonevs (conf. N. Cap. 146), and the Ryzantine Erarlius, was our ]\lid. Age story of Imiiotans wiiester Babilonie, ' der wolde selve wesen got'(I\other 2568) = Nibelut ze Barise ' der machet himele gnldin, selber wolt ergot sin '(Bit. 299), just as Salmoneus imitated the lightning and thunder of Zeus. Inielot and Nibelot here seem to mean the same thing, as do elsewhere Imelunge and Nibelunge (Hehlens. 162) ; I do not know what allusion there might be in it to a Nibelunc or Amelunc (see Suppl.).

25

3SC) HEEOES.

nu echo of Caldr and Freyr, perhaps of OSinn, in Dietrich of Thorr and Freyr. Ecke oscillates between the giant and the hero. Even Charles and Eoland are in some of their features to be regarded as new-births of Wuotan and Donar, or of Siegfried and Dietrich. As for Geat, Sceaf, Sceldwa, for lack of their legends, it is difficult to separate their divine nature from their heroic.

One badge of distinction I find in this, that the names of gods are in themselves descriptive, i.e., indicating from the first their inmost nature ; ^ to the names of half-gods and heroes this signi- ficance \n\ often be wanting, even when the human original has carried his name over with him. Then, as a rule, the names of gods are simple, those of heroes often compound or visibly derived. Donar therefore is a god from the first, not a deified man : his appellation expresses also his character. The same reason is decisive against that notion of Wuotan having made his way out of the ranks of men into those of the gods.

Demigods have the advantage of a certain familiarness to the people : bred in the midst of us, admitted to our fellowship, it is they to whom reverence, prayers and oaths prefer to address them- selves : they procure and facilitate intercourse with the higher- standintT jrod. As it came natural to a Eoman to swear ' mehercle ' mecastor ! ecastor ! edepol ! ' the christians even in the Mid. Ages swore more habitually by particular saints than by God himself.

We are badly off for information as to the points in which the Hero-worship of our forefathers shaped itself differently from divine worship proper ; even the Norse authorities have nothing on the subject. The Grecian sacrifices to heroes differed from those offered to gods : a god had only the viscera and fat of the beast presented to him, and was content with the mounting odour ; a deified hero must have the very flesh and blood to consume. Thus the einherjar admitted into Valholl feast on the boiled flesh of the boar Siehrinniir, and drink with the Ases ; it is never said that the Ases shared in the food, Srem. 36. 42. Sn. 42 ; conf. supra, p. 317. Are we to infer from this a difference in the sacri- fices offered to gods and to demigods ?

Else, in the other conditions of their existence, we can perceive many resemblances to that of the gods.

Thus, their stature is enormous. As Ares covered seven roods,

^ Sometliing like the names of tlie characters in the Beast-apologrie.

FIGUEK 387

Ilcraklcs has also a body of gigantic mould. When the godlike SigurSr strode through the full-grown field of corn, the dew-shoe ^ of his- seven-span sword was even with the upright ears (Vols, saga cap. 22. Vilk. saga cap. 166) ; a hair out of his horse's tail was seven yards long (Nornag. saga cap. 8). — One thing hardly to bo found in Teutonic gods, many -handedness, does occur in an ancient hero. Wudga and llama, Witege and Heime, are always named together. This Heimo is said to have been by rights called Studas, like his father ("whom sOme traditions however name Adelger, Madelger) ; not till he had slain the worm Heima,^ did he adopt its name (Vilk. saga cap. 17). To him are expressly attributed three hands and four elhoivs, or else tvjo hands with three elbows (Heldens. 257. Eoseng. p. xx, conf. Ixxiv) ; the extra limbs are no exaggera- tion (Heldens. 391), rather their omission is a toning down, of the original story. And Asprian comes out with four hands (Eoseng. p. xii). StarkaSr, a famous godlike hero of the North, has thire pairs of arms, and Thor cuts four of his hands off (Saxo Gram., p. 103) ; the Hervararsaga (Eafn p. 412, 513) bestows eiijlit hands on him, and the ability to fight with four swords at once : dtta handa, Fornald. sog. 1, 412. 3, 37. In the Swedish folk-song of Alf, ori- ginally heathen, there is a hero Torgnejer (roaring like thunder ?), ' ban hade otta bander (Arvidss. 1, 12).^ Such cumulation of limbs is also a mark of the giant race, and some of the heroes mentioned do overlap these ; in the Servian songs I find a three headed hero Balatchko (Vuk 2, no. 6, line 608) ; Pegam too in the Carniolan lay has three heads (tri glave). — Deficiency of members is to be found in heroes as well as gods : OSinn is one-eyed, Tfv one- handed, Loki (= Hephaestus?) lame, Hu'5r blind, and ViSar dumb;*

1 Doggskor, S\v. doppsko, tlic heel of the sword'-s slicatli, which usually brushes tlie dew : so tlie AUunaiins called a lame foot, that dragged through the dewy grass, toudregil. This ride through the corn has something in it highly mythic and suggestive of a god.

^ Heimo appears to mean worm originally, though used elsewhere of the cricket or cicada (Reinh. cxxv), for which our present heimchen (little worm) is better suited. A renowned Karliiig hero was also named Heimo (Reinh. cciv). We lind again, that Madelger is in Morolt 3921 a dwarf, son of a mer- maid, and in Rol. 58, 17 a smith.

3 In the prophecies of the North Frisian Hertje (a.d. 1400) the tradition of such monstrosities is applied to the future : ' Wehe den minschen, de den leven, wen de liide 4 arme kriegen und 2 par scho over de vote dragen und 2 hode up den kop hebben ! ' Heimreichs chron., Tondern 1819 ; 2, 311. It may however refer merely to costume.

• (Joth. haihs, hanfs, halts, blinds, dumba.

388 HEROES.

SO is Hagaiio one-eyed, Walthari one-handed, Gunthari and Wie- lant lame, of blind and dumb heroes there are j^lenty.

One thing seems peculiar to heroes, that their early years should be clouded by some defect, and that out of this darkness the bright revelation, the reserved force as it were, should suddenly break forth. Under this head we may even place the blind birth of the Welfs, and the vulgar belief about Hessians and Swabians (p. 373). In Saxo Gram., p. 63, Uffo is dumb, and his father Vermund blind ; to him corresponds the double Offa in the line of Mercia, and both of these Offas are lame and dumb and blind. According to the ' vita Ofae primi, Varmundi filii,' he was of hand- some figure, but continued blind till his seventh year, and dumb till his thirtieth ; when the aged Varmund was threatened with war, all at once in the assembly Offa began to speak. The ' vita Offae secundi' says,^ the hero was at first called Vinered (so we must emend Pineredus), and was blind, lame and deaf, but when he came into possession of all his senses, he was named Offa secundus. Exactly so, in Stem. 142% HiorvarSr and Sigurlinn have a tall hand- some son, but ' hann var ]?ogull, ecki nafn festiz viS hann '. Only after a valkyrja has greeted him by the name of Hclgi, does he begin to speak, and is content to answer to that name. Starkaffr too was ]?ogull in his youth (Fornald. sog. 3, 36), and Hcdfdan was reckoned stupid (Saxo, p. 134) ; just as slow was the heroism of Dietleib in unfolding itself (Vilk. saga cap. 91), and that of Iliya in the Eussian tales. Our nursery-tales take up the character as dscherling, aschenhrodcl, ashcfis (cinderel) : the hero-youth lives inactive and despised by the kitchen-hearth or in the cattle-stall, out of whose squalor he emerges when the right time comes. I do riot recollect any instance in Greek mythology of this exceed- ingly favourite feature of our folk-lore.

Unborn children, namely those that have been cut out of the womb, usually grow up heroes. Such was the famous Persian liustem in Ferdusi, as well as Tristan according to the old story in Eilhart, or the Russian hero Dobrunii Nikititch, and the Scotch Macduff. But Volsungr concerns us more, who spoke and made vows while yet unborn, who, after being cut out, had time to kiss his mother before she died (Volsungas. cap. 2. 5). An obscure

^ These remarkable vitae Offae primi et secundi are printed after Watts's Matth. Paris, i:)p. 8, 9.

AFFLICTED. UNBORN. 389

passage in Fafnismul (Soem. 187*) seems to designate SigiirSr also an ohorinn; and in one as difficult (Beow. 92), may not the 'umbor- wesende ' which I took in a different sense on p. 370, stand for 2mJo7'-wesende, to intimate that Sceaf passed for an unborn ? The Landnamabok 4, 4 has an Uni hinn oborni (m.), and 1, 10 an Ulfrun in oborna (f ) ; for wise-women, prophetesses, also come into the world the same way.^ Our Mid. Ages tell of an unborn hero Hoyer (Benecke's Wigalois, p. 452) ; in Hesse, Eeinhart of Dalwig was known as the unborn, being, after the ca^sarian operation, brought to maturity in the stomachs of newly slaughtered swine.^ As early as the tenth century, Eckhart of St. Gall informs us : Infans excisus et arvinae porci recens erutae, ubi incutesceret, involutus, bonae indolis cum in brevi apparuisset, baptizatur et Purchardus nominatur (Pertz 2, 120) ; this is the Burchardus ingcnitus, afterwards abbot of St Gall. One Gebehardus, ex de- functae matris Dietpurgae utero excisus, is mentioned in the Chron. Petershus. p. 302, with the remark : De talibus excisis literae testantur quod, si vita comes fuerit, felices in mundo habeantur. To such the common standard cannot be applied, their extra- ordinary manner of coming into the world gives presage of a higher and mysterious destiny. Not unlike is the Greek myth of Metis and Tritogeneia : the virgin goddess springs out of the forehead of Zeus. The phrase about ' HloSr being born %cUh helmet, sicord and horse ' (above, p. 76), is explained by the Hervararsaga, p. 490, to mean, that the arms and animals which accompany the hero were forged and born at the time of his birth. Schroter's Finnish Eunes speak of a child that was born ar7ned : this reminds us of the superstition about lucky children being born with hood and helmet (see ch. XXVIII).

It was noticed about the gods (p. 321), that Balder's brother, when scarcely born, when but one night old, rushed to vengeance, unwashed and uncombed. This is like the children born of liten Kerstin after long gestation : the newborn son gets up directly and combs his hair, the new born daughter knows at once how to sew silk. Another version makes her give birth to two sons, one of whom combs his yellow locks, the other draws his sword, both equipped for swift revenge (Svenska fornsanger 2, 254-6). Here

1 ITeiniroich's Nordfries. chr. 2, 341. ^ Zeitscluilt I'iir Hess, gesch. 1, 97.

390 HEROES.

combing and not combing seem to be the same characteristic, A new born child speaks ; Norske eventyr 1, 139.

As the hirtli of beloved kings is announced to their people by joyful phenomena, and their death by terrible, the same holds good of heroes. Their generosity founds peace and prosperity in the land. FroSi's reign in Denmark was a period of bliss ; in the year of Ilakon's election the birds bred twice, and trees bore twice, about which beautiful songs may be gleaned out of his saga, cap. 24. On the night that Ilelgi was born, eagles cried, and holy waters streamed from the mountains, Sam. 149^.

Sigur&'s walk and manner of appearing was impetuous, like that of a god ; when he first approached the burg of Brynhildr,

• iorS dusaSi ok opphimin,' earth shook and heaven, Ssem. 241^ ; and of Brynhild's laughing, as of that of the gods (p. 324), we are told : ' hlo, boer allr dundi,' she laughed and all the castle dinned, Ssem. 208^ A divine strength reveals itself in many deeds and movements of heroes. Dietrich's fiery breath may be suggestive of Donar, or perhaps only of a di^agon : * ob sin atem goebe fiur als eines wilden trachen,' (Parz. 13-7, 18).

A widely prevalent mark of the hero race is their being sticldcd hy leasts, or fed hy birds. A hind offers her milk to SigurSr when exposed, Vilk. saga 142 ; a she-wolf gives suck to the infant Dieterich (like Eomulus and liemus) together with her four blind whelps, hence his name of Wolfdieterich. The same fellowship with whelps seems imputed to the beginnings of the Gotlis and 8wabians, as to those of the llomans (p. 373) ; but the woodpecker also, that Bee-wolf, brought food to the sons of Mars, and we have come to know the Swabians as special devotees of Zio (p. 199). The Servian hero Milosh Kobilitch was suckled by a marc (kobila), Vuk 2, 101 ; does that throw light on the OHG. term of abuse merihunsun, zagiinsun (EA. 643) ? A like offensive meaning lurked in the Latin lupa.^ But it is not only to sucklings that the god-sent animals appear ; in distress and danger also, swans, ravens, wolves, stags, bears, lions will join the heroes, to render them assistance ; and that is how animal figures in the scutcheons and helmet-insignia of heroes are in many cases to be accounted for, though they may arise from other causes too, e.g., the ability of certain heroes to transform themselves at will into wolf or swan.

1 Fils de truie ; Garin 2, 229.

NURSED BY ANIMALS. 301

The swan's winy, tlie swan's coat, betokens another supernatural quality which heroes share with the gods (p. 326), the power of flying. As Wieland ties on his swan-wings, the Greek Perseus has ivingcd shoes, talaria, Ov. met; 4, 6G7. 729, and the Servian Eelia is called krik'it (winged), being in possession of krilo and okrilie (wing and wing-cover), Vuk 2, 88. 90. 100. A piece of the wing remaining, or in women a swan's foot, will at times betray the higher nature.

The superliuman quality of heroes shines out of their eyes (luminum vibratus, oculorum micatus, Saxo Gram. 23) : ormr i cmga. The golden teeth of gods and heroes have been spoken of, p. 234. In the miirchen sons are born with a star on the forehead, Kinderm. 96. Straparola 4, 3 ; or a golden star falls on the fore- head, Pentam. 3, 10. The Dioscuri had a star or fkme shining on their heads and helmets : this may have reference to the rays encircling the head (p. 323), or to constellations being set in the sky. In some cases the heroic form is disfigured by animal peculiarities, as Siegfried's by his horny skin, and others by a scaly ; the mtirchen have heroes with hedgehog spikes. The legend of the Merovings, imperfectly handed down to us, must be founded on something of the kind. AVhen Clodio the son of Faramund with his queen went down to the shore, to cool themselves from the sultry summer heat, there came up a monster (sea-hog ?) out of the waves, which seized and overpowered the bathing queen. She then bore a son of singular appearance, who was therefore named Merovig, and his descendants, who inherited the peculiarity, Merovings.^ Theophanes expressly declares, that the Merovings were called Kpicndrai and Tpi,-)(opa'xaTat, because all the kings of that house had bristles down the backbone (pax^'i), like swine. We still find in Rol. 273, 29, where it is true they are enumerated among iicathens,

di helde von Meres ;

vil gewis sit ir des,

daz niht kuoners mac sin :

an dem rucke tragent si horsten sum sictn. The derivation of the name is altogether unknown. Can it possibly have some connexion with the boar-worship of Fro, which may

p. 92

^ Fredegar's epitome (Rotiquct 2, 396), and Conradusi Ursperg., Arg. ICOi), i. Per contra, MullenhoU" m Haupt'.s zeitschr. 6, 432.

392 HEROES.

have been especially prevalent among the Franks ? Lampr. Alex. 5368 also has : sin hut was ime bevangen al mit swincs hiirstcn (see Suppl.).

One principal mark to know heroes by, is their possessing intelligent horses, and conversing with them. A succeeding chapter will shew more fully, how heathendom saw something sacred and divine in horses, and often endowed them with consciousness and sympathy with the destiny of men. But to heroes they were indis- pensable for riding or driving, and a necessary intimacy sprang up between the two, as appears by tlie mere fact of the horses having proper names given them. The touching conversation of Achilles with his Xantlios and Balios (II. 19, 400 — 421) finds a complete parallel in the beautiful Karling legend of Bayard ; compare also Wilhelm's dialogue with Puzzdt (58, 21—59, 8), in the French original with Bauccrd (Garin 2, 230-1), and Begon's with the same Baucent (p. 230). In tlie Edda we have Skirnir talking with his horse (Seem. 82^) ; and GoSrun, after SigurS's murder, with Grani (231'^) :

ImipnaSi Grani ]?a, drap i gras hofc5i. Well mif^ht Grani mourn, for the hero had bestridden him ever since he led him out of Hialprek's stable (180), had ridden him through the flames (202^), and carried off the great treasure. Swedieli and Danish folk-songs bring in a sagacious steed Black, witli whom conversation is carried on (Sv. vis. 2, 194. Sv. forns. 2, 257. Danske vis. 1, 323). In the poems on Artus the horses are less attractively painted ; but how naively in the Servian, when Mila shoes the steed (Vuk 1, 5), or Marko before his death talks with his faithful Sharats (2, 243 seq. Danitza 1, 109). In Mod. Greek songs there is a dialogue of Liakos with his horse (Fauriel 1, 138), and similar ones in the Lithuanian dainos (lihesa p. 224). The Persian Eustem's fairy steed is well-known (see Suppl.).^

If many heroes are carried off in the bloom of life, like Achilles or Siegfried, others attain a great age, beyond the limit of the human. Our native legend allows Hildebrand the years of Nestor

1 A Mongolian warrior's dying song lias :

My poor cream-coloured trotter, you will get home alive.

