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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1061-0.txt b/1061-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..16f43e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/1061-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7139 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1061 *** + +MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS + +Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology + +By John Fiske + + + + +La mythologie, cette science toute nouvelle, qui nous fait suivre +les croyances de nos peres, depuis le berceau du monde jusqu'aux +superstitions de nos campagnes.--EDMOND SCHERER + + + +TO MY DEAR FRIEND, WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS, IN REMEMBRANCE OF PLEASANT +AUTUMN EVENINGS SPENT AMONG WEREWOLVES AND TROLLS AND NIXIES, I dedicate +THIS RECORD OF OUR ADVENTURES. + + + + +PREFACE. + +IN publishing this somewhat rambling and unsystematic series of papers, +in which I have endeavoured to touch briefly upon a great many of the +most important points in the study of mythology, I think it right to +observe that, in order to avoid confusing the reader with intricate +discussions, I have sometimes cut the matter short, expressing myself +with dogmatic definiteness where a sceptical vagueness might perhaps +have seemed more becoming. In treating of popular legends and +superstitions, the paths of inquiry are circuitous enough, and seldom +can we reach a satisfactory conclusion until we have travelled all the +way around Robin Hood's barn and back again. I am sure that the reader +would not have thanked me for obstructing these crooked lanes with the +thorns and brambles of philological and antiquarian discussion, to such +an extent as perhaps to make him despair of ever reaching the high road. +I have not attempted to review, otherwise than incidentally, the works +of Grimm, Muller, Kuhn, Breal, Dasent, and Tylor; nor can I pretend +to have added anything of consequence, save now and then some bit of +explanatory comment, to the results obtained by the labour of these +scholars; but it has rather been my aim to present these results in such +a way as to awaken general interest in them. And accordingly, in dealing +with a subject which depends upon philology almost as much as astronomy +depends upon mathematics, I have omitted philological considerations +wherever it has been possible to do so. Nevertheless, I believe that +nothing has been advanced as established which is not now generally +admitted by scholars, and that nothing has been advanced as probable for +which due evidence cannot be produced. Yet among many points which are +proved, and many others which are probable, there must always remain +many other facts of which we cannot feel sure that our own explanation +is the true one; and the student who endeavours to fathom the primitive +thoughts of mankind, as enshrined in mythology, will do well to bear in +mind the modest words of Jacob Grimm,--himself the greatest scholar and +thinker who has ever dealt with this class of subjects,--"I shall indeed +interpret all that I can, but I cannot interpret all that I should +like." + +PETERSHAM, September 6, 1872. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + I. THE ORIGINS OF FOLK-LORE + + II. THE DESCENT OF FIRE + + III. WEREWOLVES AND SWAN-MAIDENS + + IV. LIGHT AND DARKNESS + + V. MYTHS OF THE BARBARIC WORLD + + VI. JUVENTUS MUNDI + + VII. THE PRIMEVAL GHOST-WORLD + + NOTE + + + + +MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS. + + + + +I. THE ORIGINS OF FOLK-LORE. + +FEW mediaeval heroes are so widely known as William Tell. His exploits +have been celebrated by one of the greatest poets and one of the most +popular musicians of modern times. They are doubtless familiar to +many who have never heard of Stauffacher or Winkelried, who are quite +ignorant of the prowess of Roland, and to whom Arthur and Lancelot, nay, +even Charlemagne, are but empty names. + +Nevertheless, in spite of his vast reputation, it is very likely that +no such person as William Tell ever existed, and it is certain that the +story of his shooting the apple from his son's head has no historical +value whatever. In spite of the wrath of unlearned but patriotic Swiss, +especially of those of the cicerone class, this conclusion is forced +upon us as soon as we begin to study the legend in accordance with the +canons of modern historical criticism. It is useless to point to Tell's +lime-tree, standing to-day in the centre of the market-place at Altdorf, +or to quote for our confusion his crossbow preserved in the arsenal at +Zurich, as unimpeachable witnesses to the truth of the story. It is in +vain that we are told, "The bricks are alive to this day to testify to +it; therefore, deny it not." These proofs are not more valid than the +handkerchief of St. Veronica, or the fragments of the true cross. For if +relics are to be received as evidence, we must needs admit the truth of +every miracle narrated by the Bollandists. + +The earliest work which makes any allusion to the adventures of William +Tell is the chronicle of the younger Melchior Russ, written in 1482. As +the shooting of the apple was supposed to have taken place in 1296, this +leaves an interval of one hundred and eighty-six years, during which +neither a Tell, nor a William, nor the apple, nor the cruelty of +Gessler, received any mention. It may also be observed, parenthetically, +that the charters of Kussenach, when examined, show that no man by +the name of Gessler ever ruled there. The chroniclers of the fifteenth +century, Faber and Hammerlin, who minutely describe the tyrannical acts +by which the Duke of Austria goaded the Swiss to rebellion, do not +once mention Tell's name, or betray the slightest acquaintance with his +exploits or with his existence. In the Zurich chronicle of 1479 he is +not alluded to. But we have still better negative evidence. John of +Winterthur, one of the best chroniclers of the Middle Ages, was living +at the time of the battle of Morgarten (1315), at which his father was +present. He tells us how, on the evening of that dreadful day, he saw +Duke Leopold himself in his flight from the fatal field, half dead with +fear. He describes, with the loving minuteness of a contemporary, all +the incidents of the Swiss revolution, but nowhere does he say a word +about William Tell. This is sufficiently conclusive. These mediaeval +chroniclers, who never failed to go out of their way after a bit of the +epigrammatic and marvellous, who thought far more of a pointed story +than of historical credibility, would never have kept silent about the +adventures of Tell, if they had known anything about them. + +After this, it is not surprising to find that no two authors who +describe the deeds of William Tell agree in the details of topography +and chronology. Such discrepancies never fail to confront us when +we leave the solid ground of history and begin to deal with floating +legends. Yet, if the story be not historical, what could have been +its origin? To answer this question we must considerably expand the +discussion. + +The first author of any celebrity who doubted the story of William Tell +was Guillimann, in his work on Swiss Antiquities, published in 1598. +He calls the story a pure fable, but, nevertheless, eating his words, +concludes by proclaiming his belief in it, because the tale is so +popular! Undoubtedly he acted a wise part; for, in 1760, as we are +told, Uriel Freudenberger was condemned by the canton of Uri to be burnt +alive, for publishing his opinion that the legend of Tell had a Danish +origin. [1] + +The bold heretic was substantially right, however, like so many other +heretics, earlier and later. The Danish account of Tell is given as +follows, by Saxo Grammaticus:-- + +"A certain Palnatoki, for some time among King Harold's body-guard, had +made his bravery odious to very many of his fellow-soldiers by the zeal +with which he surpassed them in the discharge of his duty. This man +once, when talking tipsily over his cups, had boasted that he was so +skilled an archer that he could hit the smallest apple placed a long way +off on a wand at the first shot; which talk, caught up at first by the +ears of backbiters, soon came to the hearing of the king. Now, mark +how the wickedness of the king turned the confidence of the sire to the +peril of the son, by commanding that this dearest pledge of his life +should be placed instead of the wand, with a threat that, unless the +author of this promise could strike off the apple at the first flight of +the arrow, he should pay the penalty of his empty boasting by the loss +of his head. The king's command forced the soldier to perform more +than he had promised, and what he had said, reported, by the tongues of +slanderers, bound him to accomplish what he had NOT said. Yet did not +his sterling courage, though caught in the snare of slander, suffer him +to lay aside his firmness of heart; nay, he accepted the trial the more +readily because it was hard. So Palnatoki warned the boy urgently when +he took his stand to await the coming of the hurtling arrow with calm +ears and unbent head, lest, by a slight turn of his body, he should +defeat the practised skill of the bowman; and, taking further counsel to +prevent his fear, he turned away his face, lest he should be scared at +the sight of the weapon. Then, taking three arrows from the quiver, he +struck the mark given him with the first he fitted to the string..... +But Palnatoki, when asked by the king why he had taken more arrows from +the quiver, when it had been settled that he should only try the fortune +of the bow ONCE, made answer, 'That I might avenge on thee the swerving +of the first by the points of the rest, lest perchance my innocence +might have been punished, while your violence escaped scot-free.'" [2] + +This ruthless king is none other than the famous Harold Blue-tooth, and +the occurrence is placed by Saxo in the year 950. But the story appears +not only in Denmark, but in England, in Norway, in Finland and Russia, +and in Persia, and there is some reason for supposing that it was known +in India. In Norway we have the adventures of Pansa the Splay-footed, +and of Hemingr, a vassal of Harold Hardrada, who invaded England in +1066. In Iceland there is the kindred legend of Egil brother of Wayland +Smith, the Norse Vulcan. In England there is the ballad of William of +Cloudeslee, which supplied Scott with many details of the archery scene +in "Ivanhoe." Here, says the dauntless bowman, + + "I have a sonne seven years old; + Hee is to me full deere; + I will tye him to a stake-- + All shall see him that bee here-- + And lay an apple upon his head, + And goe six paces him froe, + And I myself with a broad arrowe + Shall cleave the apple in towe." + +In the Malleus Maleficarum a similar story is told Puncher, a famous +magician on the Upper Rhine. The great ethnologist Castren dug up the +same legend in Finland. It is common, as Dr. Dasent observes, to the +Turks and Mongolians; "and a legend of the wild Samoyeds, who never +heard of Tell or saw a book in their lives relates it, chapter and +verse, of one of their marksmen." Finally, in the Persian poem of +Farid-Uddin Attar, born in 1119, we read a story of a prince who shoots +an apple from the head of a beloved page. In all these stories, names +and motives of course differ; but all contain the same essential +incidents. It is always an unerring archer who, at the capricious +command of a tyrant, shoots from the head of some one dear to him a +small object, be it an apple, a nut, or a piece of coin. The archer +always provides himself with a second arrow, and, when questioned as to +the use he intended to make of his extra weapon, the invariable reply +is, "To kill thee, tyrant, had I slain my son." Now, when a marvellous +occurrence is said to have happened everywhere, we may feel sure that +it never happened anywhere. Popular fancies propagate themselves +indefinitely, but historical events, especially the striking and +dramatic ones, are rarely repeated. The facts here collected lead +inevitably to the conclusion that the Tell myth was known, in its +general features, to our Aryan ancestors, before ever they left their +primitive dwelling-place in Central Asia. + +It may, indeed, be urged that some one of these wonderful marksmen may +really have existed and have performed the feat recorded in the legend; +and that his true story, carried about by hearsay tradition from one +country to another and from age to age, may have formed the theme for +all the variations above mentioned, just as the fables of La Fontaine +were patterned after those of AEsop and Phaedrus, and just as many of +Chaucer's tales were consciously adopted from Boccaccio. No doubt there +has been a good deal of borrowing and lending among the legends of +different peoples, as well as among the words of different languages; +and possibly even some picturesque fragment of early history may have +now and then been carried about the world in this manner. But as the +philologist can with almost unerring certainty distinguish between the +native and the imported words in any Aryan language, by examining their +phonetic peculiarities, so the student of popular traditions, though +working with far less perfect instruments, can safely assert, with +reference to a vast number of legends, that they cannot have been +obtained by any process of conscious borrowing. The difficulties +inseparable from any such hypothesis will become more and more apparent +as we proceed to examine a few other stories current in different +portions of the Aryan domain. + +As the Swiss must give up his Tell, so must the Welshman be deprived of +his brave dog Gellert, over whose cruel fate I confess to having shed +more tears than I should regard as well bestowed upon the misfortunes +of many a human hero of romance. Every one knows how the dear old brute +killed the wolf which had come to devour Llewellyn's child, and how the +prince, returning home and finding the cradle upset and the dog's mouth +dripping blood, hastily slew his benefactor, before the cry of the child +from behind the cradle and the sight of the wolf's body had rectified +his error. To this day the visitor to Snowdon is told the touching +story, and shown the place, called Beth-Gellert, [3] where the dog's +grave is still to be seen. Nevertheless, the story occurs in the +fireside lore of nearly every Aryan people. Under the Gellert-form it +started in the Panchatantra, a collection of Sanskrit fables; and it +has even been discovered in a Chinese work which dates from A. D. 668. +Usually the hero is a dog, but sometimes a falcon, an ichneumon, an +insect, or even a man. In Egypt it takes the following comical shape: +"A Wali once smashed a pot full of herbs which a cook had prepared. +The exasperated cook thrashed the well-intentioned but unfortunate Wali +within an inch of his life, and when he returned, exhausted with his +efforts at belabouring the man, to examine the broken pot, he discovered +amongst the herbs a poisonous snake." [4] Now this story of the Wali is +as manifestly identical with the legend of Gellert as the English word +FATHER is with the Latin pater; but as no one would maintain that +the word father is in any sense derived from pater, so it would be +impossible to represent either the Welsh or the Egyptian legend as a +copy of the other. Obviously the conclusion is forced upon us that the +stories, like the words, are related collaterally, having descended from +a common ancestral legend, or having been suggested by one and the same +primeval idea. + +Closely connected with the Gellert myth are the stories of Faithful John +and of Rama and Luxman. In the German story, Faithful John accompanies +the prince, his master, on a journey in quest of a beautiful maiden, +whom he wishes to make his bride. As they are carrying her home across +the seas, Faithful John hears some crows, whose language he understands, +foretelling three dangers impending over the prince, from which his +friend can save him only by sacrificing his own life. As soon as they +land, a horse will spring toward the king, which, if he mounts it, will +bear him away from his bride forever; but whoever shoots the horse, and +tells the king the reason, will be turned into stone from toe to knee. +Then, before the wedding a bridal garment will lie before the king, +which, if he puts it on, will burn him like the Nessos-shirt of +Herakles; but whoever throws the shirt into the fire and tells the +king the reason, will be turned into stone from knee to heart. Finally, +during the wedding-festivities, the queen will suddenly fall in a swoon, +and "unless some one takes three drops of blood from her right breast +she will die"; but whoever does so, and tells the king the reason, will +be turned into stone from head to foot. Thus forewarned, Faithful John +saves his master from all these dangers; but the king misinterprets +his motive in bleeding his wife, and orders him to be hanged. On the +scaffold he tells his story, and while the king humbles himself in an +agony of remorse, his noble friend is turned into stone. + +In the South Indian tale Luxman accompanies Rama, who is carrying home +his bride. Luxman overhears two owls talking about the perils that await +his master and mistress. First he saves them from being crushed by the +falling limb of a banyan-tree, and then he drags them away from an arch +which immediately after gives way. By and by, as they rest under a tree, +the king falls asleep. A cobra creeps up to the queen, and Luxman kills +it with his sword; but, as the owls had foretold, a drop of the cobra's +blood falls on the queen's forehead. As Luxman licks off the blood, +the king starts up, and, thinking that his vizier is kissing his wife, +upbraids him with his ingratitude, whereupon Luxman, through grief at +this unkind interpretation of his conduct, is turned into stone. [5] + +For further illustration we may refer to the Norse tale of the "Giant +who had no Heart in his Body," as related by Dr. Dasent. This burly +magician having turned six brothers with their wives into stone, the +seventh brother--the crafty Boots or many-witted Odysseus of European +folk-lore--sets out to obtain vengeance if not reparation for the evil +done to his kith and kin. On the way he shows the kindness of his nature +by rescuing from destruction a raven, a salmon, and a wolf. The grateful +wolf carries him on his back to the giant's castle, where the lovely +princess whom the monster keeps in irksome bondage promises to act, +in behalf of Boots, the part of Delilah, and to find out, if possible, +where her lord keeps his heart. The giant, like the Jewish hero, finally +succumbs to feminine blandishments. "Far, far away in a lake lies an +island; on that island stands a church; in that church is a well; in +that well swims a duck; in that duck there is an egg; and in that egg +there lies my heart, you darling." Boots, thus instructed, rides on the +wolf's back to the island; the raven flies to the top of the steeple and +gets the church-keys; the salmon dives to the bottom of the well, and +brings up the egg from the place where the duck had dropped it; and +so Boots becomes master of the situation. As he squeezes the egg, +the giant, in mortal terror, begs and prays for his life, which Boots +promises to spare on condition that his brothers and their brides should +be released from their enchantment. But when all has been duly effected, +the treacherous youth squeezes the egg in two, and the giant instantly +bursts. + +The same story has lately been found in Southern India, and is published +in Miss Frere's remarkable collection of tales entitled "Old Deccan +Days." In the Hindu version the seven daughters of a rajah, with +their husbands, are transformed into stone by the great magician +Punchkin,--all save the youngest daughter, whom Punchkin keeps shut up +in a tower until by threats or coaxing he may prevail upon her to marry +him. But the captive princess leaves a son at home in the cradle, who +grows up to manhood unmolested, and finally undertakes the rescue of his +family. After long and weary wanderings he finds his mother shut up in +Punchkin's tower, and persuades her to play the part of the princess +in the Norse legend. The trick is equally successful. "Hundreds of +thousands of miles away there lies a desolate country covered with thick +jungle. In the midst of the jungle grows a circle of palm-trees, and in +the centre of the circle stand six jars full of water, piled one above +another; below the sixth jar is a small cage which contains a little +green parrot; on the life of the parrot depends my life, and if the +parrot is killed I must die." [6] The young prince finds the place +guarded by a host of dragons, but some eaglets whom he has saved from a +devouring serpent in the course of his journey take him on their +crossed wings and carry him to the place where the jars are standing. He +instantly overturns the jars, and seizing the parrot, obtains from the +terrified magician full reparation. As soon as his own friends and a +stately procession of other royal or noble victims have been set at +liberty, he proceeds to pull the parrot to pieces. As the wings and legs +come away, so tumble off the arms and legs of the magician; and finally +as the prince wrings the bird's neck, Punchkin twists his own head round +and dies. + +The story is also told in the highlands of Scotland, and some portions +of it will be recognized by the reader as incidents in the Arabian +tale of the Princess Parizade. The union of close correspondence in +conception with manifest independence in the management of the details +of these stories is striking enough, but it is a phenomenon with which +we become quite familiar as we proceed in the study of Aryan popular +literature. The legend of the Master Thief is no less remarkable than +that of Punchkin. In the Scandinavian tale the Thief, wishing to get +possession of a farmer's ox, carefully hangs himself to a tree by the +roadside. The farmer, passing by with his ox, is indeed struck by the +sight of the dangling body, but thinks it none of his business, and +does not stop to interfere. No sooner has he passed than the Thief lets +himself down, and running swiftly along a by-path, hangs himself with +equal precaution to a second tree. This time the farmer is astonished +and puzzled; but when for the third time he meets the same unwonted +spectacle, thinking that three suicides in one morning are too much for +easy credence, he leaves his ox and runs back to see whether the other +two bodies are really where he thought he saw them. While he is framing +hypotheses of witchcraft by which to explain the phenomenon, the Thief +gets away with the ox. In the Hitopadesa the story receives a finer +point. "A Brahman, who had vowed a sacrifice, went to the market to buy +a goat. Three thieves saw him, and wanted to get hold of the goat. They +stationed themselves at intervals on the high road. When the Brahman, +who carried the goat on his back, approached the first thief, the +thief said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog on your back?' The Brahman +replied, 'It is not a dog, it is a goat.' A little while after he was +accosted by the second thief, who said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog +on your back?' The Brahman felt perplexed, put the goat down, examined +it, took it up again, and walked on. Soon after he was stopped by the +third thief, who said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog on your back?' +Then the Brahman was frightened, threw down the goat, and walked home to +perform his ablutions for having touched an unclean animal. The thieves +took the goat and ate it." The adroitness of the Norse King in "The +Three Princesses of Whiteland" shows but poorly in comparison with the +keen psychological insight and cynical sarcasm of these Hindu sharpers. +In the course of his travels this prince met three brothers fighting +on a lonely moor. They had been fighting for a hundred years about the +possession of a hat, a cloak, and a pair of boots, which would make the +wearer invisible, and convey him instantly whithersoever he might wish +to go. The King consents to act as umpire, provided he may once try the +virtue of the magic garments; but once clothed in them, of course he +disappears, leaving the combatants to sit down and suck their thumbs. +Now in the "Sea of Streams of Story," written in the twelfth century by +Somadeva of Cashmere, the Indian King Putraka, wandering in the Vindhya +Mountains, similarly discomfits two brothers who are quarrelling over +a pair of shoes, which are like the sandals of Hermes, and a bowl which +has the same virtue as Aladdin's lamp. "Why don't you run a race for +them?" suggests Putraka; and, as the two blockheads start furiously off, +he quietly picks up the bowl, ties on the shoes, and flies away! [7] + +It is unnecessary to cite further illustrations. The tales here quoted +are fair samples of the remarkable correspondence which holds good +through all the various sections of Aryan folk-lore. The hypothesis +of lateral diffusion, as we may call it, manifestly fails to explain +coincidences which are maintained on such an immense scale. It is quite +credible that one nation may have borrowed from another a solitary +legend of an archer who performs the feats of Tell and Palnatoki; but it +is utterly incredible that ten thousand stories, constituting the entire +mass of household mythology throughout a dozen separate nations, should +have been handed from one to another in this way. No one would venture +to suggest that the old grannies of Iceland and Norway, to whom we owe +such stories as the Master Thief and the Princesses of Whiteland, had +ever read Somadeva or heard of the treasures of Rhampsinitos. A large +proportion of the tales with which we are dealing were utterly unknown +to literature until they were taken down by Grimm and Frere and +Castren and Campbell, from the lips of ignorant peasants, nurses, or +house-servants, in Germany and Hindustan, in Siberia and Scotland. +Yet, as Mr. Cox observes, these old men and women, sitting by the +chimney-corner and somewhat timidly recounting to the literary explorer +the stories which they had learned in childhood from their own +nurses and grandmas, "reproduce the most subtle turns of thought and +expression, and an endless series of complicated narratives, in which +the order of incidents and the words of the speakers are preserved +with a fidelity nowhere paralleled in the oral tradition of historical +events. It may safely be said that no series of stories introduced +in the form of translations from other languages could ever thus have +filtered down into the lowest strata of society, and thence have sprung +up again, like Antaios, with greater energy and heightened beauty." +There is indeed no alternative for us but to admit that these fireside +tales have been handed down from parent to child for more than a hundred +generations; that the primitive Aryan cottager, as he took his evening +meal of yava and sipped his fermented mead, listened with his children +to the stories of Boots and Cinderella and the Master Thief, in the days +when the squat Laplander was master of Europe and the dark-skinned Sudra +was as yet unmolested in the Punjab. Only such community of origin +can explain the community in character between the stories told by the +Aryan's descendants, from the jungles of Ceylon to the highlands of +Scotland. + +This conclusion essentially modifies our view of the origin and growth +of a legend like that of William Tell. The case of the Tell legend is +radically different from the case of the blindness of Belisarius or +the burning of the Alexandrian library by order of Omar. The latter are +isolated stories or beliefs; the former is one of a family of stories or +beliefs. The latter are untrustworthy traditions of doubtful events; but +in dealing with the former, we are face to face with a MYTH. + +What, then, is a myth? The theory of Euhemeros, which was so fashionable +a century ago, in the days of the Abbe Banier, has long since been so +utterly abandoned that to refute it now is but to slay the slain. The +peculiarity of this theory was that it cut away all the extraordinary +features of a given myth, wherein dwelt its inmost significance, and to +the dull and useless residuum accorded the dignity of primeval history. +In this way the myth was lost without compensation, and the student, +in seeking good digestible bread, found but the hardest of pebbles. +Considered merely as a pretty story, the legend of the golden fruit +watched by the dragon in the garden of the Hesperides is not without its +value. But what merit can there be in the gratuitous statement which, +degrading the grand Doric hero to a level with any vulgar fruit-stealer, +makes Herakles break a close with force and arms, and carry off a crop +of oranges which had been guarded by mastiffs? It is still worse when +we come to the more homely folk-lore with which the student of mythology +now has to deal. The theories of Banier, which limped and stumbled +awkwardly enough when it was only a question of Hermes and Minos and +Odin, have fallen never to rise again since the problems of Punchkin +and Cinderella and the Blue Belt have begun to demand solution. +The conclusion has been gradually forced upon the student, that the +marvellous portion of these old stories is no illegitimate extres-cence, +but was rather the pith and centre of the whole, [8] in days when there +was no supernatural, because it had not yet been discovered that there +was such a thing as nature. The religious myths of antiquity and the +fireside legends of ancient and modern times have their common root in +the mental habits of primeval humanity. They are the earliest recorded +utterances of men concerning the visible phenomena of the world into +which they were born. + +That prosaic and coldly rational temper with which modern men are wont +to regard natural phenomena was in early times unknown. We have come +to regard all events as taking place regularly, in strict conformity to +law: whatever our official theories may be, we instinctively take this +view of things. But our primitive ancestors knew nothing about laws of +nature, nothing about physical forces, nothing about the relations of +cause and effect, nothing about the necessary regularity of things. +There was a time in the history of mankind when these things had never +been inquired into, and when no generalizations about them had been +framed, tested, or established. There was no conception of an order of +nature, and therefore no distinct conception of a supernatural order of +things. There was no belief in miracles as infractions of natural laws, +but there was a belief in the occurrence of wonderful events too mighty +to have been brought about by ordinary means. There was an unlimited +capacity for believing and fancying, because fancy and belief had not +yet been checked and headed off in various directions by established +rules of experience. Physical science is a very late acquisition of the +human mind, but we are already sufficiently imbued with it to be almost +completely disabled from comprehending the thoughts of our ancestors. +"How Finn cosmogonists could have believed the earth and heaven to be +made out of a severed egg, the upper concave shell representing +heaven, the yolk being earth, and the crystal surrounding fluid the +circumambient ocean, is to us incomprehensible; and yet it remains a +fact that they did so regard them. How the Scandinavians could have +supposed the mountains to be the mouldering bones of a mighty Jotun, +and the earth to be his festering flesh, we cannot conceive; yet such a +theory was solemnly taught and accepted. How the ancient Indians could +regard the rain-clouds as cows with full udders milked by the winds +of heaven is beyond our comprehension, and yet their Veda contains +indisputable testimony to the fact that they were so regarded." We have +only to read Mr. Baring-Gould's book of "Curious Myths," from which +I have just quoted, or to dip into Mr. Thorpe's treatise on "Northern +Mythology," to realize how vast is the difference between our +stand-point and that from which, in the later Middle Ages, our immediate +forefathers regarded things. The frightful superstition of werewolves is +a good instance. In those days it was firmly believed that men could be, +and were in the habit of being, transformed into wolves. It was believed +that women might bring forth snakes or poodle-dogs. It was believed that +if a man had his side pierced in battle, you could cure him by nursing +the sword which inflicted the wound. "As late as 1600 a German writer +would illustrate a thunder-storm destroying a crop of corn by a picture +of a dragon devouring the produce of the field with his flaming tongue +and iron teeth." + +Now if such was the condition of the human intellect only three or four +centuries ago, what must it have been in that dark antiquity when not +even the crudest generalizations of Greek or of Oriental science had +been reached? The same mighty power of imagination which now, restrained +and guided by scientific principles, leads us to discoveries and +inventions, must then have wildly run riot in mythologic fictions +whereby to explain the phenomena of nature. Knowing nothing whatever +of physical forces, of the blind steadiness with which a given effect +invariably follows its cause, the men of primeval antiquity could +interpret the actions of nature only after the analogy of their own +actions. The only force they knew was the force of which they were +directly conscious,--the force of will. Accordingly, they imagined all +the outward world to be endowed with volition, and to be directed by it. +They personified everything,--sky, clouds, thunder, sun, moon, ocean, +earthquake, whirlwind. [9] The comparatively enlightened Athenians of +the age of Perikles addressed the sky as a person, and prayed to it to +rain upon their gardens. [10] And for calling the moon a mass of dead +matter, Anaxagoras came near losing his life. To the ancients the moon +was not a lifeless ball of stones and clods: it was the horned huntress, +Artemis, coursing through the upper ether, or bathing herself in the +clear lake; or it was Aphrodite, protectress of lovers, born of the +sea-foam in the East near Cyprus. The clouds were no bodies of vaporized +water: they were cows with swelling udders, driven to the milking by +Hermes, the summer wind; or great sheep with moist fleeces, slain by +the unerring arrows of Bellerophon, the sun; or swan-maidens, flitting +across the firmament, Valkyries hovering over the battle-field to +receive the souls of falling heroes; or, again, they were mighty +mountains piled one above another, in whose cavernous recesses the +divining-wand of the storm-god Thor revealed hidden treasures. The +yellow-haired sun, Phoibos, drove westerly all day in his flaming +chariot; or perhaps, as Meleagros, retired for a while in disgust from +the sight of men; wedded at eventide the violet light (Oinone, Iole), +which he had forsaken in the morning; sank, as Herakles, upon a blazing +funeral-pyre, or, like Agamemnon, perished in a blood-stained bath; or, +as the fish-god, Dagon, swam nightly through the subterranean waters, +to appear eastward again at daybreak. Sometimes Phaethon, his rash, +inexperienced son, would take the reins and drive the solar chariot too +near the earth, causing the fruits to perish, and the grass to wither, +and the wells to dry up. Sometimes, too, the great all-seeing divinity, +in his wrath at the impiety of men, would shoot down his scorching +arrows, causing pestilence to spread over the land. Still other +conceptions clustered around the sun. Now it was the wonderful +treasure-house, into which no one could look and live; and again it +was Ixion himself, bound on the fiery wheel in punishment for violence +offered to Here, the queen of the blue air. + +This theory of ancient mythology is not only beautiful and plausible, +it is, in its essential points, demonstrated. It stands on as firm a +foundation as Grimm's law in philology, or the undulatory theory in +molecular physics. It is philology which has here enabled us to read the +primitive thoughts of mankind. A large number of the names of Greek gods +and heroes have no meaning in the Greek language; but these names occur +also in Sanskrit, with plain physical meanings. In the Veda we find +Zeus or Jupiter (Dyaus-pitar) meaning the sky, and Sarameias or Hermes, +meaning the breeze of a summer morning. We find Athene (Ahana), meaning +the light of daybreak; and we are thus enabled to understand why the +Greek described her as sprung from the forehead of Zeus. There too +we find Helena (Sarama), the fickle twilight, whom the Panis, or +night-demons, who serve as the prototypes of the Hellenic Paris, strive +to seduce from her allegiance to the solar monarch. Even Achilleus +(Aharyu) again confronts us, with his captive Briseis (Brisaya's +offspring); and the fierce Kerberos (Carvara) barks on Vedic ground in +strict conformity to the laws of phonetics. [11] Now, when the Hindu +talked about Father Dyaus, or the sleek kine of Siva, he thought of the +personified sky and clouds; he had not outgrown the primitive mental +habits of the race. But the Greek, in whose language these physical +meanings were lost, had long before the Homeric epoch come to regard +Zeus and Hermes, Athene, Helena, Paris, and Achilleus, as mere persons, +and in most cases the originals of his myths were completely forgotten. +In the Vedas the Trojan War is carried on in the sky, between the bright +deities and the demons of night; but the Greek poet, influenced perhaps +by some dim historical tradition, has located the contest on the shore +of the Hellespont, and in his mind the actors, though superhuman, are +still completely anthropomorphic. Of the true origin of his epic story +he knew as little as Euhemeros, or Lord Bacon, or the Abbe Banier. + +After these illustrations, we shall run no risk of being misunderstood +when we define a myth as, in its origin, an explanation, by the +uncivilized mind, of some natural phenomenon; not an allegory, not an +esoteric symbol,--for the ingenuity is wasted which strives to detect in +myths the remnants of a refined primeval science,--but an explanation. +Primitive men had no profound science to perpetuate by means of +allegory, nor were they such sorry pedants as to talk in riddles when +plain language would serve their purpose. Their minds, we may be sure, +worked like our own, and when they spoke of the far-darting sun-god, +they meant just what they said, save that where we propound a scientific +theorem, they constructed a myth. [12] A thing is said to be explained +when it is classified with other things with which we are already +acquainted. That is the only kind of explanation of which the highest +science is capable. We explain the origin, progress, and ending of a +thunder-storm, when we classify the phenomena presented by it along with +other more familiar phenomena of vaporization and condensation. But the +primitive man explained the same thing to his own satisfaction when he +had classified it along with the well-known phenomena of human volition, +by constructing a theory of a great black dragon pierced by the unerring +arrows of a heavenly archer. We consider the nature of the stars to +a certain extent explained when they are classified as suns; but the +Mohammedan compiler of the "Mishkat-ul-Ma'sabih" was content to explain +them as missiles useful for stoning the Devil! Now, as soon as the old +Greek, forgetting the source of his conception, began to talk of a human +Oidipous slaying a leonine Sphinx, and as soon as the Mussulman began, +if he ever did, to tell his children how the Devil once got a good +pelting with golden bullets, then both the one and the other were +talking pure mythology. + +We are justified, accordingly, in distinguishing between a myth and +a legend. Though the words are etymologically parallel, and though in +ordinary discourse we may use them interchangeably, yet when strict +accuracy is required, it is well to keep them separate. And it is +perhaps needless, save for the sake of completeness, to say that +both are to be distinguished from stories which have been designedly +fabricated. The distinction may occasionally be subtle, but is usually +broad enough. Thus, the story that Philip II. murdered his wife +Elizabeth, is a misrepresentation; but the story that the same Elizabeth +was culpably enamoured of her step-son Don Carlos, is a legend. The +story that Queen Eleanor saved the life of her husband, Edward I., by +sucking a wound made in his arm by a poisoned arrow, is a legend; but +the story that Hercules killed a great robber, Cacus, who had stolen his +cattle, conceals a physical meaning, and is a myth. While a legend is +usually confined to one or two localities, and is told of not more than +one or two persons, it is characteristic of a myth that it is spread, +in one form or another, over a large part of the earth, the leading +incidents remaining constant, while the names and often the motives +vary with each locality. This is partly due to the immense antiquity +of myths, dating as they do from a period when many nations, now widely +separated, had not yet ceased to form one people. Thus many elements of +the myth of the Trojan War are to be found in the Rig-Veda; and the myth +of St. George and the Dragon is found in all the Aryan nations. But we +must not always infer that myths have a common descent, merely because +they resemble each other. We must remember that the proceedings of the +uncultivated mind are more or less alike in all latitudes, and that +the same phenomenon might in various places independently give rise to +similar stories. [13] The myth of Jack and the Beanstalk is found not +only among people of Aryan descent, but also among the Zulus of South +Africa, and again among the American Indians. Whenever we can trace a +story in this way from one end of the world to the other, or through a +whole family of kindred nations, we are pretty safe in assuming that we +are dealing with a true myth, and not with a mere legend. + +Applying these considerations to the Tell myth, we at once obtain a +valid explanation of its origin. The conception of infallible skill +in archery, which underlies such a great variety of myths and popular +fairy-tales, is originally derived from the inevitable victory of the +sun over his enemies, the demons of night, winter, and tempest. Arrows +and spears which never miss their mark, swords from whose blow no armour +can protect, are invariably the weapons of solar divinities or heroes. +The shafts of Bellerophon never fail to slay the black demon of the +rain-cloud, and the bolt of Phoibos Chrysaor deals sure destruction +to the serpent of winter. Odysseus, warring against the impious +night-heroes, who have endeavoured throughout ten long years or hours of +darkness to seduce from her allegiance his twilight-bride, the weaver +of the never-finished web of violet clouds,--Odysseus, stripped of +his beggar's raiment and endowed with fresh youth and beauty by the +dawn-goddess, Athene, engages in no doubtful conflict as he raises the +bow which none but himself can bend. Nor is there less virtue in the +spear of Achilleus, in the swords of Perseus and Sigurd, in Roland's +stout blade Durandal, or in the brand Excalibur, with which Sir Bedivere +was so loath to part. All these are solar weapons, and so, too, are +the arrows of Tell and Palnatoki, Egil and Hemingr, and William of +Cloudeslee, whose surname proclaims him an inhabitant of the Phaiakian +land. William Tell, whether of Cloudland or of Altdorf, is the last +reflection of the beneficent divinity of daytime and summer, constrained +for a while to obey the caprice of the powers of cold and darkness, as +Apollo served Laomedon, and Herakles did the bidding of Eurystheus. +His solar character is well preserved, even in the sequel of the Swiss +legend, in which he appears no less skilful as a steersman than as an +archer, and in which, after traversing, like Dagon, the tempestuous sea +of night, he leaps at daybreak in regained freedom upon the land, and +strikes down the oppressor who has held him in bondage. + +But the sun, though ever victorious in open contest with his enemies, +is nevertheless not invulnerable. At times he succumbs to treachery, +is bound by the frost-giants, or slain by the demons of darkness. The +poisoned shirt of the cloud-fiend Nessos is fatal even to the mighty +Herakles, and the prowess of Siegfried at last fails to save him from +the craft of Hagen. In Achilleus and Meleagros we see the unhappy solar +hero doomed to toil for the profit of others, and to be cut off by an +untimely death. The more fortunate Odysseus, who lives to a ripe old +age, and triumphs again and again over all the powers of darkness, must +nevertheless yield to the craving desire to visit new cities and look +upon new works of strange men, until at last he is swallowed up in the +western sea. That the unrivalled navigator of the celestial ocean should +disappear beneath the western waves is as intelligible as it is that the +horned Venus or Astarte should rise from the sea in the far east. It is +perhaps less obvious that winter should be so frequently symbolized as a +thorn or sharp instrument. Achilleus dies by an arrow-wound in the +heel; the thigh of Adonis is pierced by the boar's tusk, while Odysseus +escapes with an ugly scar, which afterwards secures his recognition by +his old servant, the dawn-nymph Eurykleia; Sigurd is slain by a thorn, +and Balder by a sharp sprig of mistletoe; and in the myth of the +Sleeping Beauty, the earth-goddess sinks into her long winter sleep when +pricked by the point of the spindle. In her cosmic palace, all is locked +in icy repose, naught thriving save the ivy which defies the cold, until +the kiss of the golden-haired sun-god reawakens life and activity. + +The wintry sleep of nature is symbolized in innumerable stories of +spell-bound maidens and fair-featured youths, saints, martyrs, and +heroes. Sometimes it is the sun, sometimes the earth, that is supposed +to slumber. Among the American Indians the sun-god Michabo is said to +sleep through the winter months; and at the time of the falling leaves, +by way of composing himself for his nap, he fills his great pipe and +divinely smokes; the blue clouds, gently floating over the landscape, +fill the air with the haze of Indian summer. In the Greek myth the +shepherd Endymion preserves his freshness in a perennial slumber. The +German Siegfried, pierced by the thorn of winter, is sleeping until +he shall be again called forth to fight. In Switzerland, by the +Vierwald-stattersee, three Tells are awaiting the hour when their +country shall again need to be delivered from the oppressor. Charlemagne +is reposing in the Untersberg, sword in hand, waiting for the coming of +Antichrist; Olger Danske similarly dreams away his time in Avallon; and +in a lofty mountain in Thuringia, the great Emperor Yrederic Barbarossa +slumbers with his knights around him, until the time comes for him to +sally forth and raise Germany to the first rank among the kingdoms of +the world. The same story is told of Olaf Tryggvesson, of Don Sebastian +of Portugal, and of the Moorish King Boabdil. The Seven Sleepers of +Ephesus, having taken refuge in a cave from the persecutions of the +heathen Decius, slept one hundred and sixty-four years, and awoke to +find a Christian emperor on the throne. The monk of Hildesheim, in the +legend so beautifully rendered by Longfellow, doubting how with God +a thousand years ago could be as yesterday, listened three minutes +entranced by the singing of a bird in the forest, and found, on waking +from his revery, that a thousand years had flown. To the same family of +legends belong the notion that St. John is sleeping at Ephesus until the +last days of the world; the myth of the enchanter Merlin, spell-bound by +Vivien; the story of the Cretan philosopher Epimenides, who dozed away +fifty-seven years in a cave; and Rip Van Winkle's nap in the Catskills. +[14] + +We might go on almost indefinitely citing household tales of wonderful +sleepers; but, on the principle of the association of opposites, we +are here reminded of sundry cases of marvellous life and wakefulness, +illustrated in the Wandering Jew; the dancers of Kolbeck; Joseph of +Arimathaea with the Holy Grail; the Wild Huntsman who to all eternity +chases the red deer; the Captain of the Phantom Ship; the classic +Tithonos; and the Man in the Moon. + +The lunar spots have afforded a rich subject for the play of human +fancy. Plutarch wrote a treatise on them, but the myth-makers had been +before him. "Every one," says Mr. Baring-Gould, "knows that the moon +is inhabited by a man with a bundle of sticks on his back, who has been +exiled thither for many centuries, and who is so far off that he is +beyond the reach of death. He has once visited this earth, if the +nursery rhyme is to be credited when it asserts that + + 'The Man in the Moon + Came down too soon + And asked his way to Norwich'; + +but whether he ever reached that city the same authority does not +state." Dante calls him Cain; Chaucer has him put up there as a +punishment for theft, and gives him a thorn-bush to carry; Shakespeare +also loads him with the thorns, but by way of compensation gives him a +dog for a companion. Ordinarily, however, his offence is stated to have +been, not stealing, but Sabbath-breaking,--an idea derived from the Old +Testament. Like the man mentioned in the Book of Numbers, he is caught +gathering sticks on the Sabbath; and, as an example to mankind, he is +condemned to stand forever in the moon, with his bundle on his back. +Instead of a dog, one German version places with him a woman, whose +crime was churning butter on Sunday. She carries her butter-tub; and +this brings us to Mother Goose again:-- + + "Jack and Jill went up the hill + To get a pail of water. + Jack fell down and broke his crown, + And Jill came tumbling after." + +This may read like mere nonsense; but there is a point of view from +which it may be safely said that there is very little absolute nonsense +in the world. The story of Jack and Jill is a venerable one. In +Icelandic mythology we read that Jack and Jill were two children whom +the moon once kidnapped and carried up to heaven. They had been drawing +water in a bucket, which they were carrying by means of a pole placed +across their shoulders; and in this attitude they have stood to the +present day in the moon. Even now this explanation of the moon-spots +is to be heard from the mouths of Swedish peasants. They fall away one +after the other, as the moon wanes, and their water-pail symbolizes the +supposed connection of the moon with rain-storms. Other forms of the +myth occur in Sanskrit. + +The moon-goddess, or Aphrodite, of the ancient Germans, was called +Horsel, or Ursula, who figures in Christian mediaeval mythology as a +persecuted saint, attended by a troop of eleven thousand virgins, +who all suffer martyrdom as they journey from England to Cologne. The +meaning of the myth is obvious. In German mythology, England is the +Phaiakian land of clouds and phantoms; the succubus, leaving her lover +before daybreak, excuses herself on the plea that "her mother is calling +her in England." [15] The companions of Ursula are the pure stars, who +leave the cloudland and suffer martyrdom as they approach the regions +of day. In the Christian tradition, Ursula is the pure Artemis; but, +in accordance with her ancient character, she is likewise the sensual +Aphrodite, who haunts the Venusberg; and this brings us to the story of +Tannhauser. + +The Horselberg, or mountain of Venus, lies in Thuringia, between +Eisenach and Gotha. High up on its slope yawns a cavern, the +Horselloch, or cave of Venus within which is heard a muffled roar, as +of subterranean water. From this cave, in old times, the frightened +inhabitants of the neighbouring valley would hear at night wild moans +and cries issuing, mingled with peals of demon-like laughter. Here it +was believed that Venus held her court; "and there were not a few who +declared that they had seen fair forms of female beauty beckoning them +from the mouth of the chasm." [16] Tannhauser was a Frankish knight and +famous minnesinger, who, travelling at twilight past the Horselberg, +"saw a white glimmering figure of matchless beauty standing before him +and beckoning him to her." Leaving his horse, he went up to meet her, +whom he knew to be none other than Venus. He descended to her palace +in the heart of the mountain, and there passed seven years in careless +revelry. Then, stricken with remorse and yearning for another glimpse +of the pure light of day, he called in agony upon the Virgin Mother, who +took compassion on him and released him. He sought a village church, and +to priest after priest confessed his sin, without obtaining absolution, +until finally he had recourse to the Pope. But the holy father, +horrified at the enormity of his misdoing, declared that guilt such as +his could never be remitted sooner should the staff in his hand grow +green and blossom. "Then Tannhauser, full of despair and with his soul +darkened, went away, and returned to the only asylum open to him, the +Venusberg. But lo! three days after he had gone, Pope Urban discovered +that his pastoral staff had put forth buds and had burst into flower. +Then he sent messengers after Tannhauser, and they reached the Horsel +vale to hear that a wayworn man, with haggard brow and bowed head, had +just entered the Horselloch. Since then Tannhauser has not been seen." +(p. 201.) + +As Mr. Baring-Gould rightly observes, this sad legend, in its +Christianized form, is doubtless descriptive of the struggle between +the new and the old faiths. The knightly Tannhauser, satiated with +pagan sensuality, turns to Christianity for relief, but, repelled by +the hypocrisy, pride, and lack of sympathy of its ministers, gives up in +despair, and returns to drown his anxieties in his old debauchery. + +But this is not the primitive form of the myth, which recurs in the +folk-lore of every people of Aryan descent. Who, indeed, can read it +without being at once reminded of Thomas of Erceldoune (or Horsel-hill), +entranced by the sorceress of the Eilden; of the nightly visits of Numa +to the grove of the nymph Egeria; of Odysseus held captive by the Lady +Kalypso; and, last but not least, of the delightful Arabian tale of +Prince Ahmed and the Peri Banou? On his westward journey, Odysseus is +ensnared and kept in temporary bondage by the amorous nymph of darkness, +Kalypso (kalnptw, to veil or cover). So the zone of the moon-goddess +Aphrodite inveigles all-seeing Zeus to treacherous slumber on Mount +Ida; and by a similar sorcery Tasso's great hero is lulled in unseemly +idleness in Armida's golden paradise, at the western verge of the world. +The disappearance of Tannhauser behind the moonlit cliff, lured by Venus +Ursula, the pale goddess of night, is a precisely parallel circumstance. + +But solar and lunar phenomena are by no means the only sources of +popular mythology. Opposite my writing-table hangs a quaint German +picture, illustrating Goethe's ballad of the Erlking, in which the whole +wild pathos of the story is compressed into one supreme moment; we see +the fearful, half-gliding rush of the Erlking, his long, spectral arms +outstretched to grasp the child, the frantic gallop of the horse, the +alarmed father clasping his darling to his bosom in convulsive embrace, +the siren-like elves hovering overhead, to lure the little soul with +their weird harps. There can be no better illustration than is furnished +by this terrible scene of the magic power of mythology to invest the +simplest physical phenomena with the most intense human interest; for +the true significance of the whole picture is contained in the father's +address to his child, + + "Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind; + In durren Blattern sauselt der Wind." + +The story of the Piper of Hamelin, well known in the version of Robert +Browning, leads to the same conclusion. In 1284 the good people of +Hamelin could obtain no rest, night or day, by reason of the direful +host of rats which infested their town. One day came a strange man in a +bunting-suit, and offered for five hundred guilders to rid the town of +the vermin. The people agreed: whereupon the man took out a pipe and +piped, and instantly all the rats in town, in an army which blackened +the face of the earth, came forth from their haunts, and followed the +piper until he piped them to the river Weser, where they alls jumped +in and were drowned. But as soon as the torment was gone, the townsfolk +refused to pay the piper on the ground that he was evidently a wizard. +He went away, vowing vengeance, and on St. John's day reappeared, and +putting his pipe to his mouth blew a different air. Whereat all the +little, plump, rosy-cheeked, golden-haired children came merrily running +after him, their parents standing aghast, not knowing what to do, +while he led them up a hill in the neighbourhood. A door opened in the +mountain-side, through which he led them in, and they never were seen +again; save one lame boy, who hobbled not fast enough to get in before +the door shut, and who lamented for the rest of his life that he had not +been able to share the rare luck of his comrades. In the street through +which this procession passed no music was ever afterwards allowed to be +played. For a long time the town dated its public documents from this +fearful calamity, and many authorities have treated it as an historical +event. [17] Similar stories are told of other towns in Germany, and, +strange to say, in remote Abyssinia also. Wesleyan peasants in England +believe that angels pipe to children who are about to die; and in +Scandinavia, youths are said to have been enticed away by the songs of +elf-maidens. In Greece, the sirens by their magic lay allured voyagers +to destruction; and Orpheus caused the trees and dumb beasts to follow +him. Here we reach the explanation. For Orpheus is the wind sighing +through untold acres of pine forest. "The piper is no other than the +wind, and the ancients held that in the wind were the souls of the +dead." To this day the English peasantry believe that they hear the wail +of the spirits of unbaptized children, as the gale sweeps past their +cottage doors. The Greek Hermes resulted from the fusion of two deities. +He is the sun and also the wind; and in the latter capacity he bears +away the souls of the dead. So the Norse Odin, who like Hermes fillfils +a double function, is supposed to rush at night over the tree-tops, +"accompanied by the scudding train of brave men's spirits." And readers +of recent French literature cannot fail to remember Erokmann-Chatrian's +terrible story of the wild huntsman Vittikab, and how he sped through +the forest, carrying away a young girl's soul. + +Thus, as Tannhauser is the Northern Ulysses, so is Goethe's Erlking none +other than the Piper of Hamelin. And the piper, in turn, is the classic +Hermes or Orpheus, the counterpart of the Finnish Wainamoinen and the +Sanskrit Gunadhya. His wonderful pipe is the horn of Oberon, the lyre of +Apollo (who, like the piper, was a rat-killer), the harp stolen by +Jack when he climbed the bean-stalk to the ogre's castle. [18] And the +father, in Goethe's ballad, is no more than right when he assures his +child that the siren voice which tempts him is but the rustle of the +wind among the dried leaves; for from such a simple class of phenomena +arose this entire family of charming legends. + +But why does the piper, who is a leader of souls (Psychopompos), also +draw rats after him? In answering this we shall have occasion to note +that the ancients by no means shared that curious prejudice against the +brute creation which is indulged in by modern anti-Darwinians. In many +countries, rats and mice have been regarded as sacred animals; but in +Germany they were thought to represent the human soul. One story out of +a hundred must suffice to illustrate this. "In Thuringia, at Saalfeld, a +servant-girl fell asleep whilst her companions were shelling nuts. They +observed a little red mouse creep from her mouth and run out of the +window. One of the fellows present shook the sleeper, but could not wake +her, so he moved her to another place. Presently the mouse ran back to +the former place and dashed about, seeking the girl; not finding her, +it vanished; at the same moment the girl died." [19] This completes the +explanation of the piper, and it also furnishes the key to the horrible +story of Bishop Hatto. + +This wicked prelate lived on the bank of the Rhine, in the middle of +which stream he possessed a tower, now pointed out to travellers as the +Mouse Tower. In the year 970 there was a dreadful famine, and people +came from far and near craving sustenance out of the Bishop's ample and +well-filled granaries. Well, he told them all to go into the barn, and +when they had got in there, as many as could stand, he set fire to the +barn and burnt them all up, and went home to eat a merry supper. But +when he arose next morning, he heard that an army of rats had eaten all +the corn in his granaries, and was now advancing to storm the palace. +Looking from his window, he saw the roads and fields dark with them, +as they came with fell purpose straight toward his mansion. In frenzied +terror he took his boat and rowed out to the tower in the river. But it +was of no use: down into the water marched the rats, and swam across, +and scaled the walls, and gnawed through the stones, and came swarming +in about the shrieking Bishop, and ate him up, flesh, bones, and all. +Now, bearing in mind what was said above, there can be no doubt that +these rats were the souls of those whom the Bishop had murdered. There +are many versions of the story in different Teutonic countries, and +in some of them the avenging rats or mice issue directly, by a strange +metamorphosis, from the corpses of the victims. St. Gertrude, moreover, +the heathen Holda, was symbolized as a mouse, and was said Go lead an +army of mice; she was the receiver of children's souls. Odin, also, in +his character of a Psychopompos, was followed by a host of rats. [20] + +As the souls of the departed are symbolized as rats, so is the +psychopomp himself often figured as a dog. Sarameias, the Vedic +counterpart of Hermes and Odin, sometimes appears invested with canine +attributes; and countless other examples go to show that by the early +Aryan mind the howling wind was conceived as a great dog or wolf. As the +fearful beast was heard speeding by the windows or over the house-top, +the inmates trembled, for none knew but his own soul might forthwith be +required of him. Hence, to this day, among ignorant people, the howling +of a dog under the window is supposed to portend a death in the family. +It is the fleet greyhound of Hermes, come to escort the soul to the +river Styx. [21] + +But the wind-god is not always so terrible. Nothing can be more +transparent than the phraseology of the Homeric Hymn, in which Hermes is +described as acquiring the strength of a giant while yet a babe in the +cradle, as sallying out and stealing the cattle (clouds) of Apollo, +and driving them helter-skelter in various directions, then as crawling +through the keyhole, and with a mocking laugh shrinking into his cradle. +He is the Master Thief, who can steal the burgomaster's horse from under +him and his wife's mantle from off her back, the prototype not only of +the crafty architect of Rhampsinitos, but even of the ungrateful slave +who robs Sancho of his mule in the Sierra Morena. He furnishes in part +the conceptions of Boots and Reynard; he is the prototype of Paul Pry +and peeping Tom of Coventry; and in virtue of his ability to contract or +expand himself at pleasure, he is both the Devil in the Norse Tale, [22] +whom the lad persuades to enter a walnut, and the Arabian Efreet, whom +the fisherman releases from the bottle. + +The very interesting series of myths and popular superstitions suggested +by the storm-cloud and the lightning must be reserved for a future +occasion. When carefully examined, they will richly illustrate the +conclusion which is the result of the present inquiry, that the +marvellous tales and quaint superstitions current in every Aryan +household have a common origin with the classic legends of gods and +heroes, which formerly were alone thought worthy of the student's +serious attention. These stories--some of them familiar to us in +infancy, others the delight of our maturer years--constitute the debris, +or alluvium, brought down by the stream of tradition from the distant +highlands of ancient mythology. + +September, 1870. + + + + +II. THE DESCENT OF FIRE. + +IN the course of my last summer's vacation, which was spent at a small +inland village, I came upon an unexpected illustration of the tenacity +with which conceptions descended from prehistoric antiquity have now +and then kept their hold upon life. While sitting one evening under the +trees by the roadside, my attention was called to the unusual conduct of +half a dozen men and boys who were standing opposite. An elderly man +was moving slowly up and down the road, holding with both hands a forked +twig of hazel, shaped like the letter Y inverted. With his palms turned +upward, he held in each hand a branch of the twig in such a way that the +shank pointed upward; but every few moments, as he halted over a certain +spot, the twig would gradually bend downwards until it had assumed the +likeness of a Y in its natural position, where it would remain pointing +to something in the ground beneath. One by one the bystanders proceeded +to try the experiment, but with no variation in the result. Something in +the ground seemed to fascinate the bit of hazel, for it could not pass +over that spot without bending down and pointing to it. + +My thoughts reverted at once to Jacques Aymar and Dousterswivel, as +I perceived that these men were engaged in sorcery. During the long +drought more than half the wells in the village had become dry, and here +was an attempt to make good the loss by the aid of the god Thor. These +men were seeking water with a divining-rod. Here, alive before my eyes, +was a superstitious observance, which I had supposed long since dead and +forgotten by all men except students interested in mythology. + +As I crossed the road to take part in the ceremony a farmer's boy came +up, stoutly affirming his incredulity, + +and offering to show the company how he could carry the rod motionless +across the charmed spot. But when he came to take the weird twig he +trembled with an ill-defined feeling of insecurity as to the soundness +of his conclusions, and when he stood over the supposed rivulet the rod +bent in spite of him,--as was not so very strange. For, with all his +vague scepticism, the honest lad had not, and could not be supposed to +have, the foi scientifique of which Littre speaks. [23] + +Hereupon I requested leave to try the rod; but something in my manner +seemed at once to excite the suspicion and scorn of the sorcerer. "Yes, +take it," said he, with uncalled-for vehemence, "but you can't stop it; +there's water below here, and you can't help its bending, if you break +your back trying to hold it." So he gave me the twig, and awaited, with +a smile which was meant to express withering sarcasm, the discomfiture +of the supposed scoffer. But when I proceeded to walk four or five times +across the mysterious place, the rod pointing steadfastly toward the +zenith all the while, our friend became grave and began to philosophize. +"Well," said he, "you see, your temperament is peculiar; the conditions +ain't favourable in your case; there are some people who never can work +these things. But there's water below here, for all that, as you'll +find, if you dig for it; there's nothing like a hazel-rod for finding +out water." + +Very true: there are some persons who never can make such things work; +who somehow always encounter "unfavourable conditions" when they wish +to test the marvellous powers of a clairvoyant; who never can make +"Planchette" move in conformity to the requirements of any known +alphabet; who never see ghosts, and never have "presentiments," save +such as are obviously due to association of ideas. The ill-success of +these persons is commonly ascribed to their lack of faith; but, in the +majority of cases, it might be more truly referred to the strength of +their faith,--faith in the constancy of nature, and in the adequacy +of ordinary human experience as interpreted by science. [24] La foi +scientifique is an excellent preventive against that obscure, though not +uncommon, kind of self-deception which enables wooden tripods to write +and tables to tip and hazel-twigs to twist upside-down, without the +conscious intervention of the performer. It was this kind of faith, no +doubt, which caused the discomfiture of Jacques Aymar on his visit to +Paris, [25] and which has in late years prevented persons from obtaining +the handsome prize offered by the French Academy for the first authentic +case of clairvoyance. + +But our village friend, though perhaps constructively right in his +philosophizing, was certainly very defective in his acquaintance with +the time-honoured art of rhabdomancy. Had he extended his inquiries so +as to cover the field of Indo-European tradition, he would have learned +that the mountain-ash, the mistletoe, the white and black thorn, the +Hindu asvattha, and several other woods, are quite as efficient as the +hazel for the purpose of detecting water in times of drought; and in due +course of time he would have perceived that the divining-rod itself +is but one among a large class of things to which popular belief has +ascribed, along with other talismanic properties, the power of opening +the ground or cleaving rocks, in order to reveal hidden treasures. +Leaving him in peace, then, with his bit of forked hazel, to seek for +cooling springs in some future thirsty season, let us endeavour to +elucidate the origin of this curious superstition. + +The detection of subterranean water is by no means the only use to +which the divining-rod has been put. Among the ancient Frisians it was +regularly used for the detection of criminals; and the reputation of +Jacques Aymar was won by his discovery of the perpetrator of a horrible +murder at Lyons. Throughout Europe it has been used from time immemorial +by miners for ascertaining the position of veins of metal; and in the +days when talents were wrapped in napkins and buried in the field, +instead of being exposed to the risks of financial speculation, the +divining-rod was employed by persons covetous of their neighbours' +wealth. If Boulatruelle had lived in the sixteenth century, he would +have taken a forked stick of hazel when he went to search for the buried +treasures of Jean Valjean. It has also been applied to the cure of +disease, and has been kept in households, like a wizard's charm, to +insure general good-fortune and immunity from disaster. + +As we follow the conception further into the elf-land of popular +tradition, we come upon a rod which not only points out the situation of +hidden treasure, but even splits open the ground and reveals the mineral +wealth contained therein. In German legend, "a shepherd, who was driving +his flock over the Ilsenstein, having stopped to rest, leaning on his +staff, the mountain suddenly opened, for there was a springwort in his +staff without his knowing it, and the princess [Ilse] stood before him. +She bade him follow her, and when he was inside the mountain she told +him to take as much gold as he pleased. The shepherd filled all his +pockets, and was going away, when the princess called after him, 'Forget +not the best.' So, thinking she meant that he had not taken enough, +he filled his hat also; but what she meant was his staff with the +springwort, which he had laid against the wall as soon as he stepped +in. But now, just as he was going out at the opening, the rock suddenly +slammed together and cut him in two." [26] + +Here the rod derives its marvellous properties from the enclosed +springwort, but in many cases a leaf or flower is itself competent to +open the hillside. The little blue flower, forget-me-not, about which +so many sentimental associations have clustered, owes its name to the +legends told of its talismanic virtues. [27] A man, travelling on a +lonely mountain, picks up a little blue flower and sticks it in his hat. +Forthwith an iron door opens, showing up a lighted passage-way, through +which the man advances into a magnificent hall, where rubies and +diamonds and all other kinds of gems are lying piled in great heaps on +the floor. As he eagerly fills his pockets his hat drops from his head, +and when he turns to go out the little flower calls after him, "Forget +me not!" He turns back and looks around, but is too bewildered with his +good fortune to think of his bare head or of the luck-flower which he +has let fall. He selects several more of the finest jewels he can +find, and again starts to go out; but as he passes through the door the +mountain closes amid the crashing of thunder, and cuts off one of his +heels. Alone, in the gloom of the forest, he searches in vain for the +mysterious door: it has disappeared forever, and the traveller goes on +his way, thankful, let us hope, that he has fared no worse. + +Sometimes it is a white lady, like the Princess Ilse, who invites the +finder of the luck-flower to help himself to her treasures, and who +utters the enigmatical warning. The mountain where the event occurred +may be found almost anywhere in Germany, and one just like it stood in +Persia, in the golden prime of Haroun Alraschid. In the story of the +Forty Thieves, the mere name of the plant sesame serves as a talisman to +open and shut the secret door which leads into the robbers' cavern; and +when the avaricious Cassim Baba, absorbed in the contemplation of the +bags of gold and bales of rich merchandise, forgets the magic formula, +he meets no better fate than the shepherd of the Ilsenstein. In the +story of Prince Ahmed, it is an enchanted arrow which guides the young +adventurer through the hillside to the grotto of the Peri Banou. In +the tale of Baba Abdallah, it is an ointment rubbed on the eyelid which +reveals at a single glance all the treasures hidden in the bowels of the +earth. + +The ancient Romans also had their rock-breaking plant, called Saxifraga, +or "sassafras." And the further we penetrate into this charmed circle +of traditions the more evident does it appear that the power of cleaving +rocks or shattering hard substances enters, as a primitive element, into +the conception of these treasure-showing talismans. Mr. Baring-Gould +has given an excellent account of the rabbinical legends concerning the +wonderful schamir, by the aid of which Solomon was said to have built +his temple. From Asmodeus, prince of the Jann, Benaiah, the son of +Jehoiada, wrested the secret of a worm no bigger than a barley-corn, +which could split the hardest substance. This worm was called schamir. +"If Solomon desired to possess himself of the worm, he must find the +nest of the moor-hen, and cover it with a plate of glass, so that the +mother bird could not get at her young without breaking the glass. She +would seek schamir for the purpose, and the worm must be obtained from +her." As the Jewish king did need the worm in order to hew the stones +for that temple which was to be built without sound of hammer, or axe, +or any tool of iron, [28] he sent Benaiah to obtain it. According to +another account, schamir was a mystic stone which enabled Solomon to +penetrate the earth in search of mineral wealth. Directed by a Jinni, +the wise king covered a raven's eggs with a plate of crystal, and thus +obtained schamir which the bird brought in order to break the plate. +[29] + +In these traditions, which may possibly be of Aryan descent, due to the +prolonged intercourse between the Jews and the Persians, a new feature +is added to those before enumerated: the rock-splitting talisman is +always found in the possession of a bird. The same feature in the myth +reappears on Aryan soil. The springwort, whose marvellous powers we have +noticed in the case of the Ilsenstein shepherd, is obtained, according +to Pliny, by stopping up the hole in a tree where a woodpecker keeps its +young. The bird flies away, and presently returns with the springwort, +which it applies to the plug, causing it to shoot out with a loud +explosion. The same account is given in German folk-lore. Elsewhere, +as in Iceland, Normandy, and ancient Greece, the bird is an eagle, a +swallow, an ostrich, or a hoopoe. + +In the Icelandic and Pomeranian myths the schamir, or "raven-stone," +also renders its possessor invisible,--a property which it shares with +one of the treasure-finding plants, the fern. [30] In this respect +it resembles the ring of Gyges, as in its divining and rock-splitting +qualities it resembles that other ring which the African magrician gave +to Aladdin, to enable him to descend into the cavern where stood the +wonderful lamp. + +According to one North German tradition, the luck-flower also will make +its finder invisible at pleasure. But, as the myth shrewdly adds, it is +absolutely essential that the flower be found by accident: he who seeks +for it never finds it! Thus all cavils are skilfully forestalled, +even if not satisfactorily disposed of. The same kind of reasoning is +favoured by our modern dealers in mystery: somehow the "conditions" +always are askew whenever a scientific observer wishes to test their +pretensions. + +In the North of Europe schamir appears strangely and grotesquely +metamorphosed. The hand of a man that has been hanged, when dried and +prepared with certain weird unguents and set on fire, is known as the +Hand of Glory; and as it not only bursts open all safe-locks, but also +lulls to sleep all persons within the circle of its influence, it is of +course invaluable to thieves and burglars. I quote the following story +from Thorpe's "Northern Mythology": "Two fellows once came to Huy, who +pretended to be exceedingly fatigued, and when they had supped would +not retire to a sleeping-room, but begged their host would allow them +to take a nap on the hearth. But the maid-servant, who did not like the +looks of the two guests, remained by the kitchen door and peeped through +a chink, when she saw that one of them drew a thief's hand from his +pocket, the fingers of which, after having rubbed them with an ointment, +he lighted, and they all burned except one. Again they held this finger +to the fire, but still it would not burn, at which they appeared much +surprised, and one said, 'There must surely be some one in the house +who is not yet asleep.' They then hung the hand with its four burning +fingers by the chimney, and went out to call their associates. But the +maid followed them instantly and made the door fast, then ran up stairs, +where the landlord slept, that she might wake him, but was unable, +notwithstanding all her shaking and calling. In the mean time the +thieves had returned and were endeavouring to enter the house by a +window, but the maid cast them down from the ladder. They then took a +different course, and would have forced an entrance, had it not occurred +to the maid that the burning fingers might probably be the cause of her +master's profound sleep. Impressed with this idea she ran to the kitchen +and blew them out, when the master and his men-servants instantly +awoke, and soon drove away the robbers." The same event is said to have +occurred at Stainmore in England; and Torquermada relates of Mexican +thieves that they carry with them the left hand of a woman who has died +in her first childbed, before which talisman all bolts yield and all +opposition is benumbed. In 1831 "some Irish thieves attempted to commit +a robbery on the estate of Mr. Naper, of Loughcrew, county Meath. They +entered the house armed with a dead man's hand with a lighted candle in +it, believing in the superstitious notion that a candle placed in a dead +man's hand will not be seen by any but those by whom it is used; and +also that if a candle in a dead hand be introduced into a house, it will +prevent those who may be asleep from awaking. The inmates, however, were +alarmed, and the robbers fled, leaving the hand behind them." [31] + +In the Middle Ages the hand of glory was used, just like the +divining-rod, for the detection of buried treasures. + +Here, then, we have a large and motley group of objects--the forked +rod of ash or hazel, the springwort and the luck-flower, leaves, +worms, stones, rings, and dead men's hands--which are for the most part +competent to open the way into cavernous rocks, and which all agree +in pointing out hidden wealth. We find, moreover, that many of these +charmed objects are carried about by birds, and that some of them +possess, in addition to their generic properties, the specific power of +benumbing people's senses. What, now, is the common origin of this whole +group of superstitions? And since mythology has been shown to be the +result of primeval attempts to explain the phenomena of nature, what +natural phenomenon could ever have given rise to so many seemingly +wanton conceptions? Hopeless as the problem may at first sight seem, it +has nevertheless been solved. In his great treatise on "The Descent +of Fire," Dr. Kuhn has shown that all these legends and traditions are +descended from primitive myths explanatory of the lightning and the +storm-cloud. [32] + +To us, who are nourished from childhood on the truths revealed by +science, the sky is known to be merely an optical appearance due to the +partial absorption of the solar rays in passing through a thick stratum +of atmospheric air; the clouds are known to be large masses of watery +vapour, which descend in rain-drops when sufficiently condensed; and +the lightning is known to be a flash of light accompanying an electric +discharge. But these conceptions are extremely recondite, and have been +attained only through centuries of philosophizing and after careful +observation and laborious experiment. To the untaught mind of a child or +of an uncivilized man, it seems far more natural and plausible to regard +the sky as a solid dome of blue crystal, the clouds as snowy mountains, +or perhaps even as giants or angels, the lightning as a flashing dart or +a fiery serpent. In point of fact, we find that the conceptions actually +entertained are often far more grotesque than these. I can recollect +once framing the hypothesis that the flaming clouds of sunset were +transient apparitions, vouchsafed us by way of warning, of that burning +Calvinistic hell with which my childish imagination had been unwisely +terrified; [33] and I have known of a four-year-old boy who thought that +the snowy clouds of noonday were the white robes of the angels hung out +to dry in the sun. [34] My little daughter is anxious to know whether +it is necessary to take a balloon in order to get to the place where +God lives, or whether the same end can be accomplished by going to the +horizon and crawling up the sky; [35] the Mohammedan of old was working +at the same problem when he called the rainbow the bridge Es-Sirat, over +which souls must pass on their way to heaven. According to the ancient +Jew, the sky was a solid plate, hammered out by the gods, and spread +over the earth in order to keep up the ocean overhead; [36] but the +plate was full of little windows, which were opened whenever it became +necessary to let the rain come through. [37] With equal plausibility +the Greek represented the rainy sky as a sieve in which the daughters +of Danaos were vainly trying to draw water; while to the Hindu the +rain-clouds were celestial cattle milked by the wind-god. In primitive +Aryan lore, the sky itself was a blue sea, and the clouds were ships +sailing over it; and an English legend tells how one of these ships +once caught its anchor on a gravestone in the churchyard, to the great +astonishment of the people who were coming out of church. Charon's +ferry-boat was one of these vessels, and another was Odin's golden ship, +in which the souls of slain heroes were conveyed to Valhalla. Hence it +was once the Scandinavian practice to bury the dead in boats; and in +Altmark a penny is still placed in the mouth of the corpse, that it may +have the means of paying its fare to the ghostly ferryman. [38] In such +a vessel drifted the Lady of Shalott on her fatal voyage; and of similar +nature was the dusky barge, "dark as a funeral-scarf from stem to +stern," in which Arthur was received by the black-hooded queens. [39] + +But the fact that a natural phenomenon was explained in one way did not +hinder it from being explained in a dozen other ways. The fact that the +sun was generally regarded as an all-conquering hero did not prevent +its being called an egg, an apple, or a frog squatting on the waters, or +Ixion's wheel, or the eye of Polyphemos, or the stone of Sisyphos, which +was no sooner pushed to the zenith than it rolled down to the horizon. +So the sky was not only a crystal dome, or a celestial ocean, but it was +also the Aleian land through which Bellerophon wandered, the country of +the Lotos-eaters, or again the realm of the Graiai beyond the twilight; +and finally it was personified and worshipped as Dyaus or Varuna, the +Vedic prototypes of the Greek Zeus and Ouranos. The clouds, too, had +many other representatives besides ships and cows. In a future paper it +will be shown that they were sometimes regarded as angels or houris; at +present it more nearly concerns us to know that they appear, throughout +all Aryan mythology, under the form of birds. It used to be a matter of +hopeless wonder to me that Aladdin's innocent request for a roc's egg +to hang in the dome of his palace should have been regarded as a crime +worthy of punishment by the loss of the wonderful lamp; the obscurest +part of the whole affair being perhaps the Jinni's passionate allusion +to the egg as his master: "Wretch! dost thou command me to bring thee +my master, and hang him up in the midst of this vaulted dome?" But the +incident is to some extent cleared of its mystery when we learn that +the roc's egg is the bright sun, and that the roc itself is the rushing +storm-cloud which, in the tale of Sindbad, haunts the sparkling starry +firmament, symbolized as a valley of diamonds. [40] According to one +Arabic authority, the length of its wings is ten thousand fathoms. But +in European tradition it dwindles from these huge dimensions to the size +of an eagle, a raven, or a woodpecker. Among the birds enumerated by +Kuhn and others as representing the storm-cloud are likewise the wren +or "kinglet" (French roitelet); the owl, sacred to Athene; the cuckoo, +stork, and sparrow; and the red-breasted robin, whose name Robert was +originally an epithet of the lightning-god Thor. In certain parts of +France it is still believed that the robbing of a wren's nest will +render the culprit liable to be struck by lightning. The same belief was +formerly entertained in Teutonic countries with respect to the robin; +and I suppose that from this superstition is descended the prevalent +notion, which I often encountered in childhood, that there is something +peculiarly wicked in killing robins. + +Now, as the raven or woodpecker, in the various myths of schamir, is the +dark storm-cloud, so the rock-splitting worm or plant or pebble which +the bird carries in its beak and lets fall to the ground is nothing more +or less than the flash of lightning carried and dropped by the cloud. +"If the cloud was supposed to be a great bird, the lightnings were +regarded as writhing worms or serpents in its beak. These fiery +serpents, elikiai gram-moeidws feromenoi, are believed in to this day by +the Canadian Indians, who call the thunder their hissing." [41] + +But these are not the only mythical conceptions which are to be found +wrapped up in the various myths of schamir and the divining-rod. The +persons who told these stories were not weaving ingenious allegories +about thunder-storms; they were telling stories, or giving utterance +to superstitions, of which the original meaning was forgotten. The old +grannies who, along with a stoical indifference to the fate of quails +and partridges, used to impress upon me the wickedness of killing +robins, did not add that I should be struck by lightning if I failed to +heed their admonitions. They had never heard that the robin was the bird +of Thor; they merely rehearsed the remnant of the superstition which +had survived to their own times, while the essential part of it had long +since faded from recollection. The reason for regarding a robin's +life as more sacred than a partridge's had been forgotten; but it left +behind, as was natural, a vague recognition of that mythical sanctity. +The primitive meaning of a myth fades away as inevitably as the +primitive meaning of a word or phrase; and the rabbins who told of a +worm which shatters rocks no more thought of the writhing thunderbolts +than the modern reader thinks of oyster-shells when he sees the word +ostracism, or consciously breathes a prayer as he writes the phrase good +bye. It is only in its callow infancy that the full force of a myth is +felt, and its period of luxuriant development dates from the time when +its physical significance is lost or obscured. It was because the Greek +had forgotten that Zeus meant the bright sky, that he could make him +king over an anthropomorphic Olympos. The Hindu Dyaus, who carried his +significance in his name as plainly as the Greek Helios, never attained +such an exalted position; he yielded to deities of less obvious +pedigree, such as Brahma and Vishnu. + +Since, therefore, the myth-tellers recounted merely the wonderful +stories which their own nurses and grandmas had told them, and had no +intention of weaving subtle allegories or wrapping up a physical +truth in mystic emblems, it follows that they were not bound to +avoid incongruities or to preserve a philosophical symmetry in their +narratives. In the great majority of complex myths, no such symmetry is +to be found. A score of different mythical conceptions would get wrought +into the same story, and the attempt to pull them apart and construct a +single harmonious system of conceptions out of the pieces must often end +in ingenious absurdity. If Odysseus is unquestionably the sun, so is the +eye of Polyphemos, which Odysseus puts out. [42] But the Greek poet knew +nothing of the incongruity, for he was thinking only of a superhuman +hero freeing himself from a giant cannibal; he knew nothing of Sanskrit, +or of comparative mythology, and the sources of his myths were as +completely hidden from his view as the sources of the Nile. + +We need not be surprised, then, to find that in one version of the +schamir-myth the cloud is the bird which carries the worm, while in +another version the cloud is the rock or mountain which the talisman +cleaves open; nor need we wonder at it, if we find stories in which the +two conceptions are mingled together without regard to an incongruity +which in the mind of the myth-teller no longer exists. [43] + +In early Aryan mythology there is nothing by which the clouds are +more frequently represented than by rocks or mountains. Such were the +Symplegades, which, charmed by the harp of the wind-god Orpheus, parted +to make way for the talking ship Argo, with its crew of solar heroes. +[44] Such, too, were the mountains Ossa and Pelion, which the giants +piled up one upon another in their impious assault upon Zeus, the lord +of the bright sky. As Mr. Baring-Gould observes: "The ancient Aryan had +the same name for cloud and mountain. To him the piles of vapour on the +horizon were so like Alpine ranges, that he had but one word whereby to +designate both. [45] These great mountains of heaven were opened by the +lightning. In the sudden flash he beheld the dazzling splendour within, +but only for a moment, and then, with a crash, the celestial rocks +closed again. Believing these vaporous piles to contain resplendent +treasures of which partial glimpse was obtained by mortals in a +momentary gleam, tales were speedily formed, relating the adventures of +some who had succeeded in entering these treasure-mountains." + +This sudden flash is the smiting of the cloud-rock by the arrow of +Ahmed, the resistless hammer of Thor, the spear of Odin, the trident +of Poseidon, or the rod of Hermes. The forked streak of light is the +archetype of the divining-rod in its oldest form,--that in which it +not only indicates the hidden treasures, but, like the staff of the +Ilsenstein shepherd, bursts open the enchanted crypt and reveals them +to the astonished wayfarer. Hence the one thing essential to the +divining-rod, from whatever tree it be chosen, is that it shall be +forked. + +It is not difficult to comprehend the reasons which led the ancients +to speak of the lightning as a worm, serpent, trident, arrow, or forked +wand; but when we inquire why it was sometimes symbolized as a flower or +leaf; or when we seek to ascertain why certain trees, such as the ash, +hazel, white-thorn, and mistletoe, were supposed to be in a certain +sense embodiments of it, we are entering upon a subject too complicated +to be satisfactorily treated within the limits of the present paper. It +has been said that the point of resemblance between a cow and a comet, +that both have tails, was quite enough for the primitive word-maker: it +was certainly enough for the primitive myth-teller. [46] Sometimes the +pinnate shape of a leaf, the forking of a branch, the tri-cleft corolla, +or even the red colour of a flower, seems to have been sufficient to +determine the association of ideas. The Hindu commentators of the Veda +certainly lay great stress on the fact that the palasa, one of their +lightning-trees, is trident-leaved. The mistletoe branch is forked, like +a wish-bone, [47] and so is the stem which bears the forget-me-not or +wild scorpion grass. So too the leaves of the Hindu ficus religiosa +resemble long spear-heads. [48] But in many cases it is impossible +for us to determine with confidence the reasons which may have guided +primitive men in their choice of talismanic plants. In the case of some +of these stories, it would no doubt be wasting ingenuity to attempt to +assign a mythical origin for each point of detail. The ointment of the +dervise, for instance, in the Arabian tale, has probably no special +mythical significance, but was rather suggested by the exigencies of the +story, in an age when the old mythologies were so far disintegrated and +mingled together that any one talisman would serve as well as another +the purposes of the narrator. But the lightning-plants of Indo-European +folk-lore cannot be thus summarily disposed of; for however difficult it +may be for us to perceive any connection between them and the celestial +phenomena which they represent, the myths concerning them are so +numerous and explicit as to render it certain that some such connection +was imagined by the myth-makers. The superstition concerning the hand +of glory is not so hard to interpret. In the mythology of the Finns, the +storm-cloud is a black man with a bright copper hand; and in Hindustan, +Indra Savitar, the deity who slays the demon of the cloud, is +golden-handed. The selection of the hand of a man who has been hanged +is probably due to the superstition which regarded the storm-god Odin +as peculiarly the lord of the gallows. The man who is raised upon the +gallows is placed directly in the track of the wild huntsman, who comes +with his hounds to carry off the victim; and hence the notion, which, +according to Mr. Kelly, is "very common in Germany and not extinct in +England," that every suicide by hanging is followed by a storm. + +The paths of comparative mythology are devious, but we have now pursued +them long enough I believe, to have arrived at a tolerably clear +understanding of the original nature of the divining-rod. Its power of +revealing treasures has been sufficiently explained; and its affinity +for water results so obviously from the character of the lightning-myth +as to need no further comment. But its power of detecting criminals +still remains to be accounted for. + +In Greek mythology, the being which detects and punishes crime is the +Erinys, the prototype of the Latin Fury, figured by late writers as a +horrible monster with serpent locks. But this is a degradation of the +original conception. The name Erinys did not originally mean Fury, and +it cannot be explained from Greek sources alone. It appears in Sanskrit +as Saranyu, a word which signifies the light of morning creeping over +the sky. And thus we are led to the startling conclusion that, as the +light of morning reveals the evil deeds done under the cover of night, +so the lovely Dawn, or Erinys, came to be regarded under one aspect +as the terrible detector and avenger of iniquity. Yet startling as the +conclusion is, it is based on established laws of phonetic change, and +cannot be gainsaid. + +But what has the avenging daybreak to do with the lightning and the +divining-rod? To the modern mind the association is not an obvious one: +in antiquity it was otherwise. Myths of the daybreak and myths of +the lightning often resemble each other so closely that, except by a +delicate philological analysis, it is difficult to distinguish the one +from the other. The reason is obvious. In each case the phenomenon to be +explained is the struggle between the day-god and one of the demons +of darkness. There is essentially no distinction to the mind of the +primitive man between the Panis, who steal Indra's bright cows and +keep them in a dark cavern all night, and the throttling snake Ahi or +Echidna, who imprisons the waters in the stronghold of the thunder-cloud +and covers the earth with a short-lived darkness. And so the poisoned +arrows of Bellerophon, which slay the storm-dragon, differ in no +essential respect from the shafts with which Odysseus slaughters the +night-demons who have for ten long hours beset his mansion. Thus the +divining-rod, representing as it does the weapon of the god of day, +comes legitimately enough by its function of detecting and avenging +crime. + +But the lightning not only reveals strange treasures and gives water to +the thirsty land and makes plain what is doing under cover of darkness; +it also sometimes kills, benumbs, or paralyzes. Thus the head of the +Gorgon Medusa turns into stone those who look upon it. Thus the ointment +of the dervise, in the tale of Baba Abdallah, not only reveals all the +treasures of the earth, but instantly thereafter blinds the unhappy man +who tests its powers. And thus the hand of glory, which bursts open bars +and bolts, benumbs also those who happen to be near it. Indeed, few of +the favoured mortals who were allowed to visit the caverns opened by +sesame or the luck-flower, escaped without disaster. The monkish tale of +"The Clerk and the Image," in which the primeval mythical features are +curiously distorted, well illustrates this point. + +In the city of Rome there formerly stood an image with its right hand +extended and on its forefinger the words "strike here." Many wise men +puzzled in vain over the meaning of the inscription; but at last a +certain priest observed that whenever the sun shone on the figure, the +shadow of the finger was discernible on the ground at a little distance +from the statue. Having marked the spot, he waited until midnight, and +then began to dig. At last his spade struck upon something hard. It +was a trap-door, below which a flight of marble steps descended into a +spacious hall, where many men were sitting in solemn silence amid piles +of gold and diamonds and long rows of enamelled vases. Beyond this he +found another room, a gynaecium filled with beautiful women reclining +on richly embroidered sofas; yet here, too, all was profound silence. +A superb banqueting-hall next met his astonished gaze; then a silent +kitchen; then granaries loaded with forage; then a stable crowded +with motionless horses. The whole place was brilliantly lighted by a +carbuncle which was suspended in one corner of the reception-room; and +opposite stood an archer, with his bow and arrow raised, in the act of +taking aim at the jewel. As the priest passed back through this hall, he +saw a diamond-hilted knife lying on a marble table; and wishing to carry +away something wherewith to accredit his story, he reached out his +hand to take it; but no sooner had he touched it than all was dark. The +archer had shot with his arrow, the bright jewel was shivered into a +thousand pieces, the staircase had fled, and the priest found himself +buried alive. [49] + +Usually, however, though the lightning is wont to strike dead, with its +basilisk glance, those who rashly enter its mysterious caverns, it is +regarded rather as a benefactor than as a destroyer. The feelings with +which the myth-making age contemplated the thunder-shower as it +revived the earth paralyzed by a long drought, are shown in the myth of +Oidipous. The Sphinx, whose name signifies "the one who binds," is the +demon who sits on the cloud-rock and imprisons the rain, muttering, dark +sayings which none but the all-knowing sun may understand. The flash +of solar light which causes the monster to fling herself down from the +cliff with a fearful roar, restores the land to prosperity. But besides +this, the association of the thunder-storm with the approach of summer +has produced many myths in which the lightning is symbolized as the +life-renewing wand of the victorious sun-god. Hence the use of the +divining-rod in the cure of disease; and hence the large family of +schamir-myths in which the dead are restored to life by leaves or herbs. +In Grimm's tale of the "Three Snake Leaves," a prince is buried alive +(like Sindbad) with his dead wife, and seeing a snake approaching her +body, he cuts it in three pieces. Presently another snake, crawling from +the corner, saw the other lying dead, and going, away soon returned +with three green leaves in its mouth; then laying the parts of the body +together so as to join, it put one leaf on each wound, and the dead +snake was alive again. The prince, applying the leaves to his wife's +body, restores her also to life." [50] In the Greek story, told by +AElian and Apollodoros, Polyidos is shut up with the corpse of Glaukos, +which he is ordered to restore to life. He kills a dragon which is +approaching the body, but is presently astonished at seeing another +dragon come with a blade of grass and place it upon its dead companion, +which instantly rises from the ground. Polyidos takes the same blade of +grass, and with it resuscitates Glaukos. The same incident occurs in the +Hindu story of Panch Phul Ranee, and in Fouque's "Sir Elidoc," which is +founded on a Breton legend. + +We need not wonder, then, at the extraordinary therapeutic +properties which are in all Aryan folk-lore ascribed to the +various lightning-plants. In Sweden sanitary amulets are made of +mistletoe-twigs, and the plant is supposed to be a specific against +epilepsy and an antidote for poisons. In Cornwall children are passed +through holes in ash-trees in order to cure them of hernia. Ash rods are +used in some parts of England for the cure of diseased sheep, cows, and +horses; and in particular they are supposed to neutralize the venom +of serpents. The notion that snakes are afraid of an ash-tree is not +extinct even in the United States. The other day I was told, not by an +old granny, but by a man fairly educated and endowed with a very unusual +amount of good common-sense, that a rattlesnake will sooner go through +fire than creep over ash leaves or into the shadow of an ash-tree. +Exactly the same statement is made by Piny, who adds that if you draw +a circle with an ash rod around the spot of ground on which a snake +is lying, the animal must die of starvation, being as effectually +imprisoned as Ugolino in the dungeon at Pisa. In Cornwall it is believed +that a blow from an ash stick will instantly kill any serpent. The ash +shares this virtue with the hazel and fern. A Swedish peasant will tell +you that snakes may be deprived of their venom by a touch with a hazel +wand; and when an ancient Greek had occasion to make his bed in the +woods, he selected fern leaves if possible, in the belief that the smell +of them would drive away poisonous animals. [51] + +But the beneficent character of the lightning appears still more clearly +in another class of myths. To the primitive man the shaft of light +coming down from heaven was typical of the original descent of fire for +the benefit and improvement of the human race. The Sioux Indians account +for the origin of fire by a myth of unmistakable kinship; they say that +"their first ancestor obtained his fire from the sparks which a friendly +panther struck from the rocks as he scampered up a stony hill." [52] +This panther is obviously the counterpart of the Aryan bird which +drops schamir. But the Aryan imagination hit upon a far more remarkable +conception. The ancient Hindus obtained fire by a process similar to +that employed by Count Rumford in his experiments on the generation of +heat by friction. They first wound a couple of cords around a pointed +stick in such a way that the unwinding of the one would wind up the +other, and then, placing the point of the stick against a circular disk +of wood, twirled it rapidly by alternate pulls on the two strings. This +instrument is called a chark, and is still used in South Africa, [53] +in Australia, in Sumatra, and among the Veddahs of Ceylon. The Russians +found it in Kamtchatka; and it was formerly employed in America, from +Labrador to the Straits of Magellan. [54] The Hindus churned milk by +a similar process; [55] and in order to explain the thunder-storm, a +Sanskrit poem tells how "once upon a time the Devas, or gods, and their +opponents, the Asuras, made a truce, and joined together in churning +the ocean to procure amrita, the drink of immortality. They took Mount +Mandara for a churning-stick, and, wrapping the great serpent Sesha +round it for a rope, they made the mountain spin round to and fro, the +Devas pulling at the serpent's tail, and the Asuras at its head." [56] +In this myth the churning-stick, with its flying serpent-cords, is +the lightning, and the armrita, or drink of immortality, is simply the +rain-water, which in Aryan folk-lore possesses the same healing virtues +as the lightning. "In Sclavonic myths it is the water of life which +restores the dead earth, a water brought by a bird from the depths of a +gloomy cave." [57] It is the celestial soma or mead which Indra loves +to drink; it is the ambrosial nectar of the Olympian gods; it is the +charmed water which in the Arabian Nights restores to human shape +the victims of wicked sorcerers; and it is the elixir of life which +mediaeval philosophers tried to discover, and in quest of which Ponce de +Leon traversed the wilds of Florida. [58] + +"Jacky's next proceeding was to get some dry sticks and wood, and +prepare a fire, which, to George's astonishment, he lighted thus. He got +a block of wood, in the middle of which he made a hole; then he cut and +pointed a long stick, and inserting the point into the block, worked +it round between his palms for some time and with increasing rapidity. +Presently there came a smell of burning wood, and soon after it burst +into a flame at the point of contact. Jacky cut slices of shark and +roasted them."--Reade, Never too Late to Mend, chap. xxxviii. + +The most interesting point in this Hindu myth is the name of the peaked +mountain Mandara, or Manthara, which the gods and devils took for their +churning-stick. The word means "a churning-stick," and it appears also, +with a prefixed preposition, in the name of the fire-drill, pramantha. +Now Kuhn has proved that this name, pramantha, is etymologically +identical with Prometheus, the name of the beneficent Titan, who stole +fire from heaven and bestowed it upon mankind as the richest of boons. +This sublime personage was originally nothing but the celestial drill +which churns fire out of the clouds; but the Greeks had so entirely +forgotten his origin that they interpreted his name as meaning "the one +who thinks beforehand," and accredited him with a brother, Epimetheus, +or "the one who thinks too late." The Greeks had adopted another name, +trypanon, for their fire-drill, and thus the primitive character of +Prometheus became obscured. + +I have said above that it was regarded as absolutely essential that +the divining-rod should be forked. To this rule, however, there was one +exception, and if any further evidence be needed to convince the +most sceptical that the divining-rod is nothing but a symbol of +the lightning, that exception will furnish such evidence. For this +exceptional kind of divining-rod was made of a pointed stick rotating +in a block of wood, and it was the presence of hidden water or treasure +which was supposed to excite the rotatory motion. + +In the myths relating to Prometheus, the lightning-god appears as the +originator of civilization, sometimes as the creator of the human race, +and always as its friend, [59] suffering in its behalf the most fearful +tortures at the hands of the jealous Zeus. In one story he creates man +by making a clay image and infusing into it a spark of the fire which he +had brought from heaven; in another story he is himself the first man. +In the Peloponnesian myth Phoroneus, who is Prometheus under another +name, is the first man, and his mother was an ash-tree. In Norse +mythology, also, the gods were said to have made the first man out of +the ash-tree Yggdrasil. The association of the heavenly fire with +the life-giving forces of nature is very common in the myths of both +hemispheres, and in view of the facts already cited it need not surprise +us. Hence the Hindu Agni and the Norse Thor were patrons of marriage, +and in Norway, the most lucky day on which to be married is still +supposed to be Thursday, which in old times was the day of the +fire-god. [60] Hence the lightning-plants have divers virtues in +matters pertaining to marriage. The Romans made their wedding torches +of whitethorn; hazel-nuts are still used all over Europe in divinations +relating to the future lover or sweetheart; [61] and under a mistletoe +bough it is allowable for a gentleman to kiss a lady. A vast number of +kindred superstitions are described by Mr. Kelly, to whom I am indebted +for many of these examples. [62] + +Thus we reach at last the completed conception of the divining-rod, or +as it is called in this sense the wish-rod, with its kindred talismans, +from Aladdin's lamp and the purse of Bedreddin Hassan, to the Sangreal, +the philosopher's stone, and the goblets of Oberon and Tristram. These +symbols of the reproductive energies of nature, which give to the +possessor every good and perfect gift, illustrate the uncurbed belief in +the power of wish which the ancient man shared with modern children. In +the Norse story of Frodi's quern, the myth assumes a whimsical shape. +The prose Edda tells of a primeval age of gold, when everybody had +whatever he wanted. This was because the giant Frodi had a mill which +ground out peace and plenty and abundance of gold withal, so that it lay +about the roads like pebbles. Through the inexcusable avarice of +Frodi, this wonderful implement was lost to the world. For he kept his +maid-servants working at the mill until they got out of patience, and +began to make it grind out hatred and war. Then came a mighty sea-rover +by night and slew Frodi and carried away the maids and the quern. When +he got well out to sea, he told them to grind out salt, and so they did +with a vengeance. They ground the ship full of salt and sank it, and so +the quern was lost forever, but the sea remains salt unto this day. + +Mr. Kelly rightly identifies Frodi with the sun-god Fro or Freyr, and +observes that the magic mill is only another form of the fire-churn, or +chark. According to another version the quern is still grinding away +and keeping the sea salt, and over the place where it lies there is a +prodigious whirlpool or maelstrom which sucks down ships. + +In its completed shape, the lightning-wand is the caduceus, or rod of +Hermes. I observed, in the preceding paper, that in the Greek conception +of Hermes there have been fused together the attributes of two deities +who were originally distinct. The Hermes of the Homeric Hymn is a +wind-god; but the later Hermes Agoraios, the patron of gymnasia, the +mutilation of whose statues caused such terrible excitement in Athens +during the Peloponnesian War, is a very different personage. He is +a fire-god, invested with many solar attributes, and represents the +quickening forces of nature. In this capacity the invention of fire was +ascribed to him as well as to Prometheus; he was said to be the friend +of mankind, and was surnamed Ploutodotes, or "the giver of wealth." + +The Norse wind-god Odin has in like manner acquired several of the +attributes of Freyr and Thor. [63] His lightning-spear, which is +borrowed from Thor, appears by a comical metamorphosis as a wish-rod +which will administer a sound thrashing to the enemies of its possessor. +Having cut a hazel stick, you have only to lay down an old coat, name +your intended victim, wish he was there, and whack away: he will howl +with pain at every blow. This wonderful cudgel appears in Dasent's tale +of "The Lad who went to the North Wind," with which we may conclude +this discussion. The story is told, with little variation, in Hindustan, +Germany, and Scandinavia. + +The North Wind, representing the mischievous Hermes, once blew away a +poor woman's meal. So her boy went to the North Wind and demanded his +rights for the meal his mother had lost. "I have n't got your meal," +said the Wind, "but here's a tablecloth which will cover itself with an +excellent dinner whenever you tell it to." So the lad took the cloth and +started for home. At nightfall he stopped at an inn, spread his cloth +on the table, and ordered it to cover itself with good things, and so +it did. But the landlord, who thought it would be money in his pocket +to have such a cloth, stole it after the boy had gone to bed, and +substituted another just like it in appearance. Next day the boy went +home in great glee to show off for his mother's astonishment what the +North Wind had given him, but all the dinner he got that day was what +the old woman cooked for him. In his despair he went back to the North +Wind and called him a liar, and again demanded his rights for the meal +he had lost. "I have n't got your meal," said the Wind, "but here's a +ram which will drop money out of its fleece whenever you tell it to." So +the lad travelled home, stopping over night at the same inn, and when he +got home he found himself with a ram which did n't drop coins out of its +fleece. A third time he visited the North Wind, and obtained a bag with +a stick in it which, at the word of command, would jump out of the bag +and lay on until told to stop. Guessing how matters stood as to his +cloth and ram, he turned in at the same tavern, and going to a bench lay +down as if to sleep. The landlord thought that a stick carried about in +a bag must be worth something, and so he stole quietly up to the bag, +meaning to get the stick out and change it. But just as he got within +whacking distance, the boy gave the word, and out jumped the stick +and beat the thief until he promised to give back the ram and the +tablecloth. And so the boy got his rights for the meal which the North +Wind had blown away. October, 1870. + + + + +III. WEREWOLVES AND SWAN-MAIDENS. + +IT is related by Ovid that Lykaon, king of Arkadia, once invited Zeus +to dinner, and served up for him a dish of human flesh, in order to test +the god's omniscience. But the trick miserably failed, and the impious +monarch received the punishment which his crime had merited. He was +transformed into a wolf, that he might henceforth feed upon the viands +with which he had dared to pollute the table of the king of Olympos. +From that time forth, according to Pliny, a noble Arkadian was each +year, on the festival of Zeus Lykaios, led to the margin of a certain +lake. Hanging his clothes upon a tree, he then plunged into the water +and became a wolf. For the space of nine years he roamed about the +adjacent woods, and then, if he had not tasted human flesh during all +this time, he was allowed to swim back to the place where his clothes +were hanging, put them on, and return to his natural form. It is further +related of a certain Demainetos, that, having once been present at +a human sacrifice to Zeus Lykaios, he ate of the flesh, and was +transformed into a wolf for a term of ten years. [64] + +These and other similar mythical germs were developed by the mediaeval +imagination into the horrible superstition of werewolves. + +A werewolf, or loup-garou [65] was a person who had the power of +transforming himself into a wolf, being endowed, while in the lupine +state, with the intelligence of a man, the ferocity of a wolf, and the +irresistible strength of a demon. The ancients believed in the existence +of such persons; but in the Middle Ages the metamorphosis was supposed +to be a phenomenon of daily occurrence, and even at the present day, +in secluded portions of Europe, the superstition is still cherished +by peasants. The belief, moreover, is supported by a vast amount +of evidence, which can neither be argued nor pooh-poohed into +insignificance. It is the business of the comparative mythologist to +trace the pedigree of the ideas from which such a conception may have +sprung; while to the critical historian belongs the task of ascertaining +and classifying the actual facts which this particular conception was +used to interpret. + +The mediaeval belief in werewolves is especially adapted to illustrate +the complicated manner in which divers mythical conceptions and +misunderstood natural occurrences will combine to generate a +long-enduring superstition. Mr. Cox, indeed, would have us believe that +the whole notion arose from an unintentional play upon words; but +the careful survey of the field, which has been taken by Hertz and +Baring-Gould, leads to the conclusion that many other circumstances +have been at work. The delusion, though doubtless purely mythical in its +origin, nevertheless presents in its developed state a curious mixture +of mythical and historical elements. + +With regard to the Arkadian legend, taken by itself, Mr. Cox is probably +right. The story seems to belong to that large class of myths which have +been devised in order to explain the meaning of equivocal words whose +true significance has been forgotten. The epithet Lykaios, as applied to +Zeus, had originally no reference to wolves: it means "the bright one," +and gave rise to lycanthropic legends only because of the similarity +in sound between the names for "wolf" and "brightness." Aryan mythology +furnishes numerous other instances of this confusion. The solar deity, +Phoibos Lykegenes, was originally the "offspring of light"; but popular +etymology made a kind of werewolf of him by interpreting his name as +the "wolf-born." The name of the hero Autolykos means simply the +"self-luminous"; but it was more frequently interpreted as meaning "a +very wolf," in allusion to the supposed character of its possessor. +Bazra, the name of the citadel of Carthage, was the Punic word for +"fortress"; but the Greeks confounded it with byrsa, "a hide," and hence +the story of the ox-hides cut into strips by Dido in order to measure +the area of the place to be fortified. The old theory that the Irish +were Phoenicians had a similar origin. The name Fena, used to designate +the old Scoti or Irish, is the plural of Fion, "fair," seen in the +name of the hero Fion Gall, or "Fingal"; but the monkish chroniclers +identified Fena with phoinix, whence arose the myth; and by a like +misunderstanding of the epithet Miledh, or "warrior," applied to Fion by +the Gaelic bards, there was generated a mythical hero, Milesius, and the +soubriquet "Milesian," colloquially employed in speaking of the Irish. +[66] So the Franks explained the name of the town Daras, in Mesopotamia, +by the story that the Emperor Justinian once addressed the chief +magistrate with the exclamation, daras, "thou shalt give": [67] the +Greek chronicler, Malalas, who spells the name Doras, informs us +with equal complacency that it was the place where Alexander overcame +Codomannus with dorn, "the spear." A certain passage in the Alps is +called Scaletta, from its resemblance to a staircase; but according to a +local tradition it owes its name to the bleaching skeletons of a +company of Moors who were destroyed there in the eighth century, while +attempting to penetrate into Northern Italy. The name of Antwerp denotes +the town built at a "wharf"; but it sounds very much like the Flemish +handt werpen, "hand-throwing": "hence arose the legend of the giant +who cut of the hands of those who passed his castle without paying him +black-mail, and threw them into the Scheldt." [68] In the myth of Bishop +Hatto, related in a previous paper, the Mause-thurm is a corruption of +maut-thurm; it means "customs-tower," and has nothing to do with mice +or rats. Doubtless this etymology was the cause of the floating myth +getting fastened to this particular place; that it did not give rise +to the myth itself is shown by the existence of the same tale in other +places. Somewhere in England there is a place called Chateau Vert; the +peasantry have corrupted it into Shotover, and say that it has +borne that name ever since Little John shot over a high hill in the +neighbourhood. [69] Latium means "the flat land"; but, according to +Virgil, it is the place where Saturn once hid (latuisset) from the wrath +of his usurping son Jupiter. [70] + +It was in this way that the constellation of the Great Bear received +its name. The Greek word arktos, answering to the Sanskrit riksha, meant +originally any bright object, and was applied to the bear--for what +reason it would not be easy to state--and to that constellation which +was most conspicuous in the latitude of the early home of the Aryans. +When the Greeks had long forgotten why these stars were called arktoi, +they symbolized them as a Great Bear fixed in the sky. So that, as +Max Muller observes, "the name of the Arctic regions rests on a +misunderstanding of a name framed thousands of years ago in Central +Asia, and the surprise with which many a thoughtful observer has looked +at these seven bright stars, wondering why they were ever called the +Bear, is removed by a reference to the early annals of human speech." +Among the Algonquins the sun-god Michabo was represented as a hare, his +name being compounded of michi, "great," and wabos, "a hare"; yet wabos +also meant "white," so that the god was doubtless originally called +simply "the Great White One." The same naive process has made bears of +the Arkadians, whose name, like that of the Lykians, merely signified +that they were "children of light"; and the metamorphosis of Kallisto, +mother of Arkas, into a bear, and of Lykaon into a wolf, rests +apparently upon no other foundation than an erroneous etymology. +Originally Lykaon was neither man nor wolf; he was but another form of +Phoibos Lykegenes, the light-born sun, and, as Mr. Cox has shown, his +legend is but a variation of that of Tantalos, who in time of drought +offers to Zeus the flesh of his own offspring, the withered fruits, and +is punished for his impiety. + +It seems to me, however, that this explanation, though valid as far +as it goes, is inadequate to explain all the features of the werewolf +superstition, or to account for its presence in all Aryan countries and +among many peoples who are not of Aryan origin. There can be no doubt +that the myth-makers transformed Lykaon into a wolf because of his +unlucky name; because what really meant "bright man" seemed to them +to mean "wolf-man"; but it has by no means been proved that a similar +equivocation occurred in the case of all the primitive Aryan werewolves, +nor has it been shown to be probable that among each people the +being with the uncanny name got thus accidentally confounded with the +particular beast most dreaded by that people. Etymology alone does not +explain the fact that while Gaul has been the favourite haunt of the +man-wolf, Scandinavia has been preferred by the man-bear, and Hindustan +by the man-tiger. To account for such a widespread phenomenon we must +seek a more general cause. + +Nothing is more strikingly characteristic of primitive thinking than the +close community of nature which it assumes between man and brute. The +doctrine of metempsychosis, which is found in some shape or other all +over the world, implies a fundamental identity between the two; the +Hindu is taught to respect the flocks browsing in the meadow, and will +on no account lift his hand against a cow, for who knows but it may +he his own grandmother? The recent researches of Mr. M`Lennan and Mr. +Herbert Spencer have served to connect this feeling with the primeval +worship of ancestors and with the savage customs of totemism. [71] + +The worship of ancestors seems to have been every where the oldest +systematized form of fetichistic religion. The reverence paid to the +chieftain of the tribe while living was continued and exaggerated after +his death The uncivilized man is everywhere incapable of grasping +the idea of death as it is apprehended by civilized people. He cannot +understand that a man should pass away so as to be no longer capable of +communicating with his fellows. The image of his dead chief or comrade +remains in his mind, and the savage's philosophic realism far surpasses +that of the most extravagant mediaeval schoolmen; to him the persistence +of the idea implies the persistence of the reality. The dead man, +accordingly, is not really dead; he has thrown off his body like a husk, +yet still retains his old appearance, and often shows himself to his old +friends, especially after nightfall. He is no doubt possessed of more +extensive powers than before his transformation, [72] and may very +likely have a share in regulating the weather, granting or withholding +rain. Therefore, argues the uncivilized mind, he is to be cajoled and +propitiated more sedulously now than before his strange transformation. + +This kind of worship still maintains a languid existence as the state +religion of China, and it still exists as a portion of Brahmanism; but +in the Vedic religion it is to be seen in all its vigour and in all +its naive simplicity. According to the ancient Aryan, the pitris, or +"Fathers" (Lat. patres), live in the sky along with Yama, the great +original Pitri of mankind. This first man came down from heaven in the +lightning, and back to heaven both himself and all his offspring must +have gone. There they distribute light unto men below, and they shine +themselves as stars; and hence the Christianized German peasant, fifty +centuries later, tells his children that the stars are angels' eyes, and +the English cottager impresses it on the youthful mind that it is wicked +to point at the stars, though why he cannot tell. But the Pitris are not +stars only, nor do they content themselves with idly looking down on +the affairs of men, after the fashion of the laissez-faire divinities of +Lucretius. They are, on the contrary, very busy with the weather; +they send rain, thunder, and lightning; and they especially delight +in rushing over the housetops in a great gale of wind, led on by their +chief, the mysterious huntsman, Hermes or Odin. + +It has been elsewhere shown that the howling dog, or wish-hound of +Hermes, whose appearance under the windows of a sick person is such +an alarming portent, is merely the tempest personified. Throughout +all Aryan mythology the souls of the dead are supposed to ride on the +night-wind, with their howling dogs, gathering into their throng the +souls of those just dying as they pass by their houses. [73] Sometimes +the whole complex conception is wrapped up in the notion of a single +dog, the messenger of the god of shades, who comes to summon the +departing soul. Sometimes, instead of a dog, we have a great ravening +wolf who comes to devour its victim and extinguish the sunlight of life, +as that old wolf of the tribe of Fenrir devoured little Red Riding-Hood +with her robe of scarlet twilight. [74] Thus we arrive at a true +werewolf myth. The storm-wind, or howling Rakshasa of Hindu folk-lore, +is "a great misshapen giant with red beard and red hair, with pointed +protruding teeth, ready to lacerate and devour human flesh; his body is +covered with coarse, bristling hair, his huge mouth is open, he looks +from side to side as he walks, lusting after the flesh and blood of men, +to satisfy his raging hunger and quench his consuming thirst. Towards +nightfall his strength increases manifold; he can change his shape at +will; he haunts the woods, and roams howling through the jungle." [75] + +Now if the storm-wind is a host of Pitris, or one great Pitri who +appears as a fearful giant, and is also a pack of wolves or wish-hounds, +or a single savage dog or wolf, the inference is obvious to the +mythopoeic mind that men may become wolves, at least after death. And to +the uncivilized thinker this inference is strengthened, as Mr. Spencer +has shown, by evidence registered on his own tribal totem or heraldic +emblem. The bears and lions and leopards of heraldry are the degenerate +descendants of the totem of savagery which designated the tribe by a +beast-symbol. To the untutored mind there is everything in a name; and +the descendant of Brown Bear or Yellow Tiger or Silver Hyaena cannot be +pronounced unfaithful to his own style of philosophizing, if he regards +his ancestors, who career about his hut in the darkness of night, +as belonging to whatever order of beasts his totem associations may +suggest. + +Thus we not only see a ray of light thrown on the subject of +metempsychosis, but we get a glimpse of the curious process by which +the intensely realistic mind of antiquity arrived at the notion that +men could be transformed into beasts. For the belief that the soul +can temporarily quit the body during lifetime has been universally +entertained; and from the conception of wolf-like ghosts it was but a +short step to the conception of corporeal werewolves. In the Middle Ages +the phenomena of trance and catalepsy were cited in proof of the theory +that the soul can leave the body and afterwards return to it. Hence it +was very difficult for a person accused of witchcraft to prove an alibi; +for to any amount of evidence showing that the body was innocently +reposing at home and in bed, the rejoinder was obvious that the soul may +nevertheless have been in attendance at the witches' Sabbath or busied +in maiming a neighbour's cattle. According to one mediaeval notion, the +soul of the werewolf quit its human body, which remained in a trance +until its return. [76] + +The mythological basis of the werewolf superstition is now, I believe, +sufficiently indicated. The belief, however, did not reach its complete +development, or acquire its most horrible features, until the pagan +habits of thought which had originated it were modified by contact +with Christian theology. To the ancient there was nothing necessarily +diabolical in the transformation of a man into a beast. But +Christianity, which retained such a host of pagan conceptions under such +strange disguises, which degraded the "All-father" Odin into the ogre +of the castle to which Jack climbed on his bean-stalk, and which blended +the beneficent lightning-god Thor and the mischievous Hermes and the +faun-like Pan into the grotesque Teutonic Devil, did not fail to impart +a new and fearful character to the belief in werewolves. Lycanthropy +became regarded as a species of witchcraft; the werewolf was supposed +to have obtained his peculiar powers through the favour or connivance +of the Devil; and hundreds of persons were burned alive or broken on +the wheel for having availed themselves of the privilege of +beast-metamorphosis. The superstition, thus widely extended and greatly +intensified, was confirmed by many singular phenomena which cannot +be omitted from any thorough discussion of the nature and causes of +lycanthropy. + +The first of these phenomena is the Berserker insanity, characteristic +of Scandinavia, but not unknown in other countries. In times when +killing one's enemies often formed a part of the necessary business of +life, persons were frequently found who killed for the mere love of the +thing; with whom slaughter was an end desirable in itself, not merely +a means to a desirable end. What the miser is in an age which worships +mammon, such was the Berserker in an age when the current idea of heaven +was that of a place where people could hack each other to pieces through +all eternity, and when the man who refused a challenge was punished with +confiscation of his estates. With these Northmen, in the ninth century, +the chief business and amusement in life was to set sail for some +pleasant country, like Spain or France, and make all the coasts and +navigable rivers hideous with rapine and massacre. When at home, in the +intervals between their freebooting expeditions, they were liable to +become possessed by a strange homicidal madness, during which they would +array themselves in the skins of wolves or bears, and sally forth by +night to crack the backbones, smash the skulls, and sometimes to drink +with fiendish glee the blood of unwary travellers or loiterers. These +fits of madness were usually followed by periods of utter exhaustion and +nervous depression. [77] + +Such, according to the unanimous testimony of historians, was the +celebrated "Berserker rage," not peculiar to the Northland, although +there most conspicuously manifested. Taking now a step in advance, we +find that in comparatively civilized countries there have been many +cases of monstrous homicidal insanity. The two most celebrated cases, +among those collected by Mr. Baring-Gould, are those of the Marechal +de Retz, in 1440, and of Elizabeth, a Hungarian countess, in the +seventeenth century. The Countess Elizabeth enticed young girls into +her palace on divers pretexts, and then coolly murdered them, for the +purpose of bathing in their blood. The spectacle of human suffering +became at last such a delight to her, that she would apply with her +own hands the most excruciating tortures, relishing the shrieks of her +victims as the epicure relishes each sip of his old Chateau Margaux. +In this way she is said to have murdered six hundred and fifty +persons before her evil career was brought to an end; though, when one +recollects the famous men in buckram and the notorious trio of crows, +one is inclined to strike off a cipher, and regard sixty-five as a +sufficiently imposing and far less improbable number. But the case of +the Marechal de Retz is still more frightful. A marshal of France, a +scholarly man, a patriot, and a man of holy life, he became suddenly +possessed by an uncontrollable desire to murder children. During seven +years he continued to inveigle little boys and girls into his castle, +at the rate of about TWO EACH WEEK, (?) and then put them to death in +various ways, that he might witness their agonies and bathe in their +blood; experiencing after each occasion the most dreadful remorse, +but led on by an irresistible craving to repeat the crime. When this +unparalleled iniquity was finally brought to light, the castle was found +to contain bins full of children's bones. The horrible details of the +trial are to be found in the histories of France by Michelet and Martin. + +Going a step further, we find cases in which the propensity to murder +has been accompanied by cannibalism. In 1598 a tailor of Chalons was +sentenced by the parliament of Paris to be burned alive for lycanthropy. +"This wretched man had decoyed children into his shop, or attacked them +in the gloaming when they strayed in the woods, had torn them with his +teeth and killed them, after which he seems calmly to have dressed their +flesh as ordinary meat, and to have eaten it with a great relish. The +number of little innocents whom he destroyed is unknown. A whole caskful +of bones was discovered in his house." [78] About 1850 a beggar in the +village of Polomyia, in Galicia, was proved to have killed and eaten +fourteen children. A house had one day caught fire and burnt to the +ground, roasting one of the inmates, who was unable to escape. The +beggar passed by soon after, and, as he was suffering from excessive +hunger, could not resist the temptation of making a meal off the charred +body. From that moment he was tormented by a craving for human flesh. +He met a little orphan girl, about nine years old, and giving her a +pinchbeck ring told her to seek for others like it under a tree in the +neighbouring wood. She was slain, carried to the beggar's hovel, and +eaten. In the course of three years thirteen other children mysteriously +disappeared, but no one knew whom to suspect. At last an innkeeper +missed a pair of ducks, and having no good opinion of this beggar's +honesty, went unexpectedly to his cabin, burst suddenly in at the door, +and to his horror found him in the act of hiding under his cloak a +severed head; a bowl of fresh blood stood under the oven, and pieces of +a thigh were cooking over the fire. [79] + +This occurred only about twenty years ago, and the criminal, though +ruled by an insane appetite, is not known to have been subject to any +mental delusion. But there have been a great many similar cases, in +which the homicidal or cannibal craving has been accompanied by genuine +hallucination. Forms of insanity in which the afflicted persons imagine +themselves to be brute animals are not perhaps very common, but they are +not unknown. I once knew a poor demented old man who believed himself +to be a horse, and would stand by the hour together before a manger, +nibbling hay, or deluding himself with the presence of so doing. Many +of the cannibals whose cases are related by Mr. Baring-Gould, in +his chapter of horrors, actually believed themselves to have been +transformed into wolves or other wild animals. Jean Grenier was a boy of +thirteen, partially idiotic, and of strongly marked canine physiognomy; +his jaws were large and projected forward, and his canine teeth were +unnaturally long, so as to protrude beyond the lower lip. He believed +himself to be a werewolf. One evening, meeting half a dozen young girls, +he scared them out of their wits by telling them that as soon as the sun +had set he would turn into a wolf and eat them for supper. A few days +later, one little girl, having gone out at nightfall to look after the +sheep, was attacked by some creature which in her terror she mistook for +a wolf, but which afterwards proved to be none other than Jean Grenier. +She beat him off with her sheep-staff, and fled home. As several +children had mysteriously disappeared from the neighbourhood, Grenier +was at once suspected. Being brought before the parliament of Bordeaux, +he stated that two years ago he had met the Devil one night in the woods +and had signed a compact with him and received from him a wolf-skin. +Since then he had roamed about as a wolf after dark, resuming his human +shape by daylight. He had killed and eaten several children whom he had +found alone in the fields, and on one occasion he had entered a house +while the family were out and taken the baby from its cradle. A careful +investigation proved the truth of these statements, so far as the +cannibalism was concerned. There is no doubt that the missing children +were eaten by Jean Grenier, and there is no doubt that in his own mind +the halfwitted boy was firmly convinced that he was a wolf. Here the +lycanthropy was complete. + +In the year 1598, "in a wild and unfrequented spot near Caude, some +countrymen came one day upon the corpse of a boy of fifteen, horribly +mutilated and bespattered with blood. As the men approached, two wolves, +which had been rending the body, bounded away into the thicket. The men +gave chase immediately, following their bloody tracks till they lost +them; when, suddenly crouching among the bushes, his teeth chattering +with fear, they found a man half naked, with long hair and beard, and +with his hands dyed in blood. His nails were long as claws, and were +clotted with fresh gore and shreds of human flesh." [80] + +This man, Jacques Roulet, was a poor, half-witted creature under the +dominion of a cannibal appetite. He was employed in tearing to pieces +the corpse of the boy when these countrymen came up. Whether there were +any wolves in the case, except what the excited imaginations of the men +may have conjured up, I will not presume to determine; but it is certain +that Roulet supposed himself to be a wolf, and killed and ate several +persons under the influence of the delusion. He was sentenced to death, +but the parliament of Paris reversed the sentence, and charitably shut +him up in a madhouse. + +The annals of the Middle Ages furnish many cases similar to these of +Grenier and Roulet. Their share in maintaining the werewolf superstition +is undeniable; but modern science finds in them nothing that cannot be +readily explained. That stupendous process of breeding, which we call +civilization, has been for long ages strengthening those kindly social +feelings by the possession of which we are chiefly distinguished from +the brutes, leaving our primitive bestial impulses to die for want of +exercise, or checking in every possible way their further expansion by +legislative enactments. But this process, which is transforming us from +savages into civilized men, is a very slow one; and now and then there +occur cases of what physiologists call atavism, or reversion to an +ancestral type of character. Now and then persons are born, in civilized +countries, whose intellectual powers are on a level with those of the +most degraded Australian savage, and these we call idiots. And now and +then persons are born possessed of the bestial appetites and cravings +of primitive man, his fiendish cruelty and his liking for human flesh. +Modern physiology knows how to classify and explain these abnormal +cases, but to the unscientific mediaeval mind they were explicable only +on the hypothesis of a diabolical metamorphosis. And there is nothing +strange in the fact that, in an age when the prevailing habits of +thought rendered the transformation of men into beasts an easily +admissible notion, these monsters of cruelty and depraved appetite +should have been regarded as capable of taking on bestial forms. Nor is +it strange that the hallucination under which these unfortunate wretches +laboured should have taken such a shape as to account to their feeble +intelligence for the existence of the appetites which they were +conscious of not sharing with their neighbours and contemporaries. If +a myth is a piece of unscientific philosophizing, it must sometimes +be applied to the explanation of obscure psychological as well as of +physical phenomena. Where the modern calmly taps his forehead and says, +"Arrested development," the terrified ancient made the sign of the cross +and cried, "Werewolf." + +We shall be assisted in this explanation by turning aside for a +moment to examine the wild superstitions about "changelings," which +contributed, along with so many others, to make the lives of our +ancestors anxious and miserable. These superstitions were for the most +part attempts to explain the phenomena of insanity, epilepsy, and other +obscure nervous diseases. A man who has hitherto enjoyed perfect health, +and whose actions have been consistent and rational, suddenly loses all +self-control and seems actuated by a will foreign to himself. Modern +science possesses the key to this phenomenon; but in former times it was +explicable only on the hypothesis that a demon had entered the body +of the lunatic, or else that the fairies had stolen the real man and +substituted for him a diabolical phantom exactly like him in stature and +features. Hence the numerous legends of changelings, some of which +are very curious. In Irish folk-lore we find the story of one Rickard, +surnamed the Rake, from his worthless character. A good-natured, idle +fellow, he spent all his evenings in dancing,--an accomplishment in +which no one in the village could rival him. One night, in the midst of +a lively reel, he fell down in a fit. "He's struck with a fairy-dart," +exclaimed all the friends, and they carried him home and nursed him; but +his face grew so thin and his manner so morose that by and by all began +to suspect that the true Rickard was gone and a changeling put in his +place. Rickard, with all his accomplishments, was no musician; and so, +in order to put the matter to a crucial test, a bagpipe was left in the +room by the side of his bed. The trick succeeded. One hot summer's day, +when all were supposed to be in the field making hay, some members +of the family secreted in a clothes-press saw the bedroom door open a +little way, and a lean, foxy face, with a pair of deep-sunken eyes, peer +anxiously about the premises. Having satisfied itself that the coast +was clear, the face withdrew, the door was closed, and presently such +ravishing strains of music were heard as never proceeded from a bagpipe +before or since that day. Soon was heard the rustle of innumerable +fairies, come to dance to the changeling's music. Then the "fairy-man" +of the village, who was keeping watch with the family, heated a pair +of tongs red-hot, and with deafening shouts all burst at once into the +sick-chamber. The music had ceased and the room was empty, but in at the +window glared a fiendish face, with such fearful looks of hatred, that +for a moment all stood motionless with terror. But when the fairy-man, +recovering himself, advanced with the hot tongs to pinch its nose, it +vanished with an unearthly yell, and there on the bed was Rickard, safe +and sound, and cured of his epilepsy. [81] + +Comparing this legend with numerous others relating to changelings, +and stripping off the fantastic garb of fairy-lore with which popular +imagination has invested them, it seems impossible to doubt that they +have arisen from myths devised for the purpose of explaining the obscure +phenomena of mental disease. If this be so, they afford an excellent +collateral illustration of the belief in werewolves. The same mental +habits which led men to regard the insane or epileptic person as a +changeling, and which allowed them to explain catalepsy as the temporary +departure of a witch's soul from its body, would enable them to +attribute a wolf's nature to the maniac or idiot with cannibal +appetites. And when the myth-forming process had got thus far, it would +not stop short of assigning to the unfortunate wretch a tangible lupine +body; for all ancient mythology teemed with precedents for such a +transformation. + +It remains for us to sum up,--to tie into a bunch the keys which +have helped us to penetrate into the secret causes of the werewolf +superstition. In a previous paper we saw what a host of myths, +fairy-tales, and superstitious observances have sprung from attempts to +interpret one simple natural phenomenon,--the descent of fire from the +clouds. Here, on the other hand, we see what a heterogeneous multitude +of mythical elements may combine to build up in course of time a single +enormous superstition, and we see how curiously fact and fancy have +co-operated in keeping the superstition from falling. In the first place +the worship of dead ancestors with wolf totems originated the notion +of the transformation of men into divine or superhuman wolves; and this +notion was confirmed by the ambiguous explanation of the storm-wind +as the rushing of a troop of dead men's souls or as the howling of +wolf-like monsters. Mediaeval Christianity retained these conceptions, +merely changing the superhuman wolves into evil demons; and finally the +occurrence of cases of Berserker madness and cannibalism, accompanied by +lycanthropic hallucinations, being interpreted as due to such demoniacal +metamorphosis, gave rise to the werewolf superstition of the Middle +Ages. The etymological proceedings, to which Mr. Cox would incontinently +ascribe the origin of the entire superstition, seemed to me to have +played a very subordinate part in the matter. To suppose that Jean +Grenier imagined himself to be a wolf, because the Greek word for wolf +sounded like the word for light, and thus gave rise to the story of a +light-deity who became a wolf, seems to me quite inadmissible. Yet as +far as such verbal equivocations may have prevailed, they doubtless +helped to sustain the delusion. + +Thus we need no longer regard our werewolf as an inexplicable creature +of undetermined pedigree. But any account of him would be quite +imperfect which should omit all consideration of the methods by which +his change of form was accomplished. By the ancient Romans the werewolf +was commonly called a "skin-changer" or "turn-coat" (versipellis), and +similar epithets were applied to him in the Middle Ages The mediaeval +theory was that, while the werewolf kept his human form, his hair grew +inwards; when he wished to become a wolf, he simply turned himself +inside out. In many trials on record, the prisoners were closely +interrogated as to how this inversion might be accomplished; but I am +not aware that any one of them ever gave a satisfactory answer. At +the moment of change their memories seem to have become temporarily +befogged. Now and then a poor wretch had his arms and legs cut off, +or was partially flayed, in order that the ingrowing hair might be +detected. [82] Another theory was, that the possessed person had merely +to put on a wolf's skin, in order to assume instantly the lupine form +and character; and in this may perhaps be seen a vague reminiscence of +the alleged fact that Berserkers were in the habit of haunting the woods +by night, clothed in the hides of wolves or bears. [83] Such a wolfskin +was kept by the boy Grenier. Roulet, on the other hand, confessed to +using a magic salve or ointment. A fourth method of becoming a werewolf +was to obtain a girdle, usually made of human skin. Several cases are +related in Thorpe's "Northern Mythology." One hot day in harvest-time +some reapers lay down to sleep in the shade; when one of them, who could +not sleep, saw the man next him arise quietly and gird him with a strap, +whereupon he instantly vanished, and a wolf jumped up from among the +sleepers and ran off across the fields. Another man, who possessed such +a girdle, once went away from home without remembering to lock it +up. His little son climbed up to the cupboard and got it, and as he +proceeded to buckle it around his waist, he became instantly transformed +into a strange-looking beast. Just then his father came in, and seizing +the girdle restored the child to his natural shape. The boy said that no +sooner had he buckled it on than he was tormented with a raging hunger. + +Sometimes the werewolf transformation led to unlucky accidents. At +Caseburg, as a man and his wife were making hay, the woman threw down +her pitchfork and went away, telling her husband that if a wild beast +should come to him during her absence he must throw his hat at it. +Presently a she-wolf rushed towards him. The man threw his hat at it, +but a boy came up from another part of the field and stabbed the animal +with his pitchfork, whereupon it vanished, and the woman's dead body lay +at his feet. + +A parallel legend shows that this woman wished to have the hat thrown +at her, in order that she might be henceforth free from her liability +to become a werewolf. A man was one night returning with his wife from +a merry-making when he felt the change coming on. Giving his wife the +reins, he jumped from the wagon, telling her to strike with her apron +at any animal which might come to her. In a few moments a wolf ran up to +the side of the vehicle, and, as the woman struck out with her apron, it +bit off a piece and ran away. Presently the man returned with the +piece of apron in his mouth and consoled his terrified wife with the +information that the enchantment had left him forever. + +A terrible case at a village in Auvergne has found its way into the +annals of witchcraft. "A gentleman while hunting was suddenly attacked +by a savage wolf of monstrous size. Impenetrable by his shot, the beast +made a spring upon the helpless huntsman, who in the struggle luckily, +or unluckily for the unfortunate lady, contrived to cut off one of its +fore-paws. This trophy he placed in his pocket, and made the best of +his way homewards in safety. On the road he met a friend, to whom he +exhibited a bleeding paw, or rather (as it now appeared) a woman's hand, +upon which was a wedding-ring. His wife's ring was at once recognized by +the other. His suspicions aroused, he immediately went in search of his +wife, who was found sitting by the fire in the kitchen, her arm hidden +beneath her apron, when the husband, seizing her by the arm, found his +terrible suspicions verified. The bleeding stump was there, evidently +just fresh from the wound. She was given into custody, and in the event +was burned at Riom, in presence of thousands of spectators." [84] + +Sometimes a werewolf was cured merely by recognizing him while in his +brute shape. A Swedish legend tells of a cottager who, on entering the +forest one day without recollecting to say his Patter Noster, got into +the power of a Troll, who changed him into a wolf. For many years his +wife mourned him as dead. But one Christmas eve the old Troll, disguised +as a beggarwoman, came to the house for alms; and being taken in and +kindly treated, told the woman that her husband might very likely appear +to her in wolf-shape. Going at night to the pantry to lay aside a joint +of meat for tomorrow's dinner, she saw a wolf standing with its paws on +the window-sill, looking wistfully in at her. "Ah, dearest," said she, +"if I knew that thou wert really my husband, I would give thee a bone." +Whereupon the wolf-skin fell off, and her husband stood before her in +the same old clothes which he had on the day that the Troll got hold of +him. + +In Denmark it was believed that if a woman were to creep through a +colt's placental membrane stretched between four sticks, she would for +the rest of her life bring forth children without pain or illness; but +all the boys would in such case be werewolves, and all the girls Maras, +or nightmares. In this grotesque superstition appears that curious +kinship between the werewolf and the wife or maiden of supernatural +race, which serves admirably to illustrate the nature of both +conceptions, and the elucidation of which shall occupy us throughout the +remainder of this paper. + +It is, perhaps, needless to state that in the personality of the +nightmare, or Mara, there was nothing equine. The Mara was a female +demon, [85] who would come at night and torment men or women by +crouching on their chests or stomachs and stopping their respiration. +The scene is well enough represented in Fuseli's picture, though the +frenzied-looking horse which there accompanies the demon has no place +in the original superstition. A Netherlandish story illustrates the +character of the Mara. Two young men were in love with the same damsel. +One of them, being tormented every night by a Mara, sought advice from +his rival, and it was a treacherous counsel that he got. "Hold a sharp +knife with the point towards your breast, and you'll never see the Mara +again," said this false friend. The lad thanked him, but when he lay +down to rest he thought it as well to be on the safe side, and so held +the knife handle downward. So when the Mara came, instead of forcing the +blade into his breast, she cut herself badly, and fled howling; and let +us hope, though the legend here leaves us in the dark, that this poor +youth, who is said to have been the comelier of the two, revenged +himself on his malicious rival by marrying the young lady. + +But the Mara sometimes appeared in less revolting shape, and became the +mistress or even the wife of some mortal man to whom she happened to +take a fancy. In such cases she would vanish on being recognized. There +is a well-told monkish tale of a pious knight who, journeying one day +through the forest, found a beautiful lady stripped naked and tied to a +tree, her back all covered with deep gashes streaming with blood, from a +flogging which some bandits had given her. Of course he took her home +to his castle and married her, and for a while they lived very happily +together, and the fame of the lady's beauty was so great that kings and +emperors held tournaments in honor of her. But this pious knight used +to go to mass every Sunday, and greatly was he scandalized when he found +that his wife would never stay to assist in the Credo, but would always +get up and walk out of church just as the choir struck up. All her +husband's coaxing was of no use; threats and entreaties were alike +powerless even to elicit an explanation of this strange conduct. At last +the good man determined to use force; and so one Sunday, as the lady got +up to go out, according to custom, he seized her by the arm and sternly +commanded her to remain. Her whole frame was suddenly convulsed, and her +dark eyes gleamed with weird, unearthly brilliancy. The services paused +for a moment, and all eyes were turned toward the knight and his +lady. "In God's name, tell me what thou art," shouted the knight; and +instantly, says the chronicler, "the bodily form of the lady melted +away, and was seen no more; whilst, with a cry of anguish and of terror, +an evil spirit of monstrous form rose from the ground, clave the chapel +roof asunder, and disappeared in the air." + +In a Danish legend, the Mara betrays her affinity to the Nixies, or +Swan-maidens. A peasant discovered that his sweetheart was in the habit +of coming to him by night as a Mara. He kept strict watch until he +discovered her creeping into the room through a small knot-hole in the +door. Next day he made a peg, and after she had come to him, drove in +the peg so that she was unable to escape. They were married and lived +together many years; but one night it happened that the man, joking with +his wife about the way in which he had secured her, drew the peg from +the knot-hole, that she might see how she had entered his room. As she +peeped through, she became suddenly quite small, passed out, and was +never seen again. + +The well-known pathological phenomena of nightmare are sufficient to +account for the mediaeval theory of a fiend who sits upon one's bosom +and hinders respiration; but as we compare these various legends +relating to the Mara, we see that a more recondite explanation is needed +to account for all her peculiarities. Indigestion may interfere with our +breathing, but it does not make beautiful women crawl through keyholes, +nor does it bring wives from the spirit-world. The Mara belongs to an +ancient family, and in passing from the regions of monkish superstition +to those of pure mythology we find that, like her kinsman the werewolf, +she had once seen better days. Christianity made a demon of the Mara, +and adopted the theory that Satan employed these seductive creatures as +agents for ruining human souls. Such is the character of the knight's +wife, in the monkish legend just cited. But in the Danish tale the +Mara appears as one of that large family of supernatural wives who are +permitted to live with mortal men under certain conditions, but who are +compelled to flee away when these conditions are broken, as is always +sure to be the case. The eldest and one of the loveliest of this family +is the Hindu nymph Urvasi, whose love adventures with Pururavas are +narrated in the Puranas, and form the subject of the well-known and +exquisite Sanskrit drama by Kalidasa. Urvasi is allowed to live with +Pururavas so long as she does not see him undressed. But one night her +kinsmen, the Gandharvas, or cloud-demons, vexed at her long absence from +heaven, resolved to get her away from her mortal companion, They stole +a pet lamb which had been tied at the foot of her couch, whereat she +bitterly upbraided her husband. In rage and mortification, Pururavas +sprang up without throwing on his tunic, and grasping his sword sought +the robber. Then the wicked Gandharvas sent a flash of lightning, and +Urvasi, seeing her naked husband, instantly vanished. + +The different versions of this legend, which have been elaborately +analyzed by comparative mythologists, leave no doubt that Urvasi is +one of the dawn-nymphs or bright fleecy clouds of early morning, which +vanish as the splendour of the sun is unveiled. We saw, in the preceding +paper, that the ancient Aryans regarded the sky as a sea or great lake, +and that the clouds were explained variously as Phaiakian ships with +bird-like beaks sailing over this lake, or as bright birds of divers +shapes and hues. The light fleecy cirrhi were regarded as mermaids, or +as swans, or as maidens with swan's plumage. In Sanskrit they are called +Apsaras, or "those who move in the water," and the Elves and Maras of +Teutonic mythology have the same significance. Urvasi appears in one +legend as a bird; and a South German prescription for getting rid of +the Mara asserts that if she be wrapped up in the bedclothes and +firmly held, a white dove will forthwith fly from the room, leaving the +bedclothes empty. [86] + +In the story of Melusina the cloud-maiden appears as a kind of mermaid, +but in other respects the legend resembles that of Urvasi. Raymond, +Count de la Foret, of Poitou, having by an accident killed his patron +and benefactor during a hunting excursion, fled in terror and despair +into the deep recesses of the forest. All the afternoon and evening he +wandered through the thick dark woods, until at midnight he came upon +a strange scene. All at once "the boughs of the trees became less +interlaced, and the trunks fewer; next moment his horse, crashing +through the shrubs, brought him out on a pleasant glade, white with +rime, and illumined by the new moon; in the midst bubbled up a limpid +fountain, and flowed away over a pebbly-floor with a soothing murmur. +Near the fountain-head sat three maidens in glimmering white dresses, +with long waving golden hair, and faces of inexpressible beauty." [87] +One of them advanced to meet Raymond, and according to all mythological +precedent, they were betrothed before daybreak. In due time the +fountain-nymph [88] became Countess de la Foret, but her husband was +given to understand that all her Saturdays would be passed in strictest +seclusion, upon which he must never dare to intrude, under penalty of +losing her forever. For many years all went well, save that the fair +Melusina's children were, without exception, misshapen or disfigured. +But after a while this strange weekly seclusion got bruited about all +over the neighbourhood, and people shook their heads and looked grave +about it. So many gossiping tales came to the Count's ears, that he +began to grow anxious and suspicious, and at last he determined to know +the worst. He went one Saturday to Melusina's private apartments, and +going through one empty room after another, at last came to a locked +door which opened into a bath; looking through a keyhole, there he +saw the Countess transformed from the waist downwards into a fish, +disporting herself like a mermaid in the water. Of course he could not +keep the secret, but when some time afterwards they quarrelled, must +needs address her as "a vile serpent, contaminator of his honourable +race." So she disappeared through the window, but ever afterward hovered +about her husband's castle of Lusignan, like a Banshee, whenever one of +its lords was about to die. + +The well-known story of Undine is similar to that of Melusina, save that +the naiad's desire to obtain a human soul is a conception foreign to +the spirit of the myth, and marks the degradation which Christianity had +inflicted upon the denizens of fairy-land. In one of Dasent's tales the +water-maiden is replaced by a kind of werewolf. A white bear marries a +young girl, but assumes the human shape at night. She is never to look +upon him in his human shape, but how could a young bride be expected +to obey such an injunction as that? She lights a candle while he is +sleeping, and discovers the handsomest prince in the world; unluckily +she drops tallow on his shirt, and that tells the story. But she is more +fortunate than poor Raymond, for after a tiresome journey to the "land +east of the sun and west of the moon," and an arduous washing-match +with a parcel of ugly Trolls, she washes out the spots, and ends her +husband's enchantment. [89] + +In the majority of these legends, however, the Apsaras, or cloud-maiden, +has a shirt of swan's feathers which plays the same part as the wolfskin +cape or girdle of the werewolf. If you could get hold of a werewolf's +sack and burn it, a permanent cure was effected. No danger of a relapse, +unless the Devil furnished him with a new wolfskin. So the swan-maiden +kept her human form, as long as she was deprived of her tunic of +feathers. Indo-European folk-lore teems with stories of swan-maidens +forcibly wooed and won by mortals who had stolen their clothes. A man +travelling along the road passes by a lake where several lovely girls +are bathing; their dresses, made of feathers curiously and daintily +woven, lie on the shore. He approaches the place cautiously and steals +one of these dresses. [90] When the girls have finished their bathing, +they all come and get their dresses and swim away as swans; but the one +whose dress is stolen must needs stay on shore and marry the thief. It +is needless to add that they live happily together for many years, +or that finally the good man accidentally leaves the cupboard door +unlocked, whereupon his wife gets back her swan-shirt and flies away +from him, never to return. But it is not always a shirt of feathers. In +one German story, a nobleman hunting deer finds a maiden bathing in a +clear pool in the forest. He runs stealthily up to her and seizes her +necklace, at which she loses the power to flee. They are married, and +she bears seven sons at once, all of whom have gold chains about their +necks, and are able to transform themselves into swans whenever they +like. A Flemish legend tells of three Nixies, or water-sprites, who came +out of the Meuse one autumn evening, and helped the villagers celebrate +the end of the vintage. Such graceful dancers had never been seen in +Flanders, and they could sing as well as they could dance. As the night +was warm, one of them took off her gloves and gave them to her partner +to hold for her. When the clock struck twelve the other two started off +in hot haste, and then there was a hue and cry for gloves. The lad would +keep them as love-tokens, and so the poor Nixie had to go home without +them; but she must have died on the way, for next morning the waters of +the Meuse were blood-red, and those damsels never returned. + +In the Faro Islands it is believed that seals cast off their skins every +ninth night, assume human forms, and sing and dance like men and women +until daybreak, when they resume their skins and their seal natures. +Of course a man once found and hid one of these sealskins, and so got +a mermaid for a wife; and of course she recovered the skin and escaped. +[91] On the coasts of Ireland it is supposed to be quite an ordinary +thing for young sea-fairies to get human husbands in this way; the +brazen things even come to shore on purpose, and leave their red caps +lying around for young men to pick up; but it behooves the husband to +keep a strict watch over the red cap, if he would not see his children +left motherless. + +This mermaid's cap has contributed its quota to the superstitions of +witchcraft. An Irish story tells how Red James was aroused from sleep +one night by noises in the kitchen. Going down to the door, he saw a +lot of old women drinking punch around the fireplace, and laughing and +joking with his housekeeper. When the punchbowl was empty, they all put +on red caps, and singing + + "By yarrow and rue, + And my red cap too, + Hie me over to England," + +they flew up chimney. So Jimmy burst into the room, and seized the +housekeeper's cap, and went along with them. They flew across the sea to +a castle in England, passed through the keyholes from room to room and +into the cellar, where they had a famous carouse. Unluckily Jimmy, being +unused to such good cheer, got drunk, and forgot to put on his cap when +the others did. So next morning the lord's butler found him dead-drunk +on the cellar floor, surrounded by empty casks. He was sentenced to be +hung without any trial worth speaking of; but as he was carted to the +gallows an old woman cried out, "Ach, Jimmy alanna! Would you be afther +dyin' in a strange land without your red birredh?" The lord made no +objections, and so the red cap was brought and put on him. Accordingly +when Jimmy had got to the gallows and was making his last speech for the +edification of the spectators, he unexpectedly and somewhat irrelevantly +exclaimed, "By yarrow and rue," etc., and was off like a rocket, +shooting through the blue air en route for old Ireland. [92] + +In another Irish legend an enchanted ass comes into the kitchen of a +great house every night, and washes the dishes and scours the tins, +so that the servants lead an easy life of it. After a while in their +exuberant gratitude they offer him any present for which he may feel +inclined to ask. He desires only "an ould coat, to keep the chill off of +him these could nights"; but as soon as he gets into the coat he resumes +his human form and bids them good by, and thenceforth they may wash +their own dishes and scour their own tins, for all him. + +But we are diverging from the subject of swan-maidens, and are in danger +of losing ourselves in that labyrinth of popular fancies which is more +intricate than any that Daidalos ever planned. The significance of +all these sealskins and feather-dresses and mermaid caps and +werewolf-girdles may best be sought in the etymology of words like the +German leichnam, in which the body is described as a garment of flesh +for the soul. [93] In the naive philosophy of primitive thinkers, the +soul, in passing from one visible shape to another, had only to put on +the outward integument of the creature in which it wished to incarnate +itself. With respect to the mode of metamorphosis, there is little +difference between the werewolf and the swan-maiden; and the similarity +is no less striking between the genesis of the two conceptions. The +original werewolf is the night-wind, regarded now as a manlike deity and +now as a howling lupine fiend; and the original swan-maiden is the +light fleecy cloud, regarded either as a woman-like goddess or as a +bird swimming in the sky sea. The one conception has been productive of +little else but horrors; the other has given rise to a great variety +of fanciful creations, from the treacherous mermaid and the fiendish +nightmare to the gentle Undine, the charming Nausikaa, and the stately +Muse of classic antiquity. + +We have seen that the original werewolf, howling in the wintry blast, +is a kind of psychopomp, or leader of departed souls; he is the +wild ancestor of the death-dog, whose voice under the window of a +sick-chamber is even now a sound of ill-omen. The swan-maiden has also +been supposed to summon the dying to her home in the Phaiakian land. +The Valkyries, with their shirts of swan-plumage, who hovered over +Scandinavian battle-fields to receive the souls of falling heroes, were +identical with the Hindu Apsaras; and the Houris of the Mussulman belong +to the same family. Even for the angels,--women with large wings, who +are seen in popular pictures bearing mortals on high towards heaven,--we +can hardly claim a different kinship. Melusina, when she leaves +the castle of Lusignan, becomes a Banshee; and it has been a common +superstition among sailors, that the appearance of a mermaid, with her +comb and looking-glass, foretokens shipwreck, with the loss of all on +board. + +October, 1870. + + + + +IV. LIGHT AND DARKNESS. + +WHEN Maitland blasphemously asserted that God was but "a Bogie of +the nursery," he unwittingly made a remark as suggestive in point of +philology as it was crude and repulsive in its atheism. When examined +with the lenses of linguistic science, the "Bogie" or "Bug-a-boo" or +"Bugbear" of nursery lore turns out to be identical, not only with +the fairy "Puck," whom Shakespeare has immortalized, but also with the +Slavonic "Bog" and the "Baga" of the Cuneiform Inscriptions, both +of which are names for the Supreme Being. If we proceed further, and +inquire after the ancestral form of these epithets,--so strangely +incongruous in their significations,--we shall find it in the Old Aryan +"Bhaga," which reappears unchanged in the Sanskrit of the Vedas, and has +left a memento of itself in the surname of the Phrygian Zeus "Bagaios." +It seems originally to have denoted either the unclouded sun or the sky +of noonday illumined by the solar rays. In Sayana's commentary on the +Rig-Veda, Bhaga is enumerated among the seven (or eight) sons of Aditi, +the boundless Orient; and he is elsewhere described as the lord of life, +the giver of bread, and the bringer of happiness. [94] + +Thus the same name which, to the Vedic poet, to the Persian of the time +of Xerxes, and to the modern Russian, suggests the supreme majesty +of deity, is in English associated with an ugly and ludicrous fiend, +closely akin to that grotesque Northern Devil of whom Southey was unable +to think without laughing. Such is the irony of fate toward a deposed +deity. The German name for idol--Abgott, that is, "ex-god," or +"dethroned god"--sums up in a single etymology the history of the +havoc wrought by monotheism among the ancient symbols of deity. In +the hospitable Pantheon of the Greeks and Romans a niche was always +in readiness for every new divinity who could produce respectable +credentials; but the triumph of monotheism converted the stately mansion +into a Pandemonium peopled with fiends. To the monotheist an "ex-god" +was simply a devilish deceiver of mankind whom the true God had +succeeded in vanquishing; and thus the word demon, which to the ancient +meant a divine or semi-divine being, came to be applied to fiends +exclusively. Thus the Teutonic races, who preserved the name of their +highest divinity, Odin,--originally, Guodan,--by which to designate +the God of the Christian, [95] were unable to regard the Bog of ancient +tradition as anything but an "ex-god," or vanquished demon. + +The most striking illustration of this process is to be found in the +word devil itself: To a reader unfamiliar with the endless tricks which +language delights in playing, it may seem shocking to be told that the +Gypsies use the word devil as the name of God. [96] This, however, is +not because these people have made the archfiend an object of worship, +but because the Gypsy language, descending directly from the Sanskrit, +has retained in its primitive exalted sense a word which the English +language has received only in its debased and perverted sense. The +Teutonic words devil, teufel, diuval, djofull, djevful, may all +be traced back to the Zend dev, [97] a name in which is implicitly +contained the record of the oldest monotheistic revolution known to +history. The influence of the so-called Zoroastrian reform upon the +long-subsequent development of Christianity will receive further notice +in the course of this paper; for the present it is enough to know that +it furnished for all Christendom the name by which it designates the +author of evil. To the Parsee follower of Zarathustra the name of the +Devil has very nearly the same signification as to the Christian; yet, +as Grimm has shown, it is nothing else than a corruption of deva, the +Sanskrit name for God. When Zarathustra overthrew the primeval Aryan +nature-worship in Bactria, this name met the same evil fate which in +early Christian times overtook the word demon, and from a symbol of +reverence became henceforth a symbol of detestation. [98] But throughout +the rest of the Aryan world it achieved a nobler career, producing the +Greek theos, the Lithuanian diewas, the Latin deus, and hence the modern +French Dieu, all meaning God. + +If we trace back this remarkable word to its primitive source in that +once lost but now partially recovered mother-tongue from which all our +Aryan languages are descended, we find a root div or dyu, meaning "to +shine." From the first-mentioned form comes deva, with its numerous +progeny of good and evil appellatives; from the latter is derived the +name of Dyaus, with its brethren, Zeus and Jupiter. In Sanskrit dyu, +as a noun, means "sky" and "day"; and there are many passages in the +Rig-Veda where the character of the god Dyaus, as the personification +of the sky or the brightness of the ethereal heavens, is unmistakably +apparent. This key unlocks for us one of the secrets of Greek mythology. +So long as there was for Zeus no better etymology than that which +assigned it to the root zen, "to live," [99] there was little hope +of understanding the nature of Zeus. But when we learn that Zeus is +identical with Dyaus, the bright sky, we are enabled to understand +Horace's expression, "sub Jove frigido," and the prayer of the +Athenians, "Rain, rain, dear Zeus, on the land of the Athenians, and on +the fields." [100] Such expressions as these were retained by the Greeks +and Romans long after they had forgotten that their supreme deity +was once the sky. Yet even the Brahman, from whose mind the physical +significance of the god's name never wholly disappeared, could speak of +him as Father Dyaus, the great Pitri, or ancestor of gods and men; and +in this reverential name Dyaus pitar may be seen the exact equivalent of +the Roman's Jupiter, or Jove the Father. The same root can be followed +into Old German, where Zio is the god of day; and into Anglo-Saxon, +where Tiwsdaeg, or the day of Zeus, is the ancestral form of Tuesday. + +Thus we again reach the same results which were obtained from the +examination of the name Bhaga. These various names for the supreme Aryan +god, which without the help afforded by the Vedas could never have +been interpreted, are seen to have been originally applied to the +sun-illumined firmament. Countless other examples, when similarly +analyzed, show that the earliest Aryan conception of a Divine Power, +nourishing man and sustaining the universe, was suggested by the light +of the mighty Sun; who, as modern science has shown, is the originator +of all life and motion upon the globe, and whom the ancients delighted +to believe the source, not only of "the golden light," [101] but of +everything that is bright, joy-giving, and pure. Nevertheless, in +accepting this conclusion as well established by linguistic science, we +must be on our guard against an error into which writers on mythology +are very liable to fall. Neither sky nor sun nor light of day, neither +Zeus nor Apollo, neither Dyaus nor Indra, was ever worshipped by the +ancient Aryan in anything like a monotheistic sense. To interpret Zeus +or Jupiter as originally the supreme Aryan god, and to regard classic +paganism as one of the degraded remnants of a primeval monotheism, is to +sin against the canons of a sound inductive philosophy. Philology itself +teaches us that this could not have been so. Father Dyaus was originally +the bright sky and nothing more. Although his name became generalized, +in the classic languages, into deus, or God, it is quite certain that in +early days, before the Aryan separation, it had acquired no such exalted +significance. It was only in Greece and Rome--or, we may say, among +the still united Italo-Hellenic tribes--that Jupiter-Zeus attained a +pre-eminence over all other deities. The people of Iran quite +rejected him, the Teutons preferred Thor and Odin, and in India he was +superseded, first by Indra, afterwards by Brahma and Vishnu. We need +not, therefore, look for a single supreme divinity among the old Aryans; +nor may we expect to find any sense, active or dormant, of monotheism in +the primitive intelligence of uncivilized men. [102] The whole fabric +of comparative mythology, as at present constituted, and as described +above, in the first of these papers, rests upon the postulate that the +earliest religion was pure fetichism. + +In the unsystematic nature-worship of the old Aryans the gods are +presented to us only as vague powers, with their nature and attributes +dimly defined, and their relations to each other fluctuating and often +contradictory. There is no theogony, no regular subordination of one +deity to another. The same pair of divinities appear now as father and +daughter, now as brother and sister, now as husband and wife; and again +they quite lose their personality, and are represented as mere natural +phenomena. As Muller observes, "The poets of the Veda indulged freely in +theogonic speculations without being frightened by any contradictions. +They knew of Indra as the greatest of gods, they knew of Agni as the god +of gods, they knew of Varuna as the ruler of all; but they were by no +means startled at the idea that their Indra had a mother, or that +their Agni [Latin ignis] was born like a babe from the friction of two +fire-sticks, or that Varuna and his brother Mitra were nursed in the lap +of Aditi." [103] Thus we have seen Bhaga, the daylight, represented +as the offspring, of Aditi, the boundless Orient; but he had several +brothers, and among them were Mitra, the sun, Varuna, the overarching +firmament, and Vivasvat, the vivifying sun. Manifestly we have here +but so many different names for what is at bottom one and the same +conception. The common element which, in Dyaus and Varuna, in Bhaga and +Indra, was made an object of worship, is the brightness, warmth, and +life of day, as contrasted with the darkness, cold, and seeming death +of the night-time. And this common element was personified in as many +different ways as the unrestrained fancy of the ancient worshipper saw +fit to devise. [104] + +Thus we begin to see why a few simple objects, like the sun, the sky, +the dawn, and the night, should be represented in mythology by such +a host of gods, goddesses, and heroes. For at one time the Sun is +represented as the conqueror of hydras and dragons who hide away from +men the golden treasures of light and warmth, and at another time he is +represented as a weary voyager traversing the sky-sea amid many perils, +with the steadfast purpose of returning to his western home and +his twilight bride; hence the different conceptions of Herakles, +Bellerophon, and Odysseus. Now he is represented as the son of the Dawn, +and again, with equal propriety, as the son of the Night, and the fickle +lover of the Dawn; hence we have, on the one hand, stories of a virgin +mother who dies in giving birth to a hero, and, on the other hand, +stories of a beautiful maiden who is forsaken and perhaps cruelly slain +by her treacherous lover. Indeed, the Sun's adventures with so many +dawn-maidens have given him quite a bad character, and the legends are +numerous in which he appears as the prototype of Don Juan. Yet again his +separation from the bride of his youth is described as due to no fault +of his own, but to a resistless decree of fate, which hurries him away +as Aineias was compelled to abandon Dido. Or, according to a third +and equally plausible notion, he is a hero of ascetic virtues, and the +dawn-maiden is a wicked enchantress, daughter of the sensual Aphrodite, +who vainly endeavours to seduce him. In the story of Odysseus these +various conceptions are blended together. When enticed by artful women, +[105] he yields for a while to the temptation; but by and by his longing +to see Penelope takes him homeward, albeit with a record which Penelope +might not altogether have liked. Again, though the Sun, "always roaming +with a hungry heart," has seen many cities and customs of strange men, +he is nevertheless confined to a single path,--a circumstance which +seems to have occasioned much speculation in the primeval mind. +Garcilaso de la Vega relates of a certain Peruvian Inca, who seems to +have been an "infidel" with reference to the orthodox mythology of his +day, that he thought the Sun was not such a mighty god after all; for +if he were, he would wander about the heavens at random instead of +going forever, like a horse in a treadmill, along the same course. The +American Indians explained this circumstance by myths which told how the +Sun was once caught and tied with a chain which would only let him swing +a little way to one side or the other. The ancient Aryan developed the +nobler myth of the labours of Herakles, performed in obedience to the +bidding of Eurystheus. Again, the Sun must needs destroy its parents, +the Night and the Dawn; and accordingly his parents, forewarned by +prophecy, expose him in infancy, or order him to be put to death; but +his tragic destiny never fails to be accomplished to the letter. +And again the Sun, who engages in quarrels not his own, is sometimes +represented as retiring moodily from the sight of men, like Achilleus +and Meleagros: he is short-lived and ill-fated, born to do much good +and to be repaid with ingratitude; his life depends on the duration of a +burning brand, and when that is extinguished he must die. + +The myth of the great Theban hero, Oidipous, well illustrates the +multiplicity of conceptions which clustered about the daily career of +the solar orb. His father, Laios, had been warned by the Delphic oracle +that he was in danger of death from his own son. The newly born Oidipous +was therefore exposed on the hillside, but, like Romulus and Remus, and +all infants similarly situated in legend, was duly rescued. He was taken +to Corinth, where he grew up to manhood. Journeying once to Thebes, he +got into a quarrel with an old man whom he met on the road, and slew +him, who was none other than his father, Laios. Reaching Thebes, he +found the city harassed by the Sphinx, who afflicted the land with +drought until she should receive an answer to her riddles. Oidipous +destroyed the monster by solving her dark sayings, and as a reward +received the kingdom, with his own mother, Iokaste, as his bride. Then +the Erinyes hastened the discovery of these dark deeds; Iokaste died in +her bridal chamber; and Oidipous, having blinded himself, fled to the +grove of the Eumenides, near Athens, where, amid flashing lightning and +peals of thunder, he died. + +Oidipous is the Sun. Like all the solar heroes, from Herakles and +Perseus to Sigurd and William Tell, he performs his marvellous deeds at +the behest of others. His father, Laios, is none other than the +Vedic Dasyu, the night-demon who is sure to be destroyed by his solar +offspring In the evening, Oidipous is united to the Dawn, the mother who +had borne him at daybreak; and here the original story doubtless ended. +In the Vedic hymns we find Indra, the Sun, born of Dahana (Daphne), +the Dawn, whom he afterwards, in the evening twilight, marries. To the +Indian mind the story was here complete; but the Greeks had forgotten +and outgrown the primitive signification of the myth. To them Oidipous +and Iokaste were human, or at least anthropomorphic beings; and a +marriage between them was a fearful crime which called for bitter +expiation. Thus the latter part of the story arose in the effort to +satisfy a moral feeling As the name of Laios denotes the dark night, so, +like Iole, Oinone, and Iamos, the word Iokaste signifies the delicate +violet tints of the morning and evening clouds. Oidipous was exposed, +like Paris upon Ida (a Vedic word meaning "the earth"), because the +sunlight in the morning lies upon the hillside. [106] He is borne on +to the destruction of his father and the incestuous marriage with his +mother by an irresistible Moira, or Fate; the sun cannot but slay the +darkness and hasten to the couch of the violet twilight. [107] The +Sphinx is the storm-demon who sits on the cloud-rock and imprisons the +rain; she is the same as Medusa, Ahi, or Echidna, and Chimaira, and is +akin to the throttling snakes of darkness which the jealous Here sent to +destroy Herakles in his cradle. The idea was not derived from Egypt, but +the Greeks, on finding Egyptian figures resembling their conception of +the Sphinx, called them by the same name. The omniscient Sun comprehends +the sense of her dark mutterings, and destroys her, as Indra slays +Vritra, bringing down rain upon the parched earth. The Erinyes, who +bring to light the crimes of Oidipous, have been explained, in a +previous paper, as the personification of daylight, which reveals the +evil deeds done under the cover of night. The grove of the Erinyes, like +the garden of the Hyperboreans, represents "the fairy network of clouds, +which are the first to receive and the last to lose the light of the sun +in the morning and in the evening; hence, although Oidipous dies in a +thunder-storm, yet the Eumenides are kind to him, and his last hour is +one of deep peace and tranquillity." [108] To the last remains with him +his daughter Antigone, "she who is born opposite," the pale light which +springs up opposite to the setting sun. + +These examples show that a story-root may be as prolific of +heterogeneous offspring as a word-root. Just as we find the root spak, +"to look," begetting words so various as sceptic, bishop, speculate, +conspicsuous, species, and spice, we must expect to find a simple +representation of the diurnal course of the sun, like those lyrically +given in the Veda, branching off into stories as diversified as those +of Oidipous, Herakles, Odysseus, and Siegfried. In fact, the types +upon which stories are constructed are wonderfully few. Some clever +playwright--I believe it was Scribe--has said that there are only seven +possible dramatic situations; that is, all the plays in the world may be +classed with some one of seven archetypal dramas. [109] If this be +true, the astonishing complexity of mythology taken in the concrete, as +compared with its extreme simplicity when analyzed, need not surprise +us. + +The extreme limits of divergence between stories descended from a common +root are probably reached in the myths of light and darkness with which +the present discussion is mainly concerned The subject will be best +elucidated by taking a single one of these myths and following its +various fortunes through different regions of the Aryan world. The myth +of Hercules and Cacus has been treated by M. Breal in an essay which +is one of the most valuable contributions ever made to the study of +comparative mythology; and while following his footsteps our task will +be an easy one. + +The battle between Hercules and Cacus, although one of the oldest of the +traditions common to the whole Indo-European race, appears in Italy as +a purely local legend, and is narrated as such by Virgil, in the eighth +book of the AEneid; by Livy, at the beginning of his history; and +by Propertius and Ovid. Hercules, journeying through Italy after his +victory over Geryon, stops to rest by the bank of the Tiber. While he is +taking his repose, the three-headed monster Cacus, a son of Vulcan and +a formidable brigand, comes and steals his cattle, and drags them +tail-foremost to a secret cavern in the rocks. But the lowing of the +cows arouses Hercules, and he runs toward the cavern where the robber, +already frightened, has taken refuge. Armed with a huge flinty rock, he +breaks open the entrance of the cavern, and confronts the demon within, +who vomits forth flames at him and roars like the thunder in the +storm-cloud. After a short combat, his hideous body falls at the feet +of the invincible hero, who erects on the spot an altar to Jupiter +Inventor, in commemoration of the recovery of his cattle. Ancient Rome +teemed with reminiscences of this event, which Livy regarded as first +in the long series of the exploits of his countrymen. The place where +Hercules pastured his oxen was known long after as the Forum Boarium; +near it the Porta Trigemina preserved the recollection of the monster's +triple head; and in the time of Diodorus Siculus sight-seers were shown +the cavern of Cacus on the slope of the Aventine. Every tenth day +the earlier generations of Romans celebrated the victory with solemn +sacrifices at the Ara Maxima; and on days of triumph the fortunate +general deposited there a tithe of his booty, to be distributed among +the citizens. + +In this famous myth, however, the god Hercules did not originally +figure. The Latin Hercules was an essentially peaceful and domestic +deity, watching over households and enclosures, and nearly akin to +Terminus and the Penates. He does not appear to have been a solar +divinity at all. But the purely accidental resemblance of his name to +that of the Greek deity Herakles, [110] and the manifest identity of the +Cacus-myth with the story of the victory of Herakles over Geryon, led +to the substitution of Hercules for the original hero of the legend, +who was none other than Jupiter, called by his Sabine name Sancus. Now +Johannes Lydus informs us that, in Sabine, Sancus signified "the sky," +a meaning which we have already seen to belong to the name Jupiter. The +same substitution of the Greek hero for the Roman divinity led to the +alteration of the name of the demon overcome by his thunderbolts. The +corrupted title Cacus was supposed to be identical with the Greek word +kakos, meaning "evil" and the corruption was suggested by the epithet of +Herakles, Alexikakos, or "the averter of ill." Originally, however, +the name was Caecius, "he who blinds or darkens," and it corresponds +literally to the name of the Greek demon Kaikias, whom an old proverb, +preserved by Aulus Gellius, describes as a stealer of the clouds. [111] + +Thus the significance of the myth becomes apparent. The three-headed +Cacus is seen to be a near kinsman of Geryon's three-headed dog Orthros, +and of the three-headed Kerberos, the hell-hound who guards the dark +regions below the horizon. He is the original werewolf or Rakshasa, the +fiend of the storm who steals the bright cattle of Helios, and hides +them in the black cavernous rock, from which they are afterwards rescued +by the schamir or lightning-stone of the solar hero. The physical +character of the myth is apparent even in the description of Virgil, +which reads wonderfully like a Vedic hymn in celebration of the exploits +of Indra. But when we turn to the Veda itself, we find the correctness +of the interpretation demonstrated again and again, with inexhaustible +prodigality of evidence. Here we encounter again the three-headed +Orthros under the identical title of Vritra, "he who shrouds or +envelops," called also Cushna, "he who parches," Pani, "the robber," and +Ahi, "the strangler." In many hymns of the Rig-Veda the story is told +over and over, like a musical theme arranged with variations. Indra, +the god of light, is a herdsman who tends a herd of bright golden or +violet-coloured cattle. Vritra, a snake-like monster with three heads, +steals them and hides them in a cavern, but Indra slays him as Jupiter +slew Caecius, and the cows are recovered. The language of the myth is +so significant, that the Hindu commentators of the Veda have +themselves given explanations of it similar to those proposed by modern +philologists. To them the legend never became devoid of sense, as the +myth of Geryon appeared to Greek scholars like Apollodoros. [112] + +These celestial cattle, with their resplendent coats of purple and gold, +are the clouds lit up by the solar rays; but the demon who steals them +is not always the fiend of the storm, acting in that capacity. They are +stolen every night by Vritra the concealer, and Caecius the darkener, +and Indra is obliged to spend hours in looking for them, sending Sarama, +the inconstant twilight, to negotiate for their recovery. Between +the storm-myth and the myth of night and morning the resemblance is +sometimes so close as to confuse the interpretation of the two. Many +legends which Max Muller explains as myths of the victory of day over +night are explained by Dr. Kuhn as storm-myths; and the disagreement +between two such powerful champions would be a standing reproach to what +is rather prematurely called the SCIENCE of comparative mythology, +were it not easy to show that the difference is merely apparent and +non-essential. It is the old story of the shield with two sides; and a +comparison of the ideas fundamental to these myths will show that there +is no valid ground for disagreement in the interpretation of them. The +myths of schamir and the divining-rod, analyzed in a previous paper, +explain the rending of the thunder-cloud and the procuring of water +without especial reference to any struggle between opposing divinities. +But in the myth of Hercules and Cacus, the fundamental idea is the +victory of the solar god over the robber who steals the light. Now +whether the robber carries off the light in the evening when Indra has +gone to sleep, or boldly rears his black form against the sky during the +daytime, causing darkness to spread over the earth, would make little +difference to the framers of the myth. To a chicken a solar eclipse +is the same thing as nightfall, and he goes to roost accordingly. Why, +then, should the primitive thinker have made a distinction between +the darkening of the sky caused by black clouds and that caused by +the rotation of the earth? He had no more conception of the scientific +explanation of these phenomena than the chicken has of the scientific +explanation of an eclipse. For him it was enough to know that the solar +radiance was stolen, in the one case as in the other, and to suspect +that the same demon was to blame for both robberies. + +The Veda itself sustains this view. It is certain that the victory of +Indra over Vritra is essentially the same as his victory over the Panis. +Vritra, the storm-fiend, is himself called one of the Panis; yet the +latter are uniformly represented as night-demons. They steal Indra's +golden cattle and drive them by circuitous paths to a dark hiding-place +near the eastern horizon. Indra sends the dawn-nymph, Sarama, to search +for them, but as she comes within sight of the dark stable, the Panis +try to coax her to stay with them: "Let us make thee our sister, do not +go away again; we will give thee part of the cows, O darling." [113] +According to the text of this hymn, she scorns their solicitations, but +elsewhere the fickle dawn-nymph is said to coquet with the powers of +darkness. She does not care for their cows, but will take a drink of +milk, if they will be so good as to get it for her. Then she goes back +and tells Indra that she cannot find the cows. He kicks her with his +foot, and she runs back to the Panis, followed by the god, who smites +them all with his unerring arrows and recovers the stolen light. From +such a simple beginning as this has been deduced the Greek myth of the +faithlessness of Helen. [114] + +These night-demons, the Panis, though not apparently regarded with any +strong feeling of moral condemnation, are nevertheless hated and dreaded +as the authors of calamity. They not only steal the daylight, but they +parch the earth and wither the fruits, and they slay vegetation during +the winter months. As Caecius, the "darkener," became ultimately changed +into Cacus, the "evil one," so the name of Vritra, the "concealer," the +most famous of the Panis, was gradually generalized until it came to +mean "enemy," like the English word fiend, and began to be applied +indiscriminately to any kind of evil spirit. In one place he is called +Adeva, the "enemy of the gods," an epithet exactly equivalent to the +Persian dev. + +In the Zendavesta the myth of Hercules and Cacus has given rise to a +vast system of theology. The fiendish Panis are concentrated in Ahriman +or Anro-mainyas, whose name signifies the "spirit of darkness," and +who carries on a perpetual warfare against Ormuzd or Ahuramazda, who +is described by his ordinary surname, Spentomainyas, as the "spirit of +light." The ancient polytheism here gives place to a refined dualism, +not very different from what in many Christian sects has passed current +as monotheism. Ahriman is the archfiend, who struggles with Ormuzd, not +for the possession of a herd of perishable cattle, but for the dominion +of the universe. Ormuzd creates the world pure and beautiful, but +Ahriman comes after him and creates everything that is evil in it. He +not only keeps the earth covered with darkness during half of the day, +and withholds the rain and destroys the crops, but he is the author of +all evil thoughts and the instigator of all wicked actions. Like his +progenitor Vritra and his offspring Satan, he is represented under the +form of a serpent; and the destruction which ultimately awaits these +demons is also in reserve for him. Eventually there is to be a day of +reckoning, when Ahriman will be bound in chains and rendered powerless, +or when, according to another account, he will be converted to +righteousness, as Burns hoped and Origen believed would be the case with +Satan. + +This dualism of the ancient Persians has exerted a powerful influence +upon the development of Christian theology. The very idea of an +archfiend Satan, which Christianity received from Judaism, seems either +to have been suggested by the Persian Ahriman, or at least to have +derived its principal characteristics from that source. There is no +evidence that the Jews, previous to the Babylonish captivity, possessed +the conception of a Devil as the author of all evil. In the earlier +books of the Old Testament Jehovah is represented as dispensing with his +own hand the good and the evil, like the Zeus of the Iliad. [115] The +story of the serpent in Eden--an Aryan story in every particular, +which has crept into the Pentateuch--is not once alluded to in the Old +Testament; and the notion of Satan as the author of evil appears only +in the later books, composed after the Jews had come into close contact +with Persian ideas. [116] In the Book of Job, as Reville observes, Satan +is "still a member of the celestial court, being one of the sons of the +Elohim, but having as his special office the continual accusation of +men, and having become so suspicious by his practice as public accuser, +that he believes in the virtue of no one, and always presupposes +interested motives for the purest manifestations of human piety." In +this way the character of this angel became injured, and he became more +and more an object of dread and dislike to men, until the later Jews +ascribed to him all the attributes of Ahriman, and in this singularly +altered shape he passed into Christian theology. Between the Satan of +the Book of Job and the mediaeval Devil the metamorphosis is as great +as that which degraded the stern Erinys, who brings evil deeds to light, +into the demon-like Fury who torments wrong-doers in Tartarus; and, +making allowance for difference of circumstances, the process of +degradation has been very nearly the same in the two cases. + +The mediaeval conception of the Devil is a grotesque compound of +elements derived from all the systems of pagan mythology which +Christianity superseded. He is primarily a rebellious angel, expelled +from heaven along with his followers, like the giants who attempted +to scale Olympos, and like the impious Efreets of Arabian legend who +revolted against the beneficent rule of Solomon. As the serpent prince +of the outer darkness, he retains the old characteristics of Vritra, +Ahi, Typhon, and Echidna. As the black dog which appears behind the +stove in Dr. Faust's study, he is the classic hell-hound Kerberos, the +Vedic Carvara. From the sylvan deity Pan he gets his goat-like body, his +horns and cloven hoofs. Like the wind-god Orpheus, to whose music the +trees bent their heads to listen, he is an unrivalled player on the +bagpipes. Like those other wind-gods the psychopomp Hermes and the wild +huntsman Odin, he is the prince of the powers of the air: his flight +through the midnight sky, attended by his troop of witches mounted on +their brooms, which sometimes break the boughs and sweep the leaves from +the trees, is the same as the furious chase of the Erlking Odin or the +Burckar Vittikab. He is Dionysos, who causes red wine to flow from +the dry wood, alike on the deck of the Tyrrhenian pirate-ship and in +Auerbach's cellar at Leipzig. He is Wayland, the smith, a skilful +worker in metals and a wonderful architect, like the classic fire-god +Hephaistos or Vulcan; and, like Hephaistos, he is lame from the effects +of his fall from heaven. From the lightning-god Thor he obtains his red +beard, his pitchfork, and his power over thunderbolts; and, like that +ancient deity, he is in the habit of beating his wife behind the door +when the rain falls during sunshine. Finally, he takes a hint from +Poseidon and from the swan-maidens, and appears as a water-imp or Nixy +(whence probably his name of Old Nick), and as the Davy (deva) whose +"locker" is situated at the bottom of the sea. [117] + +According to the Scotch divines of the seventeenth century, the Devil is +a learned scholar and profound thinker. Having profited by six thousand +years of intense study and meditation, he has all science, philosophy, +and theology at his tongue's end; and, as his skill has increased with +age, he is far more than a match for mortals in cunning. [118] Such, +however, is not the view taken by mediaeval mythology, which usually +represents his stupidity as equalling his malignity. The victory of +Hercules over Cacus is repeated in a hundred mediaeval legends in which +the Devil is overreached and made a laughing-stock. The germ of this +notion may be found in the blinding of Polyphemos by Odysseus, which +is itself a victory of the sun-hero over the night-demon, and which +curiously reappears in a Middle-Age story narrated by Mr. Cox. "The +Devil asks a man who is moulding buttons what he may be doing; and when +the man answers that he is moulding eyes, asks him further whether he +can give him a pair of new eyes. He is told to come again another day; +and when he makes his appearance accordingly, the man tells him that the +operation cannot be performed rightly unless he is first tightly bound +with his back fastened to a bench. While he is thus pinioned he asks the +man's name. The reply is Issi (`himself'). When the lead is melted, the +Devil opens his eyes wide to receive the deadly stream. As soon as he is +blinded, he starts up in agony, bearing away the bench to which he had +been bound; and when some workpeople in the fields ask him who had thus +treated him, his answer is, 'Issi teggi' (`Self did it'). With a laugh +they bid him lie on the bed which he has made: 'selbst gethan, selbst +habe.' The Devil died of his new eyes, and was never seen again." + +In his attempts to obtain human souls the Devil is frequently foiled by +the superior cunning of mortals. Once, he agreed to build a house for +a peasant in exchange for the peasant's soul; but if the house were not +finished before cockcrow, the contract was to be null and void. Just as +the Devil was putting on the last tile the man imitated a cockcrow and +waked up all the roosters in the neighbourhood, so that the fiend had +his labour for his pains. A merchant of Louvain once sold himself to +the Devil, who heaped upon him all manner of riches for seven years, and +then came to get him. The merchant "took the Devil in a friendly manner +by the hand and, as it was just evening, said, 'Wife, bring a light +quickly for the gentleman.' 'That is not at all necessary,' said the +Devil; 'I am merely come to fetch you.' 'Yes, yes, that I know very +well,' said the merchant, 'only just grant me the time till this little +candle-end is burnt out, as I have a few letters to sign and to put +on my coat.' 'Very well,' said the Devil, 'but only till the candle is +burnt out.' 'Good,' said the merchant, and going into the next room, +ordered the maid-servant to place a large cask full of water close to a +very deep pit that was dug in the garden. The men-servants also carried, +each of them, a cask to the spot; and when all was done, they were +ordered each to take a shovel, and stand round the pit. The merchant +then returned to the Devil, who seeing that not more than about an inch +of candle remained, said, laughing, 'Now get yourself ready, it will +soon be burnt out.' 'That I see, and am content; but I shall hold you to +your word, and stay till it IS burnt.' 'Of course,' answered the Devil; +'I stick to my word.' 'It is dark in the next room,' continued the +merchant, 'but I must find the great book with clasps, so let me just +take the light for one moment.' 'Certainly,' said the Devil, 'but I'll +go with you.' He did so, and the merchant's trepidation was now on the +increase. When in the next room he said on a sudden, 'Ah, now I know, +the key is in the garden door.' And with these words he ran out with the +light into the garden, and before the Devil could overtake him, threw it +into the pit, and the men and the maids poured water upon it, and then +filled up the hole with earth. Now came the Devil into the garden and +asked, 'Well, did you get the key? and how is it with the candle? where +is it?' 'The candle?' said the merchant. 'Yes, the candle.' 'Ha, ha, ha! +it is not yet burnt out,' answered the merchant, laughing, 'and will not +be burnt out for the next fifty years; it lies there a hundred fathoms +deep in the earth.' When the Devil heard this he screamed awfully, and +went off with a most intolerable stench." [119] + +One day a fowler, who was a terrible bungler and could n't hit a bird +at a dozen paces, sold his soul to the Devil in order to become a +Freischutz. The fiend was to come for him in seven years, but must be +always able to name the animal at which he was shooting, otherwise the +compact was to be nullified. After that day the fowler never missed his +aim, and never did a fowler command such wages. When the seven years +were out the fowler told all these things to his wife, and the twain hit +upon an expedient for cheating the Devil. The woman stripped herself, +daubed her whole body with molasses, and rolled herself up in a +feather-bed, cut open for this purpose. Then she hopped and skipped +about the field where her husband stood parleying with Old Nick. +"there's a shot for you, fire away," said the Devil. "Of course I'll +fire, but do you first tell me what kind of a bird it is; else our +agreement is cancelled, Old Boy." There was no help for it; the +Devil had to own himself nonplussed, and off he fled, with a whiff of +brimstone which nearly suffocated the Freischutz and his good woman. +[120] + +In the legend of Gambrinus, the fiend is still more ingloriously +defeated. Gambrinus was a fiddler, who, being jilted by his sweetheart, +went out into the woods to hang himself. As he was sitting on the bough, +with the cord about his neck, preparatory to taking the fatal plunge, +suddenly a tall man in a green coat appeared before him, and offered +his services. He might become as wealthy as he liked, and make his +sweetheart burst with vexation at her own folly, but in thirty years +he must give up his soul to Beelzebub. The bargain was struck, for +Gambrinus thought thirty years a long time to enjoy one's self in, and +perhaps the Devil might get him in any event; as well be hung for a +sheep as for a lamb. Aided by Satan, he invented chiming-bells and +lager-beer, for both of which achievements his name is held in grateful +remembrance by the Teuton. No sooner had the Holy Roman Emperor quaffed +a gallon or two of the new beverage than he made Gambrinus Duke of +Brabant and Count of Flanders, and then it was the fiddler's turn to +laugh at the discomfiture of his old sweetheart. Gambrinus kept clear of +women, says the legend, and so lived in peace. For thirty years he sat +beneath his belfry with the chimes, meditatively drinking beer with his +nobles and burghers around him. Then Beelzebub sent Jocko, one of his +imps, with orders to bring back Gambrinus before midnight. But Jocko +was, like Swiveller's Marchioness, ignorant of the taste of beer, never +having drunk of it even in a sip, and the Flemish schoppen were too much +for him. He fell into a drunken sleep, and did not wake up until noon +next day, at which he was so mortified that he had not the face to go +back to hell at all. So Gambrinus lived on tranquilly for a century or +two, and drank so much beer that he turned into a beer-barrel. [121] + +The character of gullibility attributed to the Devil in these legends +is probably derived from the Trolls, or "night-folk," of Northern +mythology. In most respects the Trolls resemble the Teutonic elves +and fairies, and the Jinn or Efreets of the Arabian Nights; but their +pedigree is less honourable. The fairies, or "White Ladies," were +not originally spirits of darkness, but were nearly akin to the +swan-maidens, dawn-nymphs, and dryads, and though their wrath was to +be dreaded, they were not malignant by nature. Christianity, having no +place for such beings, degraded them into something like imps; the most +charitable theory being that they were angels who had remained neutral +during Satan's rebellion, in punishment for which Michael expelled them +from heaven, but has left their ultimate fate unannounced until the day +of judgment. The Jinn appear to have been similarly degraded on the rise +of Mohammedanism. But the Trolls were always imps of darkness. They are +descended from the Jotuns, or Frost-Giants of Northern paganism, and +they correspond to the Panis, or night-demons of the Veda. In many Norse +tales they are said to burst when they see the risen sun. [122] They eat +human flesh, are ignorant of the simplest arts, and live in the deepest +recesses of the forest or in caverns on the hillside, where the sunlight +never penetrates. Some of these characteristics may very likely have +been suggested by reminiscences of the primeval Lapps, from whom the +Aryan invaders wrested the dominion of Europe. [123] In some legends the +Trolls are represented as an ancient race of beings now superseded by +the human race. "'What sort of an earth-worm is this?' said one Giant to +another, when they met a man as they walked. 'These are the earth-worms +that will one day eat us up, brother,' answered the other; and soon +both Giants left that part of Germany." "'See what pretty playthings, +mother!' cries the Giant's daughter, as she unties her apron, and shows +her a plough, and horses, and a peasant. 'Back with them this instant,' +cries the mother in wrath, 'and put them down as carefully as you can, +for these playthings can do our race great harm, and when these come we +must budge.'" Very naturally the primitive Teuton, possessing already +the conception of night-demons, would apply it to these men of the +woods whom even to this day his uneducated descendants believe to be +sorcerers, able to turn men into wolves. But whatever contributions +historical fact may have added to his character, the Troll is originally +a creation of mythology, like Polyphemos, whom he resembles in his +uncouth person, his cannibal appetite, and his lack of wit. His ready +gullibility is shown in the story of "Boots who ate a Match with the +Troll." Boots, the brother of Cinderella, and the counterpart alike +of Jack the Giant-killer, and of Odysseus, is the youngest of three +brothers who go into a forest to cut wood. The Troll appears and +threatens to kill any one who dares to meddle with his timber. The elder +brothers flee, but Boots puts on a bold face. He pulled a cheese out of +his scrip and squeezed it till the whey began to spurt out. "Hold your +tongue, you dirty Troll," said he, "or I'll squeeze you as I squeeze +this stone." So the Troll grew timid and begged to be spared, [124] and +Boots let him off on condition that he would hew all day with him. +They worked till nightfall, and the Troll's giant strength accomplished +wonders. Then Boots went home with the Troll, having arranged that he +should get the water while his host made the fire. When they reached the +hut there were two enormous iron pails, so heavy that none but a Troll +could lift them, but Boots was not to be frightened. "Bah!" said he. "Do +you suppose I am going to get water in those paltry hand-basins? Hold +on till I go and get the spring itself!" "O dear!" said the Troll, "I'd +rather not; do you make the fire, and I'll get the water." Then when the +soup was made, Boots challenged his new friend to an eating-match; and +tying his scrip in front of him, proceeded to pour soup into it by the +ladleful. By and by the giant threw down his spoon in despair, and owned +himself conquered. "No, no! don't give it up yet," said Boots, "just cut +a hole in your stomach like this, and you can eat forever." And suiting +the action to the words, he ripped open his scrip. So the silly Troll +cut himself open and died, and Boots carried off all his gold and +silver. + +Once there was a Troll whose name was Wind-and-Weather, and Saint Olaf +hired him to build a church. If the church were completed within a +certain specified time, the Troll was to get possession of Saint Olaf. +The saint then planned such a stupendous edifice that he thought the +giant would be forever building it; but the work went on briskly, and at +the appointed day nothing remained but to finish the point of the spire. +In his consternation Olaf rushed about until he passed by the Troll's +den, when he heard the giantess telling her children that their father, +Wind-and-Weather, was finishing his church, and would be home to-morrow +with Saint Olaf. So the saint ran back to the church and bawled out, +"Hold on, Wind-and-Weather, your spire is crooked!" Then the giant +tumbled down from the roof and broke into a thousand pieces. As in the +cases of the Mara and the werewolf, the enchantment was at an end as +soon as the enchanter was called by name. + +These Trolls, like the Arabian Efreets, had an ugly habit of carrying +off beautiful princesses. This is strictly in keeping with their +character as night-demons, or Panis. In the stories of Punchkin and +the Heartless Giant, the night-demon carries off the dawn-maiden after +having turned into stone her solar brethren. But Boots, or Indra, in +search of his kinsfolk, by and by arrives at the Troll's castle, and +then the dawn-nymph, true to her fickle character, cajoles the Giant +and enables Boots to destroy him. In the famous myth which serves as the +basis for the Volsunga Saga and the Nibelungenlied, the dragon Fafnir +steals the Valkyrie Brynhild and keeps her shut up in a castle on the +Glistening Heath, until some champion shall be found powerful enough +to rescue her. The castle is as hard to enter as that of the Sleeping +Beauty; but Sigurd, the Northern Achilleus, riding on his deathless +horse, and wielding his resistless sword Gram, forces his way in, slays +Fafnir, and recovers the Valkyrie. + +In the preceding paper the Valkyries were shown to belong to the class +of cloud-maidens; and between the tale of Sigurd and that of Hercules +and Cacus there is no difference, save that the bright sunlit clouds +which are represented in the one as cows are in the other represented +as maidens. In the myth of the Argonauts they reappear as the Golden +Fleece, carried to the far east by Phrixos and Helle, who are themselves +Niblungs, or "Children of the Mist" (Nephele), and there guarded by a +dragon. In all these myths a treasure is stolen by a fiend of darkness, +and recovered by a hero of light, who slays the demon. And--remembering +what Scribe said about the fewness of dramatic types--I believe we are +warranted in asserting that all the stories of lovely women held in +bondage by monsters, and rescued by heroes who perform wonderful tasks, +such as Don Quixote burned to achieve, are derived ultimately from solar +myths, like the myth of Sigurd and Brynhild. I do not mean to say that +the story-tellers who beguiled their time in stringing together the +incidents which make up these legends were conscious of their solar +character. They did not go to work, with malice prepense, to weave +allegories and apologues. The Greeks who first told the story of Perseus +and Andromeda, the Arabians who devised the tale of Codadad and +his brethren, the Flemings who listened over their beer-mugs to +the adventures of Culotte-Verte, were not thinking of sun-gods or +dawn-maidens, or night-demons; and no theory of mythology can be sound +which implies such an extravagance. Most of these stories have lived +on the lips of the common people; and illiterate persons are not in +the habit of allegorizing in the style of mediaeval monks or rabbinical +commentators. But what has been amply demonstrated is, that the sun +and the clouds, the light and the darkness, were once supposed to +be actuated by wills analogous to the human will; that they were +personified and worshipped or propitiated by sacrifice; and that their +doings were described in language which applied so well to the deeds of +human or quasi-human beings that in course of time its primitive purport +faded from recollection. No competent scholar now doubts that the myths +of the Veda and the Edda originated in this way, for philology itself +shows that the names employed in them are the names of the great +phenomena of nature. And when once a few striking stories had thus +arisen,--when once it had been told how Indra smote the Panis, and how +Sigurd rescued Brynhild, and how Odysseus blinded the Kyklops,--then +certain mythic or dramatic types had been called into existence; and to +these types, preserved in the popular imagination, future stories would +inevitably conform. We need, therefore, have no hesitation in admitting +a common origin for the vanquished Panis and the outwitted Troll or +Devil; we may securely compare the legends of St. George and Jack the +Giant-killer with the myth of Indra slaying Vritra; we may see in the +invincible Sigurd the prototype of many a doughty knight-errant of +romance; and we may learn anew the lesson, taught with fresh emphasis by +modern scholarship, that in the deepest sense there is nothing new under +the sun. + +I am the more explicit on this point, because it seems to me that the +unguarded language of many students of mythology is liable to give rise +to misapprehensions, and to discredit both the method which they employ +and the results which they have obtained. If we were to give full weight +to the statements which are sometimes made, we should perforce believe +that primitive men had nothing to do but to ponder about the sun and the +clouds, and to worry themselves over the disappearance of daylight. But +there is nothing in the scientific interpretation of myths which obliges +us to go any such length. I do not suppose that any ancient Aryan, +possessed of good digestive powers and endowed with sound common-sense, +ever lay awake half the night wondering whether the sun would come back +again. [125] The child and the savage believe of necessity that the +future will resemble the past, and it is only philosophy which raises +doubts on the subject. [126] The predominance of solar legends in most +systems of mythology is not due to the lack of "that Titanic assurance +with which we say, the sun MUST rise"; [127] nor again to the fact +that the phenomena of day and night are the most striking phenomena in +nature. Eclipses and earthquakes and floods are phenomena of the most +terrible and astounding kind, and they have all generated myths; +yet their contributions to folk-lore are scanty compared with those +furnished by the strife between the day-god and his enemies. The +sun-myths have been so prolific because the dramatic types to which +they have given rise are of surpassing human interest. The dragon who +swallows the sun is no doubt a fearful personage; but the hero who toils +for others, who slays hydra-headed monsters, and dries the tears +of fair-haired damsels, and achieves success in spite of incredible +obstacles, is a being with whom we can all sympathize, and of whom we +never weary of hearing. + +With many of these legends which present the myth of light and darkness +in its most attractive form, the reader is already acquainted, and it is +needless to retail stories which have been told over and over again in +books which every one is presumed to have read. I will content myself +with a weird Irish legend, narrated by Mr. Patrick Kennedy, [128] +in which we here and there catch glimpses of the primitive mythical +symbols, as fragments of gold are seen gleaming through the crystal of +quartz. + +Long before the Danes ever came to Ireland, there died at Muskerry a +Sculloge, or country farmer, who by dint of hard work and close economy +had amassed enormous wealth. His only son did not resemble him. When the +young Sculloge looked about the house, the day after his father's +death, and saw the big chests full of gold and silver, and the cupboards +shining with piles of sovereigns, and the old stockings stuffed with +large and small coin, he said to himself, "Bedad, how shall I ever be +able to spend the likes o' that!" And so he drank, and gambled, and +wasted his time in hunting and horse-racing, until after a while he +found the chests empty and the cupboards poverty-stricken, and the +stockings lean and penniless. Then he mortgaged his farm-house and +gambled away all the money he got for it, and then he bethought him that +a few hundred pounds might be raised on his mill. But when he went to +look at it, he found "the dam broken, and scarcely a thimbleful of water +in the mill-race, and the wheel rotten, and the thatch of the house all +gone, and the upper millstone lying flat on the lower one, and a coat +of dust and mould over everything." So he made up his mind to borrow a +horse and take one more hunt to-morrow and then reform his habits. + +As he was returning late in the evening from this farewell hunt, passing +through a lonely glen he came upon an old man playing backgammon, +betting on his left hand against his right, and crying and cursing +because the right WOULD win. "Come and bet with me," said he to +Sculloge. "Faith, I have but a sixpence in the world," was the reply; +"but, if you like, I'll wager that on the right." "Done," said the old +man, who was a Druid; "if you win I'll give you a hundred guineas." So +the game was played, and the old man, whose right hand was always the +winner, paid over the guineas and told Sculloge to go to the Devil with +them. + +Instead of following this bit of advice, however, the young farmer went +home and began to pay his debts, and next week he went to the glen +and won another game, and made the Druid rebuild his mill. So Sculloge +became prosperous again, and by and by he tried his luck a third time, +and won a game played for a beautiful wife. The Druid sent her to his +house the next morning before he was out of bed, and his servants came +knocking at the door and crying, "Wake up! wake up! Master Sculloge, +there's a young lady here to see you." "Bedad, it's the vanithee [129] +herself," said Sculloge; and getting up in a hurry, he spent three +quarters of an hour in dressing himself. At last he went down stairs, +and there on the sofa was the prettiest lady ever seen in Ireland! +Naturally, Sculloge's heart beat fast and his voice trembled, as he +begged the lady's pardon for this Druidic style of wooing, and besought +her not to feel obliged to stay with him unless she really liked him. +But the young lady, who was a king's daughter from a far country, was +wondrously charmed with the handsome farmer, and so well did they get +along that the priest was sent for without further delay, and they were +married before sundown. Sabina was the vanithee's name; and she warned +her husband to have no more dealings with Lassa Buaicht, the old man of +the glen. So for a while all went happily, and the Druidic bride was as +good as she was beautiful But by and by Sculloge began to think he was +not earning money fast enough. He could not bear to see his wife's white +hands soiled with work, and thought it would be a fine thing if he could +only afford to keep a few more servants, and drive about with Sabina +in an elegant carriage, and see her clothed in silk and adorned with +jewels. + +"I will play one more game and set the stakes high," said Sculloge to +himself one evening, as he sat pondering over these things; and so, +without consulting Sabina, he stole away to the glen, and played a game +for ten thousand guineas. But the evil Druid was now ready to pounce +on his prey, and he did not play as of old. Sculloge broke into a cold +sweat with agony and terror as he saw the left hand win! Then the face +of Lassa Buaicht grew dark and stern, and he laid on Sculloge the curse +which is laid upon the solar hero in misfortune, that he should never +sleep twice under the same roof, or ascend the couch of the dawn-nymph, +his wife, until he should have procured and brought to him the sword of +light. When Sculloge reached home, more dead than alive, he saw that his +wife knew all. Bitterly they wept together, but she told him that with +courage all might be set right. She gave him a Druidic horse, which bore +him swiftly over land and sea, like the enchanted steed of the Arabian +Nights, until he reached the castle of his wife's father who, as +Sculloge now learned, was a good Druid, the brother of the evil Lassa +Buaicht. This good Druid told him that the sword of light was kept by +a third brother, the powerful magician, Fiach O'Duda, who dwelt in an +enchanted castle, which many brave heroes had tried to enter, but +the dark sorcerer had slain them all. Three high walls surrounded +the castle, and many had scaled the first of these, but none had ever +returned alive. But Sculloge was not to be daunted, and, taking from +his father-in-law a black steed, he set out for the fortress of Fiach +O'Duda. Over the first high wall nimbly leaped the magic horse, and +Sculloge called aloud on the Druid to come out and surrender his sword. +Then came out a tall, dark man, with coal-black eyes and hair and +melancholy visage, and made a furious sweep at Sculloge with the flaming +blade. But the Druidic beast sprang back over the wall in the twinkling +of an eye and rescued his rider, leaving, however, his tail behind in +the court-yard. Then Sculloge returned in triumph to his father-in-law's +palace, and the night was spent in feasting and revelry. + +Next day Sculloge rode out on a white horse, and when he got to Fiach's +castle, he saw the first wall lying in rubbish. He leaped the second, +and the same scene occurred as the day before, save that the horse +escaped unharmed. + +The third day Sculloge went out on foot, with a harp like that of +Orpheus in his hand, and as he swept its strings the grass bent to +listen and the trees bowed their heads. The castle walls all lay in +ruins, and Sculloge made his way unhindered to the upper room, where +Fiach lay in Druidic slumber, lulled by the harp. He seized the sword +of light, which was hung by the chimney sheathed in a dark scabbard, and +making the best of his way back to the good king's palace, mounted his +wife's steed, and scoured over land and sea until he found himself in +the gloomy glen where Lassa Buaicht was still crying and cursing and +betting on his left hand against his right. + +"Here, treacherous fiend, take your sword of light!" shouted Sculloge in +tones of thunder; and as he drew it from its sheath the whole valley +was lighted up as with the morning sun, and next moment the head of the +wretched Druid was lying at his feet, and his sweet wife, who had come +to meet him, was laughing and crying in his arms. November, 1870. + + + + +V. MYTHS OF THE BARBARIC WORLD. + +THE theory of mythology set forth in the four preceding papers, and +illustrated by the examination of numerous myths relating to the +lightning, the storm-wind, the clouds, and the sunlight, was originally +framed with reference solely to the mythic and legendary lore of the +Aryan world. The phonetic identity of the names of many Western gods and +heroes with the names of those Vedic divinities which are obviously +the personifications of natural phenomena, suggested the theory which +philosophical considerations had already foreshadowed in the works +of Hume and Comte, and which the exhaustive analysis of Greek, Hindu, +Keltic, and Teutonic legends has amply confirmed. Let us now, before +proceeding to the consideration of barbaric folk-lore, briefly +recapitulate the results obtained by modern scholarship working strictly +within the limits of the Aryan domain. + +In the first place, it has been proved once for all that the languages +spoken by the Hindus, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Kelts, Slaves, and +Teutons are all descended from a single ancestral language, the Old +Aryan, in the same sense that French, Italian, and Spanish are descended +from the Latin. And from this undisputed fact it is an inevitable +inference that these various races contain, along with other elements, +a race-element in common, due to their Aryan pedigree. That the +Indo-European races are wholly Aryan is very improbable, for in every +case the countries overrun by them were occupied by inferior races, +whose blood must have mingled in varying degrees with that of their +conquerors; but that every Indo-European people is in great part +descended from a common Aryan stock is not open to question. + +In the second place, along with a common fund of moral and religious +ideas and of legal and ceremonial observances, we find these kindred +peoples possessed of a common fund of myths, superstitions, proverbs, +popular poetry, and household legends. The Hindu mother amuses her child +with fairy-tales which often correspond, even in minor incidents, with +stories in Scottish or Scandinavian nurseries; and she tells them in +words which are phonetically akin to words in Swedish and Gaelic. No +doubt many of these stories might have been devised in a dozen different +places independently of each other; and no doubt many of them have +been transmitted laterally from one people to another; but a careful +examination shows that such cannot have been the case with the great +majority of legends and beliefs. The agreement between two such stories, +for instance, as those of Faithful John and Rama and Luxman is so +close as to make it incredible that they should have been independently +fabricated, while the points of difference are so important as to make +it extremely improbable that the one was ever copied from the other. +Besides which, the essential identity of such myths as those of Sigurd +and Theseus, or of Helena and Sarama, carries us back historically to a +time when the scattered Indo-European tribes had not yet begun to +hold commercial and intellectual intercourse with each other, and +consequently could not have interchanged their epic materials or their +household stories. We are therefore driven to the conclusion--which, +startling as it may seem, is after all the most natural and plausible +one that can be stated--that the Aryan nations, which have inherited +from a common ancestral stock their languages and their customs, have +inherited also from the same common original their fireside legends. +They have preserved Cinderella and Punchkin just as they have preserved +the words for father and mother, ten and twenty; and the former case, +though more imposing to the imagination, is scientifically no less +intelligible than the latter. + +Thirdly, it has been shown that these venerable tales may be grouped in +a few pretty well defined classes; and that the archetypal myth of each +class--the primitive story in conformity to which countless subsequent +tales have been generated--was originally a mere description of physical +phenomena, couched in the poetic diction of an age when everything was +personified, because all natural phenomena were supposed to be due to +the direct workings of a volition like that of which men were conscious +within themselves. Thus we are led to the striking conclusion that +mythology has had a common root, both with science and with religious +philosophy. The myth of Indra conquering Vritra was one of the theorems +of primitive Aryan science; it was a provisional explanation of the +thunder-storm, satisfactory enough until extended observation and +reflection supplied a better one. It also contained the germs of a +theology; for the life-giving solar light furnished an important part +of the primeval conception of deity. And finally, it became the fruitful +parent of countless myths, whether embodied in the stately epics of +Homer and the bards of the Nibelungenlied, or in the humbler legends of +St. George and William Tell and the ubiquitous Boots. + +Such is the theory which was suggested half a century ago by the +researches of Jacob Grimm, and which, so far as concerns the mythology +of the Aryan race, is now victorious along the whole line. It remains +for us to test the universality of the general principles upon which it +is founded, by a brief analysis of sundry legends and superstitions +of the barbaric world. Since the fetichistic habit of explaining the +outward phenomena of nature after the analogy of the inward phenomena of +conscious intelligence is not a habit peculiar to our Aryan ancestors, +but is, as psychology shows, the inevitable result of the conditions +under which uncivilized thinking proceeds, we may expect to find the +barbaric mind personifying the powers of nature and making myths about +their operations the whole world over. And we need not be surprised if +we find in the resulting mythologic structures a strong resemblance to +the familiar creations of the Aryan intelligence. In point of fact, we +shall often be called upon to note such resemblance; and it accordingly +behooves us at the outset to inquire how far a similarity between +mythical tales shall be taken as evidence of a common traditional +origin, and how far it may be interpreted as due merely to the similar +workings of the untrained intelligence in all ages and countries. + +Analogies drawn from the comparison of languages will here be of service +to us, if used discreetly; otherwise they are likely to bewilder far +more than to enlighten us. A theorem which Max Muller has laid down +for our guidance in this kind of investigation furnishes us with an +excellent example of the tricks which a superficial analogy may play +even with the trained scholar, when temporarily off his guard. Actuated +by a praiseworthy desire to raise the study of myths to something like +the high level of scientific accuracy already attained by the study of +words, Max Muller endeavours to introduce one of the most useful canons +of philology into a department of inquiry where its introduction could +only work the most hopeless confusion. One of the earliest lessons to be +learned by the scientific student of linguistics is the uselessness of +comparing together directly the words contained in derivative languages. +For example, you might set the English twelve side by side with the +Latin duodecim, and then stare at the two words to all eternity without +any hope of reaching a conclusion, good or bad, about either of them: +least of all would you suspect that they are descended from the same +radical. But if you take each word by itself and trace it back to its +primitive shape, explaining every change of every letter as you go, you +will at last reach the old Aryan dvadakan, which is the parent of both +these strangely metamorphosed words. [130] Nor will it do, on the other +hand, to trust to verbal similarity without a historical inquiry into +the origin of such similarity. Even in the same language two words of +quite different origin may get their corners rubbed off till they look +as like one another as two pebbles. The French words souris, a "mouse," +and souris, a "smile," are spelled exactly alike; but the one comes from +Latin sorex and the other from Latin subridere. + +Now Max Muller tells us that this principle, which is indispensable +in the study of words, is equally indispensable in the study of myths. +[131] That is, you must not rashly pronounce the Norse story of the +Heartless Giant identical with the Hindu story of Punchkin, although the +two correspond in every essential incident. In both legends a magician +turns several members of the same family into stone; the youngest member +of the family comes to the rescue, and on the way saves the lives of +sundry grateful beasts; arrived at the magician's castle, he finds +a captive princess ready to accept his love and to play the part of +Delilah to the enchanter. In both stories the enchanter's life +depends on the integrity of something which is elaborately hidden in +a far-distant island, but which the fortunate youth, instructed by +the artful princess and assisted by his menagerie of grateful beasts, +succeeds in obtaining. In both stories the youth uses his advantage +to free all his friends from their enchantment, and then proceeds to +destroy the villain who wrought all this wickedness. Yet, in spite of +this agreement, Max Muller, if I understand him aright, would not have +us infer the identity of the two stories until we have taken each +one separately and ascertained its primitive mythical significance. +Otherwise, for aught we can tell, the resemblance may be purely +accidental, like that of the French words for "mouse" and "smile." + +A little reflection, however, will relieve us from this perplexity, and +assure us that the alleged analogy between the comparison of words and +the comparison of stories is utterly superficial. The transformations +of words--which are often astounding enough--depend upon a few +well-established physiological principles of utterance; and since +philology has learned to rely upon these principles, it has become +nearly as sure in its methods and results as one of the so-called "exact +sciences." Folly enough is doubtless committed within its precincts by +writers who venture there without the laborious preparation which this +science, more than almost any other, demands. But the proceedings of +the trained philologist are no more arbitrary than those of the trained +astronomer. And though the former may seem to be straining at a gnat and +swallowing a camel when he coolly tells you that violin and fiddle are +the same word, while English care and Latin cura have nothing to do with +each other, he is nevertheless no more indulging in guess-work than the +astronomer who confesses his ignorance as to the habitability of Venus +while asserting his knowledge of the existence of hydrogen in the +atmosphere of Sirius. To cite one example out of a hundred, every +philologist knows that s may become r, and that the broad a-sound may +dwindle into the closer o-sound; but when you adduce some plausible +etymology based on the assumption that r has changed into s, or o into +a, apart from the demonstrable influence of some adjacent letter, the +philologist will shake his head. + +Now in the study of stories there are no such simple rules all cut and +dried for us to go by. There is no uniform psychological principle +which determines that the three-headed snake in one story shall become a +three-headed man in the next. There is no Grimm's Law in mythology which +decides that a Hindu magician shall always correspond to a Norwegian +Troll or a Keltic Druid. The laws of association of ideas are not so +simple in application as the laws of utterance. In short, the study of +myths, though it can be made sufficiently scientific in its methods and +results, does not constitute a science by itself, like philology. It +stands on a footing similar to that occupied by physical geography, +or what the Germans call "earth-knowledge." No one denies that all the +changes going on over the earth's surface conform to physical laws; but +then no one pretends that there is any single proximate principle which +governs all the phenomena of rain-fall, of soil-crumbling, of magnetic +variation, and of the distribution of plants and animals. All these +things are explained by principles obtained from the various sciences +of physics, chemistry, geology, and physiology. And in just the same way +the development and distribution of stories is explained by the help +of divers resources contributed by philology, psychology, and history. +There is therefore no real analogy between the cases cited by Max +Muller. Two unrelated words may be ground into exactly the same shape, +just as a pebble from the North Sea may be undistinguishable from +another pebble on the beach of the Adriatic; but two stories like +those of Punchkin and the Heartless Giant are no more likely to arise +independently of each other than two coral reefs on opposite sides of +the globe are likely to develop into exactly similar islands. + +Shall we then say boldly, that close similarity between legends is proof +of kinship, and go our way without further misgivings? Unfortunately +we cannot dispose of the matter in quite so summary a fashion; for it +remains to decide what kind and degree of similarity shall be considered +satisfactory evidence of kinship. And it is just here that doctors may +disagree. Here is the point at which our "science" betrays its weakness +as compared with the sister study of philology. Before we can decide +with confidence in any case, a great mass of evidence must be brought +into court. So long as we remained on Aryan ground, all went smoothly +enough, because all the external evidence was in our favour. We knew +at the outset, that the Aryans inherit a common language and a common +civilization, and therefore we found no difficulty in accepting the +conclusion that they have inherited, among other things, a common stock +of legends. In the barbaric world it is quite otherwise. Philology does +not pronounce in favour of a common origin for all barbaric culture, +such as it is. The notion of a single primitive language, standing in +the same relation to all existing dialects as the relation of old Aryan +to Latin and English, or that of old Semitic to Hebrew and Arabic, was a +notion suited only to the infancy of linguistic science. As the case now +stands, it is certain that all the languages actually existing cannot be +referred to a common ancestor, and it is altogether probable that +there never was any such common ancestor. I am not now referring to the +question of the unity of the human race. That question lies entirely +outside the sphere of philology. The science of language has nothing to +do with skulls or complexions, and no comparison of words can tell us +whether the black men are brethren of the white men, or whether +yellow and red men have a common pedigree: these questions belong to +comparative physiology. But the science of language can and does tell us +that a certain amount of civilization is requisite for the production +of a language sufficiently durable and wide-spread to give birth to +numerous mutually resembling offspring Barbaric languages are neither +widespread nor durable. Among savages each little group of families has +its own dialect, and coins its own expressions at pleasure; and in the +course of two or three generations a dialect gets so strangely altered +as virtually to lose its identity. Even numerals and personal pronouns, +which the Aryan has preserved for fifty centuries, get lost every few +years in Polynesia. Since the time of Captain Cook the Tahitian language +has thrown away five out of its ten simple numerals, and replaced them +by brand-new ones; and on the Amazon you may acquire a fluent command +of some Indian dialect, and then, coming back after twenty years, find +yourself worse off than Rip Van Winkle, and your learning all antiquated +and useless. How absurd, therefore, to suppose that primeval savages +originated a language which has held its own like the old Aryan and +become the prolific mother of the three or four thousand dialects now +in existence! Before a durable language can arise, there must be an +aggregation of numerous tribes into a people, so that there may be +need of communication on a large scale, and so that tradition may be +strengthened. Wherever mankind have associated in nations, permanent +languages have arisen, and their derivative dialects bear the +conspicuous marks of kinship; but where mankind have remained in their +primitive savage isolation, their languages have remained sporadic and +transitory, incapable of organic development, and showing no traces of a +kinship which never existed. + +The bearing of these considerations upon the origin and diffusion of +barbaric myths is obvious. The development of a common stock of legends +is, of course, impossible, save where there is a common language; and +thus philology pronounces against the kinship of barbaric myths with +each other and with similar myths of the Aryan and Semitic worlds. +Similar stories told in Greece and Norway are likely to have a common +pedigree, because the persons who have preserved them in recollection +speak a common language and have inherited the same civilization. But +similar stories told in Labrador and South Africa are not likely to +be genealogically related, because it is altogether probable that the +Esquimaux and the Zulu had acquired their present race characteristics +before either of them possessed a language or a culture sufficient +for the production of myths. According to the nature and extent of the +similarity, it must be decided whether such stories have been carried +about from one part of the world to another, or have been independently +originated in many different places. + +Here the methods of philology suggest a rule which will often be found +useful. In comparing, the vocabularies of different languages, those +words which directly imitate natural sounds--such as whiz, crash, +crackle--are not admitted as evidence of kinship between the languages +in which they occur. Resemblances between such words are obviously no +proof of a common ancestry; and they are often met with in languages +which have demonstrably had no connection with each other. So in +mythology, where we find two stories of which the primitive character is +perfectly transparent, we need have no difficulty in supposing them to +have originated independently. The myth of Jack and his Beanstalk is +found all over the world; but the idea of a country above the sky, to +which persons might gain access by climbing, is one which could hardly +fail to occur to every barbarian. Among the American tribes, as well +as among the Aryans, the rainbow and the Milky-Way have contributed the +idea of a Bridge of the Dead, over which souls must pass on the way to +the other world. In South Africa, as well as in Germany, the habits of +the fox and of his brother the jackal have given rise to fables in which +brute force is overcome by cunning. In many parts of the world we find +curiously similar stories devised to account for the stumpy tails of the +bear and hyaena, the hairless tail of the rat, and the blindness of +the mole. And in all countries may be found the beliefs that men may be +changed into beasts, or plants, or stones; that the sun is in some way +tethered or constrained to follow a certain course; that the storm-cloud +is a ravenous dragon; and that there are talismans which will +reveal hidden treasures. All these conceptions are so obvious to the +uncivilized intelligence, that stories founded upon them need not +be supposed to have a common origin, unless there turns out to be a +striking similarity among their minor details. On the other hand, the +numerous myths of an all-destroying deluge have doubtless arisen partly +from reminiscences of actually occurring local inundations, and partly +from the fact that the Scriptural account of a deluge has been carried +all over the world by Catholic and Protestant missionaries. [132] + +By way of illustrating these principles, let us now cite a few of the +American myths so carefully collected by Dr. Brinton in his admirable +treatise. We shall not find in the mythology of the New World the wealth +of wit and imagination which has so long delighted us in the stories +of Herakles, Perseus, Hermes, Sigurd, and Indra. The mythic lore of +the American Indians is comparatively scanty and prosaic, as befits the +product of a lower grade of culture and a more meagre intellect. Not +only are the personages less characteristically pourtrayed, but there +is a continual tendency to extravagance, the sure index of an inferior +imagination. Nevertheless, after making due allowances for differences +in the artistic method of treatment, there is between the mythologies of +the Old and the New Worlds a fundamental resemblance. We come upon solar +myths and myths of the storm curiously blended with culture-myths, as in +the cases of Hermes, Prometheus, and Kadmos. The American parallels to +these are to be found in the stories of Michabo, Viracocha, Ioskeha, and +Quetzalcoatl. "As elsewhere the world over, so in America, many tribes +had to tell of.... an august character, who taught them what they +knew,--the tillage of the soil, the properties of plants, the art of +picture-writing, the secrets of magic; who founded their institutions +and established their religions; who governed them long with glory +abroad and peace at home; and finally did not die, but, like Frederic +Barbarossa, Charlemagne, King Arthur, and all great heroes, vanished +mysteriously, and still lives somewhere, ready at the right moment to +return to his beloved people and lead them to victory and happiness." +[133] Everyone is familiar with the numerous legends of white-skinned, +full-bearded heroes, like the mild Quetzalcoatl, who in times long +previous to Columbus came from the far East to impart the rudiments of +civilization and religion to the red men. By those who first heard +these stories they were supposed, with naive Euhemerism, to refer to +pre-Columbian visits of Europeans to this continent, like that of the +Northmen in the tenth century. But a scientific study of the subject has +dissipated such notions. These legends are far too numerous, they are +too similar to each other, they are too manifestly symbolical, to admit +of any such interpretation. By comparing them carefully with each other, +and with correlative myths of the Old World, their true character soon +becomes apparent. + +One of the most widely famous of these culture-heroes was Manabozho or +Michabo, the Great Hare. With entire unanimity, says Dr. Brinton, the +various branches of the Algonquin race, "the Powhatans of Virginia, the +Lenni Lenape of the Delaware, the warlike hordes of New England, the +Ottawas of the far North, and the Western tribes, perhaps without +exception, spoke of this chimerical beast,' as one of the old +missionaries calls it, as their common ancestor. The totem, or clan, +which bore his name was looked up to with peculiar respect." Not only +was Michabo the ruler and guardian of these numerous tribes,--he was the +founder of their religious rites, the inventor of picture-writing, the +ruler of the weather, the creator and preserver of earth and heaven. +"From a grain of sand brought from the bottom of the primeval ocean he +fashioned the habitable land, and set it floating on the waters till it +grew to such a size that a strong young wolf, running constantly, died +of old age ere he reached its limits." He was also, like Nimrod, a +mighty hunter. "One of his footsteps measured eight leagues, the Great +Lakes were the beaver-dams he built, and when the cataracts impeded his +progress he tore them away with his hands." "Sometimes he was said +to dwell in the skies with his brother, the Snow, or, like many great +spirits, to have built his wigwam in the far North on some floe of ice +in the Arctic Ocean..... But in the oldest accounts of the missionaries +he was alleged to reside toward the East; and in the holy formulae of +the meda craft, when the winds are invoked to the medicine lodge, the +East is summoned in his name, the door opens in that direction, and +there, at the edge of the earth where the sun rises, on the shore of the +infinite ocean that surrounds the land, he has his house, and sends the +luminaries forth on their daily journeys." [134] From such accounts as +this we see that Michabo was no more a wise instructor and legislator +than Minos or Kadmos. Like these heroes, he is a personification of the +solar life-giving power, which daily comes forth from its home in the +east, making the earth to rejoice. The etymology of his name confirms +the otherwise clear indications of the legend itself. It is compounded +of michi, "great," and wabos, which means alike "hare" and "white." +"Dialectic forms in Algonquin for white are wabi, wape, wampi, etc.; for +morning, wapan, wapanch, opah; for east, wapa, wanbun, etc.; for day, +wompan, oppan; for light, oppung." So that Michabo is the Great White +One, the God of the Dawn and the East. And the etymological confusion, +by virtue of which he acquired his soubriquet of the Great Hare, affords +a curious parallel to what has often happened in Aryan and Semitic +mythology, as we saw when discussing the subject of werewolves. + +Keeping in mind this solar character of Michabo, let us note how full +of meaning are the myths concerning him. In the first cycle of these +legends, "he is grandson of the Moon, his father is the West Wind, +and his mother, a maiden, dies in giving him birth at the moment of +conception. For the Moon is the goddess of night; the Dawn is her +daughter, who brings forth the Morning, and perishes herself in the act; +and the West, the spirit of darkness, as the East is of light, precedes, +and as it were begets the latter, as the evening does the morning. +Straightway, however, continues the legend, the son sought the unnatural +father to revenge the death of his mother, and then commenced a long and +desperate struggle. It began on the mountains. The West was forced to +give ground. Manabozho drove him across rivers and over mountains and +lakes, and at last he came to the brink of this world. 