Then tell my iiKjther, pray : ' full fiiteen wounds had he '.

And tell my father, pray : 'shot through the back was he,' &c. — Trans.

HORSES, AGE. 393

with undiminished strengtli, and to tlie Scandinavian StarkaSr is measured out a life that runs through several generations ; the divinely honoured GoSmuudr is said to have numbered near five hundred years, Fornald. sog. 1, 411. 442. In the genealogies that liave come down to us, great length of life is given to the first ancestors, as it is in the Bil)le also. Snacrr hinoi gamli, sprung from Kari and Jokull, is said to have attained 300 years, and Hdlfdan gamli as many, Fornald. sug. 2, 8. The MHG. poem of Dietrich's ancestors (18G9 — 2506) gives Didwart and Sigelicr 400 years of life each, Wolfdielericli 503, Hugdidcrich 450, and Didmar 340 ; Dietrich of Bern is the first that reaches only the ordinary limit, Otnit the son of Sigeher was killed when young.^ The Servian ]\larko was three hundred years old, almost like the giants of old. On the other hand, the life of heroes is enfeebled by union with goddesses and superhuman females. Examples will be given, when the valkyrs are discussed ; the belief of the Greeks is expressed in a remarkable passage of the Hymn to Venus 190, where Anchises, after he has embraced Aphrodite, fears that he shall lead a stricken life {afj,€V7]v6<;) among men :

eVel ov ^io6u\fxio<; avi)p fyiyveTac, oare Oeal'i evvd^erai aOavuTgcn. The goddess does not conceal, that age will come on him apace, and that Zeus's thunderbolt will maim him if he boast of her favours. The story of Staufenberger and the sea-fairy is founded on similar notions.

Another thing in which the condition of heroes resembles that of gods is, that particular local haunts and dwellings are assigned them. Such abodes seem by preference to bear the name of stone, as Gibichenstein, Brunhildenstein, Kriemhildenstein, Eigelstein, Waskenstein ; which points to sacred rocks uninhabited by men,

I These are undoubtedly genuine myths, that lose themselves in the deeps of time, however distorted and misplaced they may be. Sicjeher (OIIG. Siguhari) is plainly the ON. Sigarr, from wliom the Sij^dingar or Siklingar take their name ; Sigcher's (hiughter is called Sigclint, Sigar's daughter Signy, but the two are identical. Hugdieterich, who in woman's clothing woos Hilde- burg, is one with Haghariyr (Sw. Habor, Dan. Ilafbur), who likewise succeeds in his suit for Sign;^ (Sw. Signil, Dan. Hignild), though liere the story has a tragic end, and the names disagree ; but hug and hag, both from one root, support each other. Sigcminne too, the wife ofWolfdieterich, who in the Ilel- denbuch is the son of Hugdieterich, comes near to Signy. The part about Hugdieterich in the Heldeubuch is throughout uncommonly sweet, and cer- tainly very ancient.

391 HEROES.

and a primeval, firmly rooted worship. More rarely we find castle or hall connected with a hero (Iringes burc, Orendelsal), a few times ea and hum, oftener loay or street ; now, as the notion of a highway lies close to that of a conspicuous column to which the roads led uj), we may well connect the ' Herculis columnae,' the Irmansuli, with the Eoland-joillars, which we come upon just in those northern parts of Germany where heathenism prevailed latest. As king Charles occupies Wuotan's place in certain legends, especially that of the ' furious host,' Eoland, the noblest hero of his court, who is to him almost exactly what Donar is to Wuotan, seems to replace the divine vanquisher of giants. yEthelstdn-pillars have been mentioned, p. 119. It is worthy of note, that, while Scandinavia offers nothing else that can be likened to the Irmen-pillars, yet at Skeningen, a town of Ostergotland, there stood erected in the marketplace, just where Eoland-pillars do stand, the figure of a giant or hero, which the people called Thore lang (Thuro longus), and at which idolatry was practised in former times.^ This figure appears far more likely to belong to the heathen god than to any hero or king ; and probably the column in the market place of Bavais in Hainault, from which seven roads branched off, and which is said to have been reared in honour of a king Bavo, had a similar meaning (see Suppl.).

According to a widely accepted popular belief, examined more minutely in ch. XXXII on Spiriting away, certain heroes have sunk from the rocks and fortresses they once inhabited, into clefts and caverns of the mountains, or into subterranean springs, and are there held \vi'apt in a seldom interrupted slumber, from which they issue in times of need, and bring deliverance to the land. That here again, not only Wuotan, Arminius, Dieterich and Siegfried, but such modern heroes as Charles, Frederick Barbarossa and even Tell are named, may assure us of the mystic light of myth which has settled on them. It was a Norse custom, for aged heroes, dead to the world and dissatisfied with the new order of things, to shut themselves up in a hill: thus Herlaugr with twelve others goes into the haugr (Egilss. p. 7), and in like manner Eticho the Welf, accompanied by twelve nobles, retires into a mountain in the Scherenzerwald, where no one could find him again (Deutsche

1 Olaus Mac^nus 14, 15. Stjernhook, De jure Sveon. vet., p. 326. Brooc- mans beskrifn. 5iVer Ostergotland, Norrkoping 17 GO. 1, 190.

ABODES. 305

sagen, no. 518). Siegfried, Charles and Frederick, like King Arthur of the Britons, abide in mountains with tlieir liost.

Be it be remarked lastly, that the heroic legend, like the divine, is fond of running into triads. Hence, as 05in, Vili, Ve, or Har, lafnhar and ThriSi stand together, there appear times without number three heroic brothers together, and then also it commonly happens, that to the third one is ascribed the greatest faculty of success. So in the Scythian story of the three brothers Leipoxais, Arpoxais and Kolaxais (Herod. 4, 5) : a golden plough, yoke and sword having fallen from heaven, when the eldest son and the second tried to seize them, the gold burned, but the tliird carried them off. The same thing occurs in many mitrchen.

CHAPTEE XVI. WISE W 0 M E N.

The relation of women to the gods is very different from that of men, because men alone can found famous houses, while a woman's family dies with her. The tale of ancestry contains the names of heroes only ; king's daughters are either not named in it at all, or disappear again as soon as they have been introduced as brides. For the same reason we hear of deified sons, but not of deified daughters ; nay, the marriage of mortals with immortals issues almost always in the birth of sons. There are therefore no women to be placed by the side of the heroes, whom in the preceding chapter we have regarded as a mixture of the heavenly and earthly natures : the distaff establishes no claim to immortality, like the sword. To the woman and the bondman, idle in battle, busy in the house, the Anglo-Saxons very expressively assigned the occupation of weaving peace : heroic labours suited men.

But that which women forfeit here, is amply made up to them in another sphere. In lieu of that distinct individuality of parts given to heroes, which often falls without effect in the story, they have general duties assigned them of momentous and lasting influ- ence. A long range of charming or awful half-goddesses mediates between men and deity : their authority is manifestly greater, their worship more impressive, than any reverence paid to heroes. There are not, strictly speaking, any heroines, but whatever among women answers to heroes appears more elevated and spiritual. Brunhild towers above Siegfried, and the swan-maid above the hero to whom she unites herself (see Suppl.).

In other mythologies also it is observable, that in the second rank of deities female beings predominate, while the first is reserved almost exclusively for the male, but the divine heroes we have spoken of come only in the third rank. I have on p. 250 partly accounted for the longer duration of the tradition of several goddesses

WISE WOMEN. 1597

by its having left more abiding, because more endearing, impressions on the mind of the people.

There is no harder problem in these investigations, than to dis- tinguish between goddesses and half-goddesses, Eveiy god's wife must ipso facto pass for a real goddess ; but then there are unmarried goddesses ; e.g., Hel. One who cannot be shown to be either wife or daughter of a god, and who stands in a dependent relation to higher divinities, is a half-goddess. Yet such a test will not always serve, where a mythology has been imperfectly preserved ; for the very reason that half-goddesses stand higher than half-gods, the boundary-line between them and the class of gi'eat gods is harder to hit. The line may be disturbed, by particular races promoting divine beings of lower rank, whose worship got the upper hand among them, to a higher; it is true the same thing seems to occur in hero-worship, but not so often.

The mission and functions of half-goddesses then may be roughly defined thus: to the upper gods they are handmaids, to men revealers.

It is a significant feature in our heathenism, that women, not men, are selected for this office. Here the Jewish and christian view presents a contrast : prophets foretell, angels or saints from heaven announce and execute the commands of God ; but Greek and Teutonic gods employ both male and female messengers. To the German way of thinking, the deciees of destiny assume a greater sacredness in the mouth of woman, soothsaying and sorcery in a good as well as bad sense is peculiarly a women's gift, and it may even be a part of the same thing, that our language personifies virtues and vices as females. If human nature in general shews a tendency to pay a higher respect and deference to the female se., this has always been specially characteristic of Teutonic nations. Men earn deification by their deeds, women by their wisdom : ' Fatidicae, aiigescente superstitione dcae' p. 95 (see Su])pl.).

This Germanic reverence for woman, already emphasized by Tacitus, is markedly expressed in our old systems of law, especially the Alanianniau and Eavarian, by doubling the composition for injury ;rtA. 404) : the defenceless one thereby receives protection and consecration, nay, she is to forfeit the privilege the moment she takes up man's weapons. And not only does a Avorsliip of woman shew itself in the minne-songs of our Mid. Ages, but in a

398 WISE WOMEN.

remarkable formula of chivalry occurring both in folk-songs and in court-poems : ' durch allcr fromven ere,' by all women's honour, Wolfdiet. 104 Morolt 855. 888. 2834. Morolf 1542. Ecke 105. 117. 174. Eoseng. 2037. MsH. 3, 200=^; 'durch reiner (pure) frouwen ere,' Ecke 112 ; 'durch luillen (for the sake) aller frouwcn) thus one hero cries to another ' nu beite (stay), durch loillen aller meide !' Eab. 922-4 ; 'durch wille7i sclioencr wibe,' Ecke 61 ; 'durch andcr magci (other maids') ere' Gudr. 4863 ; ' durch dim wip,' in the name of all women, Parz. 13, 16 ; 'ere an mir elliu wip,' respect in me all women, Erec 957 ; ' eret an mir elliu wip ! ' says a woman in Parz. 88, 27, to ensure attention to her prayer ; ' cdlc7i meiden tuot ez ze eren (do it in honour of),' Gudr. 1214, 3; 'ere und minne elliu ivi'p ! ' is the injunction on giving a sword, Trist. 5032 ; .' tuon allez daz frouwen vnlle si,' do all that may be woman's will, Bit. 7132 ; *als liep iu q,].q frouwen stn,' as all women are dear to you, Laurin 984. Their worship was placed on a par with that of God : ' eret Got und diu wip,' Iw. 6054 ; ' durch Got und durch der ivihe Ion (guerdon)' Wh. 381, 21 ; 'wart so mit riterschaft getan, des Got sol danken und diu ivip,' may God and the ladies requite it, Wh. 370, 5; 'dienen Got und alle frouwen erm,' Ms. 2,99^; of Parzival it is even said : ' er getruwete ivihcn haz (better) dan Gote,' Parz. 370, 18. These modes of speech, this faith, can be traced up to a much earlier age, as in 0. i. 5, 13 : ' do sprah er erlieho ubaral, so man zi froiciin skal' ; and v. 8, 58: ' ni sit irbolgan v)ibe' ye shall not bully a woman, Etzels hofhalt. 92-3 ; ' sprich wiben iibel mit nihte ' says the po.-m of the Stete ampten 286. The very word frau is the name of a goddess, conf, p. 299 on the meanings of frau and weib (see Suppl.).

But more than that, when the hero in stress of battle looked upon his love (OHG.trutin,trutinna, MHG. triutinne), thouglit o/her, named her name, he increased thereby his strength, and was sure of the victory. We might even bring under this head the declaration of Tacitus : memoriae proditur, quasdam acies inclinatas jam et labantes a feminis restitutas constantia precum et objectu pectorum. From the poems of the 13th century I will quote the principal passages only :

und als er dar zuo an saeh (on-saw, looked at)

die schoenen frowen Eniten,

daz half (holp) im vaste striten (fight hard). Er. 933.

swenne mich der muot iwcr ermant (the thought of you mans),

WISE WOMEN. 399

su ist sigesoelic (victorious) min liaut :

wand (for) iwer guote iiiiune

die steilcent mine sinne (nerve my senses),

daz mir den vil langen tac (all the long day)

nilit -wider gewesen mac (nought can vex). Er. 8SC7.

din da gcgcnicvrfic snz (who there present sat),

diu gehalf ir manne baz (she holp her man better).

ob im dehein zwivel (if ever a doubt) geschach,

swenn (whenever) er si danne wider (again) an sack,

ir schosne gap im niwe kraft (strength),

so daz er imzagehaft (undismayed)

sine sterke wider gewan (his strength regained)

und vaht (foug4it) als ein geruowet (rested) man. Er. 0171.

der gedanc (thinking) an sin sckane wip

der kreftigete im den lip (life, body). Er. 9229.

swenne im diu muoze (opportunity) geschach

daz er die maget (maid) reht ersach,

daz gap ir gesellen (to her fellow, lover)

Gawane manlich ellen (elan). Parz. 409, 13. 410, 5.

nu sack er daz si umb in was in sorgen (in fear for him),

alrest er niuwe kraft enpfant (felt). Lohengr. p. 54-5.

den Heiden minne nie verdroz (never wearied),

des (therefore) was sin herze in strite groz. Parz. 740, 7.

ern welle (if he do not) an minne doiken,

sone mag er niht entwenken (cannot escape). Parz. 740, 15.

wes sumest (wherefore delayest) du dich, Parzival,

daz du an die kiuschen liehtgemal (pure-one so bright)

niht dcniccst, ich mein din wip,

wiltu behalten (save) hie den lip? Parz. 742, 27.

der getoufte nam (the christian gained) an kreften zuo,

er ddht (thought), des was im nilit ze fruo (none too soon),

an Sin wip die kiiniginnc

unt an ir werden (worthy) minne. Parz. 743, 23.

swu ich sider (after) kom in not (difiiculty),

ze hant so ich (the moment I) an si ddhtc,

ir minne helfe brahte. Parz. 768, 27.

miiede was ir beder lip (weary were both their bodies),

niuwan daz sic (liad they not) ddhtcn an diu wip

sie wffiren bcdcsamt gelegen (both together fallen). AU.bl. 1,340.

400 ^'>'ISE WOMEN.

In the Carmen de riiyllide et Flora it is said 31, 4 : ' Ille me com- memoraf inter ipsas caedes/ my beloved in the battle breathes my name, to issue therefrom victorious.^ This sounds altogether heathen, for the gods too were at your side the moment you uttered their names. Snorri, in Yngl. saga cap. 2, says of OiSinn : ' sva var oc um bans menu, hvar sem }?eir urSu i nauSum staddir, a sia eSa a landi, ];a Icdllu&ii |?eir a nafn bans, oc ]?6ttiz iafnan fa af ]?vi fro,' so was it also with his men, wherever they were in trouble, on sea or on land, then called they on his name, and innnediately were gladdened by it. When Hrungnir became intolerable to the Ases, ' pa nefna j^eir Tlior, }wi nsest kom Thorr i hollina,' Sn. 108. Kraka, a semi-divine being, admonished Erich: si suprema necessitatis violentia postularet, nominis sui nuncvijationc remedium celerius esse quaerendum, affirmans se divina partim virtute subnixam et quasi cousortem coelitus insitam numinis gestare potentiam, Saxo Gram., p. 72. So the valkyrja conies to the rescue of her chosen hero, when he calls out her name ; she is become his guardian, as if sent by the gods to bring him aid (see Suppl.).