'Hold,' cried he, +'my son, you know my power, and that it is impossible to kill me.' What +is this but the diurnal combat of light and darkness, carried on from +what time 'the jocund morn stands tiptoe on the misty mountain-tops,' +across the wide world to the sunset, the struggle that knows no end, for +both the opponents are immortal?" [135] + +Even the Veda nowhere affords a more transparent narrative than this. +The Iroquois tradition is very similar. In it appear twin brothers, +[136] born of a virgin mother, daughter of the Moon, who died in giving +them life. Their names, Ioskeha and Tawiskara, signify in the Oneida +dialect the White One and the Dark One. Under the influence of Christian +ideas the contest between the brothers has been made to assume a moral +character, like the strife between Ormuzd and Ahriman. But no such +intention appears in the original myth, and Dr. Brinton has shown that +none of the American tribes had any conception of a Devil. When the +quarrel came to blows, the dark brother was signally discomfited; and +the victorious Ioskeha, returning to his grandmother, "established his +lodge in the far East, on the horders of the Great Ocean, whence the sun +comes. In time he became the father of mankind, and special guardian of +the Iroquois." He caused the earth to bring forth, he stocked the woods +with game, and taught his children the use of fire. "He it was who +watched and watered their crops; 'and, indeed, without his aid,' says +the old missionary, quite out of patience with their puerilities, +'they think they could not boil a pot.'" There was more in it than poor +Brebouf thought, as we are forcibly reminded by recent discoveries in +physical science. Even civilized men would find it difficult to boil a +pot without the aid of solar energy. Call him what we will,--Ioskeha, +Michabo, or Phoibos,--the beneficent Sun is the master and sustainer +of us all; and if we were to relapse into heathenism, like +Erckmann-Chatrian's innkeeper, we could not do better than to select him +as our chief object of worship. + +The same principles by which these simple cases are explained furnish +also the key to the more complicated mythology of Mexico and Peru. Like +the deities just discussed, Viracocha, the supreme god of the Quichuas, +rises from the bosom of Lake Titicaca and journeys westward, slaying +with his lightnings the creatures who oppose him, until he finally +disappears in the Western Ocean. Like Aphrodite, he bears in his name +the evidence of his origin, Viracocha signifying "foam of the sea"; and +hence the "White One" (l'aube), the god of light rising white on the +horizon, like the foam on the surface of the waves. The Aymaras spoke +of their original ancestors as white; and to this day, as Dr. Brinton +informs us, the Peruvians call a white man Viracocha. The myth of +Quetzalcoatl is of precisely the same character. All these solar heroes +present in most of their qualities and achievements a striking likeness +to those of the Old World. They combine the attributes of Apollo, +Herakles, and Hermes. Like Herakles, they journey from east to west, +smiting the powers of darkness, storm, and winter with the thunderbolts +of Zeus or the unerring arrows of Phoibos, and sinking in a blaze +of glory on the western verge of the world, where the waves meet the +firmament. Or like Hermes, in a second cycle of legends, they rise with +the soft breezes of a summer morning, driving before them the bright +celestial cattle whose udders are heavy with refreshing rain, fanning +the flames which devour the forests, blustering at the doors of wigwams, +and escaping with weird laughter through vents and crevices. The white +skins and flowing beards of these American heroes may be aptly compared +to the fair faces and long golden locks of their Hellenic compeers. +Yellow hair was in all probability as rare in Greece as a full beard +in Peru or Mexico; but in each case the description suits the solar +character of the hero. One important class of incidents, however is +apparently quite absent from the American legends. We frequently see the +Dawn described as a virgin mother who dies in giving birth to the Day; +but nowhere do we remember seeing her pictured as a lovely or valiant or +crafty maiden, ardently wooed, but speedily forsaken by her solar lover. +Perhaps in no respect is the superior richness and beauty of the Aryan +myths more manifest than in this. Brynhild, Urvasi, Medeia, Ariadne, +Oinone, and countless other kindred heroines, with their brilliant +legends, could not be spared from the mythology of our ancestors +without, leaving it meagre indeed. These were the materials which +Kalidasa, the Attic dramatists, and the bards of the Nibelungen found +ready, awaiting their artistic treatment. But the mythology of the New +World, with all its pretty and agreeable naivete, affords hardly enough, +either of variety in situation or of complexity in motive, for a grand +epic or a genuine tragedy. + +But little reflection is needed to assure us that the imagination of the +barbarian, who either carries away his wife by brute force or buys her +from her relatives as he would buy a cow, could never have originated +legends in which maidens are lovingly solicited, or in which their +favour is won by the performance of deeds of valour. These stories +owe their existence to the romantic turn of mind which has always +characterized the Aryan, whose civilization, even in the times before +the dispersion of his race, was sufficiently advanced to allow of his +entertaining such comparatively exalted conceptions of the relations +between men and women. The absence of these myths from barbaric +folk-lore is, therefore, just what might be expected; but it is a fact +which militates against any possible hypothesis of the common origin +of Aryan and barbaric mythology. If there were any genetic relationship +between Sigurd and Ioskeha, between Herakles and Michabo, it would be +hard to tell why Brynhild and Iole should have disappeared entirely +from one whole group of legends, while retained, in some form or +other, throughout the whole of the other group. On the other hand, the +resemblances above noticed between Aryan and American mythology fall +very far short of the resemblances between the stories told in different +parts of the Aryan domain. No barbaric legend, of genuine barbaric +growth, has yet been cited which resembles any Aryan legend as the story +of Punchkin resembles the story of the Heartless Giant. The myths +of Michabo and Viracocha are direct copies, so to speak, of natural +phenomena, just as imitative words are direct copies of natural sounds. +Neither the Redskin nor the Indo-European had any choice as to the main +features of the career of his solar divinity. He must be born of the +Night,--or of the Dawn,--must travel westward, must slay harassing +demons. Eliminating these points of likeness, the resemblance between +the Aryan and barbaric legends is at once at an end. Such an identity +in point of details as that between the wooden horse which enters +Ilion, and the horse which bears Sigurd into the place where Brynhild +is imprisoned, and the Druidic steed which leaps with Sculloge over the +walls of Fiach's enchanted castle, is, I believe, nowhere to be found +after we leave Indo-European territory. + +Our conclusion, therefore, must be, that while the legends of the Aryan +and the non-Aryan worlds contain common mythical elements, the legends +themselves are not of common origin. The fact that certain mythical +ideas are possessed alike by different races, shows that in each case +a similar human intelligence has been at work explaining similar +phenomena; but in order to prove a family relationship between the +culture of these different races, we need something more than this. +We need to prove not only a community of mythical ideas, but also a +community between the stories based upon these ideas. We must show not +only that Michabo is like Herakles in those striking features which +the contemplation of solar phenomena would necessarily suggest to +the imagination of the primitive myth-maker, but also that the two +characters are similarly conceived, and that the two careers agree in +seemingly arbitrary points of detail, as is the case in the stories of +Punchkin and the Heartless Giant. The mere fact that solar heroes, all +over the world, travel in a certain path and slay imps of darkness is of +great value as throwing light upon primeval habits of thought, but it +is of no value as evidence for or against an alleged community of +civilization between different races. The same is true of the sacredness +universally attached to certain numbers. Dr. Blinton's opinion that the +sanctity of the number four in nearly all systems of mythology is due to +a primitive worship of the cardinal points, becomes very probable +when we recollect that the similar pre-eminence of seven is almost +demonstrably connected with the adoration of the sun, moon, and +five visible planets, which has left its record in the structure and +nomenclature of the Aryan and Semitic week. [137] + +In view of these considerations, the comparison of barbaric myths +with each other and with the legends of the Aryan world becomes doubly +interesting, as illustrating the similarity in the workings of the +untrained intelligence the world over. In our first paper we saw how +the moon-spots have been variously explained by Indo-Europeans, as a +man with a thorn-bush or as two children bearing a bucket of water on a +pole. In Ceylon it is said that as Sakyamuni was one day wandering half +starved in the forest, a pious hare met him, and offered itself to him +to be slain and cooked for dinner; whereupon the holy Buddha set it on +high in the moon, that future generations of men might see it and marvel +at its piety. In the Samoan Islands these dark patches are supposed +to be portions of a woman's figure. A certain woman was once hammering +something with a mallet, when the moon arose, looking so much like a +bread-fruit that the woman asked it to come down and let her child +eat off a piece of it; but the moon, enraged at the insult, gobbled up +woman, mallet, and child, and there, in the moon's belly, you may still +behold them. According to the Hottentots, the Moon once sent the Hare to +inform men that as she died away and rose again, so should men die +and again come to life. But the stupid Hare forgot the purport of the +message, and, coming down to the earth, proclaimed it far and wide that +though the Moon was invariably resuscitated whenever she died, mankind, +on the other hand, should die and go to the Devil. When the silly brute +returned to the lunar country and told what he had done, the Moon was so +angry that she took up an axe and aimed a blow at his head to split it. +But the axe missed and only cut his lip open; and that was the origin +of the "hare-lip." Maddened by the pain and the insult, the Hare flew at +the Moon and almost scratched her eyes out; and to this day she bears on +her face the marks of the Hare's claws. [138] + +Again, every reader of the classics knows how Selene cast Endymion into +a profound slumber because he refused her love, and how at sundown she +used to come and stand above him on the Latmian hill, and watch him as +he lay asleep on the marble steps of a temple half hidden among drooping +elm-trees, over which clambered vines heavy with dark blue grapes. This +represents the rising moon looking down on the setting sun; in Labrador +a similar phenomenon has suggested a somewhat different story. Among +the Esquimaux the Sun is a maiden and the Moon is her brother, who +is overcome by a wicked passion for her. Once, as this girl was at a +dancing-party in a friend's hut, some one came up and took hold of her +by the shoulders and shook her, which is (according to the legend) the +Esquimaux manner of declaring one's love. She could not tell who it was +in the dark, and so she dipped her hand in some soot and smeared one of +his cheeks with it. When a light was struck in the hut, she saw, to her +dismay, that it was her brother, and, without waiting to learn any more, +she took to her heels. He started in hot pursuit, and so they ran till +they got to the end of the world,--the jumping-off place,--when they +both jumped into the sky. There the Moon still chases his sister, the +Sun; and every now and then he turns his sooty cheek toward the earth, +when he becomes so dark that you cannot see him. [139] + +Another story, which I cite from Mr. Tylor, shows that Malays, as well +as Indo-Europeans, have conceived of the clouds as swan-maidens. In the +island of Celebes it is said that "seven heavenly nymphs came down from +the sky to bathe, and they were seen by Kasimbaha, who thought first +that they were white doves, but in the bath he saw that they were women. +Then he stole one of the thin robes that gave the nymphs their power of +flying, and so he caught Utahagi, the one whose robe he had stolen, +and took her for his wife, and she bore him a son. Now she was called +Utahagi from a single white hair she had, which was endowed with magic +power, and this hair her husband pulled out. As soon as he had done +it, there arose a great storm, and Utahagi went up to heaven. The child +cried for its mother, and Kasimbaha was in great grief, and cast about +how he should follow Utahagi up into the sky." Here we pass to the myth +of Jack and the Beanstalk. "A rat gnawed the thorns off the rattans, and +Kasimbaha clambered up by them with his son upon his back, till he came +to heaven. There a little bird showed him the house of Utahagi, and +after various adventures he took up his abode among the gods." [140] + +In Siberia we find a legend of swan-maidens, which also reminds us of +the story of the Heartless Giant. A certain Samojed once went out to +catch foxes, and found seven maidens swimming in a lake surrounded by +gloomy pine-trees, while their feather dresses lay on the shore. He +crept up and stole one of these dresses, and by and by the swan-maiden +came to him shivering with cold and promising to become his wife if he +would only give her back her garment of feathers. The ungallant fellow, +however, did not care for a wife, but a little revenge was not unsuited +to his way of thinking. There were seven robbers who used to prowl about +the neighbourhood, and who, when they got home, finding their hearts +in the way, used to hang them up on some pegs in the tent. One of these +robbers had killed the Samojed's mother; and so he promised to return +the swan-maiden's dress after she should have procured for him these +seven hearts. So she stole the hearts, and the Samojed smashed six of +them, and then woke up the seventh robber, and told him to restore his +mother to life, on pain of instant death, Then the robber produced a +purse containing the old woman's soul, and going to the graveyard shook +it over her bones, and she revived at once. Then the Samojed smashed the +seventh heart, and the robber died; and so the swan-maiden got back her +plumage and flew away rejoicing. [141] + +Swan-maidens are also, according to Mr. Baring-Gould, found among the +Minussinian Tartars. But there they appear as foul demons, like the +Greek Harpies, who delight in drinking the blood of men slain in battle. +There are forty of them, who darken the whole firmament in their flight; +but sometimes they all coalesce into one great black storm-fiend, who +rages for blood, like a werewolf. + +In South Africa we find the werewolf himself. [142] A certain Hottentot +was once travelling with a Bushwoman and her child, when they perceived +at a distance a troop of wild horses. The man, being hungry, asked the +woman to turn herself into a lioness and catch one of these horses, that +they might eat of it; whereupon the woman set down her child, and taking +off a sort of petticoat made of human skin became instantly transformed +into a lioness, which rushed across the plain, struck down a wild horse +and lapped its blood. The man climbed a tree in terror, and conjured his +companion to resume her natural shape. Then the lioness came back, and +putting on the skirt made of human skin reappeared as a woman, and took +up her child, and the two friends resumed their journey after making a +meal of the horse's flesh. [143] + +The werewolf also appears in North America, duly furnished with his +wolf-skin sack; but neither in America nor in Africa is he the genuine +European werewolf, inspired by a diabolic frenzy, and ravening for human +flesh. The barbaric myths testify to the belief that men can be changed +into beasts or have in some cases descended from beast ancestors, but +the application of this belief to the explanation of abnormal cannibal +cravings seems to have been confined to Europe. The werewolf of +the Middle Ages was not merely a transformed man,--he was an insane +cannibal, whose monstrous appetite, due to the machinations of the +Devil, showed its power over his physical organism by changing the shape +of it. The barbaric werewolf is the product of a lower and simpler kind +of thinking. There is no diabolism about him; for barbaric races, while +believing in the existence of hurtful and malicious fiends, have not a +sufficiently vivid sense of moral abnormity to form the conception of +diabolism. And the cannibal craving, which to the mediaeval European was +a phenomenon so strange as to demand a mythological explanation, +would not impress the barbarian as either very exceptional or very +blameworthy. + +In the folk-lore of the Zulus, one of the most quick-witted and +intelligent of African races, the cannibal possesses many features in +common with the Scandinavian Troll, who also has a liking for human +flesh. As we saw in the preceding paper, the Troll has very likely +derived some of his characteristics from reminiscences of the barbarous +races who preceded the Aryans in Central and Northern Europe. In like +manner the long-haired cannibal of Zulu nursery literature, who is +always represented as belonging to a distinct race, has been supposed to +be explained by the existence of inferior races conquered and displaced +by the Zulus. Nevertheless, as Dr. Callaway observes, neither the +long-haired mountain cannibals of Western Africa, nor the Fulahs, +nor the tribes of Eghedal described by Barth, "can be considered as +answering to the description of long-haired as given in the Zulu legends +of cannibals; neither could they possibly have formed their historical +basis..... It is perfectly clear that the cannibals of the Zulu legends +are not common men; they are magnified into giants and magicians; they +are remarkably swift and enduring; fierce and terrible warriors." Very +probably they may have a mythical origin in modes of thought akin to +those which begot the Panis of the Veda and the Northern Trolls. The +parallelism is perhaps the most remarkable one which can be found in +comparing barbaric with Aryan folk-lore. Like the Panis and Trolls, the +cannibals are represented as the foes of the solar hero Uthlakanyana, +who is almost as great a traveller as Odysseus, and whose presence of +mind amid trying circumstances is not to be surpassed by that of the +incomparable Boots. Uthlakanyana is as precocious as Herakles or Hermes. +He speaks before he is born, and no sooner has he entered the world than +he begins to outwit other people and get possession of their property. +He works bitter ruin for the cannibals, who, with all their strength and +fleetness, are no better endowed with quick wit than the Trolls, whom +Boots invariably victimizes. On one of his journeys, Uthlakanyana fell +in with a cannibal. Their greetings were cordial enough, and they ate a +bit of leopard together, and began to build a house, and killed a couple +of cows, but the cannibal's cow was lean, while Uthlakanyana's was fat. +Then the crafty traveller, fearing that his companion might insist upon +having the fat cow, turned and said, "'Let the house be thatched now +then we can eat our meat. You see the sky, that we shall get wet.' The +cannibal said, 'You are right, child of my sister; you are a man indeed +in saying, let us thatch the house, for we shall get wet.' +Uthlakanyana said, 'Do you do it then; I will go inside, and push the +thatching-needle for you, in the house.' The cannibal went up. His hair +was very, very long. Uthlakanyana went inside and pushed the needle for +him. He thatched in the hair of the cannibal, tying it very tightly; he +knotted it into the thatch constantly, taking it by separate locks and +fastening it firmly, that it might be tightly fastened to the house." +Then the rogue went outside and began to eat of the cow which was +roasted. "The cannibal said, 'What are you about, child of my sister? +Let us just finish the house; afterwards we can do that; we will do it +together.' Uthlakanyana replied, 'Come down then. I cannot go into the +house any more. The thatching is finished.' The cannibal assented. When +he thought he was going to quit the house, he was unable to quit it. +He cried out saying, 'Child of my sister, how have you managed your +thatching?' Uthlakanyana said, 'See to it yourself. I have thatched +well, for I shall not have any dispute. Now I am about to eat in peace; +I no longer dispute with anybody, for I am now alone with my cow.'" +So the cannibal cried and raved and appealed in vain to Uthlakanyana's +sense of justice, until by and by "the sky came with hailstones and +lightning Uthlakanyana took all the meat into the house; he stayed in +the house and lit a fire. It hailed and rained. The cannibal cried on +the top of the house; he was struck with the hailstones, and died there +on the house. It cleared. Uthlakanyana went out and said, 'Uncle, just +come down, and come to me. It has become clear. It no longer rains, and +there is no more hail, neither is there any more lightning. Why are you +silent?' So Uthlakanyana ate his cow alone, until he had finished it. He +then went on his way." [144] + +In another Zulu legend, a girl is stolen by cannibals, and shut up +in the rock Itshe-likantunjambili, which, like the rock of the Forty +Thieves, opens and shuts at the command of those who understand its +secret. She gets possession of the secret and escapes, and when the +monsters pursue her she throws on the ground a calabash full of sesame, +which they stop to eat. At last, getting tired of running, she climbs a +tree, and there she finds her brother, who, warned by a dream, has come +out to look for her. They ascend the tree together until they come to a +beautiful country well stocked with fat oxen. They kill an ox, and while +its flesh is roasting they amuse themselves by making a stout thong of +its hide. By and by one of the cannibals, smelling the cooking meat, +comes to the foot of the tree, and looking up discovers the boy and girl +in the sky-country! They invite him up there; to share in their feast, +and throw him an end of the thong by which to climb up. When the +cannibal is dangling midway between earth and heaven, they let go the +rope, and down he falls with a terrible crash. [145] + +In this story the enchanted rock opened by a talismanic formula brings +us again into contact with Indo-European folk-lore. And that the +conception has in both cases been suggested by the same natural +phenomenon is rendered probable by another Zulu tale, in which the +cannibal's cave is opened by a swallow which flies in the air. Here we +have the elements of a genuine lightning-myth. We see that among these +African barbarians, as well as among our own forefathers, the clouds +have been conceived as birds carrying the lightning which can cleave +the rocks. In America we find the same notion prevalent. The Dakotahs +explain the thunder as "the sound of the cloud-bird flapping his wings," +and the Caribs describe the lightning as a poisoned dart which the bird +blows through a hollow reed, after the Carib style of shooting. [146] +On the other hand, the Kamtchatkans know nothing of a cloud-bird, but +explain the lightning as something analogous to the flames of a volcano. +The Kamtchatkans say that when the mountain goblins have got their +stoves well heated up, they throw overboard, with true barbaric +shiftlessness, all the brands not needed for immediate use, which makes +a volcanic eruption. So when it is summer on earth, it is winter in +heaven; and the gods, after heating up their stoves, throw away their +spare kindlingwood, which makes the lightning. [147] + +When treating of Indo-European solar myths, we saw the unvarying, +unresting course of the sun variously explained as due to the subjection +of Herakles to Eurystheus, to the anger of Poseidon at Odysseus, or to +the curse laid upon the Wandering Jew. The barbaric mind has worked +at the same problem; but the explanations which it has given are more +childlike and more grotesque. A Polynesian myth tells how the Sun used +to race through the sky so fast that men could not get enough daylight +to hunt game for their subsistence. By and by an inventive genius, named +Maui, conceived the idea of catching the Sun in a noose and making +him go more deliberately. He plaited ropes and made a strong net, and, +arming himself with the jawbone of his ancestress, Muri-ranga-whenua, +called together all his brethren, and they journeyed to the place where +the Sun rises, and there spread the net. When the Sun came up, he stuck +his head and fore-paws into the net, and while the brothers tightened +the ropes so that they cut him and made him scream for mercy, Maui beat +him with the jawbone until he became so weak that ever since he has +only been able to crawl through the sky. According to another Polynesian +myth, there was once a grumbling Radical, who never could be satisfied +with the way in which things are managed on this earth. This bold +Radical set out to build a stone house which should last forever; but +the days were so short and the stones so heavy that he despaired of +ever accomplishing his project. One night, as he lay awake thinking the +matter over, it occurred to him that if he could catch the Sun in a net, +he could have as much daylight as was needful in order to finish his +house. So he borrowed a noose from the god Itu, and, it being autumn, +when the Sun gets sleepy and stupid, he easily caught the luminary. The +Sun cried till his tears made a great freshet which nearly drowned the +island; but it was of no use; there he is tethered to this day. + +Similar stories are met with in North America. A Dog-Rib Indian once +chased a squirrel up a tree until he reached the sky. There he set a +snare for the squirrel and climbed down again. Next day the Sun was +caught in the snare, and night came on at once. That is to say, the sun +was eclipsed. "Something wrong up there," thought the Indian, "I must +have caught the Sun"; and so he sent up ever so many animals to release +the captive. They were all burned to ashes, but at last the mole, going +up and burrowing out through the GROUND OF THE SKY, (!) succeeded in +gnawing asunder the cords of the snare. Just as it thrust its head out +through the opening made in the sky-ground, it received a flash of light +which put its eyes out, and that is why the mole is blind. The Sun got +away, but has ever since travelled more deliberately. [148] + +These sun-myths, many more of which are to be found collected in Mr. +Tylor's excellent treatise on "The Early History of Mankind," well +illustrate both the similarity and the diversity of the results obtained +by the primitive mind, in different times and countries, when engaged +upon similar problems. No one would think of referring these stories to +a common traditional origin with the myths of Herakles and Odysseus; yet +both classes of tales were devised to explain the same phenomenon. Both +to the Aryan and to the Polynesian the steadfast but deliberate journey +of the sun through the firmament was a strange circumstance which called +for explanation; but while the meagre intelligence of the barbarian +could only attain to the quaint conception of a man throwing a noose +over the sun's head, the rich imagination of the Indo-European created +the noble picture of Herakles doomed to serve the son of Sthenelos, in +accordance with the resistless decree of fate. + +Another world-wide myth, which shows how similar are the mental habits +of uncivilized men, is the myth of the tortoise. The Hindu notion of a +great tortoise that lies beneath the earth and keeps it from falling +is familiar to every reader. According to one account, this tortoise, +swimming in the primeval ocean, bears the earth on his back; but by and +by, when the gods get ready to destroy mankind, the tortoise will grow +weary and sink under his load, and then the earth will be overwhelmed +by a deluge. Another legend tells us that when the gods and demons +took Mount Mandara for a churning-stick and churned the ocean to make +ambrosia, the god Vishnu took on the form of a tortoise and lay at the +bottom of the sea, as a pivot for the whirling mountain to rest upon. +But these versions of the myth are not primitive. In the original +conception the world is itself a gigantic tortoise swimming in a +boundless ocean; the flat surface of the earth is the lower plate which +covers the reptile's belly; the rounded shell which covers his back is +the sky; and the human race lives and moves and has its being inside of +the tortoise. Now, as Mr. Tylor has pointed out, many tribes of Redskins +hold substantially the same theory of the universe. They regard the +tortoise as the symbol of the world, and address it as the mother of +mankind. Once, before the earth was made, the king of heaven quarrelled +with his wife, and gave her such a terrible kick that she fell down into +the sea. Fortunately a tortoise received her on his back, and proceeded +to raise up the earth, upon which the heavenly woman became the mother +of mankind. These first men had white faces, and they used to dig in the +ground to catch badgers. One day a zealous burrower thrust his knife too +far and stabbed the tortoise, which immediately sank into the sea and +drowned all the human race save one man. [149] In Finnish mythology the +world is not a tortoise, but it is an egg, of which the white part is +the ocean, the yolk is the earth, and the arched shell is the sky. In +India this is the mundane egg of Brahma; and it reappears among the +Yorubas as a pair of calabashes put together like oyster-shells, one +making a dome over the other. In Zulu-land the earth is a huge beast +called Usilosimapundu, whose face is a rock, and whose mouth is very +large and broad and red: "in some countries which were on his body it +was winter, and in others it was early harvest." Many broad rivers flow +over his back, and he is covered with forests and hills, as is indicated +in his name, which means "the rugose or knotty-backed beast." In this +group of conceptions may be seen the origin of Sindbad's great fish, +which lay still so long that sand and clay gradually accumulated upon +its back, and at last it became covered with trees. And lastly, passing +from barbaric folk-lore and from the Arabian Nights to the highest level +of Indo-European intelligence, do we not find both Plato and Kepler +amusing themselves with speculations in which the earth figures as a +stupendous animal? + + + + +VI. JUVENTUS MUNDI. [150] + + +TWELVE years ago, when, in concluding his "Studies on Homer and the +Homeric Age," Mr. Gladstone applied to himself the warning addressed by +Agamemnon to the priest of Apollo, + + "Let not Nemesis catch me by the swift ships." + +he would seem to have intended it as a last farewell to classical +studies. Yet, whatever his intentions may have been, they have yielded +to the sweet desire of revisiting familiar ground,--a desire as strong +in the breast of the classical scholar as was the yearning which led +Odysseus to reject the proffered gift of immortality, so that he might +but once more behold the wreathed smoke curling about the roofs of his +native Ithaka. In this new treatise, on the "Youth of the World," Mr. +Gladstone discusses the same questions which were treated in his earlier +work; and the main conclusions reached in the "Studies on Homer" +are here so little modified with reference to the recent progress of +archaeological inquiries, that the book can hardly be said to have had +any other reason for appearing, save the desire of loitering by the +ships of the Argives, and of returning thither as often as possible. + +The title selected by Mr. Gladstone for his new work is either a very +appropriate one or a strange misnomer, according to the point of +view from which it is regarded. Such being the case, we might readily +acquiesce in its use, and pass it by without comment, trusting that +the author understood himself when he adopted it, were it not that by +incidental references, and especially by his allusions to the legendary +literature of the Jews, Mr. Gladstone shows that he means more by the +title than it can fairly be made to express. An author who seeks to +determine prehistoric events by references to Kadmos, and Danaos, and +Abraham, is at once liable to the suspicion of holding very inadequate +views as to the character of the epoch which may properly be termed the +"youth of the world." Often in reading Mr. Gladstone we are reminded +of Renan's strange suggestion that an exploration of the Hindu Kush +territory, whence probably came the primitive Aryans, might throw some +new light on the origin of language. Nothing could well be more futile. +The primitive Aryan language has already been partly reconstructed for +us; its grammatical forms and syntactic devices are becoming familiar to +scholars; one great philologist has even composed a tale in it; yet +in studying this long-buried dialect we are not much nearer the first +beginnings of human speech than in studying the Greek of Homer, the +Sanskrit of the Vedas, or the Umbrian of the Igovine Inscriptions. The +Aryan mother-tongue had passed into the last of the three stages of +linguistic growth long before the break-up of the tribal communities +in Aryana-vaedjo, and at that early date presented a less primitive +structure than is to be seen in the Chinese or the Mongolian of our own +times. So the state of society depicted in the Homeric poems, and well +illustrated by Mr. Gladstone, is many degrees less primitive than that +which is revealed to us by the archaeological researches either of +Pictet and Windischmann, or of Tylor, Lubbock, and M'Lennan. We shall +gather evidences of this as we proceed. Meanwhile let us remember that +at least eleven thousand years before the Homeric age men lived in +communities, and manufactured pottery on the banks of the Nile; and let +us not leave wholly out of sight that more distant period, perhaps a +million years ago, when sparse tribes of savage men, contemporaneous +with the mammoths of Siberia and the cave-tigers of Britain, struggled +against the intense cold of the glacial winters. + +Nevertheless, though the Homeric age appears to be a late one when +considered with reference to the whole career of the human race, there +is a point of view from which it may be justly regarded as the "youth of +the world." However long man may have existed upon the earth, he becomes +thoroughly and distinctly human in the eyes of the historian only at the +epoch at which he began to create for himself a literature. As far back +as we can trace the progress of the human race continuously by means of +the written word, so far do we feel a true historical interest in its +fortunes, and pursue our studies with a sympathy which the mere lapse of +time is powerless to impair. But the primeval man, whose history never +has been and never will be written, whose career on the earth, dateless +and chartless, can be dimly revealed to us only by palaeontology, +excites in us a very different feeling. Though with the keenest interest +we ransack every nook and corner of the earth's surface for information +about him, we are all the while aware that what we are studying is +human zoology and not history. Our Neanderthal man is a specimen, not a +character. We cannot ask him the Homeric question, what is his name, who +were his parents, and how did he get where we found him. His language +has died with him, and he can render no account of himself. We can only +regard him specifically as Homo Anthropos, a creature of bigger brain +than his congener Homo Pithekos, and of vastly greater promise. But +this, we say, is physical science, and not history. + +For the historian, therefore, who studies man in his various social +relations, the youth of the world is the period at which literature +begins. We regard the history of the western world as beginning about +the tenth century before the Christian era, because at that date we find +literature, in Greece and Palestine, beginning to throw direct light +upon the social and intellectual condition of a portion of mankind. +That great empires, rich in historical interest and in materials for +sociological generalizations, had existed for centuries before that +date, in Egypt and Assyria, we do not doubt, since they appear at the +dawn of history with all the marks of great antiquity; but the only +steady historical light thrown upon them shines from the pages of Greek +and Hebrew authors, and these know them only in their latest period. For +information concerning their early careers we must look, not to history, +but to linguistic archaeology, a science which can help us to general +results, but cannot enable us to fix dates, save in the crudest manner. + +We mention the tenth century before Christ as the earliest period at +which we can begin to study human society in general and Greek society +in particular, through the medium of literature. But, strictly speaking, +the epoch in question is one which cannot be fixed with accuracy. The +earliest ascertainable date in Greek history is that of the Olympiad +of Koroibos, B. C. 776. There is no doubt that the Homeric poems +were written before this date, and that Homer is therefore strictly +prehistoric. Had this fact been duly realized by those scholars who have +not attempted to deny it, a vast amount of profitless discussion might +have been avoided. Sooner or later, as Grote says, "the lesson must +be learnt, hard and painful though it be, that no imaginable reach of +critical acumen will of itself enable us to discriminate fancy from +reality, in the absence of a tolerable stock of evidence." We do not +know who Homer was; we do not know where or when he lived; and in all +probability we shall never know. The data for settling the question +are not now accessible, and it is not likely that they will ever be +discovered. Even in early antiquity the question was wrapped in an +obscurity as deep as that which shrouds it to-day. The case between the +seven or eight cities which claimed to be the birthplace of the +poet, and which Welcker has so ably discussed, cannot be decided. The +feebleness of the evidence brought into court may be judged from the +fact that the claims of Chios and the story of the poet's blindness rest +alike upon a doubtful allusion in the Hymn to Apollo, which Thukydides +(III. 104) accepted as authentic. The majority of modern critics have +consoled themselves with the vague conclusion that, as between the two +great divisions of the early Greek world, Homer at least belonged to +the Asiatic. But Mr. Gladstone has shown good reasons for doubting this +opinion. He has pointed out several instances in which the poems seem +to betray a closer topographical acquaintance with European than with +Asiatic Greece, and concludes that Athens and Argos have at least as +good a claim to Homer as Chios or Smyrna. + +It is far more desirable that we should form an approximate opinion as +to the date of the Homeric poems, than that we should seek to determine +the exact locality in which they originated. Yet the one question is +hardly less obscure than the other. Different writers of antiquity +assigned eight different epochs to Homer, of which the earliest is +separated from the most recent by an interval of four hundred and sixty +years,--a period as long as that which separates the Black Prince from +the Duke of Wellington, or the age of Perikles from the Christian era. +While Theopompos quite preposterously brings him down as late as the +twenty-third Olympiad, Krates removes him to the twelfth century B. C. +The date ordinarily accepted by modern critics is the one assigned by +Herodotos, 880 B. C. Yet Mr. Gladstone shows reasons, which appear to me +convincing, for doubting or rejecting this date. + +I refer to the much-abused legend of the Children of Herakles, which +seems capable of yielding an item of trustworthy testimony, provided +it be circumspectly dealt with. I differ from Mr. Gladstone in +not regarding the legend as historical in its present shape. In my +apprehension, Hyllos and Oxylos, as historical personages, have no value +whatever; and I faithfully follow Mr. Grote, in refusing to accept any +date earlier than the Olympiad of Koroibos. The tale of the "Return of +the Herakleids" is undoubtedly as unworthy of credit as the legend +of Hengst and Horsa; yet, like the latter, it doubtless embodies +a historical occurrence. One cannot approve, as scholarlike or +philosophical, the scepticism of Mr. Cox, who can see in the whole +narrative nothing but a solar myth. There certainly was a time when the +Dorian tribes--described in the legend as the allies of the Children of +Herakles--conquered Peloponnesos; and that time was certainly subsequent +to the composition of the Homeric poems. It is incredible that the Iliad +and the Odyssey should ignore the existence of Dorians in Peloponnesos, +if there were Dorians not only dwelling but ruling there at the time +when the poems were written. The poems are very accurate and rigorously +consistent in their use of ethnical appellatives; and their author, in +speaking of Achaians and Argives, is as evidently alluding to peoples +directly known to him, as is Shakespeare when he mentions Danes and +Scotchmen. Now Homer knows Achaians, Argives, and Pelasgians dwelling in +Peloponnesos; and he knows Dorians also, but only as a people inhabiting +Crete. (Odyss. XIX. 175.) With Homer, moreover, the Hellenes are not the +Greeks in general but only a people dwelling in the north, in Thessaly. +When these poems were written, Greece was not known as Hellas, but +as Achaia,--the whole country taking its name from the Achaians, +the dominant race in Peloponnesos. Now at the beginning of the truly +historical period, in the eighth century B. C., all this is changed. +The Greeks as a people are called Hellenes; the Dorians rule in +Peloponnesos, while their lands are tilled by Argive Helots; and the +Achaians appear only as an insignificant people occupying the southern +shore of the Corinthian Gulf. How this change took place we cannot tell. +The explanation of it can never be obtained from history, though some +light may perhaps be thrown upon it by linguistic archaeology. But at +all events it was a great change, and could not have taken place in a +moment. It is fair to suppose that the Helleno-Dorian conquest must have +begun at least a century before the first Olympiad; for otherwise the +geographical limits of the various Greek races would not have been so +completely established as we find them to have been at that date. The +Greeks, indeed, supposed it to have begun at least three centuries +earlier, but it is impossible to collect evidence which will either +refute or establish that opinion. For our purposes it is enough to know +that the conquest could not have taken place later than 900 B. C.; and +if this be the case, the MINIMUM DATE for the composition of the Homeric +poems must be the tenth century before Christ; which is, in fact, the +date assigned by Aristotle. Thus far, and no farther, I believe it +possible to go with safety. Whether the poems were composed in the +tenth, eleventh, or twelfth century cannot be determined. We +are justified only in placing them far enough back to allow the +Helleno-Dorian conquest to intervene between their composition and the +beginning of recorded history. The tenth century B. C. is the latest +date which will account for all the phenomena involved in the case, and +with this result we must be satisfied. Even on this showing, the Iliad +and Odyssey appear as the oldest existing specimens of Aryan literature, +save perhaps the hymns of the Rig-Veda and the sacred books of the +Avesta. + +The apparent difficulty of preserving such long poems for three or four +centuries without the aid of writing may seem at first sight to justify +the hypothesis of Wolf, that they are mere collections of ancient +ballads, like those which make up the Mahabharata, preserved in the +memories of a dozen or twenty bards, and first arranged under the orders +of Peisistratos. But on a careful examination this hypothesis is seen to +raise more difficulties than it solves. What was there in the position +of Peisistratos, or of Athens itself in the sixth century B. C., so +authoritative as to compel all Greeks to recognize the recension then +and there made of their revered poet? Besides which the celebrated +ordinance of Solon respecting the rhapsodes at the Panathenaia obliges +us to infer the existence of written manuscripts of Homer previous to +550 B. C. As Mr. Grote well observes, the interference of Peisistratos +"presupposes a certain foreknown and ancient aggregate, the main +lineaments of which were familiar to the Grecian public, although many +of the rhapsodes in their practice may have deviated from it both by +omission and interpolation. In correcting the Athenian recitations +conformably with such understood general type, Peisistratos might hope +both to procure respect for Athens and to constitute a fashion for the +rest of Greece. But this step of 'collecting the torn body of sacred +Homer' is something generically different from the composition of a new +Iliad out of pre-existing songs: the former is as easy, suitable, and +promising as the latter is violent and gratuitous." [151] + +As for Wolf's objection, that the Iliad and Odyssey are too long to +have been preserved by memory, it may be met by a simple denial. It is a +strange objection indeed, coming from a man of Wolf's retentive memory. +I do not see how the acquisition of the two poems can be regarded as +such a very arduous task; and if literature were as scanty now as in +Greek antiquity, there are doubtless many scholars who would long since +have had them at their tongues' end. Sir G. C. Lewis, with but little +conscious effort, managed to carry in his head a very considerable +portion of Greek and Latin classic literature; and Niebuhr (who +once restored from recollection a book of accounts which had been +accidentally destroyed) was in the habit of referring to book and +chapter of an ancient author without consulting his notes. Nay, there +is Professor Sophocles, of Harvard University, who, if you suddenly stop +and interrogate him in the street, will tell you just how many times any +given Greek word occurs in Thukydides, or in AEschylos, or in Plato, and +will obligingly rehearse for you the context. If all extant copies of +the Homeric poems were to be gathered together and burnt up to-day, +like Don Quixote's library, or like those Arabic manuscripts of which +Cardinal Ximenes made a bonfire in the streets of Granada, the poems +could very likely be reproduced and orally transmitted for several +generations; and much easier must it have been for the Greeks +to preserve these books, which their imagination invested with a +quasi-sanctity, and which constituted the greater part of the literary +furniture of their minds. In Xenophon's time there were educated +gentlemen at Athens who could repeat both Iliad and Odyssey verbatim. +(Xenoph. Sympos., III. 5.) Besides this, we know that at Chios there was +a company of bards, known as Homerids, whose business it was to recite +these poems from memory; and from the edicts of Solon and the Sikyonian +Kleisthenes (Herod., V. 67), we may infer that the case was the same in +other parts of Greece. Passages from the Iliad used to be sung at the +Pythian festivals, to the accompaniment of the harp (Athenaeus, XIV. +638), and in at least two of the Ionic islands of the AEgaean there were +regular competitive exhibitions by trained young men, at which prizes +were given to the best reciter. The difficulty of preserving the poems, +under such circumstances, becomes very insignificant; and the Wolfian +argument quite vanishes when we reflect that it would have been no +easier to preserve a dozen or twenty short poems than two long ones. +Nay, the coherent, orderly arrangement of the Iliad and Odyssey would +make them even easier to remember than a group of short rhapsodies not +consecutively arranged. + +When we come to interrogate the poems themselves, we find in them quite +convincing evidence that they were originally composed for the ear +alone, and without reference to manuscript assistance. They abound in +catchwords, and in verbal repetitions. The "Catalogue of Ships," as Mr. +Gladstone has acutely observed, is arranged in well-defined sections, +in such a way that the end of each section suggests the beginning of +the next one. It resembles the versus memoriales found in old-fashioned +grammars. But the most convincing proof of all is to be found in the +changes which Greek pronunciation went through between the ages of +Homer and Peisistratos. "At the time when these poems were composed, the +digamma (or w) was an effective consonant, and figured as such in the +structure of the verse; at the time when they were committed to writing, +it had ceased to be pronounced, and therefore never found a place in any +of the manuscripts,--insomuch that the Alexandrian critics, though they +knew of its existence in the much later poems of Alkaios and Sappho, +never recognized it in Homer. The hiatus, and the various perplexities +of metre, occasioned by the loss of the digamma, were corrected by +different grammatical stratagems. But the whole history of this lost +letter is very curious, and is rendered intelligible only by the +supposition that the Iliad and Odyssey belonged for a wide space of time +to the memory, the voice, and the ear exclusively." [152] + +Many of these facts are of course fully recognized by the Wolfians; but +the inference drawn from them, that the Homeric poems began to exist in +a piecemeal condition, is, as we have seen, unnecessary. These poems may +indeed be compared, in a certain sense, with the early sacred and +epic literature of the Jews, Indians, and Teutons. But if we assign a +plurality of composers to the Psalms and Pentateuch, the Mahabharata, +the Vedas, and the Edda, we do so because of internal evidence furnished +by the books themselves, and not because these books could not have been +preserved by oral tradition. Is there, then, in the Homeric poems any +such internal evidence of dual or plural origin as is furnished by +the interlaced Elohistic and Jehovistic documents of the Pentateuch? A +careful investigation will show that there is not. Any scholar who +has given some attention to the subject can readily distinguish the +Elohistic from the Jehovistic portions of the Pentateuch; and, save in +the case of a few sporadic verses, most Biblical critics coincide in the +separation which they make between the two. But the attempts which have +been made to break up the Iliad and Odyssey have resulted in no such +harmonious agreement. There are as many systems as there are critics, +and naturally enough. For the Iliad and the Odyssey are as much alike +as two peas, and the resemblance which holds between the two holds also +between the different parts of each poem. From the appearance of the +injured Chryses in the Grecian camp down to the intervention of Athene +on the field of contest at Ithaka, we find in each book and in each +paragraph the same style, the same peculiarities of expression, the same +habits of thought, the same quite unique manifestations of the faculty +of observation. Now if the style were commonplace, the observation +slovenly, or the thought trivial, as is wont to be the case in +ballad-literature, this argument from similarity might not carry with it +much conviction. But when we reflect that throughout the whole course +of human history no other works, save the best tragedies of Shakespeare, +have ever been written which for combined keenness of observation, +elevation of thought, and sublimity of style can compare with the +Homeric poems, we must admit that the argument has very great weight +indeed. Let us take, for example, the sixth and twenty-fourth books +of the Iliad. According to the theory of Lachmann, the most eminent +champion of the Wolfian hypothesis, these are by different authors. +Human speech has perhaps never been brought so near to the limit of its +capacity of expressing deep emotion as in the scene between Priam and +Achilleus in the twenty-fourth book; while the interview between Hektor +and Andromache in the sixth similarly wellnigh exhausts the power of +language. Now, the literary critic has a right to ask whether it +is probable that two such passages, agreeing perfectly in turn of +expression, and alike exhibiting the same unapproachable degree of +excellence, could have been produced by two different authors. And the +physiologist--with some inward misgivings suggested by Mr. Galton's +theory that the Greeks surpassed us in genius even as we surpass the +negroes--has a right to ask whether it is in the natural course of +things for two such wonderful poets, strangely agreeing in their +minutest psychological characteristics, to be produced at the same time. +And the difficulty thus raised becomes overwhelming when we reflect that +it is the coexistence of not two only, but at least twenty such geniuses +which the Wolfian hypothesis requires us to account for. That theory +worked very well as long as scholars thoughtlessly assumed that the +Iliad and Odyssey were analogous to ballad poetry. But, except in the +simplicity of the primitive diction, there is no such analogy. The +power and beauty of the Iliad are never so hopelessly lost as when it is +rendered into the style of a modern ballad. One might as well attempt +to preserve the grandeur of the triumphant close of Milton's Lycidas by +turning it into the light Anacreontics of the ode to "Eros stung by a +Bee." The peculiarity of the Homeric poetry, which defies translation, +is its union of the simplicity characteristic of an early age with a +sustained elevation of style, which can be explained only as due to +individual genius. + +The same conclusion is forced upon us when we examine the artistic +structure of these poems. With regard to the Odyssey in particular, +Mr. Grote has elaborately shown that its structure is so thoroughly +integral, that no considerable portion could be subtracted without +converting the poem into a more or less admirable fragment. The +Iliad stands in a somewhat different position. There are unmistakable +peculiarities in its structure, which have led even Mr. Grote, who +utterly rejects the Wolfian hypothesis, to regard it as made up of +two poems; although he inclines to the belief that the later poem +was grafted upon the earlier by its own author, by way of further +elucidation and expansion; just as Goethe, in his old age, added a +new part to "Faust." According to Mr. Grote, the Iliad, as originally +conceived, was properly an Achilleis; its design being, as indicated in +the opening lines of the poem, to depict the wrath of Achilleus and +the unutterable woes which it entailed upon the Greeks The plot of +this primitive Achilleis is entirely contained in Books I., VIII., and +XI.-XXII.; and, in Mr. Grote's opinion, the remaining books injure the +symmetry of this plot by unnecessarily prolonging the duration of +the Wrath, while the embassy to Achilleus, in the ninth book, unduly +anticipates the conduct of Agamemnon in the nineteenth, and is +therefore, as a piece of bungling work, to be referred to the hands of +an inferior interpolator. Mr. Grote thinks it probable that these books, +with the exception of the ninth, were subsequently added by the poet, +with a view to enlarging the original Achilleis into a real Iliad, +describing the war of the Greeks against Troy. With reference to this +hypothesis, I gladly admit that Mr. Grote is, of all men now living, the +one best entitled to a reverential hearing on almost any point connected +with Greek antiquity. Nevertheless it seems to me that his theory rests +solely upon imagined difficulties which have no real existence. I doubt +if any scholar, reading the Iliad ever so much, would ever be struck by +these alleged inconsistencies of structure, unless they were suggested +by some a priori theory. And I fear that the Wolfian theory, in spite of +Mr. Grote's emphatic rejection of it, is responsible for some of these +over-refined criticisms. Even as it stands, the Iliad is not an account +of the war against Troy. It begins in the tenth year of the siege, and +it does not continue to the capture of the city. It is simply occupied +with an episode in the war,--with the wrath of Achilleus and its +consequences, according to the plan marked out in the opening lines. The +supposed additions, therefore, though they may have given to the poem +a somewhat wider scope, have not at any rate changed its primitive +character of an Achilleis. To my mind they seem even called for by the +original conception of the consequences of the wrath. To have inserted +the battle at the ships, in which Sarpedon breaks down the wall of the +Greeks, immediately after the occurrences of the first book, would have +been too abrupt altogether. Zeus, after his reluctant promise to Thetis, +must not be expected so suddenly to exhibit such fell determination. And +after the long series of books describing the valorous deeds of Aias, +Diomedes, Agamemnon, Odysseus, and Menelaos, the powerful intervention +of Achilleus appears in far grander proportions than would otherwise +be possible. As for the embassy to Achilleus, in the ninth book, I +am unable to see how the final reconciliation with Agamemnon would be +complete without it. As Mr. Gladstone well observes, what Achilleus +wants is not restitution, but apology; and Agamemnon offers no apology +until the nineteenth book. In his answer to the ambassadors, Achilleus +scornfully rejects the proposals which imply that the mere return of +Briseis will satisfy his righteous resentment, unless it be accompanied +with that public humiliation to which circumstances have not yet +compelled the leader of the Greeks to subject himself. Achilleus is not +to be bought or cajoled. Even the extreme distress of the Greeks in the +thirteenth book does not prevail upon him; nor is there anything in the +poem to show that he ever would have laid aside his wrath, had not the +death of Patroklos supplied him with a new and wholly unforeseen motive. +It seems to me that his entrance into the battle after the death of his +friend would lose half its poetic effect, were it not preceded by some +such scene as that in the ninth book, in which he is represented as deaf +to all ordinary inducements. As for the two concluding books, which Mr. +Grote is inclined to regard as a subsequent addition, not necessitated +by the plan of the poem, I am at a loss to see how the poem can be +considered complete without them. To leave the bodies of Patroklos +and Hektor unburied would be in the highest degree shocking to Greek +religious feelings. Remembering the sentence incurred, in far less +superstitious times, by the generals at Arginusai, it is impossible to +believe that any conclusion which left Patroklos's manes unpropitiated, +and the mutilated corpse of Hektor unransomed, could have satisfied +either the poet or his hearers. For further particulars I must refer +the reader to the excellent criticisms of Mr. Gladstone, and also to the +article on "Greek History and Legend" in the second volume of Mr. Mill's +"Dissertations and Discussions." A careful study of the arguments of +these writers, and, above all, a thorough and independent examination of +the Iliad itself, will, I believe, convince the student that this great +poem is from beginning to end the consistent production of a single +author. + +The arguments of those who would attribute the Iliad and Odyssey, taken +as wholes, to two different authors, rest chiefly upon some apparent +discrepancies in the mythology of the two poems; but many of these +difficulties have been completely solved by the recent progress of the +science of comparative mythology. Thus, for example, the fact that, +in the Iliad, Hephaistos is called the husband of Charis, while in the +Odyssey he is called the husband of Aphrodite, has been cited even by +Mr. Grote as evidence that the two poems are not by the same author. It +seems to me that one such discrepancy, in the midst of complete general +agreement, would be much better explained as Cervantes explained his own +inconsistency with reference to the stealing of Sancho's mule, in the +twenty-second chapter of "Don Quixote." But there is no discrepancy. +Aphrodite, though originally the moon-goddess, like the German +Horsel, had before Homer's time acquired many of the attributes of the +dawn-goddess Athene, while her lunar characteristics had been to a +great extent transferred to Artemis and Persephone. In her renovated +character, as goddess of the dawn, Aphrodite became identified with +Charis, who appears in the Rig-Veda as dawn-goddess. In the post-Homeric +mythology, the two were again separated, and Charis, becoming divided in +personality, appears as the Charites, or Graces, who were supposed to be +constant attendants of Aphrodite. But in the Homeric poems the two are +still identical, and either Charis or Aphrodite may be called the wife +of the fire-god, without inconsistency. + +Thus to sum up, I believe that Mr. Gladstone is quite right in +maintaining that both the Iliad and Odyssey are, from beginning to end, +with the exception of a few insignificant interpolations, the work of a +single author, whom we have no ground for calling by any other name than +that of Homer. I believe, moreover, that this author lived before the +beginning of authentic history, and that we can determine neither his +age nor his country with precision. We can only decide that he was a +Greek who lived at some time previous to the year 900 B.C. + +Here, however, I must begin to part company with Mr. Gladstone, and +shall henceforth unfortunately have frequent occasion to differ from him +on points of fundamental importance. For Mr. Gladstone not only regards +the Homeric age as strictly within the limits of authentic history, but +he even goes much further than this. He would not only fix the date of +Homer positively in the twelfth century B. C., but he regards the +Trojan war as a purely historical event, of which Homer is the authentic +historian and the probable eye-witness. Nay, he even takes the word +of the poet as proof conclusive of the historical character of events +happening several generations before the Troika, according to the +legendary chronology. He not only regards Agamemnon, Achilleus, +and Paris as actual personages, but he ascribes the same reality to +characters like Danaos, Kadmos, and Perseus, and talks of the Pelopid +and Aiolid dynasties, and the empire of Minos, with as much confidence +as if he were dealing with Karlings or Capetians, or with the epoch of +the Crusades. + +It is disheartening, at the present day, and after so much has been +finally settled by writers like Grote, Mommsen, and Sir G. C. Lewis, +to come upon such views in the work of a man of scholarship and +intelligence. One begins to wonder how many more times it will be +necessary to prove that dates and events are of no historical value, +unless attested by nearly contemporary evidence. Pausanias and Plutarch +were able men no doubt, and Thukydides was a profound historian; but +what these writers thought of the Herakleid invasion, the age of +Homer, and the war of Troy, can have no great weight with the critical +historian, since even in the time of Thukydides these events were +as completely obscured by lapse of time as they are now. There is no +literary Greek history before the age of Hekataios and Herodotos, three +centuries subsequent to the first recorded Olympiad. A portion of this +period is satisfactorily covered by inscriptions, but even these fail us +before we get within a century of this earliest ascertainable date. +Even the career of the lawgiver Lykourgos, which seems to belong to +the commencement of the eighth century B. C., presents us, from lack of +anything like contemporary records, with many insoluble problems. The +Helleno-Dorian conquest, as we have seen, must have occurred at some +time or other; but it evidently did not occur within two centuries of +the earliest known inscription, and it is therefore folly to imagine +that we can determine its date or ascertain the circumstances which +attended it. Anterior to this event there is but one fact in Greek +antiquity directly known to us,--the existence of the Homeric poems. The +belief that there was a Trojan war rests exclusively upon the contents +of those poems: there is no other independent testimony to it whatever. +But the Homeric poems are of no value as testimony to the truth of the +statements contained in them, unless it can be proved that their author +was either contemporary with the Troika, or else derived his information +from contemporary witnesses. This can never be proved. To assume, as Mr. +Gladstone does, that Homer lived within fifty years after the Troika, is +to make a purely gratuitous assumption. For aught the wisest historian +can tell, the interval may have been five hundred years, or a thousand. +Indeed the Iliad itself expressly declares that it is dealing with an +ancient state of things which no longer exists. It is difficult to see +what else can be meant by the statement that the heroes of the Troika +belong to an order of men no longer seen upon the earth. (Iliad, V. +304.) Most assuredly Achilleus the son of Thetis, and Sarpedon the son +of Zeus, and Helena the daughter of Zeus, are no ordinary mortals, such +as might have been seen and conversed with by the poet's grandfather. +They belong to an inferior order of gods, according to the peculiar +anthropomorphism of the Greeks, in which deity and humanity are so +closely mingled that it is difficult to tell where the one begins and +the other ends. Diomedes, single-handed, vanquishes not only the gentle +Aphrodite, but even the god of battles himself, the terrible Ares. +Nestor quaffs lightly from a goblet which, we are told, not two men +among the poet's contemporaries could by their united exertions raise +and place upon a table. Aias and Hektor and Aineias hurl enormous masses +of rock as easily as an ordinary man would throw a pebble. All this +shows that the poet, in his naive way, conceiving of these heroes as +personages of a remote past, was endeavouring as far as possible to +ascribe to them the attributes of superior beings. If all that were +divine, marvellous, or superhuman were to be left out of the poems, the +supposed historical residue would hardly be worth the trouble of saving. +As Mr. Cox well observes, "It is of the very essence of the narrative +that Paris, who has deserted Oinone, the child of the stream Kebren, and +before whom Here, Athene, and Aphrodite had appeared as claimants +for the golden apple, steals from Sparta the beautiful sister of the +Dioskouroi; that the chiefs are summoned together for no other purpose +than to avenge her woes and wrongs; that Achilleus, the son of the +sea-nymph Thetis, the wielder of invincible weapons and the lord of +undying horses, goes to fight in a quarrel which is not his own; that +his wrath is roused because he is robbed of the maiden Briseis, and that +henceforth he takes no part in the strife until his friend Patroklos has +been slain; that then he puts on the new armour which Thetis brings to +him from the anvil of Hephaistos, and goes forth to win the victory. The +details are throughout of the same nature. Achilleus sees and converses +with Athene; Aphrodite is wounded by Diomedes, and Sleep and Death bear +away the lifeless Sarpedon on their noiseless wings to the far-off +land of light." In view of all this it is evident that Homer was not +describing, like a salaried historiographer, the state of things which +existed in the time of his father or grandfather. To his mind the +occurrences which he described were those of a remote, a wonderful, a +semi-divine past. + +This conclusion, which I have thus far supported merely by reference to +the Iliad itself, becomes irresistible as soon as we take into account +the results obtained during the past thirty years by the science of +comparative mythology. As long as our view was restricted to Greece, +it was perhaps excusable that Achilleus and Paris should be taken for +exaggerated copies of actual persons. Since the day when Grimm laid the +foundations of the science of mythology, all this has been changed. It +is now held that Achilleus and Paris and Helena are to be found, not +only in the Iliad, but also in the Rig-Veda, and therefore, as mythical +conceptions, date, not from Homer, but from a period preceding the +dispersion of the Aryan nations. The tale of the Wrath of Achilleus, far +from originating with Homer, far from being recorded by the author of +the Iliad as by an eyewitness, must have been known in its essential +features in Aryana-vaedjo, at that remote epoch when the Indian, the +Greek, and the Teuton were as yet one and the same. For the story has +been retained by the three races alike, in all its principal features; +though the Veda has left it in the sky where it originally belonged, +while the Iliad and the Nibelungenlied have brought it down to earth, +the one locating it in Asia Minor, and the other in Northwestern Europe. +[153] + +In the Rig-Veda the Panis are the genii of night and winter, +corresponding to the Nibelungs, or "Children of the Mist," in the +Teutonic legend, and to the children of Nephele (cloud) in the Greek +myth of the Golden Fleece. The Panis steal the cattle of the Sun (Indra, +Helios, Herakles), and carry them by an unknown route to a dark cave +eastward. Sarama, the creeping Dawn, is sent by Indra to find and +recover them. The Panis then tamper with Sarama, and try their best to +induce her to betray her solar lord. For a while she is prevailed +upon to dally with them; yet she ultimately returns to give Indra the +information needful in order that he might conquer the Panis, just +as Helena, in the slightly altered version, ultimately returns to her +western home, carrying with her the treasures (ktemata, Iliad, II. 285) +of which Paris had robbed Menelaos. But, before the bright Indra and his +solar heroes can reconquer their treasures they must take captive the +offspring of Brisaya, the violet light of morning. Thus Achilleus, +answering to the solar champion Aharyu, takes captive the daughter of +Brises. But as the sun must always be parted from the morning-light, to +return to it again just before setting, so Achilleus loses Briseis, +and regains her only just before his final struggle. In similar wise +Herakles is parted from Iole ("the violet one"), and Sigurd from +Brynhild. In sullen wrath the hero retires from the conflict, and his +Myrmidons are no longer seen on the battle-field, as the sun hides +behind the dark cloud and his rays no longer appear about him. Yet +toward the evening, as Briseis returns, he appears in his might, clothed +in the dazzling armour wrought for him by the fire-god Hephaistos, and +with his invincible spear slays the great storm-cloud, which during his +absence had wellnigh prevailed over the champions of the daylight. But +his triumph is short-lived; for having trampled on the clouds that had +opposed him, while yet crimsoned with the fierce carnage, the sharp +arrow of the night-demon Paris slays him at the Western Gates. We have +not space to go into further details. In Mr. Cox's "Mythology of the +Aryan Nations," and "Tales of Ancient Greece," the reader will find the +entire contents of the Iliad and Odyssey thus minutely illustrated by +comparison with the Veda, the Edda, and the Lay of the Nibelungs. + +Ancient as the Homeric poems undoubtedly are, they are modern in +comparison with the tale of Achilleus and Helena, as here unfolded. The +date of the entrance of the Greeks into Europe will perhaps never be +determined; but I do not see how any competent scholar can well place it +at less than eight hundred or a thousand years before the time of Homer. +Between the two epochs the Greek, Latin, Umbrian, and Keltic lauguages +had time to acquire distinct individualities. Far earlier, therefore, +than the Homeric "juventus mundi" was that "youth of the world," in +which the Aryan forefathers, knowing no abstract terms, and possessing +no philosophy but fetichism, deliberately spoke of the Sun, and the +Dawn, and the Clouds, as persons or as animals. The Veda, +though composed much later than this,--perhaps as late as the +Iliad,--nevertheless preserves the record of the mental life of this +period. The Vedic poet is still dimly aware that Sarama is the fickle +twilight, and the Panis the night-demons who strive to coax her from her +allegiance to the day-god. He keeps the scene of action in the sky. But +the Homeric Greek had long since forgotten that Helena and Paris were +anything more than semi-divine mortals, the daughter of Zeus and the +son of the Zeus-descended Priam. The Hindu understood that Dyaus ("the +bright one") meant the sky, and Sarama ("the creeping one") the dawn, +and spoke significantly when he called the latter the daughter of the +former. But the Greek could not know that Zeus was derived from a root +div, "to shine," or that Helena belonged to a root sar, "to creep." +Phonetic change thus helped him to rise from fetichism to polytheism. +His nature-gods became thoroughly anthropomorphic; and he probably no +more remembered that Achilleus originally signified the sun, than we +remember that the word God, which we use to denote the most vast of +conceptions, originally meant simply the Storm-wind. Indeed, when the +fetichistic tendency led the Greek again to personify the powers of +nature, he had recourse to new names formed from his own language. Thus, +beside Apollo we have Helios; Selene beside Artemis and Persephone; Eos +beside Athene; Gaia beside Demeter. As a further consequence of this +decomposition and new development of the old Aryan mythology, we find, +as might be expected, that the Homeric poems are not always consistent +in their use of their mythic materials. Thus, Paris, the night-demon, +is--to Max Muller's perplexity--invested with many of the attributes of +the bright solar heroes. "Like Perseus, Oidipous, Romulus, and Cyrus, he +is doomed to bring ruin on his parents; like them he is exposed in +his infancy on the hillside, and rescued by a shepherd." All the solar +heroes begin life in this way. Whether, like Apollo, born of the dark +night (Leto), or like Oidipous, of the violet dawn (Iokaste), they are +alike destined to bring destruction on their parents, as the night and +the dawn are both destroyed by the sun. The exposure of the child in +infancy represents the long rays of the morning-sun resting on the +hillside. Then Paris forsakes Oinone ("the wine-coloured one"), but +meets her again at the gloaming when she lays herself by his side amid +the crimson flames of the funeral pyre. Sarpedon also, a solar hero, is +made to fight on the side of the Niblungs or Trojans, attended by his +friend Glaukos ("the brilliant one"). They command the Lykians, or +"children of light"; and with them comes also Memnon, son of the Dawn, +from the fiery land of the Aithiopes, the favourite haunt of Zeus and +the gods of Olympos. + +The Iliad-myth must therefore have been current many ages before +the Greeks inhabited Greece, long before there was any Ilion to be +conquered. Nevertheless, this does not forbid the supposition that the +legend, as we have it, may have been formed by the crystallization of +mythical conceptions about a nucleus of genuine tradition. In this view +I am upheld by a most sagacious and accurate scholar, Mr. E. A. Freeman, +who finds in Carlovingian romance an excellent illustration of the +problem before us. + +The Charlemagne of romance is a mythical personage. He is supposed to +have been a Frenchman, at a time when neither the French nation nor +the French language can properly be said to have existed; and he is +represented as a doughty crusader, although crusading was not thought of +until long after the Karolingian era. The legendary deeds of Charlemagne +are not conformed to the ordinary rules of geography and chronology. +He is a myth, and, what is more, he is a solar myth,--an avatar, or at +least a representative, of Odin in his solar capacity. If in his case +legend were not controlled and rectified by history, he would be for us +as unreal as Agamemnon. + +History, however, tells us that there was an Emperor Karl, German in +race, name, and language, who was one of the two or three greatest men +of action that the world has ever seen, and who in the ninth century +ruled over all Western Europe. To the historic Karl corresponds in many +particulars the mythical Charlemagne. The legend has preserved the fact, +which without the information supplied by history we might perhaps set +down as a fiction, that there was a time when Germany, Gaul, Italy, +and part of Spain formed a single empire. And, as Mr. Freeman has well +observed, the mythical crusades of Charlemagne are good evidence that +there were crusades, although the real Karl had nothing whatever to do +with one. + +Now the case of Agamemnon may be much like that of Charlemagne, except +that we no longer have history to help us in rectifying the legend. +The Iliad preserves the tradition of a time when a large portion of +the islands and mainland of Greece were at least partially subject to a +common suzerain; and, as Mr. Freeman has again shrewdly suggested, +the assignment of a place like Mykenai, instead of Athens or Sparta +or Argos, as the seat of the suzerainty, is strong evidence of the +trustworthiness of the tradition. It appears to show that the legend was +constrained by some remembered fact, instead of being guided by general +probability. Charlemagne's seat of government has been transferred in +romance from Aachen to Paris; had it really been at Paris, says Mr. +Freeman, no one would have thought of transferring it to Aachen. +Moreover, the story of Agamemnon, though uncontrolled by historic +records, is here at least supported by archaeologic remains, which prove +Mykenai to have been at some time or other a place of great consequence. +Then, as to the Trojan war, we know that the Greeks several times +crossed the AEgaean and colonized a large part of the seacoast of Asia +Minor. In order to do this it was necessary to oust from their homes +many warlike communities of Lydians and Bithynians, and we may be +sure that this was not done without prolonged fighting. There may very +probably have been now and then a levy en masse in prehistoric Greece, +as there was in mediaeval Europe; and whether the great suzerain at +Mykenai ever attended one or not, legend would be sure to send him on +such an expedition, as it afterwards sent Charlemagne on a crusade. + +It is therefore quite possible that Agamemnon and Menelaos may represent +dimly remembered sovereigns or heroes, with their characters and actions +distorted to suit the exigencies of a narrative founded upon a solar +myth. The character of the Nibelungenlied here well illustrates that of +the Iliad. Siegfried and Brunhild, Hagen and Gunther, seem to be mere +personifications of physical phenomena; but Etzel and Dietrich are none +other than Attila and Theodoric surrounded with mythical attributes; and +even the conception of Brunhild has been supposed to contain elements +derived from the traditional recollection of the historical Brunehault. +When, therefore, Achilleus is said, like a true sun-god, to have died by +a wound from a sharp instrument in the only vulnerable part of his body, +we may reply that the legendary Charlemagne conducts himself in many +respects like a solar deity. If Odysseus detained by Kalypso represents +the sun ensnared and held captive by the pale goddess of night, the +legend of Frederic Barbarossa asleep in a Thuringian mountain embodies +a portion of a kindred conception. We know that Charlemagne and Frederic +have been substituted for Odin; we may suspect that with the mythical +impersonations of Achilleus and Odysseus some traditional figures may +be blended. We should remember that in early times the solar-myth was a +sort of type after which all wonderful stories would be patterned, and +that to such a type tradition also would be made to conform. + +In suggesting this view, we are not opening the door to Euhemerism. +If there is any one conclusion concerning the Homeric poems which +the labours of a whole generation of scholars may be said to have +satisfactorily established, it is this, that no trustworthy history can +be obtained from either the Iliad or the Odyssey merely by sifting out +the mythical element. Even if the poems contain the faint reminiscence +of an actual event, that event is inextricably wrapped up in mythical +phraseology, so that by no cunning of the scholar can it be construed +into history. In view of this it is quite useless for Mr. Gladstone +to attempt to base historical conclusions upon the fact that Helena is +always called "Argive Helen," or to draw ethnological inferences from +the circumstances that Menelaos, Achilleus, and the rest of the Greek +heroes, have yellow hair, while the Trojans are never so described. The +Argos of the myth is not the city of Peloponnesos, though doubtless +so construed even in Homer's time. It is "the bright land" where Zeus +resides, and the epithet is applied to his wife Here and his daughter +Helena, as well as to the dog of Odysseus, who reappears with Sarameyas +in the Veda. As for yellow hair, there is no evidence that Greeks have +ever commonly possessed it; but no other colour would do for a solar +hero, and it accordingly characterizes the entire company of them, +wherever found, while for the Trojans, or children of night, it is not +required. + +A wider acquaintance with the results which have been obtained during +the past thirty years by the comparative study of languages and +mythologies would have led Mr. Gladstone to reconsider many of his views +concerning the Homeric poems, and might perhaps have led him to cut out +half or two thirds of his book as hopelessly antiquated. The chapter on +the divinities of Olympos would certainly have had to be rewritten, and +the ridiculous theory of a primeval revelation abandoned. One can hardly +preserve one's gravity when Mr. Gladstone derives Apollo from the +Hebrew Messiah, and Athene from the Logos. To accredit Homer with an +acquaintance with the doctrine of the Logos, which did not exist until +the time of Philo, and did not receive its authorized Christian form +until the middle of the second century after Christ, is certainly a +strange proceeding. We shall next perhaps be invited to believe that the +authors of the Volsunga Saga obtained the conception of Sigurd from +the "Thirty-Nine Articles." It is true that these deities, Athene and +Apollo, are wiser, purer, and more dignified, on the whole, than any +of the other divinities of the Homeric Olympos. They alone, as Mr. +Gladstone truly observes, are never deceived or frustrated. For all +Hellas, Apollo was the interpreter of futurity, and in the maid Athene +we have perhaps the highest conception of deity to which the Greek mind +had attained in the early times. In the Veda, Athene is nothing but the +dawn; but in the Greek mythology, while the merely sensuous glories of +daybreak are assigned to Eos, Athene becomes the impersonation of the +illuminating and knowledge-giving light of the sky. As the dawn, she +is daughter of Zeus, the sky, and in mythic language springs from his +forehead; but, according to the Greek conception, this imagery signifies +that she shares, more than any other deity, in the boundless wisdom +of Zeus. The knowledge of Apollo, on the other hand, is the peculiar +privilege of the sun, who, from his lofty position, sees everything that +takes place upon the earth. Even the secondary divinity Helios possesses +this prerogative to a certain extent. + +Next to a Hebrew, Mr. Gladstone prefers a Phoenician ancestry for the +Greek divinities. But the same lack of acquaintance with the old Aryan +mythology vitiates all his conclusions. No doubt the Greek mythology is +in some particulars tinged with Phoenician conceptions. Aphrodite was +originally a purely Greek divinity, but in course of time she acquired +some of the attributes of the Semitic Astarte, and was hardly improved +by the change. Adonis is simply a Semitic divinity, imported into +Greece. But the same cannot be proved of Poseidon; [154] far less of +Hermes, who is identical with the Vedic Sarameyas, the rising wind, +the son of Sarama the dawn, the lying, tricksome wind-god, who invented +music, and conducts the souls of dead men to the house of Hades, even +as his counterpart the Norse Odin rushes over the tree-tops leading +the host of the departed. When one sees Iris, the messenger of Zeus, +referred to a Hebrew original, because of Jehovah's promise to Noah, one +is at a loss to understand the relationship between the two conceptions. +Nothing could be more natural to the Greeks than to call the rainbow the +messenger of the sky-god to earth-dwelling men; to call it a token set +in the sky by Jehovah, as the Hebrews did, was a very different thing. +We may admit the very close resemblance between the myth of Bellerophon +and Anteia, and that of Joseph and Zuleikha; but the fact that the Greek +story is explicable from Aryan antecedents, while the Hebrew story is +isolated, might perhaps suggest the inference that the Hebrews were the +borrowers, as they undoubtedly were in the case of the myth of Eden. +Lastly, to conclude that Helios is an Eastern deity, because he reigns +in the East over Thrinakia, is wholly unwarranted. Is not Helios pure +Greek for the sun? and where should his sacred island be placed, if not +in the East? As for his oxen, which wrought such dire destruction to the +comrades of Odysseus, and which seem to Mr. Gladstone so anomalous, they +are those very same unhappy cattle, the clouds, which were stolen by the +storm-demon Cacus and the wind-deity Hermes, and which furnished endless +material for legends to the poets of the Veda. + +But the whole subject of comparative mythology seems to be terra +incognita to Mr. Gladstone. He pursues the even tenour of his way in +utter disregard of Grimm, and Kuhn, and Breal, and Dasent, and Burnouf. +He takes no note of the Rig-Veda, nor does he seem to realize that there +was ever a time when the ancestors of the Greeks and Hindus worshipped +the same gods. Two or three times he cites Max Muller, but makes no +use of the copious data which might be gathered from him. The only work +which seems really to have attracted his attention is M. Jacolliot's +very discreditable performance called "The Bible in India." Mr. +Gladstone does not, indeed, unreservedly approve of this book; but +neither does he appear to suspect that it is a disgraceful piece of +charlatanry, written by a man ignorant of the very rudiments of the +subject which he professes to handle. + +Mr. Gladstone is equally out of his depth when he comes to treat purely +philological questions. Of the science of philology, as based upon +established laws of phonetic change, he seems to have no knowledge +whatever. He seems to think that two words are sufficiently proved to +be connected when they are seen to resemble each other in spelling or in +sound. Thus he quotes approvingly a derivation of the name Themis from +an assumed verb them, "to speak," whereas it is notoriously derived from +tiqhmi, as statute comes ultimately from stare. His reference of hieros, +"a priest," and geron, "an old man," to the same root, is utterly +baseless; the one is the Sanskrit ishiras, "a powerful man," the other +is the Sanskrit jaran, "an old man." The lists of words on pages 96-100 +are disfigured by many such errors; and indeed the whole purpose for +which they are given shows how sadly Mr. Gladstone's philology is in +arrears. The theory of Niebuhr--that the words common to Greek and +Latin, mostly descriptive of peaceful occupations, are Pelasgian--was +serviceable enough in its day, but is now rendered wholly antiquated +by the discovery that such words are Aryan, in the widest sense. The +Pelasgian theory works very smoothly so long as we only compare the +Greek with the Latin words,--as, for instance, sugon with jugum; but +when we add the English yoke and the Sanskrit yugam, it is evident that +we have got far out of the range of the Pelasgoi. But what shall we say +when we find Mr. Gladstone citing the Latin thalamus in support of +this antiquated theory? Doubtless the word thalamus is, or should be, +significative of peaceful occupations; but it is not a Latin word at +all, except by adoption. One might as well cite the word ensemble to +prove the original identity or kinship between English and French. + +When Mr. Gladstone, leaving the dangerous ground of pure and applied +philology, confines himself to illustrating the contents of the Homeric +poems, he is always excellent. His chapter on the "Outer Geography" of +the Odyssey is exceedingly interesting; showing as it does how much +may be obtained from the patient and attentive study of even a single +author. Mr. Gladstone's knowledge of the SURFACE of the Iliad and +Odyssey, so to speak, is extensive and accurate. It is when he attempts +to penetrate beneath the surface and survey the treasures hidden in the +bowels of the earth, that he shows himself unprovided with the talisman +of the wise dervise, which alone can unlock those mysteries. But modern +philology is an exacting science: to approach its higher problems +requires an amount of preparation sufficient to terrify at the outset +all but the boldest; and a man who has had to regulate taxation, and +make out financial statements, and lead a political party in a great +nation, may well be excused for ignorance of philology. It is difficult +enough for those who have little else to do but to pore over treatises +on phonetics, and thumb their lexicons, to keep fully abreast with the +latest views in linguistics. In matters of detail one can hardly ever +broach a new hypothesis without misgivings lest somebody, in some weekly +journal published in Germany, may just have anticipated and refuted it. +Yet while Mr. Gladstone may be excused for being unsound in philology, +it is far less excusable that he should sit down to write a book about +Homer, abounding in philological statements, without the slightest +knowledge of what has been achieved in that science for several years +past. In spite of all drawbacks, however, his book shows an abiding +taste for scholarly pursuits, and therefore deserves a certain kind +of praise. I hope,--though just now the idea savours of the +ludicrous,--that the day may some time arrive when OUR Congressmen and +Secretaries of the Treasury will spend their vacations in writing books +about Greek antiquities, or in illustrating the meaning of Homeric +phrases. + +July, 1870. + + + + +VII. THE PRIMEVAL GHOST-WORLD. + +NO earnest student of human culture can as yet have forgotten or wholly +outlived the feeling of delight awakened by the first perusal of Max +Muller's brilliant "Essay on Comparative Mythology,"--a work in which +the scientific principles of myth-interpretation, though not newly +announced, were at least brought home to the reader with such an amount +of fresh and striking concrete illustration as they had not before +received. Yet it must have occurred to more than one reader that, while +the analyses of myths contained in this noble essay are in the main +sound in principle and correct in detail, nevertheless the author's +theory of the genesis of myth is expressed, and most likely conceived, +in a way that is very suggestive of carelessness and fallacy. There are +obvious reasons for doubting whether the existence of mythology can be +due to any "disease," abnormity, or hypertrophy of metaphor in language; +and the criticism at once arises, that with the myth-makers it was not +so much the character of the expression which originated the thought, +as it was the thought which gave character to the expression. It is not +that the early Aryans were myth-makers because their language abounded +in metaphor; it is that the Aryan mother-tongue abounded in metaphor +because the men and women who spoke it were myth-makers. And they were +myth-makers because they had nothing but the phenomena of human will and +effort with which to compare objective phenomena. Therefore it was that +they spoke of the sun as an unwearied voyager or a matchless archer, +and classified inanimate no less than animate objects as masculine and +feminine. Max Muller's way of stating his theory, both in this Essay +and in his later Lectures, affords one among several instances of the +curious manner in which he combines a marvellous penetration into the +significance of details with a certain looseness of general conception. +[155] The principles of philological interpretation are an indispensable +aid to us in detecting the hidden meaning of many a legend in which the +powers of nature are represented in the guise of living and thinking +persons; but before we can get at the secret of the myth-making tendency +itself, we must leave philology and enter upon a psychological study. +We must inquire into the characteristics of that primitive style of +thinking to which it seemed quite natural that the sun should be an +unerring archer, and the thunder-cloud a black demon or gigantic robber +finding his richly merited doom at the hands of the indignant Lord of +Light. + +Among recent treatises which have dealt with this interesting problem, +we shall find it advantageous to give especial attention to Mr. Tylor's +"Primitive Culture," [156] one of the few erudite works which are at +once truly great and thoroughly entertaining. The learning displayed +in it would do credit to a German specialist, both for extent and for +minuteness, while the orderly arrangement of the arguments and the +elegant lucidity of the style are such as we are accustomed to expect +from French essay-writers. And what is still more admirable is the +way in which the enthusiasm characteristic of a genial and original +speculator is tempered by the patience and caution of a cool-headed +critic. Patience and caution are nowhere more needed than in writers +who deal with mythology and with primitive religious ideas; but these +qualities are too seldom found in combination with the speculative +boldness which is required when fresh theories are to be framed or new +paths of investigation opened. The state of mind in which the explaining +powers of a favourite theory are fondly contemplated is, to some extent, +antagonistic to the state of mind in which facts are seen, with the +eye of impartial criticism, in all their obstinate and uncompromising +reality. To be able to preserve the balance between the two opposing +tendencies is to give evidence of the most consummate scientific +training. It is from the want of such a balance that the recent great +work of Mr. Cox is at times so unsatisfactory. It may, I fear, seem +ill-natured to say so, but the eagerness with which Mr. Cox waylays +every available illustration of the physical theory of the origin of +myths has now and then the curious effect of weakening the reader's +conviction of the soundness of the theory. For my own part, though by no +means inclined to waver in adherence to a doctrine once adopted on good +grounds, I never felt so much like rebelling against the mythologic +supremacy of the Sun and the Dawn as when reading Mr. Cox's volumes. +That Mr. Tylor, while defending the same fundamental theory, awakens no +such rebellious feelings, is due to his clear perception and realization +of the fact that it is impossible to generalize in a single formula +such many-sided correspondences as those which primitive poetry end +philosophy have discerned between the life of man and the life of +outward nature. Whoso goes roaming up and down the elf-land of popular +fancies, with sole intent to resolve each episode of myth into some +answering physical event, his only criterion being outward resemblance, +cannot be trusted in his conclusions, since wherever he turns for +evidence he is sure to find something that can be made to serve as such. +As Mr. Tylor observes, no household legend or nursery rhyme is safe from +his hermeneutics. "Should he, for instance, demand as his property +the nursery 'Song of Sixpence,' his claim would be easily +established,--obviously the four-and-twenty blackbirds are the +four-and-twenty hours, and the pie that holds them is the underlying +earth covered with the overarching sky,--how true a touch of nature +it is that when the pie is opened, that is, when day breaks, the birds +begin to sing; the King is the Sun, and his counting out his money is +pouring out the sunshine, the golden shower of Danae; the Queen is +the Moon, and her transparent honey the moonlight; the Maid is the +'rosy-fingered' Dawn, who rises before the Sun, her master, and hangs +out the clouds, his clothes, across the sky; the particular blackbird, +who so tragically ends the tale by snipping off her nose, is the hour of +sunrise." In all this interpretation there is no a priori improbability, +save, perhaps, in its unbroken symmetry and completeness. That +some points, at least, of the story are thus derived from antique +interpretations of physical events, is in harmony with all that we know +concerning nursery rhymes. In short, "the time-honoured rhyme really +wants but one thing to prove it a sun-myth, that one thing being a proof +by some argument more valid than analogy." The character of the argument +which is lacking may be illustrated by a reference to the rhyme about +Jack and Jill, explained some time since in the paper on "The Origins of +Folk Lore." If the argument be thought valid which shows these ill-fated +children to be the spots on the moon, it is because the proof consists, +not in the analogy, which is in this case not especially obvious, but +in the fact that in the Edda, and among ignorant Swedish peasants of our +own day, the story of Jack and Jill is actually given as an explanation +of the moon-spots. To the neglect of this distinction between what is +plausible and what is supported by direct evidence, is due much of the +crude speculation which encumbers the study of myths. + +It is when Mr. Tylor merges the study of mythology into the wider +inquiry into the characteristic features of the mode of thinking in +which myths originated, that we can best appreciate the practical +value of that union of speculative boldness and critical sobriety which +everywhere distinguishes him. It is pleasant to meet with a writer who +can treat of primitive religious ideas without losing his head over +allegory and symbolism, and who duly realizes the fact that a savage +is not a rabbinical commentator, or a cabalist, or a Rosicrucian, but +a plain man who draws conclusions like ourselves, though with feeble +intelligence and scanty knowledge. The mystic allegory with which such +modern writers as Lord Bacon have invested the myths of antiquity is +no part of their original clothing, but is rather the late product of +a style of reasoning from analogy quite similar to that which we +shall perceive to have guided the myth-makers in their primitive +constructions. The myths and customs and beliefs which, in an advanced +stage of culture, seem meaningless save when characterized by +some quaintly wrought device of symbolic explanation, did not seem +meaningless in the lower culture which gave birth to them. Myths, like +words, survive their primitive meanings. In the early stage the myth is +part and parcel of the current mode of philosophizing; the explanation +which it offers is, for the time, the natural one, the one which would +most readily occur to any one thinking on the theme with which the myth +is concerned. But by and by the mode of philosophizing has changed; +explanations which formerly seemed quite obvious no longer occur to any +one, but the myth has acquired an independent substantive existence, and +continues to be handed down from parents to children as something true, +though no one can tell why it is true: Lastly, the myth itself +gradually fades from remembrance, often leaving behind it some utterly +unintelligible custom or seemingly absurd superstitious notion. For +example,--to recur to an illustration already cited in a previous +paper,--it is still believed here and there by some venerable granny +that it is wicked to kill robins; but he who should attribute the belief +to the old granny's refined sympathy with all sentient existence, would +be making one of the blunders which are always committed by those +who reason a priori about historical matters without following the +historical method. At an earlier date the superstition existed in the +shape of a belief that the killing of a robin portends some calamity; +in a still earlier form the calamity is specified as death; and again, +still earlier, as death by lightning. Another step backward reveals that +the dread sanctity of the robin is owing to the fact that he is the bird +of Thor, the lightning god; and finally we reach that primitive stage +of philosophizing in which the lightning is explained as a red bird +dropping from its beak a worm which cleaveth the rocks. Again, the +belief that some harm is sure to come to him who saves the life of +a drowning man, is unintelligible until it is regarded as a case of +survival in culture. In the older form of the superstition it is held +that the rescuer will sooner or later be drowned himself; and thus we +pass to the fetichistic interpretation of drowning as the seizing of the +unfortunate person by the water-spirit or nixy, who is naturally angry +at being deprived of his victim, and henceforth bears a special grudge +against the bold mortal who has thus dared to frustrate him. + +The interpretation of the lightning as a red bird, and of drowning as +the work of a smiling but treacherous fiend, are parts of that primitive +philosophy of nature in which all forces objectively existing are +conceived as identical with the force subjectively known as volition. +It is this philosophy, currently known as fetichism, but treated by Mr. +Tylor under the somewhat more comprehensive name of "animism," which +we must now consider in a few of its most conspicuous exemplifications. +When we have properly characterized some of the processes which the +untrained mind habitually goes through, we shall have incidentally +arrived at a fair solution of the genesis of mythology. + +Let us first note the ease with which the barbaric or uncultivated mind +reaches all manner of apparently fanciful conclusions through reckless +reasoning from analogy. It is through the operation of certain laws of +ideal association that all human thinking, that of the highest as well +as that of the lowest minds, is conducted: the discovery of the law of +gravitation, as well as the invention of such a superstition as the +Hand of Glory, is at bottom but a case of association of ideas. The +difference between the scientific and the mythologic inference consists +solely in the number of checks which in the former case combine to +prevent any other than the true conclusion from being framed into a +proposition to which the mind assents. Countless accumulated experiences +have taught the modern that there are many associations of ideas which +do not correspond to any actual connection of cause and effect in the +world of phenomena; and he has learned accordingly to apply to his newly +framed notions the rigid test of verification. Besides which the same +accumulation of experiences has built up an organized structure of ideal +associations into which only the less extravagant newly framed notions +have any chance of fitting. The primitive man, or the modern savage who +is to some extent his counterpart, must reason without the aid of these +multifarious checks. That immense mass of associations which answer to +what are called physical laws, and which in the mind of the civilized +modern have become almost organic, have not been formed in the mind of +the savage; nor has he learned the necessity of experimentally testing +any of his newly framed notions, save perhaps a few of the commonest. +Consequently there is nothing but superficial analogy to guide the +course of his thought hither or thither, and the conclusions at which he +arrives will be determined by associations of ideas occurring apparently +at haphazard. Hence the quaint or grotesque fancies with which European +and barbaric folk-lore is filled, in the framing of which the myth-maker +was but reasoning according to the best methods at his command. To this +simplest class, in which the association of ideas is determined by mere +analogy, belong such cases as that of the Zulu, who chews a piece of +wood in order to soften the heart of the man with whom he is about +to trade for cows, or the Hessian lad who "thinks he may escape the +conscription by carrying a baby-girl's cap in his pocket,--a symbolic +way of repudiating manhood." [157] A similar style of thinking underlies +the mediaeval necromancer's practice of making a waxen image of his +enemy and shooting at it with arrows, in order to bring about the +enemy's death; as also the case of the magic rod, mentioned in a +previous paper, by means of which a sound thrashing can be administered +to an absent foe through the medium of an old coat which is imagined +to cover him. The principle involved here is one which is doubtless +familiar to most children, and is closely akin to that which Irving so +amusingly illustrates in his doughty general who struts through a field +of cabbages or corn-stalks, smiting them to earth with his cane, and +imagining himself a hero of chivalry conquering single-handed a host of +caitiff ruffians. Of like origin are the fancies that the breaking of +a mirror heralds a death in the family,--probably because of the +destruction of the reflected human image; that the "hair of the dog that +bit you" will prevent hydrophobia if laid upon the wound; or that the +tears shed by human victims, sacrificed to mother earth, will bring down +showers upon the land. Mr. Tylor cites Lord Chesterfield's remark, "that +the king had been ill, and that people generally expected the illness +to be fatal, because the oldest lion in the Tower, about the king's age, +had just died. 'So wild and capricious is the human mind,'" observes +the elegant letter-writer. But indeed, as Mr. Tylor justly remarks, "the +thought was neither wild nor capricious; it was simply such an argument +from analogy as the educated world has at length painfully learned to be +worthless, but which, it is not too much to declare, would to this +day carry considerable weight to the minds of four fifths of the human +race." Upon such symbolism are based most of the practices of divination +and the great pseudo-science of astrology. "It is an old story, that +when two brothers were once taken ill together, Hippokrates, the +physician, concluded from the coincidence that they were twins, but +Poseidonios, the astrologer, considered rather that they were born under +the same constellation; we may add that either argument would be thought +reasonable by a savage." So when a Maori fortress is attacked, the +besiegers and besieged look to see if Venus is near the moon. The moon +represents the fortress; and if it appears below the companion planet, +the besiegers will carry the day, otherwise they will be repulsed. +Equally primitive and childlike was Rousseau's train of thought on the +memorable day at Les Charmettes when, being distressed with doubts as to +the safety of his soul, he sought to determine the point by throwing a +stone at a tree. "Hit, sign of salvation; miss, sign of damnation!" +The tree being a large one and very near at hand, the result of the +experiment was reassuring, and the young philosopher walked away without +further misgivings concerning this momentous question. [158] + +When the savage, whose highest intellectual efforts result only in +speculations of this childlike character, is confronted with the +phenomena of dreams, it is easy to see what he will make of them. +His practical knowledge of psychology is too limited to admit of his +distinguishing between the solidity of waking experience and what we may +call the unsubstantialness of the dream. He may, indeed, have learned +that the dream is not to be relied on for telling the truth; the Zulu, +for example, has even reached the perverse triumph of critical logic +achieved by our own Aryan ancestors in the saying that "dreams go by +contraries." But the Zulu has not learned, nor had the primeval Aryan +learned, to disregard the utterances of the dream as being purely +subjective phenomena. To the mind as yet untouched by modern culture, +the visions seen and the voices heard in sleep possess as much objective +reality as the gestures and shouts of waking hours. When the savage +relates his dream, he tells how he SAW certain dogs, dead warriors, +or demons last night, the implication being that the things seen were +objects external to himself. As Mr. Spencer observes, "his rude language +fails to state the difference between seeing and dreaming that he saw, +doing and dreaming that he did. From this inadequacy of his language +it not only results that he cannot truly represent this difference to +others, but also that he cannot truly represent it to himself. Hence in +the absence of an alternative interpretation, his belief, and that of +those to whom he tells his adventures, is that his OTHER SELF has been +away and came back when he awoke. And this belief, which we find among +various existing savage tribes, we equally find in the traditions of the +early civilized races." [159] + +Let us consider, for a moment, this assumption of the OTHER SELF, for +upon this is based the great mass of crude inference which constitutes +the primitive man's philosophy of nature. The hypothesis of the OTHER +SELF, which serves to account for the savage's wanderings during sleep +in strange lands and among strange people, serves also to account for +the presence in his dreams of parents, comrades, or enemies, known to be +dead and buried. The other self of the dreamer meets and converses with +the other selves of his dead brethren, joins with them in the hunt, or +sits down with them to the wild cannibal banquet. Thus arises the belief +in an ever-present world of souls or ghosts, a belief which the entire +experience of uncivilized man goes to strengthen and expand. The +existence of some tribe or tribes of savages wholly destitute of +religious belief has often been hastily asserted and as often called in +question. But there is no question that, while many savages are unable +to frame a conception so general as that of godhood, on the other hand +no tribe has ever been found so low in the scale of intelligence as +not to have framed the conception of ghosts or spiritual personalities, +capable of being angered, propitiated, or conjured with. Indeed it is +not improbable a priori that the original inference involved in the +notion of the other self may be sufficiently simple and obvious to fall +within the capacity of animals even less intelligent than uncivilized +man. An authentic case is on record of a Skye terrier who, being +accustomed to obtain favours from his master by sitting on his +haunches, will also sit before his pet india-rubber ball placed on the +chimney-piece, evidently beseeching it to jump down and play with him. +[160] Such a fact as this is quite in harmony with Auguste Comte's +suggestion that such intelligent animals as dogs, apes, and elephants +may be capable of forming a few fetichistic notions. The behaviour of +the terrier here rests upon the assumption that the ball is open to the +same sort of entreaty which prevails with the master; which implies, not +that the wistful brute accredits the ball with a soul, but that in his +mind the distinction between life and inanimate existence has never been +thoroughly established. Just this confusion between things living +and things not living is present throughout the whole philosophy of +fetichism; and the confusion between things seen and things dreamed, +which suggests the notion of another self, belongs to this same +twilight stage of intelligence in which primeval man has not yet clearly +demonstrated his immeasurable superiority to the brutes. [161] + +The conception of a soul or other self, capable of going away from +the body and returning to it, receives decisive confirmation from the +phenomena of fainting, trance, catalepsy, and ecstasy, [162] which occur +less rarely among savages, owing to their irregular mode of life, than +among civilized men. "Further verification," observes Mr. Spencer, "is +afforded by every epileptic subject, into whose body, during the absence +of the other self, some enemy has entered; for how else does it happen +that the other self on returning denies all knowledge of what his body +has been doing? And this supposition, that the body has been 'possessed' +by some other being, is confirmed by the phenomena of somnambulism and +insanity." Still further, as Mr. Spencer points out, when we recollect +that savages are very generally unwilling to have their portraits taken, +lest a portion of themselves should get carried off and be exposed to +foul play, [163] we must readily admit that the weird reflection of the +person and imitation of the gestures in rivers or still woodland pools +will go far to intensify the belief in the other self. Less frequent but +uniform confirmation is to be found in echoes, which in Europe within +two centuries have been commonly interpreted as the voices of mocking +fiends or wood-nymphs, and which the savage might well regard as the +utterances of his other self. + +With the savage's unwillingness to have his portrait taken, lest it fall +into the hands of some enemy who may injure him by conjuring with it, +may be compared the reluctance which he often shows toward telling +his name, or mentioning the name of his friend, or king, or tutelar +ghost-deity. In fetichistic thought, the name is an entity mysteriously +associated with its owner, and it is not well to run the risk of its +getting into hostile hands. Along with this caution goes the similarly +originated fear that the person whose name is spoken may resent such +meddling with his personality. For the latter reason the Dayak will +not allude by name to the small pox, but will call it "the chief" or +"jungle-leaves"; the Laplander speaks of the bear as the "old man with +the fur coat"; in Annam the tiger is called "grandfather" or "Lord"; +while in more civilized communities such sayings are current as "talk +of the Devil, and he will appear," with which we may also compare such +expressions as "Eumenides" or "gracious ones" for the Furies, and other +like euphemisms. Indeed, the maxim nil mortuis nisi bonum had most +likely at one time a fetichistic flavour. + +In various islands of the Pacific, for both the reasons above specified, +the name of the reigning chief is so rigorously "tabu," that common +words and even syllables resembling that name in sound must be omitted +from the language. In New Zealand, where a chiefs name was Maripi, or +"knife," it became necessary to call knives nekra; and in Tahiti, fetu, +"star," had to be changed into fetia, and tui, "to strike," became tiai, +etc., because the king's name was Tu. Curious freaks are played with the +languages of these islands by this ever-recurring necessity. Among the +Kafirs the women have come to speak a different dialect from the men, +because words resembling the names of their lords or male relatives are +in like manner "tabu." The student of human culture will trace among +such primeval notions the origin of the Jew's unwillingness to pronounce +the name of Jehovah; and hence we may perhaps have before us the +ultimate source of the horror with which the Hebraizing Puritan regards +such forms of light swearing--"Mon Dieu," etc.--as are still tolerated +on the continent of Europe, but have disappeared from good society in +Puritanic England and America. The reader interested in this group of +ideas and customs may consult Tylor, Early History of Mankind, pp. +142, 363; Max Muller, Science of Language, 6th edition, Vol. II. p. 37; +Mackay, Religious Development of the Greeks and Hebrews, Vol. I. p. 146. + +Chamisso's well-known tale of Peter Schlemihl belongs to a widely +diffused family of legends, which show that a man's shadow has been +generally regarded not only as an entity, but as a sort of spiritual +attendant of the body, which under certain circumstances it may +permanently forsake. It is in strict accordance with this idea that not +only in the classic languages, but in various barbaric tongues, the +word for "shadow" expresses also the soul or other self. Tasmanians, +Algonquins, Central-Americans, Abipones, Basutos, and Zulus are cited by +Mr. Tylor as thus implicitly asserting the identity of the shadow with +the ghost or phantasm seen in dreams; the Basutos going so far as to +think "that if a man walks on the river-bank, a crocodile may seize his +shadow in the water and draw him in." Among the Algonquins a sick person +is supposed to have his shadow or other self temporarily detached from +his body, and the convalescent is at times "reproached for exposing +himself before his shadow was safely settled down in him." If the sick +man has been plunged into stupor, it is because his other self has +travelled away as far as the brink of the river of death, but not being +allowed to cross has come back and re-entered him. And acting upon a +similar notion the ailing Fiji will sometimes lie down and raise a hue +and cry for his soul to be brought back. Thus, continues Mr. Tylor, "in +various countries the bringing back of lost souls becomes a regular part +of the sorcerer's or priest's profession." [164] On Aryan soil we find +the notion of a temporary departure of the soul surviving to a late date +in the theory that the witch may attend the infernal Sabbath while her +earthly tabernacle is quietly sleeping at home. The primeval conception +reappears, clothed in bitterest sarcasm, in Dante's reference to his +living contemporaries whose souls he met with in the vaults of hell, +while their bodies were still walking about on the earth, inhabited by +devils. + +The theory which identifies the soul with the shadow, and supposes the +shadow to depart with the sickness and death of the body, would seem +liable to be attended with some difficulties in the way of verification, +even to the dim intelligence of the savage. But the propriety of +identifying soul and breath is borne out by all primeval experience. The +breath, which really quits the body at its decease, has furnished the +chief name for the soul, not only to the Hebrew, the Sanskrit, and the +classic tongues; not only to German and English, where geist, and ghost, +according to Max Muller, have the meaning of "breath," and are akin +to such words as gas, gust, and geyser; but also to numerous barbaric +languages. Among the natives of Nicaragua and California, in Java and in +West Australia, the soul is described as the air or breeze which +passes in and out through the nostrils and mouth; and the Greenlanders, +according to Cranz, reckon two separate souls, the breath and +the shadow. "Among the Seminoles of Florida, when a woman died in +childbirth, the infant was held over her face to receive her parting +spirit, and thus acquire strength and knowledge for its future use..... +Their state of mind is kept up to this day among Tyrolese peasants, who +can still fancy a good man's soul to issue from his mouth at death like +a little white cloud." [165] It is kept up, too, in Lancashire, where a +well-known witch died a few years since; "but before she could 'shuffle +off this mortal coil' she must needs TRANSFER HER FAMILIAR SPIRIT to +some trusty successor. An intimate acquaintance from a neighbouring +township was consequently sent for in all haste, and on her arrival was +immediately closeted with her dying friend. What passed between them has +never fully transpired, but it is confidently affirmed that at the close +of the interview this associate RECEIVED THE WITCH'S LAST BREATH INTO +HER MOUTH AND WITH IT HER FAMILIAR SPIRIT. The dreaded woman thus +ceased to exist, but her powers for good or evil were transferred to her +companion; and on passing along the road from Burnley to Blackburn we +can point out a farmhouse at no great distance with whose thrifty matron +no neighbouring farmer will yet dare to quarrel." [166] + +Of the theory of embodiment there will be occasion to speak further on. +At present let us not pass over the fact that the other self is not only +conceived as shadow or breath, which can at times quit the body during +life, but is also supposed to become temporarily embodied in the visible +form of some bird or beast. In discussing elsewhere the myth of Bishop +Hatto, we saw that the soul is sometimes represented in the form of a +rat or mouse; and in treating of werewolves we noticed the belief that +the spirits of dead ancestors, borne along in the night-wind, have +taken on the semblance of howling dogs or wolves. "Consistent with these +quaint ideas are ceremonies in vogue in China of bringing home in a cock +(live or artificial) the spirit of a man deceased in a distant place, +and of enticing into a sick man's coat the departing spirit which has +already left his body and so conveying it back." [167] In Castren's +great work on Finnish mythology, we find the story of the giant who +could not be killed because he kept his soul hidden in a twelve-headed +snake which he carried in a bag as he rode on horseback; only when the +secret was discovered and the snake carefully killed, did the giant +yield up his life. In this Finnish legend we have one of the thousand +phases of the story of the "Giant who had no Heart in his Body," but +whose heart was concealed, for safe keeping, in a duck's egg, or in a +pigeon, carefully disposed in some belfry at the world's end a million +miles away, or encased in a wellnigh infinite series of Chinese boxes. +[168] Since, in spite of all these precautions, the poor giant's heart +invariably came to grief, we need not wonder at the Karen superstition +that the soul is in danger when it quits the body on its excursions, as +exemplified in countless Indo-European stories of the accidental killing +of the weird mouse or pigeon which embodies the wandering spirit. +Conversely it is held that the detachment of the other self is fraught +with danger to the self which remains. In the philosophy of "wraiths" +and "fetches," the appearance of a double, like that which troubled +Mistress Affery in her waking dreams of Mr. Flintwinch, has been from +time out of mind a signal of alarm. "In New Zealand it is ominous to see +the figure of an absent person, for if it be shadowy and the face not +visible, his death may erelong be expected, but if the face be seen he +is dead already. A party of Maoris (one of whom told the story) were +seated round a fire in the open air, when there appeared, seen only by +two of them, the figure of a relative, left ill at home; they exclaimed, +the figure vanished, and on the return of the party it appeared that +the sick man had died about the time of the vision." [169] The belief in +wraiths has survived into modern times, and now and then appears in the +records of that remnant of primeval philosophy known as "spiritualism," +as, for example, in the case of the lady who "thought she saw her own +father look in at the church-window at the moment he was dying in his +own house." + +The belief in the "death-fetch," like the doctrine which identifies +soul with shadow, is instructive as showing that in barbaric thought the +other self is supposed to resemble the material self with which it has +customarily been associated. In various savage superstitions the minute +resemblance of soul to body is forcibly stated. The Australian, for +instance, not content with slaying his enemy, cuts off the right thumb +of the corpse, so that the departed soul may be incapacitated from +throwing a spear. Even the half-civilized Chinese prefer crucifixion +to decapitation, that their souls may not wander headless about the +spirit-world. [171] Thus we see how far removed from the Christian +doctrine of souls is the primeval theory of the soul or other self +that figures in dreamland. So grossly materialistic is the primitive +conception that the savage who cherishes it will bore holes in the +coffin of his dead friend, so that the soul may again have a chance, if +it likes, to revisit the body. To this day, among the peasants in some +parts of Northern Europe, when Odin, the spectral hunter, rides by +attended by his furious host, the windows in every sick-room are opened, +in order that the soul, if it chooses to depart, may not be hindered +from joining in the headlong chase. And so, adds Mr. Tylor, after +the Indians of North America had spent a riotous night in singeing an +unfortunate captive to death with firebrands, they would howl like the +fiends they were, and beat the air with brushwood, to drive away the +distressed and revengeful ghost. "With a kindlier feeling, the Congo +negroes abstained for a whole year after a death from sweeping the +house, lest the dust should injure the delicate substance of the ghost"; +and even now, "it remains a German peasant saying that it is wrong +to slam a door, lest one should pinch a soul in it." [172] Dante's +experience with the ghosts in hell and purgatory, who were astonished at +his weighing down the boat in which they were carried, is belied by the +sweet German notion "that the dead mother's coming back in the night to +suckle the baby she has left on earth may be known by the hollow pressed +down in the bed where she lay." Almost universally ghosts, however +impervious to thrust of sword or shot of pistol, can eat and drink like +Squire Westerns. And lastly, we have the grotesque conception of souls +sufficiently material to be killed over again, as in the case of the +negro widows who, wishing to marry a second time, will go and duck +themselves in the pond, in order to drown the souls of their departed +husbands, which are supposed to cling about their necks; while, +according to the Fiji theory, the ghost of every dead warrior must go +through a terrible fight with Samu and his brethren, in which, if he +succeeds, he will enter Paradise, but if he fails he will be killed over +again and finally eaten by the dreaded Samu and his unearthly company. + +From the conception of souls embodied in beast-forms, as above +illustrated, it is not a wide step to the conception of beast-souls +which, like human souls, survive the death of the tangible body. The +wide-spread superstitions concerning werewolves and swan-maidens, and +the hardly less general belief in metempsychosis, show that primitive +culture has not arrived at the distinction attained by modern philosophy +between the immortal man and the soulless brute. Still more direct +evidence is furnished by sundry savage customs. The Kafir who has +killed an elephant will cry that he did n't mean to do it, and, lest the +elephant's soul should still seek vengeance, he will cut off and bury +the trunk, so that the mighty beast may go crippled to the spirit-land. +In like manner, the Samoyeds, after shooting a bear, will gather about +the body offering excuses and laying the blame on the Russians; and the +American redskin will even put the pipe of peace into the dead animal's +mouth, and beseech him to forgive the deed. In Assam it is believed that +the ghosts of slain animals will become in the next world the property +of the hunter who kills them; and the Kamtchadales expressly declare +that all animals, even flies and bugs, will live after death,--a belief, +which, in our own day, has been indorsed on philosophical grounds by an +eminent living naturalist. [173] The Greenlanders, too, give evidence +of the same belief by supposing that when after an exhausting fever the +patient comes up in unprecedented health and vigour, it is because he +has lost his former soul and had it replaced by that of a young child +or a reindeer. In a recent work in which the crudest fancies of primeval +savagery are thinly disguised in a jargon learned from the superficial +reading of modern books of science, M. Figuier maintains that human +souls are for the most part the surviving souls of deceased animals; in +general, the souls of precocious musical children like Mozart come from +nightingales, while the souls of great architects have passed into them +from beavers, etc., etc. [174] + +The practice of begging pardon of the animal one has just slain is in +some parts of the world extended to the case of plants. When the +Talein offers a prayer to the tree which he is about to cut down, it is +obviously because he regards the tree as endowed with a soul or ghost +which in the next life may need to be propitiated. And the doctrine of +transmigration distinctly includes plants along with animals among the +future existences into which the human soul may pass. + +As plants, like animals, manifest phenomena of life, though to a much +less conspicuous degree, it is not incomprehensible that the +savage should attribute souls to them. But the primitive process of +anthropomorphisation does not end here. Not only the horse and dog, +the bamboo, and the oak-tree, but even lifeless objects, such as the +hatchet, or bow and arrows, or food and drink of the dead man, possess +other selves which pass into the world of ghosts. Fijis and other +contemporary savages, when questioned, expressly declare that this is +their belief. "If an axe or a chisel is worn out or broken up, away +flies its soul for the service of the gods." The Algonquins told +Charlevoix that since hatchets and kettles have shadows, no less than +men and women, it follows, of course, that these shadows (or souls) must +pass along with human shadows (or souls) into the spirit-land. In this +we see how simple and consistent is the logic which guides the savage, +and how inevitable is the genesis of the great mass of beliefs, to our +minds so arbitrary and grotesque, which prevail throughout the barbaric +world. However absurd the belief that pots and kettles have souls +may seem to us, it is nevertheless the only belief which can be held +consistently by the savage to whom pots and kettles, no less than human +friends or enemies, may appear in his dreams; who sees them followed +by shadows as they are moved about; who hears their voices, dull +or ringing, when they are struck; and who watches their doubles +fantastically dancing in the water as they are carried across the +stream. [175] To minds, even in civilized countries, which are unused to +the severe training of science, no stronger evidence can be alleged +than what is called "the evidence of the senses"; for it is only long +familiarity with science which teaches us that the evidence of the +senses is trustworthy only in so far as it is correctly interpreted by +reason. For the truth of his belief in the ghosts of men and beasts, +trees and axes, the savage has undeniably the evidence of his senses +which have so often seen, heard, and handled these other selves. + +The funeral ceremonies of uncultured races freshly illustrate this crude +philosophy, and receive fresh illustration from it. On the primitive +belief in the ghostly survival of persons and objects rests the almost +universal custom of sacrificing the wives, servants, horses, and dogs of +the departed chief of the tribe, as well as of presenting at his shrine +sacred offerings of food, ornaments, weapons, and money. Among the +Kayans the slaves who are killed at their master's tomb are enjoined to +take great care of their master's ghost, to wash and shampoo it, and to +nurse it when sick. Other savages think that "all whom they kill in this +world shall attend them as slaves after death," and for this reason the +thrifty Dayaks of Borneo until lately would not allow their young men to +marry until they had acquired some post mortem property by procuring at +least one human head. It is hardly necessary to do more than allude +to the Fiji custom of strangling all the wives of the deceased at his +funeral, or to the equally well-known Hindu rite of suttee. Though, as +Wilson has shown, the latter rite is not supported by any genuine Vedic +authority, but only by a shameless Brahmanic corruption of the sacred +text, Mr. Tylor is nevertheless quite right in arguing that unless the +horrible custom had received the sanction of a public opinion bequeathed +from pre-Vedic times, the Brahmans would have had no motive for +fraudulently reviving it; and this opinion is virtually established +by the fact of the prevalence of widow sacrifice among Gauls, +Scandinavians, Slaves, and other European Aryans. [176] Though under +English rule the rite has been forcibly suppressed, yet the archaic +sentiments which so long maintained it are not yet extinct. Within the +present year there has appeared in the newspapers a not improbable story +of a beautiful and accomplished Hindu lady who, having become the wife +of a wealthy Englishman, and after living several years in England amid +the influences of modern society, nevertheless went off and privately +burned herself to death soon after her husband's decease. + +The reader who thinks it far-fetched to interpret funeral offerings of +food, weapons, ornaments, or money, on the theory of object-souls, will +probably suggest that such offerings may be mere memorials of affection +or esteem for the dead man. Such, indeed, they have come to be in many +countries after surviving the phase of culture in which they originated; +but there is ample evidence to show that at the outset they were +presented in the belief that their ghosts would be eaten or otherwise +employed by the ghost of the dead man. The stout club which is buried +with the dead Fiji sends its soul along with him that he may be able to +defend himself against the hostile ghosts which will lie in ambush for +him on the road to Mbulu, seeking to kill and eat him. Sometimes the +club is afterwards removed from the grave as of no further use, since +its ghost is all that the dead man needs. In like manner, "as the Greeks +gave the dead man the obolus for Charon's toll, and the old Prussians +furnished him with spending money, to buy refreshment on his weary +journey, so to this day German peasants bury a corpse with money in +his mouth or hand," and this is also said to be one of the regular +ceremonies of an Irish wake. Of similar purport were the funeral feasts +and oblations of food in Greece and Italy, the "rice-cakes made with +ghee" destined for the Hindu sojourning in Yama's kingdom, and the meat +and gruel offered by the Chinaman to the manes of his ancestors. "Many +travellers have described the imagination with which the Chinese +make such offerings. It is that the spirits of the dead consume the +impalpable essence of the food, leaving behind its coarse material +substance, wherefore the dutiful sacrificers, having set out sumptuous +feasts for ancestral souls, allow them a proper time to satisfy +their appetite, and then fall to themselves." [177] So in the Homeric +sacrifice to the gods, after the deity has smelled the sweet savour +and consumed the curling steam that rises ghost-like from the roasting +viands, "the assembled warriors devour the remains." [178] + +Thus far the course of fetichistic thought which we have traced out, +with Mr. Tylor's aid, is such as is not always obvious to the modern +inquirer without considerable concrete illustration. The remainder +of the process, resulting in that systematic and complete +anthropomorphisation of nature which has given rise to mythology, may +be more succinctly described. Gathering together the conclusions already +obtained, we find that daily or frequent experience of the phenomena +of shadows and dreams has combined with less frequent experience of the +phenomena of trance, ecstasy, and insanity, to generate in the mind of +uncultured man the notion of a twofold existence appertaining alike to +all animate or inanimate objects: as all alike possess material +bodies, so all alike possess ghosts or souls. Now when the theory +of object-souls is expanded into a general doctrine of spirits, the +philosophic scheme of animism is completed. Once habituated to the +conception of souls of knives and tobacco-pipes passing to the land +of ghosts, the savage cannot avoid carrying the interpretation still +further, so that wind and water, fire and storm, are accredited with +indwelling spirits akin by nature to the soul which inhabits the human +frame. That the mighty spirit or demon by whose impelling will the +trees are rooted up and the storm-clouds driven across the sky should +resemble a freed human soul, is a natural inference, since uncultured +man has not attained to the conception of physical force acting in +accordance with uniform methods, and hence all events are to his mind +the manifestations of capricious volition. If the fire burns down his +hut, it is because the fire is a person with a soul, and is angry with +him, and needs to be coaxed into a kindlier mood by means of prayer or +sacrifice. Thus the savage has a priori no alternative but to regard +fire-soul as something akin to human-soul; and in point of fact we find +that savage philosophy makes no distinction between the human ghost +and the elemental demon or deity. This is sufficiently proved by +the universal prevalence of the worship of ancestors. The essential +principle of manes-worship is that the tribal chief or patriarch, who +has governed the community during life, continues also to govern it +after death, assisting it in its warfare with hostile tribes, rewarding +brave warriors, and punishing traitors and cowards. Thus from the +conception of the living king we pass to the notion of what Mr. Spencer +calls "the god-king," and thence to the rudimentary notion of deity. +Among such higher savages as the Zulus, the doctrine of divine ancestors +has been developed to the extent of recognizing a first ancestor, the +Great Father, Unkulunkulu, who made the world. But in the stratum of +savage thought in which barbaric or Aryan folk-lore is for the most part +based, we find no such exalted speculation. The ancestors of the rude +Veddas and of the Guinea negroes, the Hindu pitris (patres, "fathers"), +and the Roman manes have become elemental deities which send rain or +sunshine, health or sickness, plenty or famine, and to which their +living offspring appeal for guidance amid the vicissitudes of life. +[179] The theory of embodiment, already alluded to, shows how thoroughly +the demons which cause disease are identified with human and object +souls. In Australasia it is a dead man's ghost which creeps up into +the liver of the impious wretch who has ventured to pronounce his +name; while conversely in the well-known European theory of demoniacal +possession, it is a fairy from elf-land, or an imp from hell, which +has entered the body of the sufferer. In the close kinship, moreover, +between disease-possession and oracle-possession, where the body of the +Pythia, or the medicine-man, is placed under the direct control of +some great deity, [180] we may see how by insensible transitions +the conception of the human ghost passes into the conception of the +spiritual numen, or divinity. + +To pursue this line of inquiry through the countless nymphs and dryads +and nixies of the higher nature-worship up to the Olympian divinities +of classic polytheism, would be to enter upon the history of religious +belief, and in so doing to lose sight of our present purpose, which has +merely been to show by what mental process the myth-maker can speak +of natural objects in language which implies that they are animated +persons. Brief as our account of this process has been, I believe +that enough has been said, not only to reveal the inadequacy of purely +philological solutions (like those contained in Max Muller's famous +Essay) to explain the growth of myths, but also to exhibit the vast +importance for this purpose of the kind of psychological inquiry into +the mental habits of savages which Mr. Tylor has so ably conducted. +Indeed, however lacking we may still be in points of detail, I think we +have already reached a very satisfactory explanation of the genesis of +mythology. Since the essential characteristic of a myth is that it is +an attempt to explain some natural phenomenon by endowing with human +feelings and capacities the senseless factors in the phenomenon, and +since it has here been shown how uncultured man, by the best use he can +make of his rude common sense, must inevitably come, and has invariably +come, to regard all objects as endowed with souls, and all nature as +peopled with supra-human entities shaped after the general pattern of +the human soul, I am inclined to suspect that we have got very near to +the root of the whole matter. We can certainly find no difficulty in +seeing why a water-spout should be described in the "Arabian Nights" as +a living demon: "The sea became troubled before them, and there arose +from it a black pillar, ascending towards the sky, and approaching the +meadow,.... and behold it was a Jinni, of gigantic stature." We can see +why the Moslem camel-driver should find it most natural to regard the +whirling simoom as a malignant Jinni; we may understand how it is that +the Persian sees in bodily shape the scarlet fever as "a blushing maid +with locks of flame and cheeks all rosy red"; and we need not consider +it strange that the primeval Aryan should have regarded the sun as a +voyager, a climber, or an archer, and the clouds as cows driven by the +wind-god Hermes to their milking. The identification of William Tell +with the sun becomes thoroughly intelligible; nor can we be longer +surprised at the conception of the howling night-wind as a ravenous +wolf. When pots and kettles are thought to have souls that live +hereafter, there is no difficulty in understanding how the blue sky can +have been regarded as the sire of gods and men. And thus, as the elves +and bogarts of popular lore are in many cases descended from ancient +divinities of Olympos and Valhalla, so these in turn must acknowledge +their ancestors in the shadowy denizens of the primeval ghost-world. + +August, 1872. + + + + +NOTE. + +THE following are some of the modern works most likely to be of use to +the reader who is interested in the legend of William Tell. + +HISELY, J. J. Dissertatio historiea inauguralis de Oulielmo Tellio, etc. +Groningae, 1824. + +IDELER, J. L. Die Sage von dem Schuss des Tell. Berlin, 1836. + +HAUSSER, L. Die Sage von Tell aufs Neue kritisch untersucht. Heidelberg, +1840. + +HISELY, J. J. Recherches critiques sur l'histoire de Guillaume Tell. +Lausanne, 1843. + +LIEBENAU, H. Die Tell-Sage zu dem Jahre 1230 historisoh nach neuesten +Quellen. Aarau, 1864. + +VISCHER, W. Die Sage von der Befreinng der Waldstatte, etc. Nebst einer +Beilage: das alteste Tellensehauspiel. Leipzig, 1867. + +BORDIER, H. L. Le Grutli et Guillaume Tell, ou defense de la tradition +vulgaire sur les origines de la confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, +1869. + +The same. La querelle sur les traditions concernant l'origine de la +confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + +RILLIET, A. Les origines de la confederation suisse: histoire et +legende. 2eS ed., revue et corrigee. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + +The same. Lettre a M. Henri Bordier a propos de sa defense de la +tradition vulgaire sur les origines de la confederation suisse. Geneve +et Bale, 1869. + +HUNGERBUHLER, H. Etude critique sur les traditions relatives aux +origines de la confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + +MEYER, KARL. Die Tellsage. [In Bartsch, Germanistische Studien, I. +159-170. Wien, 1872.] + +See also the articles by M. Scherer, in Le Temps, 18 Feb., 1868; by M. +Reuss, in the Revue critique d'histoire, 1868; by M. de Wiss, in the +Journal de Geneve, 7 July, 1868; also Revue critique, 17 July, 1869; +Journal de Geneve, 24 Oct., 1868; Gazette de Lausanne, feuilleton +litteraire, 2-5 Nov., 1868, "Les origines de la confederation suisse," +par M. Secretan; Edinburgh Review, Jan., 1869, "The Legend of Tell and +Rutli." + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[Footnote 1: See Delepierre, Historical Difficulties, p. 75.] + +[Footnote 2: Saxo Grammaticus, Bk. X. p. 166, ed. Frankf. 1576.] + +[Footnote 3: According to Mr. Isaac Taylor, the name is really derived +from "St. Celert, a Welsh saint of the fifth century, to whom the church +of Llangeller is consecrated." (Words and Places, p. 339.)] + +[Footnote 4: Compare Krilof's story of the Gnat and the Shepherd, in +Mr. Ralston's excellent version, Krilof and his Fables, p. 170. Many +parallel examples are cited by Mr. Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. I. +pp. 126-136. See also the story of Folliculus,--Swan, Gesta Romanorum, +ad. Wright, Vol. I. p. lxxxii] + +[Footnote 5: See Cox, Mythology of the Aryan Nations, Vol. I. pp. +145-149.] + +[Footnote 6: The same incident occurs in the Arabian story of +Seyf-el-Mulook and Bedeea-el-Jemal, where the Jinni's soul is enclosed +in the crop of a sparrow, and the sparrow imprisoned in a small box, and +this enclosed in another small box, and this again in seven other boxes, +which are put into seven chests, contained in a coffer of marble, which +is sunk in the ocean that surrounds the world. Seyf-el-Mulook raises +the coffer by the aid of Suleyman's seal-ring, and having extricated the +sparrow, strangles it, whereupon the Jinni's body is converted into +a heap of black ashes, and Seyf-el-Mulook escapes with the maiden +Dolet-Khatoon. See Lane's Arabian Nights, Vol. III. p. 316.] + +[Footnote 7: The same incident is repeated in the story of Hassan of +El-Basrah. See Lane's Arabian Nights, Vol. III p. 452.] + +[Footnote 8: "Retrancher le merveilleux d'un mythe, c'est le +supprimer."--Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 50.] + +[Footnote 9: "No distinction between the animate and inanimate is made +in the languages of the Eskimos, the Choctaws, the Muskoghee, and the +Caddo. Only the Iroquois, Cherokee, and the Algonquin-Lenape have it, so +far as is known, and with them it is partial." According to the Fijians, +"vegetables and stones, nay, even tools and weapons, pots and canoes, +have souls that are immortal, and that, like the souls of men, pass on +at last to Mbulu, the abode of departed spirits."--M'Lennan, The Worship +of Animals and Plants, Fortnightly Review, Vol. XII. p, 416.] + +[Footnote 10: Marcus Aurelius, V. 7.] + +[Footnote 11: Some of these etymologies are attacked by Mr. Mahaffy in +his Prolegomena to Ancient History, p. 49. After long consideration I am +still disposed to follow Max Muller in adopting them, with the possible +exception of Achilleus. With Mr. Mahaffy s suggestion (p. 52) that many +of the Homeric legends may have clustered around some historical basis, +I fully agree; as will appear, further on, from my paper on "Juventus +Mundi."] + +[Footnote 12: Les facultes qui engendrent la mythologie sont les memes +que celles qui engendront la philosophie, et ce n'est pas sans raison +que l'Inde et la Grece nous presentent le phenomene de la plus riche +mythologie a cote de la plus profonde metaphysique. "La conception de +la multiplicite dans l'univers, c'est le polytheisme chez les peuples +enfants; c'est la science chez les peuples arrives a l'age mur."--Renan, +Hist. des Langues Semitiques, Tom. I. p. 9.] + +[Footnote 13: Cases coming under this head are discussed further on, in +my paper on "Myths of the Barbaric World."] + +[Footnote 14: A collection of these interesting legends may be found in +Baring-Gould's "Curious Myths of the Middle Ages," of which work this +paper was originally a review.] + +[Footnote 15: See Procopius, De Bello Gothico, IV. 20; Villemarque, +Barzas Breiz, I. 136. As a child I was instructed by an old nurse that +Vas Diemen's Land is the home of ghosts and departed spirits.] + +[Footnote 16: Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. I. p. 197.] + +[Footnote 17: Hence perhaps the adage, "Always remember to pay the +piper."] + +[Footnote 18: And it reappears as the mysterious lyre of the Gaelic +musician, who + + "Could harp a fish out o' the water, + Or bluid out of a stane, + Or milk out of a maiden's breast, + That bairns had never nane."] + +[Footnote 19: Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. II. p. 159.] + +[Footnote 20: Perhaps we may trace back to this source the frantic +terror which Irish servant-girls often manifest at sight of a mouse.] + +[Footnote 21: In Persia a dog is brought to the bedside of the person +who is dying, in order that the soul may be sure of a prompt escort. The +same custom exists in India. Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 123.] + +[Footnote 22: The Devil, who is proverbially "active in a gale of wind," +is none other than Hermes.] + +[Footnote 23: "Il faut que la coeur devienne ancien parmi les aneiennes +choses, et la plenitude de l'histoire ne se devoile qu'a celui qui +descend, ainsi dispose, dans le passe. Mais il faut que l'esprit demeure +moderne, et n'oublie jamais qu'il n'y a pour lui d'autre foi que la foi +scientifique."--LITTRS.] + +[Footnote 24: For an admirable example of scientific self-analysis +tracing one of these illusions to its psychological sources, see +the account of Dr. Lazarus, in Taine, De l'Intelligence, Vol. I. pp. +121-125.] + +[Footnote 25: See the story of Aymar in Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, +Vol. I. pp. 57-77. The learned author attributes the discomfiture to +the uncongenial Parisian environment; which is a style of reasoning much +like that of my village sorcerer, I fear.] + +[Footnote 26: Kelly, Indo-European Folk-Lore, p. 177.] + +[Footnote 27: The story of the luck-flower is well told in verse by Mr. +Baring Gould, in his Silver Store, p. 115, seq.] + +[Footnote 28: 1 Kings vi. 7.] + +[Footnote 29: Compare the Mussulman account of the building of the +temple, in Baring-Gould, Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets, +pp. 337, 338. And see the story of Diocletian's ostrich, Swan, Gesta +Romanorum, ed. Wright, Vol I. p. lxiv. See also the pretty story of the +knight unjustly imprisoned, id. p. cii.] + +[Footnote 30: "We have the receipt of fern-seed. We walk invisible." +--Shakespeare, Henry IV. See Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, p. 98] + +[Footnote 31: Henderson, Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England, +p. 202] + +[Footnote 32: Kuhn, Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Gottertranks. +Berlin, 1859.] + +[Footnote 33: "Saga me forwhan byth seo sunne read on aefen? Ic the +secge, forthon heo locath on helle.--Tell me, why is the sun red at +even? I tell thee, because she looketh on hell." Thorpe, Analecta +Anglo-Saxonica, p. 115, apud Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 63. +Barbaric thought had partly anticipated my childish theory.] + +[Footnote 34: "Still in North Germany does the peasant say of thunder, +that the angels are playing skittles aloft, and of the snow, that they +are shaking up the feather beds in heaven."--Baring-Gould, Book of +Werewolves, p. 172.] + +[Footnote 35: "The Polynesians imagine that the sky descends at the +horizon and encloses the earth. Hence they call foreigners papalangi, or +'heaven-bursters,' as having broken in from another world outside."