The mission of such women then is to announce and prepare good or ill, victory or death to mortal men ; and we have seen that the popular faith retained longest its connexion with fighting and victory. Their own being itself, like that of the heroes, rests on human nature, they seem for the most part to have sprung from kingly and heroic families, and probably an admixture of divine ancestors is to be presumed in their case too. But to perform their office, they must have wisdom and supernatural powers at their command : their wisdom spies out, nay, guides and arranges com- plications in our destiny, warns of danger, advises in difficulty. At the birth of man they shew themselves predicting and endowing, in perils of war giving help and granting victory. Therefore they are called wise toomcn, ON. spdkonor (conf. spakr, OHG. spahi, prudens), Scot, spae wife, MHG. loisiu wip, Nib. 1473. 3. 1483, 4 (see Suppl).

1. Itis, Ides (Dis). But I will first take an older word, which appears to me to yield

in time favour '.

1 Philander of Sittewald 2,727, Soldatenl. p. 241, still mentions the practice ,ime of dan<^er 'of commending oneself to the loved one's grace and

iTis. 401

exactly the meaning we have just unravelled, and in its generalness to comprehend all the particular beings to be studied more minutely by and by. The OIIG. itis pi. itisi, OS. ides, pi. idisi, AS. ides, pi. idesa, denotes femina in general, and can be used of maids or matrons, rich or poor.^ Yet, like the Greek vv/x^r}, it seems even in the earliest times to have been specially applied to superhuman beings, who, being considered lower than goddesses and higher than earthly women, occupy precisely that middle rank which is here in question. Tacitus informs us, that a famous battle-field on the Weser was called by the Cheruscans IdisiaYiso (so I emend Idis- taviso), i.e., nympharum pratum, women's meadow ; it matters not whether the spot bore that name before the fight with the Eomans, or only acquired it afterwards (v. Haupt's zeitschr. 9, 248). There at one time or another a victory was won under the lead of these exalted dames. The Merseburg poem sets tlie idisi before us in fall action :

sum^ hapt heptidun, suma heri lezidun, suma clubodun umbi cuniowidi ; Some put a check (on the fighting), as we read in Renner 20132 : dez muoz (therefore must) ich he/ten einen haft an dirre materie an minen danc (against my will), wan ich fiirhte (for I fear) sie werde ze lane. Others letted the host (hinder, make late, Goth, hari latidedun) ; others again grasped (clawed) at chains or wreaths, i.e., withs and twigs with which to twist shackles, or to twine garlands for the victor. Here then their business was to bind and check, which is also demanded by the very object of the conjuring-spell ; in striking harmony with this are the names of two Norse valkyrs, mentioned together in Stem. 45*, Hlock = OHG. Hlancha, i.e., catena, and Herfiotr = OHG. Herifezzara, exercitum vinciens. But it must have been as much in their power to set free and help on, as to shackle and hamper. Compounded with itis we have the female names Itispuruc (Meichelb. no. 162), Itisburg (Trad. fuld. Schannat 181), Idisburg (Lacombl. no. 87), and Itislant (Graff 1, 159); which, like Ililtipurc, Sigipurc, Sigilant (MB. 14, 362), are proper to such women of our olden time (see Suppl.).^

1 Freolici; meowle = ides, Cofl. exon. 479,2. ' Weras and idesa,' or 'eorlas and idesa' are contrasted, ibid. 176, 5. 432, 2.

• Here the local meaning coincides with the personal ; we may therefore

26

402 WISE WOMEN.

But we obtain much fuller information as to tlieir nature from the Norse authorities. It has been overlooked hitherto, that the OHG. itis, AS. ides, is the same as the OK dis pi. disir ; similar instances of aphseresis are the Eigr for Iring on p. 234, and Sangrim, Singrim for Isangrim, Isingrim (Eeinh. ccviii). Any remaining doubt disappears on comparing the Eddie ' dis Skioldunga,' Saem. 169* 209* with the AS. ' ides Scildinga/ Beow. 2337. The Norse disir likewise are sometimes kind protecting beings, sometimes hostile and hindering, Ssem. 185* 195* 254'^ 273*. An instance of the latter sort is found in the story of ThiSrandi, whom disir destroyed, ' thann er sagt at disir vaegi,' quem deas interfecisse dicunt {Nialss. cap. 97), though the full narrative (Fornm. sog. 2, 195) calls them simply konur, women; so Spddisir, nymphae vaticinantes, Vols, saga cap. 19, means just the same as spdkonur ; and the phrase ' ecki eru allar disir dauSar enn ' in Alfs saga cap. 15, means in the most general sense, all good spirits are not dead yet ; ' ySr munu dauSar disir allar,' to you all spirits are dead, Fornald. sog. 2, 47. But the Norse peoj)le worshipped them, and offered them sacrifice : the mention of disablot is very frequent, Egilss. cap. 44 p. 205; Vigagl. saga cap. 6 p. 30 ; 'biota kumla disir ^ deabus tumulatis sacrificare, Egilss. p. 207. This passage implies a connexion between disir and ghosts, departed spirits, whose reappearance portends something: 'honor hugSak daitffar koma i nott,' dead w^omen, i.e., disir, come at night, Saem. 254*. Herjans dis (Seem. 213^) is nympha Odini, a maiden dwelling at Valholl in the service of OSinn; dis Skioldunga (Seem, 169* 209*), divine maid sprung from the Skioldung stock, is an epithet both of Sigrun and of Brynhild, conf. AS. ides Scyldinga, ides Helminga, Beow. 1234. But Freyja herself is called Vanadis, nympha Vanorum, Sn. 37; and another goddess, SkaSi ondurdis (walking in wooden shoes), Sn. 28, which is equivalent to oxid.\vcgu&. Several proper names of women are compounded with dis: Thordis, Hiordis, Asdis, Vigdis, Halldis, Ereydis (to which might have corresponded an OHG. Donaritis, &c.) : they prove the pretty high antiquity of the monosyllabic form dis, which even in the Edda invariably alliterates with D. With the orginal form idis the

compcare Magaclaburff with Idisaburg, Idisoburg, and Lslant with Itislant, Itisolant. The Frank ish Dispargum on the contrary seems not to be Idisberg, but Tiesberg, fanum Martis (Herm. Miiller, SaUc law, p. 33-4).

ITIS. VELEUA. GANNA. 403

name of the goddess Idunn may j)0ssibly be connected (see Suppl.).

2. Veleda. Ganna. Alarun.

If, as I suppose, the generic term idis was already current in the time of Tacitus, he gives us other more specific appellations as mere proper names, though still a certain general meaning seems to belong to them too. His statements about Veleda, Ganna, and A-iirinia I have already quoted in ch. V, where the connexion between prophetesses and the priestly office was pointed out, Veleda appears to be almost an appellative, and akin to the Norse Vala, Volva (p. 97-8), or even to the masc. Volundr (p. 378), per- haps also to the name valkyrja.^ She lives on a toioer, like Jetha (p. 96) and Brynhildr (Vols, saga cap. 24). Treaties were ratified in her presence ; she not only prophesied, but had to settle disputes among the people, and carry out plans. In Ssem. 4*^ 5* the Vala, after whom the famous lay Voluspa is named, is also called Hei&r and Gidlveig ; and as our female names Adalheid, Alpheid, &c., are formed with -heid, Finn Magnusen p. 416^ would derive Veleda from a supposed Valaheid, which however is nowhere found (see Suppl.). The description given of her is an attractive one : where- ever in the land this vala velspa (fatidica) came, she worked witchery, she was believed to travel about and make visitations to houses. This ' til husa koma ' reminds us of the ' drepa d vett sem vdhvr,' pulsare aedes sicut fatidicae, Stem. 63% as in other cases also prophesying, inspiring and boon-bestowing women were always supposed to pass through the country, knocking at the houses of tliose whom they would bless.

Ganna (p. 95-6) could be explained with more certainty, if the real meaning of its root ginnan were disclosed to us : a MHG. ginnen is secare, the ON", ginna allicere, seducere; and in Siem. 21'' we are warned not to trust the wheedling words of valas, 'volo vilmaili trui engi maSr ' ; we shall see presently, how the AS. poets use similar expressions about Wyrd.

When Drusus had crossed the Weser and was nearing the Elbe,

1 I fiufl lValader\c\v>. in Trad. corb. p. 364, § 'J13 ; a wild woman is called in Wolfdieteiich 514 'die wildo n-aldin' nuA 735 ' diu iibel walledein' ; but this seems a corruption of valaudiune, .she-devil.

404 WISE WOMEN.

there met him in the laud of the Cheruscaiis a superhuman female, ryvvrj Ti'i fiei^cov ?) Kara avOpoiTiov (^vatv, who forbade his farther advance, and foretold his approaching end (Dio Cass. 55, 1). Species larharae mulieris, humana amplior, victorem tendere ultra, sermone Latino, prohibuit (Sueton. in Claudio 1).^ There may have been German folk-tales about this, which became known to the Eomans. Wise-women of the fatherland, as well as heroes, rose up in their country's need, and by their appearance terrified the foe.

Aurinia is said (p. 95) to have been famous in Germany before Veleda ; copyists may easily have corrupted ali into ' au,' and runa into 'rinia': we should then have Aliruna, though it would be still more handy if Tacitus had written Alioruna. But anyhow we cannot fail to recognise the agreement (which many have noted) with Jornandes cap. 24, who, in accounting for the origin of the Huns, relates of the Gothic king Filimer : ' Eepperit in populo suo quasdam magas muliercs, quas patrio sermone aliornmnas (al. alyrumnas, aliorunas, aliuruncas) is ipse cognominat, easque habens suspectas de medio sui proturbat, longeque ab exercitu suo fugatas in solitudine coegit errare. Quas silvestres homines, quos faunos ficarios vocant, per eremum vagantes dum vidissent, et earum se complexibus in coitu miscuissent, genus hoc ferocissimum edidere.' Many names of women are formed with -r-iin, -runa (Gramm. 2, 517), and OHG. documents even offer, though sparingly, Alariutn Aleruna, MB. 3,416 (an. 1140); 'Gosprecht der Alraumjn sun,' MB. 27, 80 (an. l.')09). I have never seen Elirun, the form we should expect from ali-.- But it is significant, that the OX. name Olrun, Siem. 133-4, belongs precisely to a icisc-iooman ; and alruncv (Graff 2, 523), now alrauii, from its old sense of a prophetic and diabolic spirit, has at length passed into that of the root (mandragora,

1 A similar tale about Alexander Severus : Midier Druias eunti exclamavit Gallico sermone, ' vadas, nee victoriam speres, nee te niiliti tuo credas ! ' Ael. Lampridiiis in Alex. Sev. cap. 60. And Attila at the passage of tlie Lech is said to have been scared away by a rune-maiden calling out three times ' back, Attila ! ' Paul of Stetten's Erl. aus der gesch. Augsburgs, p. 25. Of still more weight is the agreement of an ON. tradition in Saxo Gram. p. 15 : 'iladingum (our mythic Harding, Hartung) obvia femina hac voce compellat :

Seu pede rura teras, seu ponto carbasa tendas,

infestos patiere deos, totum(]^ue per orbem

propositis inimica tuis elementa videbis. '^ It throws some light on the meaning of -run, that in AS. also hirgrAna or burgrunan stands for parcae and fiu'iae (Lye sub v., and Ul. epinal. 617).

alarOn. norni. 405

mandrake) out of wliich he is cut. Wo now turn to some other names, about which the fountain of tradition flows more freely (see SuppL).

3. ISToRNi (Fatae).

The three Fates are the subject of an independent and profound myth in the Edda. Collectively they are called the nornir, and singly, JJr&r, Verffandi, SJculd, Stem. 4=^. Sn. 18. The term noni {parca^l has not been discovered hitherto in any other dialect,^ though undoubtedly it belongs to a genuine Teutonic root, and is formed like thorn, corn, horn, &c., and would have been in OHG. uorn, pi. norni ; but even Swedish and Danish know it no longer (see Suppl.). In the three proper names it is impossible to mistake the forms of verbal nouns or adjectives : Urffr is taken from the pret. pi. of verSa (varS, urSum), to become, Verffandi is the pres. part, of the same word, and Shdd the past part, of skula, shall, the auxiliary by which the future tense is formed. Hence we have what was, what is, and what shall be, or the past, present and future, very aptly designated, and a Fate presiding over each.^ At the same time the very names prove that the doctrine of norns was originally not foreign to any of the Teutonic nations. A Gothic Vaiirjjs, Vai'rSandei, Skulds, an OHG. Wurt, Werdandi, Scult, and so on, must have been known once as personal beings ; in the OS.

1 V;

Nurnherg (mons Noricus) has nothing to do with it, it is no very old town either (in Bohmers regest. first in 1050, no. 1607 ; conf. MB. 29, 102). In the tiekls at Dauernheim near Nidda is a well called Nornborn, Nornhurn, and its spring is said to flow only when there is war. But I should like to see the name authenticated by an old document. The AS. gen. pi. neorxena, which only occurs in ' neorxena wong ' = paradisus, has been proposed, but the ab- breviation would be something unheard of, and even the nom. sing, neorxe or neorxu at variance with norn i besides, the Parcac are nowhere found connected with paradise. May we trace norn to niosan (sternutare), whose past part, is in OHG. noran, MHG. norn, because of the prophetic virtue there is in sneezing (ch. XXXV) •] But the special meaning in this verb [con;i. with nose] seems older than any such general meaning, and its ON. form hniosa stands opposed.

• ' Fatinih dicunt esse quicciuid dii effantur. Fatum igitur dictum a faudo, i.e., loquendo. Tria autem fata finguutur in colo, in fuso, digitisque fila ex lana torquentibus, propter trina tempora : praderiium, quod in fuso jam nctum at<|ue involutum eM, praesens, quod inter digitos nentis trahitur,/((i/(r- v.m in lana quae colo implicata est, et quod adhuc per digitos nentis ad i'usum tanquam praesens ad praeteritum trajiciendum est,' Isidori etym. 8, 11 § 92, a pa.ssage pretty extensively circulated in the JNIid. Ages (v. Gl. Jun. ."^98), yet )io proof of the Teutonic notion being borrowed from the classical. In § 93 Isidore adds: ' quas (parcas) tres esse voluerunt, unam quae vitam homiius ordiatur, alteram quae contexat, tertiam quae rumpat '.

406 WISE WOMEN.

and AS. poetry we are able to lay our finger on the personality of the first norn : ' thiu Wurdh is at handun ' says the Heliand 146, 2, just as ' dod is at hendi,' 92, 2 : the Fate, or death, stands so near, that she can grasp with her hand ^ the man who is fallen due to her ; we should say just as concretely ' is at hand, is at the door '. Again : ' thiu Wurth uilhida thuo,' drew nigh then, Hel. 163, 16. ' Wurth ina benam,' the death-goddess took him away 66, 18. Ill, 4. Not so living is the term as used in the Hildebr. lied 48, ' weivurt skihit,' or perhaps separately ' we ! wurt skihit,' because ' geschehen ' to happen is used more of abstract inanimate things. An OHG. gloss also has umrt for fatum (Graff 1, 992). Far more vivid are the AS. phrases : ' me J^ajt Wyrcl ^ gewaf/ parca hoc mihi texuit, Cod. exon. 355 ; ' Wi/rd oft nereS unfoegne eorl, Jjonne his ellen deah,' parca saepe servat virum, donee virtus ejus viget (ellan taoc, Hildeb.), Beow. 1139 ; 'him wa^s Wt/jxI un- gemete neah, se J?one gomelan gretan sceolde, sccean sawlehord, sundur gedffilan lif wi(5 lice,' 4836 (so,' ' deaS ungemete neah ' 5453) ; ' swa him Wijrd ne gescraf,' ita ei fatum non ordinavit, decrevit, Beow. 5145. El. 1047. conf. Boeth. ed. Eawl. p. 151; ' ealle Wi/rd forsweop,'^ swept all away, Beow. 5624; 'hie seo Wj/rd beswiic, forleolc and forlserde,' eos parca decepit, allexit, seduxit, Andr. 613; 'us seo Wyrd sceSeS,' nos fatum laedit, Andr. 1561. The instances in Csedmon are less concrete, yet in 61, 12 the Wyrd is called 'wiilgrim,' bloodthirsty. — Of the Wi/rd then are predicated : gretan (excitare, OHG. cruozan), scrifan (ordinare, OHG. scripan),"* wefan (texere, OHG. wepan), beswican (decipere, OHG. pisuichan), forlsecan (fallere, OHG. farleichan), forlseran (seducere, male informare), sceSan (nocere). She is painted powerful, but often cruel and warlike (see SuppL). We cannot in the same way point out a personal application of the other two names, though the

1 MHG. 'er hat den tot an der hant,' Eeinh. 1480. 1806. Nib. 1480, 4. Morolt. 29b. Dietp 29^ Pf. Chuonrat 3860. Karl 52\

2 With D, not Th, because the pret. of weorSan is wearS, pi. wiirdon, which supports the derivation I' proposed ; so the OHG. Wurt, because werdan has pret. pi. wartum.