--Max +Muller, Chips, II. 268.] + +[Footnote 36: "--And said the gods, let there be a hammered plate in the +midst of the waters, and let it be dividing between waters and waters." +Genesis i. 6.] + +[Footnote 37: Genesis vii. 11.] + +[Footnote 38: See Kelly, Indo-European Folk-Lore, p 120; who states also +that in Bengal the Garrows burn their dead in a small boat, placed on +top of the funeral-pile. In their character of cows, also, the clouds +were regarded as psychopomps; and hence it is still a popular +superstition that a cow breaking into the yard foretokens a death +in the family.] + +[Footnote 39: The sun-god Freyr had a cloud-ship called Skithblathnir, +which is thus described in Dasent's Prose Edda: "She is so great, that +all the AEsir, with their weapons and war-gear, may find room on board +her"; but "when there is no need of faring on the sea in her, she is +made.... with so much craft that Freyr may fold her together like a +cloth, and keep her in his bag." This same virtue was possessed by the +fairy pavilion which the Peri Banou gave to Ahmed; the cloud which is no +bigger than a man's hand may soon overspread the whole heaven, and shade +the Sultan's army from the solar rays.] + +[Footnote 40: Euhemerism has done its best with this bird, representing +it as an immense vulture or condor or as a reminiscence of the extinct +dodo. But a Chinese myth, cited by Klaproth, well preserves its true +character when it describes it as "a bird which in flying obscures +the sun, and of whose quills are made water-tuns." See Nouveau Journal +Asiatique, Tom. XII. p. 235. The big bird in the Norse tale of the "Blue +Belt" belongs to the same species.] + +[Footnote 41: Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. II. p. 146. Compare +Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 237, seq.] + +[Footnote 42: "If Polyphemos's eye be the sun, then Odysseus, the solar +hero, extinguishes himself, a very primitive instance of suicide." +Mahaffy, Prolegomena, p. 57. See also Brown, Poseidon, pp. 39, 40. +This objection would be relevant only in case Homer were supposed to be +constructing an allegory with entire knowledge of its meaning. It has no +validity whatever when we recollect that Homer could have known nothing +of the incongruity.] + +[Footnote 43: The Sanskrit myth-teller indeed mixes up his materials in +a way which seems ludicrous to a Western reader. He describes Indra (the +sun-god) as not only cleaving the cloud-mountains with his sword, but +also cutting off their wings and hurling them from the sky. See Burnouf, +Bhagavata Purana, VI. 12, 26.] + +[Footnote 44: Mr. Tylor offers a different, and possibly a better, +explanation of the Symplegades as the gates of Night through which +the solar ship, having passed successfully once, may henceforth pass +forever. See the details of the evidence in his Primitive Culture, I. +315.] + +[Footnote 45: The Sanskrit parvata, a bulging or inflated body, means +both "cloud" and "mountain." "In the Edda, too, the rocks, said to have +been fashioned out of Ymir's bones, are supposed to be intended for +clouds. In Old Norse Klakkr means both cloud and rock; nay, the English +word CLOUD itself has been identified with the Anglo-Saxon clud, rock. +See Justi, Orient und Occident, Vol. II. p. 62." Max Muller, Rig-Veda, +Vol. 1. p. 44.] + +[Footnote 46: In accordance with the mediaeval "doctrine of signatures," +it was maintained "that the hard, stony seeds of the Gromwell must be +good for gravel, and the knotty tubers of scrophularia for scrofulous +glands; while the scaly pappus of scaliosa showed it to be a specific +in leprous diseases, the spotted leaves of pulmonaria that it was a +sovereign remedy for tuberculous lungs, and the growth of saxifrage in +the fissures of rocks that it would disintegrate stone in the bladder." +Prior, Popular Names of British Plants, Introd., p. xiv. See also +Chapiel, La Doctrine des Signatures. Paris, 1866.] + +[Footnote 47: Indeed, the wish-bone, or forked clavicle of a fowl, +itself belongs to the same family of talismans as the divining-rod.] + +[Footnote 48: The ash, on the other hand, has been from time immemorial +used for spears in many parts of the Aryan domain. The word oesc meant, +in Anglo-Saxon, indifferently "ash-tree," or "spear"; and the same is, +or has been, true of the French fresne and the Greek melia. The root of +oesc appears in the Sanskrit as, "to throw" or "lance," whence asa, "a +bow," and asana, "an arrow." See Pictet, Origines Indo-Europeennes, I. +222.] + +[Footnote 49: Compare Spenser's story of Sir Guyon, in the "Faery +Queen," where, however, the knight fares better than this poor priest. +Usually these lightning-caverns were like Ixion's treasure-house, into +which none might look and live. This conception is the foundation of +part of the story of Blue-Beard and of the Arabian tale of the third +one-eyed Calender] + +[Footnote 50: Cox, Mythology of the Aryan Nations, Vol. 1. p. 161.] + +[Footnote 51: Kelly, Indo-European Folk-Lore, pp. 147, 183, 186, 193.] + +[Footnote 52: Brinton, Myths of the New World, p. 151.] + +[Footnote 53: Callaway, Zulu Nursery Tales, I. 173, Note 12.] + +[Footnote 54: Tylor, Early History of Mankind, p. 238; Primitive +Culture, Vol. II. p. 254; Darwin, Naturalist's Voyage, p. 409.] + +[Footnote 55: The production of fire by the drill is often called +churning, e. g. "He took the uvati [chark], and sat down and churned it, +and kindled a fire." Callaway, Zulu Nursery Tales, I. 174.] + +[Footnote 56: Kelly, Indo-European Folk-Lore, p. 39. Burnouf, Bhagavata +Purana, VIII. 6, 32.] + +[Footnote 57: Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, p. 149.] + +[Footnote 58: It is also the regenerating water of baptism, and the +"holy water" of the Roman Catholic.] + +[Footnote 59: In the Vedas the rain-god Soma, originally the +personification of the sacrificial ambrosia, is the deity who imparts to +men life, knowledge, and happiness. See Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 85. +Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 277.] + +[Footnote 60: We may, perhaps, see here the reason for making the Greek +fire-god Hephaistos the husband of Aphrodite.] + +[Footnote 61: "Our country maidens are well aware that triple leaves +plucked at hazard from the common ash are worn in the breast, for the +purpose of causing prophetic dreams respecting a dilatory lover. +The leaves of the yellow trefoil are supposed to possess similar +virtues."--Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore, p. 20.] + +[Footnote 62: In Peru, a mighty and far-worshipped deity was Catequil, +the thunder-god,.... "he who in thunder-flash and clap hurls from his +sling the small, round, smooth thunder-stones, treasured in the villages +as fire-fetishes and charms to kindle the flames of love."--Tylor, op. +cit. Vol. II. p. 239] + +[Footnote 63: In Polynesia, "the great deity Maui adds a new +complication to his enigmatic solar-celestial character by appearing as +a wind-god."--Tylor, op. cit. Vol. II. p. 242.] + +[Footnote 64: Compare Plato, Republic, VIII. 15.] + +[Footnote 65: Were-wolf = man-wolf, wer meaning "man." Garou is a +Gallic corruption of werewolf, so that loup-garou is a tautological +expression.] + +[Footnote 66: Meyer, in Bunsen's Philosophy of Universal History, Vol. +I. p. 151.] + +[Footnote 67: Aimoin, De Gestis Francorum, II. 5.] + +[Footnote 68: Taylor, Words and Places, p. 393.] + +[Footnote 69: Very similar to this is the etymological confusion upon +which is based the myth of the "confusion of tongues" in the eleventh +chapter of Genesis. The name "Babel" is really Bab-Il, or "the gate of +God"; but the Hebrew writer erroneously derives the word from the root +balal, "to confuse"; and hence arises the mythical explanation,--that +Babel was a place where human speech became confused. See Rawlinson, +in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. I. p. 149; Renan, Histoire des +Langues Semitiques, Vol. I. p. 32; Donaldson, New Cratylus, p. 74, note; +Colenso on the Pentateuch, Vol. IV. p. 268.] + +[Footnote 70: Vilg. AEn. VIII. 322. With Latium compare plat?s, Skr. +prath (to spread out), Eng. flat. Ferrar, Comparative Grammar of Greek, +Latin, and Sanskrit, Vol. I. p. 31.] + +[Footnote 71: M`Lennan, "The Worship of Animals and Plants," Fortnightly +Review, N. S. Vol. VI. pp. 407-427, 562-582, Vol. VII. pp 194-216; +Spencer, "The Origin of Animal Worship," Id. Vol. VII. pp. 535-550, +reprinted in his Recent Discussions in Science, etc., pp. 31-56.] + +[Footnote 72: Thus is explained the singular conduct of the Hindu, who +slays himself before his enemy's door, in order to acquire greater power +of injuring him. "A certain Brahman, on whose lands a Kshatriya raja had +built a house, ripped himself up in revenge, and became a demon of the +kind called Brahmadasyu, who has been ever since the terror of the whole +country, and is the most common village-deity in Kharakpur. Toward the +close of the last century there were two Brahmans, out of whose house a +man had wrongfully, as they thought, taken forty rupees; whereupon one +of the Brahmans proceeded to cut off his own mother's head, with the +professed view, entertained by both mother and son, that her spirit, +excited by the beating of a large drum during forty days might haunt, +torment, and pursue to death the taker of their money and those +concerned with him." Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 103.] + +[Footnote 73: Hence, in many parts of Europe, it is still customary to +open the windows when a person dies, in order that the soul may not be +hindered in joining the mystic cavalcade.] + +[Footnote 74: The story of little Red Riding-Hood is "mutilated in the +English version, but known more perfectly by old wives in Germany, who +can tell that the lovely little maid in her shining red satin cloak was +swallowed with her grandmother by the wolf, till they both came out safe +and sound when the hunter cut open the sleeping beast." Tylor, Primitive +Culture, I. 307, where also see the kindred Russian story of Vasilissa +the Beautiful. Compare the case of Tom Thumb, who "was swallowed by the +cow and came out unhurt"; the story of Saktideva swallowed by the fish +and cut out again, in Somadeva Bhatta, II. 118-184; and the story +of Jonah swallowed by the whale, in the Old Testament. All these +are different versions of the same myth, and refer to the alternate +swallowing up and casting forth of Day by Night, which is commonly +personified as a wolf, and now and then as a great fish. Compare Grimm's +story of the Wolf and Seven Kids, Tylor, loc. cit., and see Early +History of Mankind, p. 337; Hardy, Manual of Budhism, p. 501.] + +[Footnote 75: Baring-Gould, Book of Werewolves, p. 178; Muir, Sanskrit +Texts, II. 435.] + +[Footnote 76: In those days even an after-dinner nap seems to have been +thought uncanny. See Dasent, Burnt Njal, I. xxi.] + +[Footnote 77: See Dasent, Burnt Njai, Vol. I. p. xxii.; Grettis Saga, by +Magnusson and Morris, chap. xix.; Viga Glum's Saga, by Sir Edmund Head, +p. 13, note, where the Berserkers are said to have maddened themselves +with drugs. Dasent compares them with the Malays, who work themselves +into a frenzy by means of arrack, or hasheesh, and run amuck.] + +[Footnote 78: Baring-Gould, Werewolves, p. 81.] + +[Footnote 79: Baring-Gould, op. cit. chap. xiv.] + +[Footnote 80: Baring-Gould, op. cit. p. 82.] + +[Footnote 81: Kennedy, Fictions of the Irish Celts, p. 90.] + +[Footnote 82: "En 1541, a Padoue, dit Wier, un homme qui se croyait +change en loup courait la campagne, attaquant et mettant a mort ceux +qu'il rencontrait. Apres bien des difficultes, on parvint s'emparer de +lui. Il dit en confidence a ceux qui l'arreterent: Je suis vraiment +un loup, et si ma peau ne parait pas etre celle d'un loup, c'est parce +qu'elle est retournee et que les poils sont en dedans.--Pour s'assurer +du fait, on coupa le malheureux aux differentes parties du corps, on lui +emporta les bras et les jambes."--Taine, De l'Intelligence, Tom. II. +p. 203. See the account of Slavonic werewolves in Ralston, Songs of the +Russian People, pp. 404-418.] + +[Footnote 83: Mr. Cox, whose scepticism on obscure points in history +rather surpasses that of Sir G. C. Lewis, dismisses with a sneer +the subject of the Berserker madness, observing that "the unanimous +testimony of the Norse historians is worth as much and as little as the +convictions of Glanvil and Hale on the reality of witchcraft." I have +not the special knowledge requisite for pronouncing an opinion on this +point, but Mr. Cox's ordinary methods of disposing of such questions +are not such as to make one feel obliged to accept his bare assertion, +unaccompanied by critical arguments. The madness of the bearsarks may, +no doubt, be the same thing us the frenzy of Herakles; but something +more than mere dogmatism is needed to prove it.] + +[Footnote 84: Williams, Superstitions of Witchcraft, p. 179. See a +parallel case of a cat-woman, in Thorpe's Northern Mythology, II. 26. +"Certain witches at Thurso for a long time tormented an honest fellow +under the usual form of cats, till one night he put them to flight with +his broadsword, and cut off the leg of one less nimble than the rest; +taking it up, to his amazement he found it to be a woman's leg, and +next morning he discovered the old hag its owner with but one leg +left."--Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. 283.] + +[Footnote 85: "The mare in nightmare means spirit, elf, or nymph; +compare Anglo-Saxon wudurmaere (wood-mare) = echo."--Tylor, Primitive +Culture, Vol. II. p. 173.] + +[Footnote 86: See Kuhn, Herabkunft des Feuers, p. 91; Weber, Indische +Studien. I. 197; Wolf, Beitrage zur deutschen Mythologie, II. 233-281 +Muller, Chips, II. 114-128.] + +[Footnote 87: Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, II. 207.] + +[Footnote 88: The word nymph itself means "cloud-maiden," as is +illustrated by the kinship between the Greek numph and the Latin nubes.] + +[Footnote 89: This is substantially identical with the stories of Beauty +and the Beast, Eros and Psyche, Gandharba Sena, etc.] + +[Footnote 90: The feather-dress reappears in the Arabian story of Hasssn +of El-Basrah, who by stealing it secures possession of the Jinniya. See +Lane's Arabian Nights, Vol. III. p. 380. Ralston, Songs of the Russian +People, p. 179.] + +[Footnote 91: Thorpe, Northern Mythology, III. 173; Kennedy, Fictions of +the Irish Celts, p. 123.] + +[Footnote 92: Kennedy, Fictions of the Irish Celts, p. 168.] + +[Footnote 93: Baring-Gould, Book of Werewolves, p. 133.] + +[Footnote 94: Muir's Sanskrit Texts, Vol. IV. p. 12; Muller, Rig-Veda +Sanhita, Vol. I. pp. 230-251; Fick, Woerterbuch der Indogermanischen +Grundsprache, p. 124, s v. Bhaga.] + +[Footnote 95: In the North American Review, October, 1869, p. 354, +I have collected a number of facts which seem to me to prove beyond +question that the name God is derived from Guodan, the original form of +Odin, the supreme deity of our Pagan forefathers. The case is exactly +parallel to that of the French Dieu, which is descended from the Deus of +the pagan Roman.] + +[Footnote 96: See Pott, Die Zigeuner, II. 311; Kuhn, Beitrage, I. 147. +Yet in the worship of dewel by the Gypsies is to be found the element of +diabolism invariably present in barbaric worship. "Dewel, the great +god in heaven (dewa, deus), is rather feared than loved by these +weather-beaten outcasts, for he harms them on their wanderings with his +thunder and lightning, his snow and rain, and his stars interfere with +their dark doings. Therefore they curse him foully when misfortune +falls on them; and when a child dies, they say that Dewel has eaten it." +Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 248.] + +[Footnote 97: See Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, 939.] + +[Footnote 98: The Buddhistic as well as the Zarathustrian reformation +degraded the Vedic gods into demons. "In Buddhism we find these ancient +devas, Indra and the rest, carried about at shows, as servants of +Buddha, as goblins, or fabulous heroes." Max Muller, Chips, I. 25. This +is like the Christian change of Odin into an ogre, and of Thor into the +Devil.] + +[Footnote 99: Zeus--Dia--Zhna--di on............ Plato Kratylos, p. 396, +A., with Stallbaum's note. See also Proklos, Comm. ad Timaeum, II. p. +226, Schneider; and compare Pseudo-Aristotle, De Mundo, p. 401, a, 15, +who adopts the etymology. See also Diogenes Laertius, VII. 147.] + +[Footnote 100: Marcus Aurelius, v. 7; Hom. Iliad, xii. 25, cf. Petronius +Arbiter, Sat. xliv.] + +[Footnote 101: "Il Sol, dell aurea luce eterno forte." Tasso, +Gerusalemme, XV. 47; ef. Dante, Paradiso, X. 28.] + +[Footnote 102: The Aryans were, however, doubtless better off than +the tribes of North America. "In no Indian language could the early +missionaries find a word to express the idea of God. Manitou and Oki +meant anything endowed with supernatural powers, from a snake-skin or +a greasy Indian conjurer up to Manabozho and Jouskeha. The priests were +forced to use a circumlocution,--`the great chief of men,' or 'he who +lives in the sky.'" Parkman, Jesuits in North America, p. lxxix. "The +Algonquins used no oaths, for their language supplied none; doubtless +because their mythology had no beings sufficiently distinct to swear +by." Ibid, p. 31.] + +[Footnote 103: Muller, Rig-Veda-Sanhita, I. 230.] + +[Footnote 104: Compare the remarks of Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 13.] + +[Footnote 105: It should be borne in mind, however, that one of +the women who tempt Odysseus is not a dawn-maiden, but a goddess of +darkness; Kalypso answers to Venus-Ursula in the myth of Tannhauser. +Kirke, on the other hand, seems to be a dawn-maiden, like Medeia, +whom she resembles. In her the wisdom of the dawn-goddess Athene, +the loftiest of Greek divinities, becomes degraded into the art of an +enchantress. She reappears, in the Arabian Nights, as the wicked Queen +Labe, whose sorcery none of her lovers can baffle, save Beder, king of +Persia.] + +[Footnote 106: The Persian Cyrus is an historical personage; but the +story of his perils in infancy belongs to solar mythology as much as +the stories of the magic sleep of Charlemagne and Barbarossa. His +grandfather, Astyages, is purely a mythical creation, his name being +identical with that of the night-demon, Azidahaka, who appears in the +Shah-Nameh as the biting serpent Zohak. See Cox, Mythology of the Aryan +Nations, II. 358.] + +[Footnote 107: In mediaeval legend this resistless Moira is transformed +into the curse which prevents the Wandering Jew from resting until the +day of judgment.] + +[Footnote 108: Cox, Manual of Mythology, p. 134.] + +[Footnote 109: In his interesting appendix to Henderson's Folk Lore of +the Northern Counties of England, Mr. Baring-Gould has made an ingenious +and praiseworthy attempt to reduce the entire existing mass of household +legends to about fifty story-roots; and his list, though both redundant +and defective, is nevertheless, as an empirical classification, very +instructive.] + +[Footnote 110: There is nothing in common between the names Hercules and +Herakles. The latter is a compound, formed like Themistokles; the +former is a simple derivative from the root of hercere, "to enclose." If +Herakles had any equivalent in Latin, it would necessarily begin with S, +and not with H, as septa corresponds to epta, sequor to epomai, etc. +It should be noted, however, that Mommsen, in the fourth edition of +his History, abandons this view, and observes: "Auch der griechische +Herakles ist fruh als Herclus, Hercoles, Hercules in Italien einheimisch +und dort in eigenthumlicher Weise aufgefasst worden, wie es scheint +zunachst als Gott des gewagten Gewinns und der ausserordentlichen +Vermogensvermehrung." Romische Geschichte, I. 181. One would gladly +learn Mommsen's reasons for recurring to this apparently less defensible +opinion.] + +[Footnote 111: For the relations between Sancus and Herakles, see +Preller, Romische Mythologie, p. 635; Vollmer, Mythologie, p. 970.] + +[Footnote 112: Burnouf, Bhagavata-Purana, III. p. lxxxvi; Breal, op. +cit. p. 98.] + +[Footnote 113: Max Muller, Science of Language, II 484.] + +[Footnote 114: As Max Muller observes, "apart from all mythological +considerations, Sarama in Sanskrit is the same word as Helena in Greek." +Op. cit. p. 490. The names correspond phonetically letter for letter, +as, Surya corresponds to Helios, Sarameyas to Hermeias, and Aharyu to +Achilleus. Muller has plausibly suggested that Paris similarly answers +to the Panis.] + +[Footnote 115: "I create evil," Isaiah xiv. 7; "Shall there be evil in +the city, and the Lord hath not done it?" Amos iii. 6; cf. Iliad, xxiv. +527, and contrast 2 Samuel xxiv. 1 with 1 Chronicles xxi. 1.] + +[Footnote 116: Nor is there any ground for believing that the serpent in +the Eden myth is intended for Satan. The identification is entirely the +work of modern dogmatic theology, and is due, naturally enough, to the +habit, so common alike among theologians and laymen, of reasoning about +the Bible as if it were a single book, and not a collection of +writings of different ages and of very different degrees of historic +authenticity. In a future work, entitled "Aryana Vaedjo," I hope to +examine, at considerable length, this interesting myth of the garden of +Eden.] + +[Footnote 117: For further particulars see Cox, Mythology of the Aryan +Nations, Vol. II. pp 358, 366; to which I am indebted for several of the +details here given. Compare Welcker, Griechische Gotterlehre, I. 661, +seq.] + +[Footnote 118: Many amusing passages from Scotch theologians are cited +in Buckle's History of Civilization, Vol. II. p. 368. The same belief +is implied in the quaint monkish tale of "Celestinus and the Miller's +Horse." See Tales from the Gesta Romanorum, p. 134.] + +[Footnote 119: Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. 11. p. 258.] + +[Footnote 120: Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. II. p. 259. In the Norse +story of "Not a Pin to choose between them," the old woman is in doubt +as to her own identity, on waking up after the butcher has dipped her in +a tar-barrel and rolled her on a heap of feathers; and when Tray barks +at her, her perplexity is as great as the Devil's when fooled by the +Frenschutz. See Dasent, Norse Tales, p. 199.] + +[Footnote 121: See Deulin, Contes d'un Buveur de Biere, pp. 3-29.] + +[Footnote 122: Dasent, Popular Tales from the Norse, No. III. and No. +XLII.] + +[Footnote 123: See Dasent's Introduction, p. cxxxix; Campbell, Tales of +the West Highlands, Vol. IV. p. 344; and Williams, Indian Epic Poetry, +p. 10.] + +[Footnote 124: "A Leopard was returning home from hunting on one +occasion, when he lighted on the kraal of a Ram. Now the Leopard had +never seen a Ram before, and accordingly, approaching submissively, he +said, 'Good day, friend! what may your name be?' The other, in his gruff +voice, and striking his breast with his forefoot, said, 'I am a Ram; +who are you?' 'A Leopard,' answered the other, more dead than alive; and +then, taking leave of the Ram, he ran home as fast as he could." Bleek, +Hottentot Fables, p. 24.] + +[Footnote 125: I agree, most heartily, with Mr. Mahaffy's remarks, +Prolegomena to Ancient History, p. 69.] + +[Footnote 126: Sir George Grey once told some Australian natives about +the countries within the arctic circle where during part of the year the +sun never sets. "Their astonishment now knew no bounds. 'Ah! that must +be another sun, not the same as the one we see here,' said an old man; +and in spite of all my arguments to the contrary, the others adopted +this opinion." Grey's Journals, I. 293, cited in Tylor, Early History of +Mankind, p. 301.] + +[Footnote 127: Max Muller, Chips, II. 96.] + +[Footnote 128: Fictions of the Irish Celts, pp. 255-270.] + +[Footnote 129: A corruption of Gaelic bhan a teaigh, "lady of the +house."] + +[Footnote 130: For the analysis of twelve, see my essay on "The Genesis +of Language," North American Review, October 1869, p. 320.] + +[Footnote 131: Chips from a German Workshop, Vol. II. p. 246.] + +[Footnote 132: For various legends of a deluge, see Baring-Gould, +Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 85-106.] + +[Footnote 133: Brinton, Myths of the New World, p. 160.] + +[Footnote 134: Brinton, op. cit. p. 163.] + +[Footnote 135: Brinton, op. cit. p. 167.] + +[Footnote 136: Corresponding, in various degrees, to the Asvins, the +Dioskouroi, and the brothers True and Untrue of Norse mythology.] + +[Footnote 137: See Humboldt's Kosmos, Tom. III. pp. 469-476. A +fetichistic regard for the cardinal points has not always been absent +from the minds of persons instructed in a higher theology as witness a +well-known passage in Irenaeus, and also the custom, well-nigh universal +in Europe, of building Christian churches in a line east and west.] + +[Footnote 138: Bleek, Hottentot Fables and Tales, p. 72. Compare the +Fiji story of Ra Vula, the Moon, and Ra Kalavo, the Rat, in Tylor, +Primitive Culture, I. 321.] + +[Footnote 139: Tylor, Early History of Mankind, p. 327.] + +[Footnote 140: Tylor, op. cit., p. 346.] + +[Footnote 141: Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, II. 299-302.] + +[Footnote 142: Speaking of beliefs in the Malay Archipelago, Mr. Wallace +says: "It is universally believed in Lombock that some men have the +power to turn themselves into crocodiles, which they do for the sake +of devouring their enemies, and many strange tales are told of such +transformations." Wallace, Malay Archipelago, Vol. I. p. 251.] + +[Footnote 143: Bleek, Hottentot Fables and Tales, p. 58.] + +[Footnote 144: Callaway, Zulu Nursery Tales, pp. 27-30.] + +[Footnote 145: Callaway, op. cit. pp. 142-152; cf. a similar story in +which the lion is fooled by the jackal. Bleek, op. cit. p. 7. I omit the +sequel of the tale.] + +[Footnote 146: Brinton, op. cit. p. 104.] + +[Footnote 147: Tylor, op. cit. p. 320.] + +[Footnote 148: Tylor, op. cit. pp. 338-343.] + +[Footnote 149: Tylor, op. cit. p. 336. November, 1870] + +[Footnote 150: Juventus Mundi. The Gods and Men of the Heroic Age. +By the Rt. Hon. William Ewart Gladstone. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co. +1869.] + +[Footnote 151: Hist. Greece, Vol. II. p. 208.] + +[Footnote 152: Grote, Hist. Greece, Vol. II. p. 198.] + +[Footnote 153: For the precise extent to which I would indorse the +theory that the Iliad-myth is an account of the victory of light over +darkness, let me refer to what I have said above on p. 134. I do not +suppose that the struggle between light and darkness was Homer's subject +in the Iliad any more than it was Shakespeare's subject in "Hamlet." +Homer's subject was the wrath of the Greek hero, as Shakespeare's +subject was the vengeance of the Danish prince. Nevertheless, the story +of Hamlet, when traced back to its Norse original, is unmistakably the +story of the quarrel between summer and winter; and the moody prince +is as much a solar hero as Odin himself. See Simrock, Die Quellen des +Shakespeare, I. 127-133. Of course Shakespeare knew nothing of this, +as Homer knew nothing of the origin of his Achilleus. The two stories, +therefore, are not to be taken as sun-myths in their present form. +They are the offspring of other stories which were sun-myths; they +are stories which conform to the sun-myth type after the manner above +illustrated in the paper on Light and Darkness. [Hence there is nothing +unintelligible in the inconsistency--which seems to puzzle Max Muller +(Science of Language, 6th ed. Vol. II. p. 516, note 20)--of investing +Paris with many of the characteristics of the children of light. +Supposing, as we must, that the primitive sense of the Iliad-myth had as +entirely disappeared in the Homeric age, as the primitive sense of the +Hamlet-myth had disappeared in the times of Elizabeth, the fit ground +for wonder is that such inconsistencies are not more numerous.] The +physical theory of myths will be properly presented and comprehended, +only when it is understood that we accept the physical derivation of +such stories as the Iliad-myth in much the same way that we are bound to +accept the physical etymologies of such words as soul, consider, truth, +convince, deliberate, and the like. The late Dr. Gibbs of Yale College, +in his "Philological Studies,"--a little book which I used to read with +delight when a boy,--describes such etymologies as "faded metaphors." +In similar wise, while refraining from characterizing the Iliad or the +tragedy of Hamlet--any more than I would characterize Le Juif Errant by +Sue, or La Maison Forestiere by Erckmann-Chatrian--as nature-myths, I +would at the same time consider these poems well described as embodying +"faded nature-myths."] + +[Footnote 154: I have no opinion as to the nationality of the +Earth-shaker, and, regarding the etymology of his name, I believe we can +hardly do better than acknowledge, with Mr. Cox, that it is unknown. +It may well be doubted, however, whether much good is likely to come +of comparisons between Poseidon, Dagon, Oannes, and Noah, or of +distinctions between the children of Shem and the children of Ham. See +Brown's Poseidon; a Link between Semite, Hamite, and Aryan, London, +1872,--a book which is open to several of the criticisms here directed +against Mr. Gladstone's manner of theorizing.] + +[Footnote 155: "The expression that the Erinys, Saranyu, the Dawn, finds +out the criminal, was originally quite free from mythology; IT MEANT +NO MORE THAN THAT CRIME WOULD BE BROUGHT TO LIGHT SOME DAY OR OTHER. +It became mythological, however, as soon as the etymological meaning +of Erinys was forgotten, and as soon as the Dawn, a portion of time, +assumed the rank of a personal being."--Science of Language, 6th +edition, II. 615. This paragraph, in which the italicizing is mine, +contains Max Muller's theory in a nutshell. It seems to me wholly at +variance with the facts of history. The facts concerning primitive +culture which are to be cited in this paper will show that the case +is just the other way. Instead of the expression "Erinys finds the +criminal" being originally a metaphor, it was originally a literal +statement of what was believed to be fact. The Dawn (not "a portion of +time,"(!) but the rosy flush of the morning sky) was originally regarded +as a real person. Primitive men, strictly speaking, do not talk in +metaphors; they believe in the literal truth of their similes and +personifications, from which, by survival in culture, our poetic +metaphors are lineally descended. Homer's allusion to a rolling stone as +essumenos or "yearning" (to keep on rolling), is to us a mere figurative +expression; but to the savage it is the description of a fact.] + +[Footnote 156: Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of +Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom By Edward B. Tylor. 2 +vols. 8vo. London. 1871.] + +[Footnote 157: Tylor, op. cit. I. 107.] + +[Footnote 158: Rousseau, Confessions, I. vi. For further illustration, +see especially the note on the "doctrine of signatures," supra, p. 55.] + +[Footnote 159: Spencer, Recent Discussions in Science, etc., p. 36, "The +Origin of Animal Worship."] + +[Footnote 160: See Nature, Vol. VI. p. 262, August 1, 1872. The +circumstances narrated are such as to exclude the supposition that the +sitting up is intended to attract the master's attention. The dog has +frequently been seen trying to soften the heart of the ball, while +observed unawares by his master.] + +[Footnote 161: "We would, however, commend to Mr. Fiske's attention +Mr. Mark Twain's dog, who 'couldn't be depended on for a special +providence,' as being nearer to the actual dog of every-day life than +is the Skye terrier mentioned by a certain correspondent of Nature, to +whose letter Mr. Fiske refers. The terrier is held to have had 'a few +fetichistic notions,' because he was found standing up on his hind legs +in front of a mantel-piece, upon which lay an india-rubber ball with +which he wished to play, but which he could not reach, and which, says +the letter-writer, he was evidently beseeching to come down and play +with him. We consider it more reasonable to suppose that a dog who had +been drilled into a belief that standing upon his hind legs was very +pleasing to his master, and who, therefore, had accustomed himself to +stand on his hind legs whenever he desired anything, and whose usual way +of getting what he desired was to induce somebody to get it for him, may +have stood up in front of the mantel-piece rather from force of habit +and eagerness of desire than because he had any fetichistic notions, or +expected the india-rubber ball to listen to his supplications. We admit, +however, to avoid polemical controversy, that in matter of religion the +dog is capable of anything." The Nation, Vol. XV. p. 284, October 1, +1872. To be sure, I do not know for certain what was going on in the +dog's mind; and so, letting both explanations stand, I will only add +another fact of similar import. "The tendency in savages to imagine +that natural objects and agencies are animated by spiritual or living +essences is perhaps illustrated by a little fact which I once noticed: +my dog, a full-grown and very sensible animal, was lying on the lawn +during a hot and still day; but at a little distance a slight breeze +occasionally moved an open parasol, which would have been wholly +disregarded by the dog, had any one stood near it. As it was, every time +that the parasol slightly moved, the dog growled fiercely and barked. +He must, I think, have reasoned to himself, in a rapid and unconscious +manner, that movement without any apparent cause indicated the presence +of some strange living agent, and no stranger had a right to be on his +territory." Darwin, Descent of Man, Vol. 1. p. 64. Without insisting +upon all the details of this explanation, one may readily grant, I +think, that in the dog, as in the savage, there is an undisturbed +association between motion and a living motor agency; and that out of a +multitude of just such associations common to both, the savage, with his +greater generalizing power, frames a truly fetichistic conception.] + +[Footnote 162: Note the fetichism wrapped up in the etymologies of these +Greek words. Catalepsy, katalhyis, a seizing of the body by some spirit +or demon, who holds it rigid. Ecstasy, ekstasis, a displacement or +removal of the soul from the body, into which the demon enters and +causes strange laughing, crying, or contortions. It is not metaphor, but +the literal belief ill a ghost-world, which has given rise to such +words as these, and to such expressions as "a man beside himself or +transported."] + +[Footnote 163: Something akin to the savage's belief in the animation +of pictures may be seen in young children. I have often been asked by my +three-year-old boy, whether the dog in a certain picture would bite him +if he were to go near it; and I can remember that, in my own childhood, +when reading a book about insects, which had the formidable likeness of +a spider stamped on the centre of the cover, I was always uneasy lest +my finger should come in contact with the dreaded thing as I held the +book.] + +[Footnote 164: Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. 394. "The Zulus hold that a +dead body can cast no shadow, because that appurtenance departed from +it at the close of life." Hardwick, Traditions, Superstitions, and +Folk-Lore, p. 123.] + +[Footnote 165: Tylor, op. cit. I. 391.] + +[Footnote 166: Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore, 1867, p. +210.] + +[Footnote 167: Tylor, op. cit. II. 139.] + +[Footnote 168: In Russia the souls of the dead are supposed to be +embodied in pigeons or crows. "Thus when the Deacon Theodore and his +three schismatic brethren were burnt in 1681, the souls of the martyrs, +as the 'Old Believers' affirm, appeared in the air as pigeons. In +Volhynia dead children are supposed to come back in the spring to their +native village under the semblance of swallows and other small birds, +and to seek by soft twittering or song to console their sorrowing +parents." Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, p. 118.] + +[Footnote 169: Tylor, op. cit. I. 404.] + +[Footnote 171: Tylor, op. cit. I. 407.] + +[Footnote 172: Tylor, op. cit. I. 410. In the next stage of survival +this belief will take the shape that it is wrong to slam a door, no +reason being assigned; and in the succeeding stage, when the child asks +why it is naughty to slam a door, he will be told, because it is an +evidence of bad temper. Thus do old-world fancies disappear before the +inroads of the practical sense.] + +[Footnote 173: Agassiz, Essay on Classification, pp. 97-99.] + +[Footnote 174: Figuier, The To-morrow of Death, p. 247.] + +[Footnote 175: Here, as usually, the doctrine of metempsychosis comes +in to complete the proof. "Mr. Darwin saw two Malay women in Keeling +Island, who had a wooden spoon dressed in clothes like a doll; this +spoon had been carried to the grave of a dead man, and becoming inspired +at full moon, in fact lunatic, it danced about convulsively like a table +or a hat at a modern spirit-seance." Tylor, op. cit. II. 139.] + +[Footnote 176: Tylor, op. cit. I. 414-422.] + +[Footnote 177: Tylor, op. cit. I. 435, 446; II. 30, 36.] + +[Footnote 178: According to the Karens, blindness occurs when the SOUL +OF THE EYE is eaten by demons. Id., II. 353.] + +[Footnote 179: The following citation is interesting as an illustration +of the directness of descent from heathen manes-worship to Christian +saint-worship: "It is well known that Romulus, mindful of his own +adventurous infancy, became after death a Roman deity, propitious to the +health and safety of young children, so that nurses and mothers would +carry sickly infants to present them in his little round temple at +the foot of the Palatine. In after ages the temple was replaced by +the church of St. Theodorus, and there Dr. Conyers Middleton, who drew +public attention to its curious history, used to look in and see ten +or a dozen women, each with a sick child in her lap, sitting in silent +reverence before the altar of the saint. The ceremony of blessing +children, especially after vaccination, may still be seen there on +Thursday mornings." Op. cit. II. 111.] + +[Footnote 180: Want of space prevents me from remarking at length +upon Mr. Tylor's admirable treatment of the phenomena of oracular +inspiration. Attention should be called, however, to the brilliant +explanation of the importance accorded by all religions to the rite of +fasting. Prolonged abstinence from food tends to bring on a mental +state which is favourable to visions. The savage priest or medicine-man +qualifies himself for the performance of his duties by fasting, and +where this is not sufficient, often uses intoxicating drugs; whence +the sacredness of the hasheesh, as also of the Vedic soma-juice. The +practice of fasting among civilized peoples is an instance of survival.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Myths and Myth-Makers, by John Fiske + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1061 *** diff --git a/1061-h/1061-h.htm b/1061-h/1061-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7132bf0 --- /dev/null +++ b/1061-h/1061-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8573 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Myths and Myth-makers, by John Fiske + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1061 ***</div> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS + </h1> + <h2> + Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By John Fiske + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + La mythologie, cette science toute nouvelle, qui nous fait suivre les + croyances de nos peres, depuis le berceau du monde jusqu'aux superstitions + de nos campagnes.—EDMOND SCHERER + </p> + <p> + TO MY DEAR FRIEND, WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS, IN REMEMBRANCE OF PLEASANT AUTUMN + EVENINGS SPENT AMONG WEREWOLVES AND TROLLS AND NIXIES, I dedicate THIS + RECORD OF OUR ADVENTURES. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE. + </h2> + <p> + IN publishing this somewhat rambling and unsystematic series of papers, in + which I have endeavoured to touch briefly upon a great many of the most + important points in the study of mythology, I think it right to observe + that, in order to avoid confusing the reader with intricate discussions, I + have sometimes cut the matter short, expressing myself with dogmatic + definiteness where a sceptical vagueness might perhaps have seemed more + becoming. In treating of popular legends and superstitions, the paths of + inquiry are circuitous enough, and seldom can we reach a satisfactory + conclusion until we have travelled all the way around Robin Hood's barn + and back again. I am sure that the reader would not have thanked me for + obstructing these crooked lanes with the thorns and brambles of + philological and antiquarian discussion, to such an extent as perhaps to + make him despair of ever reaching the high road. I have not attempted to + review, otherwise than incidentally, the works of Grimm, Muller, Kuhn, + Breal, Dasent, and Tylor; nor can I pretend to have added anything of + consequence, save now and then some bit of explanatory comment, to the + results obtained by the labour of these scholars; but it has rather been + my aim to present these results in such a way as to awaken general + interest in them. And accordingly, in dealing with a subject which depends + upon philology almost as much as astronomy depends upon mathematics, I + have omitted philological considerations wherever it has been possible to + do so. Nevertheless, I believe that nothing has been advanced as + established which is not now generally admitted by scholars, and that + nothing has been advanced as probable for which due evidence cannot be + produced. Yet among many points which are proved, and many others which + are probable, there must always remain many other facts of which we cannot + feel sure that our own explanation is the true one; and the student who + endeavours to fathom the primitive thoughts of mankind, as enshrined in + mythology, will do well to bear in mind the modest words of Jacob Grimm,—himself + the greatest scholar and thinker who has ever dealt with this class of + subjects,—"I shall indeed interpret all that I can, but I cannot + interpret all that I should like." + </p> + <p> + PETERSHAM, September 6, 1872. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE. </a> + </p> + <br /> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> <b>MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS.</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> I. THE ORIGINS OF FOLK-LORE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> II. THE DESCENT OF FIRE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> III. WEREWOLVES AND SWAN-MAIDENS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> IV. LIGHT AND DARKNESS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> V. MYTHS OF THE BARBARIC WORLD. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> VI. JUVENTUS MUNDI. [150] </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> VII. THE PRIMEVAL GHOST-WORLD. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> NOTE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_FOOT"> FOOTNOTES: </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. THE ORIGINS OF FOLK-LORE. + </h2> + <p> + FEW mediaeval heroes are so widely known as William Tell. His exploits + have been celebrated by one of the greatest poets and one of the most + popular musicians of modern times. They are doubtless familiar to many who + have never heard of Stauffacher or Winkelried, who are quite ignorant of + the prowess of Roland, and to whom Arthur and Lancelot, nay, even + Charlemagne, are but empty names. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, in spite of his vast reputation, it is very likely that no + such person as William Tell ever existed, and it is certain that the story + of his shooting the apple from his son's head has no historical value + whatever. In spite of the wrath of unlearned but patriotic Swiss, + especially of those of the cicerone class, this conclusion is forced upon + us as soon as we begin to study the legend in accordance with the canons + of modern historical criticism. It is useless to point to Tell's + lime-tree, standing to-day in the centre of the market-place at Altdorf, + or to quote for our confusion his crossbow preserved in the arsenal at + Zurich, as unimpeachable witnesses to the truth of the story. It is in + vain that we are told, "The bricks are alive to this day to testify to it; + therefore, deny it not." These proofs are not more valid than the + handkerchief of St. Veronica, or the fragments of the true cross. For if + relics are to be received as evidence, we must needs admit the truth of + every miracle narrated by the Bollandists. + </p> + <p> + The earliest work which makes any allusion to the adventures of William + Tell is the chronicle of the younger Melchior Russ, written in 1482. As + the shooting of the apple was supposed to have taken place in 1296, this + leaves an interval of one hundred and eighty-six years, during which + neither a Tell, nor a William, nor the apple, nor the cruelty of Gessler, + received any mention. It may also be observed, parenthetically, that the + charters of Kussenach, when examined, show that no man by the name of + Gessler ever ruled there. The chroniclers of the fifteenth century, Faber + and Hammerlin, who minutely describe the tyrannical acts by which the Duke + of Austria goaded the Swiss to rebellion, do not once mention Tell's name, + or betray the slightest acquaintance with his exploits or with his + existence. In the Zurich chronicle of 1479 he is not alluded to. But we + have still better negative evidence. John of Winterthur, one of the best + chroniclers of the Middle Ages, was living at the time of the battle of + Morgarten (1315), at which his father was present. He tells us how, on the + evening of that dreadful day, he saw Duke Leopold himself in his flight + from the fatal field, half dead with fear. He describes, with the loving + minuteness of a contemporary, all the incidents of the Swiss revolution, + but nowhere does he say a word about William Tell. This is sufficiently + conclusive. These mediaeval chroniclers, who never failed to go out of + their way after a bit of the epigrammatic and marvellous, who thought far + more of a pointed story than of historical credibility, would never have + kept silent about the adventures of Tell, if they had known anything about + them. + </p> + <p> + After this, it is not surprising to find that no two authors who describe + the deeds of William Tell agree in the details of topography and + chronology. Such discrepancies never fail to confront us when we leave the + solid ground of history and begin to deal with floating legends. Yet, if + the story be not historical, what could have been its origin? To answer + this question we must considerably expand the discussion. + </p> + <p> + The first author of any celebrity who doubted the story of William Tell + was Guillimann, in his work on Swiss Antiquities, published in 1598. He + calls the story a pure fable, but, nevertheless, eating his words, + concludes by proclaiming his belief in it, because the tale is so popular! + Undoubtedly he acted a wise part; for, in 1760, as we are told, Uriel + Freudenberger was condemned by the canton of Uri to be burnt alive, for + publishing his opinion that the legend of Tell had a Danish origin. <a + href="#linknote-1" name="linknoteref-1" id="linknoteref-1"><small>1</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The bold heretic was substantially right, however, like so many other + heretics, earlier and later. The Danish account of Tell is given as + follows, by Saxo Grammaticus:— + </p> + <p> + "A certain Palnatoki, for some time among King Harold's body-guard, had + made his bravery odious to very many of his fellow-soldiers by the zeal + with which he surpassed them in the discharge of his duty. This man once, + when talking tipsily over his cups, had boasted that he was so skilled an + archer that he could hit the smallest apple placed a long way off on a + wand at the first shot; which talk, caught up at first by the ears of + backbiters, soon came to the hearing of the king. Now, mark how the + wickedness of the king turned the confidence of the sire to the peril of + the son, by commanding that this dearest pledge of his life should be + placed instead of the wand, with a threat that, unless the author of this + promise could strike off the apple at the first flight of the arrow, he + should pay the penalty of his empty boasting by the loss of his head. The + king's command forced the soldier to perform more than he had promised, + and what he had said, reported, by the tongues of slanderers, bound him to + accomplish what he had NOT said. Yet did not his sterling courage, though + caught in the snare of slander, suffer him to lay aside his firmness of + heart; nay, he accepted the trial the more readily because it was hard. So + Palnatoki warned the boy urgently when he took his stand to await the + coming of the hurtling arrow with calm ears and unbent head, lest, by a + slight turn of his body, he should defeat the practised skill of the + bowman; and, taking further counsel to prevent his fear, he turned away + his face, lest he should be scared at the sight of the weapon. Then, + taking three arrows from the quiver, he struck the mark given him with the + first he fitted to the string..... But Palnatoki, when asked by the king + why he had taken more arrows from the quiver, when it had been settled + that he should only try the fortune of the bow ONCE, made answer, 'That I + might avenge on thee the swerving of the first by the points of the rest, + lest perchance my innocence might have been punished, while your violence + escaped scot-free.'" <a href="#linknote-2" name="linknoteref-2" + id="linknoteref-2"><small>2</small></a> + </p> + <p> + This ruthless king is none other than the famous Harold Blue-tooth, and + the occurrence is placed by Saxo in the year 950. But the story appears + not only in Denmark, but in England, in Norway, in Finland and Russia, and + in Persia, and there is some reason for supposing that it was known in + India. In Norway we have the adventures of Pansa the Splay-footed, and of + Hemingr, a vassal of Harold Hardrada, who invaded England in 1066. In + Iceland there is the kindred legend of Egil brother of Wayland Smith, the + Norse Vulcan. In England there is the ballad of William of Cloudeslee, + which supplied Scott with many details of the archery scene in "Ivanhoe." + Here, says the dauntless bowman, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I have a sonne seven years old; + Hee is to me full deere; + I will tye him to a stake— + All shall see him that bee here— + And lay an apple upon his head, + And goe six paces him froe, + And I myself with a broad arrowe + Shall cleave the apple in towe." +</pre> + <p> + In the Malleus Maleficarum a similar story is told Puncher, a famous + magician on the Upper Rhine. The great ethnologist Castren dug up the same + legend in Finland. It is common, as Dr. Dasent observes, to the Turks and + Mongolians; "and a legend of the wild Samoyeds, who never heard of Tell or + saw a book in their lives relates it, chapter and verse, of one of their + marksmen." Finally, in the Persian poem of Farid-Uddin Attar, born in + 1119, we read a story of a prince who shoots an apple from the head of a + beloved page. In all these stories, names and motives of course differ; + but all contain the same essential incidents. It is always an unerring + archer who, at the capricious command of a tyrant, shoots from the head of + some one dear to him a small object, be it an apple, a nut, or a piece of + coin. The archer always provides himself with a second arrow, and, when + questioned as to the use he intended to make of his extra weapon, the + invariable reply is, "To kill thee, tyrant, had I slain my son." Now, when + a marvellous occurrence is said to have happened everywhere, we may feel + sure that it never happened anywhere. Popular fancies propagate themselves + indefinitely, but historical events, especially the striking and dramatic + ones, are rarely repeated. The facts here collected lead inevitably to the + conclusion that the Tell myth was known, in its general features, to our + Aryan ancestors, before ever they left their primitive dwelling-place in + Central Asia. + </p> + <p> + It may, indeed, be urged that some one of these wonderful marksmen may + really have existed and have performed the feat recorded in the legend; + and that his true story, carried about by hearsay tradition from one + country to another and from age to age, may have formed the theme for all + the variations above mentioned, just as the fables of La Fontaine were + patterned after those of AEsop and Phaedrus, and just as many of Chaucer's + tales were consciously adopted from Boccaccio. No doubt there has been a + good deal of borrowing and lending among the legends of different peoples, + as well as among the words of different languages; and possibly even some + picturesque fragment of early history may have now and then been carried + about the world in this manner. But as the philologist can with almost + unerring certainty distinguish between the native and the imported words + in any Aryan language, by examining their phonetic peculiarities, so the + student of popular traditions, though working with far less perfect + instruments, can safely assert, with reference to a vast number of + legends, that they cannot have been obtained by any process of conscious + borrowing. The difficulties inseparable from any such hypothesis will + become more and more apparent as we proceed to examine a few other stories + current in different portions of the Aryan domain. + </p> + <p> + As the Swiss must give up his Tell, so must the Welshman be deprived of + his brave dog Gellert, over whose cruel fate I confess to having shed more + tears than I should regard as well bestowed upon the misfortunes of many a + human hero of romance. Every one knows how the dear old brute killed the + wolf which had come to devour Llewellyn's child, and how the prince, + returning home and finding the cradle upset and the dog's mouth dripping + blood, hastily slew his benefactor, before the cry of the child from + behind the cradle and the sight of the wolf's body had rectified his + error. To this day the visitor to Snowdon is told the touching story, and + shown the place, called Beth-Gellert, <a href="#linknote-3" + name="linknoteref-3" id="linknoteref-3"><small>3</small></a> where the + dog's grave is still to be seen. Nevertheless, the story occurs in the + fireside lore of nearly every Aryan people. Under the Gellert-form it + started in the Panchatantra, a collection of Sanskrit fables; and it has + even been discovered in a Chinese work which dates from A. D. 668. Usually + the hero is a dog, but sometimes a falcon, an ichneumon, an insect, or + even a man. In Egypt it takes the following comical shape: "A Wali once + smashed a pot full of herbs which a cook had prepared. The exasperated + cook thrashed the well-intentioned but unfortunate Wali within an inch of + his life, and when he returned, exhausted with his efforts at belabouring + the man, to examine the broken pot, he discovered amongst the herbs a + poisonous snake." <a href="#linknote-4" name="linknoteref-4" + id="linknoteref-4"><small>4</small></a> Now this story of the Wali is as + manifestly identical with the legend of Gellert as the English word FATHER + is with the Latin pater; but as no one would maintain that the word father + is in any sense derived from pater, so it would be impossible to represent + either the Welsh or the Egyptian legend as a copy of the other. Obviously + the conclusion is forced upon us that the stories, like the words, are + related collaterally, having descended from a common ancestral legend, or + having been suggested by one and the same primeval idea. + </p> + <p> + Closely connected with the Gellert myth are the stories of Faithful John + and of Rama and Luxman. In the German story, Faithful John accompanies the + prince, his master, on a journey in quest of a beautiful maiden, whom he + wishes to make his bride. As they are carrying her home across the seas, + Faithful John hears some crows, whose language he understands, foretelling + three dangers impending over the prince, from which his friend can save + him only by sacrificing his own life. As soon as they land, a horse will + spring toward the king, which, if he mounts it, will bear him away from + his bride forever; but whoever shoots the horse, and tells the king the + reason, will be turned into stone from toe to knee. Then, before the + wedding a bridal garment will lie before the king, which, if he puts it + on, will burn him like the Nessos-shirt of Herakles; but whoever throws + the shirt into the fire and tells the king the reason, will be turned into + stone from knee to heart. Finally, during the wedding-festivities, the + queen will suddenly fall in a swoon, and "unless some one takes three + drops of blood from her right breast she will die"; but whoever does so, + and tells the king the reason, will be turned into stone from head to + foot. Thus forewarned, Faithful John saves his master from all these + dangers; but the king misinterprets his motive in bleeding his wife, and + orders him to be hanged. On the scaffold he tells his story, and while the + king humbles himself in an agony of remorse, his noble friend is turned + into stone. + </p> + <p> + In the South Indian tale Luxman accompanies Rama, who is carrying home his + bride. Luxman overhears two owls talking about the perils that await his + master and mistress. First he saves them from being crushed by the falling + limb of a banyan-tree, and then he drags them away from an arch which + immediately after gives way. By and by, as they rest under a tree, the + king falls asleep. A cobra creeps up to the queen, and Luxman kills it + with his sword; but, as the owls had foretold, a drop of the cobra's blood + falls on the queen's forehead. As Luxman licks off the blood, the king + starts up, and, thinking that his vizier is kissing his wife, upbraids him + with his ingratitude, whereupon Luxman, through grief at this unkind + interpretation of his conduct, is turned into stone. <a href="#linknote-5" + name="linknoteref-5" id="linknoteref-5"><small>5</small></a> + </p> + <p> + For further illustration we may refer to the Norse tale of the "Giant who + had no Heart in his Body," as related by Dr. Dasent. This burly magician + having turned six brothers with their wives into stone, the seventh + brother—the crafty Boots or many-witted Odysseus of European + folk-lore—sets out to obtain vengeance if not reparation for the + evil done to his kith and kin. On the way he shows the kindness of his + nature by rescuing from destruction a raven, a salmon, and a wolf. The + grateful wolf carries him on his back to the giant's castle, where the + lovely princess whom the monster keeps in irksome bondage promises to act, + in behalf of Boots, the part of Delilah, and to find out, if possible, + where her lord keeps his heart. The giant, like the Jewish hero, finally + succumbs to feminine blandishments. "Far, far away in a lake lies an + island; on that island stands a church; in that church is a well; in that + well swims a duck; in that duck there is an egg; and in that egg there + lies my heart, you darling." Boots, thus instructed, rides on the wolf's + back to the island; the raven flies to the top of the steeple and gets the + church-keys; the salmon dives to the bottom of the well, and brings up the + egg from the place where the duck had dropped it; and so Boots becomes + master of the situation. As he squeezes the egg, the giant, in mortal + terror, begs and prays for his life, which Boots promises to spare on + condition that his brothers and their brides should be released from their + enchantment. But when all has been duly effected, the treacherous youth + squeezes the egg in two, and the giant instantly bursts. + </p> + <p> + The same story has lately been found in Southern India, and is published + in Miss Frere's remarkable collection of tales entitled "Old Deccan Days." + In the Hindu version the seven daughters of a rajah, with their husbands, + are transformed into stone by the great magician Punchkin,—all save + the youngest daughter, whom Punchkin keeps shut up in a tower until by + threats or coaxing he may prevail upon her to marry him. But the captive + princess leaves a son at home in the cradle, who grows up to manhood + unmolested, and finally undertakes the rescue of his family. After long + and weary wanderings he finds his mother shut up in Punchkin's tower, and + persuades her to play the part of the princess in the Norse legend. The + trick is equally successful. "Hundreds of thousands of miles away there + lies a desolate country covered with thick jungle. In the midst of the + jungle grows a circle of palm-trees, and in the centre of the circle stand + six jars full of water, piled one above another; below the sixth jar is a + small cage which contains a little green parrot; on the life of the parrot + depends my life, and if the parrot is killed I must die." <a + href="#linknote-6" name="linknoteref-6" id="linknoteref-6"><small>6</small></a> + The young prince finds the place guarded by a host of dragons, but some + eaglets whom he has saved from a devouring serpent in the course of his + journey take him on their crossed wings and carry him to the place where + the jars are standing. He instantly overturns the jars, and seizing the + parrot, obtains from the terrified magician full reparation. As soon as + his own friends and a stately procession of other royal or noble victims + have been set at liberty, he proceeds to pull the parrot to pieces. As the + wings and legs come away, so tumble off the arms and legs of the magician; + and finally as the prince wrings the bird's neck, Punchkin twists his own + head round and dies. + </p> + <p> + The story is also told in the highlands of Scotland, and some portions of + it will be recognized by the reader as incidents in the Arabian tale of + the Princess Parizade. The union of close correspondence in conception + with manifest independence in the management of the details of these + stories is striking enough, but it is a phenomenon with which we become + quite familiar as we proceed in the study of Aryan popular literature. The + legend of the Master Thief is no less remarkable than that of Punchkin. In + the Scandinavian tale the Thief, wishing to get possession of a farmer's + ox, carefully hangs himself to a tree by the roadside. The farmer, passing + by with his ox, is indeed struck by the sight of the dangling body, but + thinks it none of his business, and does not stop to interfere. No sooner + has he passed than the Thief lets himself down, and running swiftly along + a by-path, hangs himself with equal precaution to a second tree. This time + the farmer is astonished and puzzled; but when for the third time he meets + the same unwonted spectacle, thinking that three suicides in one morning + are too much for easy credence, he leaves his ox and runs back to see + whether the other two bodies are really where he thought he saw them. + While he is framing hypotheses of witchcraft by which to explain the + phenomenon, the Thief gets away with the ox. In the Hitopadesa the story + receives a finer point. "A Brahman, who had vowed a sacrifice, went to the + market to buy a goat. Three thieves saw him, and wanted to get hold of the + goat. They stationed themselves at intervals on the high road. When the + Brahman, who carried the goat on his back, approached the first thief, the + thief said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog on your back?' The Brahman + replied, 'It is not a dog, it is a goat.' A little while after he was + accosted by the second thief, who said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog + on your back?' The Brahman felt perplexed, put the goat down, examined it, + took it up again, and walked on. Soon after he was stopped by the third + thief, who said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog on your back?' Then the + Brahman was frightened, threw down the goat, and walked home to perform + his ablutions for having touched an unclean animal. The thieves took the + goat and ate it." The adroitness of the Norse King in "The Three + Princesses of Whiteland" shows but poorly in comparison with the keen + psychological insight and cynical sarcasm of these Hindu sharpers. In the + course of his travels this prince met three brothers fighting on a lonely + moor. They had been fighting for a hundred years about the possession of a + hat, a cloak, and a pair of boots, which would make the wearer invisible, + and convey him instantly whithersoever he might wish to go. The King + consents to act as umpire, provided he may once try the virtue of the + magic garments; but once clothed in them, of course he disappears, leaving + the combatants to sit down and suck their thumbs. Now in the "Sea of + Streams of Story," written in the twelfth century by Somadeva of Cashmere, + the Indian King Putraka, wandering in the Vindhya Mountains, similarly + discomfits two brothers who are quarrelling over a pair of shoes, which + are like the sandals of Hermes, and a bowl which has the same virtue as + Aladdin's lamp. "Why don't you run a race for them?" suggests Putraka; + and, as the two blockheads start furiously off, he quietly picks up the + bowl, ties on the shoes, and flies away! <a href="#linknote-7" + name="linknoteref-7" id="linknoteref-7"><small>7</small></a> + </p> + <p> + It is unnecessary to cite further illustrations. The tales here quoted are + fair samples of the remarkable correspondence which holds good through all + the various sections of Aryan folk-lore. The hypothesis of lateral + diffusion, as we may call it, manifestly fails to explain coincidences + which are maintained on such an immense scale. It is quite credible that + one nation may have borrowed from another a solitary legend of an archer + who performs the feats of Tell and Palnatoki; but it is utterly incredible + that ten thousand stories, constituting the entire mass of household + mythology throughout a dozen separate nations, should have been handed + from one to another in this way. No one would venture to suggest that the + old grannies of Iceland and Norway, to whom we owe such stories as the + Master Thief and the Princesses of Whiteland, had ever read Somadeva or + heard of the treasures of Rhampsinitos. A large proportion of the tales + with which we are dealing were utterly unknown to literature until they + were taken down by Grimm and Frere and Castren and Campbell, from the lips + of ignorant peasants, nurses, or house-servants, in Germany and Hindustan, + in Siberia and Scotland. Yet, as Mr. Cox observes, these old men and + women, sitting by the chimney-corner and somewhat timidly recounting to + the literary explorer the stories which they had learned in childhood from + their own nurses and grandmas, "reproduce the most subtle turns of thought + and expression, and an endless series of complicated narratives, in which + the order of incidents and the words of the speakers are preserved with a + fidelity nowhere paralleled in the oral tradition of historical events. It + may safely be said that no series of stories introduced in the form of + translations from other languages could ever thus have filtered down into + the lowest strata of society, and thence have sprung up again, like + Antaios, with greater energy and heightened beauty." There is indeed no + alternative for us but to admit that these fireside tales have been handed + down from parent to child for more than a hundred generations; that the + primitive Aryan cottager, as he took his evening meal of yava and sipped + his fermented mead, listened with his children to the stories of Boots and + Cinderella and the Master Thief, in the days when the squat Laplander was + master of Europe and the dark-skinned Sudra was as yet unmolested in the + Punjab. Only such community of origin can explain the community in + character between the stories told by the Aryan's descendants, from the + jungles of Ceylon to the highlands of Scotland. + </p> + <p> + This conclusion essentially modifies our view of the origin and growth of + a legend like that of William Tell. The case of the Tell legend is + radically different from the case of the blindness of Belisarius or the + burning of the Alexandrian library by order of Omar. The latter are + isolated stories or beliefs; the former is one of a family of stories or + beliefs. The latter are untrustworthy traditions of doubtful events; but + in dealing with the former, we are face to face with a MYTH. + </p> + <p> + What, then, is a myth? The theory of Euhemeros, which was so fashionable a + century ago, in the days of the Abbe Banier, has long since been so + utterly abandoned that to refute it now is but to slay the slain. The + peculiarity of this theory was that it cut away all the extraordinary + features of a given myth, wherein dwelt its inmost significance, and to + the dull and useless residuum accorded the dignity of primeval history. In + this way the myth was lost without compensation, and the student, in + seeking good digestible bread, found but the hardest of pebbles. + Considered merely as a pretty story, the legend of the golden fruit + watched by the dragon in the garden of the Hesperides is not without its + value. But what merit can there be in the gratuitous statement which, + degrading the grand Doric hero to a level with any vulgar fruit-stealer, + makes Herakles break a close with force and arms, and carry off a crop of + oranges which had been guarded by mastiffs? It is still worse when we come + to the more homely folk-lore with which the student of mythology now has + to deal. The theories of Banier, which limped and stumbled awkwardly + enough when it was only a question of Hermes and Minos and Odin, have + fallen never to rise again since the problems of Punchkin and Cinderella + and the Blue Belt have begun to demand solution. The conclusion has been + gradually forced upon the student, that the marvellous portion of these + old stories is no illegitimate extres-cence, but was rather the pith and + centre of the whole, <a href="#linknote-8" name="linknoteref-8" + id="linknoteref-8"><small>8</small></a> in days when there was no + supernatural, because it had not yet been discovered that there was such a + thing as nature. The religious myths of antiquity and the fireside legends + of ancient and modern times have their common root in the mental habits of + primeval humanity. They are the earliest recorded utterances of men + concerning the visible phenomena of the world into which they were born. + </p> + <p> + That prosaic and coldly rational temper with which modern men are wont to + regard natural phenomena was in early times unknown. We have come to + regard all events as taking place regularly, in strict conformity to law: + whatever our official theories may be, we instinctively take this view of + things. But our primitive ancestors knew nothing about laws of nature, + nothing about physical forces, nothing about the relations of cause and + effect, nothing about the necessary regularity of things. There was a time + in the history of mankind when these things had never been inquired into, + and when no generalizations about them had been framed, tested, or + established. There was no conception of an order of nature, and therefore + no distinct conception of a supernatural order of things. There was no + belief in miracles as infractions of natural laws, but there was a belief + in the occurrence of wonderful events too mighty to have been brought + about by ordinary means. There was an unlimited capacity for believing and + fancying, because fancy and belief had not yet been checked and headed off + in various directions by established rules of experience. Physical science + is a very late acquisition of the human mind, but we are already + sufficiently imbued with it to be almost completely disabled from + comprehending the thoughts of our ancestors. "How Finn cosmogonists could + have believed the earth and heaven to be made out of a severed egg, the + upper concave shell representing heaven, the yolk being earth, and the + crystal surrounding fluid the circumambient ocean, is to us + incomprehensible; and yet it remains a fact that they did so regard them. + How the Scandinavians could have supposed the mountains to be the + mouldering bones of a mighty Jotun, and the earth to be his festering + flesh, we cannot conceive; yet such a theory was solemnly taught and + accepted. How the ancient Indians could regard the rain-clouds as cows + with full udders milked by the winds of heaven is beyond our + comprehension, and yet their Veda contains indisputable testimony to the + fact that they were so regarded." We have only to read Mr. Baring-Gould's + book of "Curious Myths," from which I have just quoted, or to dip into Mr. + Thorpe's treatise on "Northern Mythology," to realize how vast is the + difference between our stand-point and that from which, in the later + Middle Ages, our immediate forefathers regarded things. The frightful + superstition of werewolves is a good instance. In those days it was firmly + believed that men could be, and were in the habit of being, transformed + into wolves. It was believed that women might bring forth snakes or + poodle-dogs. It was believed that if a man had his side pierced in battle, + you could cure him by nursing the sword which inflicted the wound. "As + late as 1600 a German writer would illustrate a thunder-storm destroying a + crop of corn by a picture of a dragon devouring the produce of the field + with his flaming tongue and iron teeth." + </p> + <p> + Now if such was the condition of the human intellect only three or four + centuries ago, what must it have been in that dark antiquity when not even + the crudest generalizations of Greek or of Oriental science had been + reached? The same mighty power of imagination which now, restrained and + guided by scientific principles, leads us to discoveries and inventions, + must then have wildly run riot in mythologic fictions whereby to explain + the phenomena of nature. Knowing nothing whatever of physical forces, of + the blind steadiness with which a given effect invariably follows its + cause, the men of primeval antiquity could interpret the actions of nature + only after the analogy of their own actions. The only force they knew was + the force of which they were directly conscious,—the force of will. + Accordingly, they imagined all the outward world to be endowed with + volition, and to be directed by it. They personified everything,—sky, + clouds, thunder, sun, moon, ocean, earthquake, whirlwind. <a + href="#linknote-9" name="linknoteref-9" id="linknoteref-9"><small>9</small></a> + The comparatively enlightened Athenians of the age of Perikles addressed + the sky as a person, and prayed to it to rain upon their gardens. <a + href="#linknote-10" name="linknoteref-10" id="linknoteref-10"><small>10</small></a> + And for calling the moon a mass of dead matter, Anaxagoras came near + losing his life. To the ancients the moon was not a lifeless ball of + stones and clods: it was the horned huntress, Artemis, coursing through + the upper ether, or bathing herself in the clear lake; or it was + Aphrodite, protectress of lovers, born of the sea-foam in the East near + Cyprus. The clouds were no bodies of vaporized water: they were cows with + swelling udders, driven to the milking by Hermes, the summer wind; or + great sheep with moist fleeces, slain by the unerring arrows of + Bellerophon, the sun; or swan-maidens, flitting across the firmament, + Valkyries hovering over the battle-field to receive the souls of falling + heroes; or, again, they were mighty mountains piled one above another, in + whose cavernous recesses the divining-wand of the storm-god Thor revealed + hidden treasures. The yellow-haired sun, Phoibos, drove westerly all day + in his flaming chariot; or perhaps, as Meleagros, retired for a while in + disgust from the sight of men; wedded at eventide the violet light + (Oinone, Iole), which he had forsaken in the morning; sank, as Herakles, + upon a blazing funeral-pyre, or, like Agamemnon, perished in a + blood-stained bath; or, as the fish-god, Dagon, swam nightly through the + subterranean waters, to appear eastward again at daybreak. Sometimes + Phaethon, his rash, inexperienced son, would take the reins and drive the + solar chariot too near the earth, causing the fruits to perish, and the + grass to wither, and the wells to dry up. Sometimes, too, the great + all-seeing divinity, in his wrath at the impiety of men, would shoot down + his scorching arrows, causing pestilence to spread over the land. Still + other conceptions clustered around the sun. Now it was the wonderful + treasure-house, into which no one could look and live; and again it was + Ixion himself, bound on the fiery wheel in punishment for violence offered + to Here, the queen of the blue air. + </p> + <p> + This theory of ancient mythology is not only beautiful and plausible, it + is, in its essential points, demonstrated. It stands on as firm a + foundation as Grimm's law in philology, or the undulatory theory in + molecular physics. It is philology which has here enabled us to read the + primitive thoughts of mankind. A large number of the names of Greek gods + and heroes have no meaning in the Greek language; but these names occur + also in Sanskrit, with plain physical meanings. In the Veda we find Zeus + or Jupiter (Dyaus-pitar) meaning the sky, and Sarameias or Hermes, meaning + the breeze of a summer morning. We find Athene (Ahana), meaning the light + of daybreak; and we are thus enabled to understand why the Greek described + her as sprung from the forehead of Zeus. There too we find Helena + (Sarama), the fickle twilight, whom the Panis, or night-demons, who serve + as the prototypes of the Hellenic Paris, strive to seduce from her + allegiance to the solar monarch. Even Achilleus (Aharyu) again confronts + us, with his captive Briseis (Brisaya's offspring); and the fierce + Kerberos (Carvara) barks on Vedic ground in strict conformity to the laws + of phonetics. <a href="#linknote-11" name="linknoteref-11" + id="linknoteref-11"><small>11</small></a> Now, when the Hindu talked about + Father Dyaus, or the sleek kine of Siva, he thought of the personified sky + and clouds; he had not outgrown the primitive mental habits of the race. + But the Greek, in whose language these physical meanings were lost, had + long before the Homeric epoch come to regard Zeus and Hermes, Athene, + Helena, Paris, and Achilleus, as mere persons, and in most cases the + originals of his myths were completely forgotten. In the Vedas the Trojan + War is carried on in the sky, between the bright deities and the demons of + night; but the Greek poet, influenced perhaps by some dim historical + tradition, has located the contest on the shore of the Hellespont, and in + his mind the actors, though superhuman, are still completely + anthropomorphic. Of the true origin of his epic story he knew as little as + Euhemeros, or Lord Bacon, or the Abbe Banier. + </p> + <p> + After these illustrations, we shall run no risk of being misunderstood + when we define a myth as, in its origin, an explanation, by the + uncivilized mind, of some natural phenomenon; not an allegory, not an + esoteric symbol,—for the ingenuity is wasted which strives to detect + in myths the remnants of a refined primeval science,—but an + explanation. Primitive men had no profound science to perpetuate by means + of allegory, nor were they such sorry pedants as to talk in riddles when + plain language would serve their purpose. Their minds, we may be sure, + worked like our own, and when they spoke of the far-darting sun-god, they + meant just what they said, save that where we propound a scientific + theorem, they constructed a myth. <a href="#linknote-12" + name="linknoteref-12" id="linknoteref-12"><small>12</small></a> A thing is + said to be explained when it is classified with other things with which we + are already acquainted. That is the only kind of explanation of which the + highest science is capable. We explain the origin, progress, and ending of + a thunder-storm, when we classify the phenomena presented by it along with + other more familiar phenomena of vaporization and condensation. But the + primitive man explained the same thing to his own satisfaction when he had + classified it along with the well-known phenomena of human volition, by + constructing a theory of a great black dragon pierced by the unerring + arrows of a heavenly archer. We consider the nature of the stars to a + certain extent explained when they are classified as suns; but the + Mohammedan compiler of the "Mishkat-ul-Ma'sabih" was content to explain + them as missiles useful for stoning the Devil! Now, as soon as the old + Greek, forgetting the source of his conception, began to talk of a human + Oidipous slaying a leonine Sphinx, and as soon as the Mussulman began, if + he ever did, to tell his children how the Devil once got a good pelting + with golden bullets, then both the one and the other were talking pure + mythology. + </p> + <p> + We are justified, accordingly, in distinguishing between a myth and a + legend. Though the words are etymologically parallel, and though in + ordinary discourse we may use them interchangeably, yet when strict + accuracy is required, it is well to keep them separate. And it is perhaps + needless, save for the sake of completeness, to say that both are to be + distinguished from stories which have been designedly fabricated. The + distinction may occasionally be subtle, but is usually broad enough. Thus, + the story that Philip II. murdered his wife Elizabeth, is a + misrepresentation; but the story that the same Elizabeth was culpably + enamoured of her step-son Don Carlos, is a legend. The story that Queen + Eleanor saved the life of her husband, Edward I., by sucking a wound made + in his arm by a poisoned arrow, is a legend; but the story that Hercules + killed a great robber, Cacus, who had stolen his cattle, conceals a + physical meaning, and is a myth. While a legend is usually confined to one + or two localities, and is told of not more than one or two persons, it is + characteristic of a myth that it is spread, in one form or another, over a + large part of the earth, the leading incidents remaining constant, while + the names and often the motives vary with each locality. This is partly + due to the immense antiquity of myths, dating as they do from a period + when many nations, now widely separated, had not yet ceased to form one + people. Thus many elements of the myth of the Trojan War are to be found + in the Rig-Veda; and the myth of St. George and the Dragon is found in all + the Aryan nations. But we must not always infer that myths have a common + descent, merely because they resemble each other. We must remember that + the proceedings of the uncultivated mind are more or less alike in all + latitudes, and that the same phenomenon might in various places + independently give rise to similar stories. <a href="#linknote-13" + name="linknoteref-13" id="linknoteref-13"><small>13</small></a> The myth + of Jack and the Beanstalk is found not only among people of Aryan descent, + but also among the Zulus of South Africa, and again among the American + Indians. Whenever we can trace a story in this way from one end of the + world to the other, or through a whole family of kindred nations, we are + pretty safe in assuming that we are dealing with a true myth, and not with + a mere legend. + </p> + <p> + Applying these considerations to the Tell myth, we at once obtain a valid + explanation of its origin. The conception of infallible skill in archery, + which underlies such a great variety of myths and popular fairy-tales, is + originally derived from the inevitable victory of the sun over his + enemies, the demons of night, winter, and tempest. Arrows and spears which + never miss their mark, swords from whose blow no armour can protect, are + invariably the weapons of solar divinities or heroes. The shafts of + Bellerophon never fail to slay the black demon of the rain-cloud, and the + bolt of Phoibos Chrysaor deals sure destruction to the serpent of winter. + Odysseus, warring against the impious night-heroes, who have endeavoured + throughout ten long years or hours of darkness to seduce from her + allegiance his twilight-bride, the weaver of the never-finished web of + violet clouds,—Odysseus, stripped of his beggar's raiment and + endowed with fresh youth and beauty by the dawn-goddess, Athene, engages + in no doubtful conflict as he raises the bow which none but himself can + bend. Nor is there less virtue in the spear of Achilleus, in the swords of + Perseus and Sigurd, in Roland's stout blade Durandal, or in the brand + Excalibur, with which Sir Bedivere was so loath to part. All these are + solar weapons, and so, too, are the arrows of Tell and Palnatoki, Egil and + Hemingr, and William of Cloudeslee, whose surname proclaims him an + inhabitant of the Phaiakian land. William Tell, whether of Cloudland or of + Altdorf, is the last reflection of the beneficent divinity of daytime and + summer, constrained for a while to obey the caprice of the powers of cold + and darkness, as Apollo served Laomedon, and Herakles did the bidding of + Eurystheus. His solar character is well preserved, even in the sequel of + the Swiss legend, in which he appears no less skilful as a steersman than + as an archer, and in which, after traversing, like Dagon, the tempestuous + sea of night, he leaps at daybreak in regained freedom upon the land, and + strikes down the oppressor who has held him in bondage. + </p> + <p> + But the sun, though ever victorious in open contest with his enemies, is + nevertheless not invulnerable. At times he succumbs to treachery, is bound + by the frost-giants, or slain by the demons of darkness. The poisoned + shirt of the cloud-fiend Nessos is fatal even to the mighty Herakles, and + the prowess of Siegfried at last fails to save him from the craft of + Hagen. In Achilleus and Meleagros we see the unhappy solar hero doomed to + toil for the profit of others, and to be cut off by an untimely death. The + more fortunate Odysseus, who lives to a ripe old age, and triumphs again + and again over all the powers of darkness, must nevertheless yield to the + craving desire to visit new cities and look upon new works of strange men, + until at last he is swallowed up in the western sea. That the unrivalled + navigator of the celestial ocean should disappear beneath the western + waves is as intelligible as it is that the horned Venus or Astarte should + rise from the sea in the far east. It is perhaps less obvious that winter + should be so frequently symbolized as a thorn or sharp instrument. + Achilleus dies by an arrow-wound in the heel; the thigh of Adonis is + pierced by the boar's tusk, while Odysseus escapes with an ugly scar, + which afterwards secures his recognition by his old servant, the + dawn-nymph Eurykleia; Sigurd is slain by a thorn, and Balder by a sharp + sprig of mistletoe; and in the myth of the Sleeping Beauty, the + earth-goddess sinks into her long winter sleep when pricked by the point + of the spindle. In her cosmic palace, all is locked in icy repose, naught + thriving save the ivy which defies the cold, until the kiss of the + golden-haired sun-god reawakens life and activity. + </p> + <p> + The wintry sleep of nature is symbolized in innumerable stories of + spell-bound maidens and fair-featured youths, saints, martyrs, and heroes. + Sometimes it is the sun, sometimes the earth, that is supposed to slumber. + Among the American Indians the sun-god Michabo is said to sleep through + the winter months; and at the time of the falling leaves, by way of + composing himself for his nap, he fills his great pipe and divinely + smokes; the blue clouds, gently floating over the landscape, fill the air + with the haze of Indian summer. In the Greek myth the shepherd Endymion + preserves his freshness in a perennial slumber. The German Siegfried, + pierced by the thorn of winter, is sleeping until he shall be again called + forth to fight. In Switzerland, by the Vierwald-stattersee, three Tells + are awaiting the hour when their country shall again need to be delivered + from the oppressor. Charlemagne is reposing in the Untersberg, sword in + hand, waiting for the coming of Antichrist; Olger Danske similarly dreams + away his time in Avallon; and in a lofty mountain in Thuringia, the great + Emperor Yrederic Barbarossa slumbers with his knights around him, until + the time comes for him to sally forth and raise Germany to the first rank + among the kingdoms of the world. The same story is told of Olaf + Tryggvesson, of Don Sebastian of Portugal, and of the Moorish King + Boabdil. The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, having taken refuge in a cave from + the persecutions of the heathen Decius, slept one hundred and sixty-four + years, and awoke to find a Christian emperor on the throne. The monk of + Hildesheim, in the legend so beautifully rendered by Longfellow, doubting + how with God a thousand years ago could be as yesterday, listened three + minutes entranced by the singing of a bird in the forest, and found, on + waking from his revery, that a thousand years had flown. To the same + family of legends belong the notion that St. John is sleeping at Ephesus + until the last days of the world; the myth of the enchanter Merlin, + spell-bound by Vivien; the story of the Cretan philosopher Epimenides, who + dozed away fifty-seven years in a cave; and Rip Van Winkle's nap in the + Catskills. <a href="#linknote-14" name="linknoteref-14" id="linknoteref-14"><small>14</small></a> + </p> + <p> + We might go on almost indefinitely citing household tales of wonderful + sleepers; but, on the principle of the association of opposites, we are + here reminded of sundry cases of marvellous life and wakefulness, + illustrated in the Wandering Jew; the dancers of Kolbeck; Joseph of + Arimathaea with the Holy Grail; the Wild Huntsman who to all eternity + chases the red deer; the Captain of the Phantom Ship; the classic + Tithonos; and the Man in the Moon. + </p> + <p> + The lunar spots have afforded a rich subject for the play of human fancy. + Plutarch wrote a treatise on them, but the myth-makers had been before + him. "Every one," says Mr. Baring-Gould, "knows that the moon is inhabited + by a man with a bundle of sticks on his back, who has been exiled thither + for many centuries, and who is so far off that he is beyond the reach of + death. He has once visited this earth, if the nursery rhyme is to be + credited when it asserts that + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'The Man in the Moon + Came down too soon + And asked his way to Norwich'; +</pre> + <p> + but whether he ever reached that city the same authority does not state." + Dante calls him Cain; Chaucer has him put up there as a punishment for + theft, and gives him a thorn-bush to carry; Shakespeare also loads him + with the thorns, but by way of compensation gives him a dog for a + companion. Ordinarily, however, his offence is stated to have been, not + stealing, but Sabbath-breaking,—an idea derived from the Old + Testament. Like the man mentioned in the Book of Numbers, he is caught + gathering sticks on the Sabbath; and, as an example to mankind, he is + condemned to stand forever in the moon, with his bundle on his back. + Instead of a dog, one German version places with him a woman, whose crime + was churning butter on Sunday. She carries her butter-tub; and this brings + us to Mother Goose again:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Jack and Jill went up the hill + To get a pail of water. + Jack fell down and broke his crown, + And Jill came tumbling after." +</pre> + <p> + This may read like mere nonsense; but there is a point of view from which + it may be safely said that there is very little absolute nonsense in the + world. The story of Jack and Jill is a venerable one. In Icelandic + mythology we read that Jack and Jill were two children whom the moon once + kidnapped and carried up to heaven. They had been drawing water in a + bucket, which they were carrying by means of a pole placed across their + shoulders; and in this attitude they have stood to the present day in the + moon. Even now this explanation of the moon-spots is to be heard from the + mouths of Swedish peasants. They fall away one after the other, as the + moon wanes, and their water-pail symbolizes the supposed connection of the + moon with rain-storms. Other forms of the myth occur in Sanskrit. + </p> + <p> + The moon-goddess, or Aphrodite, of the ancient Germans, was called Horsel, + or Ursula, who figures in Christian mediaeval mythology as a persecuted + saint, attended by a troop of eleven thousand virgins, who all suffer + martyrdom as they journey from England to Cologne. The meaning of the myth + is obvious. In German mythology, England is the Phaiakian land of clouds + and phantoms; the succubus, leaving her lover before daybreak, excuses + herself on the plea that "her mother is calling her in England." <a + href="#linknote-15" name="linknoteref-15" id="linknoteref-15"><small>15</small></a> + The companions of Ursula are the pure stars, who leave the cloudland and + suffer martyrdom as they approach the regions of day. In the Christian + tradition, Ursula is the pure Artemis; but, in accordance with her ancient + character, she is likewise the sensual Aphrodite, who haunts the + Venusberg; and this brings us to the story of Tannhauser. + </p> + <p> + The Horselberg, or mountain of Venus, lies in Thuringia, between Eisenach + and Gotha. High up on its slope yawns a cavern, the Horselloch, or cave of + Venus within which is heard a muffled roar, as of subterranean water. From + this cave, in old times, the frightened inhabitants of the neighbouring + valley would hear at night wild moans and cries issuing, mingled with + peals of demon-like laughter. Here it was believed that Venus held her + court; "and there were not a few who declared that they had seen fair + forms of female beauty beckoning them from the mouth of the chasm." <a + href="#linknote-16" name="linknoteref-16" id="linknoteref-16"><small>16</small></a> + Tannhauser was a Frankish knight and famous minnesinger, who, travelling + at twilight past the Horselberg, "saw a white glimmering figure of + matchless beauty standing before him and beckoning him to her." Leaving + his horse, he went up to meet her, whom he knew to be none other than + Venus. He descended to her palace in the heart of the mountain, and there + passed seven years in careless revelry. Then, stricken with remorse and + yearning for another glimpse of the pure light of day, he called in agony + upon the Virgin Mother, who took compassion on him and released him. He + sought a village church, and to priest after priest confessed his sin, + without obtaining absolution, until finally he had recourse to the Pope. + But the holy father, horrified at the enormity of his misdoing, declared + that guilt such as his could never be remitted sooner should the staff in + his hand grow green and blossom. "Then Tannhauser, full of despair and + with his soul darkened, went away, and returned to the only asylum open to + him, the Venusberg. But lo! three days after he had gone, Pope Urban + discovered that his pastoral staff had put forth buds and had burst into + flower. Then he sent messengers after Tannhauser, and they reached the + Horsel vale to hear that a wayworn man, with haggard brow and bowed head, + had just entered the Horselloch. Since then Tannhauser has not been seen." + (p. 201.) + </p> + <p> + As Mr. Baring-Gould rightly observes, this sad legend, in its + Christianized form, is doubtless descriptive of the struggle between the + new and the old faiths. The knightly Tannhauser, satiated with pagan + sensuality, turns to Christianity for relief, but, repelled by the + hypocrisy, pride, and lack of sympathy of its ministers, gives up in + despair, and returns to drown his anxieties in his old debauchery. + </p> + <p> + But this is not the primitive form of the myth, which recurs in the + folk-lore of every people of Aryan descent. Who, indeed, can read it + without being at once reminded of Thomas of Erceldoune (or Horsel-hill), + entranced by the sorceress of the Eilden; of the nightly visits of Numa to + the grove of the nymph Egeria; of Odysseus held captive by the Lady + Kalypso; and, last but not least, of the delightful Arabian tale of Prince + Ahmed and the Peri Banou? On his westward journey, Odysseus is ensnared + and kept in temporary bondage by the amorous nymph of darkness, Kalypso + (kalnptw, to veil or cover). So the zone of the moon-goddess Aphrodite + inveigles all-seeing Zeus to treacherous slumber on Mount Ida; and by a + similar sorcery Tasso's great hero is lulled in unseemly idleness in + Armida's golden paradise, at the western verge of the world. The + disappearance of Tannhauser behind the moonlit cliff, lured by Venus + Ursula, the pale goddess of night, is a precisely parallel circumstance. + </p> + <p> + But solar and lunar phenomena are by no means the only sources of popular + mythology. Opposite my writing-table hangs a quaint German picture, + illustrating Goethe's ballad of the Erlking, in which the whole wild + pathos of the story is compressed into one supreme moment; we see the + fearful, half-gliding rush of the Erlking, his long, spectral arms + outstretched to grasp the child, the frantic gallop of the horse, the + alarmed father clasping his darling to his bosom in convulsive embrace, + the siren-like elves hovering overhead, to lure the little soul with their + weird harps. There can be no better illustration than is furnished by this + terrible scene of the magic power of mythology to invest the simplest + physical phenomena with the most intense human interest; for the true + significance of the whole picture is contained in the father's address to + his child, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind; + In durren Blattern sauselt der Wind." +</pre> + <p> + The story of the Piper of Hamelin, well known in the version of Robert + Browning, leads to the same conclusion. In 1284 the good people of Hamelin + could obtain no rest, night or day, by reason of the direful host of rats + which infested their town. One day came a strange man in a bunting-suit, + and offered for five hundred guilders to rid the town of the vermin. The + people agreed: whereupon the man took out a pipe and piped, and instantly + all the rats in town, in an army which blackened the face of the earth, + came forth from their haunts, and followed the piper until he piped them + to the river Weser, where they alls jumped in and were drowned. But as + soon as the torment was gone, the townsfolk refused to pay the piper on + the ground that he was evidently a wizard. He went away, vowing vengeance, + and on St. John's day reappeared, and putting his pipe to his mouth blew a + different air. Whereat all the little, plump, rosy-cheeked, golden-haired + children came merrily running after him, their parents standing aghast, + not knowing what to do, while he led them up a hill in the neighbourhood. + A door opened in the mountain-side, through which he led them in, and they + never were seen again; save one lame boy, who hobbled not fast enough to + get in before the door shut, and who lamented for the rest of his life + that he had not been able to share the rare luck of his comrades. In the + street through which this procession passed no music was ever afterwards + allowed to be played. For a long time the town dated its public documents + from this fearful calamity, and many authorities have treated it as an + historical event. <a href="#linknote-17" name="linknoteref-17" + id="linknoteref-17"><small>17</small></a> Similar stories are told of + other towns in Germany, and, strange to say, in remote Abyssinia also. + Wesleyan peasants in England believe that angels pipe to children who are + about to die; and in Scandinavia, youths are said to have been enticed + away by the songs of elf-maidens. In Greece, the sirens by their magic lay + allured voyagers to destruction; and Orpheus caused the trees and dumb + beasts to follow him. Here we reach the explanation. For Orpheus is the + wind sighing through untold acres of pine forest. "The piper is no other + than the wind, and the ancients held that in the wind were the souls of + the dead." To this day the English peasantry believe that they hear the + wail of the spirits of unbaptized children, as the gale sweeps past their + cottage doors. The Greek Hermes resulted from the fusion of two deities. + He is the sun and also the wind; and in the latter capacity he bears away + the souls of the dead. So the Norse Odin, who like Hermes fillfils a + double function, is supposed to rush at night over the tree-tops, + "accompanied by the scudding train of brave men's spirits." And readers of + recent French literature cannot fail to remember Erokmann-Chatrian's + terrible story of the wild huntsman Vittikab, and how he sped through the + forest, carrying away a young girl's soul. + </p> + <p> + Thus, as Tannhauser is the Northern Ulysses, so is Goethe's Erlking none + other than the Piper of Hamelin. And the piper, in turn, is the classic + Hermes or Orpheus, the counterpart of the Finnish Wainamoinen and the + Sanskrit Gunadhya. His wonderful pipe is the horn of Oberon, the lyre of + Apollo (who, like the piper, was a rat-killer), the harp stolen by Jack + when he climbed the bean-stalk to the ogre's castle. <a href="#linknote-18" + name="linknoteref-18" id="linknoteref-18"><small>18</small></a> And the + father, in Goethe's ballad, is no more than right when he assures his + child that the siren voice which tempts him is but the rustle of the wind + among the dried leaves; for from such a simple class of phenomena arose + this entire family of charming legends. + </p> + <p> + But why does the piper, who is a leader of souls (Psychopompos), also draw + rats after him? In answering this we shall have occasion to note that the + ancients by no means shared that curious prejudice against the brute + creation which is indulged in by modern anti-Darwinians. In many + countries, rats and mice have been regarded as sacred animals; but in + Germany they were thought to represent the human soul. One story out of a + hundred must suffice to illustrate this. "In Thuringia, at Saalfeld, a + servant-girl fell asleep whilst her companions were shelling nuts. They + observed a little red mouse creep from her mouth and run out of the + window. One of the fellows present shook the sleeper, but could not wake + her, so he moved her to another place. Presently the mouse ran back to the + former place and dashed about, seeking the girl; not finding her, it + vanished; at the same moment the girl died." <a href="#linknote-19" + name="linknoteref-19" id="linknoteref-19"><small>19</small></a> This + completes the explanation of the piper, and it also furnishes the key to + the horrible story of Bishop Hatto. + </p> + <p> + This wicked prelate lived on the bank of the Rhine, in the middle of which + stream he possessed a tower, now pointed out to travellers as the Mouse + Tower. In the year 970 there was a dreadful famine, and people came from + far and near craving sustenance out of the Bishop's ample and well-filled + granaries. Well, he told them all to go into the barn, and when they had + got in there, as many as could stand, he set fire to the barn and burnt + them all up, and went home to eat a merry supper. But when he arose next + morning, he heard that an army of rats had eaten all the corn in his + granaries, and was now advancing to storm the palace. Looking from his + window, he saw the roads and fields dark with them, as they came with fell + purpose straight toward his mansion. In frenzied terror he took his boat + and rowed out to the tower in the river. But it was of no use: down into + the water marched the rats, and swam across, and scaled the walls, and + gnawed through the stones, and came swarming in about the shrieking + Bishop, and ate him up, flesh, bones, and all. Now, bearing in mind what + was said above, there can be no doubt that these rats were the souls of + those whom the Bishop had murdered. There are many versions of the story + in different Teutonic countries, and in some of them the avenging rats or + mice issue directly, by a strange metamorphosis, from the corpses of the + victims. St. Gertrude, moreover, the heathen Holda, was symbolized as a + mouse, and was said Go lead an army of mice; she was the receiver of + children's souls. Odin, also, in his character of a Psychopompos, was + followed by a host of rats. <a href="#linknote-20" name="linknoteref-20" + id="linknoteref-20"><small>20</small></a> + </p> + <p> + As the souls of the departed are symbolized as rats, so is the psychopomp + himself often figured as a dog. Sarameias, the Vedic counterpart of Hermes + and Odin, sometimes appears invested with canine attributes; and countless + other examples go to show that by the early Aryan mind the howling wind + was conceived as a great dog or wolf. As the fearful beast was heard + speeding by the windows or over the house-top, the inmates trembled, for + none knew but his own soul might forthwith be required of him. Hence, to + this day, among ignorant people, the howling of a dog under the window is + supposed to portend a death in the family. It is the fleet greyhound of + Hermes, come to escort the soul to the river Styx. <a href="#linknote-21" + name="linknoteref-21" id="linknoteref-21"><small>21</small></a> + </p> + <p> + But the wind-god is not always so terrible. Nothing can be more + transparent than the phraseology of the Homeric Hymn, in which Hermes is + described as acquiring the strength of a giant while yet a babe in the + cradle, as sallying out and stealing the cattle (clouds) of Apollo, and + driving them helter-skelter in various directions, then as crawling + through the keyhole, and with a mocking laugh shrinking into his cradle. + He is the Master Thief, who can steal the burgomaster's horse from under + him and his wife's mantle from off her back, the prototype not only of the + crafty architect of Rhampsinitos, but even of the ungrateful slave who + robs Sancho of his mule in the Sierra Morena. He furnishes in part the + conceptions of Boots and Reynard; he is the prototype of Paul Pry and + peeping Tom of Coventry; and in virtue of his ability to contract or + expand himself at pleasure, he is both the Devil in the Norse Tale, <a + href="#linknote-22" name="linknoteref-22" id="linknoteref-22"><small>22</small></a> + whom the lad persuades to enter a walnut, and the Arabian Efreet, whom the + fisherman releases from the bottle. + </p> + <p> + The very interesting series of myths and popular superstitions suggested + by the storm-cloud and the lightning must be reserved for a future + occasion. When carefully examined, they will richly illustrate the + conclusion which is the result of the present inquiry, that the marvellous + tales and quaint superstitions current in every Aryan household have a + common origin with the classic legends of gods and heroes, which formerly + were alone thought worthy of the student's serious attention. These + stories—some of them familiar to us in infancy, others the delight + of our maturer years—constitute the debris, or alluvium, brought + down by the stream of tradition from the distant highlands of ancient + mythology. + </p> + <p> + September, 1870. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. THE DESCENT OF FIRE. + </h2> + <p> + IN the course of my last summer's vacation, which was spent at a small + inland village, I came upon an unexpected illustration of the tenacity + with which conceptions descended from prehistoric antiquity have now and + then kept their hold upon life. While sitting one evening under the trees + by the roadside, my attention was called to the unusual conduct of half a + dozen men and boys who were standing opposite. An elderly man was moving + slowly up and down the road, holding with both hands a forked twig of + hazel, shaped like the letter Y inverted. With his palms turned upward, he + held in each hand a branch of the twig in such a way that the shank + pointed upward; but every few moments, as he halted over a certain spot, + the twig would gradually bend downwards until it had assumed the likeness + of a Y in its natural position, where it would remain pointing to + something in the ground beneath. One by one the bystanders proceeded to + try the experiment, but with no variation in the result. Something in the + ground seemed to fascinate the bit of hazel, for it could not pass over + that spot without bending down and pointing to it. + </p> + <p> + My thoughts reverted at once to Jacques Aymar and Dousterswivel, as I + perceived that these men were engaged in sorcery. During the long drought + more than half the wells in the village had become dry, and here was an + attempt to make good the loss by the aid of the god Thor. These men were + seeking water with a divining-rod. Here, alive before my eyes, was a + superstitious observance, which I had supposed long since dead and + forgotten by all men except students interested in mythology. + </p> + <p> + As I crossed the road to take part in the ceremony a farmer's boy came up, + stoutly affirming his incredulity, + </p> + <p> + and offering to show the company how he could carry the rod motionless + across the charmed spot. But when he came to take the weird twig he + trembled with an ill-defined feeling of insecurity as to the soundness of + his conclusions, and when he stood over the supposed rivulet the rod bent + in spite of him,—as was not so very strange. For, with all his vague + scepticism, the honest lad had not, and could not be supposed to have, the + foi scientifique of which Littre speaks. <a href="#linknote-23" + name="linknoteref-23" id="linknoteref-23"><small>23</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Hereupon I requested leave to try the rod; but something in my manner + seemed at once to excite the suspicion and scorn of the sorcerer. "Yes, + take it," said he, with uncalled-for vehemence, "but you can't stop it; + there's water below here, and you can't help its bending, if you break + your back trying to hold it." So he gave me the twig, and awaited, with a + smile which was meant to express withering sarcasm, the discomfiture of + the supposed scoffer. But when I proceeded to walk four or five times + across the mysterious place, the rod pointing steadfastly toward the + zenith all the while, our friend became grave and began to philosophize. + "Well," said he, "you see, your temperament is peculiar; the conditions + ain't favourable in your case; there are some people who never can work + these things. But there's water below here, for all that, as you'll find, + if you dig for it; there's nothing like a hazel-rod for finding out + water." + </p> + <p> + Very true: there are some persons who never can make such things work; who + somehow always encounter "unfavourable conditions" when they wish to test + the marvellous powers of a clairvoyant; who never can make "Planchette" + move in conformity to the requirements of any known alphabet; who never + see ghosts, and never have "presentiments," save such as are obviously due + to association of ideas. The ill-success of these persons is commonly + ascribed to their lack of faith; but, in the majority of cases, it might + be more truly referred to the strength of their faith,—faith in the + constancy of nature, and in the adequacy of ordinary human experience as + interpreted by science. <a href="#linknote-24" name="linknoteref-24" + id="linknoteref-24"><small>24</small></a> La foi scientifique is an + excellent preventive against that obscure, though not uncommon, kind of + self-deception which enables wooden tripods to write and tables to tip and + hazel-twigs to twist upside-down, without the conscious intervention of + the performer. It was this kind of faith, no doubt, which caused the + discomfiture of Jacques Aymar on his visit to Paris, <a href="#linknote-25" + name="linknoteref-25" id="linknoteref-25"><small>25</small></a> and which + has in late years prevented persons from obtaining the handsome prize + offered by the French Academy for the first authentic case of + clairvoyance. + </p> + <p> + But our village friend, though perhaps constructively right in his + philosophizing, was certainly very defective in his acquaintance with the + time-honoured art of rhabdomancy. Had he extended his inquiries so as to + cover the field of Indo-European tradition, he would have learned that the + mountain-ash, the mistletoe, the white and black thorn, the Hindu + asvattha, and several other woods, are quite as efficient as the hazel for + the purpose of detecting water in times of drought; and in due course of + time he would have perceived that the divining-rod itself is but one among + a large class of things to which popular belief has ascribed, along with + other talismanic properties, the power of opening the ground or cleaving + rocks, in order to reveal hidden treasures. Leaving him in peace, then, + with his bit of forked hazel, to seek for cooling springs in some future + thirsty season, let us endeavour to elucidate the origin of this curious + superstition. + </p> + <p> + The detection of subterranean water is by no means the only use to which + the divining-rod has been put. Among the ancient Frisians it was regularly + used for the detection of criminals; and the reputation of Jacques Aymar + was won by his discovery of the perpetrator of a horrible murder at Lyons. + Throughout Europe it has been used from time immemorial by miners for + ascertaining the position of veins of metal; and in the days when talents + were wrapped in napkins and buried in the field, instead of being exposed + to the risks of financial speculation, the divining-rod was employed by + persons covetous of their neighbours' wealth. If Boulatruelle had lived in + the sixteenth century, he would have taken a forked stick of hazel when he + went to search for the buried treasures of Jean Valjean. It has also been + applied to the cure of disease, and has been kept in households, like a + wizard's charm, to insure general good-fortune and immunity from disaster. + </p> + <p> + As we follow the conception further into the elf-land of popular + tradition, we come upon a rod which not only points out the situation of + hidden treasure, but even splits open the ground and reveals the mineral + wealth contained therein. In German legend, "a shepherd, who was driving + his flock over the Ilsenstein, having stopped to rest, leaning on his + staff, the mountain suddenly opened, for there was a springwort in his + staff without his knowing it, and the princess [Ilse] stood before him. + She bade him follow her, and when he was inside the mountain she told him + to take as much gold as he pleased. The shepherd filled all his pockets, + and was going away, when the princess called after him, 'Forget not the + best.' So, thinking she meant that he had not taken enough, he filled his + hat also; but what she meant was his staff with the springwort, which he + had laid against the wall as soon as he stepped in. But now, just as he + was going out at the opening, the rock suddenly slammed together and cut + him in two." <a href="#linknote-26" name="linknoteref-26" + id="linknoteref-26"><small>26</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Here the rod derives its marvellous properties from the enclosed + springwort, but in many cases a leaf or flower is itself competent to open + the hillside. The little blue flower, forget-me-not, about which so many + sentimental associations have clustered, owes its name to the legends told + of its talismanic virtues. <a href="#linknote-27" name="linknoteref-27" + id="linknoteref-27"><small>27</small></a> A man, travelling on a lonely + mountain, picks up a little blue flower and sticks it in his hat. + Forthwith an iron door opens, showing up a lighted passage-way, through + which the man advances into a magnificent hall, where rubies and diamonds + and all other kinds of gems are lying piled in great heaps on the floor. + As he eagerly fills his pockets his hat drops from his head, and when he + turns to go out the little flower calls after him, "Forget me not!" He + turns back and looks around, but is too bewildered with his good fortune + to think of his bare head or of the luck-flower which he has let fall. He + selects several more of the finest jewels he can find, and again starts to + go out; but as he passes through the door the mountain closes amid the + crashing of thunder, and cuts off one of his heels. Alone, in the gloom of + the forest, he searches in vain for the mysterious door: it has + disappeared forever, and the traveller goes on his way, thankful, let us + hope, that he has fared no worse. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes it is a white lady, like the Princess Ilse, who invites the + finder of the luck-flower to help himself to her treasures, and who utters + the enigmatical warning. The mountain where the event occurred may be + found almost anywhere in Germany, and one just like it stood in Persia, in + the golden prime of Haroun Alraschid. In the story of the Forty Thieves, + the mere name of the plant sesame serves as a talisman to open and shut + the secret door which leads into the robbers' cavern; and when the + avaricious Cassim Baba, absorbed in the contemplation of the bags of gold + and bales of rich merchandise, forgets the magic formula, he meets no + better fate than the shepherd of the Ilsenstein. In the story of Prince + Ahmed, it is an enchanted arrow which guides the young adventurer through + the hillside to the grotto of the Peri Banou. In the tale of Baba + Abdallah, it is an ointment rubbed on the eyelid which reveals at a single + glance all the treasures hidden in the bowels of the earth. + </p> + <p> + The ancient Romans also had their rock-breaking plant, called Saxifraga, + or "sassafras." And the further we penetrate into this charmed circle of + traditions the more evident does it appear that the power of cleaving + rocks or shattering hard substances enters, as a primitive element, into + the conception of these treasure-showing talismans. Mr. Baring-Gould has + given an excellent account of the rabbinical legends concerning the + wonderful schamir, by the aid of which Solomon was said to have built his + temple. From Asmodeus, prince of the Jann, Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, + wrested the secret of a worm no bigger than a barley-corn, which could + split the hardest substance. This worm was called schamir. "If Solomon + desired to possess himself of the worm, he must find the nest of the + moor-hen, and cover it with a plate of glass, so that the mother bird + could not get at her young without breaking the glass. She would seek + schamir for the purpose, and the worm must be obtained from her." As the + Jewish king did need the worm in order to hew the stones for that temple + which was to be built without sound of hammer, or axe, or any tool of + iron, <a href="#linknote-28" name="linknoteref-28" id="linknoteref-28"><small>28</small></a> + he sent Benaiah to obtain it. According to another account, schamir was a + mystic stone which enabled Solomon to penetrate the earth in search of + mineral wealth. Directed by a Jinni, the wise king covered a raven's eggs + with a plate of crystal, and thus obtained schamir which the bird brought + in order to break the plate. <a href="#linknote-29" name="linknoteref-29" + id="linknoteref-29"><small>29</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In these traditions, which may possibly be of Aryan descent, due to the + prolonged intercourse between the Jews and the Persians, a new feature is + added to those before enumerated: the rock-splitting talisman is always + found in the possession of a bird. The same feature in the myth reappears + on Aryan soil. The springwort, whose marvellous powers we have noticed in + the case of the Ilsenstein shepherd, is obtained, according to Pliny, by + stopping up the hole in a tree where a woodpecker keeps its young. The + bird flies away, and presently returns with the springwort, which it + applies to the plug, causing it to shoot out with a loud explosion. The + same account is given in German folk-lore. Elsewhere, as in Iceland, + Normandy, and ancient Greece, the bird is an eagle, a swallow, an ostrich, + or a hoopoe. + </p> + <p> + In the Icelandic and Pomeranian myths the schamir, or "raven-stone," also + renders its possessor invisible,—a property which it shares with one + of the treasure-finding plants, the fern. <a href="#linknote-30" + name="linknoteref-30" id="linknoteref-30"><small>30</small></a> In this + respect it resembles the ring of Gyges, as in its divining and + rock-splitting qualities it resembles that other ring which the African + magrician gave to Aladdin, to enable him to descend into the cavern where + stood the wonderful lamp. + </p> + <p> + According to one North German tradition, the luck-flower also will make + its finder invisible at pleasure. But, as the myth shrewdly adds, it is + absolutely essential that the flower be found by accident: he who seeks + for it never finds it! Thus all cavils are skilfully forestalled, even if + not satisfactorily disposed of. The same kind of reasoning is favoured by + our modern dealers in mystery: somehow the "conditions" always are askew + whenever a scientific observer wishes to test their pretensions. + </p> + <p> + In the North of Europe schamir appears strangely and grotesquely + metamorphosed. The hand of a man that has been hanged, when dried and + prepared with certain weird unguents and set on fire, is known as the Hand + of Glory; and as it not only bursts open all safe-locks, but also lulls to + sleep all persons within the circle of its influence, it is of course + invaluable to thieves and burglars. I quote the following story from + Thorpe's "Northern Mythology": "Two fellows once came to Huy, who + pretended to be exceedingly fatigued, and when they had supped would not + retire to a sleeping-room, but begged their host would allow them to take + a nap on the hearth. But the maid-servant, who did not like the looks of + the two guests, remained by the kitchen door and peeped through a chink, + when she saw that one of them drew a thief's hand from his pocket, the + fingers of which, after having rubbed them with an ointment, he lighted, + and they all burned except one. Again they held this finger to the fire, + but still it would not burn, at which they appeared much surprised, and + one said, 'There must surely be some one in the house who is not yet + asleep.' They then hung the hand with its four burning fingers by the + chimney, and went out to call their associates. But the maid followed them + instantly and made the door fast, then ran up stairs, where the landlord + slept, that she might wake him, but was unable, notwithstanding all her + shaking and calling. In the mean time the thieves had returned and were + endeavouring to enter the house by a window, but the maid cast them down + from the ladder. They then took a different course, and would have forced + an entrance, had it not occurred to the maid that the burning fingers + might probably be the cause of her master's profound sleep. Impressed with + this idea she ran to the kitchen and blew them out, when the master and + his men-servants instantly awoke, and soon drove away the robbers." The + same event is said to have occurred at Stainmore in England; and + Torquermada relates of Mexican thieves that they carry with them the left + hand of a woman who has died in her first childbed, before which talisman + all bolts yield and all opposition is benumbed. In 1831 "some Irish + thieves attempted to commit a robbery on the estate of Mr. Naper, of + Loughcrew, county Meath. They entered the house armed with a dead man's + hand with a lighted candle in it, believing in the superstitious notion + that a candle placed in a dead man's hand will not be seen by any but + those by whom it is used; and also that if a candle in a dead hand be + introduced into a house, it will prevent those who may be asleep from + awaking. The inmates, however, were alarmed, and the robbers fled, leaving + the hand behind them." <a href="#linknote-31" name="linknoteref-31" + id="linknoteref-31"><small>31</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In the Middle Ages the hand of glory was used, just like the divining-rod, + for the detection of buried treasures. + </p> + <p> + Here, then, we have a large and motley group of objects—the forked + rod of ash or hazel, the springwort and the luck-flower, leaves, worms, + stones, rings, and dead men's hands—which are for the most part + competent to open the way into cavernous rocks, and which all agree in + pointing out hidden wealth. We find, moreover, that many of these charmed + objects are carried about by birds, and that some of them possess, in + addition to their generic properties, the specific power of benumbing + people's senses. What, now, is the common origin of this whole group of + superstitions? And since mythology has been shown to be the result of + primeval attempts to explain the phenomena of nature, what natural + phenomenon could ever have given rise to so many seemingly wanton + conceptions? Hopeless as the problem may at first sight seem, it has + nevertheless been solved. In his great treatise on "The Descent of Fire," + Dr. Kuhn has shown that all these legends and traditions are descended + from primitive myths explanatory of the lightning and the storm-cloud. <a + href="#linknote-32" name="linknoteref-32" id="linknoteref-32"><small>32</small></a> + </p> + <p> + To us, who are nourished from childhood on the truths revealed by science, + the sky is known to be merely an optical appearance due to the partial + absorption of the solar rays in passing through a thick stratum of + atmospheric air; the clouds are known to be large masses of watery vapour, + which descend in rain-drops when sufficiently condensed; and the lightning + is known to be a flash of light accompanying an electric discharge. But + these conceptions are extremely recondite, and have been attained only + through centuries of philosophizing and after careful observation and + laborious experiment. To the untaught mind of a child or of an uncivilized + man, it seems far more natural and plausible to regard the sky as a solid + dome of blue crystal, the clouds as snowy mountains, or perhaps even as + giants or angels, the lightning as a flashing dart or a fiery serpent. In + point of fact, we find that the conceptions actually entertained are often + far more grotesque than these. I can recollect once framing the hypothesis + that the flaming clouds of sunset were transient apparitions, vouchsafed + us by way of warning, of that burning Calvinistic hell with which my + childish imagination had been unwisely terrified; <a href="#linknote-33" + name="linknoteref-33" id="linknoteref-33"><small>33</small></a> and I have + known of a four-year-old boy who thought that the snowy clouds of noonday + were the white robes of the angels hung out to dry in the sun. <a + href="#linknote-34" name="linknoteref-34" id="linknoteref-34"><small>34</small></a> + My little daughter is anxious to know whether it is necessary to take a + balloon in order to get to the place where God lives, or whether the same + end can be accomplished by going to the horizon and crawling up the sky; + <a href="#linknote-35" name="linknoteref-35" id="linknoteref-35"><small>35</small></a> + the Mohammedan of old was working at the same problem when he called the + rainbow the bridge Es-Sirat, over which souls must pass on their way to + heaven. According to the ancient Jew, the sky was a solid plate, hammered + out by the gods, and spread over the earth in order to keep up the ocean + overhead; <a href="#linknote-36" name="linknoteref-36" id="linknoteref-36"><small>36</small></a> + but the plate was full of little windows, which were opened whenever it + became necessary to let the rain come through. <a href="#linknote-37" + name="linknoteref-37" id="linknoteref-37"><small>37</small></a> With equal + plausibility the Greek represented the rainy sky as a sieve in which the + daughters of Danaos were vainly trying to draw water; while to the Hindu + the rain-clouds were celestial cattle milked by the wind-god. In primitive + Aryan lore, the sky itself was a blue sea, and the clouds were ships + sailing over it; and an English legend tells how one of these ships once + caught its anchor on a gravestone in the churchyard, to the great + astonishment of the people who were coming out of church. Charon's + ferry-boat was one of these vessels, and another was Odin's golden ship, + in which the souls of slain heroes were conveyed to Valhalla. Hence it was + once the Scandinavian practice to bury the dead in boats; and in Altmark a + penny is still placed in the mouth of the corpse, that it may have the + means of paying its fare to the ghostly ferryman. <a href="#linknote-38" + name="linknoteref-38" id="linknoteref-38"><small>38</small></a> In such a + vessel drifted the Lady of Shalott on her fatal voyage; and of similar + nature was the dusky barge, "dark as a funeral-scarf from stem to stern," + in which Arthur was received by the black-hooded queens. <a + href="#linknote-39" name="linknoteref-39" id="linknoteref-39"><small>39</small></a> + </p> + <p> + But the fact that a natural phenomenon was explained in one way did not + hinder it from being explained in a dozen other ways. The fact that the + sun was generally regarded as an all-conquering hero did not prevent its + being called an egg, an apple, or a frog squatting on the waters, or + Ixion's wheel, or the eye of Polyphemos, or the stone of Sisyphos, which + was no sooner pushed to the zenith than it rolled down to the horizon. So + the sky was not only a crystal dome, or a celestial ocean, but it was also + the Aleian land through which Bellerophon wandered, the country of the + Lotos-eaters, or again the realm of the Graiai beyond the twilight; and + finally it was personified and worshipped as Dyaus or Varuna, the Vedic + prototypes of the Greek Zeus and Ouranos. The clouds, too, had many other + representatives besides ships and cows. In a future paper it will be shown + that they were sometimes regarded as angels or houris; at present it more + nearly concerns us to know that they appear, throughout all Aryan + mythology, under the form of birds. It used to be a matter of hopeless + wonder to me that Aladdin's innocent request for a roc's egg to hang in + the dome of his palace should have been regarded as a crime worthy of + punishment by the loss of the wonderful lamp; the obscurest part of the + whole affair being perhaps the Jinni's passionate allusion to the egg as + his master: "Wretch! dost thou command me to bring thee my master, and + hang him up in the midst of this vaulted dome?" But the incident is to + some extent cleared of its mystery when we learn that the roc's egg is the + bright sun, and that the roc itself is the rushing storm-cloud which, in + the tale of Sindbad, haunts the sparkling starry firmament, symbolized as + a valley of diamonds. <a href="#linknote-40" name="linknoteref-40" + id="linknoteref-40"><small>40</small></a> According to one Arabic + authority, the length of its wings is ten thousand fathoms. But in + European tradition it dwindles from these huge dimensions to the size of + an eagle, a raven, or a woodpecker. Among the birds enumerated by Kuhn and + others as representing the storm-cloud are likewise the wren or "kinglet" + (French roitelet); the owl, sacred to Athene; the cuckoo, stork, and + sparrow; and the red-breasted robin, whose name Robert was originally an + epithet of the lightning-god Thor. In certain parts of France it is still + believed that the robbing of a wren's nest will render the culprit liable + to be struck by lightning. The same belief was formerly entertained in + Teutonic countries with respect to the robin; and I suppose that from this + superstition is descended the prevalent notion, which I often encountered + in childhood, that there is something peculiarly wicked in killing robins. + </p> + <p> + Now, as the raven or woodpecker, in the various myths of schamir, is the + dark storm-cloud, so the rock-splitting worm or plant or pebble which the + bird carries in its beak and lets fall to the ground is nothing more or + less than the flash of lightning carried and dropped by the cloud. "If the + cloud was supposed to be a great bird, the lightnings were regarded as + writhing worms or serpents in its beak. These fiery serpents, elikiai + gram-moeidws feromenoi, are believed in to this day by the Canadian + Indians, who call the thunder their hissing." <a href="#linknote-41" + name="linknoteref-41" id="linknoteref-41"><small>41</small></a> + </p> + <p> + But these are not the only mythical conceptions which are to be found + wrapped up in the various myths of schamir and the divining-rod. The + persons who told these stories were not weaving ingenious allegories about + thunder-storms; they were telling stories, or giving utterance to + superstitions, of which the original meaning was forgotten. The old + grannies who, along with a stoical indifference to the fate of quails and + partridges, used to impress upon me the wickedness of killing robins, did + not add that I should be struck by lightning if I failed to heed their + admonitions. They had never heard that the robin was the bird of Thor; + they merely rehearsed the remnant of the superstition which had survived + to their own times, while the essential part of it had long since faded + from recollection. The reason for regarding a robin's life as more sacred + than a partridge's had been forgotten; but it left behind, as was natural, + a vague recognition of that mythical sanctity. The primitive meaning of a + myth fades away as inevitably as the primitive meaning of a word or + phrase; and the rabbins who told of a worm which shatters rocks no more + thought of the writhing thunderbolts than the modern reader thinks of + oyster-shells when he sees the word ostracism, or consciously breathes a + prayer as he writes the phrase good bye. It is only in its callow infancy + that the full force of a myth is felt, and its period of luxuriant + development dates from the time when its physical significance is lost or + obscured. It was because the Greek had forgotten that Zeus meant the + bright sky, that he could make him king over an anthropomorphic Olympos. + The Hindu Dyaus, who carried his significance in his name as plainly as + the Greek Helios, never attained such an exalted position; he yielded to + deities of less obvious pedigree, such as Brahma and Vishnu. + </p> + <p> + Since, therefore, the myth-tellers recounted merely the wonderful stories + which their own nurses and grandmas had told them, and had no intention of + weaving subtle allegories or wrapping up a physical truth in mystic + emblems, it follows that they were not bound to avoid incongruities or to + preserve a philosophical symmetry in their narratives. In the great + majority of complex myths, no such symmetry is to be found. A score of + different mythical conceptions would get wrought into the same story, and + the attempt to pull them apart and construct a single harmonious system of + conceptions out of the pieces must often end in ingenious absurdity. If + Odysseus is unquestionably the sun, so is the eye of Polyphemos, which + Odysseus puts out. <a href="#linknote-42" name="linknoteref-42" + id="linknoteref-42"><small>42</small></a> But the Greek poet knew nothing + of the incongruity, for he was thinking only of a superhuman hero freeing + himself from a giant cannibal; he knew nothing of Sanskrit, or of + comparative mythology, and the sources of his myths were as completely + hidden from his view as the sources of the Nile. + </p> + <p> + We need not be surprised, then, to find that in one version of the + schamir-myth the cloud is the bird which carries the worm, while in + another version the cloud is the rock or mountain which the talisman + cleaves open; nor need we wonder at it, if we find stories in which the + two conceptions are mingled together without regard to an incongruity + which in the mind of the myth-teller no longer exists. <a + href="#linknote-43" name="linknoteref-43" id="linknoteref-43"><small>43</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In early Aryan mythology there is nothing by which the clouds are more + frequently represented than by rocks or mountains. Such were the + Symplegades, which, charmed by the harp of the wind-god Orpheus, parted to + make way for the talking ship Argo, with its crew of solar heroes. <a + href="#linknote-44" name="linknoteref-44" id="linknoteref-44"><small>44</small></a> + Such, too, were the mountains Ossa and Pelion, which the giants piled up + one upon another in their impious assault upon Zeus, the lord of the + bright sky. As Mr. Baring-Gould observes: "The ancient Aryan had the same + name for cloud and mountain. To him the piles of vapour on the horizon + were so like Alpine ranges, that he had but one word whereby to designate + both. <a href="#linknote-45" name="linknoteref-45" id="linknoteref-45"><small>45</small></a> + These great mountains of heaven were opened by the lightning. In the + sudden flash he beheld the dazzling splendour within, but only for a + moment, and then, with a crash, the celestial rocks closed again. + Believing these vaporous piles to contain resplendent treasures of which + partial glimpse was obtained by mortals in a momentary gleam, tales were + speedily formed, relating the adventures of some who had succeeded in + entering these treasure-mountains." + </p> + <p> + This sudden flash is the smiting of the cloud-rock by the arrow of Ahmed, + the resistless hammer of Thor, the spear of Odin, the trident of Poseidon, + or the rod of Hermes. The forked streak of light is the archetype of the + divining-rod in its oldest form,—that in which it not only indicates + the hidden treasures, but, like the staff of the Ilsenstein shepherd, + bursts open the enchanted crypt and reveals them to the astonished + wayfarer. Hence the one thing essential to the divining-rod, from whatever + tree it be chosen, is that it shall be forked. + </p> + <p> + It is not difficult to comprehend the reasons which led the ancients to + speak of the lightning as a worm, serpent, trident, arrow, or forked wand; + but when we inquire why it was sometimes symbolized as a flower or leaf; + or when we seek to ascertain why certain trees, such as the ash, hazel, + white-thorn, and mistletoe, were supposed to be in a certain sense + embodiments of it, we are entering upon a subject too complicated to be + satisfactorily treated within the limits of the present paper. It has been + said that the point of resemblance between a cow and a comet, that both + have tails, was quite enough for the primitive word-maker: it was + certainly enough for the primitive myth-teller. <a href="#linknote-46" + name="linknoteref-46" id="linknoteref-46"><small>46</small></a> Sometimes + the pinnate shape of a leaf, the forking of a branch, the tri-cleft + corolla, or even the red colour of a flower, seems to have been sufficient + to determine the association of ideas. The Hindu commentators of the Veda + certainly lay great stress on the fact that the palasa, one of their + lightning-trees, is trident-leaved. The mistletoe branch is forked, like a + wish-bone, <a href="#linknote-47" name="linknoteref-47" id="linknoteref-47"><small>47</small></a> + and so is the stem which bears the forget-me-not or wild scorpion grass. + So too the leaves of the Hindu ficus religiosa resemble long spear-heads. + <a href="#linknote-48" name="linknoteref-48" id="linknoteref-48"><small>48</small></a> + But in many cases it is impossible for us to determine with confidence the + reasons which may have guided primitive men in their choice of talismanic + plants. In the case of some of these stories, it would no doubt be wasting + ingenuity to attempt to assign a mythical origin for each point of detail. + The ointment of the dervise, for instance, in the Arabian tale, has + probably no special mythical significance, but was rather suggested by the + exigencies of the story, in an age when the old mythologies were so far + disintegrated and mingled together that any one talisman would serve as + well as another the purposes of the narrator. But the lightning-plants of + Indo-European folk-lore cannot be thus summarily disposed of; for however + difficult it may be for us to perceive any connection between them and the + celestial phenomena which they represent, the myths concerning them are so + numerous and explicit as to render it certain that some such connection + was imagined by the myth-makers. The superstition concerning the hand of + glory is not so hard to interpret. In the mythology of the Finns, the + storm-cloud is a black man with a bright copper hand; and in Hindustan, + Indra Savitar, the deity who slays the demon of the cloud, is + golden-handed. The selection of the hand of a man who has been hanged is + probably due to the superstition which regarded the storm-god Odin as + peculiarly the lord of the gallows. The man who is raised upon the gallows + is placed directly in the track of the wild huntsman, who comes with his + hounds to carry off the victim; and hence the notion, which, according to + Mr. Kelly, is "very common in Germany and not extinct in England," that + every suicide by hanging is followed by a storm. + </p> + <p> + The paths of comparative mythology are devious, but we have now pursued + them long enough I believe, to have arrived at a tolerably clear + understanding of the original nature of the divining-rod. Its power of + revealing treasures has been sufficiently explained; and its affinity for + water results so obviously from the character of the lightning-myth as to + need no further comment. But its power of detecting criminals still + remains to be accounted for. + </p> + <p> + In Greek mythology, the being which detects and punishes crime is the + Erinys, the prototype of the Latin Fury, figured by late writers as a + horrible monster with serpent locks. But this is a degradation of the + original conception. The name Erinys did not originally mean Fury, and it + cannot be explained from Greek sources alone. It appears in Sanskrit as + Saranyu, a word which signifies the light of morning creeping over the + sky. And thus we are led to the startling conclusion that, as the light of + morning reveals the evil deeds done under the cover of night, so the + lovely Dawn, or Erinys, came to be regarded under one aspect as the + terrible detector and avenger of iniquity. Yet startling as the conclusion + is, it is based on established laws of phonetic change, and cannot be + gainsaid. + </p> + <p> + But what has the avenging daybreak to do with the lightning and the + divining-rod? To the modern mind the association is not an obvious one: in + antiquity it was otherwise. Myths of the daybreak and myths of the + lightning often resemble each other so closely that, except by a delicate + philological analysis, it is difficult to distinguish the one from the + other. The reason is obvious. In each case the phenomenon to be explained + is the struggle between the day-god and one of the demons of darkness. + There is essentially no distinction to the mind of the primitive man + between the Panis, who steal Indra's bright cows and keep them in a dark + cavern all night, and the throttling snake Ahi or Echidna, who imprisons + the waters in the stronghold of the thunder-cloud and covers the earth + with a short-lived darkness. And so the poisoned arrows of Bellerophon, + which slay the storm-dragon, differ in no essential respect from the + shafts with which Odysseus slaughters the night-demons who have for ten + long hours beset his mansion. Thus the divining-rod, representing as it + does the weapon of the god of day, comes legitimately enough by its + function of detecting and avenging crime. + </p> + <p> + But the lightning not only reveals strange treasures and gives water to + the thirsty land and makes plain what is doing under cover of darkness; it + also sometimes kills, benumbs, or paralyzes. Thus the head of the Gorgon + Medusa turns into stone those who look upon it. Thus the ointment of the + dervise, in the tale of Baba Abdallah, not only reveals all the treasures + of the earth, but instantly thereafter blinds the unhappy man who tests + its powers. And thus the hand of glory, which bursts open bars and bolts, + benumbs also those who happen to be near it. Indeed, few of the favoured + mortals who were allowed to visit the caverns opened by sesame or the + luck-flower, escaped without disaster. The monkish tale of "The Clerk and + the Image," in which the primeval mythical features are curiously + distorted, well illustrates this point. + </p> + <p> + In the city of Rome there formerly stood an image with its right hand + extended and on its forefinger the words "strike here." Many wise men + puzzled in vain over the meaning of the inscription; but at last a certain + priest observed that whenever the sun shone on the figure, the shadow of + the finger was discernible on the ground at a little distance from the + statue. Having marked the spot, he waited until midnight, and then began + to dig. At last his spade struck upon something hard. It was a trap-door, + below which a flight of marble steps descended into a spacious hall, where + many men were sitting in solemn silence amid piles of gold and diamonds + and long rows of enamelled vases. Beyond this he found another room, a + gynaecium filled with beautiful women reclining on richly embroidered + sofas; yet here, too, all was profound silence. A superb banqueting-hall + next met his astonished gaze; then a silent kitchen; then granaries loaded + with forage; then a stable crowded with motionless horses. The whole place + was brilliantly lighted by a carbuncle which was suspended in one corner + of the reception-room; and opposite stood an archer, with his bow and + arrow raised, in the act of taking aim at the jewel. As the priest passed + back through this hall, he saw a diamond-hilted knife lying on a marble + table; and wishing to carry away something wherewith to accredit his + story, he reached out his hand to take it; but no sooner had he touched it + than all was dark. The archer had shot with his arrow, the bright jewel + was shivered into a thousand pieces, the staircase had fled, and the + priest found himself buried alive. <a href="#linknote-49" + name="linknoteref-49" id="linknoteref-49"><small>49</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Usually, however, though the lightning is wont to strike dead, with its + basilisk glance, those who rashly enter its mysterious caverns, it is + regarded rather as a benefactor than as a destroyer. The feelings with + which the myth-making age contemplated the thunder-shower as it revived + the earth paralyzed by a long drought, are shown in the myth of Oidipous. + The Sphinx, whose name signifies "the one who binds," is the demon who + sits on the cloud-rock and imprisons the rain, muttering, dark sayings + which none but the all-knowing sun may understand. The flash of solar + light which causes the monster to fling herself down from the cliff with a + fearful roar, restores the land to prosperity. But besides this, the + association of the thunder-storm with the approach of summer has produced + many myths in which the lightning is symbolized as the life-renewing wand + of the victorious sun-god. Hence the use of the divining-rod in the cure + of disease; and hence the large family of schamir-myths in which the dead + are restored to life by leaves or herbs. In Grimm's tale of the "Three + Snake Leaves," a prince is buried alive (like Sindbad) with his dead wife, + and seeing a snake approaching her body, he cuts it in three pieces. + Presently another snake, crawling from the corner, saw the other lying + dead, and going, away soon returned with three green leaves in its mouth; + then laying the parts of the body together so as to join, it put one leaf + on each wound, and the dead snake was alive again. The prince, applying + the leaves to his wife's body, restores her also to life." <a + href="#linknote-50" name="linknoteref-50" id="linknoteref-50"><small>50</small></a> + In the Greek story, told by AElian and Apollodoros, Polyidos is shut up + with the corpse of Glaukos, which he is ordered to restore to life. He + kills a dragon which is approaching the body, but is presently astonished + at seeing another dragon come with a blade of grass and place it upon its + dead companion, which instantly rises from the ground. Polyidos takes the + same blade of grass, and with it resuscitates Glaukos. The same incident + occurs in the Hindu story of Panch Phul Ranee, and in Fouque's "Sir + Elidoc," which is founded on a Breton legend. + </p> + <p> + We need not wonder, then, at the extraordinary therapeutic properties + which are in all Aryan folk-lore ascribed to the various lightning-plants. + In Sweden sanitary amulets are made of mistletoe-twigs, and the plant is + supposed to be a specific against epilepsy and an antidote for poisons. In + Cornwall children are passed through holes in ash-trees in order to cure + them of hernia. Ash rods are used in some parts of England for the cure of + diseased sheep, cows, and horses; and in particular they are supposed to + neutralize the venom of serpents. The notion that snakes are afraid of an + ash-tree is not extinct even in the United States. The other day I was + told, not by an old granny, but by a man fairly educated and endowed with + a very unusual amount of good common-sense, that a rattlesnake will sooner + go through fire than creep over ash leaves or into the shadow of an + ash-tree. Exactly the same statement is made by Piny, who adds that if you + draw a circle with an ash rod around the spot of ground on which a snake + is lying, the animal must die of starvation, being as effectually + imprisoned as Ugolino in the dungeon at Pisa. In Cornwall it is believed + that a blow from an ash stick will instantly kill any serpent. The ash + shares this virtue with the hazel and fern. A Swedish peasant will tell + you that snakes may be deprived of their venom by a touch with a hazel + wand; and when an ancient Greek had occasion to make his bed in the woods, + he selected fern leaves if possible, in the belief that the smell of them + would drive away poisonous animals. <a href="#linknote-51" + name="linknoteref-51" id="linknoteref-51"><small>51</small></a> + </p> + <p> + But the beneficent character of the lightning appears still more clearly + in another class of myths. To the primitive man the shaft of light coming + down from heaven was typical of the original descent of fire for the + benefit and improvement of the human race. The Sioux Indians account for + the origin of fire by a myth of unmistakable kinship; they say that "their + first ancestor obtained his fire from the sparks which a friendly panther + struck from the rocks as he scampered up a stony hill." <a + href="#linknote-52" name="linknoteref-52" id="linknoteref-52"><small>52</small></a> + This panther is obviously the counterpart of the Aryan bird which drops + schamir. But the Aryan imagination hit upon a far more remarkable + conception. The ancient Hindus obtained fire by a process similar to that + employed by Count Rumford in his experiments on the generation of heat by + friction. They first wound a couple of cords around a pointed stick in + such a way that the unwinding of the one would wind up the other, and + then, placing the point of the stick against a circular disk of wood, + twirled it rapidly by alternate pulls on the two strings. This instrument + is called a chark, and is still used in South Africa, <a + href="#linknote-53" name="linknoteref-53" id="linknoteref-53"><small>53</small></a> + in Australia, in Sumatra, and among the Veddahs of Ceylon. The Russians + found it in Kamtchatka; and it was formerly employed in America, from + Labrador to the Straits of Magellan. <a href="#linknote-54" + name="linknoteref-54" id="linknoteref-54"><small>54</small></a> The Hindus + churned milk by a similar process; <a href="#linknote-55" + name="linknoteref-55" id="linknoteref-55"><small>55</small></a> and in + order to explain the thunder-storm, a Sanskrit poem tells how "once upon a + time the Devas, or gods, and their opponents, the Asuras, made a truce, + and joined together in churning the ocean to procure amrita, the drink of + immortality. They took Mount Mandara for a churning-stick, and, wrapping + the great serpent Sesha round it for a rope, they made the mountain spin + round to and fro, the Devas pulling at the serpent's tail, and the Asuras + at its head." <a href="#linknote-56" name="linknoteref-56" + id="linknoteref-56"><small>56</small></a> In this myth the churning-stick, + with its flying serpent-cords, is the lightning, and the armrita, or drink + of immortality, is simply the rain-water, which in Aryan folk-lore + possesses the same healing virtues as the lightning. "In Sclavonic myths + it is the water of life which restores the dead earth, a water brought by + a bird from the depths of a gloomy cave." <a href="#linknote-57" + name="linknoteref-57" id="linknoteref-57"><small>57</small></a> It is the + celestial soma or mead which Indra loves to drink; it is the ambrosial + nectar of the Olympian gods; it is the charmed water which in the Arabian + Nights restores to human shape the victims of wicked sorcerers; and it is + the elixir of life which mediaeval philosophers tried to discover, and in + quest of which Ponce de Leon traversed the wilds of Florida. <a + href="#linknote-58" name="linknoteref-58" id="linknoteref-58"><small>58</small></a> + </p> + <p> + "Jacky's next proceeding was to get some dry sticks and wood, and prepare + a fire, which, to George's astonishment, he lighted thus. He got a block + of wood, in the middle of which he made a hole; then he cut and pointed a + long stick, and inserting the point into the block, worked it round + between his palms for some time and with increasing rapidity. Presently + there came a smell of burning wood, and soon after it burst into a flame + at the point of contact. Jacky cut slices of shark and roasted them."