^ So I read for the 'forsweof of the editions, conf. forswapen, Credm. 25, 9.

^ Conf. note to Elene p. 161, on a similar use of the MHG. schr'ihen, and Klausen in Zeitschr. fiir alterth. 1840 p. 226 on the Roman notion of the Parcae keeping a uwitten record. N. Cap. 50. 55 renders parca by hrievara, the recorder. TertuUian, De anima cap. 39, informs us that on the last day of the first week of a child's life they used to pray to the fata Scribunda. Fleming 479 calls the three Fates ' des verhangnis schreiberinnen '.

NORNI. WYRD. 407

third, Skuld, OHG. Scult, AS. Scijld, continued in constant use as an abstract fern, skuld, scult, scyld, in the sense of debitum, delic- tum.^ AVhen Christianity had banished the heathen notions, one name alone was found sufficient, and soon even that died out, giving ])lace to new fangled terms such as schicksal, verhangnis (destiny) and the like, far more cumbrous and unwieldy than the old simple words. The English and especially the Scotch dialect seems to have harboured the old word longest : we all know the weird-sisters in ]\Iacbeth, which Shakspeare took from Hollinshed ; they are also in Douglas's Virgil 80, 48, and the Complaynt of Scotland (written 1548) mentions, among other fabulous stories, that ' of the Hire ivelrdsy stirs' (Leyden's ed. Edinb. 1801, p. 99) ; in Warner's Albions England (first printed 1616) we have ' the vjeirdelves,' probably meaning the Parcae of the ancients. More native apparently is * the ive'ird lady of the woods,' who, when asked for advice, prophesies out of her cave, Percy's Eeliques 3, 220-2.2

Even in the North, Urd'r must have been of more consequence than the other two, for the fountain by the sacred ash is named after her, Ur&arhrunnr^ and beside it stands the hall from which the three norns issue ; it is also ' Urd'ar orc5,' word (Ssem. 112*) that is chiefly spoken of, and once ' grimmar ur&ir ' dira fata, is used impersonally, Ssem. 216^. — These three virgins allot to every man his term of life, ' sha'pa monnum aldr ; shop i ardaga (year- days),' Sn. 18. Ssem. 181^ I have elsewhere (EA. 750) shown the technical pertinence of the term shapa to the judicial office of the norns,* to whom for the same reason are ascribed domr and

1 Fornald. sog. 1, 32 Hkuld, daughter of an alfkoiia ; also in Saxo Gram. p. 31, Sciilda, n. prop.

'^ Conf. Jamieson sub v. weird (weerd, weard). Chaucer already substitutes fatal sustrin for weirdsysters (Troil. 3, 733. Leg. of gd worn. 2619). In Engl, dictionaries we find wayward sisters explained by parcae and furiae ; wardsisters would create no diliicultv, but tvaijivard means capricious, and was once imy- ivarden, in which the warden suggests the Dan. vorren, vorn (Gramm. 2, 675). What AS. form can there be at the bottom of it? [wa = woe is the usual etym.]

3 Tliis brunnr deserves attention, for the wayfaring wives and fays of the Mid. Ages also appear haliitnally at fountains, as the muses and goddesses of song haunted the same, and particular goddesses, esp. Holda, loved wells and springs (p. 268). Altogether it is hard often to tell which dame Hohla resembles more, an ancient goddess or a wise-woman.

• Conf AS. wyrda gcsMift, C;edm. 224, 6. wyrda gesceajm, Cod. exon. 420,

25. OS. wunUKiiscapii, (decreta foti), Hel. 113, 7 ; and the OHG. term scep- hetitd, MHG. schqtfe (Ottoc. 119^') and schcpfcr ; the poet, also a vates, was iu

408 WISE WOMEN.

gyi&r, SjBm. 273'' ; ' liotar nornir skopo oss langa J?ra,' dirae parcae creaverunt nobis longiim moerorem 217'' ; ' nornir heita ]?8er er nauS sJcajm, Skaklskaparmal p. 212.'* In the same sense ' nornir visa,' Ssem. SS'', they give us to ivit judgment, and are ivise. Hence to them, as to judges, a seat is given : ' a noma stoli sat ek niu daga ' 127^*. They approach every new born child, and utter his doom ; at Helgi's birth, it is said in Saem. 149 :

uott var i boe, nornir qvamo, Jjoer er oSlingi aldr um sJcopo : J?ann baSo fylki froegstan verSa, ok BuSlunga beztan ]?yckja. snero ]?cer af afli drlogpdito, ]7a er borgir braut i Bralundi ; ])ceT um. greiddo gullinsimo, ok und manasal miSjan/esto. ]?oer austr ok vestr enda falo, ];ar atti lofSungr land a milli : bra nipt Nera a norSrvega einni fcsti. ey baS hon halda.

This important passage tells us, that norns entering the castle at night spun for the hero the threads of his fate, and stretched the golden cord (pdttr = daht, docht, = s%mi) in the midst of heaven ; one norn hid an end of the thread eastward, another westward, a third fastened it northward; this third one is called 'sister of Neri'.^ Their number, though ^.not expressly stated, is to be gathered from the threefold action. All the region between the eastern and western ends of the line was to fall to the young hero's lot ; did the third norn diminish this gift, when she Hung a band northward, and bade it hold for aye ? (see Suppl.).

It seems the regular thing in tales of norns and fays, for the advantages promised in preceding benefactions to be partly neutral- ized by a succeeding one.

The Nornagestssaga cap. 11 says; : There travelled about in the

OHG. scuof, OS. scop, from the same root. The AS. word metten I connect with metod (creator, see p. 22). In Bogth. p. 101 (Rawlinson) a varia lectio has ' >k graman mettena,' the unkind fates.; the ' metodo giscapu ' in Hel. 66, 19. 67, 11 answer to those ' ivyrda gesceapu,' and the gen. plurals 'metodo, wyrda ' imply that not one creator, but several are spoken of. Vintler .calls them ' diernen, die dem menschen erteilen,' maids that dole out to man. 1 Conf. nipt Nara, Egilssaga p. 440.

NOPiNI. 409

land ' volvur,' who are called ' spdJconui\ wlio foretold to men their fate, ' spaSu monnuni aldr ' or ' orlcig '. People invited them to their houses, gave them good cheer and gifts. One day they came to Nornagest's father, the babe lay in the cradle, and two tapers were burnino- over him. When the first two women had gifted him, and assured him of happiness beyond all otliers of his race, the third or youngest norn, ' hin yngsta nornin,' who in the crowd had been pushed off her seat and fallen to the gi'ound, rose up in anger, and cried 'I cause that the child shall only live till the lighted taper beside him has burnt out '. The eldest .volva quickly seized the taper, put it out, and gave it to the mother with the warning not to kindle it again till the last day of her son's life, who received from this the name of Norns-guest. Here volva, spdkona and norn are perfectly synonymous ; as we saw before (p. 403) that the volur passed through the land and knocked at the houses,'^ the nornir do the very same. A kind disposition is attributed to the first two norns, an evil one to the .third. This third, consequently Sktdd, is called 'the youngest,' they were of different ages therefore, Urd'7- being con- sidered the oldest. Such tales of travelling gifting sorceresses were .much in vogue all through the Mid. Ages (see Suppl.).^

^ I have elsewhere shown in detail, that the journey inf:^ hou.se-visiting ]\Iuse dame Aventiiire is an inspiring and prophetic norn, and agrees to a featiue with, the ancient conception ; see my Kleine schriften 1, 102.

^ Nigellus Wirekere, in his JSpeculum stultorum (comp. about 1200), relates a fable (exemplum) :

I bant tres hominum curas relevare sorores, (^uas nosf (dales dicimiis esse elects. Thay travel through the land, to remedy the oversights of nature. Two of the sisters, soft-hearted and impulsive, want to rush in and help at the first ap- pearance of distress, but are restrained by the third and more intelligent one, whom they address as domina, and revere as a higher poMer. First they fall in with a Ijeautiful noble maiden, who has all good things at her command, and yet complains ; she is not. helped, for she can help herself. Then they find in the forest a modest maid laid up in bed, because sore feet and hips hinder her from walking ; she too obtains no help from the goddesses ; excellently endowed in mind and body, she must bear her misfortune patiently. At last in the neighbourhood ,Qf a town the sisters come upon a poqr rough peasant lass :

Exiit in bivium ventrem purgare puella

rustica, nil reverens inverecunda dea- ,

vestibus elatis retro nimiumque rejectis,

poplite dellexo crure resedit humi, una manns foenum, panis tenet altera frustum ; this one, at the suggestion of the thii'd sister, when .the first two have tunicd .away, is heaped witli the gifts of fortune by the goddesses :

Haec;mea multotiens genitrix narrare solebat, CUJU3 me certe non meminisse pudet.

410 WISE WOMEN.

The Edda expressly teaches that there are good and had norns (goSar ok illar, grimmar, liotar), and though it names only three, tliat there are more of them :. some are descended from gods, others from elves, others from dwarfs, Sn.. 18. 19, Sasm. 187-8. Why should the norns be furnished with dogs ? grey noma, Seem, 273^

We see, throughout this Eddie description, things and persons are kept clearly apart. Destiny itself is called orlog., or else naud'r (necessitas), aldr (aevum) ; the norns have to -manage it, espy it, decree it, pronounce it (see SuppL). And the other dialects too had possessed the same term : OHG. iirlac, AS. orlceg, MHG. urlouc (Gramm. 2, 7. 87. 789. 790),, OS. orlag, orlegi, aldarlagu (Heh 103, 8. 113, 11. 125, 15);^ it was only when tlie heathen goddesses had been cast off, that the meanings of the words came to be con- founded, and the old flesh-and-blood wurt, wm-ff, ivyrd to pale into a mere impersonal urlac.

In the same relation as norn to orlog, stands parca to fatum (from fari, like qviSr from qveSa qvaS, quoth), and also alcra, fioipa to avarjKri (nauSr) or e'lfiapixevq. But when once the parcae had vanished from the people's imagination, the Eomance language (by a process the reverse of that just noticed amongst us) formed out of the abstract noun a new and personal one, out oifatum an Ital. fata, Span, liada, Prov. fada (Eayn. sub v.), Fr. fee.^ I do not know if this was prompted by a faint remembrance of some female beings in the Celtic faith, or the influence of the Germanic norns. But these fays, so called at first from their announcing destiny, soon came to be ghostly wives in general, altogether the same as our idisi and volur.^ How very early the name was current in Italy, is proved by Ausonius, who in his Gryphus ternarii numeri brings forward the ' tres Charites, tria Fata', and by Procopius, who

^ From legan (to lay down, constituere), like the AS. lage, ON. log (lex) ; therefore urlac, fundamental law. The forms urlouc, urliuge have significantly been twisted round to the root liugan, louc (celare).

" Conf. nata, nee ;. amata, aimee ; lata, lee. Some MHG. poets say feie (Hartni. Wolfr.), sine/eie, Haujjt's zeitschr. 2, 182-3, others /ewe (Gotfr. Conr.).

3 OFr. poems call them, in addition to fees, divesses (Marie de Fr. 2, 385), duesses (Meon 4, 158. 165), duesse and fee (Wolf, lais 51) y.puceles Men eure'es (Meon 3, 418), franches puceks senees (3, 419) ; sapaudes (wise-women, from sapere 1), Marie de Fr. 2, 385. Enchanting beauty is ascribed to them all : ' plus bela que fada,' Ferabras 2767 ; conf. 16434. A book of H. Schreiber (Die feen in Europa, Freib. 1842) throws much light on the antiquities of fay- worship. Houses, castles and hills of the fays remind us of the wise-women's towers, of the Venus-hill and Holla-hill, and of giant's houses. In Irish, siahrog, sighbrog, is first a fays' house, theu the fay community.

NORNI. FATAE. 411

mentions (De bello Goth. 1, 25, ed. Bonn. 2, 122) a building in tlie Ptoman Forum called ra rpia (fyara (supra p. 405, note) with the remark : ovtco yap 'Pco/xalot Ta<; /j,o2pa<; vevofxiKacn Koktlv?- At that time therefore still neuter; but everywhere the number tlirce, in norns, moirai, parcae and fays (see Suppl.).-

About the Eomance fays there is a multitude of stories, and they coincide with the popular beliefs of Germany. Pok|uet de Eomans sings :

Aissim fadero trcs serors

en aquella ora qu'ieu sui natz,

que totz temps fos enamoratz, Guilhdei. Poitou :

Assi fuy de nueitz/c/f/a?'^; sobr'un puegau.

(so was I gifted by night on a mount). Marcabrus :

Gentil fada

vos adastret, quan fas nada

d'una bevitat esmerada, Trc fate go past, laughing, and give good gifts, Pentam. 1, 10. 4, 4 ; the first fate bestow blessings, the last one curses 2, 8 ; Pervonto builds a bower for three sleeping fcde, and is then gifted 1, 3 ; trc fate live down in a rocky hollow, and dower the children who descend 2, 3. 3, 10 ; fate appear at the birth of children, and lay them on their breast 5, 5 ; Cervantes names ' los siete castillos de las siete fadasl Don Quix. 4, 50 ; ' siete fadas vaefadaron en brazos de una ama mia,' Eom. de la infantina ; there are seven fays in the land, they are asked to stand godmothers, and seats of honour are prepared at the table : six take their places, but the seventh w^as forgotten, she now appears, and while the others endow with good things, she murmurs her malison (La belle au bois dormant) ; in the German kindermarchen (Dornroschen) it is twelve wise icomen, the thirteenth had been overlooked. Sa in the famed forest of

1 Accorclinf,'ly I do not derive fata from cfxlns (speech), or (^aroj spoken, thougli the Latin verb is of course the same word as (/jj^/xi. Conf. Ducange sub V. Fadus, and Lobeck's Aghioph. 816. Fatuus and I'atua are also connected.

• Lersch in the Bonner jb. 1843. 2,129 — 131 separates tlie three parcae from the three fata, because in sculptures they have dilferent adjuncts : the Roman jiarcae are represented -writing (p. 406), the Grecian moirai weaving, the tria fata simply as women with horns of plenty. But almost everything in the doctrine of fays points to a common nature with our idises and norne, and works of art fall into the background before the fulness of literature.

412 WISE WOMEN.

Brezeliande, by the fontaine cle Barendon, dames faees in white apparel shew themselves, and begift a child, but one is spiteful and bestows calamity (San Marte, Leg. of Arthur p. 157-8. 160). At Olger's birth six vnse ivomcn appear, and endow ; the last is named Morgue. In the Children of Limburg {Mones anzeiger 1835, 169), when Ectrites falls asleep in a meadow beside a fountain and a lime-tree, three wayfaring v)ivcs approach, and foretell the future. The OFr. romance of Guillaume an court nez describes ho^v Eenoart falls asleep in a boat, and three fays come and carry ]nm off. In Burchard of Worms they are still spoken of as three sisters or pareae, for whom the people of the house spread the table with three plates and three knives ; conf . the ' praeparare mensas cum lapidibus vel epulis in domo'. In the watches of the night the fatuae come to children, wash them and lay them down by the fire (see Suppl.). In most of the tales there appear three fays, as well as three norns and three pareae ; occasionally seven and thirteen ; but they also come singly, like that ' weirdlady of the wood,' and with proper names of their own.^ French

"^ La fata in Giierino meschino p. m. 22.3. 234 — ^8; Morganda fatata,fata Morgana, Morghe la fee (Noiiv. Renart 4810); 'diu frouwe de la rosrhe bise (black rock), die gesach nieman, er scliiede dan vro, riche luide wise,' whom none saw but he went away glad, rich and wise, Ben. 144. MsH. 1, 118=». Monnier's Culte des esprits dans la Sequanie tells of a fee Arie in Franche- comte, who ap2>ears at country (esp. harvest) feasts, and rewards diligent spinnere ; she makes the fruit fall off the trees for good .children, and distributes nuts and cakes to them at Christmas, just like Holda and Berhta. I believe her to be identical with the Welsh Arianrod, daughter of Don and sister of Gwydion (Woden), in Croker 3, 195.; her name contains arian (argentum), so that she is a shining one, and it is also used of the .milky way. A jeu composed in the latter half of the 13th centitry by Adam de la Halle of Arras (pubL in Tlieatre fran^. au moyen age, Paris 1839, p. 55 seq.) gives a pretty fidl account of dame Morgue et sa compaignie. They ,are beautiful women (beles dames parees), who at a fixed time of the year seek a night's lodging at a house, where dishes are set on the table for them ; men that look on must not speak a word. Beside Alorgue la sage there appear (p. 76-7) two other fays, Arsile and Maglore, and the last, on sitting down, notices that no Icnife has been laid for her, while the others praise the beauty of theirs. Maglore cries out in anger : 'Suije li pire ? pen me prisa qvii estavli, ni avisa que toute seule a coutel faille '. Arsile tries to pacify her, and says, it is fitting that we give a present to those who have arranged this place so prettily. Morgue endows one with riches, Arsile .with the poetic art, but Maglore says ;

De mi certes naront il nient,:

bien doivent falir a don bel,

puisque jai fali a coutel

honni soit qui riens leur donra 1 Morgue however insisting on a gift, Maglore bestows on one fellow a bald head, and on the other a calamitous journey :

NORNI. FATAE. 413

tradition brings to light a close connexion between fays and our giant-maidens : the fays cany enormous blocks of stone on their heads or in their aprons, while the free hand plies tlie spindle ; wlien the fay who was doing the building part had linished her task, she called out to her. sisters not to bring any more, and these, though two miles off, lieard the cry and dropped their stones, which buried themselves deep in the ground ; when the fays were not spinning, they carried four stones at once. They were good- natured, and took special care of the children whose fates they foretold. They went in and out of the neiglibours' houses by the chimney, so that one day the most careless one among them burnt lierself, and uttered a loud wail, at which all the fays of the neighbourhood came running up. You never could deceive them : once, when a man put his wife's clothes on and nursed the baby^ the fay walked in and said directly : ' non, tu n'es point la belle d'hier an soir, tu ne files, ni ne vogues, ni ton fuseau n'enveloppes
To punish him, she contented herself with making the apples that were baking on the hearth shrink into peas.

Of such stories there are plenty ; but nowhere in Eomance or German folk-tales do we meet, as far as I know, with the Norse conception of twining and fastening the cmd, or the Greek one of spinning and cutting the thread of life. Only one poet of the Mid, Ages, Marner, has it 2, 173^:

zwo scliepfer fldhtcn mir ein sell,

da bi diu dritte saz (the third sat by) ;

diu zerbrachz (broke it) : daz was min unheil.

But this seems borrowed from the Eoman view of breaking off the thread (rumpat, p. 406, note). Ottokar makes the schcpferi

ains comperront cliier le coutel

qu'il ouvlierent chi a metre. Then before daybreak the fays depart to a meadow, their place of meeting, for they shun to meet the eyes of men by day. Here we see plainly enough the close resemblance of these three fays to the three nonis. The French editor wrongly understands coutel of a cloth spread for the fay ; the passage in Burciiard of Wonns removes all doubt. If Maglore be a corruption of Mandaglore, Mandagloire, as the mandragora is elsewhere called, a close connexion may be established with Alrune, Ohun. Morgue is shortened from Morgan, which is the Breton for merwoman (from nior, the sea, and gwen, splendens femina). One might be tempted to connect Morgan with that inexplicalde ' norn,' as the ON. morni stands for morgni ; but the norn has nothing to do with the morning or the sea (see Su]>pl.).

1 II. Schreiber, Feen in Europa pp. 11. 12. 10. 17. Michclct 2, 17.

414 WISE WOMEN.

(creating) impart all success in good or evil. The ' banun festan ' in Hild. lied is hardly to be explained by the fastening of a thread of death.

If we compare the aSTorse mythus with the Greek, each has taken shape in its own independent way. In Homer it is the personified Alaa} that spins the thread for the newborn :

aaaa ol Alaa

yeivo/xevq) iTrevrjcre Xlvut, ore fitv re/ce fn]T7]p. II. 20, 127 ; ' what things Aisa span for him at birth with her thread '. But in Od. 7, 197 other spinners (two) are associated with her : aaaa ol Alaa KaTaK\co6e<i re /3apelac

lyeivo/xevcp vi]aavTO Xivco, ore jjllv T€Ke fJ'^jrrjp • ' M'hat Aisa and the Kataklothes unkind span '. Hesiod {dair. 258) makes three goddesses stand beside the combatants, KKwOm, Ad-)(eaL<i, "ATpoTTO'i, the last small of stature, but eldest and most exalted of all. But in Theog. 218 he names them as

KX(o6(ti re Adyealv re Kal "ArpoTTov, a'lre /Bporotaiv

lyeLvo/iievoiai SiSovaiv exeiv djaOov re KaKov re • ' who give to mortals at birth to have both good and ill ; ' and in almost the same w^ords at 905. The most detailed description is given by Plato (De republ. 617 Steph. 508 Bekk.) : The three fioipai are daughters of ^AvdyKT] (necessity), on whose knees the spindle (drpaKro^) turns ; they sit clothed in white and garlanded, singing the destiny, Lachesis ra rye'yovora, Klotho ra ovra, Atropos ra fieXKovra : just the same relation to past, present and future as the norns have, though the Greek proper names do not themselves exj)ress it. Kkwddo (formed like Av^m, GaWco, Arjro), Mop/xM, Top<y(jii) spins (from Kkwhw spin, twine), Lachesis allots (from Xa-xelv), "Arpo7To<;, the unturnable, cuts the thread. It must not be overlooked, that Hesiod sets up the last, Atropos, as the mightiest, while with us AVurt the eldest produces the most powerful impres- sion. Latin writers distribute the offices of the parcae somewhat differently, as Apuleius (De mundo p. 280) : Clotlio ^9?-acsen?'is temporis habet curam, quia quod torquetur in digitis, momenti

1 I think ala-a is the OHG. era, our ehre, for which we should expect a Gothic aiza, aisa (as aistan is aestimare) : era = honor, decus, dignitas, what is fair and fitting, what is any one's due ; kut ala-av, ex dignitate, to each his meed. If this etymology holds, we understand why frau Ere waa personified (see Suppl.).

NOKNI. 415

praesentis indicat spatia ; Atropos practcriti latum est, quia quod in fuso perfectuni est, praetcriti^ temporis habet speciem ; Lacliesis futuri, quod etiain illis quae futura sunt finem suum deus dederit (see Suppl.). Isidore's opinion was quoted on p. 405.^ The Nor- nagestssaga bears a striking resemblance to that of Meleager, at whose birth three moirai tell his fortune : Atropos destines him to live only till the billet then burning on the liearth be burnt out ; his mother Altliaca plucks it out of the fire.^ Our modern tales here exchange the norns or fates for death, Kinderm. no. 44. Another tale, that of the tlirce spinners (no. 14), depicts them as ugly old women, who come to help, but no longer to predict ; they desire to be bidden to the marriage and to be called cousins. Elsewhere three old women foretell, but do not spin.^ A folk-tale (Deutsche sagen no. 9) introduces two maidens spinning in a cave of the mountain, and under their table is the Evil one (I suppose the third norn) chained up ; again we are told of the roof-beam on which a spinnirig ivifc sits at midnight.* We must not forget the AS. term which describes a norn as iveaving, ' Wyrd gcwdf (p. 406) ; and when it is said in Beow. 1386 : ' ac him Dryhten forgeaf wigspeda gewiofu' (ei Dominus largitus est successuum bellicorum texturas), this is quite heathen phraseology, only putting God in the place of Wyrd. Gottfried (Trist. 4698), in describing Blicker of Steinach's purity of mind, expresses himself thus :

ich wsene, daz infeinen

ze wunder haben gespunnen

und haben in in ir hrunnen

geliutert und gereinet ;

• I ween that fays spun him as a wonder, and cleansed him in their fountain '.

Saxo Gram. p. 102 uses the Latin words parca, nympha, but unmistakably he is describing norns : ' Mos erat antiquis, super

^ The Hymn to Mercury 550-561 names individually some other ^oipm. still three in nuud)er, winrjod maidens dwelling on Parnassus, their heads besprinkled with white meal, who prophesy when they have eaten fresh divine food (ijSelni/ t5a)Sr]v) of honey. Otherwise they are called dptai.

• Apollodonis i. 8, 2.

3 Altd. wl). 1, 107-8-9-10. Norske eventyr no. 13. Rob. Chambci-s p. 54-5. Miillenliotl's Schleswigh. s. p. 410. Pentamer. 4, 4.

• Jul. Schmidt, Reichenfels p. 140.

416 WISE WOMEN.

futuris liberorum eventibus farcariim oracula consultare. Quo ritu Fridlevus Olavi filii fortmiam exploraturus, nuncnpatis solenniter votis, deorum aedes precabundiis accedit, ubi introspecto saccllo^ iernas sedes totidem nt/vqjJiis occiipari cognoscit. Quanim prima indulgentioris aninii liberalem puero forniam, uberemqiie humani favoris copiam erogabat. Eidem secunda beneficii loco liberalitatis excellentiam condonavit. Tertia vero, protervioris ingenii invideutiorisque studii femina, sororum indulgentiorem aspernata consenstim, ideoque earum donis officere cupiens, futuris pueri moribus parsimoniae crimen affixit.' Here they are called sisters, which I have found nowliere else in OK authorities ; and the third nymph is again the illnatured one, who lessens the boons of the first two. The only difference is, that the norns do not come to the infant, but the father seeks out their dwelling, their temple (see Suppl.).^

The weaving of the norns and the spindle of the fays give us to recognise domestic motherly divinities ; and we have already remarked, that their appearing suddenly, their haunting of weUs and springs accord with the notions of antiquity about frau Holda, Berhta and the like goddesses, who devote themselves to spinning, and bestow boons on babes and chiklren.^ Among Celts especially,

^ They had a temple then, in which their oracle was consiilted. 2 The Lettish Laima, at the birth of a child, lays the sheet imder it, and determines its fortune. And on other occasions in life they say, ' taip Laima leme,' so Fate ordained it ; no doubt Laima is closely connected with lemti (ordinare, disponere). She runs barefooted over the hills (see ch. XVII, Watersprites). There is also mentioned a Dchlda (nursing-mother, from debt to suckle). A trinity of jmrcae, and their spinning a thread, are unknown to the Lettons ; conf. Stender's Gramm. p. 264. Ehesas dainos pp. 272. ;309. 310. — The Lithuanians do know a IVerjKya (spinner). The Ausland for 1839, no. 278 has a pretty Lithuanian legend : The dieves valditoycs were seven goddesses, the first one spun the lives of men out of a distaff given her by the highest god, the second set up the warp, the third wove in the woof, the foiu-th told tales to tempt the workers to leave off, for a cessation of labour spoilt the web, the fifth exhorted them to industry, and added length to the life, the sixth cut the threads, the seventh washed the garment and gave it to the most high god, and it became the man's winding-sheet. Of the seven, only i/iree spin or weave.

^ Not a few times have Holda and Berhta passed into Mary ; and in the three Marys of a Swiss niu'sery-rhyme I think I can recognise the heathen norns or idisi :

rite, rite rosli, ride, ride a-cock horse,

ze Bade stot e schlossli, at Baden stands a little castle,

ze Bade stot e glildi hus, at Baden stands a golden house,

es liieged drei Mareie drus. there look three Marys out of it :

die eint spinnt side, the one spins silk,

KORNI. WALACHUKIUN. 417

the fatae seem apt to run into that sense of matres and matronac} wliich among Teutons we find attaching more to divine than to semi-divine beings. In this respect the fays have something higher in them than our idises and norns, who in lieu of it stand out more warlike.

4. WALA.CHUEIUN (VaLKYRJOR).

Yet, as the fatae are closely bound up witli fatum — the pro- nouncing of destiny, vaticination — the kinship of the fays to the norns asserts itself all the same. Now there was no sort of destiny that stirred the spirit of antiquity more strongly than the issue of battles and wars : it is significant, that the same urlac, urlouc expresses both fatum and bellum also (Graff 2, 96. Gramm. 2, 790), and the idisi forward or hinder the fight. This their office we have to look into more narrowly.

From Caesar (De B. Gall. 1, 50) we already learn the practice of the Germani, 'ut matresfamilias eorum sortihus et vaticinationibwi declararent, utrum proelium committi ex usu esset, necue '. Mis- tresses of families practised augury, perhaps women selected for tlie purpose, of superior and godlike repute like Veleda.

Let us bear in mind, which gods chiefly concerned themselves with the event of a battle : Offinn and Frcyja draw to themselves all those who fall in fight, and OSinn admits them to his heavenly abode (pp. 133, 305). This hope, of becoming after death members of the divine community, pervades the religion of the heathen. Now the ON. valr, AS. wed, OHG. ival, denotes the carnage of the battle-field, the sum of the slain : to take possession of this val, to gather it in, was denominated Idosa, kiesen, to choose ; this verb seems a general technical term for the acceptance of any sacrifice made to a higher being.^ But OSiun, who has the siges Jciir (choosing

(lie amTer schnatzelt chride, the other cards . . . . ?

die drit schnit haberstrau. the third cuts oaten straw.

bhiiet nier Gott mis chindH an ! God keep my childie too !

Schnatzeln is, I suppose, to wind ? [snast = -wick ? snood ? In the marchen of the Goo>eniaid, schnatzen is apparently to comb]. The .'seventh line sometiiiu's runs : di dritte schneidt den faden (cuts the thread). Conf. Vonbun p. 6(>. Firmenich 2, ()G5^ Mannhardt pp. 388. 392. The nursery-song in the Wunderhorn p. 70-1 has tliree spinning tocken, i.e. nymi>hs, fays. ^ Lersch in the Bonn Annual 1843, pp. 124 — 7.'

" Chief passage, Stem. 141". Conf. Gramm. 4, 608, and AS. wig curou, C:v(\m. 193, 9; MHG. sige kiesen, Iw. 7009, sig erkiesen, \Vh. 355, 15. So, den tot kiesen.

27

418 WISE WOMEN.

of victory, p. 133, note), is served in Valholl by maidens, and them he sends out into every battle, to choose the slain, Sn. 39; 'Idosa er liSnir ero,' Siem. 164^; vildi J?ik hiosa, Stem. 254^

Hence such a maiden, half divine, is called valkyrja ; and it is another most welcome coincidence, that the AS. language has retained the very same term ivcelcyrie (wselcyrge, wselcyrre) to English such Latin words as bellona, erinnys, Alecto, Tisiphone, and employs it even for parca and venefica. The Cott. MS. Vitell. A. 15 has a gloss ' wtelcyrigean eagan, gorgoneus': this is translating the Greek idea into an AS. one ; did the eyes of the wffilcyrigean instil horror like the Gorgons' heads? I am quite safe in assuming an OHG. walachurid (walachurra) ; valahusjo would be the Gothic form. At the end of the Langobardian genealogy we find a man's name Walcaiisus}

Another name of the valhjrjur is ON. valmeyjar (battle-maids), perhaps also the present Norw. valdoger, which Hallager 140^ says is guardian-spirit. Again, they are called skialdmeyjar, hialmmeyjar, because they go forth armed, under shield and helmet (vera und hialmi, Soem. 151^ 192^) ; nonnor Herjans, nuns of OSinn 4^ The Edda bestows on the valkyrja the epithets: hvU 168^, /iv-i^ und hial- mi (alba sub galea) 145^ hiort 174'', solhiort, sunbright 167^, liart- litud' 142% hialnivitr 157% gidlvariS 167^, margidlin mser 145=*, alvitr 164% all descriptive of beauty or helmet-ornaments. Helm and shield distinguish these helm and shield women as much as heroes, they ride on shield-service, under shield-roof, Ssem. 250% and are called skialdmeyjar aldrstamar, or young shield-maidens of Atli's court. The legend of the Amazons (Herod. 4, 110 — 117. Jorn. cap. 6.7.8. Paul. Diac. 1, 15) seems to rest on similar yet different notions. A valkyr in Ssem. 167'' is named suffrcen (australis) , apparently in the sense of biort, solbiort ? Again at 151% disir suSrcenar (see Suppl.).^

1 Of valr, wal itself we might seek the root in velja, valjan (eligere), so that it should from the first have contained the notion of choosing, but being applied to strages, and its sense getting blurred, it had to be helped out by a second verb of the same meaning. Our Tit. 105, 4 has a striking juxtaposition : ' Sigun diu sigehaft uf dem wal, da man ivelt magede kiusche und ir siieze '. It is only in Dietr. 91'' and Rab. 536. 635. 811. 850. 923 that welreche occurs ; can it have any relationship to walkiire ?