—Reade, + Never too Late to Mend, chap. xxxviii. + </p> + <p> + The most interesting point in this Hindu myth is the name of the peaked + mountain Mandara, or Manthara, which the gods and devils took for their + churning-stick. The word means "a churning-stick," and it appears also, + with a prefixed preposition, in the name of the fire-drill, pramantha. Now + Kuhn has proved that this name, pramantha, is etymologically identical + with Prometheus, the name of the beneficent Titan, who stole fire from + heaven and bestowed it upon mankind as the richest of boons. This sublime + personage was originally nothing but the celestial drill which churns fire + out of the clouds; but the Greeks had so entirely forgotten his origin + that they interpreted his name as meaning "the one who thinks beforehand," + and accredited him with a brother, Epimetheus, or "the one who thinks too + late." The Greeks had adopted another name, trypanon, for their + fire-drill, and thus the primitive character of Prometheus became + obscured. + </p> + <p> + I have said above that it was regarded as absolutely essential that the + divining-rod should be forked. To this rule, however, there was one + exception, and if any further evidence be needed to convince the most + sceptical that the divining-rod is nothing but a symbol of the lightning, + that exception will furnish such evidence. For this exceptional kind of + divining-rod was made of a pointed stick rotating in a block of wood, and + it was the presence of hidden water or treasure which was supposed to + excite the rotatory motion. + </p> + <p> + In the myths relating to Prometheus, the lightning-god appears as the + originator of civilization, sometimes as the creator of the human race, + and always as its friend, <a href="#linknote-59" name="linknoteref-59" + id="linknoteref-59"><small>59</small></a> suffering in its behalf the most + fearful tortures at the hands of the jealous Zeus. In one story he creates + man by making a clay image and infusing into it a spark of the fire which + he had brought from heaven; in another story he is himself the first man. + In the Peloponnesian myth Phoroneus, who is Prometheus under another name, + is the first man, and his mother was an ash-tree. In Norse mythology, + also, the gods were said to have made the first man out of the ash-tree + Yggdrasil. The association of the heavenly fire with the life-giving + forces of nature is very common in the myths of both hemispheres, and in + view of the facts already cited it need not surprise us. Hence the Hindu + Agni and the Norse Thor were patrons of marriage, and in Norway, the most + lucky day on which to be married is still supposed to be Thursday, which + in old times was the day of the fire-god. <a href="#linknote-60" + name="linknoteref-60" id="linknoteref-60"><small>60</small></a> Hence the + lightning-plants have divers virtues in matters pertaining to marriage. + The Romans made their wedding torches of whitethorn; hazel-nuts are still + used all over Europe in divinations relating to the future lover or + sweetheart; <a href="#linknote-61" name="linknoteref-61" + id="linknoteref-61"><small>61</small></a> and under a mistletoe bough it + is allowable for a gentleman to kiss a lady. A vast number of kindred + superstitions are described by Mr. Kelly, to whom I am indebted for many + of these examples. <a href="#linknote-62" name="linknoteref-62" + id="linknoteref-62"><small>62</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Thus we reach at last the completed conception of the divining-rod, or as + it is called in this sense the wish-rod, with its kindred talismans, from + Aladdin's lamp and the purse of Bedreddin Hassan, to the Sangreal, the + philosopher's stone, and the goblets of Oberon and Tristram. These symbols + of the reproductive energies of nature, which give to the possessor every + good and perfect gift, illustrate the uncurbed belief in the power of wish + which the ancient man shared with modern children. In the Norse story of + Frodi's quern, the myth assumes a whimsical shape. The prose Edda tells of + a primeval age of gold, when everybody had whatever he wanted. This was + because the giant Frodi had a mill which ground out peace and plenty and + abundance of gold withal, so that it lay about the roads like pebbles. + Through the inexcusable avarice of Frodi, this wonderful implement was + lost to the world. For he kept his maid-servants working at the mill until + they got out of patience, and began to make it grind out hatred and war. + Then came a mighty sea-rover by night and slew Frodi and carried away the + maids and the quern. When he got well out to sea, he told them to grind + out salt, and so they did with a vengeance. They ground the ship full of + salt and sank it, and so the quern was lost forever, but the sea remains + salt unto this day. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Kelly rightly identifies Frodi with the sun-god Fro or Freyr, and + observes that the magic mill is only another form of the fire-churn, or + chark. According to another version the quern is still grinding away and + keeping the sea salt, and over the place where it lies there is a + prodigious whirlpool or maelstrom which sucks down ships. + </p> + <p> + In its completed shape, the lightning-wand is the caduceus, or rod of + Hermes. I observed, in the preceding paper, that in the Greek conception + of Hermes there have been fused together the attributes of two deities who + were originally distinct. The Hermes of the Homeric Hymn is a wind-god; + but the later Hermes Agoraios, the patron of gymnasia, the mutilation of + whose statues caused such terrible excitement in Athens during the + Peloponnesian War, is a very different personage. He is a fire-god, + invested with many solar attributes, and represents the quickening forces + of nature. In this capacity the invention of fire was ascribed to him as + well as to Prometheus; he was said to be the friend of mankind, and was + surnamed Ploutodotes, or "the giver of wealth." + </p> + <p> + The Norse wind-god Odin has in like manner acquired several of the + attributes of Freyr and Thor. <a href="#linknote-63" name="linknoteref-63" + id="linknoteref-63"><small>63</small></a> His lightning-spear, which is + borrowed from Thor, appears by a comical metamorphosis as a wish-rod which + will administer a sound thrashing to the enemies of its possessor. Having + cut a hazel stick, you have only to lay down an old coat, name your + intended victim, wish he was there, and whack away: he will howl with pain + at every blow. This wonderful cudgel appears in Dasent's tale of "The Lad + who went to the North Wind," with which we may conclude this discussion. + The story is told, with little variation, in Hindustan, Germany, and + Scandinavia. + </p> + <p> + The North Wind, representing the mischievous Hermes, once blew away a poor + woman's meal. So her boy went to the North Wind and demanded his rights + for the meal his mother had lost. "I have n't got your meal," said the + Wind, "but here's a tablecloth which will cover itself with an excellent + dinner whenever you tell it to." So the lad took the cloth and started for + home. At nightfall he stopped at an inn, spread his cloth on the table, + and ordered it to cover itself with good things, and so it did. But the + landlord, who thought it would be money in his pocket to have such a + cloth, stole it after the boy had gone to bed, and substituted another + just like it in appearance. Next day the boy went home in great glee to + show off for his mother's astonishment what the North Wind had given him, + but all the dinner he got that day was what the old woman cooked for him. + In his despair he went back to the North Wind and called him a liar, and + again demanded his rights for the meal he had lost. "I have n't got your + meal," said the Wind, "but here's a ram which will drop money out of its + fleece whenever you tell it to." So the lad travelled home, stopping over + night at the same inn, and when he got home he found himself with a ram + which did n't drop coins out of its fleece. A third time he visited the + North Wind, and obtained a bag with a stick in it which, at the word of + command, would jump out of the bag and lay on until told to stop. Guessing + how matters stood as to his cloth and ram, he turned in at the same + tavern, and going to a bench lay down as if to sleep. The landlord thought + that a stick carried about in a bag must be worth something, and so he + stole quietly up to the bag, meaning to get the stick out and change it. + But just as he got within whacking distance, the boy gave the word, and + out jumped the stick and beat the thief until he promised to give back the + ram and the tablecloth. And so the boy got his rights for the meal which + the North Wind had blown away. October, 1870. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. WEREWOLVES AND SWAN-MAIDENS. + </h2> + <p> + IT is related by Ovid that Lykaon, king of Arkadia, once invited Zeus to + dinner, and served up for him a dish of human flesh, in order to test the + god's omniscience. But the trick miserably failed, and the impious monarch + received the punishment which his crime had merited. He was transformed + into a wolf, that he might henceforth feed upon the viands with which he + had dared to pollute the table of the king of Olympos. From that time + forth, according to Pliny, a noble Arkadian was each year, on the festival + of Zeus Lykaios, led to the margin of a certain lake. Hanging his clothes + upon a tree, he then plunged into the water and became a wolf. For the + space of nine years he roamed about the adjacent woods, and then, if he + had not tasted human flesh during all this time, he was allowed to swim + back to the place where his clothes were hanging, put them on, and return + to his natural form. It is further related of a certain Demainetos, that, + having once been present at a human sacrifice to Zeus Lykaios, he ate of + the flesh, and was transformed into a wolf for a term of ten years. <a + href="#linknote-64" name="linknoteref-64" id="linknoteref-64"><small>64</small></a> + </p> + <p> + These and other similar mythical germs were developed by the mediaeval + imagination into the horrible superstition of werewolves. + </p> + <p> + A werewolf, or loup-garou <a href="#linknote-65" name="linknoteref-65" + id="linknoteref-65"><small>65</small></a> was a person who had the power + of transforming himself into a wolf, being endowed, while in the lupine + state, with the intelligence of a man, the ferocity of a wolf, and the + irresistible strength of a demon. The ancients believed in the existence + of such persons; but in the Middle Ages the metamorphosis was supposed to + be a phenomenon of daily occurrence, and even at the present day, in + secluded portions of Europe, the superstition is still cherished by + peasants. The belief, moreover, is supported by a vast amount of evidence, + which can neither be argued nor pooh-poohed into insignificance. It is the + business of the comparative mythologist to trace the pedigree of the ideas + from which such a conception may have sprung; while to the critical + historian belongs the task of ascertaining and classifying the actual + facts which this particular conception was used to interpret. + </p> + <p> + The mediaeval belief in werewolves is especially adapted to illustrate the + complicated manner in which divers mythical conceptions and misunderstood + natural occurrences will combine to generate a long-enduring superstition. + Mr. Cox, indeed, would have us believe that the whole notion arose from an + unintentional play upon words; but the careful survey of the field, which + has been taken by Hertz and Baring-Gould, leads to the conclusion that + many other circumstances have been at work. The delusion, though doubtless + purely mythical in its origin, nevertheless presents in its developed + state a curious mixture of mythical and historical elements. + </p> + <p> + With regard to the Arkadian legend, taken by itself, Mr. Cox is probably + right. The story seems to belong to that large class of myths which have + been devised in order to explain the meaning of equivocal words whose true + significance has been forgotten. The epithet Lykaios, as applied to Zeus, + had originally no reference to wolves: it means "the bright one," and gave + rise to lycanthropic legends only because of the similarity in sound + between the names for "wolf" and "brightness." Aryan mythology furnishes + numerous other instances of this confusion. The solar deity, Phoibos + Lykegenes, was originally the "offspring of light"; but popular etymology + made a kind of werewolf of him by interpreting his name as the + "wolf-born." The name of the hero Autolykos means simply the + "self-luminous"; but it was more frequently interpreted as meaning "a very + wolf," in allusion to the supposed character of its possessor. Bazra, the + name of the citadel of Carthage, was the Punic word for "fortress"; but + the Greeks confounded it with byrsa, "a hide," and hence the story of the + ox-hides cut into strips by Dido in order to measure the area of the place + to be fortified. The old theory that the Irish were Phoenicians had a + similar origin. The name Fena, used to designate the old Scoti or Irish, + is the plural of Fion, "fair," seen in the name of the hero Fion Gall, or + "Fingal"; but the monkish chroniclers identified Fena with phoinix, whence + arose the myth; and by a like misunderstanding of the epithet Miledh, or + "warrior," applied to Fion by the Gaelic bards, there was generated a + mythical hero, Milesius, and the soubriquet "Milesian," colloquially + employed in speaking of the Irish. <a href="#linknote-66" + name="linknoteref-66" id="linknoteref-66"><small>66</small></a> So the + Franks explained the name of the town Daras, in Mesopotamia, by the story + that the Emperor Justinian once addressed the chief magistrate with the + exclamation, daras, "thou shalt give": <a href="#linknote-67" + name="linknoteref-67" id="linknoteref-67"><small>67</small></a> the Greek + chronicler, Malalas, who spells the name Doras, informs us with equal + complacency that it was the place where Alexander overcame Codomannus with + dorn, "the spear." A certain passage in the Alps is called Scaletta, from + its resemblance to a staircase; but according to a local tradition it owes + its name to the bleaching skeletons of a company of Moors who were + destroyed there in the eighth century, while attempting to penetrate into + Northern Italy. The name of Antwerp denotes the town built at a "wharf"; + but it sounds very much like the Flemish handt werpen, "hand-throwing": + "hence arose the legend of the giant who cut of the hands of those who + passed his castle without paying him black-mail, and threw them into the + Scheldt." <a href="#linknote-68" name="linknoteref-68" id="linknoteref-68"><small>68</small></a> + In the myth of Bishop Hatto, related in a previous paper, the Mause-thurm + is a corruption of maut-thurm; it means "customs-tower," and has nothing + to do with mice or rats. Doubtless this etymology was the cause of the + floating myth getting fastened to this particular place; that it did not + give rise to the myth itself is shown by the existence of the same tale in + other places. Somewhere in England there is a place called Chateau Vert; + the peasantry have corrupted it into Shotover, and say that it has borne + that name ever since Little John shot over a high hill in the + neighbourhood. <a href="#linknote-69" name="linknoteref-69" + id="linknoteref-69"><small>69</small></a> Latium means "the flat land"; + but, according to Virgil, it is the place where Saturn once hid + (latuisset) from the wrath of his usurping son Jupiter. <a + href="#linknote-70" name="linknoteref-70" id="linknoteref-70"><small>70</small></a> + </p> + <p> + It was in this way that the constellation of the Great Bear received its + name. The Greek word arktos, answering to the Sanskrit riksha, meant + originally any bright object, and was applied to the bear—for what + reason it would not be easy to state—and to that constellation which + was most conspicuous in the latitude of the early home of the Aryans. When + the Greeks had long forgotten why these stars were called arktoi, they + symbolized them as a Great Bear fixed in the sky. So that, as Max Muller + observes, "the name of the Arctic regions rests on a misunderstanding of a + name framed thousands of years ago in Central Asia, and the surprise with + which many a thoughtful observer has looked at these seven bright stars, + wondering why they were ever called the Bear, is removed by a reference to + the early annals of human speech." Among the Algonquins the sun-god + Michabo was represented as a hare, his name being compounded of michi, + "great," and wabos, "a hare"; yet wabos also meant "white," so that the + god was doubtless originally called simply "the Great White One." The same + naive process has made bears of the Arkadians, whose name, like that of + the Lykians, merely signified that they were "children of light"; and the + metamorphosis of Kallisto, mother of Arkas, into a bear, and of Lykaon + into a wolf, rests apparently upon no other foundation than an erroneous + etymology. Originally Lykaon was neither man nor wolf; he was but another + form of Phoibos Lykegenes, the light-born sun, and, as Mr. Cox has shown, + his legend is but a variation of that of Tantalos, who in time of drought + offers to Zeus the flesh of his own offspring, the withered fruits, and is + punished for his impiety. + </p> + <p> + It seems to me, however, that this explanation, though valid as far as it + goes, is inadequate to explain all the features of the werewolf + superstition, or to account for its presence in all Aryan countries and + among many peoples who are not of Aryan origin. There can be no doubt that + the myth-makers transformed Lykaon into a wolf because of his unlucky + name; because what really meant "bright man" seemed to them to mean + "wolf-man"; but it has by no means been proved that a similar equivocation + occurred in the case of all the primitive Aryan werewolves, nor has it + been shown to be probable that among each people the being with the + uncanny name got thus accidentally confounded with the particular beast + most dreaded by that people. Etymology alone does not explain the fact + that while Gaul has been the favourite haunt of the man-wolf, Scandinavia + has been preferred by the man-bear, and Hindustan by the man-tiger. To + account for such a widespread phenomenon we must seek a more general + cause. + </p> + <p> + Nothing is more strikingly characteristic of primitive thinking than the + close community of nature which it assumes between man and brute. The + doctrine of metempsychosis, which is found in some shape or other all over + the world, implies a fundamental identity between the two; the Hindu is + taught to respect the flocks browsing in the meadow, and will on no + account lift his hand against a cow, for who knows but it may he his own + grandmother? The recent researches of Mr. M`Lennan and Mr. Herbert Spencer + have served to connect this feeling with the primeval worship of ancestors + and with the savage customs of totemism. <a href="#linknote-71" + name="linknoteref-71" id="linknoteref-71"><small>71</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The worship of ancestors seems to have been every where the oldest + systematized form of fetichistic religion. The reverence paid to the + chieftain of the tribe while living was continued and exaggerated after + his death The uncivilized man is everywhere incapable of grasping the idea + of death as it is apprehended by civilized people. He cannot understand + that a man should pass away so as to be no longer capable of communicating + with his fellows. The image of his dead chief or comrade remains in his + mind, and the savage's philosophic realism far surpasses that of the most + extravagant mediaeval schoolmen; to him the persistence of the idea + implies the persistence of the reality. The dead man, accordingly, is not + really dead; he has thrown off his body like a husk, yet still retains his + old appearance, and often shows himself to his old friends, especially + after nightfall. He is no doubt possessed of more extensive powers than + before his transformation, <a href="#linknote-72" name="linknoteref-72" + id="linknoteref-72"><small>72</small></a> and may very likely have a share + in regulating the weather, granting or withholding rain. Therefore, argues + the uncivilized mind, he is to be cajoled and propitiated more sedulously + now than before his strange transformation. + </p> + <p> + This kind of worship still maintains a languid existence as the state + religion of China, and it still exists as a portion of Brahmanism; but in + the Vedic religion it is to be seen in all its vigour and in all its naive + simplicity. According to the ancient Aryan, the pitris, or "Fathers" (Lat. + patres), live in the sky along with Yama, the great original Pitri of + mankind. This first man came down from heaven in the lightning, and back + to heaven both himself and all his offspring must have gone. There they + distribute light unto men below, and they shine themselves as stars; and + hence the Christianized German peasant, fifty centuries later, tells his + children that the stars are angels' eyes, and the English cottager + impresses it on the youthful mind that it is wicked to point at the stars, + though why he cannot tell. But the Pitris are not stars only, nor do they + content themselves with idly looking down on the affairs of men, after the + fashion of the laissez-faire divinities of Lucretius. They are, on the + contrary, very busy with the weather; they send rain, thunder, and + lightning; and they especially delight in rushing over the housetops in a + great gale of wind, led on by their chief, the mysterious huntsman, Hermes + or Odin. + </p> + <p> + It has been elsewhere shown that the howling dog, or wish-hound of Hermes, + whose appearance under the windows of a sick person is such an alarming + portent, is merely the tempest personified. Throughout all Aryan mythology + the souls of the dead are supposed to ride on the night-wind, with their + howling dogs, gathering into their throng the souls of those just dying as + they pass by their houses. <a href="#linknote-73" name="linknoteref-73" + id="linknoteref-73"><small>73</small></a> Sometimes the whole complex + conception is wrapped up in the notion of a single dog, the messenger of + the god of shades, who comes to summon the departing soul. Sometimes, + instead of a dog, we have a great ravening wolf who comes to devour its + victim and extinguish the sunlight of life, as that old wolf of the tribe + of Fenrir devoured little Red Riding-Hood with her robe of scarlet + twilight. <a href="#linknote-74" name="linknoteref-74" id="linknoteref-74"><small>74</small></a> + Thus we arrive at a true werewolf myth. The storm-wind, or howling + Rakshasa of Hindu folk-lore, is "a great misshapen giant with red beard + and red hair, with pointed protruding teeth, ready to lacerate and devour + human flesh; his body is covered with coarse, bristling hair, his huge + mouth is open, he looks from side to side as he walks, lusting after the + flesh and blood of men, to satisfy his raging hunger and quench his + consuming thirst. Towards nightfall his strength increases manifold; he + can change his shape at will; he haunts the woods, and roams howling + through the jungle." <a href="#linknote-75" name="linknoteref-75" + id="linknoteref-75"><small>75</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Now if the storm-wind is a host of Pitris, or one great Pitri who appears + as a fearful giant, and is also a pack of wolves or wish-hounds, or a + single savage dog or wolf, the inference is obvious to the mythopoeic mind + that men may become wolves, at least after death. And to the uncivilized + thinker this inference is strengthened, as Mr. Spencer has shown, by + evidence registered on his own tribal totem or heraldic emblem. The bears + and lions and leopards of heraldry are the degenerate descendants of the + totem of savagery which designated the tribe by a beast-symbol. To the + untutored mind there is everything in a name; and the descendant of Brown + Bear or Yellow Tiger or Silver Hyaena cannot be pronounced unfaithful to + his own style of philosophizing, if he regards his ancestors, who career + about his hut in the darkness of night, as belonging to whatever order of + beasts his totem associations may suggest. + </p> + <p> + Thus we not only see a ray of light thrown on the subject of + metempsychosis, but we get a glimpse of the curious process by which the + intensely realistic mind of antiquity arrived at the notion that men could + be transformed into beasts. For the belief that the soul can temporarily + quit the body during lifetime has been universally entertained; and from + the conception of wolf-like ghosts it was but a short step to the + conception of corporeal werewolves. In the Middle Ages the phenomena of + trance and catalepsy were cited in proof of the theory that the soul can + leave the body and afterwards return to it. Hence it was very difficult + for a person accused of witchcraft to prove an alibi; for to any amount of + evidence showing that the body was innocently reposing at home and in bed, + the rejoinder was obvious that the soul may nevertheless have been in + attendance at the witches' Sabbath or busied in maiming a neighbour's + cattle. According to one mediaeval notion, the soul of the werewolf quit + its human body, which remained in a trance until its return. <a + href="#linknote-76" name="linknoteref-76" id="linknoteref-76"><small>76</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The mythological basis of the werewolf superstition is now, I believe, + sufficiently indicated. The belief, however, did not reach its complete + development, or acquire its most horrible features, until the pagan habits + of thought which had originated it were modified by contact with Christian + theology. To the ancient there was nothing necessarily diabolical in the + transformation of a man into a beast. But Christianity, which retained + such a host of pagan conceptions under such strange disguises, which + degraded the "All-father" Odin into the ogre of the castle to which Jack + climbed on his bean-stalk, and which blended the beneficent lightning-god + Thor and the mischievous Hermes and the faun-like Pan into the grotesque + Teutonic Devil, did not fail to impart a new and fearful character to the + belief in werewolves. Lycanthropy became regarded as a species of + witchcraft; the werewolf was supposed to have obtained his peculiar powers + through the favour or connivance of the Devil; and hundreds of persons + were burned alive or broken on the wheel for having availed themselves of + the privilege of beast-metamorphosis. The superstition, thus widely + extended and greatly intensified, was confirmed by many singular phenomena + which cannot be omitted from any thorough discussion of the nature and + causes of lycanthropy. + </p> + <p> + The first of these phenomena is the Berserker insanity, characteristic of + Scandinavia, but not unknown in other countries. In times when killing + one's enemies often formed a part of the necessary business of life, + persons were frequently found who killed for the mere love of the thing; + with whom slaughter was an end desirable in itself, not merely a means to + a desirable end. What the miser is in an age which worships mammon, such + was the Berserker in an age when the current idea of heaven was that of a + place where people could hack each other to pieces through all eternity, + and when the man who refused a challenge was punished with confiscation of + his estates. With these Northmen, in the ninth century, the chief business + and amusement in life was to set sail for some pleasant country, like + Spain or France, and make all the coasts and navigable rivers hideous with + rapine and massacre. When at home, in the intervals between their + freebooting expeditions, they were liable to become possessed by a strange + homicidal madness, during which they would array themselves in the skins + of wolves or bears, and sally forth by night to crack the backbones, smash + the skulls, and sometimes to drink with fiendish glee the blood of unwary + travellers or loiterers. These fits of madness were usually followed by + periods of utter exhaustion and nervous depression. <a href="#linknote-77" + name="linknoteref-77" id="linknoteref-77"><small>77</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Such, according to the unanimous testimony of historians, was the + celebrated "Berserker rage," not peculiar to the Northland, although there + most conspicuously manifested. Taking now a step in advance, we find that + in comparatively civilized countries there have been many cases of + monstrous homicidal insanity. The two most celebrated cases, among those + collected by Mr. Baring-Gould, are those of the Marechal de Retz, in 1440, + and of Elizabeth, a Hungarian countess, in the seventeenth century. The + Countess Elizabeth enticed young girls into her palace on divers pretexts, + and then coolly murdered them, for the purpose of bathing in their blood. + The spectacle of human suffering became at last such a delight to her, + that she would apply with her own hands the most excruciating tortures, + relishing the shrieks of her victims as the epicure relishes each sip of + his old Chateau Margaux. In this way she is said to have murdered six + hundred and fifty persons before her evil career was brought to an end; + though, when one recollects the famous men in buckram and the notorious + trio of crows, one is inclined to strike off a cipher, and regard + sixty-five as a sufficiently imposing and far less improbable number. But + the case of the Marechal de Retz is still more frightful. A marshal of + France, a scholarly man, a patriot, and a man of holy life, he became + suddenly possessed by an uncontrollable desire to murder children. During + seven years he continued to inveigle little boys and girls into his + castle, at the rate of about TWO EACH WEEK, (?) and then put them to death + in various ways, that he might witness their agonies and bathe in their + blood; experiencing after each occasion the most dreadful remorse, but led + on by an irresistible craving to repeat the crime. When this unparalleled + iniquity was finally brought to light, the castle was found to contain + bins full of children's bones. The horrible details of the trial are to be + found in the histories of France by Michelet and Martin. + </p> + <p> + Going a step further, we find cases in which the propensity to murder has + been accompanied by cannibalism. In 1598 a tailor of Chalons was sentenced + by the parliament of Paris to be burned alive for lycanthropy. "This + wretched man had decoyed children into his shop, or attacked them in the + gloaming when they strayed in the woods, had torn them with his teeth and + killed them, after which he seems calmly to have dressed their flesh as + ordinary meat, and to have eaten it with a great relish. The number of + little innocents whom he destroyed is unknown. A whole caskful of bones + was discovered in his house." <a href="#linknote-78" name="linknoteref-78" + id="linknoteref-78"><small>78</small></a> About 1850 a beggar in the + village of Polomyia, in Galicia, was proved to have killed and eaten + fourteen children. A house had one day caught fire and burnt to the + ground, roasting one of the inmates, who was unable to escape. The beggar + passed by soon after, and, as he was suffering from excessive hunger, + could not resist the temptation of making a meal off the charred body. + From that moment he was tormented by a craving for human flesh. He met a + little orphan girl, about nine years old, and giving her a pinchbeck ring + told her to seek for others like it under a tree in the neighbouring wood. + She was slain, carried to the beggar's hovel, and eaten. In the course of + three years thirteen other children mysteriously disappeared, but no one + knew whom to suspect. At last an innkeeper missed a pair of ducks, and + having no good opinion of this beggar's honesty, went unexpectedly to his + cabin, burst suddenly in at the door, and to his horror found him in the + act of hiding under his cloak a severed head; a bowl of fresh blood stood + under the oven, and pieces of a thigh were cooking over the fire. <a + href="#linknote-79" name="linknoteref-79" id="linknoteref-79"><small>79</small></a> + </p> + <p> + This occurred only about twenty years ago, and the criminal, though ruled + by an insane appetite, is not known to have been subject to any mental + delusion. But there have been a great many similar cases, in which the + homicidal or cannibal craving has been accompanied by genuine + hallucination. Forms of insanity in which the afflicted persons imagine + themselves to be brute animals are not perhaps very common, but they are + not unknown. I once knew a poor demented old man who believed himself to + be a horse, and would stand by the hour together before a manger, nibbling + hay, or deluding himself with the presence of so doing. Many of the + cannibals whose cases are related by Mr. Baring-Gould, in his chapter of + horrors, actually believed themselves to have been transformed into wolves + or other wild animals. Jean Grenier was a boy of thirteen, partially + idiotic, and of strongly marked canine physiognomy; his jaws were large + and projected forward, and his canine teeth were unnaturally long, so as + to protrude beyond the lower lip. He believed himself to be a werewolf. + One evening, meeting half a dozen young girls, he scared them out of their + wits by telling them that as soon as the sun had set he would turn into a + wolf and eat them for supper. A few days later, one little girl, having + gone out at nightfall to look after the sheep, was attacked by some + creature which in her terror she mistook for a wolf, but which afterwards + proved to be none other than Jean Grenier. She beat him off with her + sheep-staff, and fled home. As several children had mysteriously + disappeared from the neighbourhood, Grenier was at once suspected. Being + brought before the parliament of Bordeaux, he stated that two years ago he + had met the Devil one night in the woods and had signed a compact with him + and received from him a wolf-skin. Since then he had roamed about as a + wolf after dark, resuming his human shape by daylight. He had killed and + eaten several children whom he had found alone in the fields, and on one + occasion he had entered a house while the family were out and taken the + baby from its cradle. A careful investigation proved the truth of these + statements, so far as the cannibalism was concerned. There is no doubt + that the missing children were eaten by Jean Grenier, and there is no + doubt that in his own mind the halfwitted boy was firmly convinced that he + was a wolf. Here the lycanthropy was complete. + </p> + <p> + In the year 1598, "in a wild and unfrequented spot near Caude, some + countrymen came one day upon the corpse of a boy of fifteen, horribly + mutilated and bespattered with blood. As the men approached, two wolves, + which had been rending the body, bounded away into the thicket. The men + gave chase immediately, following their bloody tracks till they lost them; + when, suddenly crouching among the bushes, his teeth chattering with fear, + they found a man half naked, with long hair and beard, and with his hands + dyed in blood. His nails were long as claws, and were clotted with fresh + gore and shreds of human flesh." <a href="#linknote-80" + name="linknoteref-80" id="linknoteref-80"><small>80</small></a> + </p> + <p> + This man, Jacques Roulet, was a poor, half-witted creature under the + dominion of a cannibal appetite. He was employed in tearing to pieces the + corpse of the boy when these countrymen came up. Whether there were any + wolves in the case, except what the excited imaginations of the men may + have conjured up, I will not presume to determine; but it is certain that + Roulet supposed himself to be a wolf, and killed and ate several persons + under the influence of the delusion. He was sentenced to death, but the + parliament of Paris reversed the sentence, and charitably shut him up in a + madhouse. + </p> + <p> + The annals of the Middle Ages furnish many cases similar to these of + Grenier and Roulet. Their share in maintaining the werewolf superstition + is undeniable; but modern science finds in them nothing that cannot be + readily explained. That stupendous process of breeding, which we call + civilization, has been for long ages strengthening those kindly social + feelings by the possession of which we are chiefly distinguished from the + brutes, leaving our primitive bestial impulses to die for want of + exercise, or checking in every possible way their further expansion by + legislative enactments. But this process, which is transforming us from + savages into civilized men, is a very slow one; and now and then there + occur cases of what physiologists call atavism, or reversion to an + ancestral type of character. Now and then persons are born, in civilized + countries, whose intellectual powers are on a level with those of the most + degraded Australian savage, and these we call idiots. And now and then + persons are born possessed of the bestial appetites and cravings of + primitive man, his fiendish cruelty and his liking for human flesh. Modern + physiology knows how to classify and explain these abnormal cases, but to + the unscientific mediaeval mind they were explicable only on the + hypothesis of a diabolical metamorphosis. And there is nothing strange in + the fact that, in an age when the prevailing habits of thought rendered + the transformation of men into beasts an easily admissible notion, these + monsters of cruelty and depraved appetite should have been regarded as + capable of taking on bestial forms. Nor is it strange that the + hallucination under which these unfortunate wretches laboured should have + taken such a shape as to account to their feeble intelligence for the + existence of the appetites which they were conscious of not sharing with + their neighbours and contemporaries. If a myth is a piece of unscientific + philosophizing, it must sometimes be applied to the explanation of obscure + psychological as well as of physical phenomena. Where the modern calmly + taps his forehead and says, "Arrested development," the terrified ancient + made the sign of the cross and cried, "Werewolf." + </p> + <p> + We shall be assisted in this explanation by turning aside for a moment to + examine the wild superstitions about "changelings," which contributed, + along with so many others, to make the lives of our ancestors anxious and + miserable. These superstitions were for the most part attempts to explain + the phenomena of insanity, epilepsy, and other obscure nervous diseases. A + man who has hitherto enjoyed perfect health, and whose actions have been + consistent and rational, suddenly loses all self-control and seems + actuated by a will foreign to himself. Modern science possesses the key to + this phenomenon; but in former times it was explicable only on the + hypothesis that a demon had entered the body of the lunatic, or else that + the fairies had stolen the real man and substituted for him a diabolical + phantom exactly like him in stature and features. Hence the numerous + legends of changelings, some of which are very curious. In Irish folk-lore + we find the story of one Rickard, surnamed the Rake, from his worthless + character. A good-natured, idle fellow, he spent all his evenings in + dancing,—an accomplishment in which no one in the village could + rival him. One night, in the midst of a lively reel, he fell down in a + fit. "He's struck with a fairy-dart," exclaimed all the friends, and they + carried him home and nursed him; but his face grew so thin and his manner + so morose that by and by all began to suspect that the true Rickard was + gone and a changeling put in his place. Rickard, with all his + accomplishments, was no musician; and so, in order to put the matter to a + crucial test, a bagpipe was left in the room by the side of his bed. The + trick succeeded. One hot summer's day, when all were supposed to be in the + field making hay, some members of the family secreted in a clothes-press + saw the bedroom door open a little way, and a lean, foxy face, with a pair + of deep-sunken eyes, peer anxiously about the premises. Having satisfied + itself that the coast was clear, the face withdrew, the door was closed, + and presently such ravishing strains of music were heard as never + proceeded from a bagpipe before or since that day. Soon was heard the + rustle of innumerable fairies, come to dance to the changeling's music. + Then the "fairy-man" of the village, who was keeping watch with the + family, heated a pair of tongs red-hot, and with deafening shouts all + burst at once into the sick-chamber. The music had ceased and the room was + empty, but in at the window glared a fiendish face, with such fearful + looks of hatred, that for a moment all stood motionless with terror. But + when the fairy-man, recovering himself, advanced with the hot tongs to + pinch its nose, it vanished with an unearthly yell, and there on the bed + was Rickard, safe and sound, and cured of his epilepsy. <a + href="#linknote-81" name="linknoteref-81" id="linknoteref-81"><small>81</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Comparing this legend with numerous others relating to changelings, and + stripping off the fantastic garb of fairy-lore with which popular + imagination has invested them, it seems impossible to doubt that they have + arisen from myths devised for the purpose of explaining the obscure + phenomena of mental disease. If this be so, they afford an excellent + collateral illustration of the belief in werewolves. The same mental + habits which led men to regard the insane or epileptic person as a + changeling, and which allowed them to explain catalepsy as the temporary + departure of a witch's soul from its body, would enable them to attribute + a wolf's nature to the maniac or idiot with cannibal appetites. And when + the myth-forming process had got thus far, it would not stop short of + assigning to the unfortunate wretch a tangible lupine body; for all + ancient mythology teemed with precedents for such a transformation. + </p> + <p> + It remains for us to sum up,—to tie into a bunch the keys which have + helped us to penetrate into the secret causes of the werewolf + superstition. In a previous paper we saw what a host of myths, + fairy-tales, and superstitious observances have sprung from attempts to + interpret one simple natural phenomenon,—the descent of fire from + the clouds. Here, on the other hand, we see what a heterogeneous multitude + of mythical elements may combine to build up in course of time a single + enormous superstition, and we see how curiously fact and fancy have + co-operated in keeping the superstition from falling. In the first place + the worship of dead ancestors with wolf totems originated the notion of + the transformation of men into divine or superhuman wolves; and this + notion was confirmed by the ambiguous explanation of the storm-wind as the + rushing of a troop of dead men's souls or as the howling of wolf-like + monsters. Mediaeval Christianity retained these conceptions, merely + changing the superhuman wolves into evil demons; and finally the + occurrence of cases of Berserker madness and cannibalism, accompanied by + lycanthropic hallucinations, being interpreted as due to such demoniacal + metamorphosis, gave rise to the werewolf superstition of the Middle Ages. + The etymological proceedings, to which Mr. Cox would incontinently ascribe + the origin of the entire superstition, seemed to me to have played a very + subordinate part in the matter. To suppose that Jean Grenier imagined + himself to be a wolf, because the Greek word for wolf sounded like the + word for light, and thus gave rise to the story of a light-deity who + became a wolf, seems to me quite inadmissible. Yet as far as such verbal + equivocations may have prevailed, they doubtless helped to sustain the + delusion. + </p> + <p> + Thus we need no longer regard our werewolf as an inexplicable creature of + undetermined pedigree. But any account of him would be quite imperfect + which should omit all consideration of the methods by which his change of + form was accomplished. By the ancient Romans the werewolf was commonly + called a "skin-changer" or "turn-coat" (versipellis), and similar epithets + were applied to him in the Middle Ages The mediaeval theory was that, + while the werewolf kept his human form, his hair grew inwards; when he + wished to become a wolf, he simply turned himself inside out. In many + trials on record, the prisoners were closely interrogated as to how this + inversion might be accomplished; but I am not aware that any one of them + ever gave a satisfactory answer. At the moment of change their memories + seem to have become temporarily befogged. Now and then a poor wretch had + his arms and legs cut off, or was partially flayed, in order that the + ingrowing hair might be detected. <a href="#linknote-82" + name="linknoteref-82" id="linknoteref-82"><small>82</small></a> Another + theory was, that the possessed person had merely to put on a wolf's skin, + in order to assume instantly the lupine form and character; and in this + may perhaps be seen a vague reminiscence of the alleged fact that + Berserkers were in the habit of haunting the woods by night, clothed in + the hides of wolves or bears. <a href="#linknote-83" name="linknoteref-83" + id="linknoteref-83"><small>83</small></a> Such a wolfskin was kept by the + boy Grenier. Roulet, on the other hand, confessed to using a magic salve + or ointment. A fourth method of becoming a werewolf was to obtain a + girdle, usually made of human skin. Several cases are related in Thorpe's + "Northern Mythology." One hot day in harvest-time some reapers lay down to + sleep in the shade; when one of them, who could not sleep, saw the man + next him arise quietly and gird him with a strap, whereupon he instantly + vanished, and a wolf jumped up from among the sleepers and ran off across + the fields. Another man, who possessed such a girdle, once went away from + home without remembering to lock it up. His little son climbed up to the + cupboard and got it, and as he proceeded to buckle it around his waist, he + became instantly transformed into a strange-looking beast. Just then his + father came in, and seizing the girdle restored the child to his natural + shape. The boy said that no sooner had he buckled it on than he was + tormented with a raging hunger. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes the werewolf transformation led to unlucky accidents. At + Caseburg, as a man and his wife were making hay, the woman threw down her + pitchfork and went away, telling her husband that if a wild beast should + come to him during her absence he must throw his hat at it. Presently a + she-wolf rushed towards him. The man threw his hat at it, but a boy came + up from another part of the field and stabbed the animal with his + pitchfork, whereupon it vanished, and the woman's dead body lay at his + feet. + </p> + <p> + A parallel legend shows that this woman wished to have the hat thrown at + her, in order that she might be henceforth free from her liability to + become a werewolf. A man was one night returning with his wife from a + merry-making when he felt the change coming on. Giving his wife the reins, + he jumped from the wagon, telling her to strike with her apron at any + animal which might come to her. In a few moments a wolf ran up to the side + of the vehicle, and, as the woman struck out with her apron, it bit off a + piece and ran away. Presently the man returned with the piece of apron in + his mouth and consoled his terrified wife with the information that the + enchantment had left him forever. + </p> + <p> + A terrible case at a village in Auvergne has found its way into the annals + of witchcraft. "A gentleman while hunting was suddenly attacked by a + savage wolf of monstrous size. Impenetrable by his shot, the beast made a + spring upon the helpless huntsman, who in the struggle luckily, or + unluckily for the unfortunate lady, contrived to cut off one of its + fore-paws. This trophy he placed in his pocket, and made the best of his + way homewards in safety. On the road he met a friend, to whom he exhibited + a bleeding paw, or rather (as it now appeared) a woman's hand, upon which + was a wedding-ring. His wife's ring was at once recognized by the other. + His suspicions aroused, he immediately went in search of his wife, who was + found sitting by the fire in the kitchen, her arm hidden beneath her + apron, when the husband, seizing her by the arm, found his terrible + suspicions verified. The bleeding stump was there, evidently just fresh + from the wound. She was given into custody, and in the event was burned at + Riom, in presence of thousands of spectators." <a href="#linknote-84" + name="linknoteref-84" id="linknoteref-84"><small>84</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Sometimes a werewolf was cured merely by recognizing him while in his + brute shape. A Swedish legend tells of a cottager who, on entering the + forest one day without recollecting to say his Patter Noster, got into the + power of a Troll, who changed him into a wolf. For many years his wife + mourned him as dead. But one Christmas eve the old Troll, disguised as a + beggarwoman, came to the house for alms; and being taken in and kindly + treated, told the woman that her husband might very likely appear to her + in wolf-shape. Going at night to the pantry to lay aside a joint of meat + for tomorrow's dinner, she saw a wolf standing with its paws on the + window-sill, looking wistfully in at her. "Ah, dearest," said she, "if I + knew that thou wert really my husband, I would give thee a bone." + Whereupon the wolf-skin fell off, and her husband stood before her in the + same old clothes which he had on the day that the Troll got hold of him. + </p> + <p> + In Denmark it was believed that if a woman were to creep through a colt's + placental membrane stretched between four sticks, she would for the rest + of her life bring forth children without pain or illness; but all the boys + would in such case be werewolves, and all the girls Maras, or nightmares. + In this grotesque superstition appears that curious kinship between the + werewolf and the wife or maiden of supernatural race, which serves + admirably to illustrate the nature of both conceptions, and the + elucidation of which shall occupy us throughout the remainder of this + paper. + </p> + <p> + It is, perhaps, needless to state that in the personality of the + nightmare, or Mara, there was nothing equine. The Mara was a female demon, + <a href="#linknote-85" name="linknoteref-85" id="linknoteref-85"><small>85</small></a> + who would come at night and torment men or women by crouching on their + chests or stomachs and stopping their respiration. The scene is well + enough represented in Fuseli's picture, though the frenzied-looking horse + which there accompanies the demon has no place in the original + superstition. A Netherlandish story illustrates the character of the Mara. + Two young men were in love with the same damsel. One of them, being + tormented every night by a Mara, sought advice from his rival, and it was + a treacherous counsel that he got. "Hold a sharp knife with the point + towards your breast, and you'll never see the Mara again," said this false + friend. The lad thanked him, but when he lay down to rest he thought it as + well to be on the safe side, and so held the knife handle downward. So + when the Mara came, instead of forcing the blade into his breast, she cut + herself badly, and fled howling; and let us hope, though the legend here + leaves us in the dark, that this poor youth, who is said to have been the + comelier of the two, revenged himself on his malicious rival by marrying + the young lady. + </p> + <p> + But the Mara sometimes appeared in less revolting shape, and became the + mistress or even the wife of some mortal man to whom she happened to take + a fancy. In such cases she would vanish on being recognized. There is a + well-told monkish tale of a pious knight who, journeying one day through + the forest, found a beautiful lady stripped naked and tied to a tree, her + back all covered with deep gashes streaming with blood, from a flogging + which some bandits had given her. Of course he took her home to his castle + and married her, and for a while they lived very happily together, and the + fame of the lady's beauty was so great that kings and emperors held + tournaments in honor of her. But this pious knight used to go to mass + every Sunday, and greatly was he scandalized when he found that his wife + would never stay to assist in the Credo, but would always get up and walk + out of church just as the choir struck up. All her husband's coaxing was + of no use; threats and entreaties were alike powerless even to elicit an + explanation of this strange conduct. At last the good man determined to + use force; and so one Sunday, as the lady got up to go out, according to + custom, he seized her by the arm and sternly commanded her to remain. Her + whole frame was suddenly convulsed, and her dark eyes gleamed with weird, + unearthly brilliancy. The services paused for a moment, and all eyes were + turned toward the knight and his lady. "In God's name, tell me what thou + art," shouted the knight; and instantly, says the chronicler, "the bodily + form of the lady melted away, and was seen no more; whilst, with a cry of + anguish and of terror, an evil spirit of monstrous form rose from the + ground, clave the chapel roof asunder, and disappeared in the air." + </p> + <p> + In a Danish legend, the Mara betrays her affinity to the Nixies, or + Swan-maidens. A peasant discovered that his sweetheart was in the habit of + coming to him by night as a Mara. He kept strict watch until he discovered + her creeping into the room through a small knot-hole in the door. Next day + he made a peg, and after she had come to him, drove in the peg so that she + was unable to escape. They were married and lived together many years; but + one night it happened that the man, joking with his wife about the way in + which he had secured her, drew the peg from the knot-hole, that she might + see how she had entered his room. As she peeped through, she became + suddenly quite small, passed out, and was never seen again. + </p> + <p> + The well-known pathological phenomena of nightmare are sufficient to + account for the mediaeval theory of a fiend who sits upon one's bosom and + hinders respiration; but as we compare these various legends relating to + the Mara, we see that a more recondite explanation is needed to account + for all her peculiarities. Indigestion may interfere with our breathing, + but it does not make beautiful women crawl through keyholes, nor does it + bring wives from the spirit-world. The Mara belongs to an ancient family, + and in passing from the regions of monkish superstition to those of pure + mythology we find that, like her kinsman the werewolf, she had once seen + better days. Christianity made a demon of the Mara, and adopted the theory + that Satan employed these seductive creatures as agents for ruining human + souls. Such is the character of the knight's wife, in the monkish legend + just cited. But in the Danish tale the Mara appears as one of that large + family of supernatural wives who are permitted to live with mortal men + under certain conditions, but who are compelled to flee away when these + conditions are broken, as is always sure to be the case. The eldest and + one of the loveliest of this family is the Hindu nymph Urvasi, whose love + adventures with Pururavas are narrated in the Puranas, and form the + subject of the well-known and exquisite Sanskrit drama by Kalidasa. Urvasi + is allowed to live with Pururavas so long as she does not see him + undressed. But one night her kinsmen, the Gandharvas, or cloud-demons, + vexed at her long absence from heaven, resolved to get her away from her + mortal companion, They stole a pet lamb which had been tied at the foot of + her couch, whereat she bitterly upbraided her husband. In rage and + mortification, Pururavas sprang up without throwing on his tunic, and + grasping his sword sought the robber. Then the wicked Gandharvas sent a + flash of lightning, and Urvasi, seeing her naked husband, instantly + vanished. + </p> + <p> + The different versions of this legend, which have been elaborately + analyzed by comparative mythologists, leave no doubt that Urvasi is one of + the dawn-nymphs or bright fleecy clouds of early morning, which vanish as + the splendour of the sun is unveiled. We saw, in the preceding paper, that + the ancient Aryans regarded the sky as a sea or great lake, and that the + clouds were explained variously as Phaiakian ships with bird-like beaks + sailing over this lake, or as bright birds of divers shapes and hues. The + light fleecy cirrhi were regarded as mermaids, or as swans, or as maidens + with swan's plumage. In Sanskrit they are called Apsaras, or "those who + move in the water," and the Elves and Maras of Teutonic mythology have the + same significance. Urvasi appears in one legend as a bird; and a South + German prescription for getting rid of the Mara asserts that if she be + wrapped up in the bedclothes and firmly held, a white dove will forthwith + fly from the room, leaving the bedclothes empty. <a href="#linknote-86" + name="linknoteref-86" id="linknoteref-86"><small>86</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In the story of Melusina the cloud-maiden appears as a kind of mermaid, + but in other respects the legend resembles that of Urvasi. Raymond, Count + de la Foret, of Poitou, having by an accident killed his patron and + benefactor during a hunting excursion, fled in terror and despair into the + deep recesses of the forest. All the afternoon and evening he wandered + through the thick dark woods, until at midnight he came upon a strange + scene. All at once "the boughs of the trees became less interlaced, and + the trunks fewer; next moment his horse, crashing through the shrubs, + brought him out on a pleasant glade, white with rime, and illumined by the + new moon; in the midst bubbled up a limpid fountain, and flowed away over + a pebbly-floor with a soothing murmur. Near the fountain-head sat three + maidens in glimmering white dresses, with long waving golden hair, and + faces of inexpressible beauty." <a href="#linknote-87" + name="linknoteref-87" id="linknoteref-87"><small>87</small></a> One of + them advanced to meet Raymond, and according to all mythological + precedent, they were betrothed before daybreak. In due time the + fountain-nymph <a href="#linknote-88" name="linknoteref-88" + id="linknoteref-88"><small>88</small></a> became Countess de la Foret, but + her husband was given to understand that all her Saturdays would be passed + in strictest seclusion, upon which he must never dare to intrude, under + penalty of losing her forever. For many years all went well, save that the + fair Melusina's children were, without exception, misshapen or disfigured. + But after a while this strange weekly seclusion got bruited about all over + the neighbourhood, and people shook their heads and looked grave about it. + So many gossiping tales came to the Count's ears, that he began to grow + anxious and suspicious, and at last he determined to know the worst. He + went one Saturday to Melusina's private apartments, and going through one + empty room after another, at last came to a locked door which opened into + a bath; looking through a keyhole, there he saw the Countess transformed + from the waist downwards into a fish, disporting herself like a mermaid in + the water. Of course he could not keep the secret, but when some time + afterwards they quarrelled, must needs address her as "a vile serpent, + contaminator of his honourable race." So she disappeared through the + window, but ever afterward hovered about her husband's castle of Lusignan, + like a Banshee, whenever one of its lords was about to die. + </p> + <p> + The well-known story of Undine is similar to that of Melusina, save that + the naiad's desire to obtain a human soul is a conception foreign to the + spirit of the myth, and marks the degradation which Christianity had + inflicted upon the denizens of fairy-land. In one of Dasent's tales the + water-maiden is replaced by a kind of werewolf. A white bear marries a + young girl, but assumes the human shape at night. She is never to look + upon him in his human shape, but how could a young bride be expected to + obey such an injunction as that? She lights a candle while he is sleeping, + and discovers the handsomest prince in the world; unluckily she drops + tallow on his shirt, and that tells the story. But she is more fortunate + than poor Raymond, for after a tiresome journey to the "land east of the + sun and west of the moon," and an arduous washing-match with a parcel of + ugly Trolls, she washes out the spots, and ends her husband's enchantment. + <a href="#linknote-89" name="linknoteref-89" id="linknoteref-89"><small>89</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In the majority of these legends, however, the Apsaras, or cloud-maiden, + has a shirt of swan's feathers which plays the same part as the wolfskin + cape or girdle of the werewolf. If you could get hold of a werewolf's sack + and burn it, a permanent cure was effected. No danger of a relapse, unless + the Devil furnished him with a new wolfskin. So the swan-maiden kept her + human form, as long as she was deprived of her tunic of feathers. + Indo-European folk-lore teems with stories of swan-maidens forcibly wooed + and won by mortals who had stolen their clothes. A man travelling along + the road passes by a lake where several lovely girls are bathing; their + dresses, made of feathers curiously and daintily woven, lie on the shore. + He approaches the place cautiously and steals one of these dresses. <a + href="#linknote-90" name="linknoteref-90" id="linknoteref-90"><small>90</small></a> + When the girls have finished their bathing, they all come and get their + dresses and swim away as swans; but the one whose dress is stolen must + needs stay on shore and marry the thief. It is needless to add that they + live happily together for many years, or that finally the good man + accidentally leaves the cupboard door unlocked, whereupon his wife gets + back her swan-shirt and flies away from him, never to return. But it is + not always a shirt of feathers. In one German story, a nobleman hunting + deer finds a maiden bathing in a clear pool in the forest. He runs + stealthily up to her and seizes her necklace, at which she loses the power + to flee. They are married, and she bears seven sons at once, all of whom + have gold chains about their necks, and are able to transform themselves + into swans whenever they like. A Flemish legend tells of three Nixies, or + water-sprites, who came out of the Meuse one autumn evening, and helped + the villagers celebrate the end of the vintage. Such graceful dancers had + never been seen in Flanders, and they could sing as well as they could + dance. As the night was warm, one of them took off her gloves and gave + them to her partner to hold for her. When the clock struck twelve the + other two started off in hot haste, and then there was a hue and cry for + gloves. The lad would keep them as love-tokens, and so the poor Nixie had + to go home without them; but she must have died on the way, for next + morning the waters of the Meuse were blood-red, and those damsels never + returned. + </p> + <p> + In the Faro Islands it is believed that seals cast off their skins every + ninth night, assume human forms, and sing and dance like men and women + until daybreak, when they resume their skins and their seal natures. Of + course a man once found and hid one of these sealskins, and so got a + mermaid for a wife; and of course she recovered the skin and escaped. <a + href="#linknote-91" name="linknoteref-91" id="linknoteref-91"><small>91</small></a> + On the coasts of Ireland it is supposed to be quite an ordinary thing for + young sea-fairies to get human husbands in this way; the brazen things + even come to shore on purpose, and leave their red caps lying around for + young men to pick up; but it behooves the husband to keep a strict watch + over the red cap, if he would not see his children left motherless. + </p> + <p> + This mermaid's cap has contributed its quota to the superstitions of + witchcraft. An Irish story tells how Red James was aroused from sleep one + night by noises in the kitchen. Going down to the door, he saw a lot of + old women drinking punch around the fireplace, and laughing and joking + with his housekeeper. When the punchbowl was empty, they all put on red + caps, and singing + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "By yarrow and rue, + And my red cap too, + Hie me over to England," +</pre> + <p> + they flew up chimney. So Jimmy burst into the room, and seized the + housekeeper's cap, and went along with them. They flew across the sea to a + castle in England, passed through the keyholes from room to room and into + the cellar, where they had a famous carouse. Unluckily Jimmy, being unused + to such good cheer, got drunk, and forgot to put on his cap when the + others did. So next morning the lord's butler found him dead-drunk on the + cellar floor, surrounded by empty casks. He was sentenced to be hung + without any trial worth speaking of; but as he was carted to the gallows + an old woman cried out, "Ach, Jimmy alanna! Would you be afther dyin' in a + strange land without your red birredh?" The lord made no objections, and + so the red cap was brought and put on him. Accordingly when Jimmy had got + to the gallows and was making his last speech for the edification of the + spectators, he unexpectedly and somewhat irrelevantly exclaimed, "By + yarrow and rue," etc., and was off like a rocket, shooting through the + blue air en route for old Ireland. <a href="#linknote-92" + name="linknoteref-92" id="linknoteref-92"><small>92</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In another Irish legend an enchanted ass comes into the kitchen of a great + house every night, and washes the dishes and scours the tins, so that the + servants lead an easy life of it. After a while in their exuberant + gratitude they offer him any present for which he may feel inclined to + ask. He desires only "an ould coat, to keep the chill off of him these + could nights"; but as soon as he gets into the coat he resumes his human + form and bids them good by, and thenceforth they may wash their own dishes + and scour their own tins, for all him. + </p> + <p> + But we are diverging from the subject of swan-maidens, and are in danger + of losing ourselves in that labyrinth of popular fancies which is more + intricate than any that Daidalos ever planned. The significance of all + these sealskins and feather-dresses and mermaid caps and werewolf-girdles + may best be sought in the etymology of words like the German leichnam, in + which the body is described as a garment of flesh for the soul. <a + href="#linknote-93" name="linknoteref-93" id="linknoteref-93"><small>93</small></a> + In the naive philosophy of primitive thinkers, the soul, in passing from + one visible shape to another, had only to put on the outward integument of + the creature in which it wished to incarnate itself. With respect to the + mode of metamorphosis, there is little difference between the werewolf and + the swan-maiden; and the similarity is no less striking between the + genesis of the two conceptions. The original werewolf is the night-wind, + regarded now as a manlike deity and now as a howling lupine fiend; and the + original swan-maiden is the light fleecy cloud, regarded either as a + woman-like goddess or as a bird swimming in the sky sea. The one + conception has been productive of little else but horrors; the other has + given rise to a great variety of fanciful creations, from the treacherous + mermaid and the fiendish nightmare to the gentle Undine, the charming + Nausikaa, and the stately Muse of classic antiquity. + </p> + <p> + We have seen that the original werewolf, howling in the wintry blast, is a + kind of psychopomp, or leader of departed souls; he is the wild ancestor + of the death-dog, whose voice under the window of a sick-chamber is even + now a sound of ill-omen. The swan-maiden has also been supposed to summon + the dying to her home in the Phaiakian land. The Valkyries, with their + shirts of swan-plumage, who hovered over Scandinavian battle-fields to + receive the souls of falling heroes, were identical with the Hindu + Apsaras; and the Houris of the Mussulman belong to the same family. Even + for the angels,—women with large wings, who are seen in popular + pictures bearing mortals on high towards heaven,—we can hardly claim + a different kinship. Melusina, when she leaves the castle of Lusignan, + becomes a Banshee; and it has been a common superstition among sailors, + that the appearance of a mermaid, with her comb and looking-glass, + foretokens shipwreck, with the loss of all on board. + </p> + <p> + October, 1870. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV. LIGHT AND DARKNESS. + </h2> + <p> + WHEN Maitland blasphemously asserted that God was but "a Bogie of the + nursery," he unwittingly made a remark as suggestive in point of philology + as it was crude and repulsive in its atheism. When examined with the + lenses of linguistic science, the "Bogie" or "Bug-a-boo" or "Bugbear" of + nursery lore turns out to be identical, not only with the fairy "Puck," + whom Shakespeare has immortalized, but also with the Slavonic "Bog" and + the "Baga" of the Cuneiform Inscriptions, both of which are names for the + Supreme Being. If we proceed further, and inquire after the ancestral form + of these epithets,—so strangely incongruous in their significations,—we + shall find it in the Old Aryan "Bhaga," which reappears unchanged in the + Sanskrit of the Vedas, and has left a memento of itself in the surname of + the Phrygian Zeus "Bagaios." It seems originally to have denoted either + the unclouded sun or the sky of noonday illumined by the solar rays. In + Sayana's commentary on the Rig-Veda, Bhaga is enumerated among the seven + (or eight) sons of Aditi, the boundless Orient; and he is elsewhere + described as the lord of life, the giver of bread, and the bringer of + happiness. <a href="#linknote-94" name="linknoteref-94" id="linknoteref-94"><small>94</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Thus the same name which, to the Vedic poet, to the Persian of the time of + Xerxes, and to the modern Russian, suggests the supreme majesty of deity, + is in English associated with an ugly and ludicrous fiend, closely akin to + that grotesque Northern Devil of whom Southey was unable to think without + laughing. Such is the irony of fate toward a deposed deity. The German + name for idol—Abgott, that is, "ex-god," or "dethroned god"—sums + up in a single etymology the history of the havoc wrought by monotheism + among the ancient symbols of deity. In the hospitable Pantheon of the + Greeks and Romans a niche was always in readiness for every new divinity + who could produce respectable credentials; but the triumph of monotheism + converted the stately mansion into a Pandemonium peopled with fiends. To + the monotheist an "ex-god" was simply a devilish deceiver of mankind whom + the true God had succeeded in vanquishing; and thus the word demon, which + to the ancient meant a divine or semi-divine being, came to be applied to + fiends exclusively. Thus the Teutonic races, who preserved the name of + their highest divinity, Odin,—originally, Guodan,—by which to + designate the God of the Christian, <a href="#linknote-95" + name="linknoteref-95" id="linknoteref-95"><small>95</small></a> were + unable to regard the Bog of ancient tradition as anything but an "ex-god," + or vanquished demon. + </p> + <p> + The most striking illustration of this process is to be found in the word + devil itself: To a reader unfamiliar with the endless tricks which + language delights in playing, it may seem shocking to be told that the + Gypsies use the word devil as the name of God. <a href="#linknote-96" + name="linknoteref-96" id="linknoteref-96"><small>96</small></a> This, + however, is not because these people have made the archfiend an object of + worship, but because the Gypsy language, descending directly from the + Sanskrit, has retained in its primitive exalted sense a word which the + English language has received only in its debased and perverted sense. The + Teutonic words devil, teufel, diuval, djofull, djevful, may all be traced + back to the Zend dev, <a href="#linknote-97" name="linknoteref-97" + id="linknoteref-97"><small>97</small></a> a name in which is implicitly + contained the record of the oldest monotheistic revolution known to + history. The influence of the so-called Zoroastrian reform upon the + long-subsequent development of Christianity will receive further notice in + the course of this paper; for the present it is enough to know that it + furnished for all Christendom the name by which it designates the author + of evil. To the Parsee follower of Zarathustra the name of the Devil has + very nearly the same signification as to the Christian; yet, as Grimm has + shown, it is nothing else than a corruption of deva, the Sanskrit name for + God. When Zarathustra overthrew the primeval Aryan nature-worship in + Bactria, this name met the same evil fate which in early Christian times + overtook the word demon, and from a symbol of reverence became henceforth + a symbol of detestation. <a href="#linknote-98" name="linknoteref-98" + id="linknoteref-98"><small>98</small></a> But throughout the rest of the + Aryan world it achieved a nobler career, producing the Greek theos, the + Lithuanian diewas, the Latin deus, and hence the modern French Dieu, all + meaning God. + </p> + <p> + If we trace back this remarkable word to its primitive source in that once + lost but now partially recovered mother-tongue from which all our Aryan + languages are descended, we find a root div or dyu, meaning "to shine." + From the first-mentioned form comes deva, with its numerous progeny of + good and evil appellatives; from the latter is derived the name of Dyaus, + with its brethren, Zeus and Jupiter. In Sanskrit dyu, as a noun, means + "sky" and "day"; and there are many passages in the Rig-Veda where the + character of the god Dyaus, as the personification of the sky or the + brightness of the ethereal heavens, is unmistakably apparent. This key + unlocks for us one of the secrets of Greek mythology. So long as there was + for Zeus no better etymology than that which assigned it to the root zen, + "to live," <a href="#linknote-99" name="linknoteref-99" id="linknoteref-99"><small>99</small></a> + there was little hope of understanding the nature of Zeus. But when we + learn that Zeus is identical with Dyaus, the bright sky, we are enabled to + understand Horace's expression, "sub Jove frigido," and the prayer of the + Athenians, "Rain, rain, dear Zeus, on the land of the Athenians, and on + the fields." <a href="#linknote-100" name="linknoteref-100" + id="linknoteref-100"><small>100</small></a> Such expressions as these were + retained by the Greeks and Romans long after they had forgotten that their + supreme deity was once the sky. Yet even the Brahman, from whose mind the + physical significance of the god's name never wholly disappeared, could + speak of him as Father Dyaus, the great Pitri, or ancestor of gods and + men; and in this reverential name Dyaus pitar may be seen the exact + equivalent of the Roman's Jupiter, or Jove the Father. The same root can + be followed into Old German, where Zio is the god of day; and into + Anglo-Saxon, where Tiwsdaeg, or the day of Zeus, is the ancestral form of + Tuesday. + </p> + <p> + Thus we again reach the same results which were obtained from the + examination of the name Bhaga. These various names for the supreme Aryan + god, which without the help afforded by the Vedas could never have been + interpreted, are seen to have been originally applied to the sun-illumined + firmament. Countless other examples, when similarly analyzed, show that + the earliest Aryan conception of a Divine Power, nourishing man and + sustaining the universe, was suggested by the light of the mighty Sun; + who, as modern science has shown, is the originator of all life and motion + upon the globe, and whom the ancients delighted to believe the source, not + only of "the golden light," <a href="#linknote-101" name="linknoteref-101" + id="linknoteref-101"><small>101</small></a> but of everything that is + bright, joy-giving, and pure. Nevertheless, in accepting this conclusion + as well established by linguistic science, we must be on our guard against + an error into which writers on mythology are very liable to fall. Neither + sky nor sun nor light of day, neither Zeus nor Apollo, neither Dyaus nor + Indra, was ever worshipped by the ancient Aryan in anything like a + monotheistic sense. To interpret Zeus or Jupiter as originally the supreme + Aryan god, and to regard classic paganism as one of the degraded remnants + of a primeval monotheism, is to sin against the canons of a sound + inductive philosophy. Philology itself teaches us that this could not have + been so. Father Dyaus was originally the bright sky and nothing more. + Although his name became generalized, in the classic languages, into deus, + or God, it is quite certain that in early days, before the Aryan + separation, it had acquired no such exalted significance. It was only in + Greece and Rome—or, we may say, among the still united + Italo-Hellenic tribes—that Jupiter-Zeus attained a pre-eminence over + all other deities. The people of Iran quite rejected him, the Teutons + preferred Thor and Odin, and in India he was superseded, first by Indra, + afterwards by Brahma and Vishnu. We need not, therefore, look for a single + supreme divinity among the old Aryans; nor may we expect to find any + sense, active or dormant, of monotheism in the primitive intelligence of + uncivilized men. <a href="#linknote-102" name="linknoteref-102" + id="linknoteref-102"><small>102</small></a> The whole fabric of + comparative mythology, as at present constituted, and as described above, + in the first of these papers, rests upon the postulate that the earliest + religion was pure fetichism. + </p> + <p> + In the unsystematic nature-worship of the old Aryans the gods are + presented to us only as vague powers, with their nature and attributes + dimly defined, and their relations to each other fluctuating and often + contradictory. There is no theogony, no regular subordination of one deity + to another. The same pair of divinities appear now as father and daughter, + now as brother and sister, now as husband and wife; and again they quite + lose their personality, and are represented as mere natural phenomena. As + Muller observes, "The poets of the Veda indulged freely in theogonic + speculations without being frightened by any contradictions. They knew of + Indra as the greatest of gods, they knew of Agni as the god of gods, they + knew of Varuna as the ruler of all; but they were by no means startled at + the idea that their Indra had a mother, or that their Agni [Latin ignis] + was born like a babe from the friction of two fire-sticks, or that Varuna + and his brother Mitra were nursed in the lap of Aditi." <a + href="#linknote-103" name="linknoteref-103" id="linknoteref-103"><small>103</small></a> + Thus we have seen Bhaga, the daylight, represented as the offspring, of + Aditi, the boundless Orient; but he had several brothers, and among them + were Mitra, the sun, Varuna, the overarching firmament, and Vivasvat, the + vivifying sun. Manifestly we have here but so many different names for + what is at bottom one and the same conception. The common element which, + in Dyaus and Varuna, in Bhaga and Indra, was made an object of worship, is + the brightness, warmth, and life of day, as contrasted with the darkness, + cold, and seeming death of the night-time. And this common element was + personified in as many different ways as the unrestrained fancy of the + ancient worshipper saw fit to devise. <a href="#linknote-104" + name="linknoteref-104" id="linknoteref-104"><small>104</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Thus we begin to see why a few simple objects, like the sun, the sky, the + dawn, and the night, should be represented in mythology by such a host of + gods, goddesses, and heroes. For at one time the Sun is represented as the + conqueror of hydras and dragons who hide away from men the golden + treasures of light and warmth, and at another time he is represented as a + weary voyager traversing the sky-sea amid many perils, with the steadfast + purpose of returning to his western home and his twilight bride; hence the + different conceptions of Herakles, Bellerophon, and Odysseus. Now he is + represented as the son of the Dawn, and again, with equal propriety, as + the son of the Night, and the fickle lover of the Dawn; hence we have, on + the one hand, stories of a virgin mother who dies in giving birth to a + hero, and, on the other hand, stories of a beautiful maiden who is + forsaken and perhaps cruelly slain by her treacherous lover. Indeed, the + Sun's adventures with so many dawn-maidens have given him quite a bad + character, and the legends are numerous in which he appears as the + prototype of Don Juan. Yet again his separation from the bride of his + youth is described as due to no fault of his own, but to a resistless + decree of fate, which hurries him away as Aineias was compelled to abandon + Dido. Or, according to a third and equally plausible notion, he is a hero + of ascetic virtues, and the dawn-maiden is a wicked enchantress, daughter + of the sensual Aphrodite, who vainly endeavours to seduce him. In the + story of Odysseus these various conceptions are blended together. When + enticed by artful women, <a href="#linknote-105" name="linknoteref-105" + id="linknoteref-105"><small>105</small></a> he yields for a while to the + temptation; but by and by his longing to see Penelope takes him homeward, + albeit with a record which Penelope might not altogether have liked. + Again, though the Sun, "always roaming with a hungry heart," has seen many + cities and customs of strange men, he is nevertheless confined to a single + path,—a circumstance which seems to have occasioned much speculation + in the primeval mind. Garcilaso de la Vega relates of a certain Peruvian + Inca, who seems to have been an "infidel" with reference to the orthodox + mythology of his day, that he thought the Sun was not such a mighty god + after all; for if he were, he would wander about the heavens at random + instead of going forever, like a horse in a treadmill, along the same + course. The American Indians explained this circumstance by myths which + told how the Sun was once caught and tied with a chain which would only + let him swing a little way to one side or the other. The ancient Aryan + developed the nobler myth of the labours of Herakles, performed in + obedience to the bidding of Eurystheus. Again, the Sun must needs destroy + its parents, the Night and the Dawn; and accordingly his parents, + forewarned by prophecy, expose him in infancy, or order him to be put to + death; but his tragic destiny never fails to be accomplished to the + letter. And again the Sun, who engages in quarrels not his own, is + sometimes represented as retiring moodily from the sight of men, like + Achilleus and Meleagros: he is short-lived and ill-fated, born to do much + good and to be repaid with ingratitude; his life depends on the duration + of a burning brand, and when that is extinguished he must die. + </p> + <p> + The myth of the great Theban hero, Oidipous, well illustrates the + multiplicity of conceptions which clustered about the daily career of the + solar orb. His father, Laios, had been warned by the Delphic oracle that + he was in danger of death from his own son. The newly born Oidipous was + therefore exposed on the hillside, but, like Romulus and Remus, and all + infants similarly situated in legend, was duly rescued. He was taken to + Corinth, where he grew up to manhood. Journeying once to Thebes, he got + into a quarrel with an old man whom he met on the road, and slew him, who + was none other than his father, Laios. Reaching Thebes, he found the city + harassed by the Sphinx, who afflicted the land with drought until she + should receive an answer to her riddles. Oidipous destroyed the monster by + solving her dark sayings, and as a reward received the kingdom, with his + own mother, Iokaste, as his bride. Then the Erinyes hastened the discovery + of these dark deeds; Iokaste died in her bridal chamber; and Oidipous, + having blinded himself, fled to the grove of the Eumenides, near Athens, + where, amid flashing lightning and peals of thunder, he died. + </p> + <p> + Oidipous is the Sun. Like all the solar heroes, from Herakles and Perseus + to Sigurd and William Tell, he performs his marvellous deeds at the behest + of others. His father, Laios, is none other than the Vedic Dasyu, the + night-demon who is sure to be destroyed by his solar offspring In the + evening, Oidipous is united to the Dawn, the mother who had borne him at + daybreak; and here the original story doubtless ended. In the Vedic hymns + we find Indra, the Sun, born of Dahana (Daphne), the Dawn, whom he + afterwards, in the evening twilight, marries. To the Indian mind the story + was here complete; but the Greeks had forgotten and outgrown the primitive + signification of the myth. To them Oidipous and Iokaste were human, or at + least anthropomorphic beings; and a marriage between them was a fearful + crime which called for bitter expiation. Thus the latter part of the story + arose in the effort to satisfy a moral feeling As the name of Laios + denotes the dark night, so, like Iole, Oinone, and Iamos, the word Iokaste + signifies the delicate violet tints of the morning and evening clouds. + Oidipous was exposed, like Paris upon Ida (a Vedic word meaning "the + earth"), because the sunlight in the morning lies upon the hillside. <a + href="#linknote-106" name="linknoteref-106" id="linknoteref-106"><small>106</small></a> + He is borne on to the destruction of his father and the incestuous + marriage with his mother by an irresistible Moira, or Fate; the sun cannot + but slay the darkness and hasten to the couch of the violet twilight. <a + href="#linknote-107" name="linknoteref-107" id="linknoteref-107"><small>107</small></a> + The Sphinx is the storm-demon who sits on the cloud-rock and imprisons the + rain; she is the same as Medusa, Ahi, or Echidna, and Chimaira, and is + akin to the throttling snakes of darkness which the jealous Here sent to + destroy Herakles in his cradle. The idea was not derived from Egypt, but + the Greeks, on finding Egyptian figures resembling their conception of the + Sphinx, called them by the same name. The omniscient Sun comprehends the + sense of her dark mutterings, and destroys her, as Indra slays Vritra, + bringing down rain upon the parched earth. The Erinyes, who bring to light + the crimes of Oidipous, have been explained, in a previous paper, as the + personification of daylight, which reveals the evil deeds done under the + cover of night. The grove of the Erinyes, like the garden of the + Hyperboreans, represents "the fairy network of clouds, which are the first + to receive and the last to lose the light of the sun in the morning and in + the evening; hence, although Oidipous dies in a thunder-storm, yet the + Eumenides are kind to him, and his last hour is one of deep peace and + tranquillity." <a href="#linknote-108" name="linknoteref-108" + id="linknoteref-108"><small>108</small></a> To the last remains with him + his daughter Antigone, "she who is born opposite," the pale light which + springs up opposite to the setting sun. + </p> + <p> + These examples show that a story-root may be as prolific of heterogeneous + offspring as a word-root. Just as we find the root spak, "to look," + begetting words so various as sceptic, bishop, speculate, conspicsuous, + species, and spice, we must expect to find a simple representation of the + diurnal course of the sun, like those lyrically given in the Veda, + branching off into stories as diversified as those of Oidipous, Herakles, + Odysseus, and Siegfried. In fact, the types upon which stories are + constructed are wonderfully few. Some clever playwright—I believe it + was Scribe—has said that there are only seven possible dramatic + situations; that is, all the plays in the world may be classed with some + one of seven archetypal dramas. <a href="#linknote-109" + name="linknoteref-109" id="linknoteref-109"><small>109</small></a> If this + be true, the astonishing complexity of mythology taken in the concrete, as + compared with its extreme simplicity when analyzed, need not surprise us. + </p> + <p> + The extreme limits of divergence between stories descended from a common + root are probably reached in the myths of light and darkness with which + the present discussion is mainly concerned The subject will be best + elucidated by taking a single one of these myths and following its various + fortunes through different regions of the Aryan world. The myth of + Hercules and Cacus has been treated by M. Breal in an essay which is one + of the most valuable contributions ever made to the study of comparative + mythology; and while following his footsteps our task will be an easy one. + </p> + <p> + The battle between Hercules and Cacus, although one of the oldest of the + traditions common to the whole Indo-European race, appears in Italy as a + purely local legend, and is narrated as such by Virgil, in the eighth book + of the AEneid; by Livy, at the beginning of his history; and by Propertius + and Ovid. Hercules, journeying through Italy after his victory over + Geryon, stops to rest by the bank of the Tiber. While he is taking his + repose, the three-headed monster Cacus, a son of Vulcan and a formidable + brigand, comes and steals his cattle, and drags them tail-foremost to a + secret cavern in the rocks. But the lowing of the cows arouses Hercules, + and he runs toward the cavern where the robber, already frightened, has + taken refuge. Armed with a huge flinty rock, he breaks open the entrance + of the cavern, and confronts the demon within, who vomits forth flames at + him and roars like the thunder in the storm-cloud. After a short combat, + his hideous body falls at the feet of the invincible hero, who erects on + the spot an altar to Jupiter Inventor, in commemoration of the recovery of + his cattle. Ancient Rome teemed with reminiscences of this event, which + Livy regarded as first in the long series of the exploits of his + countrymen. The place where Hercules pastured his oxen was known long + after as the Forum Boarium; near it the Porta Trigemina preserved the + recollection of the monster's triple head; and in the time of Diodorus + Siculus sight-seers were shown the cavern of Cacus on the slope of the + Aventine. Every tenth day the earlier generations of Romans celebrated the + victory with solemn sacrifices at the Ara Maxima; and on days of triumph + the fortunate general deposited there a tithe of his booty, to be + distributed among the citizens. + </p> + <p> + In this famous myth, however, the god Hercules did not originally figure. + The Latin Hercules was an essentially peaceful and domestic deity, + watching over households and enclosures, and nearly akin to Terminus and + the Penates. He does not appear to have been a solar divinity at all. But + the purely accidental resemblance of his name to that of the Greek deity + Herakles, <a href="#linknote-110" name="linknoteref-110" + id="linknoteref-110"><small>110</small></a> and the manifest identity of + the Cacus-myth with the story of the victory of Herakles over Geryon, led + to the substitution of Hercules for the original hero of the legend, who + was none other than Jupiter, called by his Sabine name Sancus. Now + Johannes Lydus informs us that, in Sabine, Sancus signified "the sky," a + meaning which we have already seen to belong to the name Jupiter. The same + substitution of the Greek hero for the Roman divinity led to the + alteration of the name of the demon overcome by his thunderbolts. The + corrupted title Cacus was supposed to be identical with the Greek word + kakos, meaning "evil" and the corruption was suggested by the epithet of + Herakles, Alexikakos, or "the averter of ill." Originally, however, the + name was Caecius, "he who blinds or darkens," and it corresponds literally + to the name of the Greek demon Kaikias, whom an old proverb, preserved by + Aulus Gellius, describes as a stealer of the clouds. <a + href="#linknote-111" name="linknoteref-111" id="linknoteref-111"><small>111</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Thus the significance of the myth becomes apparent. The three-headed Cacus + is seen to be a near kinsman of Geryon's three-headed dog Orthros, and of + the three-headed Kerberos, the hell-hound who guards the dark regions + below the horizon. He is the original werewolf or Rakshasa, the fiend of + the storm who steals the bright cattle of Helios, and hides them in the + black cavernous rock, from which they are afterwards rescued by the + schamir or lightning-stone of the solar hero. The physical character of + the myth is apparent even in the description of Virgil, which reads + wonderfully like a Vedic hymn in celebration of the exploits of Indra. But + when we turn to the Veda itself, we find the correctness of the + interpretation demonstrated again and again, with inexhaustible + prodigality of evidence. Here we encounter again the three-headed Orthros + under the identical title of Vritra, "he who shrouds or envelops," called + also Cushna, "he who parches," Pani, "the robber," and Ahi, "the + strangler." In many hymns of the Rig-Veda the story is told over and over, + like a musical theme arranged with variations. Indra, the god of light, is + a herdsman who tends a herd of bright golden or violet-coloured cattle. + Vritra, a snake-like monster with three heads, steals them and hides them + in a cavern, but Indra slays him as Jupiter slew Caecius, and the cows are + recovered. The language of the myth is so significant, that the Hindu + commentators of the Veda have themselves given explanations of it similar + to those proposed by modern philologists. To them the legend never became + devoid of sense, as the myth of Geryon appeared to Greek scholars like + Apollodoros. <a href="#linknote-112" name="linknoteref-112" + id="linknoteref-112"><small>112</small></a> + </p> + <p> + These celestial cattle, with their resplendent coats of purple and gold, + are the clouds lit up by the solar rays; but the demon who steals them is + not always the fiend of the storm, acting in that capacity. They are + stolen every night by Vritra the concealer, and Caecius the darkener, and + Indra is obliged to spend hours in looking for them, sending Sarama, the + inconstant twilight, to negotiate for their recovery. Between the + storm-myth and the myth of night and morning the resemblance is sometimes + so close as to confuse the interpretation of the two. Many legends which + Max Muller explains as myths of the victory of day over night are + explained by Dr. Kuhn as storm-myths; and the disagreement between two + such powerful champions would be a standing reproach to what is rather + prematurely called the SCIENCE of comparative mythology, were it not easy + to show that the difference is merely apparent and non-essential. It is + the old story of the shield with two sides; and a comparison of the ideas + fundamental to these myths will show that there is no valid ground for + disagreement in the interpretation of them. The myths of schamir and the + divining-rod, analyzed in a previous paper, explain the rending of the + thunder-cloud and the procuring of water without especial reference to any + struggle between opposing divinities. But in the myth of Hercules and + Cacus, the fundamental idea is the victory of the solar god over the + robber who steals the light. Now whether the robber carries off the light + in the evening when Indra has gone to sleep, or boldly rears his black + form against the sky during the daytime, causing darkness to spread over + the earth, would make little difference to the framers of the myth. To a + chicken a solar eclipse is the same thing as nightfall, and he goes to + roost accordingly. Why, then, should the primitive thinker have made a + distinction between the darkening of the sky caused by black clouds and + that caused by the rotation of the earth? He had no more conception of the + scientific explanation of these phenomena than the chicken has of the + scientific explanation of an eclipse. For him it was enough to know that + the solar radiance was stolen, in the one case as in the other, and to + suspect that the same demon was to blame for both robberies. + </p> + <p> + The Veda itself sustains this view. It is certain that the victory of + Indra over Vritra is essentially the same as his victory over the Panis. + Vritra, the storm-fiend, is himself called one of the Panis; yet the + latter are uniformly represented as night-demons. They steal Indra's + golden cattle and drive them by circuitous paths to a dark hiding-place + near the eastern horizon. Indra sends the dawn-nymph, Sarama, to search + for them, but as she comes within sight of the dark stable, the Panis try + to coax her to stay with them: "Let us make thee our sister, do not go + away again; we will give thee part of the cows, O darling." <a + href="#linknote-113" name="linknoteref-113" id="linknoteref-113"><small>113</small></a> + According to the text of this hymn, she scorns their solicitations, but + elsewhere the fickle dawn-nymph is said to coquet with the powers of + darkness. She does not care for their cows, but will take a drink of milk, + if they will be so good as to get it for her. Then she goes back and tells + Indra that she cannot find the cows. He kicks her with his foot, and she + runs back to the Panis, followed by the god, who smites them all with his + unerring arrows and recovers the stolen light. From such a simple + beginning as this has been deduced the Greek myth of the faithlessness of + Helen. <a href="#linknote-114" name="linknoteref-114" id="linknoteref-114"><small>114</small></a> + </p> + <p> + These night-demons, the Panis, though not apparently regarded with any + strong feeling of moral condemnation, are nevertheless hated and dreaded + as the authors of calamity. They not only steal the daylight, but they + parch the earth and wither the fruits, and they slay vegetation during the + winter months. As Caecius, the "darkener," became ultimately changed into + Cacus, the "evil one," so the name of Vritra, the "concealer," the most + famous of the Panis, was gradually generalized until it came to mean + "enemy," like the English word fiend, and began to be applied + indiscriminately to any kind of evil spirit. In one place he is called + Adeva, the "enemy of the gods," an epithet exactly equivalent to the + Persian dev. + </p> + <p> + In the Zendavesta the myth of Hercules and Cacus has given rise to a vast + system of theology. The fiendish Panis are concentrated in Ahriman or + Anro-mainyas, whose name signifies the "spirit of darkness," and who + carries on a perpetual warfare against Ormuzd or Ahuramazda, who is + described by his ordinary surname, Spentomainyas, as the "spirit of + light." The ancient polytheism here gives place to a refined dualism, not + very different from what in many Christian sects has passed current as + monotheism. Ahriman is the archfiend, who struggles with Ormuzd, not for + the possession of a herd of perishable cattle, but for the dominion of the + universe. Ormuzd creates the world pure and beautiful, but Ahriman comes + after him and creates everything that is evil in it. He not only keeps the + earth covered with darkness during half of the day, and withholds the rain + and destroys the crops, but he is the author of all evil thoughts and the + instigator of all wicked actions. Like his progenitor Vritra and his + offspring Satan, he is represented under the form of a serpent; and the + destruction which ultimately awaits these demons is also in reserve for + him. Eventually there is to be a day of reckoning, when Ahriman will be + bound in chains and rendered powerless, or when, according to another + account, he will be converted to righteousness, as Burns hoped and Origen + believed would be the case with Satan. + </p> + <p> + This dualism of the ancient Persians has exerted a powerful influence upon + the development of Christian theology. The very idea of an archfiend + Satan, which Christianity received from Judaism, seems either to have been + suggested by the Persian Ahriman, or at least to have derived its + principal characteristics from that source. There is no evidence that the + Jews, previous to the Babylonish captivity, possessed the conception of a + Devil as the author of all evil. In the earlier books of the Old Testament + Jehovah is represented as dispensing with his own hand the good and the + evil, like the Zeus of the Iliad. <a href="#linknote-115" + name="linknoteref-115" id="linknoteref-115"><small>115</small></a> The + story of the serpent in Eden—an Aryan story in every particular, + which has crept into the Pentateuch—is not once alluded to in the + Old Testament; and the notion of Satan as the author of evil appears only + in the later books, composed after the Jews had come into close contact + with Persian ideas. <a href="#linknote-116" name="linknoteref-116" + id="linknoteref-116"><small>116</small></a> In the Book of Job, as Reville + observes, Satan is "still a member of the celestial court, being one of + the sons of the Elohim, but having as his special office the continual + accusation of men, and having become so suspicious by his practice as + public accuser, that he believes in the virtue of no one, and always + presupposes interested motives for the purest manifestations of human + piety." In this way the character of this angel became injured, and he + became more and more an object of dread and dislike to men, until the + later Jews ascribed to him all the attributes of Ahriman, and in this + singularly altered shape he passed into Christian theology. Between the + Satan of the Book of Job and the mediaeval Devil the metamorphosis is as + great as that which degraded the stern Erinys, who brings evil deeds to + light, into the demon-like Fury who torments wrong-doers in Tartarus; and, + making allowance for difference of circumstances, the process of + degradation has been very nearly the same in the two cases. + </p> + <p> + The mediaeval conception of the Devil is a grotesque compound of elements + derived from all the systems of pagan mythology which Christianity + superseded. He is primarily a rebellious angel, expelled from heaven along + with his followers, like the giants who attempted to scale Olympos, and + like the impious Efreets of Arabian legend who revolted against the + beneficent rule of Solomon. As the serpent prince of the outer darkness, + he retains the old characteristics of Vritra, Ahi, Typhon, and Echidna. As + the black dog which appears behind the stove in Dr. Faust's study, he is + the classic hell-hound Kerberos, the Vedic Carvara. From the sylvan deity + Pan he gets his goat-like body, his horns and cloven hoofs. Like the + wind-god Orpheus, to whose music the trees bent their heads to listen, he + is an unrivalled player on the bagpipes. Like those other wind-gods the + psychopomp Hermes and the wild huntsman Odin, he is the prince of the + powers of the air: his flight through the midnight sky, attended by his + troop of witches mounted on their brooms, which sometimes break the boughs + and sweep the leaves from the trees, is the same as the furious chase of + the Erlking Odin or the Burckar Vittikab. He is Dionysos, who causes red + wine to flow from the dry wood, alike on the deck of the Tyrrhenian + pirate-ship and in Auerbach's cellar at Leipzig. He is Wayland, the smith, + a skilful worker in metals and a wonderful architect, like the classic + fire-god Hephaistos or Vulcan; and, like Hephaistos, he is lame from the + effects of his fall from heaven. From the lightning-god Thor he obtains + his red beard, his pitchfork, and his power over thunderbolts; and, like + that ancient deity, he is in the habit of beating his wife behind the door + when the rain falls during sunshine. Finally, he takes a hint from + Poseidon and from the swan-maidens, and appears as a water-imp or Nixy + (whence probably his name of Old Nick), and as the Davy (deva) whose + "locker" is situated at the bottom of the sea. <a href="#linknote-117" + name="linknoteref-117" id="linknoteref-117"><small>117</small></a> + </p> + <p> + According to the Scotch divines of the seventeenth century, the Devil is a + learned scholar and profound thinker. Having profited by six thousand + years of intense study and meditation, he has all science, philosophy, and + theology at his tongue's end; and, as his skill has increased with age, he + is far more than a match for mortals in cunning. <a href="#linknote-118" + name="linknoteref-118" id="linknoteref-118"><small>118</small></a> Such, + however, is not the view taken by mediaeval mythology, which usually + represents his stupidity as equalling his malignity. The victory of + Hercules over Cacus is repeated in a hundred mediaeval legends in which + the Devil is overreached and made a laughing-stock. The germ of this + notion may be found in the blinding of Polyphemos by Odysseus, which is + itself a victory of the sun-hero over the night-demon, and which curiously + reappears in a Middle-Age story narrated by Mr. Cox. "The Devil asks a man + who is moulding buttons what he may be doing; and when the man answers + that he is moulding eyes, asks him further whether he can give him a pair + of new eyes. He is told to come again another day; and when he makes his + appearance accordingly, the man tells him that the operation cannot be + performed rightly unless he is first tightly bound with his back fastened + to a bench. While he is thus pinioned he asks the man's name. The reply is + Issi (`himself'). When the lead is melted, the Devil opens his eyes wide + to receive the deadly stream. As soon as he is blinded, he starts up in + agony, bearing away the bench to which he had been bound; and when some + workpeople in the fields ask him who had thus treated him, his answer is, + 'Issi teggi' (`Self did it'). With a laugh they bid him lie on the bed + which he has made: 'selbst gethan, selbst habe.' The Devil died of his new + eyes, and was never seen again." + </p> + <p> + In his attempts to obtain human souls the Devil is frequently foiled by + the superior cunning of mortals. Once, he agreed to build a house for a + peasant in exchange for the peasant's soul; but if the house were not + finished before cockcrow, the contract was to be null and void. Just as + the Devil was putting on the last tile the man imitated a cockcrow and + waked up all the roosters in the neighbourhood, so that the fiend had his + labour for his pains. A merchant of Louvain once sold himself to the + Devil, who heaped upon him all manner of riches for seven years, and then + came to get him. The merchant "took the Devil in a friendly manner by the + hand and, as it was just evening, said, 'Wife, bring a light quickly for + the gentleman.' 'That is not at all necessary,' said the Devil; 'I am + merely come to fetch you.' 'Yes, yes, that I know very well,' said the + merchant, 'only just grant me the time till this little candle-end is + burnt out, as I have a few letters to sign and to put on my coat.' 'Very + well,' said the Devil, 'but only till the candle is burnt out.' 'Good,' + said the merchant, and going into the next room, ordered the maid-servant + to place a large cask full of water close to a very deep pit that was dug + in the garden. The men-servants also carried, each of them, a cask to the + spot; and when all was done, they were ordered each to take a shovel, and + stand round the pit. The merchant then returned to the Devil, who seeing + that not more than about an inch of candle remained, said, laughing, 'Now + get yourself ready, it will soon be burnt out.' 'That I see, and am + content; but I shall hold you to your word, and stay till it IS burnt.' + 'Of course,' answered the Devil; 'I stick to my word.' 'It is dark in the + next room,' continued the merchant, 'but I must find the great book with + clasps, so let me just take the light for one moment.' 'Certainly,' said + the Devil, 'but I'll go with you.' He did so, and the merchant's + trepidation was now on the increase. When in the next room he said on a + sudden, 'Ah, now I know, the key is in the garden door.' And with these + words he ran out with the light into the garden, and before the Devil + could overtake him, threw it into the pit, and the men and the maids + poured water upon it, and then filled up the hole with earth. Now came the + Devil into the garden and asked, 'Well, did you get the key? and how is it + with the candle? where is it?' 'The candle?' said the merchant. 'Yes, the + candle.' 'Ha, ha, ha! it is not yet burnt out,' answered the merchant, + laughing, 'and will not be burnt out for the next fifty years; it lies + there a hundred fathoms deep in the earth.' When the Devil heard this he + screamed awfully, and went off with a most intolerable stench." <a + href="#linknote-119" name="linknoteref-119" id="linknoteref-119"><small>119</small></a> + </p> + <p> + One day a fowler, who was a terrible bungler and could n't hit a bird at a + dozen paces, sold his soul to the Devil in order to become a Freischutz. + The fiend was to come for him in seven years, but must be always able to + name the animal at which he was shooting, otherwise the compact was to be + nullified. After that day the fowler never missed his aim, and never did a + fowler command such wages. When the seven years were out the fowler told + all these things to his wife, and the twain hit upon an expedient for + cheating the Devil. The woman stripped herself, daubed her whole body with + molasses, and rolled herself up in a feather-bed, cut open for this + purpose. Then she hopped and skipped about the field where her husband + stood parleying with Old Nick. "there's a shot for you, fire away," said + the Devil. "Of course I'll fire, but do you first tell me what kind of a + bird it is; else our agreement is cancelled, Old Boy." There was no help + for it; the Devil had to own himself nonplussed, and off he fled, with a + whiff of brimstone which nearly suffocated the Freischutz and his good + woman. <a href="#linknote-120" name="linknoteref-120" id="linknoteref-120"><small>120</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In the legend of Gambrinus, the fiend is still more ingloriously defeated. + Gambrinus was a fiddler, who, being jilted by his sweetheart, went out + into the woods to hang himself. As he was sitting on the bough, with the + cord about his neck, preparatory to taking the fatal plunge, suddenly a + tall man in a green coat appeared before him, and offered his services. He + might become as wealthy as he liked, and make his sweetheart burst with + vexation at her own folly, but in thirty years he must give up his soul to + Beelzebub. The bargain was struck, for Gambrinus thought thirty years a + long time to enjoy one's self in, and perhaps the Devil might get him in + any event; as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb. Aided by Satan, he + invented chiming-bells and lager-beer, for both of which achievements his + name is held in grateful remembrance by the Teuton. No sooner had the Holy + Roman Emperor quaffed a gallon or two of the new beverage than he made + Gambrinus Duke of Brabant and Count of Flanders, and then it was the + fiddler's turn to laugh at the discomfiture of his old sweetheart. + Gambrinus kept clear of women, says the legend, and so lived in peace. For + thirty years he sat beneath his belfry with the chimes, meditatively + drinking beer with his nobles and burghers around him. Then Beelzebub sent + Jocko, one of his imps, with orders to bring back Gambrinus before + midnight. But Jocko was, like Swiveller's Marchioness, ignorant of the + taste of beer, never having drunk of it even in a sip, and the Flemish + schoppen were too much for him. He fell into a drunken sleep, and did not + wake up until noon next day, at which he was so mortified that he had not + the face to go back to hell at all. So Gambrinus lived on tranquilly for a + century or two, and drank so much beer that he turned into a beer-barrel. + <a href="#linknote-121" name="linknoteref-121" id="linknoteref-121"><small>121</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The character of gullibility attributed to the Devil in these legends is + probably derived from the Trolls, or "night-folk," of Northern mythology. + In most respects the Trolls resemble the Teutonic elves and fairies, and + the Jinn or Efreets of the Arabian Nights; but their pedigree is less + honourable. The fairies, or "White Ladies," were not originally spirits of + darkness, but were nearly akin to the swan-maidens, dawn-nymphs, and + dryads, and though their wrath was to be dreaded, they were not malignant + by nature. Christianity, having no place for such beings, degraded them + into something like imps; the most charitable theory being that they were + angels who had remained neutral during Satan's rebellion, in punishment + for which Michael expelled them from heaven, but has left their ultimate + fate unannounced until the day of judgment. The Jinn appear to have been + similarly degraded on the rise of Mohammedanism. But the Trolls were + always imps of darkness. They are descended from the Jotuns, or + Frost-Giants of Northern paganism, and they correspond to the Panis, or + night-demons of the Veda. In many Norse tales they are said to burst when + they see the risen sun. <a href="#linknote-122" name="linknoteref-122" + id="linknoteref-122"><small>122</small></a> They eat human flesh, are + ignorant of the simplest arts, and live in the deepest recesses of the + forest or in caverns on the hillside, where the sunlight never penetrates. + Some of these characteristics may very likely have been suggested by + reminiscences of the primeval Lapps, from whom the Aryan invaders wrested + the dominion of Europe. <a href="#linknote-123" name="linknoteref-123" + id="linknoteref-123"><small>123</small></a> In some legends the Trolls are + represented as an ancient race of beings now superseded by the human race. + "'What sort of an earth-worm is this?' said one Giant to another, when + they met a man as they walked. 'These are the earth-worms that will one + day eat us up, brother,' answered the other; and soon both Giants left + that part of Germany." "'See what pretty playthings, mother!' cries the + Giant's daughter, as she unties her apron, and shows her a plough, and + horses, and a peasant. 