^ 03inn has Frigg, the valhjrjur and the ravens in the vv^aggon with him, Sn. 66. For valkyrja I also find the name shmhigr, derivable either from skar superbia, or skari agmen. Brynhildr is called in Vols, saga cap. 24 ' mestr skorAngr' (see Suppl.j.

VALKYRJA, W^LCYRIE. 419

'i One name is particularly attractive : oskmeyjar, wish-maidens

(Stem. 212. Vols, saga cap. 2), given them, I think, because they are in OSin's service, and OSinn is called Oski, Wunsc. But there is something more : I find a confirmation of my opinion that Wuotan bore the name of Wunsc in his identity with Mercury, for ]\Iercury carries the magic wand (caduceus), which is like our v:ishing-rod, OHG. vmnsciligerta (-yerde, yard). The likeness will come out more distinctly from a closer inspection of the two rods, which is yet to come ; but if Wuotan and Wunsc, OSinn and OsJd are one, we may suppose that the thorn, the sleeping-thorn, which OSinn put into the dress of tlie valkyrja Brynhildr (Soem. 192"^), was likewise a wishing-thorn. It throws light on the nature of Brunhild and Chrimhild, that rocks are named after them, one called spilstcin, Chriemhildes^^7 (p. 370), which does not find a meaning so well from spil (Indus) as from spille (spindle, fusus). For other stones have the name knnkel (distaff), and in French fairy-tales quenouillc a la bonne dame ; ^ Dornroschen (thorn-rosekin) pricked her finger with the spindle and fell into a dead sleep, as Brunhild did with the wishing-thorn. Spindles are an essential characteristic of all the wise-women of antiquity among Teutons, Celts and Greeks.^ The walkiire is a wunsch-kint, Wunsches hint, pp. 139, 142 (see Suppl.).

The name wunsclielweib, which lasted down to a late time, shall be produced hereafter; here I call up from the poem of the Staufenberger a being by whom the connexion of valkyrs with fays is placed beyond doubt. To the knight there shews herself a maiden in wliitc apparel (the hvit and biort above), sitting on a stone (line 224) ; she has ivatched over him in danger and tvar from his yoidh up, she was about him unseen (332 — 3G4) ; now she becomes his love, and is with him ivhcnever he ivishcs for her (swenne du einest wunschest nach mir, so bin ich endelichen bi dir 474). By super- human power she moves swiftly whither she lists (war ich wil, da, bin ich, den umnsch hat mir Got gegeben 497). Staufenberger, after being united to her in love, may do anything except take a wedded wife, else he will die in three days.

' er wilnschf.e nach der frouwen sin, bi im so war diu schcene fin,'

1 H. Schreiber pp. 20. 21.

2 I like also Sclireiber'3 derivation, pp. 65 — 67, of tlie name Nehaea, Nehalennia (supra p. 257) from the root nere, neza to spin.

420 WISE WOMEN.

"VVlien he notwithstanding resolves on anotlier marriage, she drives he?' foot through the floor, and he has to die (1016. 1066). Accord- ing to this remarkable story, umnschwcih or ivunschclweih is one whose presence her lover can procure, by wishing it, whenever he longs for her, ' names her name' as it were (p. 398) : this is, thougli not a false, yet a later meaning substituted for the original one, which had reference to the god of wishing, the divine Wish. Old Norse legend \ ill unfold to us more precisely the nature of these women.

In Valholl the occupation of the oshneyjar or valkyrjiir was to hand the drinking-horn to the gods and einherjar, and to furnish the table. Here comes out their peculiar relation to Frcgja, who ' chooses val ' like them, is called Valfrcyja (p. 305),^ and pours out at the banquet of the Ases (at gildi Asa), Sn. 108. Exactly in the same way did Gondul, sitting on a stol i rioSrinu (in the niuriute, clearing), offer the comers drink out of a horn (Fornald. sog. 1, 398. 400); and with this agree the deep draughts of the modern folk-tale : a beautifully dressed and garlanded maiden from the Osenberg offers the count of Oldenburg a draught in a silver horn, while uttering pre- dictions (Deutsche sagen, no. 541). Svend Falling drank out of the horn handed him by elf-women, and in doing so, spilt some on his horse, as in the preceding story (Thiele 2, 67) ; I have touched (p. 372) on the identity of Svend Falling with Siegfried, whose relation to the valkyr Brunhild comes out clearly in the Danish story. In a Swedish folk-song in Arvidsson 2, 301, three mountain- maids hold out silver tankards in their ivhite hands. Quite in harmony are some Norwegian traditions in Faye p. 26-8-9. 30 ; and additional Danish ones in Thiele 1, 49.55. 3,44 (see SuppL).

Still more to the purpose is the office of the valkyrs in war. Not only 'kiosa val, kiosa feigS,'^ but 'rac5a viguni' or 'sigri,' therefore the deciding of battle and victory, is placed in their hands, tSn. 39. They are said to be 'gorvar (alert) at riSa grund,' 'gorvar

^ So, in a Faroese song, Valvfrygv (Finn Magn. lex. p. 805).

" The taJdng possession of souls at the moment of death by OSinn and Freyja, or by their messengers the valkyrs, appears to me so deep-rooted a featnre of oiir heathenism, that we may well find it lingering even in christian traditions. Of tliis sort is the scramble of angels and devils for the soul, des- cribed in the poem Muspilli, which Schmeller has hunted up, Georg 1235-44. 6(l'-2— 86, and Meon 1, 239. 4, 114-5 ; and a striking passage in the Morolt I shall quote in ch. XVII. Will any one think of tracing this idea to the Epistle of Jude 9, or the apocryphal Book of Enoch ?

■\VALACUURIUN. SKULD. 421

at riSa til go5]7ioSar,' Sffiin. 4^ Eooted in their being is an irresis- tible longing for this warlike occupation ; hence the Edda expresses their most cliaracteristic passion by the verb '}?ra' (desiderant), Sffim. 88^ ' ])xivSo ' (desiderabant) or ' fystoz ' (cnpiebant), 134^* : it is their own longing, striving and wisliing that has swung itself round into that wishing for them. Usually nine valkyrjur ride out together, Stem. 142, 162 ; their lances, helmets and shields glitter 15 1\ This nineness is also found in the story of T'aiSrandi (sec p. 402), to whom nine disir appear first in white raiment, then nine others in black. Sa?m. 44-5, and after him Sn. 39, enumerate thirteen of them: Hrist, Mist, Skeggdld, Skugul, Hildr, Thriid'r, Hlock, Herfiotr, Gall, Geirahod' (al. Geirolul), liandgricF, RddgrOT, Reginleif ; but Saem. 4'' only six: Skuld, Skogul, Giinnr, Hildr, Gondul, Geirskogul} The j)rose of Sn. 39 distinguishes three as strictly val-choosers and mistresses of victory: Gud'r, Bota and Skuld 'norn en yngzta'. The celebrated battle-weaving song of the Nialssaga names the following : Hildr, Hiorprimul, Sangriffr (1. EangriSr), Svipid, Gunnr, Gondid; the Hakonarmal: Gondol, Skogol, Geirskogol; the Krakumal (ed. Eafn, p. 121) only Hlock and Hildr. Several of these names are of extraordinary and immediate value to our investigation, and not one of the remainder ought to be left out of sight in future study (see Suppl.).

Skuld, for instance : we gatlier from it the affinity of norns and valkyrs, and at the same time the distinction between them. A dis can be both norn and valkyr, but the functions are separate, and usually the persons. The norns have to pronounce the fatum, they sit on their chairs, or they roam through the country among mortals, fastening their threads. Nowhere is it said that they ride. The valkyrs ride to war, decide the issue of the fighting, and conduct the fallen to heaven ; their riding is like that of heroes and gods (pp. 327. 392), mention is made of their horses : skalf Mistar marr (tremuit Mistae equus), Sa^m. 156^ ; wa?'gullin nicer (aureo equo vecta virgo), 145''; M'hen the steeds of the valkyrs shake themselves, dew drips from their manes into the valleys, and fertilizing hail falls on trees 145''''', with which compare the ' des- tillationes in comis et collis equorum ' of the wise-women (p. 287) ; the name Mist, which elsewhere means nust, may have indicated

^ Unpublished passages in the skalds supply 29 or 30 names (Finn Ma-^n. lex. p. 803).

422 WISE WOMEN.

a like phenomenon. Of the norns, none but Skidd the youngest (p. 405) can be a valkyrja too : were UrSr and VerSandi imagined as too aged or too dignified for the work of war ? did the cutting, breaking, of the thread (if such an idea can be detected in the North) better become the maiden practised in arms ?

Two other valkyrs, Hloch and Hcrfiotr, have been claimed above (p. 401) as idisi, and interpreted as restrainers of the fight. In the Kormakssaga there also occurs Hlokk gen. Hlakkar, for bellona.

Hildr, Gunnr, Tkruffr deserve to be studied the more closely, because their personality turns up in other Teutonic tongues as well, and the presence there of some walachuriun argues that of the whole sisterhood. Even in ONorse, ITildr and Gunnr (=:Gu6r) got generalized into hildr and gunnr (pugna, proelium) ; of bellona was made bellum : ' hildr hefir ])u oss verit,' bellona nobis fuisti, Seem. 164^ Conversely, beside the AS. hild and guff we still find a personal Hild and Gild': gif mec Ifdd nime (if H. take me), Beow. 899. 2962 ; GticT nimeS 5069 ; GticT fornam (carried off) 2240 ; as elsewhere we have ' gif mec deaS nimeS,' Beow. 889, wig ealle fornam 2154, guSdeaS fornam 4494, Wyrd fornam 2411 (conf. OS. Wurd farnimid, Hel. Ill, 11), swylt fornam 2872, Wyrd for- sweop (supra p. 406) ; conf. ' Ililde grap ' 5009. And as other beings that do us good or harm are by turns aroused and quieted, it is said picturesquely: Hildi vekja (bellonam excitare), Seem. 160^ 246=^; elsewhere merely vig vekja (bellum excitare) 105*. The valkyrs, like OSinn (p. 147), are accompanied by eagles and ravens, who alight on the battlefield,^ and the waging of war is poetically expressed as ala gogl gunna^ sysf.ra (aves alere sororum belli), Ssem. 160^ The forms in OHG. were Hiltia and Gundia (Gudea), both found in the Hild. lied 6, 60, though already as mere common nouns ; composite proper names have -hilt, -gunt.^ The legend of Hildr, who goes to the val at night, and by her magic wakes the fallen warriors into life again, is preserved both in the Edda (Sn, 164-5) and also in the OHG. poem of Gudrun, where she is called Hilde? — Lastly, Thru&r, which likewise sinks into a mere apj^ella-

1 Andr. and El. p. xxvi. xxvii. Conf. Luke 17, 37 : ottou to awfia, tKf'i (TvvaxSrjcrovTaL kol ol aeroi.

• The Trad, fuld., in Scliannat no. 443, have preserved the name, well suited to a valkyr, of Themarhilt (from demar, crepusculum).

• Deutsche heldensage p. 327 seq. Conf. supra j). 285, on Hilde and Hikl- burg.

UILD. GUND. DRUD. 423

tive prii&r virgo, and in OHG. occurs in a great many female names {e.g. Alpdrud [^lfj?ry5, Elfrida], Wolcliandrud, Himildriul, Pliddrut, Plihdmt = Plectrud, Kerdrud = Gertrude, Mimidriid, Sigidrud, which naturally suggest ghostly beings), has assumed the general meaning of witch, sorceress, hobgoblin.^ Hans Sachs several times uses ' alte trute ' for old witch, and noisy children are quieted with the words : ' hush, the d^^ut will come ! ' ^ so that here she exactly fills the place of frau Holla or Berhta, and can the more appropriately be the ancient valkyr. An AS. wood- maiden, named Dhryd', comes up in the Vita Offae secundi (supra, p. 388) : she is from France, where she had been sentenced to death for her crimes, exposed in a ship, and cast on the shore of Mercia. Here Offa saw the maiden passing fair, and married her, but she soon committed new transgi-essions. She is called 9^ Drida, 9^ Petronilla, 15^ Qvendrida (i.e.,cwen ThryS ; conf. Kemble's pre- face to Beow. pp. XXXV, xxxvi, and Bilckstrom 1, 220 (see SuppL).

Beside the valkyrs named, there must have been many others, and the second section of the Ssemundaredda names several as lovers or wives of heroes. Such are Svava, Sigrlinn, Kara, SigrUn, Sigrdrifa, who are expressly called valkyrjur, Seem. 142^ 145^ 157, 169. 194. It also comes out, that they were of human origin, being daughters of kings, Svava of Eylimi, Sigrlinn of Svafnir, Sigrun of Hogni, Kara of Halfdan, Sigrdrifa of BuSli ; Svava was the lover of Helgi HiorvarSsson, Sigrlinn of HiorvarSr, Sigrun of Helgi Hundingsbani, Kara of Helgi HaddingskaSi, and Sigrdrifa, who is no other than Brynhildr, of SigurSr. Grimhildr (helmet- maiden, p. 238), and above all Brynhildr, Prunhilt, whose very name betokens the mail-clad Hildr, is superhuman: her inaccessible hall stands on a mountain, like those of Veleda and Jetha (pp. 95- 6) ; it was a scMldhurg (skialdborg), where she herself, bound by the spell, slept under her shield, till SigurSr released her. Then she prophesied to him, Ssem. 194^ and before her death she prophesies again, 224. 226^ Her hall was encircled with Jlickering fiame, ' oc var um sal hennar vafrlogi,' Sn. 139 (see SuppL), as was also that of Menglocf (OHG. Maniklata, i.e., monili laetabunda), another valkyr: salr er slunginn er visom vafrloga (Seem. 110*, conf.

1 Some people think Gerdrut, Gerdraut, an unchristian name. Frau Trmle (Kinderm. 43).

^ Flogel, gesch. des groteskekom. p. 23.

424 WISE WOMEN.

107'^'''). Before this MengloS, nine virgins kneel, sit, and sing ; sacrifice is offered to them all (111^); conf, ch. XXXVI. Then Vebiorg shialdmccr appears in Fornald. sog. 1, 384. And vro Babehilt, whom Dietrich finds at a fountain, asleep (as Sigurd found Brynhild), and who gives him healing salves, and foretells his fate (Ecke 151 — 160), must also be reckoned among norns or valkyrs. The valkyrs bestowed on their favourites, as Staufenberger's lover did on him (p. 419), victory and protection in battle (Sigrun hlifSi honom opt siSan i orrostom, Soem. 142^) ; this relation is technically expressed by vcrja (tueri 134''); they hide their heroes' ships (Svava 145=^'^, Sigrun 153^). The above-mentioned Hildr too, the daughter of king Hogni (Hagene), was HeSin's betrothed. The memory of these shield-maidens has filtered down even into modern folk- songs : in Arvidsson 1, 189, Kerstin skoldmo with her 8000 maids redeems her betrothed from captivity ; at other times it is a sister that rescues her brother, by which is not meant a sister by birth, but a valkyr again, for these higher beings are everywhere called sisters, and fraternize with their proteges (Arvidsson 2, 120-1-2. Nyerup 4, 38-9). Now those women in our medieval poetry, the sight of whom nerves to victory, whose name need only be uttered to bring them to one's side as quickly as a wish can be formed and accomplished, are evidently shield-women of this kind (see SuppL). OSinn then admitted into his band of valkyrs mortal maidens of kingly race, deified women standing by the side of the deified heroes ; yet I do not suppose that all valkyrs were of such lineage, but that the oldest and most famous were, like the norns, descended from gods or elves. It is also worth noting, that Kara and her Helgi were looked upon as a second hirth of Svava and the elder Helgi, Sam. 148^ 169. In the VolundarqviSa tliree other valkyrs make their appearance together : Jllad'gud'r svanhvit, Rervor cdvitr, and OlrlXn, the first two being daughters of king LoSver, the third of Kiar ; they unite themselves to SlagfiSr, Volundr and Egill, live with them seven years, and then escape, ' at vitja viga,' to pursue their old trade of war again. On the whole, it seems the union of these half-goddesses with heroes turned out detrimentally to both parties : the heroes came to an early death or other harm, as Staufenberger's example teaches ; and ' Sigrun varS skammlif,' she grew scant of life. Stem. 169\ Perhaps we should be right in assuming that promotion to the valkyrs office took place under an

WALACHURIUN. 425

oblitration of virginity} which again reminds one of the Amazons. At all events, when 03inn was angry with Sigrdrifa for letting his favourite fall in battle,"^ he decreed that now she should be given in marriage, ' qvaS liana giptaz scyldo,' Snem. 194:^ HlaSguSr, Hervbr and Olrun had been carried off by the men forcibly and against their will (see Suppl.).^ All these female names are descriptive. Olriin was discussed on p. 404. IllaSguSr is literally bellona straf^is; Hervor, like the kindred Gunnvor, alludes to hosts and battles, the adj. alvitr to the gift of prophecy, and svanhvit to the swan-shape. Saxo Gram. 22-3 names another Scanhvita, who has likewise much of the valkyr, is a seer of spirits, and presents a sword to llegner to seal their covenant. As for Slagfi&r (see p. 380), I prefer to explain it not as Slagfiunr, though he is called a son of the Finnakonungr, but as Slagjioffr = alatus, pennatus, which goes better with Svanhvit his lover, and is supported by the OHG. word slagifedara, peuna.

How little we are entitled to separate the nonis and valhjrs totally from one another, is taught by the tale of these three maidens also. Not to mention the prevalence among valkyrs as well as norns of the number three and sisterly companionship, nor Hervor's having the epithet alvitr (omniscia), which better fits a norn than a valkyr ; it is said of all three, that they sat on the sea-beach spinning costly fiax, nay, of the same ' all- witting ' one (who is repeatedly called iXnga, as Skuld is in other places), that she was about to ' orlog drygja' to dree a weird, Ssem. 133'' 134^.

1 Pompon. Mela 3, 8 : ' Oracuh numinis Gallici antistites, pei-petua virginitate sanctae, nuniero novem esse traduntur. Gallicenas vocant, putantqiie ingeniis singularibus praedita-s maria ac ventos concitare, seque in quae velint animalia vertere, sanare quae apud alios insanabilia sunt, scire ventura et praedicare, sed non nisi deditas navigantibus, et in id tantum ut se consulereut profectas [I. profectis Q '. The similarity of these nine sooth-telling gallicenae is unmistakable. Some read Galli Cenas, others Barrigenas, conf. Tzschucke, Not. crit. pp. 159 — 1(53.

• N.B. against Oeiin's will, who could therefore be outwitted :. destiny stood above the god.

^ On p. 406 we saw wise-women represented as acquainted with writing, and iLS actually writing ; it will be for similar reasons that valkyrs embroider and paint. The Vols, saga cap. 24 says of Ijrynhild : ' huu sat i einui skemmu viC meyjar sinar, hun kuuni meira hagleik enn aJirar konur, hun lagtJi sinu borSa me5' gulli, ok sauma^i a ]7au stormerki, er Sigurt^r hafSi giort '. And in this chamber Sigurt) comes to her. I place beside this the opening lines of a, Swedish song :

Sven Farling ban rider till jungfruns gard, som stickude pa silket del hvita. And this hero is identical with iSigurO". ^

426 WISE WOMEN.

The award of battle is one part of destiny ; not only norns, but valkyrs also were imagined spinning and weaving. This is placed in the clearest light by the fearfully exciting poem in cap. 158 of the Nialssaga. Through a crevice in the rock DorruSr sees women sit singing over a tech, at which human heads serve them for weights, entrails for warp and weft, swords for spools, and arrows for a comb : in their weird song they describe themselves as valkyrjur, and their web as intended for the spectator DorruSr.^ At length they tear up their work, mount their steeds, and six of them ride to the south, six to the north. Compare with this the iveaving Wyrd of the AS. poet (p. 415). The parting of the maidens into two bands that ride in opposite directions, is like those nine in white and nine in black, who came riding up in suc- cession (p. 421).

I have set norns and /xotpai, side by side ; with equal aptness a comparison can be drawn between valkyrs and Krjpe<i (without any verbal affinity, for no doubt the likeness is only an apparent one) : the K7JP too might be seen on the battlefield in bloody garments, tending the wounded, dragging away the dead. A Kijp is allotted to the child as soon as it is born ; Achilles had two Krjp€<; between whom he might choose, and Zeus put two in the balance, to decide the death of Hector or Achilles.^ Hesiod (scut. 249 — 254) makes the dingy white-toothed /C7}pe? contend over the fallen warriors, each throws her talons round the wounded man, eager to drink his blood, just as he ascribes talons and a thirst for blood to the moirai (p. 414) : a fresh confirmation of the identity of norns and valkyrs. The claws of the moirai and keres, the wings of the thriai, point to their possession of a lird's shape. The later view [Hesiod'sJ brings into prominence the sinister side of the keres.

5. Swan-maidens.

But we have now to make out a new aspect of the valkyrs. We are told that they travel through air and water, ' riSa lopt ok log,' Stem. 142^ 159^; theirs is the power to fly and to swim, in other words, they can assume tlie body of a sivan, they love to

1 So at least we may understand ' vindiim, vindum vef Darra&ar,'' even if the name and the whole story first arose out of a ' vef darraGar,' web of the dart, conf. AS. deoreS (jaculum). We know that the Sturlungasaga contains a very similar narrative.

• II. 8, 70. 9, 411. 18, 535—540. 22, 210. 23, 79. 24, 82.

SWAN-MAIDENS. 427

linger on the sea-shore ; and the swan was considered a bird of augury} Tlie VolundarqviSa relates : Tliree women sat on the shore, spinning jiax, and had their dlptarhamir (swan-shifts) by them, so that any moment they could fly away again as swans : ' meyjar Jingo' and ' settuz at hvilaz a ScEvarstroud ' ; one of them has even tlie surname of svanhvit (swanwhite), and wears swan's feathers (svanfiaSrar dro). In the Hromundarsaga (Fornald. sog. 2, 375-6), the same Kara, who the Edda says was a second birth of Svava, appears as an enchantress in svxin-sMft, (fiolkyngiskoiia i alftarham), and hovers above the hero, singing.^ By her assist- ance Helgi had always conquered, but it happened in one fight, that he swung his sword too high in the air, and hewed off liis lover's foot, she fell to the ground, aud his luck was spent. In Saxo Gram., p, 100, Fridlevus hears up in the air at niglit 'sonum trium olorum superne clangentium,' who prophesy to him, and drop a girdle with runes on it. Brynhildr is ' like the swan on the wave ' (Fornald. sog. 1, 186) : the simile betrays at the same time, that she had really the power of changing into the bird. Many tales of swan-ivivcs still live among the Norse people. A young man saw three swans alight on the shore, lay their white bird-shifts in the grass, turn into beautiful maidens, and bathe in the water, then take their shifts again, and fly away in the shape of swans. He lay in wait for them another time, and abstracted the garment of the youngest ; she fell on her knees before him, and begged for it, but he took her home with him, and married her. When seven years were gone by, he shewed her the shift he had kept concealed ; she no sooner had it in her hand, than she Jleiv out as a simii through the open window, and the sorrowing husband died soon after. Afzelius 2, 143-5. On the other hand, the swan-hero forsakes his wife the moment she asks the forbidden question. A. peasant had a field, in which whatever he set was trampled down every year on St. John's night. Two years in succession lie set his two eldest sons to watch in the held ; at midnight they heard a hurtling in the air, which sent them into a deep sleep. The next year the third son watched, and he saw three maidens come flying,

1 Es schwant mir, it swans me — I liave a boding. The reference to the Vjird seems undenialile, for we also .say In tlie same sense : es wachsen (there grow) mir schwansfcdern' (so already in Zesen's Simson). Conf. the Eddie ' svanfiaSrar dro (wore) '.

^ Kat'n has chosen the reading Lara.

428 WISE WOMFN.

^vlio laid their wings asido, and then danced up and down the field. He jumped up, fetched the wings away, and laid them under the stone on whicli he sat. When the maidens had danced till they were tired, they came to him, and asked for their wings ; he declared, if one of them would stay and be his wife, the other two should have their wings back. From this point the story takes a turn, which is less within the province of the swan-wife myth ; but it is worth noting, that one of the maidens offers her lover a drink of water out of a golden 'pitcher, exactly as elfins and wish-wives do elsewhere (pp. 420, 326). Molbech no. 49.

These lovely swan-maidens must have been long known to German tradition. When they bathe in the cooling flood, they lay down on the bank the swan-ring, the swan-shift ; who takes it from them, has them in his power.^ Though we are not expressly told so, yet the three prophetic merioomcn whose garments Hagene took away, are precisely such ; it is said (Nib. 1476, 1) by way of simile

again :

sie swebten sam die vogele uf der fluot.

It is true, our epic names only two of them (the Danish story only one), the 2visiu wip, Hadburc and Sigelint^ but one of them begins to prophesy, and their garments are described as ' wnnderlich,' 1478, 3. The myth of Volundr we meet with again in an OHG. poem, which puts doves in the place of swans : three doves fly to a fountain, but when they touch the ground they turn into maidens, Wielant removes their clothes, and will not give them up till one of them consents to take him for her husband. In other tales as widely diffused, young men throw the shift, ring or chain over them, which turns them into siuans? When tlie resumption of human shape cannot be effected completely, the hero retains a sivan-wing ; evidence of the high antiquity of this detail lies in its connexion with the heroic legend of Scoup or Sceaf (p. 370) ; and it has found its way into modern pedigrees.* Especially impor-

1 Miisteus, Volksmarchen vol. 3 : The stolen veil.

2 There is a jilant named, I suppose, from this Sigelint ; Snmerl. 22, 28 (conf. 23, 19) has cigelinta fel draconis, and 53, 48 cigelinde ; Graff 6, 145 has sigeline ; see Sigel, feiglander in Schni. 3, 214.

3 Kinderm. no. 49. Deutsche sagen 2, 292-5. Adalb. Kuhn p. 164, the swan-chain.

■* Conf. Deutsche sagen no. 540 : 'the Schwanrings of Plesse,' who carry a sivan's wing and ring on their scutcheon. A doc. of 1441 (Wolf's Norten no. 48) names a Johannes Swaneflngel, decretorum doctor, decanus ecclesiae majoris Hildesemensis. In a pamphlet of 1617 occurs the phrase: 'to tear the ring and mask off this pseudonym '.

SWAN-MAIDENS. 429

tant, as placing in a clear light the exact relation of these swan- ^vives to the walktireii, is a statement about them in Altd. bl. 1 128 : A nobleman hunting in a wild forest saw a maiden bathing in the river, he crept up and took away the gold chain on her hand, then she could not escape. There was peculiar virtue in this chain : ' dor iininie (on account of it) werden sulche frowen wilnschelwyhere genant'. He married her, and she had seven children at a birth, they all had gold rings about their necks, i.e., like their mother, the power of assuming a swan-shape. Swan- children then are ivish-children. In Gudrun, the prophetic angel comes over the sea-wave in the shape of a wild bird singing, i.e., of a sivan, and in Lohengrin a talking sivan escorts the hero in his ship; in AS. poetry swanrdd (-road) passed current for the sea itself, and alpiz, selfet, alpt (cygnus) is aldn to the name of the ghostly alp, self (see SuppL). •

"We hear tell of a sivan that swims on the lake in a hollow moimtain, holding a ring in his bill : if he lets it fall, the earth comes to an end.^ On the UrSarbrunnr itself two swans are maintained (Sn. 20); another story of a soothsaying swan is communicated by Kuhn, p. 67, from the Mittelmark. A young man metamorphosed into a swan is implied in the familiar West- phalian nursery-rhyme :

swane, swane, pek up de nesen, wannehr bistu krieger wesen (wast a warrior) ? Another, of Achen, says :

krune krane, wisse schwane, we wel met noh Engeland fahre ? And the name Ssefugel in the AS. genealogies seems to indicate a swan-hero.

The spinner Eerhta, the goose-footed'^ queen, may fairly suggest swan-maidens (p. 280).3 If those prophetic 'gallicenae ' were able

1 Gottschalk's Sagen, Halle 1814, p. 227.

• The pentagram was a Pythagorean synihol, but also a Druitlic ; as it goes by the name of elfs foot, elf's cross, goblin-foot, and resembles a pair of goose- feet or swan-feet, semi-divine and elvish beings are again brought together in this emblem ; the valkyr ThruS is next door to a swan-maiden, and Staufen- berger's lover likewise had such a foot.

3 The beautiful story of the Good Woman, publ. in Haupt s zeitschr. 2, 350, is very acceptable as shewing yet another way in which this fairy being got linkedVith the hero-legend of\he Karlings. The two children born on one day at paske llourie, and brought up in mutual love (77 — 87), are clearly identical with Flore and Blanchejteur, lor these also are not real names, but

430 WISE WOMEN.

to assume what animal shapes they pleased, why, then the Celts too seem to have known about swan-metamorphosis in very early times, so that in French fay-legends we may supply the omissions ; e.g., in Meon 3, 412 :

en la fontaine se baignoient

trois j)uccles preuz et senses,

qui de biaute sembloient fees :

lor robes a tout lor chemises

orent desoz une arbre mises

du bout de la fontaine en haut. puceles senees 3, 419. bien eurees 418. la plus niestre 413-5. The shifts were stolen, and the maidens detained. In the Lai du Desire the knight espies in the forest a swan-maiden without her wimple (sans guimple). The wimple of the white-robed fay answers to the swan-shift.

6. Wood-Wives. We have seen that the wish-wives appear on pools and lakes in the depth of the forest : it is because they are likewise wood-wives, and under this character they suggest further reflections. The old sacred forest seems their favourite abode : as the gods sat throned in the groves, on the trees, the wise-women of their train and escort would seek the same haunts. Did not the Gothic aliorunas dwell in the woodland among wood-sprites ? Was not Veleda's tower placed on a rock, that is, in the woods ? The VolundarqviSa opens with the words :

meyjar flugo sunnan Myrhvicf igognom,

invented in fairy-tale fashion, to suit the name of their daughter Berhta, the bright, white. Berhta marries Pepin, and gives birth to Charlemagne ; in the Garin le Loherain, Pepin's wife is said to be Blanchefleur of Moriane, but in the story now in question she is the unnamed daughter of count Kuprecht of Barria (Robert of Berry), spoken of simply as diu guote frouive (162. 1130), diu guote (1575), la bone dame (3022), conf. bonadea, bonasocia, p. ii83 ; her husband, who steps into the place of the childless last king (Merovingian), is Karelman (3020), and the only name that can suit herself is Berte, already contained in that of her father Iluodbert. The children of this pair are ' Pippin der kleine (little) ' and ' Kwrle der merre (greater) '. The events in the middle part of the story are quite other (more fully unfolded, if not more pleasing) than those told of Flore and Blanchefleur ; but we plainly perceive how on the new Karling race in the freshness of its bloom were grafted older heathen myths of the swan-wife, of the good wife (p. 253), of the mild woman (p. 280), of the bona socia (p. 283\ and of the bonne dame (p. 287) ; Conf. Sommer's pref. to Flore xxvi. xxvii. xxxii.

WOOD-WIVES. 431

maids flew from south through murky wood to tlie seashore, there they tarried seven years, till they grew homesick :

meyjar fystoz a myrkvan vicf, they could resist no longer, and returned to the sombre wood. Almost all swan-maidens are met with in the forest. The seven years agree with those of the Swedish story on p. 427.^

As Sigriln, Sigrdrifa, Sigrlinn are names of valkyrs, and our epic still calls one of the wise-women Sigelint, I believe that the OHG. siguwip, AS. sigewif, ON. sigrvif, was a general designation of all wise- women, for which I can produce an AS. spell com- municated to me by Kemble :

sitte ge sigewif, sigaS to eorSan !

nsefre ge wilde (1. wille) tu unida fleogan !

beo ge swa gemyndige mines godes,

swa biS manna-gehwylc metes and eScles.^ Like norns, they are invited to the house with promise of gifts.

On this point we will consider a passage m Saxo, where he is unmistakably speaking of valkyrs, though, as his manner is, he avoids the vernacular term. In his account of Hother and Balder, which altogether differs so much from that of the Edda, he says, p. 39 : Hotherus inter venandum errore nebulae perductus in quoddam silvcstrinm virginum conclave incidit, a quibus proprio nomine salutatus, ' quaenam essent ' perquirit. Illae suis ductihis aiospiciisque maxime hellorum fortunam gubernari testantur : saepe enim se nemini consincxias proeliis intercsse, clandestinisquc subsidiis optatos amicis praebere successus: quippe conciliare prospera, ad versa infligere posse pro libitu memorabant. After bestowing their advice on him, the maidens with their house (aedes, conclave) vanish before Mother's eyes (see Suppl.). Further on, p. 42 : At Hotherus extrema locorum devia j^ervagatus, insuetumque mortalibus nemvs emensus, ignotis forte xirginibus habitatum reperit spccum : easdem esse constabat, quae eum insecabili veste quondam donaverant. They now give him more counsel, and are called ityinpliac?

1 In the Wallacliian marchen 201, three wood-wives bathing have tlieir crowns taken from them.

• Sedete bellonae, descendite ad terram, nolite in silvam voLire ! Tain memores estote i'ortnnae meae, ([uam est honiinum quililiet cibi atf^ne patriae.

3 Three otJier nymphs appear directly alter, and prepare enchanted food lor Balder with the spittle of snakes, p. 43. A '■femina silvestris et immanis ' ia also mentioned by Saxo p. 125.

432 WISE WOMEN.

This seems no modern distorted view, to imagine the maids of war, that dwelt in OSin's heavenly company, that traversed air and flood, as likewise haunting the woodlaiid cave ; therefore feaxo was right to call them silvcstres, and to place their chamber, their cave, in the forest.

The older stages of our language supply some similar expressions, in which I recognise the idea of wise wood-iuives, not of mere elvish wood-S]3rites. They are called ivildiu ivip, and the Trad, fuld., p. 544, speak of a place ' ad domum ivildero iviho '. Burcard of Worms, p. 198*^, mentions ' agrestes feminas quas silvaticas vocant, et quando voluerint ostendunt se suis amatoribus, et cum eis dicunt se oblectasse, et item quando voluerint abscondunt se et evanescunt'. This ' quando voluerint ' seems to express the notion of wish-life. Meister Alexander, a poet of the 13th century, sings (str. 139, p. 143^) : ' nu gent si viir in (go they before him) liber gras in ivildcr ivihe wiete (weeds)'. So: 'von einem loilden wihe ist Wate arzet,' is {i.e. has learnt to be) physician, Gudr. 2117; 'das wilde frduivclinl Ecke 189. In the Gl. monst. 335, wildaz vAjJ stands for lamia, and 333 ivildiu tvi2J for ululae, funereal birds, death- boding wives, still called in later times klagcfrmtcn, klagemuttcr, and resembling the prophetic Berhta (p. 280). In groves, on trees, there appeared dorninac, niatronae, jpuellae clothed in white (pp. 287-8), distinguishable from the more elvish tree-wife or dryad, whose life is bound up with that of the tree. The Vicentina Germans worship a wood-tvife, chiefly between Christmas and Twelfthday : the women spin flax from the distaff, and throio it in the fire to pro- pitiate her : ^ she is every bit like Holda and Berhta. As three bunches of corn are left standing at harvest-time for Wuotan and frau Gaue, so to this day in the Frankenwald they leave three hcmdfuls of flax lying on the field for the hohiveihel (wood-wives, Jul. Schmidt's lieichenfels, p. 147), a remnant of older higher wor- ship. Between Leidhecken and Dauernheim in the Wetterau stands the high mountain, and on it a stone, dcr ivelle fra gcstoil (the wild woman's chairs) ; there is an impression on the rock, as of the limbs of human sitters. The people say the loild folk lived there ' wei di schtan noch raell warn,' while the stones were still soft ; afterwards, being persecuted, the man ran away, the wife and child remained in custody at Dauernheim until they died. Folk-songs 1 Duiil-sche sacfcn no 150.

WOOD-WIVES. MENNI. 433

make the huntsman in the wood start a dark-brown maid, and hail her: 'whither away, wild beast?' (Wunderhorn 2, 154), but his mother did not take to the bride, just as iu the tale of the swan- children. We find a more pleasing description in the Spanish ballad De la infantina (Silva p. 259) : a huntsman stands under a lofty oak :

En una rama mas alta viera estar una infantina, cabellos de su cabeza todo aquel roble cobrian :

• siete facias (7 fays) me f adaron en brazos de una ama mia, que andasse los siete anos sola en esta montina '. But the knight wants first to take his mother's opinion, and she refuses her consent. When Wolfdieterich sits by a fire in the forest at night, rauhe Ms comes up, the shaggy woman, and carries off the hero to her own country,^ where she is a queen and lives on a high rock : at length, bathing in the jungbrunnen, she lays aside her hairy covering, and is named Sigcminne, ' the fairest above aU lands '.2 — Synonymous with 'wildaz wip' the glosses have holzmnoja (lamia and ulula), she who wails or moos in the wood ; holzfroive (lamia) AM. bl. 2, 195; holzruna (Gl. mons. 335. Doc. 219^) meaning the same, but suggestive of that Gotliic aliorumna, AS. burgrune, and the OK SigrUn (see Suppl.).^

7. Menni, Merimanni.

One general name for such beings must from very early times have been menni, minni ; it is connected with man (homo), and with the ON. man (virgo), but it occurs only in compounds : meri- manni (neut), pi. merimanniu, translates sirena or scylla (Eeda umbe diu tier, in Hoffm. fundgr. 19, 18), meriminni, GI. Doc. 225=^ mons. 333. In the 13th century poets, merminnc is equivalent to meynvip, merfrouwe, yet also to wildez wip : ' diu wise merminne,' Diut. 1, 38. ' gottinne oder merminnc, die sterben niht enmohten (could nob die),' Eneit. 8860. In the Wigamur 112. 200. 227 seq.,

1 Called Troje, conf. Ecke 81 ; and Elsentroje, Deutsche heldensage 198. 211 (see Suppl.).

2 In t]je Wolfdietr. (Dresd. MS. 290—7), hoelve goddesses go to a mountain, fetch the hero to them, and tend him ; the loveliest wants him for a husband. These beings are more wise-women than elfins.

^ As the XaptTfs (Graces) and fays spin and weave, so do the wild women also : 'mit wilder wtbe henden geworht,' Ulr. Lanz. 4826 ; ninXos ov xapim KdfjLov avral, II. 5, 338 (see Suppl.).

434 WISE WOMEN.

there appears a wildez wip, who dwells in a hollow rock of the sea, and is indifferently termed merivip 168. 338, mcrfrouiuc 134, and merminne 350. AS. mereivif, Beow. 3037. M. Dutch maerminne. Those three wism wip of the Nibelungen are also called merwip 1475, 1. 1479, 1 ; they foretell and forewarn ; their having indi- vidual names would of itself put them on a par with the Norse valkyrs : Hadhurc, Sigelint. The third, whose name the poem omits (p. 428), is addressed by Hague as 'aller wiseste wip!' 1483, 4. Wittich's ancestress (p. 376) is named frouwe Wdchilt, as if Wave- Hilde, she is a merminne^ and says sooth to the hero, Eab. 964 — 974. Murolt also has an aunt a merminne who lives in mount ElsaM and rules over dwarfs ; her name is not given, but that of her son is Madelger, and she likewise gives wise advice to Morolt; Mor. 40'' 41^ The merminne in Ulrich's Lanzelet (lines 196 seq.) is said to be wis (5751. 6182), she has under her 10,000 %mmarried women (dern keiniu bekande man noch mannes gezoc), they dwell on a mountain by the sea, in an ever-blooming land. In the ApoUonius, a bene- volent merminne is queen of the sea (lines 5160. 5294) ; here the poet had in his mind a siren in the classical sense, but the Germans must have had a merminne before they ever heard of sirens. The Danish name is maremind (Danske viser 1, 118. 125). Norse legend has preserved for us a precisely corresponding male being, the taciturn prophetic marmennill (al. marmendill, marbendill), who is fished lip out of the sea, and requires to be let go into it again ; Halfssaga c. 7 (Fornald. scig. 2, 31—33), and Isl. sog. 1, 03 (Landn. 2, 5).i From him coral is named marmennils smi&i, he cunningly wrought it in the sea. At a later time the word merfei was used in Germany: that lover of Staufenberger, whom he found in the forest, and the Eair Melusina (possibly even a tradition of ancient Gaul), are precisely the fairy being that had previously been called mcrimcnni? — But, similar to the merminne, there was also a waltminne, which word equally stands for lamia in old glosses (Diut. 3, 276). Sigcminne, whether the baptized Eauch-els, Wolfdieterich's lover (p. 433), or the wife of Hugdieterich,^ may with perfect right be

1 Marmennill is extremely like the Greek Proteus, who is also reluctant at first to prophesy, Od. 4, 385 seq. There may have been Proteus-like stories current of our Baklander and Vilander, p. 172 (see SuppL).

2 Yet merfeine occurs already in Diut. 1, 38; wazzerfeine (Oberl. sub v.), and even merfetn, MS. 2, 63^

3 Deutsche heldensage pp. 185. 200-1.

MENXI. MERIMANNI. 435

regarded as a loaltminne or merminne} In the Vilk. saga cap. 17 I find scclcona used of the woman whom Vilkinns found in the wood, and who bore him Vadi. Saxo Gram., p. 15, speaks of a tugurium silvestris immanisque feminae (see Suppl.).

By this array of authorities it is proved to satisfaction, that the wildaz wip or mcnni, minni was thought of as a higher, superhuman being, such as can be placed at the side of the Scandinavian norn and valhjr. But in the scanty remains of our tradition the names stand wofuUy bare, finer distinctions are inevitably lost, and in more than one place the boundary-lines between gods, demigods, elves and giants cross one another. Equally with norns and valkyrs (pp. 413-9. 425), we have goddesses spinning and weaving, as Holda, Berhta, Freyja, and even giantesses, as we shall see by and

Among the figures in the Greek and Teutonic mythologies, we have placed side by side the vv/x(f)at, and idist, the fiolpao and nornir, the Kr]pe^ and valkyrior. But several isolated names might be compared in the same way, as for instance, NUr} or Victoria with some Sigrun or Sigrdrifa, "Ept<? and 'Evvdo or Bellona with a Hildr and Gunnr. Eris, like Iris, is sent forth on an errand by Zeus (II. 11, 3), as Skogul or Gondul by OSiun, I often find these Grecian figures in attendance on individual gods : in II. 5, 333 iTToX.L'TTopOo'i ^Evvco gocs wltli Athene ; in 5, 592 ttotvl ^Euvco with

^ A Leyden parclim. IMS. of the 13th century contains the following legend of Charles the Great : Aquisgrani dicitur Ays (Aix), et dicitur eo qnod Karolus tenebat ibi quandam mulierem fatatam, sive quandam fatam, que alio nomine nimpha vel dea vel adriades (1. dryas) appellutur, et ad banc consuetudineia habebat et earn cognoscebat, et ita erat, quod ipso accedente ad earn vivebat ipsa, ipso Karolo recedente moriebatur. Contigit, dum quadam vice ad ipsani accessisset et cum ea delectaretur, radius solis intra vit os ejus, et tunc Karolus vidit granum auri linguae ejus alfixum, quod fecit abscindi, et contingenti (1. in continenti) mortua est, nee postea revixit. The grain of gold, on which the spell hung, is evidently to explain the name of the city : later tradition (Petrarcha epist. fara. 1, 3. Aretin's legend of Charlem. p. 89) has instead of it a ring, which archbishop Turpin removes from the mouth of the corpse, and throws into a lake near Aachen ; this Jake then attracts the king, and that is why he made tlie town his favourite residence. There is no further mention of the maiden's fairy existence. It w;x.s a popular belief (applied to the Frankish king and gradually distorted) about the union of a wild-woman or mermaid with a cjiristian hero. Not very ditlerently was Charles's ancestress Berhta, as we saw above (p. 430), made into a 'good woman,' i.e. a fay. [The similarity of names in the heroic line : Pejjin of Herstal, Charles Martel, Pepin the Little, Charles the Great, seems to have made it doubtful whether Berhta was Charle- magne's mother or his great-grandmother.]

436 WISE WOMEN.

Ares; in 4, 440 and 5, 518 "Epc^ dfiorov fie/xavta with Ares, who is also followed by Ae2fio<; and ^6/3o^ (p. 207-8). And lastly, the Charites are nearly allied ; and there was supposed to be a special Charis of victory. Still nearer to our wood-wives stand particular classes of nymphs, especially those whom Theocritus 5, 17 names Ta9 Xiixvdha^ vv^t^a';, or those called vvfjic^at aKolfirjroi, Seivai deal dypoLcoTa!,<; 13, 44. The graceful myth of swan- wives appears indeed to be unknown to the Greeks and Romans, while we Teutons have it in common with the Celts ; yet a trace of it remains in the story of Zeus and Leda (p. 338), and in the swan's prophetic song, as in the Indian Nalus too the gold-bedizened swan (hansa = anser, goose) finds human speech (Bopp's ed. pp. 6. 7).

The Slavs have not developed any idea of goddesses of fate.^ The beautiful fiction of the vila is peculiar to Servian mythology : she is a being half fay, half elf, whose name even resembles that of the vala. The relation of valkyrs to christian heroes is suggested by the fraternal bond between the vila and Marko (Vuk 2, 98. 232. Danitza for 1826, p. 108), as also by the vilas appearing singly, having proper names, and prophesying. In some things they come nearer the German elfins of our next chapter : they live on hills, love the song and the round dance (Ir. elfenm. Ixxxii), they mount up in the air and discharge fatal arrows at men : ' ustrielila ga vila,' the vila has shot him with her shaft. Their cry in the wood is like the sound of the woodpecker hacking, and is expressed by the word 'kliktati'. The vila has a right to the child whom his mother in heedless language (diavo ye odniyo !) has consigned to the devil (Vuk no. 394), as in similar cases the wolf or bear fetches him away. Vile te odnele! (vilae te auferant) is a curse (Vuks sprichw. p. 36); 'kad dot'u vile k otchim' (quando vilae ante oculos veniunt) signifies the moment of extreme distress and danger (ibid. 117). The vila rides a seven-year old stag, and bridles him with snakes, like the Norse enchantresses (see Suppl.).^

^ The Bohem, sudice translates parca, but it simply means judge (fem.) : the Eussians even adopt the word parka. We must at least notice the lichoplezi in Hanka's Glosses 21% who are said to be three, like the sirens and mermaids.

• The Bulgarian samodiva or samovUa corresponds to the Servian vila. When the wounded Pomak cries to his 'sister' samodiva, she comes and cures him. The samodivy carry off children ; and mischief wrought by the

WISE WOMEN. 437

elements, by storms, &c., is ascribed to them. Like the Fates, they begift the newborn : three samodivy visit the infant Jesus, one sews him a shirt, another knits him a band, and the third trims a cap for him. Some stories about them closely resemble those of the swan-maids. Stoyan finds three samodivy bathing, removes their clothes, restores those of the two eldest, but takes the youngest (Mariyka) home, and marries her. St. John christens her first child, and asks her to dance as do the samodivy. But she cannot without her 'samodivski drekhi,' Stoyan produces them, she flies away, bathes in the mominski fountain, and recovers her mominstvo (virginity). — Trans.

End of Vol. I.

A. KING AND CO., ABERDEEN.

h

DATE DUE

^i^^mm

w&^

9i\

.wSLUi

Ij

^WiWWK'

GAYLORD

PRINTED IN U.S.A.

BL860.G867V.1 Teutonic mythology,

^^

■

^^^^^^^^^^^^