'Back with them this instant,' cries the mother in + wrath, 'and put them down as carefully as you can, for these playthings + can do our race great harm, and when these come we must budge.'" Very + naturally the primitive Teuton, possessing already the conception of + night-demons, would apply it to these men of the woods whom even to this + day his uneducated descendants believe to be sorcerers, able to turn men + into wolves. But whatever contributions historical fact may have added to + his character, the Troll is originally a creation of mythology, like + Polyphemos, whom he resembles in his uncouth person, his cannibal + appetite, and his lack of wit. His ready gullibility is shown in the story + of "Boots who ate a Match with the Troll." Boots, the brother of + Cinderella, and the counterpart alike of Jack the Giant-killer, and of + Odysseus, is the youngest of three brothers who go into a forest to cut + wood. The Troll appears and threatens to kill any one who dares to meddle + with his timber. The elder brothers flee, but Boots puts on a bold face. + He pulled a cheese out of his scrip and squeezed it till the whey began to + spurt out. "Hold your tongue, you dirty Troll," said he, "or I'll squeeze + you as I squeeze this stone." So the Troll grew timid and begged to be + spared, <a href="#linknote-124" name="linknoteref-124" id="linknoteref-124"><small>124</small></a> + and Boots let him off on condition that he would hew all day with him. + They worked till nightfall, and the Troll's giant strength accomplished + wonders. Then Boots went home with the Troll, having arranged that he + should get the water while his host made the fire. When they reached the + hut there were two enormous iron pails, so heavy that none but a Troll + could lift them, but Boots was not to be frightened. "Bah!" said he. "Do + you suppose I am going to get water in those paltry hand-basins? Hold on + till I go and get the spring itself!" "O dear!" said the Troll, "I'd + rather not; do you make the fire, and I'll get the water." Then when the + soup was made, Boots challenged his new friend to an eating-match; and + tying his scrip in front of him, proceeded to pour soup into it by the + ladleful. By and by the giant threw down his spoon in despair, and owned + himself conquered. "No, no! don't give it up yet," said Boots, "just cut a + hole in your stomach like this, and you can eat forever." And suiting the + action to the words, he ripped open his scrip. So the silly Troll cut + himself open and died, and Boots carried off all his gold and silver. + </p> + <p> + Once there was a Troll whose name was Wind-and-Weather, and Saint Olaf + hired him to build a church. If the church were completed within a certain + specified time, the Troll was to get possession of Saint Olaf. The saint + then planned such a stupendous edifice that he thought the giant would be + forever building it; but the work went on briskly, and at the appointed + day nothing remained but to finish the point of the spire. In his + consternation Olaf rushed about until he passed by the Troll's den, when + he heard the giantess telling her children that their father, + Wind-and-Weather, was finishing his church, and would be home to-morrow + with Saint Olaf. So the saint ran back to the church and bawled out, "Hold + on, Wind-and-Weather, your spire is crooked!" Then the giant tumbled down + from the roof and broke into a thousand pieces. As in the cases of the + Mara and the werewolf, the enchantment was at an end as soon as the + enchanter was called by name. + </p> + <p> + These Trolls, like the Arabian Efreets, had an ugly habit of carrying off + beautiful princesses. This is strictly in keeping with their character as + night-demons, or Panis. In the stories of Punchkin and the Heartless + Giant, the night-demon carries off the dawn-maiden after having turned + into stone her solar brethren. But Boots, or Indra, in search of his + kinsfolk, by and by arrives at the Troll's castle, and then the + dawn-nymph, true to her fickle character, cajoles the Giant and enables + Boots to destroy him. In the famous myth which serves as the basis for the + Volsunga Saga and the Nibelungenlied, the dragon Fafnir steals the + Valkyrie Brynhild and keeps her shut up in a castle on the Glistening + Heath, until some champion shall be found powerful enough to rescue her. + The castle is as hard to enter as that of the Sleeping Beauty; but Sigurd, + the Northern Achilleus, riding on his deathless horse, and wielding his + resistless sword Gram, forces his way in, slays Fafnir, and recovers the + Valkyrie. + </p> + <p> + In the preceding paper the Valkyries were shown to belong to the class of + cloud-maidens; and between the tale of Sigurd and that of Hercules and + Cacus there is no difference, save that the bright sunlit clouds which are + represented in the one as cows are in the other represented as maidens. In + the myth of the Argonauts they reappear as the Golden Fleece, carried to + the far east by Phrixos and Helle, who are themselves Niblungs, or + "Children of the Mist" (Nephele), and there guarded by a dragon. In all + these myths a treasure is stolen by a fiend of darkness, and recovered by + a hero of light, who slays the demon. And—remembering what Scribe + said about the fewness of dramatic types—I believe we are warranted + in asserting that all the stories of lovely women held in bondage by + monsters, and rescued by heroes who perform wonderful tasks, such as Don + Quixote burned to achieve, are derived ultimately from solar myths, like + the myth of Sigurd and Brynhild. I do not mean to say that the + story-tellers who beguiled their time in stringing together the incidents + which make up these legends were conscious of their solar character. They + did not go to work, with malice prepense, to weave allegories and + apologues. The Greeks who first told the story of Perseus and Andromeda, + the Arabians who devised the tale of Codadad and his brethren, the + Flemings who listened over their beer-mugs to the adventures of + Culotte-Verte, were not thinking of sun-gods or dawn-maidens, or + night-demons; and no theory of mythology can be sound which implies such + an extravagance. Most of these stories have lived on the lips of the + common people; and illiterate persons are not in the habit of allegorizing + in the style of mediaeval monks or rabbinical commentators. But what has + been amply demonstrated is, that the sun and the clouds, the light and the + darkness, were once supposed to be actuated by wills analogous to the + human will; that they were personified and worshipped or propitiated by + sacrifice; and that their doings were described in language which applied + so well to the deeds of human or quasi-human beings that in course of time + its primitive purport faded from recollection. No competent scholar now + doubts that the myths of the Veda and the Edda originated in this way, for + philology itself shows that the names employed in them are the names of + the great phenomena of nature. And when once a few striking stories had + thus arisen,—when once it had been told how Indra smote the Panis, + and how Sigurd rescued Brynhild, and how Odysseus blinded the Kyklops,—then + certain mythic or dramatic types had been called into existence; and to + these types, preserved in the popular imagination, future stories would + inevitably conform. We need, therefore, have no hesitation in admitting a + common origin for the vanquished Panis and the outwitted Troll or Devil; + we may securely compare the legends of St. George and Jack the + Giant-killer with the myth of Indra slaying Vritra; we may see in the + invincible Sigurd the prototype of many a doughty knight-errant of + romance; and we may learn anew the lesson, taught with fresh emphasis by + modern scholarship, that in the deepest sense there is nothing new under + the sun. + </p> + <p> + I am the more explicit on this point, because it seems to me that the + unguarded language of many students of mythology is liable to give rise to + misapprehensions, and to discredit both the method which they employ and + the results which they have obtained. If we were to give full weight to + the statements which are sometimes made, we should perforce believe that + primitive men had nothing to do but to ponder about the sun and the + clouds, and to worry themselves over the disappearance of daylight. But + there is nothing in the scientific interpretation of myths which obliges + us to go any such length. I do not suppose that any ancient Aryan, + possessed of good digestive powers and endowed with sound common-sense, + ever lay awake half the night wondering whether the sun would come back + again. <a href="#linknote-125" name="linknoteref-125" id="linknoteref-125"><small>125</small></a> + The child and the savage believe of necessity that the future will + resemble the past, and it is only philosophy which raises doubts on the + subject. <a href="#linknote-126" name="linknoteref-126" + id="linknoteref-126"><small>126</small></a> The predominance of solar + legends in most systems of mythology is not due to the lack of "that + Titanic assurance with which we say, the sun MUST rise"; <a + href="#linknote-127" name="linknoteref-127" id="linknoteref-127"><small>127</small></a> + nor again to the fact that the phenomena of day and night are the most + striking phenomena in nature. Eclipses and earthquakes and floods are + phenomena of the most terrible and astounding kind, and they have all + generated myths; yet their contributions to folk-lore are scanty compared + with those furnished by the strife between the day-god and his enemies. + The sun-myths have been so prolific because the dramatic types to which + they have given rise are of surpassing human interest. The dragon who + swallows the sun is no doubt a fearful personage; but the hero who toils + for others, who slays hydra-headed monsters, and dries the tears of + fair-haired damsels, and achieves success in spite of incredible + obstacles, is a being with whom we can all sympathize, and of whom we + never weary of hearing. + </p> + <p> + With many of these legends which present the myth of light and darkness in + its most attractive form, the reader is already acquainted, and it is + needless to retail stories which have been told over and over again in + books which every one is presumed to have read. I will content myself with + a weird Irish legend, narrated by Mr. Patrick Kennedy, <a + href="#linknote-128" name="linknoteref-128" id="linknoteref-128"><small>128</small></a> + in which we here and there catch glimpses of the primitive mythical + symbols, as fragments of gold are seen gleaming through the crystal of + quartz. + </p> + <p> + Long before the Danes ever came to Ireland, there died at Muskerry a + Sculloge, or country farmer, who by dint of hard work and close economy + had amassed enormous wealth. His only son did not resemble him. When the + young Sculloge looked about the house, the day after his father's death, + and saw the big chests full of gold and silver, and the cupboards shining + with piles of sovereigns, and the old stockings stuffed with large and + small coin, he said to himself, "Bedad, how shall I ever be able to spend + the likes o' that!" And so he drank, and gambled, and wasted his time in + hunting and horse-racing, until after a while he found the chests empty + and the cupboards poverty-stricken, and the stockings lean and penniless. + Then he mortgaged his farm-house and gambled away all the money he got for + it, and then he bethought him that a few hundred pounds might be raised on + his mill. But when he went to look at it, he found "the dam broken, and + scarcely a thimbleful of water in the mill-race, and the wheel rotten, and + the thatch of the house all gone, and the upper millstone lying flat on + the lower one, and a coat of dust and mould over everything." So he made + up his mind to borrow a horse and take one more hunt to-morrow and then + reform his habits. + </p> + <p> + As he was returning late in the evening from this farewell hunt, passing + through a lonely glen he came upon an old man playing backgammon, betting + on his left hand against his right, and crying and cursing because the + right WOULD win. "Come and bet with me," said he to Sculloge. "Faith, I + have but a sixpence in the world," was the reply; "but, if you like, I'll + wager that on the right." "Done," said the old man, who was a Druid; "if + you win I'll give you a hundred guineas." So the game was played, and the + old man, whose right hand was always the winner, paid over the guineas and + told Sculloge to go to the Devil with them. + </p> + <p> + Instead of following this bit of advice, however, the young farmer went + home and began to pay his debts, and next week he went to the glen and won + another game, and made the Druid rebuild his mill. So Sculloge became + prosperous again, and by and by he tried his luck a third time, and won a + game played for a beautiful wife. The Druid sent her to his house the next + morning before he was out of bed, and his servants came knocking at the + door and crying, "Wake up! wake up! Master Sculloge, there's a young lady + here to see you." "Bedad, it's the vanithee <a href="#linknote-129" + name="linknoteref-129" id="linknoteref-129"><small>129</small></a> + herself," said Sculloge; and getting up in a hurry, he spent three + quarters of an hour in dressing himself. At last he went down stairs, and + there on the sofa was the prettiest lady ever seen in Ireland! Naturally, + Sculloge's heart beat fast and his voice trembled, as he begged the lady's + pardon for this Druidic style of wooing, and besought her not to feel + obliged to stay with him unless she really liked him. But the young lady, + who was a king's daughter from a far country, was wondrously charmed with + the handsome farmer, and so well did they get along that the priest was + sent for without further delay, and they were married before sundown. + Sabina was the vanithee's name; and she warned her husband to have no more + dealings with Lassa Buaicht, the old man of the glen. So for a while all + went happily, and the Druidic bride was as good as she was beautiful But + by and by Sculloge began to think he was not earning money fast enough. He + could not bear to see his wife's white hands soiled with work, and thought + it would be a fine thing if he could only afford to keep a few more + servants, and drive about with Sabina in an elegant carriage, and see her + clothed in silk and adorned with jewels. + </p> + <p> + "I will play one more game and set the stakes high," said Sculloge to + himself one evening, as he sat pondering over these things; and so, + without consulting Sabina, he stole away to the glen, and played a game + for ten thousand guineas. But the evil Druid was now ready to pounce on + his prey, and he did not play as of old. Sculloge broke into a cold sweat + with agony and terror as he saw the left hand win! Then the face of Lassa + Buaicht grew dark and stern, and he laid on Sculloge the curse which is + laid upon the solar hero in misfortune, that he should never sleep twice + under the same roof, or ascend the couch of the dawn-nymph, his wife, + until he should have procured and brought to him the sword of light. When + Sculloge reached home, more dead than alive, he saw that his wife knew + all. Bitterly they wept together, but she told him that with courage all + might be set right. She gave him a Druidic horse, which bore him swiftly + over land and sea, like the enchanted steed of the Arabian Nights, until + he reached the castle of his wife's father who, as Sculloge now learned, + was a good Druid, the brother of the evil Lassa Buaicht. This good Druid + told him that the sword of light was kept by a third brother, the powerful + magician, Fiach O'Duda, who dwelt in an enchanted castle, which many brave + heroes had tried to enter, but the dark sorcerer had slain them all. Three + high walls surrounded the castle, and many had scaled the first of these, + but none had ever returned alive. But Sculloge was not to be daunted, and, + taking from his father-in-law a black steed, he set out for the fortress + of Fiach O'Duda. Over the first high wall nimbly leaped the magic horse, + and Sculloge called aloud on the Druid to come out and surrender his + sword. Then came out a tall, dark man, with coal-black eyes and hair and + melancholy visage, and made a furious sweep at Sculloge with the flaming + blade. But the Druidic beast sprang back over the wall in the twinkling of + an eye and rescued his rider, leaving, however, his tail behind in the + court-yard. Then Sculloge returned in triumph to his father-in-law's + palace, and the night was spent in feasting and revelry. + </p> + <p> + Next day Sculloge rode out on a white horse, and when he got to Fiach's + castle, he saw the first wall lying in rubbish. He leaped the second, and + the same scene occurred as the day before, save that the horse escaped + unharmed. + </p> + <p> + The third day Sculloge went out on foot, with a harp like that of Orpheus + in his hand, and as he swept its strings the grass bent to listen and the + trees bowed their heads. The castle walls all lay in ruins, and Sculloge + made his way unhindered to the upper room, where Fiach lay in Druidic + slumber, lulled by the harp. He seized the sword of light, which was hung + by the chimney sheathed in a dark scabbard, and making the best of his way + back to the good king's palace, mounted his wife's steed, and scoured over + land and sea until he found himself in the gloomy glen where Lassa Buaicht + was still crying and cursing and betting on his left hand against his + right. + </p> + <p> + "Here, treacherous fiend, take your sword of light!" shouted Sculloge in + tones of thunder; and as he drew it from its sheath the whole valley was + lighted up as with the morning sun, and next moment the head of the + wretched Druid was lying at his feet, and his sweet wife, who had come to + meet him, was laughing and crying in his arms. November, 1870. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. MYTHS OF THE BARBARIC WORLD. + </h2> + <p> + THE theory of mythology set forth in the four preceding papers, and + illustrated by the examination of numerous myths relating to the + lightning, the storm-wind, the clouds, and the sunlight, was originally + framed with reference solely to the mythic and legendary lore of the Aryan + world. The phonetic identity of the names of many Western gods and heroes + with the names of those Vedic divinities which are obviously the + personifications of natural phenomena, suggested the theory which + philosophical considerations had already foreshadowed in the works of Hume + and Comte, and which the exhaustive analysis of Greek, Hindu, Keltic, and + Teutonic legends has amply confirmed. Let us now, before proceeding to the + consideration of barbaric folk-lore, briefly recapitulate the results + obtained by modern scholarship working strictly within the limits of the + Aryan domain. + </p> + <p> + In the first place, it has been proved once for all that the languages + spoken by the Hindus, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Kelts, Slaves, and Teutons + are all descended from a single ancestral language, the Old Aryan, in the + same sense that French, Italian, and Spanish are descended from the Latin. + And from this undisputed fact it is an inevitable inference that these + various races contain, along with other elements, a race-element in + common, due to their Aryan pedigree. That the Indo-European races are + wholly Aryan is very improbable, for in every case the countries overrun + by them were occupied by inferior races, whose blood must have mingled in + varying degrees with that of their conquerors; but that every + Indo-European people is in great part descended from a common Aryan stock + is not open to question. + </p> + <p> + In the second place, along with a common fund of moral and religious ideas + and of legal and ceremonial observances, we find these kindred peoples + possessed of a common fund of myths, superstitions, proverbs, popular + poetry, and household legends. The Hindu mother amuses her child with + fairy-tales which often correspond, even in minor incidents, with stories + in Scottish or Scandinavian nurseries; and she tells them in words which + are phonetically akin to words in Swedish and Gaelic. No doubt many of + these stories might have been devised in a dozen different places + independently of each other; and no doubt many of them have been + transmitted laterally from one people to another; but a careful + examination shows that such cannot have been the case with the great + majority of legends and beliefs. The agreement between two such stories, + for instance, as those of Faithful John and Rama and Luxman is so close as + to make it incredible that they should have been independently fabricated, + while the points of difference are so important as to make it extremely + improbable that the one was ever copied from the other. Besides which, the + essential identity of such myths as those of Sigurd and Theseus, or of + Helena and Sarama, carries us back historically to a time when the + scattered Indo-European tribes had not yet begun to hold commercial and + intellectual intercourse with each other, and consequently could not have + interchanged their epic materials or their household stories. We are + therefore driven to the conclusion—which, startling as it may seem, + is after all the most natural and plausible one that can be stated—that + the Aryan nations, which have inherited from a common ancestral stock + their languages and their customs, have inherited also from the same + common original their fireside legends. They have preserved Cinderella and + Punchkin just as they have preserved the words for father and mother, ten + and twenty; and the former case, though more imposing to the imagination, + is scientifically no less intelligible than the latter. + </p> + <p> + Thirdly, it has been shown that these venerable tales may be grouped in a + few pretty well defined classes; and that the archetypal myth of each + class—the primitive story in conformity to which countless + subsequent tales have been generated—was originally a mere + description of physical phenomena, couched in the poetic diction of an age + when everything was personified, because all natural phenomena were + supposed to be due to the direct workings of a volition like that of which + men were conscious within themselves. Thus we are led to the striking + conclusion that mythology has had a common root, both with science and + with religious philosophy. The myth of Indra conquering Vritra was one of + the theorems of primitive Aryan science; it was a provisional explanation + of the thunder-storm, satisfactory enough until extended observation and + reflection supplied a better one. It also contained the germs of a + theology; for the life-giving solar light furnished an important part of + the primeval conception of deity. And finally, it became the fruitful + parent of countless myths, whether embodied in the stately epics of Homer + and the bards of the Nibelungenlied, or in the humbler legends of St. + George and William Tell and the ubiquitous Boots. + </p> + <p> + Such is the theory which was suggested half a century ago by the + researches of Jacob Grimm, and which, so far as concerns the mythology of + the Aryan race, is now victorious along the whole line. It remains for us + to test the universality of the general principles upon which it is + founded, by a brief analysis of sundry legends and superstitions of the + barbaric world. Since the fetichistic habit of explaining the outward + phenomena of nature after the analogy of the inward phenomena of conscious + intelligence is not a habit peculiar to our Aryan ancestors, but is, as + psychology shows, the inevitable result of the conditions under which + uncivilized thinking proceeds, we may expect to find the barbaric mind + personifying the powers of nature and making myths about their operations + the whole world over. And we need not be surprised if we find in the + resulting mythologic structures a strong resemblance to the familiar + creations of the Aryan intelligence. In point of fact, we shall often be + called upon to note such resemblance; and it accordingly behooves us at + the outset to inquire how far a similarity between mythical tales shall be + taken as evidence of a common traditional origin, and how far it may be + interpreted as due merely to the similar workings of the untrained + intelligence in all ages and countries. + </p> + <p> + Analogies drawn from the comparison of languages will here be of service + to us, if used discreetly; otherwise they are likely to bewilder far more + than to enlighten us. A theorem which Max Muller has laid down for our + guidance in this kind of investigation furnishes us with an excellent + example of the tricks which a superficial analogy may play even with the + trained scholar, when temporarily off his guard. Actuated by a + praiseworthy desire to raise the study of myths to something like the high + level of scientific accuracy already attained by the study of words, Max + Muller endeavours to introduce one of the most useful canons of philology + into a department of inquiry where its introduction could only work the + most hopeless confusion. One of the earliest lessons to be learned by the + scientific student of linguistics is the uselessness of comparing together + directly the words contained in derivative languages. For example, you + might set the English twelve side by side with the Latin duodecim, and + then stare at the two words to all eternity without any hope of reaching a + conclusion, good or bad, about either of them: least of all would you + suspect that they are descended from the same radical. But if you take + each word by itself and trace it back to its primitive shape, explaining + every change of every letter as you go, you will at last reach the old + Aryan dvadakan, which is the parent of both these strangely metamorphosed + words. <a href="#linknote-130" name="linknoteref-130" id="linknoteref-130"><small>130</small></a> + Nor will it do, on the other hand, to trust to verbal similarity without a + historical inquiry into the origin of such similarity. Even in the same + language two words of quite different origin may get their corners rubbed + off till they look as like one another as two pebbles. The French words + souris, a "mouse," and souris, a "smile," are spelled exactly alike; but + the one comes from Latin sorex and the other from Latin subridere. + </p> + <p> + Now Max Muller tells us that this principle, which is indispensable in the + study of words, is equally indispensable in the study of myths. <a + href="#linknote-131" name="linknoteref-131" id="linknoteref-131"><small>131</small></a> + That is, you must not rashly pronounce the Norse story of the Heartless + Giant identical with the Hindu story of Punchkin, although the two + correspond in every essential incident. In both legends a magician turns + several members of the same family into stone; the youngest member of the + family comes to the rescue, and on the way saves the lives of sundry + grateful beasts; arrived at the magician's castle, he finds a captive + princess ready to accept his love and to play the part of Delilah to the + enchanter. In both stories the enchanter's life depends on the integrity + of something which is elaborately hidden in a far-distant island, but + which the fortunate youth, instructed by the artful princess and assisted + by his menagerie of grateful beasts, succeeds in obtaining. In both + stories the youth uses his advantage to free all his friends from their + enchantment, and then proceeds to destroy the villain who wrought all this + wickedness. Yet, in spite of this agreement, Max Muller, if I understand + him aright, would not have us infer the identity of the two stories until + we have taken each one separately and ascertained its primitive mythical + significance. Otherwise, for aught we can tell, the resemblance may be + purely accidental, like that of the French words for "mouse" and "smile." + </p> + <p> + A little reflection, however, will relieve us from this perplexity, and + assure us that the alleged analogy between the comparison of words and the + comparison of stories is utterly superficial. The transformations of words—which + are often astounding enough—depend upon a few well-established + physiological principles of utterance; and since philology has learned to + rely upon these principles, it has become nearly as sure in its methods + and results as one of the so-called "exact sciences." Folly enough is + doubtless committed within its precincts by writers who venture there + without the laborious preparation which this science, more than almost any + other, demands. But the proceedings of the trained philologist are no more + arbitrary than those of the trained astronomer. And though the former may + seem to be straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel when he coolly tells + you that violin and fiddle are the same word, while English care and Latin + cura have nothing to do with each other, he is nevertheless no more + indulging in guess-work than the astronomer who confesses his ignorance as + to the habitability of Venus while asserting his knowledge of the + existence of hydrogen in the atmosphere of Sirius. To cite one example out + of a hundred, every philologist knows that s may become r, and that the + broad a-sound may dwindle into the closer o-sound; but when you adduce + some plausible etymology based on the assumption that r has changed into + s, or o into a, apart from the demonstrable influence of some adjacent + letter, the philologist will shake his head. + </p> + <p> + Now in the study of stories there are no such simple rules all cut and + dried for us to go by. There is no uniform psychological principle which + determines that the three-headed snake in one story shall become a + three-headed man in the next. There is no Grimm's Law in mythology which + decides that a Hindu magician shall always correspond to a Norwegian Troll + or a Keltic Druid. The laws of association of ideas are not so simple in + application as the laws of utterance. In short, the study of myths, though + it can be made sufficiently scientific in its methods and results, does + not constitute a science by itself, like philology. It stands on a footing + similar to that occupied by physical geography, or what the Germans call + "earth-knowledge." No one denies that all the changes going on over the + earth's surface conform to physical laws; but then no one pretends that + there is any single proximate principle which governs all the phenomena of + rain-fall, of soil-crumbling, of magnetic variation, and of the + distribution of plants and animals. All these things are explained by + principles obtained from the various sciences of physics, chemistry, + geology, and physiology. And in just the same way the development and + distribution of stories is explained by the help of divers resources + contributed by philology, psychology, and history. There is therefore no + real analogy between the cases cited by Max Muller. Two unrelated words + may be ground into exactly the same shape, just as a pebble from the North + Sea may be undistinguishable from another pebble on the beach of the + Adriatic; but two stories like those of Punchkin and the Heartless Giant + are no more likely to arise independently of each other than two coral + reefs on opposite sides of the globe are likely to develop into exactly + similar islands. + </p> + <p> + Shall we then say boldly, that close similarity between legends is proof + of kinship, and go our way without further misgivings? Unfortunately we + cannot dispose of the matter in quite so summary a fashion; for it remains + to decide what kind and degree of similarity shall be considered + satisfactory evidence of kinship. And it is just here that doctors may + disagree. Here is the point at which our "science" betrays its weakness as + compared with the sister study of philology. Before we can decide with + confidence in any case, a great mass of evidence must be brought into + court. So long as we remained on Aryan ground, all went smoothly enough, + because all the external evidence was in our favour. We knew at the + outset, that the Aryans inherit a common language and a common + civilization, and therefore we found no difficulty in accepting the + conclusion that they have inherited, among other things, a common stock of + legends. In the barbaric world it is quite otherwise. Philology does not + pronounce in favour of a common origin for all barbaric culture, such as + it is. The notion of a single primitive language, standing in the same + relation to all existing dialects as the relation of old Aryan to Latin + and English, or that of old Semitic to Hebrew and Arabic, was a notion + suited only to the infancy of linguistic science. As the case now stands, + it is certain that all the languages actually existing cannot be referred + to a common ancestor, and it is altogether probable that there never was + any such common ancestor. I am not now referring to the question of the + unity of the human race. That question lies entirely outside the sphere of + philology. The science of language has nothing to do with skulls or + complexions, and no comparison of words can tell us whether the black men + are brethren of the white men, or whether yellow and red men have a common + pedigree: these questions belong to comparative physiology. But the + science of language can and does tell us that a certain amount of + civilization is requisite for the production of a language sufficiently + durable and wide-spread to give birth to numerous mutually resembling + offspring Barbaric languages are neither widespread nor durable. Among + savages each little group of families has its own dialect, and coins its + own expressions at pleasure; and in the course of two or three generations + a dialect gets so strangely altered as virtually to lose its identity. + Even numerals and personal pronouns, which the Aryan has preserved for + fifty centuries, get lost every few years in Polynesia. Since the time of + Captain Cook the Tahitian language has thrown away five out of its ten + simple numerals, and replaced them by brand-new ones; and on the Amazon + you may acquire a fluent command of some Indian dialect, and then, coming + back after twenty years, find yourself worse off than Rip Van Winkle, and + your learning all antiquated and useless. How absurd, therefore, to + suppose that primeval savages originated a language which has held its own + like the old Aryan and become the prolific mother of the three or four + thousand dialects now in existence! Before a durable language can arise, + there must be an aggregation of numerous tribes into a people, so that + there may be need of communication on a large scale, and so that tradition + may be strengthened. Wherever mankind have associated in nations, + permanent languages have arisen, and their derivative dialects bear the + conspicuous marks of kinship; but where mankind have remained in their + primitive savage isolation, their languages have remained sporadic and + transitory, incapable of organic development, and showing no traces of a + kinship which never existed. + </p> + <p> + The bearing of these considerations upon the origin and diffusion of + barbaric myths is obvious. The development of a common stock of legends + is, of course, impossible, save where there is a common language; and thus + philology pronounces against the kinship of barbaric myths with each other + and with similar myths of the Aryan and Semitic worlds. Similar stories + told in Greece and Norway are likely to have a common pedigree, because + the persons who have preserved them in recollection speak a common + language and have inherited the same civilization. But similar stories + told in Labrador and South Africa are not likely to be genealogically + related, because it is altogether probable that the Esquimaux and the Zulu + had acquired their present race characteristics before either of them + possessed a language or a culture sufficient for the production of myths. + According to the nature and extent of the similarity, it must be decided + whether such stories have been carried about from one part of the world to + another, or have been independently originated in many different places. + </p> + <p> + Here the methods of philology suggest a rule which will often be found + useful. In comparing, the vocabularies of different languages, those words + which directly imitate natural sounds—such as whiz, crash, crackle—are + not admitted as evidence of kinship between the languages in which they + occur. Resemblances between such words are obviously no proof of a common + ancestry; and they are often met with in languages which have demonstrably + had no connection with each other. So in mythology, where we find two + stories of which the primitive character is perfectly transparent, we need + have no difficulty in supposing them to have originated independently. The + myth of Jack and his Beanstalk is found all over the world; but the idea + of a country above the sky, to which persons might gain access by + climbing, is one which could hardly fail to occur to every barbarian. + Among the American tribes, as well as among the Aryans, the rainbow and + the Milky-Way have contributed the idea of a Bridge of the Dead, over + which souls must pass on the way to the other world. In South Africa, as + well as in Germany, the habits of the fox and of his brother the jackal + have given rise to fables in which brute force is overcome by cunning. In + many parts of the world we find curiously similar stories devised to + account for the stumpy tails of the bear and hyaena, the hairless tail of + the rat, and the blindness of the mole. And in all countries may be found + the beliefs that men may be changed into beasts, or plants, or stones; + that the sun is in some way tethered or constrained to follow a certain + course; that the storm-cloud is a ravenous dragon; and that there are + talismans which will reveal hidden treasures. All these conceptions are so + obvious to the uncivilized intelligence, that stories founded upon them + need not be supposed to have a common origin, unless there turns out to be + a striking similarity among their minor details. On the other hand, the + numerous myths of an all-destroying deluge have doubtless arisen partly + from reminiscences of actually occurring local inundations, and partly + from the fact that the Scriptural account of a deluge has been carried all + over the world by Catholic and Protestant missionaries. <a + href="#linknote-132" name="linknoteref-132" id="linknoteref-132"><small>132</small></a> + </p> + <p> + By way of illustrating these principles, let us now cite a few of the + American myths so carefully collected by Dr. Brinton in his admirable + treatise. We shall not find in the mythology of the New World the wealth + of wit and imagination which has so long delighted us in the stories of + Herakles, Perseus, Hermes, Sigurd, and Indra. The mythic lore of the + American Indians is comparatively scanty and prosaic, as befits the + product of a lower grade of culture and a more meagre intellect. Not only + are the personages less characteristically pourtrayed, but there is a + continual tendency to extravagance, the sure index of an inferior + imagination. Nevertheless, after making due allowances for differences in + the artistic method of treatment, there is between the mythologies of the + Old and the New Worlds a fundamental resemblance. We come upon solar myths + and myths of the storm curiously blended with culture-myths, as in the + cases of Hermes, Prometheus, and Kadmos. The American parallels to these + are to be found in the stories of Michabo, Viracocha, Ioskeha, and + Quetzalcoatl. "As elsewhere the world over, so in America, many tribes had + to tell of.... an august character, who taught them what they knew,—the + tillage of the soil, the properties of plants, the art of picture-writing, + the secrets of magic; who founded their institutions and established their + religions; who governed them long with glory abroad and peace at home; and + finally did not die, but, like Frederic Barbarossa, Charlemagne, King + Arthur, and all great heroes, vanished mysteriously, and still lives + somewhere, ready at the right moment to return to his beloved people and + lead them to victory and happiness." <a href="#linknote-133" + name="linknoteref-133" id="linknoteref-133"><small>133</small></a> + Everyone is familiar with the numerous legends of white-skinned, + full-bearded heroes, like the mild Quetzalcoatl, who in times long + previous to Columbus came from the far East to impart the rudiments of + civilization and religion to the red men. By those who first heard these + stories they were supposed, with naive Euhemerism, to refer to + pre-Columbian visits of Europeans to this continent, like that of the + Northmen in the tenth century. But a scientific study of the subject has + dissipated such notions. These legends are far too numerous, they are too + similar to each other, they are too manifestly symbolical, to admit of any + such interpretation. By comparing them carefully with each other, and with + correlative myths of the Old World, their true character soon becomes + apparent. + </p> + <p> + One of the most widely famous of these culture-heroes was Manabozho or + Michabo, the Great Hare. With entire unanimity, says Dr. Brinton, the + various branches of the Algonquin race, "the Powhatans of Virginia, the + Lenni Lenape of the Delaware, the warlike hordes of New England, the + Ottawas of the far North, and the Western tribes, perhaps without + exception, spoke of this chimerical beast,' as one of the old missionaries + calls it, as their common ancestor. The totem, or clan, which bore his + name was looked up to with peculiar respect." Not only was Michabo the + ruler and guardian of these numerous tribes,—he was the founder of + their religious rites, the inventor of picture-writing, the ruler of the + weather, the creator and preserver of earth and heaven. "From a grain of + sand brought from the bottom of the primeval ocean he fashioned the + habitable land, and set it floating on the waters till it grew to such a + size that a strong young wolf, running constantly, died of old age ere he + reached its limits." He was also, like Nimrod, a mighty hunter. "One of + his footsteps measured eight leagues, the Great Lakes were the beaver-dams + he built, and when the cataracts impeded his progress he tore them away + with his hands." "Sometimes he was said to dwell in the skies with his + brother, the Snow, or, like many great spirits, to have built his wigwam + in the far North on some floe of ice in the Arctic Ocean..... But in the + oldest accounts of the missionaries he was alleged to reside toward the + East; and in the holy formulae of the meda craft, when the winds are + invoked to the medicine lodge, the East is summoned in his name, the door + opens in that direction, and there, at the edge of the earth where the sun + rises, on the shore of the infinite ocean that surrounds the land, he has + his house, and sends the luminaries forth on their daily journeys." <a + href="#linknote-134" name="linknoteref-134" id="linknoteref-134"><small>134</small></a> + From such accounts as this we see that Michabo was no more a wise + instructor and legislator than Minos or Kadmos. Like these heroes, he is a + personification of the solar life-giving power, which daily comes forth + from its home in the east, making the earth to rejoice. The etymology of + his name confirms the otherwise clear indications of the legend itself. It + is compounded of michi, "great," and wabos, which means alike "hare" and + "white." "Dialectic forms in Algonquin for white are wabi, wape, wampi, + etc.; for morning, wapan, wapanch, opah; for east, wapa, wanbun, etc.; for + day, wompan, oppan; for light, oppung." So that Michabo is the Great White + One, the God of the Dawn and the East. And the etymological confusion, by + virtue of which he acquired his soubriquet of the Great Hare, affords a + curious parallel to what has often happened in Aryan and Semitic + mythology, as we saw when discussing the subject of werewolves. + </p> + <p> + Keeping in mind this solar character of Michabo, let us note how full of + meaning are the myths concerning him. In the first cycle of these legends, + "he is grandson of the Moon, his father is the West Wind, and his mother, + a maiden, dies in giving him birth at the moment of conception. For the + Moon is the goddess of night; the Dawn is her daughter, who brings forth + the Morning, and perishes herself in the act; and the West, the spirit of + darkness, as the East is of light, precedes, and as it were begets the + latter, as the evening does the morning. Straightway, however, continues + the legend, the son sought the unnatural father to revenge the death of + his mother, and then commenced a long and desperate struggle. It began on + the mountains. The West was forced to give ground. Manabozho drove him + across rivers and over mountains and lakes, and at last he came to the + brink of this world. 'Hold,' cried he, 'my son, you know my power, and + that it is impossible to kill me.' What is this but the diurnal combat of + light and darkness, carried on from what time 'the jocund morn stands + tiptoe on the misty mountain-tops,' across the wide world to the sunset, + the struggle that knows no end, for both the opponents are immortal?" <a + href="#linknote-135" name="linknoteref-135" id="linknoteref-135"><small>135</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Even the Veda nowhere affords a more transparent narrative than this. The + Iroquois tradition is very similar. In it appear twin brothers, <a + href="#linknote-136" name="linknoteref-136" id="linknoteref-136"><small>136</small></a> + born of a virgin mother, daughter of the Moon, who died in giving them + life. Their names, Ioskeha and Tawiskara, signify in the Oneida dialect + the White One and the Dark One. Under the influence of Christian ideas the + contest between the brothers has been made to assume a moral character, + like the strife between Ormuzd and Ahriman. But no such intention appears + in the original myth, and Dr. Brinton has shown that none of the American + tribes had any conception of a Devil. When the quarrel came to blows, the + dark brother was signally discomfited; and the victorious Ioskeha, + returning to his grandmother, "established his lodge in the far East, on + the horders of the Great Ocean, whence the sun comes. In time he became + the father of mankind, and special guardian of the Iroquois." He caused + the earth to bring forth, he stocked the woods with game, and taught his + children the use of fire. "He it was who watched and watered their crops; + 'and, indeed, without his aid,' says the old missionary, quite out of + patience with their puerilities, 'they think they could not boil a pot.'" + There was more in it than poor Brebouf thought, as we are forcibly + reminded by recent discoveries in physical science. Even civilized men + would find it difficult to boil a pot without the aid of solar energy. + Call him what we will,—Ioskeha, Michabo, or Phoibos,—the + beneficent Sun is the master and sustainer of us all; and if we were to + relapse into heathenism, like Erckmann-Chatrian's innkeeper, we could not + do better than to select him as our chief object of worship. + </p> + <p> + The same principles by which these simple cases are explained furnish also + the key to the more complicated mythology of Mexico and Peru. Like the + deities just discussed, Viracocha, the supreme god of the Quichuas, rises + from the bosom of Lake Titicaca and journeys westward, slaying with his + lightnings the creatures who oppose him, until he finally disappears in + the Western Ocean. Like Aphrodite, he bears in his name the evidence of + his origin, Viracocha signifying "foam of the sea"; and hence the "White + One" (l'aube), the god of light rising white on the horizon, like the foam + on the surface of the waves. The Aymaras spoke of their original ancestors + as white; and to this day, as Dr. Brinton informs us, the Peruvians call a + white man Viracocha. The myth of Quetzalcoatl is of precisely the same + character. All these solar heroes present in most of their qualities and + achievements a striking likeness to those of the Old World. They combine + the attributes of Apollo, Herakles, and Hermes. Like Herakles, they + journey from east to west, smiting the powers of darkness, storm, and + winter with the thunderbolts of Zeus or the unerring arrows of Phoibos, + and sinking in a blaze of glory on the western verge of the world, where + the waves meet the firmament. Or like Hermes, in a second cycle of + legends, they rise with the soft breezes of a summer morning, driving + before them the bright celestial cattle whose udders are heavy with + refreshing rain, fanning the flames which devour the forests, blustering + at the doors of wigwams, and escaping with weird laughter through vents + and crevices. The white skins and flowing beards of these American heroes + may be aptly compared to the fair faces and long golden locks of their + Hellenic compeers. Yellow hair was in all probability as rare in Greece as + a full beard in Peru or Mexico; but in each case the description suits the + solar character of the hero. One important class of incidents, however is + apparently quite absent from the American legends. We frequently see the + Dawn described as a virgin mother who dies in giving birth to the Day; but + nowhere do we remember seeing her pictured as a lovely or valiant or + crafty maiden, ardently wooed, but speedily forsaken by her solar lover. + Perhaps in no respect is the superior richness and beauty of the Aryan + myths more manifest than in this. Brynhild, Urvasi, Medeia, Ariadne, + Oinone, and countless other kindred heroines, with their brilliant + legends, could not be spared from the mythology of our ancestors without, + leaving it meagre indeed. These were the materials which Kalidasa, the + Attic dramatists, and the bards of the Nibelungen found ready, awaiting + their artistic treatment. But the mythology of the New World, with all its + pretty and agreeable naivete, affords hardly enough, either of variety in + situation or of complexity in motive, for a grand epic or a genuine + tragedy. + </p> + <p> + But little reflection is needed to assure us that the imagination of the + barbarian, who either carries away his wife by brute force or buys her + from her relatives as he would buy a cow, could never have originated + legends in which maidens are lovingly solicited, or in which their favour + is won by the performance of deeds of valour. These stories owe their + existence to the romantic turn of mind which has always characterized the + Aryan, whose civilization, even in the times before the dispersion of his + race, was sufficiently advanced to allow of his entertaining such + comparatively exalted conceptions of the relations between men and women. + The absence of these myths from barbaric folk-lore is, therefore, just + what might be expected; but it is a fact which militates against any + possible hypothesis of the common origin of Aryan and barbaric mythology. + If there were any genetic relationship between Sigurd and Ioskeha, between + Herakles and Michabo, it would be hard to tell why Brynhild and Iole + should have disappeared entirely from one whole group of legends, while + retained, in some form or other, throughout the whole of the other group. + On the other hand, the resemblances above noticed between Aryan and + American mythology fall very far short of the resemblances between the + stories told in different parts of the Aryan domain. No barbaric legend, + of genuine barbaric growth, has yet been cited which resembles any Aryan + legend as the story of Punchkin resembles the story of the Heartless + Giant. The myths of Michabo and Viracocha are direct copies, so to speak, + of natural phenomena, just as imitative words are direct copies of natural + sounds. Neither the Redskin nor the Indo-European had any choice as to the + main features of the career of his solar divinity. He must be born of the + Night,—or of the Dawn,—must travel westward, must slay + harassing demons. Eliminating these points of likeness, the resemblance + between the Aryan and barbaric legends is at once at an end. Such an + identity in point of details as that between the wooden horse which enters + Ilion, and the horse which bears Sigurd into the place where Brynhild is + imprisoned, and the Druidic steed which leaps with Sculloge over the walls + of Fiach's enchanted castle, is, I believe, nowhere to be found after we + leave Indo-European territory. + </p> + <p> + Our conclusion, therefore, must be, that while the legends of the Aryan + and the non-Aryan worlds contain common mythical elements, the legends + themselves are not of common origin. The fact that certain mythical ideas + are possessed alike by different races, shows that in each case a similar + human intelligence has been at work explaining similar phenomena; but in + order to prove a family relationship between the culture of these + different races, we need something more than this. We need to prove not + only a community of mythical ideas, but also a community between the + stories based upon these ideas. We must show not only that Michabo is like + Herakles in those striking features which the contemplation of solar + phenomena would necessarily suggest to the imagination of the primitive + myth-maker, but also that the two characters are similarly conceived, and + that the two careers agree in seemingly arbitrary points of detail, as is + the case in the stories of Punchkin and the Heartless Giant. The mere fact + that solar heroes, all over the world, travel in a certain path and slay + imps of darkness is of great value as throwing light upon primeval habits + of thought, but it is of no value as evidence for or against an alleged + community of civilization between different races. The same is true of the + sacredness universally attached to certain numbers. Dr. Blinton's opinion + that the sanctity of the number four in nearly all systems of mythology is + due to a primitive worship of the cardinal points, becomes very probable + when we recollect that the similar pre-eminence of seven is almost + demonstrably connected with the adoration of the sun, moon, and five + visible planets, which has left its record in the structure and + nomenclature of the Aryan and Semitic week. <a href="#linknote-137" + name="linknoteref-137" id="linknoteref-137"><small>137</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In view of these considerations, the comparison of barbaric myths with + each other and with the legends of the Aryan world becomes doubly + interesting, as illustrating the similarity in the workings of the + untrained intelligence the world over. In our first paper we saw how the + moon-spots have been variously explained by Indo-Europeans, as a man with + a thorn-bush or as two children bearing a bucket of water on a pole. In + Ceylon it is said that as Sakyamuni was one day wandering half starved in + the forest, a pious hare met him, and offered itself to him to be slain + and cooked for dinner; whereupon the holy Buddha set it on high in the + moon, that future generations of men might see it and marvel at its piety. + In the Samoan Islands these dark patches are supposed to be portions of a + woman's figure. A certain woman was once hammering something with a + mallet, when the moon arose, looking so much like a bread-fruit that the + woman asked it to come down and let her child eat off a piece of it; but + the moon, enraged at the insult, gobbled up woman, mallet, and child, and + there, in the moon's belly, you may still behold them. According to the + Hottentots, the Moon once sent the Hare to inform men that as she died + away and rose again, so should men die and again come to life. But the + stupid Hare forgot the purport of the message, and, coming down to the + earth, proclaimed it far and wide that though the Moon was invariably + resuscitated whenever she died, mankind, on the other hand, should die and + go to the Devil. When the silly brute returned to the lunar country and + told what he had done, the Moon was so angry that she took up an axe and + aimed a blow at his head to split it. But the axe missed and only cut his + lip open; and that was the origin of the "hare-lip." Maddened by the pain + and the insult, the Hare flew at the Moon and almost scratched her eyes + out; and to this day she bears on her face the marks of the Hare's claws. + <a href="#linknote-138" name="linknoteref-138" id="linknoteref-138"><small>138</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Again, every reader of the classics knows how Selene cast Endymion into a + profound slumber because he refused her love, and how at sundown she used + to come and stand above him on the Latmian hill, and watch him as he lay + asleep on the marble steps of a temple half hidden among drooping + elm-trees, over which clambered vines heavy with dark blue grapes. This + represents the rising moon looking down on the setting sun; in Labrador a + similar phenomenon has suggested a somewhat different story. Among the + Esquimaux the Sun is a maiden and the Moon is her brother, who is overcome + by a wicked passion for her. Once, as this girl was at a dancing-party in + a friend's hut, some one came up and took hold of her by the shoulders and + shook her, which is (according to the legend) the Esquimaux manner of + declaring one's love. She could not tell who it was in the dark, and so + she dipped her hand in some soot and smeared one of his cheeks with it. + When a light was struck in the hut, she saw, to her dismay, that it was + her brother, and, without waiting to learn any more, she took to her + heels. He started in hot pursuit, and so they ran till they got to the end + of the world,—the jumping-off place,—when they both jumped + into the sky. There the Moon still chases his sister, the Sun; and every + now and then he turns his sooty cheek toward the earth, when he becomes so + dark that you cannot see him. <a href="#linknote-139" + name="linknoteref-139" id="linknoteref-139"><small>139</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Another story, which I cite from Mr. Tylor, shows that Malays, as well as + Indo-Europeans, have conceived of the clouds as swan-maidens. In the + island of Celebes it is said that "seven heavenly nymphs came down from + the sky to bathe, and they were seen by Kasimbaha, who thought first that + they were white doves, but in the bath he saw that they were women. Then + he stole one of the thin robes that gave the nymphs their power of flying, + and so he caught Utahagi, the one whose robe he had stolen, and took her + for his wife, and she bore him a son. Now she was called Utahagi from a + single white hair she had, which was endowed with magic power, and this + hair her husband pulled out. As soon as he had done it, there arose a + great storm, and Utahagi went up to heaven. The child cried for its + mother, and Kasimbaha was in great grief, and cast about how he should + follow Utahagi up into the sky." Here we pass to the myth of Jack and the + Beanstalk. "A rat gnawed the thorns off the rattans, and Kasimbaha + clambered up by them with his son upon his back, till he came to heaven. + There a little bird showed him the house of Utahagi, and after various + adventures he took up his abode among the gods." <a href="#linknote-140" + name="linknoteref-140" id="linknoteref-140"><small>140</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In Siberia we find a legend of swan-maidens, which also reminds us of the + story of the Heartless Giant. A certain Samojed once went out to catch + foxes, and found seven maidens swimming in a lake surrounded by gloomy + pine-trees, while their feather dresses lay on the shore. He crept up and + stole one of these dresses, and by and by the swan-maiden came to him + shivering with cold and promising to become his wife if he would only give + her back her garment of feathers. The ungallant fellow, however, did not + care for a wife, but a little revenge was not unsuited to his way of + thinking. There were seven robbers who used to prowl about the + neighbourhood, and who, when they got home, finding their hearts in the + way, used to hang them up on some pegs in the tent. One of these robbers + had killed the Samojed's mother; and so he promised to return the + swan-maiden's dress after she should have procured for him these seven + hearts. So she stole the hearts, and the Samojed smashed six of them, and + then woke up the seventh robber, and told him to restore his mother to + life, on pain of instant death, Then the robber produced a purse + containing the old woman's soul, and going to the graveyard shook it over + her bones, and she revived at once. Then the Samojed smashed the seventh + heart, and the robber died; and so the swan-maiden got back her plumage + and flew away rejoicing. <a href="#linknote-141" name="linknoteref-141" + id="linknoteref-141"><small>141</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Swan-maidens are also, according to Mr. Baring-Gould, found among the + Minussinian Tartars. But there they appear as foul demons, like the Greek + Harpies, who delight in drinking the blood of men slain in battle. There + are forty of them, who darken the whole firmament in their flight; but + sometimes they all coalesce into one great black storm-fiend, who rages + for blood, like a werewolf. + </p> + <p> + In South Africa we find the werewolf himself. <a href="#linknote-142" + name="linknoteref-142" id="linknoteref-142"><small>142</small></a> A + certain Hottentot was once travelling with a Bushwoman and her child, when + they perceived at a distance a troop of wild horses. The man, being + hungry, asked the woman to turn herself into a lioness and catch one of + these horses, that they might eat of it; whereupon the woman set down her + child, and taking off a sort of petticoat made of human skin became + instantly transformed into a lioness, which rushed across the plain, + struck down a wild horse and lapped its blood. The man climbed a tree in + terror, and conjured his companion to resume her natural shape. Then the + lioness came back, and putting on the skirt made of human skin reappeared + as a woman, and took up her child, and the two friends resumed their + journey after making a meal of the horse's flesh. <a href="#linknote-143" + name="linknoteref-143" id="linknoteref-143"><small>143</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The werewolf also appears in North America, duly furnished with his + wolf-skin sack; but neither in America nor in Africa is he the genuine + European werewolf, inspired by a diabolic frenzy, and ravening for human + flesh. The barbaric myths testify to the belief that men can be changed + into beasts or have in some cases descended from beast ancestors, but the + application of this belief to the explanation of abnormal cannibal + cravings seems to have been confined to Europe. The werewolf of the Middle + Ages was not merely a transformed man,—he was an insane cannibal, + whose monstrous appetite, due to the machinations of the Devil, showed its + power over his physical organism by changing the shape of it. The barbaric + werewolf is the product of a lower and simpler kind of thinking. There is + no diabolism about him; for barbaric races, while believing in the + existence of hurtful and malicious fiends, have not a sufficiently vivid + sense of moral abnormity to form the conception of diabolism. And the + cannibal craving, which to the mediaeval European was a phenomenon so + strange as to demand a mythological explanation, would not impress the + barbarian as either very exceptional or very blameworthy. + </p> + <p> + In the folk-lore of the Zulus, one of the most quick-witted and + intelligent of African races, the cannibal possesses many features in + common with the Scandinavian Troll, who also has a liking for human flesh. + As we saw in the preceding paper, the Troll has very likely derived some + of his characteristics from reminiscences of the barbarous races who + preceded the Aryans in Central and Northern Europe. In like manner the + long-haired cannibal of Zulu nursery literature, who is always represented + as belonging to a distinct race, has been supposed to be explained by the + existence of inferior races conquered and displaced by the Zulus. + Nevertheless, as Dr. Callaway observes, neither the long-haired mountain + cannibals of Western Africa, nor the Fulahs, nor the tribes of Eghedal + described by Barth, "can be considered as answering to the description of + long-haired as given in the Zulu legends of cannibals; neither could they + possibly have formed their historical basis..... It is perfectly clear + that the cannibals of the Zulu legends are not common men; they are + magnified into giants and magicians; they are remarkably swift and + enduring; fierce and terrible warriors." Very probably they may have a + mythical origin in modes of thought akin to those which begot the Panis of + the Veda and the Northern Trolls. The parallelism is perhaps the most + remarkable one which can be found in comparing barbaric with Aryan + folk-lore. Like the Panis and Trolls, the cannibals are represented as the + foes of the solar hero Uthlakanyana, who is almost as great a traveller as + Odysseus, and whose presence of mind amid trying circumstances is not to + be surpassed by that of the incomparable Boots. Uthlakanyana is as + precocious as Herakles or Hermes. He speaks before he is born, and no + sooner has he entered the world than he begins to outwit other people and + get possession of their property. He works bitter ruin for the cannibals, + who, with all their strength and fleetness, are no better endowed with + quick wit than the Trolls, whom Boots invariably victimizes. On one of his + journeys, Uthlakanyana fell in with a cannibal. Their greetings were + cordial enough, and they ate a bit of leopard together, and began to build + a house, and killed a couple of cows, but the cannibal's cow was lean, + while Uthlakanyana's was fat. Then the crafty traveller, fearing that his + companion might insist upon having the fat cow, turned and said, "'Let the + house be thatched now then we can eat our meat. You see the sky, that we + shall get wet.' The cannibal said, 'You are right, child of my sister; you + are a man indeed in saying, let us thatch the house, for we shall get + wet.' Uthlakanyana said, 'Do you do it then; I will go inside, and push + the thatching-needle for you, in the house.' The cannibal went up. His + hair was very, very long. Uthlakanyana went inside and pushed the needle + for him. He thatched in the hair of the cannibal, tying it very tightly; + he knotted it into the thatch constantly, taking it by separate locks and + fastening it firmly, that it might be tightly fastened to the house." Then + the rogue went outside and began to eat of the cow which was roasted. "The + cannibal said, 'What are you about, child of my sister? Let us just finish + the house; afterwards we can do that; we will do it together.' + Uthlakanyana replied, 'Come down then. I cannot go into the house any + more. The thatching is finished.' The cannibal assented. When he thought + he was going to quit the house, he was unable to quit it. He cried out + saying, 'Child of my sister, how have you managed your thatching?' + Uthlakanyana said, 'See to it yourself. I have thatched well, for I shall + not have any dispute. Now I am about to eat in peace; I no longer dispute + with anybody, for I am now alone with my cow.'" So the cannibal cried and + raved and appealed in vain to Uthlakanyana's sense of justice, until by + and by "the sky came with hailstones and lightning Uthlakanyana took all + the meat into the house; he stayed in the house and lit a fire. It hailed + and rained. The cannibal cried on the top of the house; he was struck with + the hailstones, and died there on the house. It cleared. Uthlakanyana went + out and said, 'Uncle, just come down, and come to me. It has become clear. + It no longer rains, and there is no more hail, neither is there any more + lightning. Why are you silent?' So Uthlakanyana ate his cow alone, until + he had finished it. He then went on his way." <a href="#linknote-144" + name="linknoteref-144" id="linknoteref-144"><small>144</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In another Zulu legend, a girl is stolen by cannibals, and shut up in the + rock Itshe-likantunjambili, which, like the rock of the Forty Thieves, + opens and shuts at the command of those who understand its secret. She + gets possession of the secret and escapes, and when the monsters pursue + her she throws on the ground a calabash full of sesame, which they stop to + eat. At last, getting tired of running, she climbs a tree, and there she + finds her brother, who, warned by a dream, has come out to look for her. + They ascend the tree together until they come to a beautiful country well + stocked with fat oxen. They kill an ox, and while its flesh is roasting + they amuse themselves by making a stout thong of its hide. By and by one + of the cannibals, smelling the cooking meat, comes to the foot of the + tree, and looking up discovers the boy and girl in the sky-country! They + invite him up there; to share in their feast, and throw him an end of the + thong by which to climb up. When the cannibal is dangling midway between + earth and heaven, they let go the rope, and down he falls with a terrible + crash. <a href="#linknote-145" name="linknoteref-145" id="linknoteref-145"><small>145</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In this story the enchanted rock opened by a talismanic formula brings us + again into contact with Indo-European folk-lore. And that the conception + has in both cases been suggested by the same natural phenomenon is + rendered probable by another Zulu tale, in which the cannibal's cave is + opened by a swallow which flies in the air. Here we have the elements of a + genuine lightning-myth. We see that among these African barbarians, as + well as among our own forefathers, the clouds have been conceived as birds + carrying the lightning which can cleave the rocks. In America we find the + same notion prevalent. The Dakotahs explain the thunder as "the sound of + the cloud-bird flapping his wings," and the Caribs describe the lightning + as a poisoned dart which the bird blows through a hollow reed, after the + Carib style of shooting. <a href="#linknote-146" name="linknoteref-146" + id="linknoteref-146"><small>146</small></a> On the other hand, the + Kamtchatkans know nothing of a cloud-bird, but explain the lightning as + something analogous to the flames of a volcano. The Kamtchatkans say that + when the mountain goblins have got their stoves well heated up, they throw + overboard, with true barbaric shiftlessness, all the brands not needed for + immediate use, which makes a volcanic eruption. So when it is summer on + earth, it is winter in heaven; and the gods, after heating up their + stoves, throw away their spare kindlingwood, which makes the lightning. <a + href="#linknote-147" name="linknoteref-147" id="linknoteref-147"><small>147</small></a> + </p> + <p> + When treating of Indo-European solar myths, we saw the unvarying, + unresting course of the sun variously explained as due to the subjection + of Herakles to Eurystheus, to the anger of Poseidon at Odysseus, or to the + curse laid upon the Wandering Jew. The barbaric mind has worked at the + same problem; but the explanations which it has given are more childlike + and more grotesque. A Polynesian myth tells how the Sun used to race + through the sky so fast that men could not get enough daylight to hunt + game for their subsistence. By and by an inventive genius, named Maui, + conceived the idea of catching the Sun in a noose and making him go more + deliberately. He plaited ropes and made a strong net, and, arming himself + with the jawbone of his ancestress, Muri-ranga-whenua, called together all + his brethren, and they journeyed to the place where the Sun rises, and + there spread the net. When the Sun came up, he stuck his head and + fore-paws into the net, and while the brothers tightened the ropes so that + they cut him and made him scream for mercy, Maui beat him with the jawbone + until he became so weak that ever since he has only been able to crawl + through the sky. According to another Polynesian myth, there was once a + grumbling Radical, who never could be satisfied with the way in which + things are managed on this earth. This bold Radical set out to build a + stone house which should last forever; but the days were so short and the + stones so heavy that he despaired of ever accomplishing his project. One + night, as he lay awake thinking the matter over, it occurred to him that + if he could catch the Sun in a net, he could have as much daylight as was + needful in order to finish his house. So he borrowed a noose from the god + Itu, and, it being autumn, when the Sun gets sleepy and stupid, he easily + caught the luminary. The Sun cried till his tears made a great freshet + which nearly drowned the island; but it was of no use; there he is + tethered to this day. + </p> + <p> + Similar stories are met with in North America. A Dog-Rib Indian once + chased a squirrel up a tree until he reached the sky. There he set a snare + for the squirrel and climbed down again. Next day the Sun was caught in + the snare, and night came on at once. That is to say, the sun was + eclipsed. "Something wrong up there," thought the Indian, "I must have + caught the Sun"; and so he sent up ever so many animals to release the + captive. They were all burned to ashes, but at last the mole, going up and + burrowing out through the GROUND OF THE SKY, (!) succeeded in gnawing + asunder the cords of the snare. Just as it thrust its head out through the + opening made in the sky-ground, it received a flash of light which put its + eyes out, and that is why the mole is blind. The Sun got away, but has + ever since travelled more deliberately. <a href="#linknote-148" + name="linknoteref-148" id="linknoteref-148"><small>148</small></a> + </p> + <p> + These sun-myths, many more of which are to be found collected in Mr. + Tylor's excellent treatise on "The Early History of Mankind," well + illustrate both the similarity and the diversity of the results obtained + by the primitive mind, in different times and countries, when engaged upon + similar problems. No one would think of referring these stories to a + common traditional origin with the myths of Herakles and Odysseus; yet + both classes of tales were devised to explain the same phenomenon. Both to + the Aryan and to the Polynesian the steadfast but deliberate journey of + the sun through the firmament was a strange circumstance which called for + explanation; but while the meagre intelligence of the barbarian could only + attain to the quaint conception of a man throwing a noose over the sun's + head, the rich imagination of the Indo-European created the noble picture + of Herakles doomed to serve the son of Sthenelos, in accordance with the + resistless decree of fate. + </p> + <p> + Another world-wide myth, which shows how similar are the mental habits of + uncivilized men, is the myth of the tortoise. The Hindu notion of a great + tortoise that lies beneath the earth and keeps it from falling is familiar + to every reader. According to one account, this tortoise, swimming in the + primeval ocean, bears the earth on his back; but by and by, when the gods + get ready to destroy mankind, the tortoise will grow weary and sink under + his load, and then the earth will be overwhelmed by a deluge. Another + legend tells us that when the gods and demons took Mount Mandara for a + churning-stick and churned the ocean to make ambrosia, the god Vishnu took + on the form of a tortoise and lay at the bottom of the sea, as a pivot for + the whirling mountain to rest upon. But these versions of the myth are not + primitive. In the original conception the world is itself a gigantic + tortoise swimming in a boundless ocean; the flat surface of the earth is + the lower plate which covers the reptile's belly; the rounded shell which + covers his back is the sky; and the human race lives and moves and has its + being inside of the tortoise. Now, as Mr. Tylor has pointed out, many + tribes of Redskins hold substantially the same theory of the universe. + They regard the tortoise as the symbol of the world, and address it as the + mother of mankind. Once, before the earth was made, the king of heaven + quarrelled with his wife, and gave her such a terrible kick that she fell + down into the sea. Fortunately a tortoise received her on his back, and + proceeded to raise up the earth, upon which the heavenly woman became the + mother of mankind. These first men had white faces, and they used to dig + in the ground to catch badgers. One day a zealous burrower thrust his + knife too far and stabbed the tortoise, which immediately sank into the + sea and drowned all the human race save one man. <a href="#linknote-149" + name="linknoteref-149" id="linknoteref-149"><small>149</small></a> In + Finnish mythology the world is not a tortoise, but it is an egg, of which + the white part is the ocean, the yolk is the earth, and the arched shell + is the sky. In India this is the mundane egg of Brahma; and it reappears + among the Yorubas as a pair of calabashes put together like oyster-shells, + one making a dome over the other. In Zulu-land the earth is a huge beast + called Usilosimapundu, whose face is a rock, and whose mouth is very large + and broad and red: "in some countries which were on his body it was + winter, and in others it was early harvest." Many broad rivers flow over + his back, and he is covered with forests and hills, as is indicated in his + name, which means "the rugose or knotty-backed beast." In this group of + conceptions may be seen the origin of Sindbad's great fish, which lay + still so long that sand and clay gradually accumulated upon its back, and + at last it became covered with trees. And lastly, passing from barbaric + folk-lore and from the Arabian Nights to the highest level of + Indo-European intelligence, do we not find both Plato and Kepler amusing + themselves with speculations in which the earth figures as a stupendous + animal? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. JUVENTUS MUNDI. <a href="#linknote-150" name="linknoteref-150" + id="linknoteref-150"><small>150</small></a> + </h2> + <p> + TWELVE years ago, when, in concluding his "Studies on Homer and the + Homeric Age," Mr. Gladstone applied to himself the warning addressed by + Agamemnon to the priest of Apollo, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Let not Nemesis catch me by the swift ships." +</pre> + <p> + he would seem to have intended it as a last farewell to classical studies. + Yet, whatever his intentions may have been, they have yielded to the sweet + desire of revisiting familiar ground,—a desire as strong in the + breast of the classical scholar as was the yearning which led Odysseus to + reject the proffered gift of immortality, so that he might but once more + behold the wreathed smoke curling about the roofs of his native Ithaka. In + this new treatise, on the "Youth of the World," Mr. Gladstone discusses + the same questions which were treated in his earlier work; and the main + conclusions reached in the "Studies on Homer" are here so little modified + with reference to the recent progress of archaeological inquiries, that + the book can hardly be said to have had any other reason for appearing, + save the desire of loitering by the ships of the Argives, and of returning + thither as often as possible. + </p> + <p> + The title selected by Mr. Gladstone for his new work is either a very + appropriate one or a strange misnomer, according to the point of view from + which it is regarded. Such being the case, we might readily acquiesce in + its use, and pass it by without comment, trusting that the author + understood himself when he adopted it, were it not that by incidental + references, and especially by his allusions to the legendary literature of + the Jews, Mr. Gladstone shows that he means more by the title than it can + fairly be made to express. An author who seeks to determine prehistoric + events by references to Kadmos, and Danaos, and Abraham, is at once liable + to the suspicion of holding very inadequate views as to the character of + the epoch which may properly be termed the "youth of the world." Often in + reading Mr. Gladstone we are reminded of Renan's strange suggestion that + an exploration of the Hindu Kush territory, whence probably came the + primitive Aryans, might throw some new light on the origin of language. + Nothing could well be more futile. The primitive Aryan language has + already been partly reconstructed for us; its grammatical forms and + syntactic devices are becoming familiar to scholars; one great philologist + has even composed a tale in it; yet in studying this long-buried dialect + we are not much nearer the first beginnings of human speech than in + studying the Greek of Homer, the Sanskrit of the Vedas, or the Umbrian of + the Igovine Inscriptions. The Aryan mother-tongue had passed into the last + of the three stages of linguistic growth long before the break-up of the + tribal communities in Aryana-vaedjo, and at that early date presented a + less primitive structure than is to be seen in the Chinese or the + Mongolian of our own times. So the state of society depicted in the + Homeric poems, and well illustrated by Mr. Gladstone, is many degrees less + primitive than that which is revealed to us by the archaeological + researches either of Pictet and Windischmann, or of Tylor, Lubbock, and + M'Lennan. We shall gather evidences of this as we proceed. Meanwhile let + us remember that at least eleven thousand years before the Homeric age men + lived in communities, and manufactured pottery on the banks of the Nile; + and let us not leave wholly out of sight that more distant period, perhaps + a million years ago, when sparse tribes of savage men, contemporaneous + with the mammoths of Siberia and the cave-tigers of Britain, struggled + against the intense cold of the glacial winters. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, though the Homeric age appears to be a late one when + considered with reference to the whole career of the human race, there is + a point of view from which it may be justly regarded as the "youth of the + world." However long man may have existed upon the earth, he becomes + thoroughly and distinctly human in the eyes of the historian only at the + epoch at which he began to create for himself a literature. As far back as + we can trace the progress of the human race continuously by means of the + written word, so far do we feel a true historical interest in its + fortunes, and pursue our studies with a sympathy which the mere lapse of + time is powerless to impair. But the primeval man, whose history never has + been and never will be written, whose career on the earth, dateless and + chartless, can be dimly revealed to us only by palaeontology, excites in + us a very different feeling. Though with the keenest interest we ransack + every nook and corner of the earth's surface for information about him, we + are all the while aware that what we are studying is human zoology and not + history. Our Neanderthal man is a specimen, not a character. We cannot ask + him the Homeric question, what is his name, who were his parents, and how + did he get where we found him. His language has died with him, and he can + render no account of himself. We can only regard him specifically as Homo + Anthropos, a creature of bigger brain than his congener Homo Pithekos, and + of vastly greater promise. But this, we say, is physical science, and not + history. + </p> + <p> + For the historian, therefore, who studies man in his various social + relations, the youth of the world is the period at which literature + begins. We regard the history of the western world as beginning about the + tenth century before the Christian era, because at that date we find + literature, in Greece and Palestine, beginning to throw direct light upon + the social and intellectual condition of a portion of mankind. That great + empires, rich in historical interest and in materials for sociological + generalizations, had existed for centuries before that date, in Egypt and + Assyria, we do not doubt, since they appear at the dawn of history with + all the marks of great antiquity; but the only steady historical light + thrown upon them shines from the pages of Greek and Hebrew authors, and + these know them only in their latest period. For information concerning + their early careers we must look, not to history, but to linguistic + archaeology, a science which can help us to general results, but cannot + enable us to fix dates, save in the crudest manner. + </p> + <p> + We mention the tenth century before Christ as the earliest period at which + we can begin to study human society in general and Greek society in + particular, through the medium of literature. But, strictly speaking, the + epoch in question is one which cannot be fixed with accuracy. The earliest + ascertainable date in Greek history is that of the Olympiad of Koroibos, + B. C. 776. There is no doubt that the Homeric poems were written before + this date, and that Homer is therefore strictly prehistoric. Had this fact + been duly realized by those scholars who have not attempted to deny it, a + vast amount of profitless discussion might have been avoided. Sooner or + later, as Grote says, "the lesson must be learnt, hard and painful though + it be, that no imaginable reach of critical acumen will of itself enable + us to discriminate fancy from reality, in the absence of a tolerable stock + of evidence." We do not know who Homer was; we do not know where or when + he lived; and in all probability we shall never know. The data for + settling the question are not now accessible, and it is not likely that + they will ever be discovered. Even in early antiquity the question was + wrapped in an obscurity as deep as that which shrouds it to-day. The case + between the seven or eight cities which claimed to be the birthplace of + the poet, and which Welcker has so ably discussed, cannot be decided. The + feebleness of the evidence brought into court may be judged from the fact + that the claims of Chios and the story of the poet's blindness rest alike + upon a doubtful allusion in the Hymn to Apollo, which Thukydides (III. + 104) accepted as authentic. The majority of modern critics have consoled + themselves with the vague conclusion that, as between the two great + divisions of the early Greek world, Homer at least belonged to the + Asiatic. But Mr. Gladstone has shown good reasons for doubting this + opinion. He has pointed out several instances in which the poems seem to + betray a closer topographical acquaintance with European than with Asiatic + Greece, and concludes that Athens and Argos have at least as good a claim + to Homer as Chios or Smyrna. + </p> + <p> + It is far more desirable that we should form an approximate opinion as to + the date of the Homeric poems, than that we should seek to determine the + exact locality in which they originated. Yet the one question is hardly + less obscure than the other. Different writers of antiquity assigned eight + different epochs to Homer, of which the earliest is separated from the + most recent by an interval of four hundred and sixty years,—a period + as long as that which separates the Black Prince from the Duke of + Wellington, or the age of Perikles from the Christian era. While + Theopompos quite preposterously brings him down as late as the + twenty-third Olympiad, Krates removes him to the twelfth century B. C. The + date ordinarily accepted by modern critics is the one assigned by + Herodotos, 880 B. C. Yet Mr. Gladstone shows reasons, which appear to me + convincing, for doubting or rejecting this date. + </p> + <p> + I refer to the much-abused legend of the Children of Herakles, which seems + capable of yielding an item of trustworthy testimony, provided it be + circumspectly dealt with. I differ from Mr. Gladstone in not regarding the + legend as historical in its present shape. In my apprehension, Hyllos and + Oxylos, as historical personages, have no value whatever; and I faithfully + follow Mr. Grote, in refusing to accept any date earlier than the Olympiad + of Koroibos. The tale of the "Return of the Herakleids" is undoubtedly as + unworthy of credit as the legend of Hengst and Horsa; yet, like the + latter, it doubtless embodies a historical occurrence. One cannot approve, + as scholarlike or philosophical, the scepticism of Mr. Cox, who can see in + the whole narrative nothing but a solar myth. There certainly was a time + when the Dorian tribes—described in the legend as the allies of the + Children of Herakles—conquered Peloponnesos; and that time was + certainly subsequent to the composition of the Homeric poems. It is + incredible that the Iliad and the Odyssey should ignore the existence of + Dorians in Peloponnesos, if there were Dorians not only dwelling but + ruling there at the time when the poems were written. The poems are very + accurate and rigorously consistent in their use of ethnical appellatives; + and their author, in speaking of Achaians and Argives, is as evidently + alluding to peoples directly known to him, as is Shakespeare when he + mentions Danes and Scotchmen. Now Homer knows Achaians, Argives, and + Pelasgians dwelling in Peloponnesos; and he knows Dorians also, but only + as a people inhabiting Crete. (Odyss. XIX. 175.) With Homer, moreover, the + Hellenes are not the Greeks in general but only a people dwelling in the + north, in Thessaly. When these poems were written, Greece was not known as + Hellas, but as Achaia,—the whole country taking its name from the + Achaians, the dominant race in Peloponnesos. Now at the beginning of the + truly historical period, in the eighth century B. C., all this is changed. + The Greeks as a people are called Hellenes; the Dorians rule in + Peloponnesos, while their lands are tilled by Argive Helots; and the + Achaians appear only as an insignificant people occupying the southern + shore of the Corinthian Gulf. How this change took place we cannot tell. + The explanation of it can never be obtained from history, though some + light may perhaps be thrown upon it by linguistic archaeology. But at all + events it was a great change, and could not have taken place in a moment. + It is fair to suppose that the Helleno-Dorian conquest must have begun at + least a century before the first Olympiad; for otherwise the geographical + limits of the various Greek races would not have been so completely + established as we find them to have been at that date. The Greeks, indeed, + supposed it to have begun at least three centuries earlier, but it is + impossible to collect evidence which will either refute or establish that + opinion. For our purposes it is enough to know that the conquest could not + have taken place later than 900 B. C.; and if this be the case, the + MINIMUM DATE for the composition of the Homeric poems must be the tenth + century before Christ; which is, in fact, the date assigned by Aristotle. + Thus far, and no farther, I believe it possible to go with safety. Whether + the poems were composed in the tenth, eleventh, or twelfth century cannot + be determined. We are justified only in placing them far enough back to + allow the Helleno-Dorian conquest to intervene between their composition + and the beginning of recorded history. The tenth century B. C. is the + latest date which will account for all the phenomena involved in the case, + and with this result we must be satisfied. Even on this showing, the Iliad + and Odyssey appear as the oldest existing specimens of Aryan literature, + save perhaps the hymns of the Rig-Veda and the sacred books of the Avesta. + </p> + <p> + The apparent difficulty of preserving such long poems for three or four + centuries without the aid of writing may seem at first sight to justify + the hypothesis of Wolf, that they are mere collections of ancient ballads, + like those which make up the Mahabharata, preserved in the memories of a + dozen or twenty bards, and first arranged under the orders of + Peisistratos. But on a careful examination this hypothesis is seen to + raise more difficulties than it solves. What was there in the position of + Peisistratos, or of Athens itself in the sixth century B. C., so + authoritative as to compel all Greeks to recognize the recension then and + there made of their revered poet? Besides which the celebrated ordinance + of Solon respecting the rhapsodes at the Panathenaia obliges us to infer + the existence of written manuscripts of Homer previous to 550 B. C. As Mr. + Grote well observes, the interference of Peisistratos "presupposes a + certain foreknown and ancient aggregate, the main lineaments of which were + familiar to the Grecian public, although many of the rhapsodes in their + practice may have deviated from it both by omission and interpolation. In + correcting the Athenian recitations conformably with such understood + general type, Peisistratos might hope both to procure respect for Athens + and to constitute a fashion for the rest of Greece. But this step of + 'collecting the torn body of sacred Homer' is something generically + different from the composition of a new Iliad out of pre-existing songs: + the former is as easy, suitable, and promising as the latter is violent + and gratuitous." <a href="#linknote-151" name="linknoteref-151" + id="linknoteref-151"><small>151</small></a> + </p> + <p> + As for Wolf's objection, that the Iliad and Odyssey are too long to have + been preserved by memory, it may be met by a simple denial. It is a + strange objection indeed, coming from a man of Wolf's retentive memory. I + do not see how the acquisition of the two poems can be regarded as such a + very arduous task; and if literature were as scanty now as in Greek + antiquity, there are doubtless many scholars who would long since have had + them at their tongues' end. Sir G. C. Lewis, with but little conscious + effort, managed to carry in his head a very considerable portion of Greek + and Latin classic literature; and Niebuhr (who once restored from + recollection a book of accounts which had been accidentally destroyed) was + in the habit of referring to book and chapter of an ancient author without + consulting his notes. Nay, there is Professor Sophocles, of Harvard + University, who, if you suddenly stop and interrogate him in the street, + will tell you just how many times any given Greek word occurs in + Thukydides, or in AEschylos, or in Plato, and will obligingly rehearse for + you the context. If all extant copies of the Homeric poems were to be + gathered together and burnt up to-day, like Don Quixote's library, or like + those Arabic manuscripts of which Cardinal Ximenes made a bonfire in the + streets of Granada, the poems could very likely be reproduced and orally + transmitted for several generations; and much easier must it have been for + the Greeks to preserve these books, which their imagination invested with + a quasi-sanctity, and which constituted the greater part of the literary + furniture of their minds. In Xenophon's time there were educated gentlemen + at Athens who could repeat both Iliad and Odyssey verbatim. (Xenoph. + Sympos., III. 5.) Besides this, we know that at Chios there was a company + of bards, known as Homerids, whose business it was to recite these poems + from memory; and from the edicts of Solon and the Sikyonian Kleisthenes + (Herod., V. 67), we may infer that the case was the same in other parts of + Greece. Passages from the Iliad used to be sung at the Pythian festivals, + to the accompaniment of the harp (Athenaeus, XIV. 638), and in at least + two of the Ionic islands of the AEgaean there were regular competitive + exhibitions by trained young men, at which prizes were given to the best + reciter. The difficulty of preserving the poems, under such circumstances, + becomes very insignificant; and the Wolfian argument quite vanishes when + we reflect that it would have been no easier to preserve a dozen or twenty + short poems than two long ones. Nay, the coherent, orderly arrangement of + the Iliad and Odyssey would make them even easier to remember than a group + of short rhapsodies not consecutively arranged. + </p> + <p> + When we come to interrogate the poems themselves, we find in them quite + convincing evidence that they were originally composed for the ear alone, + and without reference to manuscript assistance. They abound in catchwords, + and in verbal repetitions. The "Catalogue of Ships," as Mr. Gladstone has + acutely observed, is arranged in well-defined sections, in such a way that + the end of each section suggests the beginning of the next one. It + resembles the versus memoriales found in old-fashioned grammars. But the + most convincing proof of all is to be found in the changes which Greek + pronunciation went through between the ages of Homer and Peisistratos. "At + the time when these poems were composed, the digamma (or w) was an + effective consonant, and figured as such in the structure of the verse; at + the time when they were committed to writing, it had ceased to be + pronounced, and therefore never found a place in any of the manuscripts,—insomuch + that the Alexandrian critics, though they knew of its existence in the + much later poems of Alkaios and Sappho, never recognized it in Homer. The + hiatus, and the various perplexities of metre, occasioned by the loss of + the digamma, were corrected by different grammatical stratagems. But the + whole history of this lost letter is very curious, and is rendered + intelligible only by the supposition that the Iliad and Odyssey belonged + for a wide space of time to the memory, the voice, and the ear + exclusively." <a href="#linknote-152" name="linknoteref-152" + id="linknoteref-152"><small>152</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Many of these facts are of course fully recognized by the Wolfians; but + the inference drawn from them, that the Homeric poems began to exist in a + piecemeal condition, is, as we have seen, unnecessary. These poems may + indeed be compared, in a certain sense, with the early sacred and epic + literature of the Jews, Indians, and Teutons. But if we assign a plurality + of composers to the Psalms and Pentateuch, the Mahabharata, the Vedas, and + the Edda, we do so because of internal evidence furnished by the books + themselves, and not because these books could not have been preserved by + oral tradition. Is there, then, in the Homeric poems any such internal + evidence of dual or plural origin as is furnished by the interlaced + Elohistic and Jehovistic documents of the Pentateuch? A careful + investigation will show that there is not. Any scholar who has given some + attention to the subject can readily distinguish the Elohistic from the + Jehovistic portions of the Pentateuch; and, save in the case of a few + sporadic verses, most Biblical critics coincide in the separation which + they make between the two. But the attempts which have been made to break + up the Iliad and Odyssey have resulted in no such harmonious agreement. + There are as many systems as there are critics, and naturally enough. For + the Iliad and the Odyssey are as much alike as two peas, and the + resemblance which holds between the two holds also between the different + parts of each poem. From the appearance of the injured Chryses in the + Grecian camp down to the intervention of Athene on the field of contest at + Ithaka, we find in each book and in each paragraph the same style, the + same peculiarities of expression, the same habits of thought, the same + quite unique manifestations of the faculty of observation. Now if the + style were commonplace, the observation slovenly, or the thought trivial, + as is wont to be the case in ballad-literature, this argument from + similarity might not carry with it much conviction. But when we reflect + that throughout the whole course of human history no other works, save the + best tragedies of Shakespeare, have ever been written which for combined + keenness of observation, elevation of thought, and sublimity of style can + compare with the Homeric poems, we must admit that the argument has very + great weight indeed. Let us take, for example, the sixth and twenty-fourth + books of the Iliad. According to the theory of Lachmann, the most eminent + champion of the Wolfian hypothesis, these are by different authors. Human + speech has perhaps never been brought so near to the limit of its capacity + of expressing deep emotion as in the scene between Priam and Achilleus in + the twenty-fourth book; while the interview between Hektor and Andromache + in the sixth similarly wellnigh exhausts the power of language. Now, the + literary critic has a right to ask whether it is probable that two such + passages, agreeing perfectly in turn of expression, and alike exhibiting + the same unapproachable degree of excellence, could have been produced by + two different authors. And the physiologist—with some inward + misgivings suggested by Mr. Galton's theory that the Greeks surpassed us + in genius even as we surpass the negroes—has a right to ask whether + it is in the natural course of things for two such wonderful poets, + strangely agreeing in their minutest psychological characteristics, to be + produced at the same time. And the difficulty thus raised becomes + overwhelming when we reflect that it is the coexistence of not two only, + but at least twenty such geniuses which the Wolfian hypothesis requires us + to account for. That theory worked very well as long as scholars + thoughtlessly assumed that the Iliad and Odyssey were analogous to ballad + poetry. But, except in the simplicity of the primitive diction, there is + no such analogy. The power and beauty of the Iliad are never so hopelessly + lost as when it is rendered into the style of a modern ballad. One might + as well attempt to preserve the grandeur of the triumphant close of + Milton's Lycidas by turning it into the light Anacreontics of the ode to + "Eros stung by a Bee." The peculiarity of the Homeric poetry, which defies + translation, is its union of the simplicity characteristic of an early age + with a sustained elevation of style, which can be explained only as due to + individual genius. + </p> + <p> + The same conclusion is forced upon us when we examine the artistic + structure of these poems. With regard to the Odyssey in particular, Mr. + Grote has elaborately shown that its structure is so thoroughly integral, + that no considerable portion could be subtracted without converting the + poem into a more or less admirable fragment. The Iliad stands in a + somewhat different position. There are unmistakable peculiarities in its + structure, which have led even Mr. Grote, who utterly rejects the Wolfian + hypothesis, to regard it as made up of two poems; although he inclines to + the belief that the later poem was grafted upon the earlier by its own + author, by way of further elucidation and expansion; just as Goethe, in + his old age, added a new part to "Faust." According to Mr. Grote, the + Iliad, as originally conceived, was properly an Achilleis; its design + being, as indicated in the opening lines of the poem, to depict the wrath + of Achilleus and the unutterable woes which it entailed upon the Greeks + The plot of this primitive Achilleis is entirely contained in Books I., + VIII., and XI.-XXII.; and, in Mr. Grote's opinion, the remaining books + injure the symmetry of this plot by unnecessarily prolonging the duration + of the Wrath, while the embassy to Achilleus, in the ninth book, unduly + anticipates the conduct of Agamemnon in the nineteenth, and is therefore, + as a piece of bungling work, to be referred to the hands of an inferior + interpolator. Mr. Grote thinks it probable that these books, with the + exception of the ninth, were subsequently added by the poet, with a view + to enlarging the original Achilleis into a real Iliad, describing the war + of the Greeks against Troy. With reference to this hypothesis, I gladly + admit that Mr. Grote is, of all men now living, the one best entitled to a + reverential hearing on almost any point connected with Greek antiquity. + Nevertheless it seems to me that his theory rests solely upon imagined + difficulties which have no real existence. I doubt if any scholar, reading + the Iliad ever so much, would ever be struck by these alleged + inconsistencies of structure, unless they were suggested by some a priori + theory. And I fear that the Wolfian theory, in spite of Mr. Grote's + emphatic rejection of it, is responsible for some of these over-refined + criticisms. Even as it stands, the Iliad is not an account of the war + against Troy. It begins in the tenth year of the siege, and it does not + continue to the capture of the city. It is simply occupied with an episode + in the war,—with the wrath of Achilleus and its consequences, + according to the plan marked out in the opening lines. The supposed + additions, therefore, though they may have given to the poem a somewhat + wider scope, have not at any rate changed its primitive character of an + Achilleis. To my mind they seem even called for by the original conception + of the consequences of the wrath. To have inserted the battle at the + ships, in which Sarpedon breaks down the wall of the Greeks, immediately + after the occurrences of the first book, would have been too abrupt + altogether. Zeus, after his reluctant promise to Thetis, must not be + expected so suddenly to exhibit such fell determination. And after the + long series of books describing the valorous deeds of Aias, Diomedes, + Agamemnon, Odysseus, and Menelaos, the powerful intervention of Achilleus + appears in far grander proportions than would otherwise be possible. As + for the embassy to Achilleus, in the ninth book, I am unable to see how + the final reconciliation with Agamemnon would be complete without it. As + Mr. Gladstone well observes, what Achilleus wants is not restitution, but + apology; and Agamemnon offers no apology until the nineteenth book. In his + answer to the ambassadors, Achilleus scornfully rejects the proposals + which imply that the mere return of Briseis will satisfy his righteous + resentment, unless it be accompanied with that public humiliation to which + circumstances have not yet compelled the leader of the Greeks to subject + himself. Achilleus is not to be bought or cajoled. Even the extreme + distress of the Greeks in the thirteenth book does not prevail upon him; + nor is there anything in the poem to show that he ever would have laid + aside his wrath, had not the death of Patroklos supplied him with a new + and wholly unforeseen motive. It seems to me that his entrance into the + battle after the death of his friend would lose half its poetic effect, + were it not preceded by some such scene as that in the ninth book, in + which he is represented as deaf to all ordinary inducements. As for the + two concluding books, which Mr. Grote is inclined to regard as a + subsequent addition, not necessitated by the plan of the poem, I am at a + loss to see how the poem can be considered complete without them. To leave + the bodies of Patroklos and Hektor unburied would be in the highest degree + shocking to Greek religious feelings. Remembering the sentence incurred, + in far less superstitious times, by the generals at Arginusai, it is + impossible to believe that any conclusion which left Patroklos's manes + unpropitiated, and the mutilated corpse of Hektor unransomed, could have + satisfied either the poet or his hearers. For further particulars I must + refer the reader to the excellent criticisms of Mr. Gladstone, and also to + the article on "Greek History and Legend" in the second volume of Mr. + Mill's "Dissertations and Discussions." A careful study of the arguments + of these writers, and, above all, a thorough and independent examination + of the Iliad itself, will, I believe, convince the student that this great + poem is from beginning to end the consistent production of a single + author. + </p> + <p> + The arguments of those who would attribute the Iliad and Odyssey, taken as + wholes, to two different authors, rest chiefly upon some apparent + discrepancies in the mythology of the two poems; but many of these + difficulties have been completely solved by the recent progress of the + science of comparative mythology. Thus, for example, the fact that, in the + Iliad, Hephaistos is called the husband of Charis, while in the Odyssey he + is called the husband of Aphrodite, has been cited even by Mr. Grote as + evidence that the two poems are not by the same author. It seems to me + that one such discrepancy, in the midst of complete general agreement, + would be much better explained as Cervantes explained his own + inconsistency with reference to the stealing of Sancho's mule, in the + twenty-second chapter of "Don Quixote." But there is no discrepancy. + Aphrodite, though originally the moon-goddess, like the German Horsel, had + before Homer's time acquired many of the attributes of the dawn-goddess + Athene, while her lunar characteristics had been to a great extent + transferred to Artemis and Persephone. In her renovated character, as + goddess of the dawn, Aphrodite became identified with Charis, who appears + in the Rig-Veda as dawn-goddess. In the post-Homeric mythology, the two + were again separated, and Charis, becoming divided in personality, appears + as the Charites, or Graces, who were supposed to be constant attendants of + Aphrodite. But in the Homeric poems the two are still identical, and + either Charis or Aphrodite may be called the wife of the fire-god, without + inconsistency. + </p> + <p> + Thus to sum up, I believe that Mr. Gladstone is quite right in maintaining + that both the Iliad and Odyssey are, from beginning to end, with the + exception of a few insignificant interpolations, the work of a single + author, whom we have no ground for calling by any other name than that of + Homer. I believe, moreover, that this author lived before the beginning of + authentic history, and that we can determine neither his age nor his + country with precision. We can only decide that he was a Greek who lived + at some time previous to the year 900 B.C. + </p> + <p> + Here, however, I must begin to part company with Mr. Gladstone, and shall + henceforth unfortunately have frequent occasion to differ from him on + points of fundamental importance. For Mr. Gladstone not only regards the + Homeric age as strictly within the limits of authentic history, but he + even goes much further than this. He would not only fix the date of Homer + positively in the twelfth century B. C., but he regards the Trojan war as + a purely historical event, of which Homer is the authentic historian and + the probable eye-witness. Nay, he even takes the word of the poet as proof + conclusive of the historical character of events happening several + generations before the Troika, according to the legendary chronology. He + not only regards Agamemnon, Achilleus, and Paris as actual personages, but + he ascribes the same reality to characters like Danaos, Kadmos, and + Perseus, and talks of the Pelopid and Aiolid dynasties, and the empire of + Minos, with as much confidence as if he were dealing with Karlings or + Capetians, or with the epoch of the Crusades. + </p> + <p> + It is disheartening, at the present day, and after so much has been + finally settled by writers like Grote, Mommsen, and Sir G. C. Lewis, to + come upon such views in the work of a man of scholarship and intelligence. + One begins to wonder how many more times it will be necessary to prove + that dates and events are of no historical value, unless attested by + nearly contemporary evidence. Pausanias and Plutarch were able men no + doubt, and Thukydides was a profound historian; but what these writers + thought of the Herakleid invasion, the age of Homer, and the war of Troy, + can have no great weight with the critical historian, since even in the + time of Thukydides these events were as completely obscured by lapse of + time as they are now. There is no literary Greek history before the age of + Hekataios and Herodotos, three centuries subsequent to the first recorded + Olympiad. A portion of this period is satisfactorily covered by + inscriptions, but even these fail us before we get within a century of + this earliest ascertainable date. Even the career of the lawgiver + Lykourgos, which seems to belong to the commencement of the eighth century + B. C., presents us, from lack of anything like contemporary records, with + many insoluble problems. The Helleno-Dorian conquest, as we have seen, + must have occurred at some time or other; but it evidently did not occur + within two centuries of the earliest known inscription, and it is + therefore folly to imagine that we can determine its date or ascertain the + circumstances which attended it. Anterior to this event there is but one + fact in Greek antiquity directly known to us,—the existence of the + Homeric poems. The belief that there was a Trojan war rests exclusively + upon the contents of those poems: there is no other independent testimony + to it whatever. But the Homeric poems are of no value as testimony to the + truth of the statements contained in them, unless it can be proved that + their author was either contemporary with the Troika, or else derived his + information from contemporary witnesses. This can never be proved. To + assume, as Mr. Gladstone does, that Homer lived within fifty years after + the Troika, is to make a purely gratuitous assumption. For aught the + wisest historian can tell, the interval may have been five hundred years, + or a thousand. Indeed the Iliad itself expressly declares that it is + dealing with an ancient state of things which no longer exists. It is + difficult to see what else can be meant by the statement that the heroes + of the Troika belong to an order of men no longer seen upon the earth. + (Iliad, V. 304.) Most assuredly Achilleus the son of Thetis, and Sarpedon + the son of Zeus, and Helena the daughter of Zeus, are no ordinary mortals, + such as might have been seen and conversed with by the poet's grandfather. + They belong to an inferior order of gods, according to the peculiar + anthropomorphism of the Greeks, in which deity and humanity are so closely + mingled that it is difficult to tell where the one begins and the other + ends. Diomedes, single-handed, vanquishes not only the gentle Aphrodite, + but even the god of battles himself, the terrible Ares. Nestor quaffs + lightly from a goblet which, we are told, not two men among the poet's + contemporaries could by their united exertions raise and place upon a + table. Aias and Hektor and Aineias hurl enormous masses of rock as easily + as an ordinary man would throw a pebble. All this shows that the poet, in + his naive way, conceiving of these heroes as personages of a remote past, + was endeavouring as far as possible to ascribe to them the attributes of + superior beings. If all that were divine, marvellous, or superhuman were + to be left out of the poems, the supposed historical residue would hardly + be worth the trouble of saving. As Mr. Cox well observes, "It is of the + very essence of the narrative that Paris, who has deserted Oinone, the + child of the stream Kebren, and before whom Here, Athene, and Aphrodite + had appeared as claimants for the golden apple, steals from Sparta the + beautiful sister of the Dioskouroi; that the chiefs are summoned together + for no other purpose than to avenge her woes and wrongs; that Achilleus, + the son of the sea-nymph Thetis, the wielder of invincible weapons and the + lord of undying horses, goes to fight in a quarrel which is not his own; + that his wrath is roused because he is robbed of the maiden Briseis, and + that henceforth he takes no part in the strife until his friend Patroklos + has been slain; that then he puts on the new armour which Thetis brings to + him from the anvil of Hephaistos, and goes forth to win the victory. The + details are throughout of the same nature. Achilleus sees and converses + with Athene; Aphrodite is wounded by Diomedes, and Sleep and Death bear + away the lifeless Sarpedon on their noiseless wings to the far-off land of + light." In view of all this it is evident that Homer was not describing, + like a salaried historiographer, the state of things which existed in the + time of his father or grandfather. To his mind the occurrences which he + described were those of a remote, a wonderful, a semi-divine past. + </p> + <p> + This conclusion, which I have thus far supported merely by reference to + the Iliad itself, becomes irresistible as soon as we take into account the + results obtained during the past thirty years by the science of + comparative mythology. As long as our view was restricted to Greece, it + was perhaps excusable that Achilleus and Paris should be taken for + exaggerated copies of actual persons. Since the day when Grimm laid the + foundations of the science of mythology, all this has been changed. It is + now held that Achilleus and Paris and Helena are to be found, not only in + the Iliad, but also in the Rig-Veda, and therefore, as mythical + conceptions, date, not from Homer, but from a period preceding the + dispersion of the Aryan nations. The tale of the Wrath of Achilleus, far + from originating with Homer, far from being recorded by the author of the + Iliad as by an eyewitness, must have been known in its essential features + in Aryana-vaedjo, at that remote epoch when the Indian, the Greek, and the + Teuton were as yet one and the same. For the story has been retained by + the three races alike, in all its principal features; though the Veda has + left it in the sky where it originally belonged, while the Iliad and the + Nibelungenlied have brought it down to earth, the one locating it in Asia + Minor, and the other in Northwestern Europe. <a href="#linknote-153" + name="linknoteref-153" id="linknoteref-153"><small>153</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In the Rig-Veda the Panis are the genii of night and winter, corresponding + to the Nibelungs, or "Children of the Mist," in the Teutonic legend, and + to the children of Nephele (cloud) in the Greek myth of the Golden Fleece. + The Panis steal the cattle of the Sun (Indra, Helios, Herakles), and carry + them by an unknown route to a dark cave eastward. Sarama, the creeping + Dawn, is sent by Indra to find and recover them. The Panis then tamper + with Sarama, and try their best to induce her to betray her solar lord. + For a while she is prevailed upon to dally with them; yet she ultimately + returns to give Indra the information needful in order that he might + conquer the Panis, just as Helena, in the slightly altered version, + ultimately returns to her western home, carrying with her the treasures + (ktemata, Iliad, II. 285) of which Paris had robbed Menelaos. But, before + the bright Indra and his solar heroes can reconquer their treasures they + must take captive the offspring of Brisaya, the violet light of morning. + Thus Achilleus, answering to the solar champion Aharyu, takes captive the + daughter of Brises. But as the sun must always be parted from the + morning-light, to return to it again just before setting, so Achilleus + loses Briseis, and regains her only just before his final struggle. In + similar wise Herakles is parted from Iole ("the violet one"), and Sigurd + from Brynhild. In sullen wrath the hero retires from the conflict, and his + Myrmidons are no longer seen on the battle-field, as the sun hides behind + the dark cloud and his rays no longer appear about him. Yet toward the + evening, as Briseis returns, he appears in his might, clothed in the + dazzling armour wrought for him by the fire-god Hephaistos, and with his + invincible spear slays the great storm-cloud, which during his absence had + wellnigh prevailed over the champions of the daylight. But his triumph is + short-lived; for having trampled on the clouds that had opposed him, while + yet crimsoned with the fierce carnage, the sharp arrow of the night-demon + Paris slays him at the Western Gates. We have not space to go into further + details. In Mr. Cox's "Mythology of the Aryan Nations," and "Tales of + Ancient Greece," the reader will find the entire contents of the Iliad and + Odyssey thus minutely illustrated by comparison with the Veda, the Edda, + and the Lay of the Nibelungs. + </p> + <p> + Ancient as the Homeric poems undoubtedly are, they are modern in + comparison with the tale of Achilleus and Helena, as here unfolded. The + date of the entrance of the Greeks into Europe will perhaps never be + determined; but I do not see how any competent scholar can well place it + at less than eight hundred or a thousand years before the time of Homer. + Between the two epochs the Greek, Latin, Umbrian, and Keltic lauguages had + time to acquire distinct individualities. Far earlier, therefore, than the + Homeric "juventus mundi" was that "youth of the world," in which the Aryan + forefathers, knowing no abstract terms, and possessing no philosophy but + fetichism, deliberately spoke of the Sun, and the Dawn, and the Clouds, as + persons or as animals. The Veda, though composed much later than this,—perhaps + as late as the Iliad,—nevertheless preserves the record of the + mental life of this period. The Vedic poet is still dimly aware that + Sarama is the fickle twilight, and the Panis the night-demons who strive + to coax her from her allegiance to the day-god. He keeps the scene of + action in the sky. But the Homeric Greek had long since forgotten that + Helena and Paris were anything more than semi-divine mortals, the daughter + of Zeus and the son of the Zeus-descended Priam. The Hindu understood that + Dyaus ("the bright one") meant the sky, and Sarama ("the creeping one") + the dawn, and spoke significantly when he called the latter the daughter + of the former. But the Greek could not know that Zeus was derived from a + root div, "to shine," or that Helena belonged to a root sar, "to creep." + Phonetic change thus helped him to rise from fetichism to polytheism. His + nature-gods became thoroughly anthropomorphic; and he probably no more + remembered that Achilleus originally signified the sun, than we remember + that the word God, which we use to denote the most vast of conceptions, + originally meant simply the Storm-wind. Indeed, when the fetichistic + tendency led the Greek again to personify the powers of nature, he had + recourse to new names formed from his own language. Thus, beside Apollo we + have Helios; Selene beside Artemis and Persephone; Eos beside Athene; Gaia + beside Demeter. As a further consequence of this decomposition and new + development of the old Aryan mythology, we find, as might be expected, + that the Homeric poems are not always consistent in their use of their + mythic materials. Thus, Paris, the night-demon, is—to Max Muller's + perplexity—invested with many of the attributes of the bright solar + heroes. "Like Perseus, Oidipous, Romulus, and Cyrus, he is doomed to bring + ruin on his parents; like them he is exposed in his infancy on the + hillside, and rescued by a shepherd." All the solar heroes begin life in + this way. Whether, like Apollo, born of the dark night (Leto), or like + Oidipous, of the violet dawn (Iokaste), they are alike destined to bring + destruction on their parents, as the night and the dawn are both destroyed + by the sun. The exposure of the child in infancy represents the long rays + of the morning-sun resting on the hillside. Then Paris forsakes Oinone + ("the wine-coloured one"), but meets her again at the gloaming when she + lays herself by his side amid the crimson flames of the funeral pyre. + Sarpedon also, a solar hero, is made to fight on the side of the Niblungs + or Trojans, attended by his friend Glaukos ("the brilliant one"). They + command the Lykians, or "children of light"; and with them comes also + Memnon, son of the Dawn, from the fiery land of the Aithiopes, the + favourite haunt of Zeus and the gods of Olympos. + </p> + <p> + The Iliad-myth must therefore have been current many ages before the + Greeks inhabited Greece, long before there was any Ilion to be conquered. + Nevertheless, this does not forbid the supposition that the legend, as we + have it, may have been formed by the crystallization of mythical + conceptions about a nucleus of genuine tradition. In this view I am upheld + by a most sagacious and accurate scholar, Mr. E. A. Freeman, who finds in + Carlovingian romance an excellent illustration of the problem before us. + </p> + <p> + The Charlemagne of romance is a mythical personage. He is supposed to have + been a Frenchman, at a time when neither the French nation nor the French + language can properly be said to have existed; and he is represented as a + doughty crusader, although crusading was not thought of until long after + the Karolingian era. The legendary deeds of Charlemagne are not conformed + to the ordinary rules of geography and chronology. He is a myth, and, what + is more, he is a solar myth,—an avatar, or at least a + representative, of Odin in his solar capacity. If in his case legend were + not controlled and rectified by history, he would be for us as unreal as + Agamemnon. + </p> + <p> + History, however, tells us that there was an Emperor Karl, German in race, + name, and language, who was one of the two or three greatest men of action + that the world has ever seen, and who in the ninth century ruled over all + Western Europe. To the historic Karl corresponds in many particulars the + mythical Charlemagne. The legend has preserved the fact, which without the + information supplied by history we might perhaps set down as a fiction, + that there was a time when Germany, Gaul, Italy, and part of Spain formed + a single empire. And, as Mr. Freeman has well observed, the mythical + crusades of Charlemagne are good evidence that there were crusades, + although the real Karl had nothing whatever to do with one. + </p> + <p> + Now the case of Agamemnon may be much like that of Charlemagne, except + that we no longer have history to help us in rectifying the legend. The + Iliad preserves the tradition of a time when a large portion of the + islands and mainland of Greece were at least partially subject to a common + suzerain; and, as Mr. Freeman has again shrewdly suggested, the assignment + of a place like Mykenai, instead of Athens or Sparta or Argos, as the seat + of the suzerainty, is strong evidence of the trustworthiness of the + tradition. It appears to show that the legend was constrained by some + remembered fact, instead of being guided by general probability. + Charlemagne's seat of government has been transferred in romance from + Aachen to Paris; had it really been at Paris, says Mr. Freeman, no one + would have thought of transferring it to Aachen. Moreover, the story of + Agamemnon, though uncontrolled by historic records, is here at least + supported by archaeologic remains, which prove Mykenai to have been at + some time or other a place of great consequence. Then, as to the Trojan + war, we know that the Greeks several times crossed the AEgaean and + colonized a large part of the seacoast of Asia Minor. In order to do this + it was necessary to oust from their homes many warlike communities of + Lydians and Bithynians, and we may be sure that this was not done without + prolonged fighting. There may very probably have been now and then a levy + en masse in prehistoric Greece, as there was in mediaeval Europe; and + whether the great suzerain at Mykenai ever attended one or not, legend + would be sure to send him on such an expedition, as it afterwards sent + Charlemagne on a crusade. + </p> + <p> + It is therefore quite possible that Agamemnon and Menelaos may represent + dimly remembered sovereigns or heroes, with their characters and actions + distorted to suit the exigencies of a narrative founded upon a solar myth. + The character of the Nibelungenlied here well illustrates that of the + Iliad. Siegfried and Brunhild, Hagen and Gunther, seem to be mere + personifications of physical phenomena; but Etzel and Dietrich are none + other than Attila and Theodoric surrounded with mythical attributes; and + even the conception of Brunhild has been supposed to contain elements + derived from the traditional recollection of the historical Brunehault. + When, therefore, Achilleus is said, like a true sun-god, to have died by a + wound from a sharp instrument in the only vulnerable part of his body, we + may reply that the legendary Charlemagne conducts himself in many respects + like a solar deity. If Odysseus detained by Kalypso represents the sun + ensnared and held captive by the pale goddess of night, the legend of + Frederic Barbarossa asleep in a Thuringian mountain embodies a portion of + a kindred conception. We know that Charlemagne and Frederic have been + substituted for Odin; we may suspect that with the mythical impersonations + of Achilleus and Odysseus some traditional figures may be blended. We + should remember that in early times the solar-myth was a sort of type + after which all wonderful stories would be patterned, and that to such a + type tradition also would be made to conform. + </p> + <p> + In suggesting this view, we are not opening the door to Euhemerism. If + there is any one conclusion concerning the Homeric poems which the labours + of a whole generation of scholars may be said to have satisfactorily + established, it is this, that no trustworthy history can be obtained from + either the Iliad or the Odyssey merely by sifting out the mythical + element. Even if the poems contain the faint reminiscence of an actual + event, that event is inextricably wrapped up in mythical phraseology, so + that by no cunning of the scholar can it be construed into history. In + view of this it is quite useless for Mr. Gladstone to attempt to base + historical conclusions upon the fact that Helena is always called "Argive + Helen," or to draw ethnological inferences from the circumstances that + Menelaos, Achilleus, and the rest of the Greek heroes, have yellow hair, + while the Trojans are never so described. The Argos of the myth is not the + city of Peloponnesos, though doubtless so construed even in Homer's time. + It is "the bright land" where Zeus resides, and the epithet is applied to + his wife Here and his daughter Helena, as well as to the dog of Odysseus, + who reappears with Sarameyas in the Veda. As for yellow hair, there is no + evidence that Greeks have ever commonly possessed it; but no other colour + would do for a solar hero, and it accordingly characterizes the entire + company of them, wherever found, while for the Trojans, or children of + night, it is not required. + </p> + <p> + A wider acquaintance with the results which have been obtained during the + past thirty years by the comparative study of languages and mythologies + would have led Mr. Gladstone to reconsider many of his views concerning + the Homeric poems, and might perhaps have led him to cut out half or two + thirds of his book as hopelessly antiquated. The chapter on the divinities + of Olympos would certainly have had to be rewritten, and the ridiculous + theory of a primeval revelation abandoned. One can hardly preserve one's + gravity when Mr. Gladstone derives Apollo from the Hebrew Messiah, and + Athene from the Logos. To accredit Homer with an acquaintance with the + doctrine of the Logos, which did not exist until the time of Philo, and + did not receive its authorized Christian form until the middle of the + second century after Christ, is certainly a strange proceeding. We shall + next perhaps be invited to believe that the authors of the Volsunga Saga + obtained the conception of Sigurd from the "Thirty-Nine Articles." It is + true that these deities, Athene and Apollo, are wiser, purer, and more + dignified, on the whole, than any of the other divinities of the Homeric + Olympos. They alone, as Mr. Gladstone truly observes, are never deceived + or frustrated. For all Hellas, Apollo was the interpreter of futurity, and + in the maid Athene we have perhaps the highest conception of deity to + which the Greek mind had attained in the early times. In the Veda, Athene + is nothing but the dawn; but in the Greek mythology, while the merely + sensuous glories of daybreak are assigned to Eos, Athene becomes the + impersonation of the illuminating and knowledge-giving light of the sky. + As the dawn, she is daughter of Zeus, the sky, and in mythic language + springs from his forehead; but, according to the Greek conception, this + imagery signifies that she shares, more than any other deity, in the + boundless wisdom of Zeus. The knowledge of Apollo, on the other hand, is + the peculiar privilege of the sun, who, from his lofty position, sees + everything that takes place upon the earth. Even the secondary divinity + Helios possesses this prerogative to a certain extent. + </p> + <p> + Next to a Hebrew, Mr. Gladstone prefers a Phoenician ancestry for the + Greek divinities. But the same lack of acquaintance with the old Aryan + mythology vitiates all his conclusions. No doubt the Greek mythology is in + some particulars tinged with Phoenician conceptions. Aphrodite was + originally a purely Greek divinity, but in course of time she acquired + some of the attributes of the Semitic Astarte, and was hardly improved by + the change. Adonis is simply a Semitic divinity, imported into Greece. But + the same cannot be proved of Poseidon; <a href="#linknote-154" + name="linknoteref-154" id="linknoteref-154"><small>154</small></a> far + less of Hermes, who is identical with the Vedic Sarameyas, the rising + wind, the son of Sarama the dawn, the lying, tricksome wind-god, who + invented music, and conducts the souls of dead men to the house of Hades, + even as his counterpart the Norse Odin rushes over the tree-tops leading + the host of the departed. When one sees Iris, the messenger of Zeus, + referred to a Hebrew original, because of Jehovah's promise to Noah, one + is at a loss to understand the relationship between the two conceptions. + Nothing could be more natural to the Greeks than to call the rainbow the + messenger of the sky-god to earth-dwelling men; to call it a token set in + the sky by Jehovah, as the Hebrews did, was a very different thing. We may + admit the very close resemblance between the myth of Bellerophon and + Anteia, and that of Joseph and Zuleikha; but the fact that the Greek story + is explicable from Aryan antecedents, while the Hebrew story is isolated, + might perhaps suggest the inference that the Hebrews were the borrowers, + as they undoubtedly were in the case of the myth of Eden. Lastly, to + conclude that Helios is an Eastern deity, because he reigns in the East + over Thrinakia, is wholly unwarranted. Is not Helios pure Greek for the + sun? and where should his sacred island be placed, if not in the East? As + for his oxen, which wrought such dire destruction to the comrades of + Odysseus, and which seem to Mr. Gladstone so anomalous, they are those + very same unhappy cattle, the clouds, which were stolen by the storm-demon + Cacus and the wind-deity Hermes, and which furnished endless material for + legends to the poets of the Veda. + </p> + <p> + But the whole subject of comparative mythology seems to be terra incognita + to Mr. Gladstone. He pursues the even tenour of his way in utter disregard + of Grimm, and Kuhn, and Breal, and Dasent, and Burnouf. He takes no note + of the Rig-Veda, nor does he seem to realize that there was ever a time + when the ancestors of the Greeks and Hindus worshipped the same gods. Two + or three times he cites Max Muller, but makes no use of the copious data + which might be gathered from him. The only work which seems really to have + attracted his attention is M. Jacolliot's very discreditable performance + called "The Bible in India." Mr. Gladstone does not, indeed, unreservedly + approve of this book; but neither does he appear to suspect that it is a + disgraceful piece of charlatanry, written by a man ignorant of the very + rudiments of the subject which he professes to handle. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gladstone is equally out of his depth when he comes to treat purely + philological questions. Of the science of philology, as based upon + established laws of phonetic change, he seems to have no knowledge + whatever. He seems to think that two words are sufficiently proved to be + connected when they are seen to resemble each other in spelling or in + sound. Thus he quotes approvingly a derivation of the name Themis from an + assumed verb them, "to speak," whereas it is notoriously derived from + tiqhmi, as statute comes ultimately from stare. His reference of hieros, + "a priest," and geron, "an old man," to the same root, is utterly + baseless; the one is the Sanskrit ishiras, "a powerful man," the other is + the Sanskrit jaran, "an old man." The lists of words on pages 96-100 are + disfigured by many such errors; and indeed the whole purpose for which + they are given shows how sadly Mr. Gladstone's philology is in arrears. + The theory of Niebuhr—that the words common to Greek and Latin, + mostly descriptive of peaceful occupations, are Pelasgian—was + serviceable enough in its day, but is now rendered wholly antiquated by + the discovery that such words are Aryan, in the widest sense. The + Pelasgian theory works very smoothly so long as we only compare the Greek + with the Latin words,—as, for instance, sugon with jugum; but when + we add the English yoke and the Sanskrit yugam, it is evident that we have + got far out of the range of the Pelasgoi. But what shall we say when we + find Mr. Gladstone citing the Latin thalamus in support of this antiquated + theory? Doubtless the word thalamus is, or should be, significative of + peaceful occupations; but it is not a Latin word at all, except by + adoption. One might as well cite the word ensemble to prove the original + identity or kinship between English and French. + </p> + <p> + When Mr. Gladstone, leaving the dangerous ground of pure and applied + philology, confines himself to illustrating the contents of the Homeric + poems, he is always excellent. His chapter on the "Outer Geography" of the + Odyssey is exceedingly interesting; showing as it does how much may be + obtained from the patient and attentive study of even a single author. Mr. + Gladstone's knowledge of the SURFACE of the Iliad and Odyssey, so to + speak, is extensive and accurate. It is when he attempts to penetrate + beneath the surface and survey the treasures hidden in the bowels of the + earth, that he shows himself unprovided with the talisman of the wise + dervise, which alone can unlock those mysteries. But modern philology is + an exacting science: to approach its higher problems requires an amount of + preparation sufficient to terrify at the outset all but the boldest; and a + man who has had to regulate taxation, and make out financial statements, + and lead a political party in a great nation, may well be excused for + ignorance of philology. It is difficult enough for those who have little + else to do but to pore over treatises on phonetics, and thumb their + lexicons, to keep fully abreast with the latest views in linguistics. In + matters of detail one can hardly ever broach a new hypothesis without + misgivings lest somebody, in some weekly journal published in Germany, may + just have anticipated and refuted it. Yet while Mr. Gladstone may be + excused for being unsound in philology, it is far less excusable that he + should sit down to write a book about Homer, abounding in philological + statements, without the slightest knowledge of what has been achieved in + that science for several years past. In spite of all drawbacks, however, + his book shows an abiding taste for scholarly pursuits, and therefore + deserves a certain kind of praise. I hope,—though just now the idea + savours of the ludicrous,—that the day may some time arrive when OUR + Congressmen and Secretaries of the Treasury will spend their vacations in + writing books about Greek antiquities, or in illustrating the meaning of + Homeric phrases. + </p> + <p> + July, 1870. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. THE PRIMEVAL GHOST-WORLD. + </h2> + <p> + NO earnest student of human culture can as yet have forgotten or wholly + outlived the feeling of delight awakened by the first perusal of Max + Muller's brilliant "Essay on Comparative Mythology,"—a work in which + the scientific principles of myth-interpretation, though not newly + announced, were at least brought home to the reader with such an amount of + fresh and striking concrete illustration as they had not before received. + Yet it must have occurred to more than one reader that, while the analyses + of myths contained in this noble essay are in the main sound in principle + and correct in detail, nevertheless the author's theory of the genesis of + myth is expressed, and most likely conceived, in a way that is very + suggestive of carelessness and fallacy. There are obvious reasons for + doubting whether the existence of mythology can be due to any "disease," + abnormity, or hypertrophy of metaphor in language; and the criticism at + once arises, that with the myth-makers it was not so much the character of + the expression which originated the thought, as it was the thought which + gave character to the expression. It is not that the early Aryans were + myth-makers because their language abounded in metaphor; it is that the + Aryan mother-tongue abounded in metaphor because the men and women who + spoke it were myth-makers. And they were myth-makers because they had + nothing but the phenomena of human will and effort with which to compare + objective phenomena. Therefore it was that they spoke of the sun as an + unwearied voyager or a matchless archer, and classified inanimate no less + than animate objects as masculine and feminine. Max Muller's way of + stating his theory, both in this Essay and in his later Lectures, affords + one among several instances of the curious manner in which he combines a + marvellous penetration into the significance of details with a certain + looseness of general conception. <a href="#linknote-155" + name="linknoteref-155" id="linknoteref-155"><small>155</small></a> The + principles of philological interpretation are an indispensable aid to us + in detecting the hidden meaning of many a legend in which the powers of + nature are represented in the guise of living and thinking persons; but + before we can get at the secret of the myth-making tendency itself, we + must leave philology and enter upon a psychological study. We must inquire + into the characteristics of that primitive style of thinking to which it + seemed quite natural that the sun should be an unerring archer, and the + thunder-cloud a black demon or gigantic robber finding his richly merited + doom at the hands of the indignant Lord of Light. + </p> + <p> + Among recent treatises which have dealt with this interesting problem, we + shall find it advantageous to give especial attention to Mr. Tylor's + "Primitive Culture," <a href="#linknote-156" name="linknoteref-156" + id="linknoteref-156"><small>156</small></a> one of the few erudite works + which are at once truly great and thoroughly entertaining. The learning + displayed in it would do credit to a German specialist, both for extent + and for minuteness, while the orderly arrangement of the arguments and the + elegant lucidity of the style are such as we are accustomed to expect from + French essay-writers. And what is still more admirable is the way in which + the enthusiasm characteristic of a genial and original speculator is + tempered by the patience and caution of a cool-headed critic. Patience and + caution are nowhere more needed than in writers who deal with mythology + and with primitive religious ideas; but these qualities are too seldom + found in combination with the speculative boldness which is required when + fresh theories are to be framed or new paths of investigation opened. The + state of mind in which the explaining powers of a favourite theory are + fondly contemplated is, to some extent, antagonistic to the state of mind + in which facts are seen, with the eye of impartial criticism, in all their + obstinate and uncompromising reality. To be able to preserve the balance + between the two opposing tendencies is to give evidence of the most + consummate scientific training. It is from the want of such a balance that + the recent great work of Mr. Cox is at times so unsatisfactory. It may, I + fear, seem ill-natured to say so, but the eagerness with which Mr. Cox + waylays every available illustration of the physical theory of the origin + of myths has now and then the curious effect of weakening the reader's + conviction of the soundness of the theory. For my own part, though by no + means inclined to waver in adherence to a doctrine once adopted on good + grounds, I never felt so much like rebelling against the mythologic + supremacy of the Sun and the Dawn as when reading Mr. Cox's volumes. That + Mr. Tylor, while defending the same fundamental theory, awakens no such + rebellious feelings, is due to his clear perception and realization of the + fact that it is impossible to generalize in a single formula such + many-sided correspondences as those which primitive poetry end philosophy + have discerned between the life of man and the life of outward nature. + Whoso goes roaming up and down the elf-land of popular fancies, with sole + intent to resolve each episode of myth into some answering physical event, + his only criterion being outward resemblance, cannot be trusted in his + conclusions, since wherever he turns for evidence he is sure to find + something that can be made to serve as such. As Mr. Tylor observes, no + household legend or nursery rhyme is safe from his hermeneutics. "Should + he, for instance, demand as his property the nursery 'Song of Sixpence,' + his claim would be easily established,—obviously the four-and-twenty + blackbirds are the four-and-twenty hours, and the pie that holds them is + the underlying earth covered with the overarching sky,—how true a + touch of nature it is that when the pie is opened, that is, when day + breaks, the birds begin to sing; the King is the Sun, and his counting out + his money is pouring out the sunshine, the golden shower of Danae; the + Queen is the Moon, and her transparent honey the moonlight; the Maid is + the 'rosy-fingered' Dawn, who rises before the Sun, her master, and hangs + out the clouds, his clothes, across the sky; the particular blackbird, who + so tragically ends the tale by snipping off her nose, is the hour of + sunrise." In all this interpretation there is no a priori improbability, + save, perhaps, in its unbroken symmetry and completeness. That some + points, at least, of the story are thus derived from antique + interpretations of physical events, is in harmony with all that we know + concerning nursery rhymes. In short, "the time-honoured rhyme really wants + but one thing to prove it a sun-myth, that one thing being a proof by some + argument more valid than analogy." The character of the argument which is + lacking may be illustrated by a reference to the rhyme about Jack and + Jill, explained some time since in the paper on "The Origins of Folk + Lore." If the argument be thought valid which shows these ill-fated + children to be the spots on the moon, it is because the proof consists, + not in the analogy, which is in this case not especially obvious, but in + the fact that in the Edda, and among ignorant Swedish peasants of our own + day, the story of Jack and Jill is actually given as an explanation of the + moon-spots. To the neglect of this distinction between what is plausible + and what is supported by direct evidence, is due much of the crude + speculation which encumbers the study of myths. + </p> + <p> + It is when Mr. Tylor merges the study of mythology into the wider inquiry + into the characteristic features of the mode of thinking in which myths + originated, that we can best appreciate the practical value of that union + of speculative boldness and critical sobriety which everywhere + distinguishes him. It is pleasant to meet with a writer who can treat of + primitive religious ideas without losing his head over allegory and + symbolism, and who duly realizes the fact that a savage is not a + rabbinical commentator, or a cabalist, or a Rosicrucian, but a plain man + who draws conclusions like ourselves, though with feeble intelligence and + scanty knowledge. The mystic allegory with which such modern writers as + Lord Bacon have invested the myths of antiquity is no part of their + original clothing, but is rather the late product of a style of reasoning + from analogy quite similar to that which we shall perceive to have guided + the myth-makers in their primitive constructions. The myths and customs + and beliefs which, in an advanced stage of culture, seem meaningless save + when characterized by some quaintly wrought device of symbolic + explanation, did not seem meaningless in the lower culture which gave + birth to them. Myths, like words, survive their primitive meanings. In the + early stage the myth is part and parcel of the current mode of + philosophizing; the explanation which it offers is, for the time, the + natural one, the one which would most readily occur to any one thinking on + the theme with which the myth is concerned. But by and by the mode of + philosophizing has changed; explanations which formerly seemed quite + obvious no longer occur to any one, but the myth has acquired an + independent substantive existence, and continues to be handed down from + parents to children as something true, though no one can tell why it is + true: Lastly, the myth itself gradually fades from remembrance, often + leaving behind it some utterly unintelligible custom or seemingly absurd + superstitious notion. For example,—to recur to an illustration + already cited in a previous paper,—it is still believed here and + there by some venerable granny that it is wicked to kill robins; but he + who should attribute the belief to the old granny's refined sympathy with + all sentient existence, would be making one of the blunders which are + always committed by those who reason a priori about historical matters + without following the historical method. At an earlier date the + superstition existed in the shape of a belief that the killing of a robin + portends some calamity; in a still earlier form the calamity is specified + as death; and again, still earlier, as death by lightning. Another step + backward reveals that the dread sanctity of the robin is owing to the fact + that he is the bird of Thor, the lightning god; and finally we reach that + primitive stage of philosophizing in which the lightning is explained as a + red bird dropping from its beak a worm which cleaveth the rocks. Again, + the belief that some harm is sure to come to him who saves the life of a + drowning man, is unintelligible until it is regarded as a case of survival + in culture. In the older form of the superstition it is held that the + rescuer will sooner or later be drowned himself; and thus we pass to the + fetichistic interpretation of drowning as the seizing of the unfortunate + person by the water-spirit or nixy, who is naturally angry at being + deprived of his victim, and henceforth bears a special grudge against the + bold mortal who has thus dared to frustrate him. + </p> + <p> + The interpretation of the lightning as a red bird, and of drowning as the + work of a smiling but treacherous fiend, are parts of that primitive + philosophy of nature in which all forces objectively existing are + conceived as identical with the force subjectively known as volition. It + is this philosophy, currently known as fetichism, but treated by Mr. Tylor + under the somewhat more comprehensive name of "animism," which we must now + consider in a few of its most conspicuous exemplifications. When we have + properly characterized some of the processes which the untrained mind + habitually goes through, we shall have incidentally arrived at a fair + solution of the genesis of mythology. + </p> + <p> + Let us first note the ease with which the barbaric or uncultivated mind + reaches all manner of apparently fanciful conclusions through reckless + reasoning from analogy. It is through the operation of certain laws of + ideal association that all human thinking, that of the highest as well as + that of the lowest minds, is conducted: the discovery of the law of + gravitation, as well as the invention of such a superstition as the Hand + of Glory, is at bottom but a case of association of ideas. The difference + between the scientific and the mythologic inference consists solely in the + number of checks which in the former case combine to prevent any other + than the true conclusion from being framed into a proposition to which the + mind assents. Countless accumulated experiences have taught the modern + that there are many associations of ideas which do not correspond to any + actual connection of cause and effect in the world of phenomena; and he + has learned accordingly to apply to his newly framed notions the rigid + test of verification. Besides which the same accumulation of experiences + has built up an organized structure of ideal associations into which only + the less extravagant newly framed notions have any chance of fitting. The + primitive man, or the modern savage who is to some extent his counterpart, + must reason without the aid of these multifarious checks. That immense + mass of associations which answer to what are called physical laws, and + which in the mind of the civilized modern have become almost organic, have + not been formed in the mind of the savage; nor has he learned the + necessity of experimentally testing any of his newly framed notions, save + perhaps a few of the commonest. Consequently there is nothing but + superficial analogy to guide the course of his thought hither or thither, + and the conclusions at which he arrives will be determined by associations + of ideas occurring apparently at haphazard. Hence the quaint or grotesque + fancies with which European and barbaric folk-lore is filled, in the + framing of which the myth-maker was but reasoning according to the best + methods at his command. To this simplest class, in which the association + of ideas is determined by mere analogy, belong such cases as that of the + Zulu, who chews a piece of wood in order to soften the heart of the man + with whom he is about to trade for cows, or the Hessian lad who "thinks he + may escape the conscription by carrying a baby-girl's cap in his pocket,—a + symbolic way of repudiating manhood." <a href="#linknote-157" + name="linknoteref-157" id="linknoteref-157"><small>157</small></a> A + similar style of thinking underlies the mediaeval necromancer's practice + of making a waxen image of his enemy and shooting at it with arrows, in + order to bring about the enemy's death; as also the case of the magic rod, + mentioned in a previous paper, by means of which a sound thrashing can be + administered to an absent foe through the medium of an old coat which is + imagined to cover him. The principle involved here is one which is + doubtless familiar to most children, and is closely akin to that which + Irving so amusingly illustrates in his doughty general who struts through + a field of cabbages or corn-stalks, smiting them to earth with his cane, + and imagining himself a hero of chivalry conquering single-handed a host + of caitiff ruffians. Of like origin are the fancies that the breaking of a + mirror heralds a death in the family,—probably because of the + destruction of the reflected human image; that the "hair of the dog that + bit you" will prevent hydrophobia if laid upon the wound; or that the + tears shed by human victims, sacrificed to mother earth, will bring down + showers upon the land. Mr. Tylor cites Lord Chesterfield's remark, "that + the king had been ill, and that people generally expected the illness to + be fatal, because the oldest lion in the Tower, about the king's age, had + just died. 'So wild and capricious is the human mind,'" observes the + elegant letter-writer. But indeed, as Mr. Tylor justly remarks, "the + thought was neither wild nor capricious; it was simply such an argument + from analogy as the educated world has at length painfully learned to be + worthless, but which, it is not too much to declare, would to this day + carry considerable weight to the minds of four fifths of the human race." + Upon such symbolism are based most of the practices of divination and the + great pseudo-science of astrology. "It is an old story, that when two + brothers were once taken ill together, Hippokrates, the physician, + concluded from the coincidence that they were twins, but Poseidonios, the + astrologer, considered rather that they were born under the same + constellation; we may add that either argument would be thought reasonable + by a savage." So when a Maori fortress is attacked, the besiegers and + besieged look to see if Venus is near the moon. The moon represents the + fortress; and if it appears below the companion planet, the besiegers will + carry the day, otherwise they will be repulsed. Equally primitive and + childlike was Rousseau's train of thought on the memorable day at Les + Charmettes when, being distressed with doubts as to the safety of his + soul, he sought to determine the point by throwing a stone at a tree. + "Hit, sign of salvation; miss, sign of damnation!" The tree being a large + one and very near at hand, the result of the experiment was reassuring, + and the young philosopher walked away without further misgivings + concerning this momentous question. <a href="#linknote-158" + name="linknoteref-158" id="linknoteref-158"><small>158</small></a> + </p> + <p> + When the savage, whose highest intellectual efforts result only in + speculations of this childlike character, is confronted with the phenomena + of dreams, it is easy to see what he will make of them. His practical + knowledge of psychology is too limited to admit of his distinguishing + between the solidity of waking experience and what we may call the + unsubstantialness of the dream. He may, indeed, have learned that the + dream is not to be relied on for telling the truth; the Zulu, for example, + has even reached the perverse triumph of critical logic achieved by our + own Aryan ancestors in the saying that "dreams go by contraries." But the + Zulu has not learned, nor had the primeval Aryan learned, to disregard the + utterances of the dream as being purely subjective phenomena. To the mind + as yet untouched by modern culture, the visions seen and the voices heard + in sleep possess as much objective reality as the gestures and shouts of + waking hours. When the savage relates his dream, he tells how he SAW + certain dogs, dead warriors, or demons last night, the implication being + that the things seen were objects external to himself. As Mr. Spencer + observes, "his rude language fails to state the difference between seeing + and dreaming that he saw, doing and dreaming that he did. From this + inadequacy of his language it not only results that he cannot truly + represent this difference to others, but also that he cannot truly + represent it to himself. Hence in the absence of an alternative + interpretation, his belief, and that of those to whom he tells his + adventures, is that his OTHER SELF has been away and came back when he + awoke. And this belief, which we find among various existing savage + tribes, we equally find in the traditions of the early civilized races." + <a href="#linknote-159" name="linknoteref-159" id="linknoteref-159"><small>159</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Let us consider, for a moment, this assumption of the OTHER SELF, for upon + this is based the great mass of crude inference which constitutes the + primitive man's philosophy of nature. The hypothesis of the OTHER SELF, + which serves to account for the savage's wanderings during sleep in + strange lands and among strange people, serves also to account for the + presence in his dreams of parents, comrades, or enemies, known to be dead + and buried. The other self of the dreamer meets and converses with the + other selves of his dead brethren, joins with them in the hunt, or sits + down with them to the wild cannibal banquet. Thus arises the belief in an + ever-present world of souls or ghosts, a belief which the entire + experience of uncivilized man goes to strengthen and expand. The existence + of some tribe or tribes of savages wholly destitute of religious belief + has often been hastily asserted and as often called in question. But there + is no question that, while many savages are unable to frame a conception + so general as that of godhood, on the other hand no tribe has ever been + found so low in the scale of intelligence as not to have framed the + conception of ghosts or spiritual personalities, capable of being angered, + propitiated, or conjured with. Indeed it is not improbable a priori that + the original inference involved in the notion of the other self may be + sufficiently simple and obvious to fall within the capacity of animals + even less intelligent than uncivilized man. An authentic case is on record + of a Skye terrier who, being accustomed to obtain favours from his master + by sitting on his haunches, will also sit before his pet india-rubber ball + placed on the chimney-piece, evidently beseeching it to jump down and play + with him. <a href="#linknote-160" name="linknoteref-160" + id="linknoteref-160"><small>160</small></a> Such a fact as this is quite + in harmony with Auguste Comte's suggestion that such intelligent animals + as dogs, apes, and elephants may be capable of forming a few fetichistic + notions. The behaviour of the terrier here rests upon the assumption that + the ball is open to the same sort of entreaty which prevails with the + master; which implies, not that the wistful brute accredits the ball with + a soul, but that in his mind the distinction between life and inanimate + existence has never been thoroughly established. Just this confusion + between things living and things not living is present throughout the + whole philosophy of fetichism; and the confusion between things seen and + things dreamed, which suggests the notion of another self, belongs to this + same twilight stage of intelligence in which primeval man has not yet + clearly demonstrated his immeasurable superiority to the brutes. <a + href="#linknote-161" name="linknoteref-161" id="linknoteref-161"><small>161</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The conception of a soul or other self, capable of going away from the + body and returning to it, receives decisive confirmation from the + phenomena of fainting, trance, catalepsy, and ecstasy, <a + href="#linknote-162" name="linknoteref-162" id="linknoteref-162"><small>162</small></a> + which occur less rarely among savages, owing to their irregular mode of + life, than among civilized men. "Further verification," observes Mr. + Spencer, "is afforded by every epileptic subject, into whose body, during + the absence of the other self, some enemy has entered; for how else does + it happen that the other self on returning denies all knowledge of what + his body has been doing? And this supposition, that the body has been + 'possessed' by some other being, is confirmed by the phenomena of + somnambulism and insanity." Still further, as Mr. Spencer points out, when + we recollect that savages are very generally unwilling to have their + portraits taken, lest a portion of themselves should get carried off and + be exposed to foul play, <a href="#linknote-163" name="linknoteref-163" + id="linknoteref-163"><small>163</small></a> we must readily admit that the + weird reflection of the person and imitation of the gestures in rivers or + still woodland pools will go far to intensify the belief in the other + self. Less frequent but uniform confirmation is to be found in echoes, + which in Europe within two centuries have been commonly interpreted as the + voices of mocking fiends or wood-nymphs, and which the savage might well + regard as the utterances of his other self. + </p> + <p> + With the savage's unwillingness to have his portrait taken, lest it fall + into the hands of some enemy who may injure him by conjuring with it, may + be compared the reluctance which he often shows toward telling his name, + or mentioning the name of his friend, or king, or tutelar ghost-deity. In + fetichistic thought, the name is an entity mysteriously associated with + its owner, and it is not well to run the risk of its getting into hostile + hands. Along with this caution goes the similarly originated fear that the + person whose name is spoken may resent such meddling with his personality. + For the latter reason the Dayak will not allude by name to the small pox, + but will call it "the chief" or "jungle-leaves"; the Laplander speaks of + the bear as the "old man with the fur coat"; in Annam the tiger is called + "grandfather" or "Lord"; while in more civilized communities such sayings + are current as "talk of the Devil, and he will appear," with which we may + also compare such expressions as "Eumenides" or "gracious ones" for the + Furies, and other like euphemisms. Indeed, the maxim nil mortuis nisi + bonum had most likely at one time a fetichistic flavour. + </p> + <p> + In various islands of the Pacific, for both the reasons above specified, + the name of the reigning chief is so rigorously "tabu," that common words + and even syllables resembling that name in sound must be omitted from the + language. In New Zealand, where a chiefs name was Maripi, or "knife," it + became necessary to call knives nekra; and in Tahiti, fetu, "star," had to + be changed into fetia, and tui, "to strike," became tiai, etc., because + the king's name was Tu. Curious freaks are played with the languages of + these islands by this ever-recurring necessity. Among the Kafirs the women + have come to speak a different dialect from the men, because words + resembling the names of their lords or male relatives are in like manner + "tabu." The student of human culture will trace among such primeval + notions the origin of the Jew's unwillingness to pronounce the name of + Jehovah; and hence we may perhaps have before us the ultimate source of + the horror with which the Hebraizing Puritan regards such forms of light + swearing—"Mon Dieu," etc.—as are still tolerated on the + continent of Europe, but have disappeared from good society in Puritanic + England and America. The reader interested in this group of ideas and + customs may consult Tylor, Early History of Mankind, pp. 142, 363; Max + Muller, Science of Language, 6th edition, Vol. II. p. 37; Mackay, + Religious Development of the Greeks and Hebrews, Vol. I. p. 146. + </p> + <p> + Chamisso's well-known tale of Peter Schlemihl belongs to a widely diffused + family of legends, which show that a man's shadow has been generally + regarded not only as an entity, but as a sort of spiritual attendant of + the body, which under certain circumstances it may permanently forsake. It + is in strict accordance with this idea that not only in the classic + languages, but in various barbaric tongues, the word for "shadow" + expresses also the soul or other self. Tasmanians, Algonquins, + Central-Americans, Abipones, Basutos, and Zulus are cited by Mr. Tylor as + thus implicitly asserting the identity of the shadow with the ghost or + phantasm seen in dreams; the Basutos going so far as to think "that if a + man walks on the river-bank, a crocodile may seize his shadow in the water + and draw him in." Among the Algonquins a sick person is supposed to have + his shadow or other self temporarily detached from his body, and the + convalescent is at times "reproached for exposing himself before his + shadow was safely settled down in him." If the sick man has been plunged + into stupor, it is because his other self has travelled away as far as the + brink of the river of death, but not being allowed to cross has come back + and re-entered him. And acting upon a similar notion the ailing Fiji will + sometimes lie down and raise a hue and cry for his soul to be brought + back. Thus, continues Mr. Tylor, "in various countries the bringing back + of lost souls becomes a regular part of the sorcerer's or priest's + profession." <a href="#linknote-164" name="linknoteref-164" + id="linknoteref-164"><small>164</small></a> On Aryan soil we find the + notion of a temporary departure of the soul surviving to a late date in + the theory that the witch may attend the infernal Sabbath while her + earthly tabernacle is quietly sleeping at home. The primeval conception + reappears, clothed in bitterest sarcasm, in Dante's reference to his + living contemporaries whose souls he met with in the vaults of hell, while + their bodies were still walking about on the earth, inhabited by devils. + </p> + <p> + The theory which identifies the soul with the shadow, and supposes the + shadow to depart with the sickness and death of the body, would seem + liable to be attended with some difficulties in the way of verification, + even to the dim intelligence of the savage. But the propriety of + identifying soul and breath is borne out by all primeval experience. The + breath, which really quits the body at its decease, has furnished the + chief name for the soul, not only to the Hebrew, the Sanskrit, and the + classic tongues; not only to German and English, where geist, and ghost, + according to Max Muller, have the meaning of "breath," and are akin to + such words as gas, gust, and geyser; but also to numerous barbaric + languages. Among the natives of Nicaragua and California, in Java and in + West Australia, the soul is described as the air or breeze which passes in + and out through the nostrils and mouth; and the Greenlanders, according to + Cranz, reckon two separate souls, the breath and the shadow. "Among the + Seminoles of Florida, when a woman died in childbirth, the infant was held + over her face to receive her parting spirit, and thus acquire strength and + knowledge for its future use..... Their state of mind is kept up to this + day among Tyrolese peasants, who can still fancy a good man's soul to + issue from his mouth at death like a little white cloud." <a + href="#linknote-165" name="linknoteref-165" id="linknoteref-165"><small>165</small></a> + It is kept up, too, in Lancashire, where a well-known witch died a few + years since; "but before she could 'shuffle off this mortal coil' she must + needs TRANSFER HER FAMILIAR SPIRIT to some trusty successor. An intimate + acquaintance from a neighbouring township was consequently sent for in all + haste, and on her arrival was immediately closeted with her dying friend. + What passed between them has never fully transpired, but it is confidently + affirmed that at the close of the interview this associate RECEIVED THE + WITCH'S LAST BREATH INTO HER MOUTH AND WITH IT HER FAMILIAR SPIRIT. The + dreaded woman thus ceased to exist, but her powers for good or evil were + transferred to her companion; and on passing along the road from Burnley + to Blackburn we can point out a farmhouse at no great distance with whose + thrifty matron no neighbouring farmer will yet dare to quarrel." <a + href="#linknote-166" name="linknoteref-166" id="linknoteref-166"><small>166</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Of the theory of embodiment there will be occasion to speak further on. At + present let us not pass over the fact that the other self is not only + conceived as shadow or breath, which can at times quit the body during + life, but is also supposed to become temporarily embodied in the visible + form of some bird or beast. In discussing elsewhere the myth of Bishop + Hatto, we saw that the soul is sometimes represented in the form of a rat + or mouse; and in treating of werewolves we noticed the belief that the + spirits of dead ancestors, borne along in the night-wind, have taken on + the semblance of howling dogs or wolves. "Consistent with these quaint + ideas are ceremonies in vogue in China of bringing home in a cock (live or + artificial) the spirit of a man deceased in a distant place, and of + enticing into a sick man's coat the departing spirit which has already + left his body and so conveying it back." <a href="#linknote-167" + name="linknoteref-167" id="linknoteref-167"><small>167</small></a> In + Castren's great work on Finnish mythology, we find the story of the giant + who could not be killed because he kept his soul hidden in a twelve-headed + snake which he carried in a bag as he rode on horseback; only when the + secret was discovered and the snake carefully killed, did the giant yield + up his life. In this Finnish legend we have one of the thousand phases of + the story of the "Giant who had no Heart in his Body," but whose heart was + concealed, for safe keeping, in a duck's egg, or in a pigeon, carefully + disposed in some belfry at the world's end a million miles away, or + encased in a wellnigh infinite series of Chinese boxes. <a + href="#linknote-168" name="linknoteref-168" id="linknoteref-168"><small>168</small></a> + Since, in spite of all these precautions, the poor giant's heart + invariably came to grief, we need not wonder at the Karen superstition + that the soul is in danger when it quits the body on its excursions, as + exemplified in countless Indo-European stories of the accidental killing + of the weird mouse or pigeon which embodies the wandering spirit. + Conversely it is held that the detachment of the other self is fraught + with danger to the self which remains. In the philosophy of "wraiths" and + "fetches," the appearance of a double, like that which troubled Mistress + Affery in her waking dreams of Mr. Flintwinch, has been from time out of + mind a signal of alarm. "In New Zealand it is ominous to see the figure of + an absent person, for if it be shadowy and the face not visible, his death + may erelong be expected, but if the face be seen he is dead already. A + party of Maoris (one of whom told the story) were seated round a fire in + the open air, when there appeared, seen only by two of them, the figure of + a relative, left ill at home; they exclaimed, the figure vanished, and on + the return of the party it appeared that the sick man had died about the + time of the vision." <a href="#linknote-169" name="linknoteref-169" + id="linknoteref-169"><small>169</small></a> The belief in wraiths has + survived into modern times, and now and then appears in the records of + that remnant of primeval philosophy known as "spiritualism," as, for + example, in the case of the lady who "thought she saw her own father look + in at the church-window at the moment he was dying in his own house." + </p> + <p> + The belief in the "death-fetch," like the doctrine which identifies soul + with shadow, is instructive as showing that in barbaric thought the other + self is supposed to resemble the material self with which it has + customarily been associated. In various savage superstitions the minute + resemblance of soul to body is forcibly stated. The Australian, for + instance, not content with slaying his enemy, cuts off the right thumb of + the corpse, so that the departed soul may be incapacitated from throwing a + spear. Even the half-civilized Chinese prefer crucifixion to decapitation, + that their souls may not wander headless about the spirit-world. <a + href="#linknote-171" name="linknoteref-171" id="linknoteref-171"><small>171</small></a> + Thus we see how far removed from the Christian doctrine of souls is the + primeval theory of the soul or other self that figures in dreamland. So + grossly materialistic is the primitive conception that the savage who + cherishes it will bore holes in the coffin of his dead friend, so that the + soul may again have a chance, if it likes, to revisit the body. To this + day, among the peasants in some parts of Northern Europe, when Odin, the + spectral hunter, rides by attended by his furious host, the windows in + every sick-room are opened, in order that the soul, if it chooses to + depart, may not be hindered from joining in the headlong chase. And so, + adds Mr. Tylor, after the Indians of North America had spent a riotous + night in singeing an unfortunate captive to death with firebrands, they + would howl like the fiends they were, and beat the air with brushwood, to + drive away the distressed and revengeful ghost. "With a kindlier feeling, + the Congo negroes abstained for a whole year after a death from sweeping + the house, lest the dust should injure the delicate substance of the + ghost"; and even now, "it remains a German peasant saying that it is wrong + to slam a door, lest one should pinch a soul in it." <a + href="#linknote-172" name="linknoteref-172" id="linknoteref-172"><small>172</small></a> + Dante's experience with the ghosts in hell and purgatory, who were + astonished at his weighing down the boat in which they were carried, is + belied by the sweet German notion "that the dead mother's coming back in + the night to suckle the baby she has left on earth may be known by the + hollow pressed down in the bed where she lay." Almost universally ghosts, + however impervious to thrust of sword or shot of pistol, can eat and drink + like Squire Westerns. And lastly, we have the grotesque conception of + souls sufficiently material to be killed over again, as in the case of the + negro widows who, wishing to marry a second time, will go and duck + themselves in the pond, in order to drown the souls of their departed + husbands, which are supposed to cling about their necks; while, according + to the Fiji theory, the ghost of every dead warrior must go through a + terrible fight with Samu and his brethren, in which, if he succeeds, he + will enter Paradise, but if he fails he will be killed over again and + finally eaten by the dreaded Samu and his unearthly company. + </p> + <p> + From the conception of souls embodied in beast-forms, as above + illustrated, it is not a wide step to the conception of beast-souls which, + like human souls, survive the death of the tangible body. The wide-spread + superstitions concerning werewolves and swan-maidens, and the hardly less + general belief in metempsychosis, show that primitive culture has not + arrived at the distinction attained by modern philosophy between the + immortal man and the soulless brute. Still more direct evidence is + furnished by sundry savage customs. The Kafir who has killed an elephant + will cry that he did n't mean to do it, and, lest the elephant's soul + should still seek vengeance, he will cut off and bury the trunk, so that + the mighty beast may go crippled to the spirit-land. In like manner, the + Samoyeds, after shooting a bear, will gather about the body offering + excuses and laying the blame on the Russians; and the American redskin + will even put the pipe of peace into the dead animal's mouth, and beseech + him to forgive the deed. In Assam it is believed that the ghosts of slain + animals will become in the next world the property of the hunter who kills + them; and the Kamtchadales expressly declare that all animals, even flies + and bugs, will live after death,—a belief, which, in our own day, + has been indorsed on philosophical grounds by an eminent living + naturalist. <a href="#linknote-173" name="linknoteref-173" + id="linknoteref-173"><small>173</small></a> The Greenlanders, too, give + evidence of the same belief by supposing that when after an exhausting + fever the patient comes up in unprecedented health and vigour, it is + because he has lost his former soul and had it replaced by that of a young + child or a reindeer. In a recent work in which the crudest fancies of + primeval savagery are thinly disguised in a jargon learned from the + superficial reading of modern books of science, M. Figuier maintains that + human souls are for the most part the surviving souls of deceased animals; + in general, the souls of precocious musical children like Mozart come from + nightingales, while the souls of great architects have passed into them + from beavers, etc., etc. <a href="#linknote-174" name="linknoteref-174" + id="linknoteref-174"><small>174</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The practice of begging pardon of the animal one has just slain is in some + parts of the world extended to the case of plants. When the Talein offers + a prayer to the tree which he is about to cut down, it is obviously + because he regards the tree as endowed with a soul or ghost which in the + next life may need to be propitiated. And the doctrine of transmigration + distinctly includes plants along with animals among the future existences + into which the human soul may pass. + </p> + <p> + As plants, like animals, manifest phenomena of life, though to a much less + conspicuous degree, it is not incomprehensible that the savage should + attribute souls to them. But the primitive process of anthropomorphisation + does not end here. Not only the horse and dog, the bamboo, and the + oak-tree, but even lifeless objects, such as the hatchet, or bow and + arrows, or food and drink of the dead man, possess other selves which pass + into the world of ghosts. Fijis and other contemporary savages, when + questioned, expressly declare that this is their belief. "If an axe or a + chisel is worn out or broken up, away flies its soul for the service of + the gods." The Algonquins told Charlevoix that since hatchets and kettles + have shadows, no less than men and women, it follows, of course, that + these shadows (or souls) must pass along with human shadows (or souls) + into the spirit-land. In this we see how simple and consistent is the + logic which guides the savage, and how inevitable is the genesis of the + great mass of beliefs, to our minds so arbitrary and grotesque, which + prevail throughout the barbaric world. However absurd the belief that pots + and kettles have souls may seem to us, it is nevertheless the only belief + which can be held consistently by the savage to whom pots and kettles, no + less than human friends or enemies, may appear in his dreams; who sees + them followed by shadows as they are moved about; who hears their voices, + dull or ringing, when they are struck; and who watches their doubles + fantastically dancing in the water as they are carried across the stream. + <a href="#linknote-175" name="linknoteref-175" id="linknoteref-175"><small>175</small></a> + To minds, even in civilized countries, which are unused to the severe + training of science, no stronger evidence can be alleged than what is + called "the evidence of the senses"; for it is only long familiarity with + science which teaches us that the evidence of the senses is trustworthy + only in so far as it is correctly interpreted by reason. For the truth of + his belief in the ghosts of men and beasts, trees and axes, the savage has + undeniably the evidence of his senses which have so often seen, heard, and + handled these other selves. + </p> + <p> + The funeral ceremonies of uncultured races freshly illustrate this crude + philosophy, and receive fresh illustration from it. On the primitive + belief in the ghostly survival of persons and objects rests the almost + universal custom of sacrificing the wives, servants, horses, and dogs of + the departed chief of the tribe, as well as of presenting at his shrine + sacred offerings of food, ornaments, weapons, and money. Among the Kayans + the slaves who are killed at their master's tomb are enjoined to take + great care of their master's ghost, to wash and shampoo it, and to nurse + it when sick. Other savages think that "all whom they kill in this world + shall attend them as slaves after death," and for this reason the thrifty + Dayaks of Borneo until lately would not allow their young men to marry + until they had acquired some post mortem property by procuring at least + one human head. It is hardly necessary to do more than allude to the Fiji + custom of strangling all the wives of the deceased at his funeral, or to + the equally well-known Hindu rite of suttee. Though, as Wilson has shown, + the latter rite is not supported by any genuine Vedic authority, but only + by a shameless Brahmanic corruption of the sacred text, Mr. Tylor is + nevertheless quite right in arguing that unless the horrible custom had + received the sanction of a public opinion bequeathed from pre-Vedic times, + the Brahmans would have had no motive for fraudulently reviving it; and + this opinion is virtually established by the fact of the prevalence of + widow sacrifice among Gauls, Scandinavians, Slaves, and other European + Aryans. <a href="#linknote-176" name="linknoteref-176" id="linknoteref-176"><small>176</small></a> + Though under English rule the rite has been forcibly suppressed, yet the + archaic sentiments which so long maintained it are not yet extinct. Within + the present year there has appeared in the newspapers a not improbable + story of a beautiful and accomplished Hindu lady who, having become the + wife of a wealthy Englishman, and after living several years in England + amid the influences of modern society, nevertheless went off and privately + burned herself to death soon after her husband's decease. + </p> + <p> + The reader who thinks it far-fetched to interpret funeral offerings of + food, weapons, ornaments, or money, on the theory of object-souls, will + probably suggest that such offerings may be mere memorials of affection or + esteem for the dead man. Such, indeed, they have come to be in many + countries after surviving the phase of culture in which they originated; + but there is ample evidence to show that at the outset they were presented + in the belief that their ghosts would be eaten or otherwise employed by + the ghost of the dead man. The stout club which is buried with the dead + Fiji sends its soul along with him that he may be able to defend himself + against the hostile ghosts which will lie in ambush for him on the road to + Mbulu, seeking to kill and eat him. Sometimes the club is afterwards + removed from the grave as of no further use, since its ghost is all that + the dead man needs. In like manner, "as the Greeks gave the dead man the + obolus for Charon's toll, and the old Prussians furnished him with + spending money, to buy refreshment on his weary journey, so to this day + German peasants bury a corpse with money in his mouth or hand," and this + is also said to be one of the regular ceremonies of an Irish wake. Of + similar purport were the funeral feasts and oblations of food in Greece + and Italy, the "rice-cakes made with ghee" destined for the Hindu + sojourning in Yama's kingdom, and the meat and gruel offered by the + Chinaman to the manes of his ancestors. "Many travellers have described + the imagination with which the Chinese make such offerings. It is that the + spirits of the dead consume the impalpable essence of the food, leaving + behind its coarse material substance, wherefore the dutiful sacrificers, + having set out sumptuous feasts for ancestral souls, allow them a proper + time to satisfy their appetite, and then fall to themselves." <a + href="#linknote-177" name="linknoteref-177" id="linknoteref-177"><small>177</small></a> + So in the Homeric sacrifice to the gods, after the deity has smelled the + sweet savour and consumed the curling steam that rises ghost-like from the + roasting viands, "the assembled warriors devour the remains." <a + href="#linknote-178" name="linknoteref-178" id="linknoteref-178"><small>178</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Thus far the course of fetichistic thought which we have traced out, with + Mr. Tylor's aid, is such as is not always obvious to the modern inquirer + without considerable concrete illustration. The remainder of the process, + resulting in that systematic and complete anthropomorphisation of nature + which has given rise to mythology, may be more succinctly described. + Gathering together the conclusions already obtained, we find that daily or + frequent experience of the phenomena of shadows and dreams has combined + with less frequent experience of the phenomena of trance, ecstasy, and + insanity, to generate in the mind of uncultured man the notion of a + twofold existence appertaining alike to all animate or inanimate objects: + as all alike possess material bodies, so all alike possess ghosts or + souls. Now when the theory of object-souls is expanded into a general + doctrine of spirits, the philosophic scheme of animism is completed. Once + habituated to the conception of souls of knives and tobacco-pipes passing + to the land of ghosts, the savage cannot avoid carrying the interpretation + still further, so that wind and water, fire and storm, are accredited with + indwelling spirits akin by nature to the soul which inhabits the human + frame. That the mighty spirit or demon by whose impelling will the trees + are rooted up and the storm-clouds driven across the sky should resemble a + freed human soul, is a natural inference, since uncultured man has not + attained to the conception of physical force acting in accordance with + uniform methods, and hence all events are to his mind the manifestations + of capricious volition. If the fire burns down his hut, it is because the + fire is a person with a soul, and is angry with him, and needs to be + coaxed into a kindlier mood by means of prayer or sacrifice. Thus the + savage has a priori no alternative but to regard fire-soul as something + akin to human-soul; and in point of fact we find that savage philosophy + makes no distinction between the human ghost and the elemental demon or + deity. This is sufficiently proved by the universal prevalence of the + worship of ancestors. The essential principle of manes-worship is that the + tribal chief or patriarch, who has governed the community during life, + continues also to govern it after death, assisting it in its warfare with + hostile tribes, rewarding brave warriors, and punishing traitors and + cowards. Thus from the conception of the living king we pass to the notion + of what Mr. Spencer calls "the god-king," and thence to the rudimentary + notion of deity. Among such higher savages as the Zulus, the doctrine of + divine ancestors has been developed to the extent of recognizing a first + ancestor, the Great Father, Unkulunkulu, who made the world. But in the + stratum of savage thought in which barbaric or Aryan folk-lore is for the + most part based, we find no such exalted speculation. The ancestors of the + rude Veddas and of the Guinea negroes, the Hindu pitris (patres, + "fathers"), and the Roman manes have become elemental deities which send + rain or sunshine, health or sickness, plenty or famine, and to which their + living offspring appeal for guidance amid the vicissitudes of life. <a + href="#linknote-179" name="linknoteref-179" id="linknoteref-179"><small>179</small></a> + The theory of embodiment, already alluded to, shows how thoroughly the + demons which cause disease are identified with human and object souls. In + Australasia it is a dead man's ghost which creeps up into the liver of the + impious wretch who has ventured to pronounce his name; while conversely in + the well-known European theory of demoniacal possession, it is a fairy + from elf-land, or an imp from hell, which has entered the body of the + sufferer. In the close kinship, moreover, between disease-possession and + oracle-possession, where the body of the Pythia, or the medicine-man, is + placed under the direct control of some great deity, <a + href="#linknote-180" name="linknoteref-180" id="linknoteref-180"><small>180</small></a> + we may see how by insensible transitions the conception of the human ghost + passes into the conception of the spiritual numen, or divinity. + </p> + <p> + To pursue this line of inquiry through the countless nymphs and dryads and + nixies of the higher nature-worship up to the Olympian divinities of + classic polytheism, would be to enter upon the history of religious + belief, and in so doing to lose sight of our present purpose, which has + merely been to show by what mental process the myth-maker can speak of + natural objects in language which implies that they are animated persons. + Brief as our account of this process has been, I believe that enough has + been said, not only to reveal the inadequacy of purely philological + solutions (like those contained in Max Muller's famous Essay) to explain + the growth of myths, but also to exhibit the vast importance for this + purpose of the kind of psychological inquiry into the mental habits of + savages which Mr. Tylor has so ably conducted. Indeed, however lacking we + may still be in points of detail, I think we have already reached a very + satisfactory explanation of the genesis of mythology. Since the essential + characteristic of a myth is that it is an attempt to explain some natural + phenomenon by endowing with human feelings and capacities the senseless + factors in the phenomenon, and since it has here been shown how uncultured + man, by the best use he can make of his rude common sense, must inevitably + come, and has invariably come, to regard all objects as endowed with + souls, and all nature as peopled with supra-human entities shaped after + the general pattern of the human soul, I am inclined to suspect that we + have got very near to the root of the whole matter. We can certainly find + no difficulty in seeing why a water-spout should be described in the + "Arabian Nights" as a living demon: "The sea became troubled before them, + and there arose from it a black pillar, ascending towards the sky, and + approaching the meadow,.... and behold it was a Jinni, of gigantic + stature." We can see why the Moslem camel-driver should find it most + natural to regard the whirling simoom as a malignant Jinni; we may + understand how it is that the Persian sees in bodily shape the scarlet + fever as "a blushing maid with locks of flame and cheeks all rosy red"; + and we need not consider it strange that the primeval Aryan should have + regarded the sun as a voyager, a climber, or an archer, and the clouds as + cows driven by the wind-god Hermes to their milking. The identification of + William Tell with the sun becomes thoroughly intelligible; nor can we be + longer surprised at the conception of the howling night-wind as a ravenous + wolf. When pots and kettles are thought to have souls that live hereafter, + there is no difficulty in understanding how the blue sky can have been + regarded as the sire of gods and men. And thus, as the elves and bogarts + of popular lore are in many cases descended from ancient divinities of + Olympos and Valhalla, so these in turn must acknowledge their ancestors in + the shadowy denizens of the primeval ghost-world. + </p> + <p> + August, 1872. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTE. + </h2> + <p> + THE following are some of the modern works most likely to be of use to the + reader who is interested in the legend of William Tell. + </p> + <p> + HISELY, J. J. Dissertatio historiea inauguralis de Oulielmo Tellio, etc. + Groningae, 1824. + </p> + <p> + IDELER, J. L. Die Sage von dem Schuss des Tell. Berlin, 1836. + </p> + <p> + HAUSSER, L. Die Sage von Tell aufs Neue kritisch untersucht. Heidelberg, + 1840. + </p> + <p> + HISELY, J. J. Recherches critiques sur l'histoire de Guillaume Tell. + Lausanne, 1843. + </p> + <p> + LIEBENAU, H. Die Tell-Sage zu dem Jahre 1230 historisoh nach neuesten + Quellen. Aarau, 1864. + </p> + <p> + VISCHER, W. Die Sage von der Befreinng der Waldstatte, etc. Nebst einer + Beilage: das alteste Tellensehauspiel. Leipzig, 1867. + </p> + <p> + BORDIER, H. L. Le Grutli et Guillaume Tell, ou defense de la tradition + vulgaire sur les origines de la confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, + 1869. + </p> + <p> + The same. La querelle sur les traditions concernant l'origine de la + confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + </p> + <p> + RILLIET, A. Les origines de la confederation suisse: histoire et legende. + 2eS ed., revue et corrigee. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + </p> + <p> + The same. Lettre a M. Henri Bordier a propos de sa defense de la tradition + vulgaire sur les origines de la confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, + 1869. + </p> + <p> + HUNGERBUHLER, H. Etude critique sur les traditions relatives aux origines + de la confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + </p> + <p> + MEYER, KARL. Die Tellsage. [In Bartsch, Germanistische Studien, I. + 159-170. Wien, 1872.] + </p> + <p> + See also the articles by M. Scherer, in Le Temps, 18 Feb., 1868; by M. + Reuss, in the Revue critique d'histoire, 1868; by M. de Wiss, in the + Journal de Geneve, 7 July, 1868; also Revue critique, 17 July, 1869; + Journal de Geneve, 24 Oct., 1868; Gazette de Lausanne, feuilleton + litteraire, 2-5 Nov., 1868, "Les origines de la confederation suisse," par + M. Secretan; Edinburgh Review, Jan., 1869, "The Legend of Tell and Rutli." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_FOOT" id="link2H_FOOT"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FOOTNOTES: + </h2> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1 (<a href="#linknoteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ See Delepierre, Historical + Difficulties, p. 75.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2 (<a href="#linknoteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ Saxo Grammaticus, Bk. X. p. + 166, ed. Frankf. 1576.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3" id="linknote-3"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3 (<a href="#linknoteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ According to Mr. Isaac + Taylor, the name is really derived from "St. Celert, a Welsh saint of the + fifth century, to whom the church of Llangeller is consecrated." (Words + and Places, p. 339.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-4" id="linknote-4"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 4 (<a href="#linknoteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare Krilof's story of + the Gnat and the Shepherd, in Mr. Ralston's excellent version, Krilof and + his Fables, p. 170. Many parallel examples are cited by Mr. Baring-Gould, + Curious Myths, Vol. I. pp. 126-136. See also the story of Folliculus,—Swan, + Gesta Romanorum, ad. Wright, Vol. I. p. lxxxii] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-5" id="linknote-5"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 5 (<a href="#linknoteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ See Cox, Mythology of the + Aryan Nations, Vol. I. pp. 145-149.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-6" id="linknote-6"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 6 (<a href="#linknoteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ The same incident occurs in + the Arabian story of Seyf-el-Mulook and Bedeea-el-Jemal, where the Jinni's + soul is enclosed in the crop of a sparrow, and the sparrow imprisoned in a + small box, and this enclosed in another small box, and this again in seven + other boxes, which are put into seven chests, contained in a coffer of + marble, which is sunk in the ocean that surrounds the world. + Seyf-el-Mulook raises the coffer by the aid of Suleyman's seal-ring, and + having extricated the sparrow, strangles it, whereupon the Jinni's body is + converted into a heap of black ashes, and Seyf-el-Mulook escapes with the + maiden Dolet-Khatoon. See Lane's Arabian Nights, Vol. III. p. 316.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-7" id="linknote-7"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 7 (<a href="#linknoteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ The same incident is + repeated in the story of Hassan of El-Basrah. See Lane's Arabian Nights, + Vol. III p. 452.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-8" id="linknote-8"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 8 (<a href="#linknoteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ "Retrancher le merveilleux + d'un mythe, c'est le supprimer."—Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 50.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-9" id="linknote-9"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 9 (<a href="#linknoteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ "No distinction between the + animate and inanimate is made in the languages of the Eskimos, the + Choctaws, the Muskoghee, and the Caddo. Only the Iroquois, Cherokee, and + the Algonquin-Lenape have it, so far as is known, and with them it is + partial." According to the Fijians, "vegetables and stones, nay, even + tools and weapons, pots and canoes, have souls that are immortal, and + that, like the souls of men, pass on at last to Mbulu, the abode of + departed spirits."—M'Lennan, The Worship of Animals and Plants, + Fortnightly Review, Vol. XII. p, 416.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-10" id="linknote-10"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 10 (<a href="#linknoteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ Marcus Aurelius, V. 7.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-11" id="linknote-11"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 11 (<a href="#linknoteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ Some of these etymologies + are attacked by Mr. Mahaffy in his Prolegomena to Ancient History, p. 49. + After long consideration I am still disposed to follow Max Muller in + adopting them, with the possible exception of Achilleus. With Mr. Mahaffy + s suggestion (p. 52) that many of the Homeric legends may have clustered + around some historical basis, I fully agree; as will appear, further on, + from my paper on "Juventus Mundi."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-12" id="linknote-12"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 12 (<a href="#linknoteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ Les facultes qui + engendrent la mythologie sont les memes que celles qui engendront la + philosophie, et ce n'est pas sans raison que l'Inde et la Grece nous + presentent le phenomene de la plus riche mythologie a cote de la plus + profonde metaphysique. "La conception de la multiplicite dans l'univers, + c'est le polytheisme chez les peuples enfants; c'est la science chez les + peuples arrives a l'age mur."—Renan, Hist. des Langues Semitiques, + Tom. I. p. 9.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-13" id="linknote-13"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 13 (<a href="#linknoteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ Cases coming under this + head are discussed further on, in my paper on "Myths of the Barbaric + World."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-14" id="linknote-14"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 14 (<a href="#linknoteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ A collection of these + interesting legends may be found in Baring-Gould's "Curious Myths of the + Middle Ages," of which work this paper was originally a review.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-15" id="linknote-15"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 15 (<a href="#linknoteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ See Procopius, De Bello + Gothico, IV. 20; Villemarque, Barzas Breiz, I. 136. As a child I was + instructed by an old nurse that Vas Diemen's Land is the home of ghosts + and departed spirits.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-16" id="linknote-16"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 16 (<a href="#linknoteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Curious + Myths, Vol. I. p. 197.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-17" id="linknote-17"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 17 (<a href="#linknoteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ Hence perhaps the adage, + "Always remember to pay the piper."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-18" id="linknote-18"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 18 (<a href="#linknoteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ And it reappears as the + mysterious lyre of the Gaelic musician, who + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Could harp a fish out o' the water, + Or bluid out of a stane, + Or milk out of a maiden's breast, + That bairns had never nane."] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-19" id="linknote-19"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 19 (<a href="#linknoteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Curious + Myths, Vol. II. p. 159.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-20" id="linknote-20"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 20 (<a href="#linknoteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ Perhaps we may trace back + to this source the frantic terror which Irish servant-girls often manifest + at sight of a mouse.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-21" id="linknote-21"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 21 (<a href="#linknoteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ In Persia a dog is + brought to the bedside of the person who is dying, in order that the soul + may be sure of a prompt escort. The same custom exists in India. Breal, + Hercule et Cacus, p. 123.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-22" id="linknote-22"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 22 (<a href="#linknoteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ The Devil, who is + proverbially "active in a gale of wind," is none other than Hermes.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-23" id="linknote-23"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 23 (<a href="#linknoteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ "Il faut que la coeur + devienne ancien parmi les aneiennes choses, et la plenitude de l'histoire + ne se devoile qu'a celui qui descend, ainsi dispose, dans le passe. Mais + il faut que l'esprit demeure moderne, et n'oublie jamais qu'il n'y a pour + lui d'autre foi que la foi scientifique."—LITTRS.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-24" id="linknote-24"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 24 (<a href="#linknoteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ For an admirable example + of scientific self-analysis tracing one of these illusions to its + psychological sources, see the account of Dr. Lazarus, in Taine, De + l'Intelligence, Vol. I. pp. 121-125.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-25" id="linknote-25"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 25 (<a href="#linknoteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ See the story of Aymar in + Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. I. pp. 57-77. The learned author + attributes the discomfiture to the uncongenial Parisian environment; which + is a style of reasoning much like that of my village sorcerer, I fear.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-26" id="linknote-26"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 26 (<a href="#linknoteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ Kelly, Indo-European + Folk-Lore, p. 177.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-27" id="linknote-27"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 27 (<a href="#linknoteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ The story of the + luck-flower is well told in verse by Mr. Baring Gould, in his Silver + Store, p. 115, seq.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-28" id="linknote-28"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 28 (<a href="#linknoteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ 1 Kings vi. 7.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-29" id="linknote-29"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 29 (<a href="#linknoteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare the Mussulman + account of the building of the temple, in Baring-Gould, Legends of the + Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 337, 338. And see the story of Diocletian's + ostrich, Swan, Gesta Romanorum, ed. Wright, Vol I. p. lxiv. See also the + pretty story of the knight unjustly imprisoned, id. p. cii.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-30" id="linknote-30"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 30 (<a href="#linknoteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ "We have the receipt of + fern-seed. We walk invisible." —Shakespeare, Henry IV. See Ralston, + Songs of the Russian People, p. 98] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-31" id="linknote-31"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 31 (<a href="#linknoteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ Henderson, Folk-Lore of + the Northern Counties of England, p. 202] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-32" id="linknote-32"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 32 (<a href="#linknoteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ Kuhn, Die Herabkunft des + Feuers und des Gottertranks. Berlin, 1859.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-33" id="linknote-33"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 33 (<a href="#linknoteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ "Saga me forwhan byth seo + sunne read on aefen? Ic the secge, forthon heo locath on helle.—Tell + me, why is the sun red at even? I tell thee, because she looketh on hell." + Thorpe, Analecta Anglo-Saxonica, p. 115, apud Tylor, Primitive Culture, + Vol. II. p. 63. Barbaric thought had partly anticipated my childish + theory.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-34" id="linknote-34"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 34 (<a href="#linknoteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ "Still in North Germany + does the peasant say of thunder, that the angels are playing skittles + aloft, and of the snow, that they are shaking up the feather beds in + heaven."—Baring-Gould, Book of Werewolves, p. 172.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-35" id="linknote-35"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 35 (<a href="#linknoteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Polynesians imagine + that the sky descends at the horizon and encloses the earth. Hence they + call foreigners papalangi, or 'heaven-bursters,' as having broken in from + another world outside."—Max Muller, Chips, II. 268.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-36" id="linknote-36"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 36 (<a href="#linknoteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ "—And said the + gods, let there be a hammered plate in the midst of the waters, and let it + be dividing between waters and waters." Genesis i. 6.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-37" id="linknote-37"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 37 (<a href="#linknoteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ Genesis vii. 11.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-38" id="linknote-38"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 38 (<a href="#linknoteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ See Kelly, Indo-European + Folk-Lore, p 120; who states also that in Bengal the Garrows burn their + dead in a small boat, placed on top of the funeral-pile. In their + character of cows, also, the clouds were regarded as psychopomps; and + hence it is still a popular superstition that a cow breaking into the yard + foretokens a death in the family.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-39" id="linknote-39"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 39 (<a href="#linknoteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ The sun-god Freyr had a + cloud-ship called Skithblathnir, which is thus described in Dasent's Prose + Edda: "She is so great, that all the AEsir, with their weapons and + war-gear, may find room on board her"; but "when there is no need of + faring on the sea in her, she is made.... with so much craft that Freyr + may fold her together like a cloth, and keep her in his bag." This same + virtue was possessed by the fairy pavilion which the Peri Banou gave to + Ahmed; the cloud which is no bigger than a man's hand may soon overspread + the whole heaven, and shade the Sultan's army from the solar rays.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-40" id="linknote-40"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 40 (<a href="#linknoteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ Euhemerism has done its + best with this bird, representing it as an immense vulture or condor or as + a reminiscence of the extinct dodo. But a Chinese myth, cited by Klaproth, + well preserves its true character when it describes it as "a bird which in + flying obscures the sun, and of whose quills are made water-tuns." See + Nouveau Journal Asiatique, Tom. XII. p. 235. The big bird in the Norse + tale of the "Blue Belt" belongs to the same species.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-41" id="linknote-41"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 41 (<a href="#linknoteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Curious + Myths, Vol. II. p. 146. Compare Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 237, + seq.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-42" id="linknote-42"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 42 (<a href="#linknoteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ "If Polyphemos's eye be + the sun, then Odysseus, the solar hero, extinguishes himself, a very + primitive instance of suicide." Mahaffy, Prolegomena, p. 57. See also + Brown, Poseidon, pp. 39, 40. This objection would be relevant only in case + Homer were supposed to be constructing an allegory with entire knowledge + of its meaning. It has no validity whatever when we recollect that Homer + could have known nothing of the incongruity.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-43" id="linknote-43"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 43 (<a href="#linknoteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ The Sanskrit myth-teller + indeed mixes up his materials in a way which seems ludicrous to a Western + reader. He describes Indra (the sun-god) as not only cleaving the + cloud-mountains with his sword, but also cutting off their wings and + hurling them from the sky. See Burnouf, Bhagavata Purana, VI. 12, 26.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-44" id="linknote-44"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 44 (<a href="#linknoteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ Mr. Tylor offers a + different, and possibly a better, explanation of the Symplegades as the + gates of Night through which the solar ship, having passed successfully + once, may henceforth pass forever. See the details of the evidence in his + Primitive Culture, I. 315.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-45" id="linknote-45"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 45 (<a href="#linknoteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ The Sanskrit parvata, a + bulging or inflated body, means both "cloud" and "mountain." "In the Edda, + too, the rocks, said to have been fashioned out of Ymir's bones, are + supposed to be intended for clouds. In Old Norse Klakkr means both cloud + and rock; nay, the English word CLOUD itself has been identified with the + Anglo-Saxon clud, rock. See Justi, Orient und Occident, Vol. II. p. 62." + Max Muller, Rig-Veda, Vol. 1. p. 44.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-46" id="linknote-46"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 46 (<a href="#linknoteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ In accordance with the + mediaeval "doctrine of signatures," it was maintained "that the hard, + stony seeds of the Gromwell must be good for gravel, and the knotty tubers + of scrophularia for scrofulous glands; while the scaly pappus of scaliosa + showed it to be a specific in leprous diseases, the spotted leaves of + pulmonaria that it was a sovereign remedy for tuberculous lungs, and the + growth of saxifrage in the fissures of rocks that it would disintegrate + stone in the bladder." Prior, Popular Names of British Plants, Introd., p. + xiv. See also Chapiel, La Doctrine des Signatures. Paris, 1866.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-47" id="linknote-47"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 47 (<a href="#linknoteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ Indeed, the wish-bone, or + forked clavicle of a fowl, itself belongs to the same family of talismans + as the divining-rod.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-48" id="linknote-48"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 48 (<a href="#linknoteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ The ash, on the other + hand, has been from time immemorial used for spears in many parts of the + Aryan domain. The word oesc meant, in Anglo-Saxon, indifferently + "ash-tree," or "spear"; and the same is, or has been, true of the French + fresne and the Greek melia. The root of oesc appears in the Sanskrit as, + "to throw" or "lance," whence asa, "a bow," and asana, "an arrow." See + Pictet, Origines Indo-Europeennes, I. 222.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-49" id="linknote-49"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 49 (<a href="#linknoteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare Spenser's story + of Sir Guyon, in the "Faery Queen," where, however, the knight fares + better than this poor priest. Usually these lightning-caverns were like + Ixion's treasure-house, into which none might look and live. This + conception is the foundation of part of the story of Blue-Beard and of the + Arabian tale of the third one-eyed Calender] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-50" id="linknote-50"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 50 (<a href="#linknoteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ Cox, Mythology of the + Aryan Nations, Vol. 1. p. 161.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-51" id="linknote-51"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 51 (<a href="#linknoteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ Kelly, Indo-European + Folk-Lore, pp. 147, 183, 186, 193.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-52" id="linknote-52"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 52 (<a href="#linknoteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ Brinton, Myths of the New + World, p. 151.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-53" id="linknote-53"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 53 (<a href="#linknoteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ Callaway, Zulu Nursery + Tales, I. 173, Note 12.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-54" id="linknote-54"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 54 (<a href="#linknoteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, Early History of + Mankind, p. 238; Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 254; Darwin, Naturalist's + Voyage, p. 409.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-55" id="linknote-55"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 55 (<a href="#linknoteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ The production of fire by + the drill is often called churning, e. g. "He took the uvati [chark], and + sat down and churned it, and kindled a fire." Callaway, Zulu Nursery + Tales, I. 174.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-56" id="linknote-56"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 56 (<a href="#linknoteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ Kelly, Indo-European + Folk-Lore, p. 39. Burnouf, Bhagavata Purana, VIII. 6, 32.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-57" id="linknote-57"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 57 (<a href="#linknoteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Curious + Myths, p. 149.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-58" id="linknote-58"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 58 (<a href="#linknoteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ It is also the + regenerating water of baptism, and the "holy water" of the Roman + Catholic.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-59" id="linknote-59"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 59 (<a href="#linknoteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ In the Vedas the rain-god + Soma, originally the personification of the sacrificial ambrosia, is the + deity who imparts to men life, knowledge, and happiness. See Breal, + Hercule et Cacus, p. 85. Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 277.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-60" id="linknote-60"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 60 (<a href="#linknoteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ We may, perhaps, see here + the reason for making the Greek fire-god Hephaistos the husband of + Aphrodite.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-61" id="linknote-61"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 61 (<a href="#linknoteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ "Our country maidens are + well aware that triple leaves plucked at hazard from the common ash are + worn in the breast, for the purpose of causing prophetic dreams respecting + a dilatory lover. The leaves of the yellow trefoil are supposed to possess + similar virtues."—Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore, p. + 20.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-62" id="linknote-62"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 62 (<a href="#linknoteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ In Peru, a mighty and + far-worshipped deity was Catequil, the thunder-god,.... "he who in + thunder-flash and clap hurls from his sling the small, round, smooth + thunder-stones, treasured in the villages as fire-fetishes and charms to + kindle the flames of love."—Tylor, op. cit. Vol. II. p. 239] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-63" id="linknote-63"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 63 (<a href="#linknoteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ In Polynesia, "the great + deity Maui adds a new complication to his enigmatic solar-celestial + character by appearing as a wind-god."—Tylor, op. cit. Vol. II. p. + 242.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-64" id="linknote-64"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 64 (<a href="#linknoteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare Plato, Republic, + VIII. 15.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-65" id="linknote-65"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 65 (<a href="#linknoteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ Were-wolf = man-wolf, wer + meaning "man." Garou is a Gallic corruption of werewolf, so that + loup-garou is a tautological expression.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-66" id="linknote-66"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 66 (<a href="#linknoteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ Meyer, in Bunsen's + Philosophy of Universal History, Vol. I. p. 151.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-67" id="linknote-67"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 67 (<a href="#linknoteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ Aimoin, De Gestis + Francorum, II. 5.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-68" id="linknote-68"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 68 (<a href="#linknoteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ Taylor, Words and Places, + p. 393.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-69" id="linknote-69"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 69 (<a href="#linknoteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ Very similar to this is + the etymological confusion upon which is based the myth of the "confusion + of tongues" in the eleventh chapter of Genesis. The name "Babel" is really + Bab-Il, or "the gate of God"; but the Hebrew writer erroneously derives + the word from the root balal, "to confuse"; and hence arises the mythical + explanation,—that Babel was a place where human speech became + confused. See Rawlinson, in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. I. p. + 149; Renan, Histoire des Langues Semitiques, Vol. I. p. 32; Donaldson, New + Cratylus, p. 74, note; Colenso on the Pentateuch, Vol. IV. p. 268.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-70" id="linknote-70"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 70 (<a href="#linknoteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [ Vilg. AEn. VIII. 322. + With Latium compare plat?s, Skr. prath (to spread out), Eng. flat. Ferrar, + Comparative Grammar of Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit, Vol. I. p. 31.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-71" id="linknote-71"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 71 (<a href="#linknoteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [ M`Lennan, "The Worship of + Animals and Plants," Fortnightly Review, N. S. Vol. VI. pp. 407-427, + 562-582, Vol. VII. pp 194-216; Spencer, "The Origin of Animal Worship," + Id. Vol. VII. pp. 535-550, reprinted in his Recent Discussions in Science, + etc., pp. 31-56.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-72" id="linknote-72"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 72 (<a href="#linknoteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ Thus is explained the + singular conduct of the Hindu, who slays himself before his enemy's door, + in order to acquire greater power of injuring him. "A certain Brahman, on + whose lands a Kshatriya raja had built a house, ripped himself up in + revenge, and became a demon of the kind called Brahmadasyu, who has been + ever since the terror of the whole country, and is the most common + village-deity in Kharakpur. Toward the close of the last century there + were two Brahmans, out of whose house a man had wrongfully, as they + thought, taken forty rupees; whereupon one of the Brahmans proceeded to + cut off his own mother's head, with the professed view, entertained by + both mother and son, that her spirit, excited by the beating of a large + drum during forty days might haunt, torment, and pursue to death the taker + of their money and those concerned with him." Tylor, Primitive Culture, + Vol. II. p. 103.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-73" id="linknote-73"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 73 (<a href="#linknoteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ Hence, in many parts of + Europe, it is still customary to open the windows when a person dies, in + order that the soul may not be hindered in joining the mystic cavalcade.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-74" id="linknote-74"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 74 (<a href="#linknoteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ The story of little Red + Riding-Hood is "mutilated in the English version, but known more perfectly + by old wives in Germany, who can tell that the lovely little maid in her + shining red satin cloak was swallowed with her grandmother by the wolf, + till they both came out safe and sound when the hunter cut open the + sleeping beast." Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. 307, where also see the + kindred Russian story of Vasilissa the Beautiful. Compare the case of Tom + Thumb, who "was swallowed by the cow and came out unhurt"; the story of + Saktideva swallowed by the fish and cut out again, in Somadeva Bhatta, II. + 118-184; and the story of Jonah swallowed by the whale, in the Old + Testament. All these are different versions of the same myth, and refer to + the alternate swallowing up and casting forth of Day by Night, which is + commonly personified as a wolf, and now and then as a great fish. Compare + Grimm's story of the Wolf and Seven Kids, Tylor, loc. cit., and see Early + History of Mankind, p. 337; Hardy, Manual of Budhism, p. 501.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-75" id="linknote-75"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 75 (<a href="#linknoteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Book of + Werewolves, p. 178; Muir, Sanskrit Texts, II. 435.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-76" id="linknote-76"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 76 (<a href="#linknoteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ In those days even an + after-dinner nap seems to have been thought uncanny. See Dasent, Burnt + Njal, I. xxi.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-77" id="linknote-77"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 77 (<a href="#linknoteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ See Dasent, Burnt Njai, + Vol. I. p. xxii.; Grettis Saga, by Magnusson and Morris, chap. xix.; Viga + Glum's Saga, by Sir Edmund Head, p. 13, note, where the Berserkers are + said to have maddened themselves with drugs. Dasent compares them with the + Malays, who work themselves into a frenzy by means of arrack, or hasheesh, + and run amuck.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-78" id="linknote-78"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 78 (<a href="#linknoteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Werewolves, + p. 81.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-79" id="linknote-79"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 79 (<a href="#linknoteref-79">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, op. cit. + chap. xiv.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-80" id="linknote-80"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 80 (<a href="#linknoteref-80">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, op. cit. p. + 82.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-81" id="linknote-81"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 81 (<a href="#linknoteref-81">return</a>)<br /> [ Kennedy, Fictions of the + Irish Celts, p. 90.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-82" id="linknote-82"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 82 (<a href="#linknoteref-82">return</a>)<br /> [ "En 1541, a Padoue, dit + Wier, un homme qui se croyait change en loup courait la campagne, + attaquant et mettant a mort ceux qu'il rencontrait. Apres bien des + difficultes, on parvint s'emparer de lui. Il dit en confidence a ceux qui + l'arreterent: Je suis vraiment un loup, et si ma peau ne parait pas etre + celle d'un loup, c'est parce qu'elle est retournee et que les poils sont + en dedans.—Pour s'assurer du fait, on coupa le malheureux aux + differentes parties du corps, on lui emporta les bras et les jambes."—Taine, + De l'Intelligence, Tom. II. p. 203. See the account of Slavonic werewolves + in Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, pp. 404-418.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-83" id="linknote-83"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 83 (<a href="#linknoteref-83">return</a>)<br /> [ Mr. Cox, whose scepticism + on obscure points in history rather surpasses that of Sir G. C. Lewis, + dismisses with a sneer the subject of the Berserker madness, observing + that "the unanimous testimony of the Norse historians is worth as much and + as little as the convictions of Glanvil and Hale on the reality of + witchcraft." I have not the special knowledge requisite for pronouncing an + opinion on this point, but Mr. Cox's ordinary methods of disposing of such + questions are not such as to make one feel obliged to accept his bare + assertion, unaccompanied by critical arguments. The madness of the + bearsarks may, no doubt, be the same thing us the frenzy of Herakles; but + something more than mere dogmatism is needed to prove it.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-84" id="linknote-84"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 84 (<a href="#linknoteref-84">return</a>)<br /> [ Williams, Superstitions + of Witchcraft, p. 179. See a parallel case of a cat-woman, in Thorpe's + Northern Mythology, II. 26. "Certain witches at Thurso for a long time + tormented an honest fellow under the usual form of cats, till one night he + put them to flight with his broadsword, and cut off the leg of one less + nimble than the rest; taking it up, to his amazement he found it to be a + woman's leg, and next morning he discovered the old hag its owner with but + one leg left."—Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. 283.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-85" id="linknote-85"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 85 (<a href="#linknoteref-85">return</a>)<br /> [ "The mare in nightmare + means spirit, elf, or nymph; compare Anglo-Saxon wudurmaere (wood-mare) = + echo."—Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 173.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-86" id="linknote-86"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 86 (<a href="#linknoteref-86">return</a>)<br /> [ See Kuhn, Herabkunft des + Feuers, p. 91; Weber, Indische Studien. I. 197; Wolf, Beitrage zur + deutschen Mythologie, II. 233-281 Muller, Chips, II. 114-128.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-87" id="linknote-87"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 87 (<a href="#linknoteref-87">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Curious + Myths, II. 207.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-88" id="linknote-88"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 88 (<a href="#linknoteref-88">return</a>)<br /> [ The word nymph itself + means "cloud-maiden," as is illustrated by the kinship between the Greek + numph and the Latin nubes.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-89" id="linknote-89"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 89 (<a href="#linknoteref-89">return</a>)<br /> [ This is substantially + identical with the stories of Beauty and the Beast, Eros and Psyche, + Gandharba Sena, etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-90" id="linknote-90"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 90 (<a href="#linknoteref-90">return</a>)<br /> [ The feather-dress + reappears in the Arabian story of Hasssn of El-Basrah, who by stealing it + secures possession of the Jinniya. See Lane's Arabian Nights, Vol. III. p. + 380. Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, p. 179.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-91" id="linknote-91"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 91 (<a href="#linknoteref-91">return</a>)<br /> [ Thorpe, Northern + Mythology, III. 173; Kennedy, Fictions of the Irish Celts, p. 123.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-92" id="linknote-92"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 92 (<a href="#linknoteref-92">return</a>)<br /> [ Kennedy, Fictions of the + Irish Celts, p. 168.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-93" id="linknote-93"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 93 (<a href="#linknoteref-93">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Book of + Werewolves, p. 133.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-94" id="linknote-94"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 94 (<a href="#linknoteref-94">return</a>)<br /> [ Muir's Sanskrit Texts, + Vol. IV. p. 12; Muller, Rig-Veda Sanhita, Vol. I. pp. 230-251; Fick, + Woerterbuch der Indogermanischen Grundsprache, p. 124, s v. Bhaga.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-95" id="linknote-95"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 95 (<a href="#linknoteref-95">return</a>)<br /> [ In the North American + Review, October, 1869, p. 354, I have collected a number of facts which + seem to me to prove beyond question that the name God is derived from + Guodan, the original form of Odin, the supreme deity of our Pagan + forefathers. The case is exactly parallel to that of the French Dieu, + which is descended from the Deus of the pagan Roman.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-96" id="linknote-96"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 96 (<a href="#linknoteref-96">return</a>)<br /> [ See Pott, Die Zigeuner, + II. 311; Kuhn, Beitrage, I. 147. Yet in the worship of dewel by the + Gypsies is to be found the element of diabolism invariably present in + barbaric worship. "Dewel, the great god in heaven (dewa, deus), is rather + feared than loved by these weather-beaten outcasts, for he harms them on + their wanderings with his thunder and lightning, his snow and rain, and + his stars interfere with their dark doings. Therefore they curse him + foully when misfortune falls on them; and when a child dies, they say that + Dewel has eaten it." Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 248.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-97" id="linknote-97"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 97 (<a href="#linknoteref-97">return</a>)<br /> [ See Grimm, Deutsche + Mythologie, 939.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-98" id="linknote-98"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 98 (<a href="#linknoteref-98">return</a>)<br /> [ The Buddhistic as well as + the Zarathustrian reformation degraded the Vedic gods into demons. "In + Buddhism we find these ancient devas, Indra and the rest, carried about at + shows, as servants of Buddha, as goblins, or fabulous heroes." Max Muller, + Chips, I. 25. This is like the Christian change of Odin into an ogre, and + of Thor into the Devil.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-99" id="linknote-99"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 99 (<a href="#linknoteref-99">return</a>)<br /> [ Zeus—Dia—Zhna—di + on............ Plato Kratylos, p. 396, A., with Stallbaum's note. See also + Proklos, Comm. ad Timaeum, II. p. 226, Schneider; and compare + Pseudo-Aristotle, De Mundo, p. 401, a, 15, who adopts the etymology. See + also Diogenes Laertius, VII. 147.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-100" id="linknote-100"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 100 (<a href="#linknoteref-100">return</a>)<br /> [ Marcus Aurelius, v. 7; + Hom. Iliad, xii. 25, cf. Petronius Arbiter, Sat. xliv.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-101" id="linknote-101"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 101 (<a href="#linknoteref-101">return</a>)<br /> [ "Il Sol, dell aurea + luce eterno forte." Tasso, Gerusalemme, XV. 47; ef. Dante, Paradiso, X. + 28.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-102" id="linknote-102"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 102 (<a href="#linknoteref-102">return</a>)<br /> [ The Aryans were, + however, doubtless better off than the tribes of North America. "In no + Indian language could the early missionaries find a word to express the + idea of God. Manitou and Oki meant anything endowed with supernatural + powers, from a snake-skin or a greasy Indian conjurer up to Manabozho and + Jouskeha. The priests were forced to use a circumlocution,—`the + great chief of men,' or 'he who lives in the sky.'" Parkman, Jesuits in + North America, p. lxxix. "The Algonquins used no oaths, for their language + supplied none; doubtless because their mythology had no beings + sufficiently distinct to swear by." Ibid, p. 31.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-103" id="linknote-103"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 103 (<a href="#linknoteref-103">return</a>)<br /> [ Muller, + Rig-Veda-Sanhita, I. 230.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-104" id="linknote-104"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 104 (<a href="#linknoteref-104">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare the remarks of + Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 13.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-105" id="linknote-105"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 105 (<a href="#linknoteref-105">return</a>)<br /> [ It should be borne in + mind, however, that one of the women who tempt Odysseus is not a + dawn-maiden, but a goddess of darkness; Kalypso answers to Venus-Ursula in + the myth of Tannhauser. Kirke, on the other hand, seems to be a + dawn-maiden, like Medeia, whom she resembles. In her the wisdom of the + dawn-goddess Athene, the loftiest of Greek divinities, becomes degraded + into the art of an enchantress. She reappears, in the Arabian Nights, as + the wicked Queen Labe, whose sorcery none of her lovers can baffle, save + Beder, king of Persia.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-106" id="linknote-106"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 106 (<a href="#linknoteref-106">return</a>)<br /> [ The Persian Cyrus is an + historical personage; but the story of his perils in infancy belongs to + solar mythology as much as the stories of the magic sleep of Charlemagne + and Barbarossa. His grandfather, Astyages, is purely a mythical creation, + his name being identical with that of the night-demon, Azidahaka, who + appears in the Shah-Nameh as the biting serpent Zohak. See Cox, Mythology + of the Aryan Nations, II. 358.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-107" id="linknote-107"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 107 (<a href="#linknoteref-107">return</a>)<br /> [ In mediaeval legend + this resistless Moira is transformed into the curse which prevents the + Wandering Jew from resting until the day of judgment.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-108" id="linknote-108"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 108 (<a href="#linknoteref-108">return</a>)<br /> [ Cox, Manual of + Mythology, p. 134.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-109" id="linknote-109"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 109 (<a href="#linknoteref-109">return</a>)<br /> [ In his interesting + appendix to Henderson's Folk Lore of the Northern Counties of England, Mr. + Baring-Gould has made an ingenious and praiseworthy attempt to reduce the + entire existing mass of household legends to about fifty story-roots; and + his list, though both redundant and defective, is nevertheless, as an + empirical classification, very instructive.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-110" id="linknote-110"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 110 (<a href="#linknoteref-110">return</a>)<br /> [ There is nothing in + common between the names Hercules and Herakles. The latter is a compound, + formed like Themistokles; the former is a simple derivative from the root + of hercere, "to enclose." If Herakles had any equivalent in Latin, it + would necessarily begin with S, and not with H, as septa corresponds to + epta, sequor to epomai, etc. It should be noted, however, that Mommsen, in + the fourth edition of his History, abandons this view, and observes: "Auch + der griechische Herakles ist fruh als Herclus, Hercoles, Hercules in + Italien einheimisch und dort in eigenthumlicher Weise aufgefasst worden, + wie es scheint zunachst als Gott des gewagten Gewinns und der + ausserordentlichen Vermogensvermehrung." Romische Geschichte, I. 181. One + would gladly learn Mommsen's reasons for recurring to this apparently less + defensible opinion.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-111" id="linknote-111"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 111 (<a href="#linknoteref-111">return</a>)<br /> [ For the relations + between Sancus and Herakles, see Preller, Romische Mythologie, p. 635; + Vollmer, Mythologie, p. 970.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-112" id="linknote-112"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 112 (<a href="#linknoteref-112">return</a>)<br /> [ Burnouf, + Bhagavata-Purana, III. p. lxxxvi; Breal, op. cit. p. 98.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-113" id="linknote-113"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 113 (<a href="#linknoteref-113">return</a>)<br /> [ Max Muller, Science of + Language, II 484.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-114" id="linknote-114"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 114 (<a href="#linknoteref-114">return</a>)<br /> [ As Max Muller observes, + "apart from all mythological considerations, Sarama in Sanskrit is the + same word as Helena in Greek." Op. cit. p. 490. The names correspond + phonetically letter for letter, as, Surya corresponds to Helios, Sarameyas + to Hermeias, and Aharyu to Achilleus. Muller has plausibly suggested that + Paris similarly answers to the Panis.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-115" id="linknote-115"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 115 (<a href="#linknoteref-115">return</a>)<br /> [ "I create evil," Isaiah + xiv. 7; "Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?" + Amos iii. 6; cf. Iliad, xxiv. 527, and contrast 2 Samuel xxiv. 1 with 1 + Chronicles xxi. 1.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-116" id="linknote-116"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 116 (<a href="#linknoteref-116">return</a>)<br /> [ Nor is there any ground + for believing that the serpent in the Eden myth is intended for Satan. The + identification is entirely the work of modern dogmatic theology, and is + due, naturally enough, to the habit, so common alike among theologians and + laymen, of reasoning about the Bible as if it were a single book, and not + a collection of writings of different ages and of very different degrees + of historic authenticity. In a future work, entitled "Aryana Vaedjo," I + hope to examine, at considerable length, this interesting myth of the + garden of Eden.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-117" id="linknote-117"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 117 (<a href="#linknoteref-117">return</a>)<br /> [ For further particulars + see Cox, Mythology of the Aryan Nations, Vol. II. pp 358, 366; to which I + am indebted for several of the details here given. Compare Welcker, + Griechische Gotterlehre, I. 661, seq.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-118" id="linknote-118"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 118 (<a href="#linknoteref-118">return</a>)<br /> [ Many amusing passages + from Scotch theologians are cited in Buckle's History of Civilization, + Vol. II. p. 368. The same belief is implied in the quaint monkish tale of + "Celestinus and the Miller's Horse." See Tales from the Gesta Romanorum, + p. 134.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-119" id="linknote-119"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 119 (<a href="#linknoteref-119">return</a>)<br /> [ Thorpe, Northern + Mythology, Vol. 11. p. 258.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-120" id="linknote-120"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 120 (<a href="#linknoteref-120">return</a>)<br /> [ Thorpe, Northern + Mythology, Vol. II. p. 259. In the Norse story of "Not a Pin to choose + between them," the old woman is in doubt as to her own identity, on waking + up after the butcher has dipped her in a tar-barrel and rolled her on a + heap of feathers; and when Tray barks at her, her perplexity is as great + as the Devil's when fooled by the Frenschutz. See Dasent, Norse Tales, p. + 199.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-121" id="linknote-121"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 121 (<a href="#linknoteref-121">return</a>)<br /> [ See Deulin, Contes d'un + Buveur de Biere, pp. 3-29.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-122" id="linknote-122"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 122 (<a href="#linknoteref-122">return</a>)<br /> [ Dasent, Popular Tales + from the Norse, No. III. and No. XLII.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-123" id="linknote-123"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 123 (<a href="#linknoteref-123">return</a>)<br /> [ See Dasent's + Introduction, p. cxxxix; Campbell, Tales of the West Highlands, Vol. IV. + p. 344; and Williams, Indian Epic Poetry, p. 10.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-124" id="linknote-124"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 124 (<a href="#linknoteref-124">return</a>)<br /> [ "A Leopard was + returning home from hunting on one occasion, when he lighted on the kraal + of a Ram. Now the Leopard had never seen a Ram before, and accordingly, + approaching submissively, he said, 'Good day, friend! what may your name + be?' The other, in his gruff voice, and striking his breast with his + forefoot, said, 'I am a Ram; who are you?' 'A Leopard,' answered the + other, more dead than alive; and then, taking leave of the Ram, he ran + home as fast as he could." Bleek, Hottentot Fables, p. 24.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-125" id="linknote-125"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 125 (<a href="#linknoteref-125">return</a>)<br /> [ I agree, most heartily, + with Mr. Mahaffy's remarks, Prolegomena to Ancient History, p. 69.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-126" id="linknote-126"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 126 (<a href="#linknoteref-126">return</a>)<br /> [ Sir George Grey once + told some Australian natives about the countries within the arctic circle + where during part of the year the sun never sets. "Their astonishment now + knew no bounds. 'Ah! that must be another sun, not the same as the one we + see here,' said an old man; and in spite of all my arguments to the + contrary, the others adopted this opinion." Grey's Journals, I. 293, cited + in Tylor, Early History of Mankind, p. 301.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-127" id="linknote-127"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 127 (<a href="#linknoteref-127">return</a>)<br /> [ Max Muller, Chips, II. + 96.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-128" id="linknote-128"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 128 (<a href="#linknoteref-128">return</a>)<br /> [ Fictions of the Irish + Celts, pp. 255-270.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-129" id="linknote-129"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 129 (<a href="#linknoteref-129">return</a>)<br /> [ A corruption of Gaelic + bhan a teaigh, "lady of the house."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-130" id="linknote-130"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 130 (<a href="#linknoteref-130">return</a>)<br /> [ For the analysis of + twelve, see my essay on "The Genesis of Language," North American Review, + October 1869, p. 320.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-131" id="linknote-131"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 131 (<a href="#linknoteref-131">return</a>)<br /> [ Chips from a German + Workshop, Vol. II. p. 246.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-132" id="linknote-132"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 132 (<a href="#linknoteref-132">return</a>)<br /> [ For various legends of + a deluge, see Baring-Gould, Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. + 85-106.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-133" id="linknote-133"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 133 (<a href="#linknoteref-133">return</a>)<br /> [ Brinton, Myths of the + New World, p. 160.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-134" id="linknote-134"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 134 (<a href="#linknoteref-134">return</a>)<br /> [ Brinton, op. cit. p. + 163.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-135" id="linknote-135"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 135 (<a href="#linknoteref-135">return</a>)<br /> [ Brinton, op. cit. p. + 167.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-136" id="linknote-136"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 136 (<a href="#linknoteref-136">return</a>)<br /> [ Corresponding, in + various degrees, to the Asvins, the Dioskouroi, and the brothers True and + Untrue of Norse mythology.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-137" id="linknote-137"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 137 (<a href="#linknoteref-137">return</a>)<br /> [ See Humboldt's Kosmos, + Tom. III. pp. 469-476. A fetichistic regard for the cardinal points has + not always been absent from the minds of persons instructed in a higher + theology as witness a well-known passage in Irenaeus, and also the custom, + well-nigh universal in Europe, of building Christian churches in a line + east and west.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-138" id="linknote-138"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 138 (<a href="#linknoteref-138">return</a>)<br /> [ Bleek, Hottentot Fables + and Tales, p. 72. Compare the Fiji story of Ra Vula, the Moon, and Ra + Kalavo, the Rat, in Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. 321.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-139" id="linknote-139"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 139 (<a href="#linknoteref-139">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, Early History of + Mankind, p. 327.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-140" id="linknote-140"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 140 (<a href="#linknoteref-140">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit., p. + 346.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-141" id="linknote-141"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 141 (<a href="#linknoteref-141">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Curious + Myths, II. 299-302.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-142" id="linknote-142"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 142 (<a href="#linknoteref-142">return</a>)<br /> [ Speaking of beliefs in + the Malay Archipelago, Mr. Wallace says: "It is universally believed in + Lombock that some men have the power to turn themselves into crocodiles, + which they do for the sake of devouring their enemies, and many strange + tales are told of such transformations." Wallace, Malay Archipelago, Vol. + I. p. 251.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-143" id="linknote-143"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 143 (<a href="#linknoteref-143">return</a>)<br /> [ Bleek, Hottentot Fables + and Tales, p. 58.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-144" id="linknote-144"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 144 (<a href="#linknoteref-144">return</a>)<br /> [ Callaway, Zulu Nursery + Tales, pp. 27-30.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-145" id="linknote-145"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 145 (<a href="#linknoteref-145">return</a>)<br /> [ Callaway, op. cit. pp. + 142-152; cf. a similar story in which the lion is fooled by the jackal. + Bleek, op. cit. p. 7. I omit the sequel of the tale.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-146" id="linknote-146"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 146 (<a href="#linknoteref-146">return</a>)<br /> [ Brinton, op. cit. p. + 104.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-147" id="linknote-147"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 147 (<a href="#linknoteref-147">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. p. + 320.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-148" id="linknote-148"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 148 (<a href="#linknoteref-148">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. pp. + 338-343.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-149" id="linknote-149"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 149 (<a href="#linknoteref-149">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. p. 336. + November, 1870] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-150" id="linknote-150"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 150 (<a href="#linknoteref-150">return</a>)<br /> [ Juventus Mundi. The + Gods and Men of the Heroic Age. By the Rt. Hon. William Ewart Gladstone. + Boston: Little, Brown, & Co. 1869.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-151" id="linknote-151"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 151 (<a href="#linknoteref-151">return</a>)<br /> [ Hist. Greece, Vol. II. + p. 208.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-152" id="linknote-152"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 152 (<a href="#linknoteref-152">return</a>)<br /> [ Grote, Hist. Greece, + Vol. II. p. 198.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-153" id="linknote-153"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 153 (<a href="#linknoteref-153">return</a>)<br /> [ For the precise extent + to which I would indorse the theory that the Iliad-myth is an account of + the victory of light over darkness, let me refer to what I have said above + on p. 134. I do not suppose that the struggle between light and darkness + was Homer's subject in the Iliad any more than it was Shakespeare's + subject in "Hamlet." Homer's subject was the wrath of the Greek hero, as + Shakespeare's subject was the vengeance of the Danish prince. + Nevertheless, the story of Hamlet, when traced back to its Norse original, + is unmistakably the story of the quarrel between summer and winter; and + the moody prince is as much a solar hero as Odin himself. See Simrock, Die + Quellen des Shakespeare, I. 127-133. Of course Shakespeare knew nothing of + this, as Homer knew nothing of the origin of his Achilleus. The two + stories, therefore, are not to be taken as sun-myths in their present + form. They are the offspring of other stories which were sun-myths; they + are stories which conform to the sun-myth type after the manner above + illustrated in the paper on Light and Darkness. [Hence there is nothing + unintelligible in the inconsistency—which seems to puzzle Max Muller + (Science of Language, 6th ed. Vol. II. p. 516, note 20)—of investing + Paris with many of the characteristics of the children of light. + Supposing, as we must, that the primitive sense of the Iliad-myth had as + entirely disappeared in the Homeric age, as the primitive sense of the + Hamlet-myth had disappeared in the times of Elizabeth, the fit ground for + wonder is that such inconsistencies are not more numerous.] The physical + theory of myths will be properly presented and comprehended, only when it + is understood that we accept the physical derivation of such stories as + the Iliad-myth in much the same way that we are bound to accept the + physical etymologies of such words as soul, consider, truth, convince, + deliberate, and the like. The late Dr. Gibbs of Yale College, in his + "Philological Studies,"—a little book which I used to read with + delight when a boy,—describes such etymologies as "faded metaphors." + In similar wise, while refraining from characterizing the Iliad or the + tragedy of Hamlet—any more than I would characterize Le Juif Errant + by Sue, or La Maison Forestiere by Erckmann-Chatrian—as + nature-myths, I would at the same time consider these poems well described + as embodying "faded nature-myths."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-154" id="linknote-154"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 154 (<a href="#linknoteref-154">return</a>)<br /> [ I have no opinion as to + the nationality of the Earth-shaker, and, regarding the etymology of his + name, I believe we can hardly do better than acknowledge, with Mr. Cox, + that it is unknown. It may well be doubted, however, whether much good is + likely to come of comparisons between Poseidon, Dagon, Oannes, and Noah, + or of distinctions between the children of Shem and the children of Ham. + See Brown's Poseidon; a Link between Semite, Hamite, and Aryan, London, + 1872,—a book which is open to several of the criticisms here + directed against Mr. Gladstone's manner of theorizing.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-155" id="linknote-155"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 155 (<a href="#linknoteref-155">return</a>)<br /> [ "The expression that + the Erinys, Saranyu, the Dawn, finds out the criminal, was originally + quite free from mythology; IT MEANT NO MORE THAN THAT CRIME WOULD BE + BROUGHT TO LIGHT SOME DAY OR OTHER. It became mythological, however, as + soon as the etymological meaning of Erinys was forgotten, and as soon as + the Dawn, a portion of time, assumed the rank of a personal being."—Science + of Language, 6th edition, II. 615. This paragraph, in which the + italicizing is mine, contains Max Muller's theory in a nutshell. It seems + to me wholly at variance with the facts of history. The facts concerning + primitive culture which are to be cited in this paper will show that the + case is just the other way. Instead of the expression "Erinys finds the + criminal" being originally a metaphor, it was originally a literal + statement of what was believed to be fact. The Dawn (not "a portion of + time,"(!) but the rosy flush of the morning sky) was originally regarded + as a real person. Primitive men, strictly speaking, do not talk in + metaphors; they believe in the literal truth of their similes and + personifications, from which, by survival in culture, our poetic metaphors + are lineally descended. Homer's allusion to a rolling stone as essumenos + or "yearning" (to keep on rolling), is to us a mere figurative expression; + but to the savage it is the description of a fact.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-156" id="linknote-156"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 156 (<a href="#linknoteref-156">return</a>)<br /> [ Primitive Culture: + Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, + and Custom By Edward B. Tylor. 2 vols. 8vo. London. 1871.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-157" id="linknote-157"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 157 (<a href="#linknoteref-157">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. + 107.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-158" id="linknote-158"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 158 (<a href="#linknoteref-158">return</a>)<br /> [ Rousseau, Confessions, + I. vi. For further illustration, see especially the note on the "doctrine + of signatures," supra, p. 55.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-159" id="linknote-159"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 159 (<a href="#linknoteref-159">return</a>)<br /> [ Spencer, Recent + Discussions in Science, etc., p. 36, "The Origin of Animal Worship."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-160" id="linknote-160"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 160 (<a href="#linknoteref-160">return</a>)<br /> [ See Nature, Vol. VI. p. + 262, August 1, 1872. The circumstances narrated are such as to exclude the + supposition that the sitting up is intended to attract the master's + attention. The dog has frequently been seen trying to soften the heart of + the ball, while observed unawares by his master.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-161" id="linknote-161"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 161 (<a href="#linknoteref-161">return</a>)<br /> [ "We would, however, + commend to Mr. Fiske's attention Mr. Mark Twain's dog, who 'couldn't be + depended on for a special providence,' as being nearer to the actual dog + of every-day life than is the Skye terrier mentioned by a certain + correspondent of Nature, to whose letter Mr. Fiske refers. The terrier is + held to have had 'a few fetichistic notions,' because he was found + standing up on his hind legs in front of a mantel-piece, upon which lay an + india-rubber ball with which he wished to play, but which he could not + reach, and which, says the letter-writer, he was evidently beseeching to + come down and play with him. We consider it more reasonable to suppose + that a dog who had been drilled into a belief that standing upon his hind + legs was very pleasing to his master, and who, therefore, had accustomed + himself to stand on his hind legs whenever he desired anything, and whose + usual way of getting what he desired was to induce somebody to get it for + him, may have stood up in front of the mantel-piece rather from force of + habit and eagerness of desire than because he had any fetichistic notions, + or expected the india-rubber ball to listen to his supplications. We + admit, however, to avoid polemical controversy, that in matter of religion + the dog is capable of anything." The Nation, Vol. XV. p. 284, October 1, + 1872. To be sure, I do not know for certain what was going on in the dog's + mind; and so, letting both explanations stand, I will only add another + fact of similar import. "The tendency in savages to imagine that natural + objects and agencies are animated by spiritual or living essences is + perhaps illustrated by a little fact which I once noticed: my dog, a + full-grown and very sensible animal, was lying on the lawn during a hot + and still day; but at a little distance a slight breeze occasionally moved + an open parasol, which would have been wholly disregarded by the dog, had + any one stood near it. As it was, every time that the parasol slightly + moved, the dog growled fiercely and barked. He must, I think, have + reasoned to himself, in a rapid and unconscious manner, that movement + without any apparent cause indicated the presence of some strange living + agent, and no stranger had a right to be on his territory." Darwin, + Descent of Man, Vol. 1. p. 64. Without insisting upon all the details of + this explanation, one may readily grant, I think, that in the dog, as in + the savage, there is an undisturbed association between motion and a + living motor agency; and that out of a multitude of just such associations + common to both, the savage, with his greater generalizing power, frames a + truly fetichistic conception.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-162" id="linknote-162"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 162 (<a href="#linknoteref-162">return</a>)<br /> [ Note the fetichism + wrapped up in the etymologies of these Greek words. Catalepsy, katalhyis, + a seizing of the body by some spirit or demon, who holds it rigid. + Ecstasy, ekstasis, a displacement or removal of the soul from the body, + into which the demon enters and causes strange laughing, crying, or + contortions. It is not metaphor, but the literal belief ill a ghost-world, + which has given rise to such words as these, and to such expressions as "a + man beside himself or transported."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-163" id="linknote-163"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 163 (<a href="#linknoteref-163">return</a>)<br /> [ Something akin to the + savage's belief in the animation of pictures may be seen in young + children. I have often been asked by my three-year-old boy, whether the + dog in a certain picture would bite him if he were to go near it; and I + can remember that, in my own childhood, when reading a book about insects, + which had the formidable likeness of a spider stamped on the centre of the + cover, I was always uneasy lest my finger should come in contact with the + dreaded thing as I held the book.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-164" id="linknote-164"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 164 (<a href="#linknoteref-164">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, Primitive + Culture, I. 394. "The Zulus hold that a dead body can cast no shadow, + because that appurtenance departed from it at the close of life." + Hardwick, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-Lore, p. 123.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-165" id="linknote-165"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 165 (<a href="#linknoteref-165">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. + 391.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-166" id="linknote-166"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 166 (<a href="#linknoteref-166">return</a>)<br /> [ Harland and Wilkinson, + Lancashire Folk-Lore, 1867, p. 210.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-167" id="linknote-167"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 167 (<a href="#linknoteref-167">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. II. + 139.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-168" id="linknote-168"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 168 (<a href="#linknoteref-168">return</a>)<br /> [ In Russia the souls of + the dead are supposed to be embodied in pigeons or crows. "Thus when the + Deacon Theodore and his three schismatic brethren were burnt in 1681, the + souls of the martyrs, as the 'Old Believers' affirm, appeared in the air + as pigeons. In Volhynia dead children are supposed to come back in the + spring to their native village under the semblance of swallows and other + small birds, and to seek by soft twittering or song to console their + sorrowing parents." Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, p. 118.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-169" id="linknote-169"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 169 (<a href="#linknoteref-169">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. + 404.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-171" id="linknote-171"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 171 (<a href="#linknoteref-171">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. + 407.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-172" id="linknote-172"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 172 (<a href="#linknoteref-172">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. 410. + In the next stage of survival this belief will take the shape that it is + wrong to slam a door, no reason being assigned; and in the succeeding + stage, when the child asks why it is naughty to slam a door, he will be + told, because it is an evidence of bad temper. Thus do old-world fancies + disappear before the inroads of the practical sense.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-173" id="linknote-173"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 173 (<a href="#linknoteref-173">return</a>)<br /> [ Agassiz, Essay on + Classification, pp. 97-99.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-174" id="linknote-174"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 174 (<a href="#linknoteref-174">return</a>)<br /> [ Figuier, The To-morrow + of Death, p. 247.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-175" id="linknote-175"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 175 (<a href="#linknoteref-175">return</a>)<br /> [ Here, as usually, the + doctrine of metempsychosis comes in to complete the proof. "Mr. Darwin saw + two Malay women in Keeling Island, who had a wooden spoon dressed in + clothes like a doll; this spoon had been carried to the grave of a dead + man, and becoming inspired at full moon, in fact lunatic, it danced about + convulsively like a table or a hat at a modern spirit-seance." Tylor, op. + cit. II. 139.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-176" id="linknote-176"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 176 (<a href="#linknoteref-176">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. + 414-422.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-177" id="linknote-177"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 177 (<a href="#linknoteref-177">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. 435, + 446; II. 30, 36.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-178" id="linknote-178"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 178 (<a href="#linknoteref-178">return</a>)<br /> [ According to the + Karens, blindness occurs when the SOUL OF THE EYE is eaten by demons. Id., + II. 353.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-179" id="linknote-179"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 179 (<a href="#linknoteref-179">return</a>)<br /> [ The following citation + is interesting as an illustration of the directness of descent from + heathen manes-worship to Christian saint-worship: "It is well known that + Romulus, mindful of his own adventurous infancy, became after death a + Roman deity, propitious to the health and safety of young children, so + that nurses and mothers would carry sickly infants to present them in his + little round temple at the foot of the Palatine. In after ages the temple + was replaced by the church of St. Theodorus, and there Dr. Conyers + Middleton, who drew public attention to its curious history, used to look + in and see ten or a dozen women, each with a sick child in her lap, + sitting in silent reverence before the altar of the saint. The ceremony of + blessing children, especially after vaccination, may still be seen there + on Thursday mornings." Op. cit. II. 111.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-180" id="linknote-180"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 180 (<a href="#linknoteref-180">return</a>)<br /> [ Want of space prevents + me from remarking at length upon Mr. Tylor's admirable treatment of the + phenomena of oracular inspiration. Attention should be called, however, to + the brilliant explanation of the importance accorded by all religions to + the rite of fasting. Prolonged abstinence from food tends to bring on a + mental state which is favourable to visions. The savage priest or + medicine-man qualifies himself for the performance of his duties by + fasting, and where this is not sufficient, often uses intoxicating drugs; + whence the sacredness of the hasheesh, as also of the Vedic soma-juice. + The practice of fasting among civilized peoples is an instance of + survival.] + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1061 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Myths and Myth-Makers + Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology + +Author: John Fiske + +Release Date: July 31, 2008 [EBook #1061] +Last Updated: January 26, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller, and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS + </h1> + <h2> + Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By John Fiske + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + La mythologie, cette science toute nouvelle, qui nous fait suivre les + croyances de nos peres, depuis le berceau du monde jusqu'aux superstitions + de nos campagnes.—EDMOND SCHERER + </p> + <p> + TO MY DEAR FRIEND, WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS, IN REMEMBRANCE OF PLEASANT AUTUMN + EVENINGS SPENT AMONG WEREWOLVES AND TROLLS AND NIXIES, I dedicate THIS + RECORD OF OUR ADVENTURES. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE. + </h2> + <p> + IN publishing this somewhat rambling and unsystematic series of papers, in + which I have endeavoured to touch briefly upon a great many of the most + important points in the study of mythology, I think it right to observe + that, in order to avoid confusing the reader with intricate discussions, I + have sometimes cut the matter short, expressing myself with dogmatic + definiteness where a sceptical vagueness might perhaps have seemed more + becoming. In treating of popular legends and superstitions, the paths of + inquiry are circuitous enough, and seldom can we reach a satisfactory + conclusion until we have travelled all the way around Robin Hood's barn + and back again. I am sure that the reader would not have thanked me for + obstructing these crooked lanes with the thorns and brambles of + philological and antiquarian discussion, to such an extent as perhaps to + make him despair of ever reaching the high road. I have not attempted to + review, otherwise than incidentally, the works of Grimm, Muller, Kuhn, + Breal, Dasent, and Tylor; nor can I pretend to have added anything of + consequence, save now and then some bit of explanatory comment, to the + results obtained by the labour of these scholars; but it has rather been + my aim to present these results in such a way as to awaken general + interest in them. And accordingly, in dealing with a subject which depends + upon philology almost as much as astronomy depends upon mathematics, I + have omitted philological considerations wherever it has been possible to + do so. Nevertheless, I believe that nothing has been advanced as + established which is not now generally admitted by scholars, and that + nothing has been advanced as probable for which due evidence cannot be + produced. Yet among many points which are proved, and many others which + are probable, there must always remain many other facts of which we cannot + feel sure that our own explanation is the true one; and the student who + endeavours to fathom the primitive thoughts of mankind, as enshrined in + mythology, will do well to bear in mind the modest words of Jacob Grimm,—himself + the greatest scholar and thinker who has ever dealt with this class of + subjects,—"I shall indeed interpret all that I can, but I cannot + interpret all that I should like." + </p> + <p> + PETERSHAM, September 6, 1872. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE. </a> + </p> + <br /> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> <b>MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS.</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> I. THE ORIGINS OF FOLK-LORE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> II. THE DESCENT OF FIRE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> III. WEREWOLVES AND SWAN-MAIDENS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> IV. LIGHT AND DARKNESS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> V. MYTHS OF THE BARBARIC WORLD. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> VI. JUVENTUS MUNDI. [150] </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> VII. THE PRIMEVAL GHOST-WORLD. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> NOTE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_FOOT"> FOOTNOTES: </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. THE ORIGINS OF FOLK-LORE. + </h2> + <p> + FEW mediaeval heroes are so widely known as William Tell. His exploits + have been celebrated by one of the greatest poets and one of the most + popular musicians of modern times. They are doubtless familiar to many who + have never heard of Stauffacher or Winkelried, who are quite ignorant of + the prowess of Roland, and to whom Arthur and Lancelot, nay, even + Charlemagne, are but empty names. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, in spite of his vast reputation, it is very likely that no + such person as William Tell ever existed, and it is certain that the story + of his shooting the apple from his son's head has no historical value + whatever. In spite of the wrath of unlearned but patriotic Swiss, + especially of those of the cicerone class, this conclusion is forced upon + us as soon as we begin to study the legend in accordance with the canons + of modern historical criticism. It is useless to point to Tell's + lime-tree, standing to-day in the centre of the market-place at Altdorf, + or to quote for our confusion his crossbow preserved in the arsenal at + Zurich, as unimpeachable witnesses to the truth of the story. It is in + vain that we are told, "The bricks are alive to this day to testify to it; + therefore, deny it not." These proofs are not more valid than the + handkerchief of St. Veronica, or the fragments of the true cross. For if + relics are to be received as evidence, we must needs admit the truth of + every miracle narrated by the Bollandists. + </p> + <p> + The earliest work which makes any allusion to the adventures of William + Tell is the chronicle of the younger Melchior Russ, written in 1482. As + the shooting of the apple was supposed to have taken place in 1296, this + leaves an interval of one hundred and eighty-six years, during which + neither a Tell, nor a William, nor the apple, nor the cruelty of Gessler, + received any mention. It may also be observed, parenthetically, that the + charters of Kussenach, when examined, show that no man by the name of + Gessler ever ruled there. The chroniclers of the fifteenth century, Faber + and Hammerlin, who minutely describe the tyrannical acts by which the Duke + of Austria goaded the Swiss to rebellion, do not once mention Tell's name, + or betray the slightest acquaintance with his exploits or with his + existence. In the Zurich chronicle of 1479 he is not alluded to. But we + have still better negative evidence. John of Winterthur, one of the best + chroniclers of the Middle Ages, was living at the time of the battle of + Morgarten (1315), at which his father was present. He tells us how, on the + evening of that dreadful day, he saw Duke Leopold himself in his flight + from the fatal field, half dead with fear. He describes, with the loving + minuteness of a contemporary, all the incidents of the Swiss revolution, + but nowhere does he say a word about William Tell. This is sufficiently + conclusive. These mediaeval chroniclers, who never failed to go out of + their way after a bit of the epigrammatic and marvellous, who thought far + more of a pointed story than of historical credibility, would never have + kept silent about the adventures of Tell, if they had known anything about + them. + </p> + <p> + After this, it is not surprising to find that no two authors who describe + the deeds of William Tell agree in the details of topography and + chronology. Such discrepancies never fail to confront us when we leave the + solid ground of history and begin to deal with floating legends. Yet, if + the story be not historical, what could have been its origin? To answer + this question we must considerably expand the discussion. + </p> + <p> + The first author of any celebrity who doubted the story of William Tell + was Guillimann, in his work on Swiss Antiquities, published in 1598. He + calls the story a pure fable, but, nevertheless, eating his words, + concludes by proclaiming his belief in it, because the tale is so popular! + Undoubtedly he acted a wise part; for, in 1760, as we are told, Uriel + Freudenberger was condemned by the canton of Uri to be burnt alive, for + publishing his opinion that the legend of Tell had a Danish origin. <a + href="#linknote-1" name="linknoteref-1" id="linknoteref-1"><small>1</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The bold heretic was substantially right, however, like so many other + heretics, earlier and later. The Danish account of Tell is given as + follows, by Saxo Grammaticus:— + </p> + <p> + "A certain Palnatoki, for some time among King Harold's body-guard, had + made his bravery odious to very many of his fellow-soldiers by the zeal + with which he surpassed them in the discharge of his duty. This man once, + when talking tipsily over his cups, had boasted that he was so skilled an + archer that he could hit the smallest apple placed a long way off on a + wand at the first shot; which talk, caught up at first by the ears of + backbiters, soon came to the hearing of the king. Now, mark how the + wickedness of the king turned the confidence of the sire to the peril of + the son, by commanding that this dearest pledge of his life should be + placed instead of the wand, with a threat that, unless the author of this + promise could strike off the apple at the first flight of the arrow, he + should pay the penalty of his empty boasting by the loss of his head. The + king's command forced the soldier to perform more than he had promised, + and what he had said, reported, by the tongues of slanderers, bound him to + accomplish what he had NOT said. Yet did not his sterling courage, though + caught in the snare of slander, suffer him to lay aside his firmness of + heart; nay, he accepted the trial the more readily because it was hard. So + Palnatoki warned the boy urgently when he took his stand to await the + coming of the hurtling arrow with calm ears and unbent head, lest, by a + slight turn of his body, he should defeat the practised skill of the + bowman; and, taking further counsel to prevent his fear, he turned away + his face, lest he should be scared at the sight of the weapon. Then, + taking three arrows from the quiver, he struck the mark given him with the + first he fitted to the string..... But Palnatoki, when asked by the king + why he had taken more arrows from the quiver, when it had been settled + that he should only try the fortune of the bow ONCE, made answer, 'That I + might avenge on thee the swerving of the first by the points of the rest, + lest perchance my innocence might have been punished, while your violence + escaped scot-free.'" <a href="#linknote-2" name="linknoteref-2" + id="linknoteref-2"><small>2</small></a> + </p> + <p> + This ruthless king is none other than the famous Harold Blue-tooth, and + the occurrence is placed by Saxo in the year 950. But the story appears + not only in Denmark, but in England, in Norway, in Finland and Russia, and + in Persia, and there is some reason for supposing that it was known in + India. In Norway we have the adventures of Pansa the Splay-footed, and of + Hemingr, a vassal of Harold Hardrada, who invaded England in 1066. In + Iceland there is the kindred legend of Egil brother of Wayland Smith, the + Norse Vulcan. In England there is the ballad of William of Cloudeslee, + which supplied Scott with many details of the archery scene in "Ivanhoe." + Here, says the dauntless bowman, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I have a sonne seven years old; + Hee is to me full deere; + I will tye him to a stake— + All shall see him that bee here— + And lay an apple upon his head, + And goe six paces him froe, + And I myself with a broad arrowe + Shall cleave the apple in towe." +</pre> + <p> + In the Malleus Maleficarum a similar story is told Puncher, a famous + magician on the Upper Rhine. The great ethnologist Castren dug up the same + legend in Finland. It is common, as Dr. Dasent observes, to the Turks and + Mongolians; "and a legend of the wild Samoyeds, who never heard of Tell or + saw a book in their lives relates it, chapter and verse, of one of their + marksmen." Finally, in the Persian poem of Farid-Uddin Attar, born in + 1119, we read a story of a prince who shoots an apple from the head of a + beloved page. In all these stories, names and motives of course differ; + but all contain the same essential incidents. It is always an unerring + archer who, at the capricious command of a tyrant, shoots from the head of + some one dear to him a small object, be it an apple, a nut, or a piece of + coin. The archer always provides himself with a second arrow, and, when + questioned as to the use he intended to make of his extra weapon, the + invariable reply is, "To kill thee, tyrant, had I slain my son." Now, when + a marvellous occurrence is said to have happened everywhere, we may feel + sure that it never happened anywhere. Popular fancies propagate themselves + indefinitely, but historical events, especially the striking and dramatic + ones, are rarely repeated. The facts here collected lead inevitably to the + conclusion that the Tell myth was known, in its general features, to our + Aryan ancestors, before ever they left their primitive dwelling-place in + Central Asia. + </p> + <p> + It may, indeed, be urged that some one of these wonderful marksmen may + really have existed and have performed the feat recorded in the legend; + and that his true story, carried about by hearsay tradition from one + country to another and from age to age, may have formed the theme for all + the variations above mentioned, just as the fables of La Fontaine were + patterned after those of AEsop and Phaedrus, and just as many of Chaucer's + tales were consciously adopted from Boccaccio. No doubt there has been a + good deal of borrowing and lending among the legends of different peoples, + as well as among the words of different languages; and possibly even some + picturesque fragment of early history may have now and then been carried + about the world in this manner. But as the philologist can with almost + unerring certainty distinguish between the native and the imported words + in any Aryan language, by examining their phonetic peculiarities, so the + student of popular traditions, though working with far less perfect + instruments, can safely assert, with reference to a vast number of + legends, that they cannot have been obtained by any process of conscious + borrowing. The difficulties inseparable from any such hypothesis will + become more and more apparent as we proceed to examine a few other stories + current in different portions of the Aryan domain. + </p> + <p> + As the Swiss must give up his Tell, so must the Welshman be deprived of + his brave dog Gellert, over whose cruel fate I confess to having shed more + tears than I should regard as well bestowed upon the misfortunes of many a + human hero of romance. Every one knows how the dear old brute killed the + wolf which had come to devour Llewellyn's child, and how the prince, + returning home and finding the cradle upset and the dog's mouth dripping + blood, hastily slew his benefactor, before the cry of the child from + behind the cradle and the sight of the wolf's body had rectified his + error. To this day the visitor to Snowdon is told the touching story, and + shown the place, called Beth-Gellert, <a href="#linknote-3" + name="linknoteref-3" id="linknoteref-3"><small>3</small></a> where the + dog's grave is still to be seen. Nevertheless, the story occurs in the + fireside lore of nearly every Aryan people. Under the Gellert-form it + started in the Panchatantra, a collection of Sanskrit fables; and it has + even been discovered in a Chinese work which dates from A. D. 668. Usually + the hero is a dog, but sometimes a falcon, an ichneumon, an insect, or + even a man. In Egypt it takes the following comical shape: "A Wali once + smashed a pot full of herbs which a cook had prepared. The exasperated + cook thrashed the well-intentioned but unfortunate Wali within an inch of + his life, and when he returned, exhausted with his efforts at belabouring + the man, to examine the broken pot, he discovered amongst the herbs a + poisonous snake." <a href="#linknote-4" name="linknoteref-4" + id="linknoteref-4"><small>4</small></a> Now this story of the Wali is as + manifestly identical with the legend of Gellert as the English word FATHER + is with the Latin pater; but as no one would maintain that the word father + is in any sense derived from pater, so it would be impossible to represent + either the Welsh or the Egyptian legend as a copy of the other. Obviously + the conclusion is forced upon us that the stories, like the words, are + related collaterally, having descended from a common ancestral legend, or + having been suggested by one and the same primeval idea. + </p> + <p> + Closely connected with the Gellert myth are the stories of Faithful John + and of Rama and Luxman. In the German story, Faithful John accompanies the + prince, his master, on a journey in quest of a beautiful maiden, whom he + wishes to make his bride. As they are carrying her home across the seas, + Faithful John hears some crows, whose language he understands, foretelling + three dangers impending over the prince, from which his friend can save + him only by sacrificing his own life. As soon as they land, a horse will + spring toward the king, which, if he mounts it, will bear him away from + his bride forever; but whoever shoots the horse, and tells the king the + reason, will be turned into stone from toe to knee. Then, before the + wedding a bridal garment will lie before the king, which, if he puts it + on, will burn him like the Nessos-shirt of Herakles; but whoever throws + the shirt into the fire and tells the king the reason, will be turned into + stone from knee to heart. Finally, during the wedding-festivities, the + queen will suddenly fall in a swoon, and "unless some one takes three + drops of blood from her right breast she will die"; but whoever does so, + and tells the king the reason, will be turned into stone from head to + foot. Thus forewarned, Faithful John saves his master from all these + dangers; but the king misinterprets his motive in bleeding his wife, and + orders him to be hanged. On the scaffold he tells his story, and while the + king humbles himself in an agony of remorse, his noble friend is turned + into stone. + </p> + <p> + In the South Indian tale Luxman accompanies Rama, who is carrying home his + bride. Luxman overhears two owls talking about the perils that await his + master and mistress. First he saves them from being crushed by the falling + limb of a banyan-tree, and then he drags them away from an arch which + immediately after gives way. By and by, as they rest under a tree, the + king falls asleep. A cobra creeps up to the queen, and Luxman kills it + with his sword; but, as the owls had foretold, a drop of the cobra's blood + falls on the queen's forehead. As Luxman licks off the blood, the king + starts up, and, thinking that his vizier is kissing his wife, upbraids him + with his ingratitude, whereupon Luxman, through grief at this unkind + interpretation of his conduct, is turned into stone. <a href="#linknote-5" + name="linknoteref-5" id="linknoteref-5"><small>5</small></a> + </p> + <p> + For further illustration we may refer to the Norse tale of the "Giant who + had no Heart in his Body," as related by Dr. Dasent. This burly magician + having turned six brothers with their wives into stone, the seventh + brother—the crafty Boots or many-witted Odysseus of European + folk-lore—sets out to obtain vengeance if not reparation for the + evil done to his kith and kin. On the way he shows the kindness of his + nature by rescuing from destruction a raven, a salmon, and a wolf. The + grateful wolf carries him on his back to the giant's castle, where the + lovely princess whom the monster keeps in irksome bondage promises to act, + in behalf of Boots, the part of Delilah, and to find out, if possible, + where her lord keeps his heart. The giant, like the Jewish hero, finally + succumbs to feminine blandishments. "Far, far away in a lake lies an + island; on that island stands a church; in that church is a well; in that + well swims a duck; in that duck there is an egg; and in that egg there + lies my heart, you darling." Boots, thus instructed, rides on the wolf's + back to the island; the raven flies to the top of the steeple and gets the + church-keys; the salmon dives to the bottom of the well, and brings up the + egg from the place where the duck had dropped it; and so Boots becomes + master of the situation. As he squeezes the egg, the giant, in mortal + terror, begs and prays for his life, which Boots promises to spare on + condition that his brothers and their brides should be released from their + enchantment. But when all has been duly effected, the treacherous youth + squeezes the egg in two, and the giant instantly bursts. + </p> + <p> + The same story has lately been found in Southern India, and is published + in Miss Frere's remarkable collection of tales entitled "Old Deccan Days." + In the Hindu version the seven daughters of a rajah, with their husbands, + are transformed into stone by the great magician Punchkin,—all save + the youngest daughter, whom Punchkin keeps shut up in a tower until by + threats or coaxing he may prevail upon her to marry him. But the captive + princess leaves a son at home in the cradle, who grows up to manhood + unmolested, and finally undertakes the rescue of his family. After long + and weary wanderings he finds his mother shut up in Punchkin's tower, and + persuades her to play the part of the princess in the Norse legend. The + trick is equally successful. "Hundreds of thousands of miles away there + lies a desolate country covered with thick jungle. In the midst of the + jungle grows a circle of palm-trees, and in the centre of the circle stand + six jars full of water, piled one above another; below the sixth jar is a + small cage which contains a little green parrot; on the life of the parrot + depends my life, and if the parrot is killed I must die." <a + href="#linknote-6" name="linknoteref-6" id="linknoteref-6"><small>6</small></a> + The young prince finds the place guarded by a host of dragons, but some + eaglets whom he has saved from a devouring serpent in the course of his + journey take him on their crossed wings and carry him to the place where + the jars are standing. He instantly overturns the jars, and seizing the + parrot, obtains from the terrified magician full reparation. As soon as + his own friends and a stately procession of other royal or noble victims + have been set at liberty, he proceeds to pull the parrot to pieces. As the + wings and legs come away, so tumble off the arms and legs of the magician; + and finally as the prince wrings the bird's neck, Punchkin twists his own + head round and dies. + </p> + <p> + The story is also told in the highlands of Scotland, and some portions of + it will be recognized by the reader as incidents in the Arabian tale of + the Princess Parizade. The union of close correspondence in conception + with manifest independence in the management of the details of these + stories is striking enough, but it is a phenomenon with which we become + quite familiar as we proceed in the study of Aryan popular literature. The + legend of the Master Thief is no less remarkable than that of Punchkin. In + the Scandinavian tale the Thief, wishing to get possession of a farmer's + ox, carefully hangs himself to a tree by the roadside. The farmer, passing + by with his ox, is indeed struck by the sight of the dangling body, but + thinks it none of his business, and does not stop to interfere. No sooner + has he passed than the Thief lets himself down, and running swiftly along + a by-path, hangs himself with equal precaution to a second tree. This time + the farmer is astonished and puzzled; but when for the third time he meets + the same unwonted spectacle, thinking that three suicides in one morning + are too much for easy credence, he leaves his ox and runs back to see + whether the other two bodies are really where he thought he saw them. + While he is framing hypotheses of witchcraft by which to explain the + phenomenon, the Thief gets away with the ox. In the Hitopadesa the story + receives a finer point. "A Brahman, who had vowed a sacrifice, went to the + market to buy a goat. Three thieves saw him, and wanted to get hold of the + goat. They stationed themselves at intervals on the high road. When the + Brahman, who carried the goat on his back, approached the first thief, the + thief said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog on your back?' The Brahman + replied, 'It is not a dog, it is a goat.' A little while after he was + accosted by the second thief, who said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog + on your back?' The Brahman felt perplexed, put the goat down, examined it, + took it up again, and walked on. Soon after he was stopped by the third + thief, who said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog on your back?' Then the + Brahman was frightened, threw down the goat, and walked home to perform + his ablutions for having touched an unclean animal. The thieves took the + goat and ate it." The adroitness of the Norse King in "The Three + Princesses of Whiteland" shows but poorly in comparison with the keen + psychological insight and cynical sarcasm of these Hindu sharpers. In the + course of his travels this prince met three brothers fighting on a lonely + moor. They had been fighting for a hundred years about the possession of a + hat, a cloak, and a pair of boots, which would make the wearer invisible, + and convey him instantly whithersoever he might wish to go. The King + consents to act as umpire, provided he may once try the virtue of the + magic garments; but once clothed in them, of course he disappears, leaving + the combatants to sit down and suck their thumbs. Now in the "Sea of + Streams of Story," written in the twelfth century by Somadeva of Cashmere, + the Indian King Putraka, wandering in the Vindhya Mountains, similarly + discomfits two brothers who are quarrelling over a pair of shoes, which + are like the sandals of Hermes, and a bowl which has the same virtue as + Aladdin's lamp. "Why don't you run a race for them?" suggests Putraka; + and, as the two blockheads start furiously off, he quietly picks up the + bowl, ties on the shoes, and flies away! <a href="#linknote-7" + name="linknoteref-7" id="linknoteref-7"><small>7</small></a> + </p> + <p> + It is unnecessary to cite further illustrations. The tales here quoted are + fair samples of the remarkable correspondence which holds good through all + the various sections of Aryan folk-lore. The hypothesis of lateral + diffusion, as we may call it, manifestly fails to explain coincidences + which are maintained on such an immense scale. It is quite credible that + one nation may have borrowed from another a solitary legend of an archer + who performs the feats of Tell and Palnatoki; but it is utterly incredible + that ten thousand stories, constituting the entire mass of household + mythology throughout a dozen separate nations, should have been handed + from one to another in this way. No one would venture to suggest that the + old grannies of Iceland and Norway, to whom we owe such stories as the + Master Thief and the Princesses of Whiteland, had ever read Somadeva or + heard of the treasures of Rhampsinitos. A large proportion of the tales + with which we are dealing were utterly unknown to literature until they + were taken down by Grimm and Frere and Castren and Campbell, from the lips + of ignorant peasants, nurses, or house-servants, in Germany and Hindustan, + in Siberia and Scotland. Yet, as Mr. Cox observes, these old men and + women, sitting by the chimney-corner and somewhat timidly recounting to + the literary explorer the stories which they had learned in childhood from + their own nurses and grandmas, "reproduce the most subtle turns of thought + and expression, and an endless series of complicated narratives, in which + the order of incidents and the words of the speakers are preserved with a + fidelity nowhere paralleled in the oral tradition of historical events. It + may safely be said that no series of stories introduced in the form of + translations from other languages could ever thus have filtered down into + the lowest strata of society, and thence have sprung up again, like + Antaios, with greater energy and heightened beauty." There is indeed no + alternative for us but to admit that these fireside tales have been handed + down from parent to child for more than a hundred generations; that the + primitive Aryan cottager, as he took his evening meal of yava and sipped + his fermented mead, listened with his children to the stories of Boots and + Cinderella and the Master Thief, in the days when the squat Laplander was + master of Europe and the dark-skinned Sudra was as yet unmolested in the + Punjab. Only such community of origin can explain the community in + character between the stories told by the Aryan's descendants, from the + jungles of Ceylon to the highlands of Scotland. + </p> + <p> + This conclusion essentially modifies our view of the origin and growth of + a legend like that of William Tell. The case of the Tell legend is + radically different from the case of the blindness of Belisarius or the + burning of the Alexandrian library by order of Omar. The latter are + isolated stories or beliefs; the former is one of a family of stories or + beliefs. The latter are untrustworthy traditions of doubtful events; but + in dealing with the former, we are face to face with a MYTH. + </p> + <p> + What, then, is a myth? The theory of Euhemeros, which was so fashionable a + century ago, in the days of the Abbe Banier, has long since been so + utterly abandoned that to refute it now is but to slay the slain. The + peculiarity of this theory was that it cut away all the extraordinary + features of a given myth, wherein dwelt its inmost significance, and to + the dull and useless residuum accorded the dignity of primeval history. In + this way the myth was lost without compensation, and the student, in + seeking good digestible bread, found but the hardest of pebbles. + Considered merely as a pretty story, the legend of the golden fruit + watched by the dragon in the garden of the Hesperides is not without its + value. But what merit can there be in the gratuitous statement which, + degrading the grand Doric hero to a level with any vulgar fruit-stealer, + makes Herakles break a close with force and arms, and carry off a crop of + oranges which had been guarded by mastiffs? It is still worse when we come + to the more homely folk-lore with which the student of mythology now has + to deal. The theories of Banier, which limped and stumbled awkwardly + enough when it was only a question of Hermes and Minos and Odin, have + fallen never to rise again since the problems of Punchkin and Cinderella + and the Blue Belt have begun to demand solution. The conclusion has been + gradually forced upon the student, that the marvellous portion of these + old stories is no illegitimate extres-cence, but was rather the pith and + centre of the whole, <a href="#linknote-8" name="linknoteref-8" + id="linknoteref-8"><small>8</small></a> in days when there was no + supernatural, because it had not yet been discovered that there was such a + thing as nature. The religious myths of antiquity and the fireside legends + of ancient and modern times have their common root in the mental habits of + primeval humanity. They are the earliest recorded utterances of men + concerning the visible phenomena of the world into which they were born. + </p> + <p> + That prosaic and coldly rational temper with which modern men are wont to + regard natural phenomena was in early times unknown. We have come to + regard all events as taking place regularly, in strict conformity to law: + whatever our official theories may be, we instinctively take this view of + things. But our primitive ancestors knew nothing about laws of nature, + nothing about physical forces, nothing about the relations of cause and + effect, nothing about the necessary regularity of things. There was a time + in the history of mankind when these things had never been inquired into, + and when no generalizations about them had been framed, tested, or + established. There was no conception of an order of nature, and therefore + no distinct conception of a supernatural order of things. There was no + belief in miracles as infractions of natural laws, but there was a belief + in the occurrence of wonderful events too mighty to have been brought + about by ordinary means. There was an unlimited capacity for believing and + fancying, because fancy and belief had not yet been checked and headed off + in various directions by established rules of experience. Physical science + is a very late acquisition of the human mind, but we are already + sufficiently imbued with it to be almost completely disabled from + comprehending the thoughts of our ancestors. "How Finn cosmogonists could + have believed the earth and heaven to be made out of a severed egg, the + upper concave shell representing heaven, the yolk being earth, and the + crystal surrounding fluid the circumambient ocean, is to us + incomprehensible; and yet it remains a fact that they did so regard them. + How the Scandinavians could have supposed the mountains to be the + mouldering bones of a mighty Jotun, and the earth to be his festering + flesh, we cannot conceive; yet such a theory was solemnly taught and + accepted. How the ancient Indians could regard the rain-clouds as cows + with full udders milked by the winds of heaven is beyond our + comprehension, and yet their Veda contains indisputable testimony to the + fact that they were so regarded." We have only to read Mr. Baring-Gould's + book of "Curious Myths," from which I have just quoted, or to dip into Mr. + Thorpe's treatise on "Northern Mythology," to realize how vast is the + difference between our stand-point and that from which, in the later + Middle Ages, our immediate forefathers regarded things. The frightful + superstition of werewolves is a good instance. In those days it was firmly + believed that men could be, and were in the habit of being, transformed + into wolves. It was believed that women might bring forth snakes or + poodle-dogs. It was believed that if a man had his side pierced in battle, + you could cure him by nursing the sword which inflicted the wound. "As + late as 1600 a German writer would illustrate a thunder-storm destroying a + crop of corn by a picture of a dragon devouring the produce of the field + with his flaming tongue and iron teeth." + </p> + <p> + Now if such was the condition of the human intellect only three or four + centuries ago, what must it have been in that dark antiquity when not even + the crudest generalizations of Greek or of Oriental science had been + reached? The same mighty power of imagination which now, restrained and + guided by scientific principles, leads us to discoveries and inventions, + must then have wildly run riot in mythologic fictions whereby to explain + the phenomena of nature. Knowing nothing whatever of physical forces, of + the blind steadiness with which a given effect invariably follows its + cause, the men of primeval antiquity could interpret the actions of nature + only after the analogy of their own actions. The only force they knew was + the force of which they were directly conscious,—the force of will. + Accordingly, they imagined all the outward world to be endowed with + volition, and to be directed by it. They personified everything,—sky, + clouds, thunder, sun, moon, ocean, earthquake, whirlwind. <a + href="#linknote-9" name="linknoteref-9" id="linknoteref-9"><small>9</small></a> + The comparatively enlightened Athenians of the age of Perikles addressed + the sky as a person, and prayed to it to rain upon their gardens. <a + href="#linknote-10" name="linknoteref-10" id="linknoteref-10"><small>10</small></a> + And for calling the moon a mass of dead matter, Anaxagoras came near + losing his life. To the ancients the moon was not a lifeless ball of + stones and clods: it was the horned huntress, Artemis, coursing through + the upper ether, or bathing herself in the clear lake; or it was + Aphrodite, protectress of lovers, born of the sea-foam in the East near + Cyprus. The clouds were no bodies of vaporized water: they were cows with + swelling udders, driven to the milking by Hermes, the summer wind; or + great sheep with moist fleeces, slain by the unerring arrows of + Bellerophon, the sun; or swan-maidens, flitting across the firmament, + Valkyries hovering over the battle-field to receive the souls of falling + heroes; or, again, they were mighty mountains piled one above another, in + whose cavernous recesses the divining-wand of the storm-god Thor revealed + hidden treasures. The yellow-haired sun, Phoibos, drove westerly all day + in his flaming chariot; or perhaps, as Meleagros, retired for a while in + disgust from the sight of men; wedded at eventide the violet light + (Oinone, Iole), which he had forsaken in the morning; sank, as Herakles, + upon a blazing funeral-pyre, or, like Agamemnon, perished in a + blood-stained bath; or, as the fish-god, Dagon, swam nightly through the + subterranean waters, to appear eastward again at daybreak. Sometimes + Phaethon, his rash, inexperienced son, would take the reins and drive the + solar chariot too near the earth, causing the fruits to perish, and the + grass to wither, and the wells to dry up. Sometimes, too, the great + all-seeing divinity, in his wrath at the impiety of men, would shoot down + his scorching arrows, causing pestilence to spread over the land. Still + other conceptions clustered around the sun. Now it was the wonderful + treasure-house, into which no one could look and live; and again it was + Ixion himself, bound on the fiery wheel in punishment for violence offered + to Here, the queen of the blue air. + </p> + <p> + This theory of ancient mythology is not only beautiful and plausible, it + is, in its essential points, demonstrated. It stands on as firm a + foundation as Grimm's law in philology, or the undulatory theory in + molecular physics. It is philology which has here enabled us to read the + primitive thoughts of mankind. A large number of the names of Greek gods + and heroes have no meaning in the Greek language; but these names occur + also in Sanskrit, with plain physical meanings. In the Veda we find Zeus + or Jupiter (Dyaus-pitar) meaning the sky, and Sarameias or Hermes, meaning + the breeze of a summer morning. We find Athene (Ahana), meaning the light + of daybreak; and we are thus enabled to understand why the Greek described + her as sprung from the forehead of Zeus. There too we find Helena + (Sarama), the fickle twilight, whom the Panis, or night-demons, who serve + as the prototypes of the Hellenic Paris, strive to seduce from her + allegiance to the solar monarch. Even Achilleus (Aharyu) again confronts + us, with his captive Briseis (Brisaya's offspring); and the fierce + Kerberos (Carvara) barks on Vedic ground in strict conformity to the laws + of phonetics. <a href="#linknote-11" name="linknoteref-11" + id="linknoteref-11"><small>11</small></a> Now, when the Hindu talked about + Father Dyaus, or the sleek kine of Siva, he thought of the personified sky + and clouds; he had not outgrown the primitive mental habits of the race. + But the Greek, in whose language these physical meanings were lost, had + long before the Homeric epoch come to regard Zeus and Hermes, Athene, + Helena, Paris, and Achilleus, as mere persons, and in most cases the + originals of his myths were completely forgotten. In the Vedas the Trojan + War is carried on in the sky, between the bright deities and the demons of + night; but the Greek poet, influenced perhaps by some dim historical + tradition, has located the contest on the shore of the Hellespont, and in + his mind the actors, though superhuman, are still completely + anthropomorphic. Of the true origin of his epic story he knew as little as + Euhemeros, or Lord Bacon, or the Abbe Banier. + </p> + <p> + After these illustrations, we shall run no risk of being misunderstood + when we define a myth as, in its origin, an explanation, by the + uncivilized mind, of some natural phenomenon; not an allegory, not an + esoteric symbol,—for the ingenuity is wasted which strives to detect + in myths the remnants of a refined primeval science,—but an + explanation. Primitive men had no profound science to perpetuate by means + of allegory, nor were they such sorry pedants as to talk in riddles when + plain language would serve their purpose. Their minds, we may be sure, + worked like our own, and when they spoke of the far-darting sun-god, they + meant just what they said, save that where we propound a scientific + theorem, they constructed a myth. <a href="#linknote-12" + name="linknoteref-12" id="linknoteref-12"><small>12</small></a> A thing is + said to be explained when it is classified with other things with which we + are already acquainted. That is the only kind of explanation of which the + highest science is capable. We explain the origin, progress, and ending of + a thunder-storm, when we classify the phenomena presented by it along with + other more familiar phenomena of vaporization and condensation. But the + primitive man explained the same thing to his own satisfaction when he had + classified it along with the well-known phenomena of human volition, by + constructing a theory of a great black dragon pierced by the unerring + arrows of a heavenly archer. We consider the nature of the stars to a + certain extent explained when they are classified as suns; but the + Mohammedan compiler of the "Mishkat-ul-Ma'sabih" was content to explain + them as missiles useful for stoning the Devil! Now, as soon as the old + Greek, forgetting the source of his conception, began to talk of a human + Oidipous slaying a leonine Sphinx, and as soon as the Mussulman began, if + he ever did, to tell his children how the Devil once got a good pelting + with golden bullets, then both the one and the other were talking pure + mythology. + </p> + <p> + We are justified, accordingly, in distinguishing between a myth and a + legend. Though the words are etymologically parallel, and though in + ordinary discourse we may use them interchangeably, yet when strict + accuracy is required, it is well to keep them separate. And it is perhaps + needless, save for the sake of completeness, to say that both are to be + distinguished from stories which have been designedly fabricated. The + distinction may occasionally be subtle, but is usually broad enough. Thus, + the story that Philip II. murdered his wife Elizabeth, is a + misrepresentation; but the story that the same Elizabeth was culpably + enamoured of her step-son Don Carlos, is a legend. The story that Queen + Eleanor saved the life of her husband, Edward I., by sucking a wound made + in his arm by a poisoned arrow, is a legend; but the story that Hercules + killed a great robber, Cacus, who had stolen his cattle, conceals a + physical meaning, and is a myth. While a legend is usually confined to one + or two localities, and is told of not more than one or two persons, it is + characteristic of a myth that it is spread, in one form or another, over a + large part of the earth, the leading incidents remaining constant, while + the names and often the motives vary with each locality. This is partly + due to the immense antiquity of myths, dating as they do from a period + when many nations, now widely separated, had not yet ceased to form one + people. Thus many elements of the myth of the Trojan War are to be found + in the Rig-Veda; and the myth of St. George and the Dragon is found in all + the Aryan nations. But we must not always infer that myths have a common + descent, merely because they resemble each other. We must remember that + the proceedings of the uncultivated mind are more or less alike in all + latitudes, and that the same phenomenon might in various places + independently give rise to similar stories. <a href="#linknote-13" + name="linknoteref-13" id="linknoteref-13"><small>13</small></a> The myth + of Jack and the Beanstalk is found not only among people of Aryan descent, + but also among the Zulus of South Africa, and again among the American + Indians. Whenever we can trace a story in this way from one end of the + world to the other, or through a whole family of kindred nations, we are + pretty safe in assuming that we are dealing with a true myth, and not with + a mere legend. + </p> + <p> + Applying these considerations to the Tell myth, we at once obtain a valid + explanation of its origin. The conception of infallible skill in archery, + which underlies such a great variety of myths and popular fairy-tales, is + originally derived from the inevitable victory of the sun over his + enemies, the demons of night, winter, and tempest. Arrows and spears which + never miss their mark, swords from whose blow no armour can protect, are + invariably the weapons of solar divinities or heroes. The shafts of + Bellerophon never fail to slay the black demon of the rain-cloud, and the + bolt of Phoibos Chrysaor deals sure destruction to the serpent of winter. + Odysseus, warring against the impious night-heroes, who have endeavoured + throughout ten long years or hours of darkness to seduce from her + allegiance his twilight-bride, the weaver of the never-finished web of + violet clouds,—Odysseus, stripped of his beggar's raiment and + endowed with fresh youth and beauty by the dawn-goddess, Athene, engages + in no doubtful conflict as he raises the bow which none but himself can + bend. Nor is there less virtue in the spear of Achilleus, in the swords of + Perseus and Sigurd, in Roland's stout blade Durandal, or in the brand + Excalibur, with which Sir Bedivere was so loath to part. All these are + solar weapons, and so, too, are the arrows of Tell and Palnatoki, Egil and + Hemingr, and William of Cloudeslee, whose surname proclaims him an + inhabitant of the Phaiakian land. William Tell, whether of Cloudland or of + Altdorf, is the last reflection of the beneficent divinity of daytime and + summer, constrained for a while to obey the caprice of the powers of cold + and darkness, as Apollo served Laomedon, and Herakles did the bidding of + Eurystheus. His solar character is well preserved, even in the sequel of + the Swiss legend, in which he appears no less skilful as a steersman than + as an archer, and in which, after traversing, like Dagon, the tempestuous + sea of night, he leaps at daybreak in regained freedom upon the land, and + strikes down the oppressor who has held him in bondage. + </p> + <p> + But the sun, though ever victorious in open contest with his enemies, is + nevertheless not invulnerable. At times he succumbs to treachery, is bound + by the frost-giants, or slain by the demons of darkness. The poisoned + shirt of the cloud-fiend Nessos is fatal even to the mighty Herakles, and + the prowess of Siegfried at last fails to save him from the craft of + Hagen. In Achilleus and Meleagros we see the unhappy solar hero doomed to + toil for the profit of others, and to be cut off by an untimely death. The + more fortunate Odysseus, who lives to a ripe old age, and triumphs again + and again over all the powers of darkness, must nevertheless yield to the + craving desire to visit new cities and look upon new works of strange men, + until at last he is swallowed up in the western sea. That the unrivalled + navigator of the celestial ocean should disappear beneath the western + waves is as intelligible as it is that the horned Venus or Astarte should + rise from the sea in the far east. It is perhaps less obvious that winter + should be so frequently symbolized as a thorn or sharp instrument. + Achilleus dies by an arrow-wound in the heel; the thigh of Adonis is + pierced by the boar's tusk, while Odysseus escapes with an ugly scar, + which afterwards secures his recognition by his old servant, the + dawn-nymph Eurykleia; Sigurd is slain by a thorn, and Balder by a sharp + sprig of mistletoe; and in the myth of the Sleeping Beauty, the + earth-goddess sinks into her long winter sleep when pricked by the point + of the spindle. In her cosmic palace, all is locked in icy repose, naught + thriving save the ivy which defies the cold, until the kiss of the + golden-haired sun-god reawakens life and activity. + </p> + <p> + The wintry sleep of nature is symbolized in innumerable stories of + spell-bound maidens and fair-featured youths, saints, martyrs, and heroes. + Sometimes it is the sun, sometimes the earth, that is supposed to slumber. + Among the American Indians the sun-god Michabo is said to sleep through + the winter months; and at the time of the falling leaves, by way of + composing himself for his nap, he fills his great pipe and divinely + smokes; the blue clouds, gently floating over the landscape, fill the air + with the haze of Indian summer. In the Greek myth the shepherd Endymion + preserves his freshness in a perennial slumber. The German Siegfried, + pierced by the thorn of winter, is sleeping until he shall be again called + forth to fight. In Switzerland, by the Vierwald-stattersee, three Tells + are awaiting the hour when their country shall again need to be delivered + from the oppressor. Charlemagne is reposing in the Untersberg, sword in + hand, waiting for the coming of Antichrist; Olger Danske similarly dreams + away his time in Avallon; and in a lofty mountain in Thuringia, the great + Emperor Yrederic Barbarossa slumbers with his knights around him, until + the time comes for him to sally forth and raise Germany to the first rank + among the kingdoms of the world. The same story is told of Olaf + Tryggvesson, of Don Sebastian of Portugal, and of the Moorish King + Boabdil. The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, having taken refuge in a cave from + the persecutions of the heathen Decius, slept one hundred and sixty-four + years, and awoke to find a Christian emperor on the throne. The monk of + Hildesheim, in the legend so beautifully rendered by Longfellow, doubting + how with God a thousand years ago could be as yesterday, listened three + minutes entranced by the singing of a bird in the forest, and found, on + waking from his revery, that a thousand years had flown. To the same + family of legends belong the notion that St. John is sleeping at Ephesus + until the last days of the world; the myth of the enchanter Merlin, + spell-bound by Vivien; the story of the Cretan philosopher Epimenides, who + dozed away fifty-seven years in a cave; and Rip Van Winkle's nap in the + Catskills. <a href="#linknote-14" name="linknoteref-14" id="linknoteref-14"><small>14</small></a> + </p> + <p> + We might go on almost indefinitely citing household tales of wonderful + sleepers; but, on the principle of the association of opposites, we are + here reminded of sundry cases of marvellous life and wakefulness, + illustrated in the Wandering Jew; the dancers of Kolbeck; Joseph of + Arimathaea with the Holy Grail; the Wild Huntsman who to all eternity + chases the red deer; the Captain of the Phantom Ship; the classic + Tithonos; and the Man in the Moon. + </p> + <p> + The lunar spots have afforded a rich subject for the play of human fancy. + Plutarch wrote a treatise on them, but the myth-makers had been before + him. "Every one," says Mr. Baring-Gould, "knows that the moon is inhabited + by a man with a bundle of sticks on his back, who has been exiled thither + for many centuries, and who is so far off that he is beyond the reach of + death. He has once visited this earth, if the nursery rhyme is to be + credited when it asserts that + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'The Man in the Moon + Came down too soon + And asked his way to Norwich'; +</pre> + <p> + but whether he ever reached that city the same authority does not state." + Dante calls him Cain; Chaucer has him put up there as a punishment for + theft, and gives him a thorn-bush to carry; Shakespeare also loads him + with the thorns, but by way of compensation gives him a dog for a + companion. Ordinarily, however, his offence is stated to have been, not + stealing, but Sabbath-breaking,—an idea derived from the Old + Testament. Like the man mentioned in the Book of Numbers, he is caught + gathering sticks on the Sabbath; and, as an example to mankind, he is + condemned to stand forever in the moon, with his bundle on his back. + Instead of a dog, one German version places with him a woman, whose crime + was churning butter on Sunday. She carries her butter-tub; and this brings + us to Mother Goose again:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Jack and Jill went up the hill + To get a pail of water. + Jack fell down and broke his crown, + And Jill came tumbling after." +</pre> + <p> + This may read like mere nonsense; but there is a point of view from which + it may be safely said that there is very little absolute nonsense in the + world. The story of Jack and Jill is a venerable one. In Icelandic + mythology we read that Jack and Jill were two children whom the moon once + kidnapped and carried up to heaven. They had been drawing water in a + bucket, which they were carrying by means of a pole placed across their + shoulders; and in this attitude they have stood to the present day in the + moon. Even now this explanation of the moon-spots is to be heard from the + mouths of Swedish peasants. They fall away one after the other, as the + moon wanes, and their water-pail symbolizes the supposed connection of the + moon with rain-storms. Other forms of the myth occur in Sanskrit. + </p> + <p> + The moon-goddess, or Aphrodite, of the ancient Germans, was called Horsel, + or Ursula, who figures in Christian mediaeval mythology as a persecuted + saint, attended by a troop of eleven thousand virgins, who all suffer + martyrdom as they journey from England to Cologne. The meaning of the myth + is obvious. In German mythology, England is the Phaiakian land of clouds + and phantoms; the succubus, leaving her lover before daybreak, excuses + herself on the plea that "her mother is calling her in England." <a + href="#linknote-15" name="linknoteref-15" id="linknoteref-15"><small>15</small></a> + The companions of Ursula are the pure stars, who leave the cloudland and + suffer martyrdom as they approach the regions of day. In the Christian + tradition, Ursula is the pure Artemis; but, in accordance with her ancient + character, she is likewise the sensual Aphrodite, who haunts the + Venusberg; and this brings us to the story of Tannhauser. + </p> + <p> + The Horselberg, or mountain of Venus, lies in Thuringia, between Eisenach + and Gotha. High up on its slope yawns a cavern, the Horselloch, or cave of + Venus within which is heard a muffled roar, as of subterranean water. From + this cave, in old times, the frightened inhabitants of the neighbouring + valley would hear at night wild moans and cries issuing, mingled with + peals of demon-like laughter. Here it was believed that Venus held her + court; "and there were not a few who declared that they had seen fair + forms of female beauty beckoning them from the mouth of the chasm." <a + href="#linknote-16" name="linknoteref-16" id="linknoteref-16"><small>16</small></a> + Tannhauser was a Frankish knight and famous minnesinger, who, travelling + at twilight past the Horselberg, "saw a white glimmering figure of + matchless beauty standing before him and beckoning him to her." Leaving + his horse, he went up to meet her, whom he knew to be none other than + Venus. He descended to her palace in the heart of the mountain, and there + passed seven years in careless revelry. Then, stricken with remorse and + yearning for another glimpse of the pure light of day, he called in agony + upon the Virgin Mother, who took compassion on him and released him. He + sought a village church, and to priest after priest confessed his sin, + without obtaining absolution, until finally he had recourse to the Pope. + But the holy father, horrified at the enormity of his misdoing, declared + that guilt such as his could never be remitted sooner should the staff in + his hand grow green and blossom. "Then Tannhauser, full of despair and + with his soul darkened, went away, and returned to the only asylum open to + him, the Venusberg. But lo! three days after he had gone, Pope Urban + discovered that his pastoral staff had put forth buds and had burst into + flower. Then he sent messengers after Tannhauser, and they reached the + Horsel vale to hear that a wayworn man, with haggard brow and bowed head, + had just entered the Horselloch. Since then Tannhauser has not been seen." + (p. 201.) + </p> + <p> + As Mr. Baring-Gould rightly observes, this sad legend, in its + Christianized form, is doubtless descriptive of the struggle between the + new and the old faiths. The knightly Tannhauser, satiated with pagan + sensuality, turns to Christianity for relief, but, repelled by the + hypocrisy, pride, and lack of sympathy of its ministers, gives up in + despair, and returns to drown his anxieties in his old debauchery. + </p> + <p> + But this is not the primitive form of the myth, which recurs in the + folk-lore of every people of Aryan descent. Who, indeed, can read it + without being at once reminded of Thomas of Erceldoune (or Horsel-hill), + entranced by the sorceress of the Eilden; of the nightly visits of Numa to + the grove of the nymph Egeria; of Odysseus held captive by the Lady + Kalypso; and, last but not least, of the delightful Arabian tale of Prince + Ahmed and the Peri Banou? On his westward journey, Odysseus is ensnared + and kept in temporary bondage by the amorous nymph of darkness, Kalypso + (kalnptw, to veil or cover). So the zone of the moon-goddess Aphrodite + inveigles all-seeing Zeus to treacherous slumber on Mount Ida; and by a + similar sorcery Tasso's great hero is lulled in unseemly idleness in + Armida's golden paradise, at the western verge of the world. The + disappearance of Tannhauser behind the moonlit cliff, lured by Venus + Ursula, the pale goddess of night, is a precisely parallel circumstance. + </p> + <p> + But solar and lunar phenomena are by no means the only sources of popular + mythology. Opposite my writing-table hangs a quaint German picture, + illustrating Goethe's ballad of the Erlking, in which the whole wild + pathos of the story is compressed into one supreme moment; we see the + fearful, half-gliding rush of the Erlking, his long, spectral arms + outstretched to grasp the child, the frantic gallop of the horse, the + alarmed father clasping his darling to his bosom in convulsive embrace, + the siren-like elves hovering overhead, to lure the little soul with their + weird harps. There can be no better illustration than is furnished by this + terrible scene of the magic power of mythology to invest the simplest + physical phenomena with the most intense human interest; for the true + significance of the whole picture is contained in the father's address to + his child, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind; + In durren Blattern sauselt der Wind." +</pre> + <p> + The story of the Piper of Hamelin, well known in the version of Robert + Browning, leads to the same conclusion. In 1284 the good people of Hamelin + could obtain no rest, night or day, by reason of the direful host of rats + which infested their town. One day came a strange man in a bunting-suit, + and offered for five hundred guilders to rid the town of the vermin. The + people agreed: whereupon the man took out a pipe and piped, and instantly + all the rats in town, in an army which blackened the face of the earth, + came forth from their haunts, and followed the piper until he piped them + to the river Weser, where they alls jumped in and were drowned. But as + soon as the torment was gone, the townsfolk refused to pay the piper on + the ground that he was evidently a wizard. He went away, vowing vengeance, + and on St. John's day reappeared, and putting his pipe to his mouth blew a + different air. Whereat all the little, plump, rosy-cheeked, golden-haired + children came merrily running after him, their parents standing aghast, + not knowing what to do, while he led them up a hill in the neighbourhood. + A door opened in the mountain-side, through which he led them in, and they + never were seen again; save one lame boy, who hobbled not fast enough to + get in before the door shut, and who lamented for the rest of his life + that he had not been able to share the rare luck of his comrades. In the + street through which this procession passed no music was ever afterwards + allowed to be played. For a long time the town dated its public documents + from this fearful calamity, and many authorities have treated it as an + historical event. <a href="#linknote-17" name="linknoteref-17" + id="linknoteref-17"><small>17</small></a> Similar stories are told of + other towns in Germany, and, strange to say, in remote Abyssinia also. + Wesleyan peasants in England believe that angels pipe to children who are + about to die; and in Scandinavia, youths are said to have been enticed + away by the songs of elf-maidens. In Greece, the sirens by their magic lay + allured voyagers to destruction; and Orpheus caused the trees and dumb + beasts to follow him. Here we reach the explanation. For Orpheus is the + wind sighing through untold acres of pine forest. "The piper is no other + than the wind, and the ancients held that in the wind were the souls of + the dead." To this day the English peasantry believe that they hear the + wail of the spirits of unbaptized children, as the gale sweeps past their + cottage doors. The Greek Hermes resulted from the fusion of two deities. + He is the sun and also the wind; and in the latter capacity he bears away + the souls of the dead. So the Norse Odin, who like Hermes fillfils a + double function, is supposed to rush at night over the tree-tops, + "accompanied by the scudding train of brave men's spirits." And readers of + recent French literature cannot fail to remember Erokmann-Chatrian's + terrible story of the wild huntsman Vittikab, and how he sped through the + forest, carrying away a young girl's soul. + </p> + <p> + Thus, as Tannhauser is the Northern Ulysses, so is Goethe's Erlking none + other than the Piper of Hamelin. And the piper, in turn, is the classic + Hermes or Orpheus, the counterpart of the Finnish Wainamoinen and the + Sanskrit Gunadhya. His wonderful pipe is the horn of Oberon, the lyre of + Apollo (who, like the piper, was a rat-killer), the harp stolen by Jack + when he climbed the bean-stalk to the ogre's castle. <a href="#linknote-18" + name="linknoteref-18" id="linknoteref-18"><small>18</small></a> And the + father, in Goethe's ballad, is no more than right when he assures his + child that the siren voice which tempts him is but the rustle of the wind + among the dried leaves; for from such a simple class of phenomena arose + this entire family of charming legends. + </p> + <p> + But why does the piper, who is a leader of souls (Psychopompos), also draw + rats after him? In answering this we shall have occasion to note that the + ancients by no means shared that curious prejudice against the brute + creation which is indulged in by modern anti-Darwinians. In many + countries, rats and mice have been regarded as sacred animals; but in + Germany they were thought to represent the human soul. One story out of a + hundred must suffice to illustrate this. "In Thuringia, at Saalfeld, a + servant-girl fell asleep whilst her companions were shelling nuts. They + observed a little red mouse creep from her mouth and run out of the + window. One of the fellows present shook the sleeper, but could not wake + her, so he moved her to another place. Presently the mouse ran back to the + former place and dashed about, seeking the girl; not finding her, it + vanished; at the same moment the girl died." <a href="#linknote-19" + name="linknoteref-19" id="linknoteref-19"><small>19</small></a> This + completes the explanation of the piper, and it also furnishes the key to + the horrible story of Bishop Hatto. + </p> + <p> + This wicked prelate lived on the bank of the Rhine, in the middle of which + stream he possessed a tower, now pointed out to travellers as the Mouse + Tower. In the year 970 there was a dreadful famine, and people came from + far and near craving sustenance out of the Bishop's ample and well-filled + granaries. Well, he told them all to go into the barn, and when they had + got in there, as many as could stand, he set fire to the barn and burnt + them all up, and went home to eat a merry supper. But when he arose next + morning, he heard that an army of rats had eaten all the corn in his + granaries, and was now advancing to storm the palace. Looking from his + window, he saw the roads and fields dark with them, as they came with fell + purpose straight toward his mansion. In frenzied terror he took his boat + and rowed out to the tower in the river. But it was of no use: down into + the water marched the rats, and swam across, and scaled the walls, and + gnawed through the stones, and came swarming in about the shrieking + Bishop, and ate him up, flesh, bones, and all. Now, bearing in mind what + was said above, there can be no doubt that these rats were the souls of + those whom the Bishop had murdered. There are many versions of the story + in different Teutonic countries, and in some of them the avenging rats or + mice issue directly, by a strange metamorphosis, from the corpses of the + victims. St. Gertrude, moreover, the heathen Holda, was symbolized as a + mouse, and was said Go lead an army of mice; she was the receiver of + children's souls. Odin, also, in his character of a Psychopompos, was + followed by a host of rats. <a href="#linknote-20" name="linknoteref-20" + id="linknoteref-20"><small>20</small></a> + </p> + <p> + As the souls of the departed are symbolized as rats, so is the psychopomp + himself often figured as a dog. Sarameias, the Vedic counterpart of Hermes + and Odin, sometimes appears invested with canine attributes; and countless + other examples go to show that by the early Aryan mind the howling wind + was conceived as a great dog or wolf. As the fearful beast was heard + speeding by the windows or over the house-top, the inmates trembled, for + none knew but his own soul might forthwith be required of him. Hence, to + this day, among ignorant people, the howling of a dog under the window is + supposed to portend a death in the family. It is the fleet greyhound of + Hermes, come to escort the soul to the river Styx. <a href="#linknote-21" + name="linknoteref-21" id="linknoteref-21"><small>21</small></a> + </p> + <p> + But the wind-god is not always so terrible. Nothing can be more + transparent than the phraseology of the Homeric Hymn, in which Hermes is + described as acquiring the strength of a giant while yet a babe in the + cradle, as sallying out and stealing the cattle (clouds) of Apollo, and + driving them helter-skelter in various directions, then as crawling + through the keyhole, and with a mocking laugh shrinking into his cradle. + He is the Master Thief, who can steal the burgomaster's horse from under + him and his wife's mantle from off her back, the prototype not only of the + crafty architect of Rhampsinitos, but even of the ungrateful slave who + robs Sancho of his mule in the Sierra Morena. He furnishes in part the + conceptions of Boots and Reynard; he is the prototype of Paul Pry and + peeping Tom of Coventry; and in virtue of his ability to contract or + expand himself at pleasure, he is both the Devil in the Norse Tale, <a + href="#linknote-22" name="linknoteref-22" id="linknoteref-22"><small>22</small></a> + whom the lad persuades to enter a walnut, and the Arabian Efreet, whom the + fisherman releases from the bottle. + </p> + <p> + The very interesting series of myths and popular superstitions suggested + by the storm-cloud and the lightning must be reserved for a future + occasion. When carefully examined, they will richly illustrate the + conclusion which is the result of the present inquiry, that the marvellous + tales and quaint superstitions current in every Aryan household have a + common origin with the classic legends of gods and heroes, which formerly + were alone thought worthy of the student's serious attention. These + stories—some of them familiar to us in infancy, others the delight + of our maturer years—constitute the debris, or alluvium, brought + down by the stream of tradition from the distant highlands of ancient + mythology. + </p> + <p> + September, 1870. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. THE DESCENT OF FIRE. + </h2> + <p> + IN the course of my last summer's vacation, which was spent at a small + inland village, I came upon an unexpected illustration of the tenacity + with which conceptions descended from prehistoric antiquity have now and + then kept their hold upon life. While sitting one evening under the trees + by the roadside, my attention was called to the unusual conduct of half a + dozen men and boys who were standing opposite. An elderly man was moving + slowly up and down the road, holding with both hands a forked twig of + hazel, shaped like the letter Y inverted. With his palms turned upward, he + held in each hand a branch of the twig in such a way that the shank + pointed upward; but every few moments, as he halted over a certain spot, + the twig would gradually bend downwards until it had assumed the likeness + of a Y in its natural position, where it would remain pointing to + something in the ground beneath. One by one the bystanders proceeded to + try the experiment, but with no variation in the result. Something in the + ground seemed to fascinate the bit of hazel, for it could not pass over + that spot without bending down and pointing to it. + </p> + <p> + My thoughts reverted at once to Jacques Aymar and Dousterswivel, as I + perceived that these men were engaged in sorcery. During the long drought + more than half the wells in the village had become dry, and here was an + attempt to make good the loss by the aid of the god Thor. These men were + seeking water with a divining-rod. Here, alive before my eyes, was a + superstitious observance, which I had supposed long since dead and + forgotten by all men except students interested in mythology. + </p> + <p> + As I crossed the road to take part in the ceremony a farmer's boy came up, + stoutly affirming his incredulity, + </p> + <p> + and offering to show the company how he could carry the rod motionless + across the charmed spot. But when he came to take the weird twig he + trembled with an ill-defined feeling of insecurity as to the soundness of + his conclusions, and when he stood over the supposed rivulet the rod bent + in spite of him,—as was not so very strange. For, with all his vague + scepticism, the honest lad had not, and could not be supposed to have, the + foi scientifique of which Littre speaks. <a href="#linknote-23" + name="linknoteref-23" id="linknoteref-23"><small>23</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Hereupon I requested leave to try the rod; but something in my manner + seemed at once to excite the suspicion and scorn of the sorcerer. "Yes, + take it," said he, with uncalled-for vehemence, "but you can't stop it; + there's water below here, and you can't help its bending, if you break + your back trying to hold it." So he gave me the twig, and awaited, with a + smile which was meant to express withering sarcasm, the discomfiture of + the supposed scoffer. But when I proceeded to walk four or five times + across the mysterious place, the rod pointing steadfastly toward the + zenith all the while, our friend became grave and began to philosophize. + "Well," said he, "you see, your temperament is peculiar; the conditions + ain't favourable in your case; there are some people who never can work + these things. But there's water below here, for all that, as you'll find, + if you dig for it; there's nothing like a hazel-rod for finding out + water." + </p> + <p> + Very true: there are some persons who never can make such things work; who + somehow always encounter "unfavourable conditions" when they wish to test + the marvellous powers of a clairvoyant; who never can make "Planchette" + move in conformity to the requirements of any known alphabet; who never + see ghosts, and never have "presentiments," save such as are obviously due + to association of ideas. The ill-success of these persons is commonly + ascribed to their lack of faith; but, in the majority of cases, it might + be more truly referred to the strength of their faith,—faith in the + constancy of nature, and in the adequacy of ordinary human experience as + interpreted by science. <a href="#linknote-24" name="linknoteref-24" + id="linknoteref-24"><small>24</small></a> La foi scientifique is an + excellent preventive against that obscure, though not uncommon, kind of + self-deception which enables wooden tripods to write and tables to tip and + hazel-twigs to twist upside-down, without the conscious intervention of + the performer. It was this kind of faith, no doubt, which caused the + discomfiture of Jacques Aymar on his visit to Paris, <a href="#linknote-25" + name="linknoteref-25" id="linknoteref-25"><small>25</small></a> and which + has in late years prevented persons from obtaining the handsome prize + offered by the French Academy for the first authentic case of + clairvoyance. + </p> + <p> + But our village friend, though perhaps constructively right in his + philosophizing, was certainly very defective in his acquaintance with the + time-honoured art of rhabdomancy. Had he extended his inquiries so as to + cover the field of Indo-European tradition, he would have learned that the + mountain-ash, the mistletoe, the white and black thorn, the Hindu + asvattha, and several other woods, are quite as efficient as the hazel for + the purpose of detecting water in times of drought; and in due course of + time he would have perceived that the divining-rod itself is but one among + a large class of things to which popular belief has ascribed, along with + other talismanic properties, the power of opening the ground or cleaving + rocks, in order to reveal hidden treasures. Leaving him in peace, then, + with his bit of forked hazel, to seek for cooling springs in some future + thirsty season, let us endeavour to elucidate the origin of this curious + superstition. + </p> + <p> + The detection of subterranean water is by no means the only use to which + the divining-rod has been put. Among the ancient Frisians it was regularly + used for the detection of criminals; and the reputation of Jacques Aymar + was won by his discovery of the perpetrator of a horrible murder at Lyons. + Throughout Europe it has been used from time immemorial by miners for + ascertaining the position of veins of metal; and in the days when talents + were wrapped in napkins and buried in the field, instead of being exposed + to the risks of financial speculation, the divining-rod was employed by + persons covetous of their neighbours' wealth. If Boulatruelle had lived in + the sixteenth century, he would have taken a forked stick of hazel when he + went to search for the buried treasures of Jean Valjean. It has also been + applied to the cure of disease, and has been kept in households, like a + wizard's charm, to insure general good-fortune and immunity from disaster. + </p> + <p> + As we follow the conception further into the elf-land of popular + tradition, we come upon a rod which not only points out the situation of + hidden treasure, but even splits open the ground and reveals the mineral + wealth contained therein. In German legend, "a shepherd, who was driving + his flock over the Ilsenstein, having stopped to rest, leaning on his + staff, the mountain suddenly opened, for there was a springwort in his + staff without his knowing it, and the princess [Ilse] stood before him. + She bade him follow her, and when he was inside the mountain she told him + to take as much gold as he pleased. The shepherd filled all his pockets, + and was going away, when the princess called after him, 'Forget not the + best.' So, thinking she meant that he had not taken enough, he filled his + hat also; but what she meant was his staff with the springwort, which he + had laid against the wall as soon as he stepped in. But now, just as he + was going out at the opening, the rock suddenly slammed together and cut + him in two." <a href="#linknote-26" name="linknoteref-26" + id="linknoteref-26"><small>26</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Here the rod derives its marvellous properties from the enclosed + springwort, but in many cases a leaf or flower is itself competent to open + the hillside. The little blue flower, forget-me-not, about which so many + sentimental associations have clustered, owes its name to the legends told + of its talismanic virtues. <a href="#linknote-27" name="linknoteref-27" + id="linknoteref-27"><small>27</small></a> A man, travelling on a lonely + mountain, picks up a little blue flower and sticks it in his hat. + Forthwith an iron door opens, showing up a lighted passage-way, through + which the man advances into a magnificent hall, where rubies and diamonds + and all other kinds of gems are lying piled in great heaps on the floor. + As he eagerly fills his pockets his hat drops from his head, and when he + turns to go out the little flower calls after him, "Forget me not!" He + turns back and looks around, but is too bewildered with his good fortune + to think of his bare head or of the luck-flower which he has let fall. He + selects several more of the finest jewels he can find, and again starts to + go out; but as he passes through the door the mountain closes amid the + crashing of thunder, and cuts off one of his heels. Alone, in the gloom of + the forest, he searches in vain for the mysterious door: it has + disappeared forever, and the traveller goes on his way, thankful, let us + hope, that he has fared no worse. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes it is a white lady, like the Princess Ilse, who invites the + finder of the luck-flower to help himself to her treasures, and who utters + the enigmatical warning. The mountain where the event occurred may be + found almost anywhere in Germany, and one just like it stood in Persia, in + the golden prime of Haroun Alraschid. In the story of the Forty Thieves, + the mere name of the plant sesame serves as a talisman to open and shut + the secret door which leads into the robbers' cavern; and when the + avaricious Cassim Baba, absorbed in the contemplation of the bags of gold + and bales of rich merchandise, forgets the magic formula, he meets no + better fate than the shepherd of the Ilsenstein. In the story of Prince + Ahmed, it is an enchanted arrow which guides the young adventurer through + the hillside to the grotto of the Peri Banou. In the tale of Baba + Abdallah, it is an ointment rubbed on the eyelid which reveals at a single + glance all the treasures hidden in the bowels of the earth. + </p> + <p> + The ancient Romans also had their rock-breaking plant, called Saxifraga, + or "sassafras." And the further we penetrate into this charmed circle of + traditions the more evident does it appear that the power of cleaving + rocks or shattering hard substances enters, as a primitive element, into + the conception of these treasure-showing talismans. Mr. Baring-Gould has + given an excellent account of the rabbinical legends concerning the + wonderful schamir, by the aid of which Solomon was said to have built his + temple. From Asmodeus, prince of the Jann, Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, + wrested the secret of a worm no bigger than a barley-corn, which could + split the hardest substance. This worm was called schamir. "If Solomon + desired to possess himself of the worm, he must find the nest of the + moor-hen, and cover it with a plate of glass, so that the mother bird + could not get at her young without breaking the glass. She would seek + schamir for the purpose, and the worm must be obtained from her." As the + Jewish king did need the worm in order to hew the stones for that temple + which was to be built without sound of hammer, or axe, or any tool of + iron, <a href="#linknote-28" name="linknoteref-28" id="linknoteref-28"><small>28</small></a> + he sent Benaiah to obtain it. According to another account, schamir was a + mystic stone which enabled Solomon to penetrate the earth in search of + mineral wealth. Directed by a Jinni, the wise king covered a raven's eggs + with a plate of crystal, and thus obtained schamir which the bird brought + in order to break the plate. <a href="#linknote-29" name="linknoteref-29" + id="linknoteref-29"><small>29</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In these traditions, which may possibly be of Aryan descent, due to the + prolonged intercourse between the Jews and the Persians, a new feature is + added to those before enumerated: the rock-splitting talisman is always + found in the possession of a bird. The same feature in the myth reappears + on Aryan soil. The springwort, whose marvellous powers we have noticed in + the case of the Ilsenstein shepherd, is obtained, according to Pliny, by + stopping up the hole in a tree where a woodpecker keeps its young. The + bird flies away, and presently returns with the springwort, which it + applies to the plug, causing it to shoot out with a loud explosion. The + same account is given in German folk-lore. Elsewhere, as in Iceland, + Normandy, and ancient Greece, the bird is an eagle, a swallow, an ostrich, + or a hoopoe. + </p> + <p> + In the Icelandic and Pomeranian myths the schamir, or "raven-stone," also + renders its possessor invisible,—a property which it shares with one + of the treasure-finding plants, the fern. <a href="#linknote-30" + name="linknoteref-30" id="linknoteref-30"><small>30</small></a> In this + respect it resembles the ring of Gyges, as in its divining and + rock-splitting qualities it resembles that other ring which the African + magrician gave to Aladdin, to enable him to descend into the cavern where + stood the wonderful lamp. + </p> + <p> + According to one North German tradition, the luck-flower also will make + its finder invisible at pleasure. But, as the myth shrewdly adds, it is + absolutely essential that the flower be found by accident: he who seeks + for it never finds it! Thus all cavils are skilfully forestalled, even if + not satisfactorily disposed of. The same kind of reasoning is favoured by + our modern dealers in mystery: somehow the "conditions" always are askew + whenever a scientific observer wishes to test their pretensions. + </p> + <p> + In the North of Europe schamir appears strangely and grotesquely + metamorphosed. The hand of a man that has been hanged, when dried and + prepared with certain weird unguents and set on fire, is known as the Hand + of Glory; and as it not only bursts open all safe-locks, but also lulls to + sleep all persons within the circle of its influence, it is of course + invaluable to thieves and burglars. I quote the following story from + Thorpe's "Northern Mythology": "Two fellows once came to Huy, who + pretended to be exceedingly fatigued, and when they had supped would not + retire to a sleeping-room, but begged their host would allow them to take + a nap on the hearth. But the maid-servant, who did not like the looks of + the two guests, remained by the kitchen door and peeped through a chink, + when she saw that one of them drew a thief's hand from his pocket, the + fingers of which, after having rubbed them with an ointment, he lighted, + and they all burned except one. Again they held this finger to the fire, + but still it would not burn, at which they appeared much surprised, and + one said, 'There must surely be some one in the house who is not yet + asleep.' They then hung the hand with its four burning fingers by the + chimney, and went out to call their associates. But the maid followed them + instantly and made the door fast, then ran up stairs, where the landlord + slept, that she might wake him, but was unable, notwithstanding all her + shaking and calling. In the mean time the thieves had returned and were + endeavouring to enter the house by a window, but the maid cast them down + from the ladder. They then took a different course, and would have forced + an entrance, had it not occurred to the maid that the burning fingers + might probably be the cause of her master's profound sleep. Impressed with + this idea she ran to the kitchen and blew them out, when the master and + his men-servants instantly awoke, and soon drove away the robbers." The + same event is said to have occurred at Stainmore in England; and + Torquermada relates of Mexican thieves that they carry with them the left + hand of a woman who has died in her first childbed, before which talisman + all bolts yield and all opposition is benumbed. In 1831 "some Irish + thieves attempted to commit a robbery on the estate of Mr. Naper, of + Loughcrew, county Meath. They entered the house armed with a dead man's + hand with a lighted candle in it, believing in the superstitious notion + that a candle placed in a dead man's hand will not be seen by any but + those by whom it is used; and also that if a candle in a dead hand be + introduced into a house, it will prevent those who may be asleep from + awaking. The inmates, however, were alarmed, and the robbers fled, leaving + the hand behind them." <a href="#linknote-31" name="linknoteref-31" + id="linknoteref-31"><small>31</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In the Middle Ages the hand of glory was used, just like the divining-rod, + for the detection of buried treasures. + </p> + <p> + Here, then, we have a large and motley group of objects—the forked + rod of ash or hazel, the springwort and the luck-flower, leaves, worms, + stones, rings, and dead men's hands—which are for the most part + competent to open the way into cavernous rocks, and which all agree in + pointing out hidden wealth. We find, moreover, that many of these charmed + objects are carried about by birds, and that some of them possess, in + addition to their generic properties, the specific power of benumbing + people's senses. What, now, is the common origin of this whole group of + superstitions? And since mythology has been shown to be the result of + primeval attempts to explain the phenomena of nature, what natural + phenomenon could ever have given rise to so many seemingly wanton + conceptions? Hopeless as the problem may at first sight seem, it has + nevertheless been solved. In his great treatise on "The Descent of Fire," + Dr. Kuhn has shown that all these legends and traditions are descended + from primitive myths explanatory of the lightning and the storm-cloud. <a + href="#linknote-32" name="linknoteref-32" id="linknoteref-32"><small>32</small></a> + </p> + <p> + To us, who are nourished from childhood on the truths revealed by science, + the sky is known to be merely an optical appearance due to the partial + absorption of the solar rays in passing through a thick stratum of + atmospheric air; the clouds are known to be large masses of watery vapour, + which descend in rain-drops when sufficiently condensed; and the lightning + is known to be a flash of light accompanying an electric discharge. But + these conceptions are extremely recondite, and have been attained only + through centuries of philosophizing and after careful observation and + laborious experiment. To the untaught mind of a child or of an uncivilized + man, it seems far more natural and plausible to regard the sky as a solid + dome of blue crystal, the clouds as snowy mountains, or perhaps even as + giants or angels, the lightning as a flashing dart or a fiery serpent. In + point of fact, we find that the conceptions actually entertained are often + far more grotesque than these. I can recollect once framing the hypothesis + that the flaming clouds of sunset were transient apparitions, vouchsafed + us by way of warning, of that burning Calvinistic hell with which my + childish imagination had been unwisely terrified; <a href="#linknote-33" + name="linknoteref-33" id="linknoteref-33"><small>33</small></a> and I have + known of a four-year-old boy who thought that the snowy clouds of noonday + were the white robes of the angels hung out to dry in the sun. <a + href="#linknote-34" name="linknoteref-34" id="linknoteref-34"><small>34</small></a> + My little daughter is anxious to know whether it is necessary to take a + balloon in order to get to the place where God lives, or whether the same + end can be accomplished by going to the horizon and crawling up the sky; + <a href="#linknote-35" name="linknoteref-35" id="linknoteref-35"><small>35</small></a> + the Mohammedan of old was working at the same problem when he called the + rainbow the bridge Es-Sirat, over which souls must pass on their way to + heaven. According to the ancient Jew, the sky was a solid plate, hammered + out by the gods, and spread over the earth in order to keep up the ocean + overhead; <a href="#linknote-36" name="linknoteref-36" id="linknoteref-36"><small>36</small></a> + but the plate was full of little windows, which were opened whenever it + became necessary to let the rain come through. <a href="#linknote-37" + name="linknoteref-37" id="linknoteref-37"><small>37</small></a> With equal + plausibility the Greek represented the rainy sky as a sieve in which the + daughters of Danaos were vainly trying to draw water; while to the Hindu + the rain-clouds were celestial cattle milked by the wind-god. In primitive + Aryan lore, the sky itself was a blue sea, and the clouds were ships + sailing over it; and an English legend tells how one of these ships once + caught its anchor on a gravestone in the churchyard, to the great + astonishment of the people who were coming out of church. Charon's + ferry-boat was one of these vessels, and another was Odin's golden ship, + in which the souls of slain heroes were conveyed to Valhalla. Hence it was + once the Scandinavian practice to bury the dead in boats; and in Altmark a + penny is still placed in the mouth of the corpse, that it may have the + means of paying its fare to the ghostly ferryman. <a href="#linknote-38" + name="linknoteref-38" id="linknoteref-38"><small>38</small></a> In such a + vessel drifted the Lady of Shalott on her fatal voyage; and of similar + nature was the dusky barge, "dark as a funeral-scarf from stem to stern," + in which Arthur was received by the black-hooded queens. <a + href="#linknote-39" name="linknoteref-39" id="linknoteref-39"><small>39</small></a> + </p> + <p> + But the fact that a natural phenomenon was explained in one way did not + hinder it from being explained in a dozen other ways. The fact that the + sun was generally regarded as an all-conquering hero did not prevent its + being called an egg, an apple, or a frog squatting on the waters, or + Ixion's wheel, or the eye of Polyphemos, or the stone of Sisyphos, which + was no sooner pushed to the zenith than it rolled down to the horizon. So + the sky was not only a crystal dome, or a celestial ocean, but it was also + the Aleian land through which Bellerophon wandered, the country of the + Lotos-eaters, or again the realm of the Graiai beyond the twilight; and + finally it was personified and worshipped as Dyaus or Varuna, the Vedic + prototypes of the Greek Zeus and Ouranos. The clouds, too, had many other + representatives besides ships and cows. In a future paper it will be shown + that they were sometimes regarded as angels or houris; at present it more + nearly concerns us to know that they appear, throughout all Aryan + mythology, under the form of birds. It used to be a matter of hopeless + wonder to me that Aladdin's innocent request for a roc's egg to hang in + the dome of his palace should have been regarded as a crime worthy of + punishment by the loss of the wonderful lamp; the obscurest part of the + whole affair being perhaps the Jinni's passionate allusion to the egg as + his master: "Wretch! dost thou command me to bring thee my master, and + hang him up in the midst of this vaulted dome?" But the incident is to + some extent cleared of its mystery when we learn that the roc's egg is the + bright sun, and that the roc itself is the rushing storm-cloud which, in + the tale of Sindbad, haunts the sparkling starry firmament, symbolized as + a valley of diamonds. <a href="#linknote-40" name="linknoteref-40" + id="linknoteref-40"><small>40</small></a> According to one Arabic + authority, the length of its wings is ten thousand fathoms. But in + European tradition it dwindles from these huge dimensions to the size of + an eagle, a raven, or a woodpecker. Among the birds enumerated by Kuhn and + others as representing the storm-cloud are likewise the wren or "kinglet" + (French roitelet); the owl, sacred to Athene; the cuckoo, stork, and + sparrow; and the red-breasted robin, whose name Robert was originally an + epithet of the lightning-god Thor. In certain parts of France it is still + believed that the robbing of a wren's nest will render the culprit liable + to be struck by lightning. The same belief was formerly entertained in + Teutonic countries with respect to the robin; and I suppose that from this + superstition is descended the prevalent notion, which I often encountered + in childhood, that there is something peculiarly wicked in killing robins. + </p> + <p> + Now, as the raven or woodpecker, in the various myths of schamir, is the + dark storm-cloud, so the rock-splitting worm or plant or pebble which the + bird carries in its beak and lets fall to the ground is nothing more or + less than the flash of lightning carried and dropped by the cloud. "If the + cloud was supposed to be a great bird, the lightnings were regarded as + writhing worms or serpents in its beak. These fiery serpents, elikiai + gram-moeidws feromenoi, are believed in to this day by the Canadian + Indians, who call the thunder their hissing." <a href="#linknote-41" + name="linknoteref-41" id="linknoteref-41"><small>41</small></a> + </p> + <p> + But these are not the only mythical conceptions which are to be found + wrapped up in the various myths of schamir and the divining-rod. The + persons who told these stories were not weaving ingenious allegories about + thunder-storms; they were telling stories, or giving utterance to + superstitions, of which the original meaning was forgotten. The old + grannies who, along with a stoical indifference to the fate of quails and + partridges, used to impress upon me the wickedness of killing robins, did + not add that I should be struck by lightning if I failed to heed their + admonitions. They had never heard that the robin was the bird of Thor; + they merely rehearsed the remnant of the superstition which had survived + to their own times, while the essential part of it had long since faded + from recollection. The reason for regarding a robin's life as more sacred + than a partridge's had been forgotten; but it left behind, as was natural, + a vague recognition of that mythical sanctity. The primitive meaning of a + myth fades away as inevitably as the primitive meaning of a word or + phrase; and the rabbins who told of a worm which shatters rocks no more + thought of the writhing thunderbolts than the modern reader thinks of + oyster-shells when he sees the word ostracism, or consciously breathes a + prayer as he writes the phrase good bye. It is only in its callow infancy + that the full force of a myth is felt, and its period of luxuriant + development dates from the time when its physical significance is lost or + obscured. It was because the Greek had forgotten that Zeus meant the + bright sky, that he could make him king over an anthropomorphic Olympos. + The Hindu Dyaus, who carried his significance in his name as plainly as + the Greek Helios, never attained such an exalted position; he yielded to + deities of less obvious pedigree, such as Brahma and Vishnu. + </p> + <p> + Since, therefore, the myth-tellers recounted merely the wonderful stories + which their own nurses and grandmas had told them, and had no intention of + weaving subtle allegories or wrapping up a physical truth in mystic + emblems, it follows that they were not bound to avoid incongruities or to + preserve a philosophical symmetry in their narratives. In the great + majority of complex myths, no such symmetry is to be found. A score of + different mythical conceptions would get wrought into the same story, and + the attempt to pull them apart and construct a single harmonious system of + conceptions out of the pieces must often end in ingenious absurdity. If + Odysseus is unquestionably the sun, so is the eye of Polyphemos, which + Odysseus puts out. <a href="#linknote-42" name="linknoteref-42" + id="linknoteref-42"><small>42</small></a> But the Greek poet knew nothing + of the incongruity, for he was thinking only of a superhuman hero freeing + himself from a giant cannibal; he knew nothing of Sanskrit, or of + comparative mythology, and the sources of his myths were as completely + hidden from his view as the sources of the Nile. + </p> + <p> + We need not be surprised, then, to find that in one version of the + schamir-myth the cloud is the bird which carries the worm, while in + another version the cloud is the rock or mountain which the talisman + cleaves open; nor need we wonder at it, if we find stories in which the + two conceptions are mingled together without regard to an incongruity + which in the mind of the myth-teller no longer exists. <a + href="#linknote-43" name="linknoteref-43" id="linknoteref-43"><small>43</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In early Aryan mythology there is nothing by which the clouds are more + frequently represented than by rocks or mountains. Such were the + Symplegades, which, charmed by the harp of the wind-god Orpheus, parted to + make way for the talking ship Argo, with its crew of solar heroes. <a + href="#linknote-44" name="linknoteref-44" id="linknoteref-44"><small>44</small></a> + Such, too, were the mountains Ossa and Pelion, which the giants piled up + one upon another in their impious assault upon Zeus, the lord of the + bright sky. As Mr. Baring-Gould observes: "The ancient Aryan had the same + name for cloud and mountain. To him the piles of vapour on the horizon + were so like Alpine ranges, that he had but one word whereby to designate + both. <a href="#linknote-45" name="linknoteref-45" id="linknoteref-45"><small>45</small></a> + These great mountains of heaven were opened by the lightning. In the + sudden flash he beheld the dazzling splendour within, but only for a + moment, and then, with a crash, the celestial rocks closed again. + Believing these vaporous piles to contain resplendent treasures of which + partial glimpse was obtained by mortals in a momentary gleam, tales were + speedily formed, relating the adventures of some who had succeeded in + entering these treasure-mountains." + </p> + <p> + This sudden flash is the smiting of the cloud-rock by the arrow of Ahmed, + the resistless hammer of Thor, the spear of Odin, the trident of Poseidon, + or the rod of Hermes. The forked streak of light is the archetype of the + divining-rod in its oldest form,—that in which it not only indicates + the hidden treasures, but, like the staff of the Ilsenstein shepherd, + bursts open the enchanted crypt and reveals them to the astonished + wayfarer. Hence the one thing essential to the divining-rod, from whatever + tree it be chosen, is that it shall be forked. + </p> + <p> + It is not difficult to comprehend the reasons which led the ancients to + speak of the lightning as a worm, serpent, trident, arrow, or forked wand; + but when we inquire why it was sometimes symbolized as a flower or leaf; + or when we seek to ascertain why certain trees, such as the ash, hazel, + white-thorn, and mistletoe, were supposed to be in a certain sense + embodiments of it, we are entering upon a subject too complicated to be + satisfactorily treated within the limits of the present paper. It has been + said that the point of resemblance between a cow and a comet, that both + have tails, was quite enough for the primitive word-maker: it was + certainly enough for the primitive myth-teller. <a href="#linknote-46" + name="linknoteref-46" id="linknoteref-46"><small>46</small></a> Sometimes + the pinnate shape of a leaf, the forking of a branch, the tri-cleft + corolla, or even the red colour of a flower, seems to have been sufficient + to determine the association of ideas. The Hindu commentators of the Veda + certainly lay great stress on the fact that the palasa, one of their + lightning-trees, is trident-leaved. The mistletoe branch is forked, like a + wish-bone, <a href="#linknote-47" name="linknoteref-47" id="linknoteref-47"><small>47</small></a> + and so is the stem which bears the forget-me-not or wild scorpion grass. + So too the leaves of the Hindu ficus religiosa resemble long spear-heads. + <a href="#linknote-48" name="linknoteref-48" id="linknoteref-48"><small>48</small></a> + But in many cases it is impossible for us to determine with confidence the + reasons which may have guided primitive men in their choice of talismanic + plants. In the case of some of these stories, it would no doubt be wasting + ingenuity to attempt to assign a mythical origin for each point of detail. + The ointment of the dervise, for instance, in the Arabian tale, has + probably no special mythical significance, but was rather suggested by the + exigencies of the story, in an age when the old mythologies were so far + disintegrated and mingled together that any one talisman would serve as + well as another the purposes of the narrator. But the lightning-plants of + Indo-European folk-lore cannot be thus summarily disposed of; for however + difficult it may be for us to perceive any connection between them and the + celestial phenomena which they represent, the myths concerning them are so + numerous and explicit as to render it certain that some such connection + was imagined by the myth-makers. The superstition concerning the hand of + glory is not so hard to interpret. In the mythology of the Finns, the + storm-cloud is a black man with a bright copper hand; and in Hindustan, + Indra Savitar, the deity who slays the demon of the cloud, is + golden-handed. The selection of the hand of a man who has been hanged is + probably due to the superstition which regarded the storm-god Odin as + peculiarly the lord of the gallows. The man who is raised upon the gallows + is placed directly in the track of the wild huntsman, who comes with his + hounds to carry off the victim; and hence the notion, which, according to + Mr. Kelly, is "very common in Germany and not extinct in England," that + every suicide by hanging is followed by a storm. + </p> + <p> + The paths of comparative mythology are devious, but we have now pursued + them long enough I believe, to have arrived at a tolerably clear + understanding of the original nature of the divining-rod. Its power of + revealing treasures has been sufficiently explained; and its affinity for + water results so obviously from the character of the lightning-myth as to + need no further comment. But its power of detecting criminals still + remains to be accounted for. + </p> + <p> + In Greek mythology, the being which detects and punishes crime is the + Erinys, the prototype of the Latin Fury, figured by late writers as a + horrible monster with serpent locks. But this is a degradation of the + original conception. The name Erinys did not originally mean Fury, and it + cannot be explained from Greek sources alone. It appears in Sanskrit as + Saranyu, a word which signifies the light of morning creeping over the + sky. And thus we are led to the startling conclusion that, as the light of + morning reveals the evil deeds done under the cover of night, so the + lovely Dawn, or Erinys, came to be regarded under one aspect as the + terrible detector and avenger of iniquity. Yet startling as the conclusion + is, it is based on established laws of phonetic change, and cannot be + gainsaid. + </p> + <p> + But what has the avenging daybreak to do with the lightning and the + divining-rod? To the modern mind the association is not an obvious one: in + antiquity it was otherwise. Myths of the daybreak and myths of the + lightning often resemble each other so closely that, except by a delicate + philological analysis, it is difficult to distinguish the one from the + other. The reason is obvious. In each case the phenomenon to be explained + is the struggle between the day-god and one of the demons of darkness. + There is essentially no distinction to the mind of the primitive man + between the Panis, who steal Indra's bright cows and keep them in a dark + cavern all night, and the throttling snake Ahi or Echidna, who imprisons + the waters in the stronghold of the thunder-cloud and covers the earth + with a short-lived darkness. And so the poisoned arrows of Bellerophon, + which slay the storm-dragon, differ in no essential respect from the + shafts with which Odysseus slaughters the night-demons who have for ten + long hours beset his mansion. Thus the divining-rod, representing as it + does the weapon of the god of day, comes legitimately enough by its + function of detecting and avenging crime. + </p> + <p> + But the lightning not only reveals strange treasures and gives water to + the thirsty land and makes plain what is doing under cover of darkness; it + also sometimes kills, benumbs, or paralyzes. Thus the head of the Gorgon + Medusa turns into stone those who look upon it. Thus the ointment of the + dervise, in the tale of Baba Abdallah, not only reveals all the treasures + of the earth, but instantly thereafter blinds the unhappy man who tests + its powers. And thus the hand of glory, which bursts open bars and bolts, + benumbs also those who happen to be near it. Indeed, few of the favoured + mortals who were allowed to visit the caverns opened by sesame or the + luck-flower, escaped without disaster. The monkish tale of "The Clerk and + the Image," in which the primeval mythical features are curiously + distorted, well illustrates this point. + </p> + <p> + In the city of Rome there formerly stood an image with its right hand + extended and on its forefinger the words "strike here." Many wise men + puzzled in vain over the meaning of the inscription; but at last a certain + priest observed that whenever the sun shone on the figure, the shadow of + the finger was discernible on the ground at a little distance from the + statue. Having marked the spot, he waited until midnight, and then began + to dig. At last his spade struck upon something hard. It was a trap-door, + below which a flight of marble steps descended into a spacious hall, where + many men were sitting in solemn silence amid piles of gold and diamonds + and long rows of enamelled vases. Beyond this he found another room, a + gynaecium filled with beautiful women reclining on richly embroidered + sofas; yet here, too, all was profound silence. A superb banqueting-hall + next met his astonished gaze; then a silent kitchen; then granaries loaded + with forage; then a stable crowded with motionless horses. The whole place + was brilliantly lighted by a carbuncle which was suspended in one corner + of the reception-room; and opposite stood an archer, with his bow and + arrow raised, in the act of taking aim at the jewel. As the priest passed + back through this hall, he saw a diamond-hilted knife lying on a marble + table; and wishing to carry away something wherewith to accredit his + story, he reached out his hand to take it; but no sooner had he touched it + than all was dark. The archer had shot with his arrow, the bright jewel + was shivered into a thousand pieces, the staircase had fled, and the + priest found himself buried alive. <a href="#linknote-49" + name="linknoteref-49" id="linknoteref-49"><small>49</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Usually, however, though the lightning is wont to strike dead, with its + basilisk glance, those who rashly enter its mysterious caverns, it is + regarded rather as a benefactor than as a destroyer. The feelings with + which the myth-making age contemplated the thunder-shower as it revived + the earth paralyzed by a long drought, are shown in the myth of Oidipous. + The Sphinx, whose name signifies "the one who binds," is the demon who + sits on the cloud-rock and imprisons the rain, muttering, dark sayings + which none but the all-knowing sun may understand. The flash of solar + light which causes the monster to fling herself down from the cliff with a + fearful roar, restores the land to prosperity. But besides this, the + association of the thunder-storm with the approach of summer has produced + many myths in which the lightning is symbolized as the life-renewing wand + of the victorious sun-god. Hence the use of the divining-rod in the cure + of disease; and hence the large family of schamir-myths in which the dead + are restored to life by leaves or herbs. In Grimm's tale of the "Three + Snake Leaves," a prince is buried alive (like Sindbad) with his dead wife, + and seeing a snake approaching her body, he cuts it in three pieces. + Presently another snake, crawling from the corner, saw the other lying + dead, and going, away soon returned with three green leaves in its mouth; + then laying the parts of the body together so as to join, it put one leaf + on each wound, and the dead snake was alive again. The prince, applying + the leaves to his wife's body, restores her also to life." <a + href="#linknote-50" name="linknoteref-50" id="linknoteref-50"><small>50</small></a> + In the Greek story, told by AElian and Apollodoros, Polyidos is shut up + with the corpse of Glaukos, which he is ordered to restore to life. He + kills a dragon which is approaching the body, but is presently astonished + at seeing another dragon come with a blade of grass and place it upon its + dead companion, which instantly rises from the ground. Polyidos takes the + same blade of grass, and with it resuscitates Glaukos. The same incident + occurs in the Hindu story of Panch Phul Ranee, and in Fouque's "Sir + Elidoc," which is founded on a Breton legend. + </p> + <p> + We need not wonder, then, at the extraordinary therapeutic properties + which are in all Aryan folk-lore ascribed to the various lightning-plants. + In Sweden sanitary amulets are made of mistletoe-twigs, and the plant is + supposed to be a specific against epilepsy and an antidote for poisons. In + Cornwall children are passed through holes in ash-trees in order to cure + them of hernia. Ash rods are used in some parts of England for the cure of + diseased sheep, cows, and horses; and in particular they are supposed to + neutralize the venom of serpents. The notion that snakes are afraid of an + ash-tree is not extinct even in the United States. The other day I was + told, not by an old granny, but by a man fairly educated and endowed with + a very unusual amount of good common-sense, that a rattlesnake will sooner + go through fire than creep over ash leaves or into the shadow of an + ash-tree. Exactly the same statement is made by Piny, who adds that if you + draw a circle with an ash rod around the spot of ground on which a snake + is lying, the animal must die of starvation, being as effectually + imprisoned as Ugolino in the dungeon at Pisa. In Cornwall it is believed + that a blow from an ash stick will instantly kill any serpent. The ash + shares this virtue with the hazel and fern. A Swedish peasant will tell + you that snakes may be deprived of their venom by a touch with a hazel + wand; and when an ancient Greek had occasion to make his bed in the woods, + he selected fern leaves if possible, in the belief that the smell of them + would drive away poisonous animals. <a href="#linknote-51" + name="linknoteref-51" id="linknoteref-51"><small>51</small></a> + </p> + <p> + But the beneficent character of the lightning appears still more clearly + in another class of myths. To the primitive man the shaft of light coming + down from heaven was typical of the original descent of fire for the + benefit and improvement of the human race. The Sioux Indians account for + the origin of fire by a myth of unmistakable kinship; they say that "their + first ancestor obtained his fire from the sparks which a friendly panther + struck from the rocks as he scampered up a stony hill." <a + href="#linknote-52" name="linknoteref-52" id="linknoteref-52"><small>52</small></a> + This panther is obviously the counterpart of the Aryan bird which drops + schamir. But the Aryan imagination hit upon a far more remarkable + conception. The ancient Hindus obtained fire by a process similar to that + employed by Count Rumford in his experiments on the generation of heat by + friction. They first wound a couple of cords around a pointed stick in + such a way that the unwinding of the one would wind up the other, and + then, placing the point of the stick against a circular disk of wood, + twirled it rapidly by alternate pulls on the two strings. This instrument + is called a chark, and is still used in South Africa, <a + href="#linknote-53" name="linknoteref-53" id="linknoteref-53"><small>53</small></a> + in Australia, in Sumatra, and among the Veddahs of Ceylon. The Russians + found it in Kamtchatka; and it was formerly employed in America, from + Labrador to the Straits of Magellan. <a href="#linknote-54" + name="linknoteref-54" id="linknoteref-54"><small>54</small></a> The Hindus + churned milk by a similar process; <a href="#linknote-55" + name="linknoteref-55" id="linknoteref-55"><small>55</small></a> and in + order to explain the thunder-storm, a Sanskrit poem tells how "once upon a + time the Devas, or gods, and their opponents, the Asuras, made a truce, + and joined together in churning the ocean to procure amrita, the drink of + immortality. They took Mount Mandara for a churning-stick, and, wrapping + the great serpent Sesha round it for a rope, they made the mountain spin + round to and fro, the Devas pulling at the serpent's tail, and the Asuras + at its head." <a href="#linknote-56" name="linknoteref-56" + id="linknoteref-56"><small>56</small></a> In this myth the churning-stick, + with its flying serpent-cords, is the lightning, and the armrita, or drink + of immortality, is simply the rain-water, which in Aryan folk-lore + possesses the same healing virtues as the lightning. "In Sclavonic myths + it is the water of life which restores the dead earth, a water brought by + a bird from the depths of a gloomy cave." <a href="#linknote-57" + name="linknoteref-57" id="linknoteref-57"><small>57</small></a> It is the + celestial soma or mead which Indra loves to drink; it is the ambrosial + nectar of the Olympian gods; it is the charmed water which in the Arabian + Nights restores to human shape the victims of wicked sorcerers; and it is + the elixir of life which mediaeval philosophers tried to discover, and in + quest of which Ponce de Leon traversed the wilds of Florida. <a + href="#linknote-58" name="linknoteref-58" id="linknoteref-58"><small>58</small></a> + </p> + <p> + "Jacky's next proceeding was to get some dry sticks and wood, and prepare + a fire, which, to George's astonishment, he lighted thus. He got a block + of wood, in the middle of which he made a hole; then he cut and pointed a + long stick, and inserting the point into the block, worked it round + between his palms for some time and with increasing rapidity. Presently + there came a smell of burning wood, and soon after it burst into a flame + at the point of contact. Jacky cut slices of shark and roasted them."—Reade, + Never too Late to Mend, chap. xxxviii. + </p> + <p> + The most interesting point in this Hindu myth is the name of the peaked + mountain Mandara, or Manthara, which the gods and devils took for their + churning-stick. The word means "a churning-stick," and it appears also, + with a prefixed preposition, in the name of the fire-drill, pramantha. Now + Kuhn has proved that this name, pramantha, is etymologically identical + with Prometheus, the name of the beneficent Titan, who stole fire from + heaven and bestowed it upon mankind as the richest of boons. This sublime + personage was originally nothing but the celestial drill which churns fire + out of the clouds; but the Greeks had so entirely forgotten his origin + that they interpreted his name as meaning "the one who thinks beforehand," + and accredited him with a brother, Epimetheus, or "the one who thinks too + late." The Greeks had adopted another name, trypanon, for their + fire-drill, and thus the primitive character of Prometheus became + obscured. + </p> + <p> + I have said above that it was regarded as absolutely essential that the + divining-rod should be forked. To this rule, however, there was one + exception, and if any further evidence be needed to convince the most + sceptical that the divining-rod is nothing but a symbol of the lightning, + that exception will furnish such evidence. For this exceptional kind of + divining-rod was made of a pointed stick rotating in a block of wood, and + it was the presence of hidden water or treasure which was supposed to + excite the rotatory motion. + </p> + <p> + In the myths relating to Prometheus, the lightning-god appears as the + originator of civilization, sometimes as the creator of the human race, + and always as its friend, <a href="#linknote-59" name="linknoteref-59" + id="linknoteref-59"><small>59</small></a> suffering in its behalf the most + fearful tortures at the hands of the jealous Zeus. In one story he creates + man by making a clay image and infusing into it a spark of the fire which + he had brought from heaven; in another story he is himself the first man. + In the Peloponnesian myth Phoroneus, who is Prometheus under another name, + is the first man, and his mother was an ash-tree. In Norse mythology, + also, the gods were said to have made the first man out of the ash-tree + Yggdrasil. The association of the heavenly fire with the life-giving + forces of nature is very common in the myths of both hemispheres, and in + view of the facts already cited it need not surprise us. Hence the Hindu + Agni and the Norse Thor were patrons of marriage, and in Norway, the most + lucky day on which to be married is still supposed to be Thursday, which + in old times was the day of the fire-god. <a href="#linknote-60" + name="linknoteref-60" id="linknoteref-60"><small>60</small></a> Hence the + lightning-plants have divers virtues in matters pertaining to marriage. + The Romans made their wedding torches of whitethorn; hazel-nuts are still + used all over Europe in divinations relating to the future lover or + sweetheart; <a href="#linknote-61" name="linknoteref-61" + id="linknoteref-61"><small>61</small></a> and under a mistletoe bough it + is allowable for a gentleman to kiss a lady. A vast number of kindred + superstitions are described by Mr. Kelly, to whom I am indebted for many + of these examples. <a href="#linknote-62" name="linknoteref-62" + id="linknoteref-62"><small>62</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Thus we reach at last the completed conception of the divining-rod, or as + it is called in this sense the wish-rod, with its kindred talismans, from + Aladdin's lamp and the purse of Bedreddin Hassan, to the Sangreal, the + philosopher's stone, and the goblets of Oberon and Tristram. These symbols + of the reproductive energies of nature, which give to the possessor every + good and perfect gift, illustrate the uncurbed belief in the power of wish + which the ancient man shared with modern children. In the Norse story of + Frodi's quern, the myth assumes a whimsical shape. The prose Edda tells of + a primeval age of gold, when everybody had whatever he wanted. This was + because the giant Frodi had a mill which ground out peace and plenty and + abundance of gold withal, so that it lay about the roads like pebbles. + Through the inexcusable avarice of Frodi, this wonderful implement was + lost to the world. For he kept his maid-servants working at the mill until + they got out of patience, and began to make it grind out hatred and war. + Then came a mighty sea-rover by night and slew Frodi and carried away the + maids and the quern. When he got well out to sea, he told them to grind + out salt, and so they did with a vengeance. They ground the ship full of + salt and sank it, and so the quern was lost forever, but the sea remains + salt unto this day. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Kelly rightly identifies Frodi with the sun-god Fro or Freyr, and + observes that the magic mill is only another form of the fire-churn, or + chark. According to another version the quern is still grinding away and + keeping the sea salt, and over the place where it lies there is a + prodigious whirlpool or maelstrom which sucks down ships. + </p> + <p> + In its completed shape, the lightning-wand is the caduceus, or rod of + Hermes. I observed, in the preceding paper, that in the Greek conception + of Hermes there have been fused together the attributes of two deities who + were originally distinct. The Hermes of the Homeric Hymn is a wind-god; + but the later Hermes Agoraios, the patron of gymnasia, the mutilation of + whose statues caused such terrible excitement in Athens during the + Peloponnesian War, is a very different personage. He is a fire-god, + invested with many solar attributes, and represents the quickening forces + of nature. In this capacity the invention of fire was ascribed to him as + well as to Prometheus; he was said to be the friend of mankind, and was + surnamed Ploutodotes, or "the giver of wealth." + </p> + <p> + The Norse wind-god Odin has in like manner acquired several of the + attributes of Freyr and Thor. <a href="#linknote-63" name="linknoteref-63" + id="linknoteref-63"><small>63</small></a> His lightning-spear, which is + borrowed from Thor, appears by a comical metamorphosis as a wish-rod which + will administer a sound thrashing to the enemies of its possessor. Having + cut a hazel stick, you have only to lay down an old coat, name your + intended victim, wish he was there, and whack away: he will howl with pain + at every blow. This wonderful cudgel appears in Dasent's tale of "The Lad + who went to the North Wind," with which we may conclude this discussion. + The story is told, with little variation, in Hindustan, Germany, and + Scandinavia. + </p> + <p> + The North Wind, representing the mischievous Hermes, once blew away a poor + woman's meal. So her boy went to the North Wind and demanded his rights + for the meal his mother had lost. "I have n't got your meal," said the + Wind, "but here's a tablecloth which will cover itself with an excellent + dinner whenever you tell it to." So the lad took the cloth and started for + home. At nightfall he stopped at an inn, spread his cloth on the table, + and ordered it to cover itself with good things, and so it did. But the + landlord, who thought it would be money in his pocket to have such a + cloth, stole it after the boy had gone to bed, and substituted another + just like it in appearance. Next day the boy went home in great glee to + show off for his mother's astonishment what the North Wind had given him, + but all the dinner he got that day was what the old woman cooked for him. + In his despair he went back to the North Wind and called him a liar, and + again demanded his rights for the meal he had lost. "I have n't got your + meal," said the Wind, "but here's a ram which will drop money out of its + fleece whenever you tell it to." So the lad travelled home, stopping over + night at the same inn, and when he got home he found himself with a ram + which did n't drop coins out of its fleece. A third time he visited the + North Wind, and obtained a bag with a stick in it which, at the word of + command, would jump out of the bag and lay on until told to stop. Guessing + how matters stood as to his cloth and ram, he turned in at the same + tavern, and going to a bench lay down as if to sleep. The landlord thought + that a stick carried about in a bag must be worth something, and so he + stole quietly up to the bag, meaning to get the stick out and change it. + But just as he got within whacking distance, the boy gave the word, and + out jumped the stick and beat the thief until he promised to give back the + ram and the tablecloth. And so the boy got his rights for the meal which + the North Wind had blown away. October, 1870. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. WEREWOLVES AND SWAN-MAIDENS. + </h2> + <p> + IT is related by Ovid that Lykaon, king of Arkadia, once invited Zeus to + dinner, and served up for him a dish of human flesh, in order to test the + god's omniscience. But the trick miserably failed, and the impious monarch + received the punishment which his crime had merited. He was transformed + into a wolf, that he might henceforth feed upon the viands with which he + had dared to pollute the table of the king of Olympos. From that time + forth, according to Pliny, a noble Arkadian was each year, on the festival + of Zeus Lykaios, led to the margin of a certain lake. Hanging his clothes + upon a tree, he then plunged into the water and became a wolf. For the + space of nine years he roamed about the adjacent woods, and then, if he + had not tasted human flesh during all this time, he was allowed to swim + back to the place where his clothes were hanging, put them on, and return + to his natural form. It is further related of a certain Demainetos, that, + having once been present at a human sacrifice to Zeus Lykaios, he ate of + the flesh, and was transformed into a wolf for a term of ten years. <a + href="#linknote-64" name="linknoteref-64" id="linknoteref-64"><small>64</small></a> + </p> + <p> + These and other similar mythical germs were developed by the mediaeval + imagination into the horrible superstition of werewolves. + </p> + <p> + A werewolf, or loup-garou <a href="#linknote-65" name="linknoteref-65" + id="linknoteref-65"><small>65</small></a> was a person who had the power + of transforming himself into a wolf, being endowed, while in the lupine + state, with the intelligence of a man, the ferocity of a wolf, and the + irresistible strength of a demon. The ancients believed in the existence + of such persons; but in the Middle Ages the metamorphosis was supposed to + be a phenomenon of daily occurrence, and even at the present day, in + secluded portions of Europe, the superstition is still cherished by + peasants. The belief, moreover, is supported by a vast amount of evidence, + which can neither be argued nor pooh-poohed into insignificance. It is the + business of the comparative mythologist to trace the pedigree of the ideas + from which such a conception may have sprung; while to the critical + historian belongs the task of ascertaining and classifying the actual + facts which this particular conception was used to interpret. + </p> + <p> + The mediaeval belief in werewolves is especially adapted to illustrate the + complicated manner in which divers mythical conceptions and misunderstood + natural occurrences will combine to generate a long-enduring superstition. + Mr. Cox, indeed, would have us believe that the whole notion arose from an + unintentional play upon words; but the careful survey of the field, which + has been taken by Hertz and Baring-Gould, leads to the conclusion that + many other circumstances have been at work. The delusion, though doubtless + purely mythical in its origin, nevertheless presents in its developed + state a curious mixture of mythical and historical elements. + </p> + <p> + With regard to the Arkadian legend, taken by itself, Mr. Cox is probably + right. The story seems to belong to that large class of myths which have + been devised in order to explain the meaning of equivocal words whose true + significance has been forgotten. The epithet Lykaios, as applied to Zeus, + had originally no reference to wolves: it means "the bright one," and gave + rise to lycanthropic legends only because of the similarity in sound + between the names for "wolf" and "brightness." Aryan mythology furnishes + numerous other instances of this confusion. The solar deity, Phoibos + Lykegenes, was originally the "offspring of light"; but popular etymology + made a kind of werewolf of him by interpreting his name as the + "wolf-born." The name of the hero Autolykos means simply the + "self-luminous"; but it was more frequently interpreted as meaning "a very + wolf," in allusion to the supposed character of its possessor. Bazra, the + name of the citadel of Carthage, was the Punic word for "fortress"; but + the Greeks confounded it with byrsa, "a hide," and hence the story of the + ox-hides cut into strips by Dido in order to measure the area of the place + to be fortified. The old theory that the Irish were Phoenicians had a + similar origin. The name Fena, used to designate the old Scoti or Irish, + is the plural of Fion, "fair," seen in the name of the hero Fion Gall, or + "Fingal"; but the monkish chroniclers identified Fena with phoinix, whence + arose the myth; and by a like misunderstanding of the epithet Miledh, or + "warrior," applied to Fion by the Gaelic bards, there was generated a + mythical hero, Milesius, and the soubriquet "Milesian," colloquially + employed in speaking of the Irish. <a href="#linknote-66" + name="linknoteref-66" id="linknoteref-66"><small>66</small></a> So the + Franks explained the name of the town Daras, in Mesopotamia, by the story + that the Emperor Justinian once addressed the chief magistrate with the + exclamation, daras, "thou shalt give": <a href="#linknote-67" + name="linknoteref-67" id="linknoteref-67"><small>67</small></a> the Greek + chronicler, Malalas, who spells the name Doras, informs us with equal + complacency that it was the place where Alexander overcame Codomannus with + dorn, "the spear." A certain passage in the Alps is called Scaletta, from + its resemblance to a staircase; but according to a local tradition it owes + its name to the bleaching skeletons of a company of Moors who were + destroyed there in the eighth century, while attempting to penetrate into + Northern Italy. The name of Antwerp denotes the town built at a "wharf"; + but it sounds very much like the Flemish handt werpen, "hand-throwing": + "hence arose the legend of the giant who cut of the hands of those who + passed his castle without paying him black-mail, and threw them into the + Scheldt." <a href="#linknote-68" name="linknoteref-68" id="linknoteref-68"><small>68</small></a> + In the myth of Bishop Hatto, related in a previous paper, the Mause-thurm + is a corruption of maut-thurm; it means "customs-tower," and has nothing + to do with mice or rats. Doubtless this etymology was the cause of the + floating myth getting fastened to this particular place; that it did not + give rise to the myth itself is shown by the existence of the same tale in + other places. Somewhere in England there is a place called Chateau Vert; + the peasantry have corrupted it into Shotover, and say that it has borne + that name ever since Little John shot over a high hill in the + neighbourhood. <a href="#linknote-69" name="linknoteref-69" + id="linknoteref-69"><small>69</small></a> Latium means "the flat land"; + but, according to Virgil, it is the place where Saturn once hid + (latuisset) from the wrath of his usurping son Jupiter. <a + href="#linknote-70" name="linknoteref-70" id="linknoteref-70"><small>70</small></a> + </p> + <p> + It was in this way that the constellation of the Great Bear received its + name. The Greek word arktos, answering to the Sanskrit riksha, meant + originally any bright object, and was applied to the bear—for what + reason it would not be easy to state—and to that constellation which + was most conspicuous in the latitude of the early home of the Aryans. When + the Greeks had long forgotten why these stars were called arktoi, they + symbolized them as a Great Bear fixed in the sky. So that, as Max Muller + observes, "the name of the Arctic regions rests on a misunderstanding of a + name framed thousands of years ago in Central Asia, and the surprise with + which many a thoughtful observer has looked at these seven bright stars, + wondering why they were ever called the Bear, is removed by a reference to + the early annals of human speech." Among the Algonquins the sun-god + Michabo was represented as a hare, his name being compounded of michi, + "great," and wabos, "a hare"; yet wabos also meant "white," so that the + god was doubtless originally called simply "the Great White One." The same + naive process has made bears of the Arkadians, whose name, like that of + the Lykians, merely signified that they were "children of light"; and the + metamorphosis of Kallisto, mother of Arkas, into a bear, and of Lykaon + into a wolf, rests apparently upon no other foundation than an erroneous + etymology. Originally Lykaon was neither man nor wolf; he was but another + form of Phoibos Lykegenes, the light-born sun, and, as Mr. Cox has shown, + his legend is but a variation of that of Tantalos, who in time of drought + offers to Zeus the flesh of his own offspring, the withered fruits, and is + punished for his impiety. + </p> + <p> + It seems to me, however, that this explanation, though valid as far as it + goes, is inadequate to explain all the features of the werewolf + superstition, or to account for its presence in all Aryan countries and + among many peoples who are not of Aryan origin. There can be no doubt that + the myth-makers transformed Lykaon into a wolf because of his unlucky + name; because what really meant "bright man" seemed to them to mean + "wolf-man"; but it has by no means been proved that a similar equivocation + occurred in the case of all the primitive Aryan werewolves, nor has it + been shown to be probable that among each people the being with the + uncanny name got thus accidentally confounded with the particular beast + most dreaded by that people. Etymology alone does not explain the fact + that while Gaul has been the favourite haunt of the man-wolf, Scandinavia + has been preferred by the man-bear, and Hindustan by the man-tiger. To + account for such a widespread phenomenon we must seek a more general + cause. + </p> + <p> + Nothing is more strikingly characteristic of primitive thinking than the + close community of nature which it assumes between man and brute. The + doctrine of metempsychosis, which is found in some shape or other all over + the world, implies a fundamental identity between the two; the Hindu is + taught to respect the flocks browsing in the meadow, and will on no + account lift his hand against a cow, for who knows but it may he his own + grandmother? The recent researches of Mr. M`Lennan and Mr. Herbert Spencer + have served to connect this feeling with the primeval worship of ancestors + and with the savage customs of totemism. <a href="#linknote-71" + name="linknoteref-71" id="linknoteref-71"><small>71</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The worship of ancestors seems to have been every where the oldest + systematized form of fetichistic religion. The reverence paid to the + chieftain of the tribe while living was continued and exaggerated after + his death The uncivilized man is everywhere incapable of grasping the idea + of death as it is apprehended by civilized people. He cannot understand + that a man should pass away so as to be no longer capable of communicating + with his fellows. The image of his dead chief or comrade remains in his + mind, and the savage's philosophic realism far surpasses that of the most + extravagant mediaeval schoolmen; to him the persistence of the idea + implies the persistence of the reality. The dead man, accordingly, is not + really dead; he has thrown off his body like a husk, yet still retains his + old appearance, and often shows himself to his old friends, especially + after nightfall. He is no doubt possessed of more extensive powers than + before his transformation, <a href="#linknote-72" name="linknoteref-72" + id="linknoteref-72"><small>72</small></a> and may very likely have a share + in regulating the weather, granting or withholding rain. Therefore, argues + the uncivilized mind, he is to be cajoled and propitiated more sedulously + now than before his strange transformation. + </p> + <p> + This kind of worship still maintains a languid existence as the state + religion of China, and it still exists as a portion of Brahmanism; but in + the Vedic religion it is to be seen in all its vigour and in all its naive + simplicity. According to the ancient Aryan, the pitris, or "Fathers" (Lat. + patres), live in the sky along with Yama, the great original Pitri of + mankind. This first man came down from heaven in the lightning, and back + to heaven both himself and all his offspring must have gone. There they + distribute light unto men below, and they shine themselves as stars; and + hence the Christianized German peasant, fifty centuries later, tells his + children that the stars are angels' eyes, and the English cottager + impresses it on the youthful mind that it is wicked to point at the stars, + though why he cannot tell. But the Pitris are not stars only, nor do they + content themselves with idly looking down on the affairs of men, after the + fashion of the laissez-faire divinities of Lucretius. They are, on the + contrary, very busy with the weather; they send rain, thunder, and + lightning; and they especially delight in rushing over the housetops in a + great gale of wind, led on by their chief, the mysterious huntsman, Hermes + or Odin. + </p> + <p> + It has been elsewhere shown that the howling dog, or wish-hound of Hermes, + whose appearance under the windows of a sick person is such an alarming + portent, is merely the tempest personified. Throughout all Aryan mythology + the souls of the dead are supposed to ride on the night-wind, with their + howling dogs, gathering into their throng the souls of those just dying as + they pass by their houses. <a href="#linknote-73" name="linknoteref-73" + id="linknoteref-73"><small>73</small></a> Sometimes the whole complex + conception is wrapped up in the notion of a single dog, the messenger of + the god of shades, who comes to summon the departing soul. Sometimes, + instead of a dog, we have a great ravening wolf who comes to devour its + victim and extinguish the sunlight of life, as that old wolf of the tribe + of Fenrir devoured little Red Riding-Hood with her robe of scarlet + twilight. <a href="#linknote-74" name="linknoteref-74" id="linknoteref-74"><small>74</small></a> + Thus we arrive at a true werewolf myth. The storm-wind, or howling + Rakshasa of Hindu folk-lore, is "a great misshapen giant with red beard + and red hair, with pointed protruding teeth, ready to lacerate and devour + human flesh; his body is covered with coarse, bristling hair, his huge + mouth is open, he looks from side to side as he walks, lusting after the + flesh and blood of men, to satisfy his raging hunger and quench his + consuming thirst. Towards nightfall his strength increases manifold; he + can change his shape at will; he haunts the woods, and roams howling + through the jungle." <a href="#linknote-75" name="linknoteref-75" + id="linknoteref-75"><small>75</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Now if the storm-wind is a host of Pitris, or one great Pitri who appears + as a fearful giant, and is also a pack of wolves or wish-hounds, or a + single savage dog or wolf, the inference is obvious to the mythopoeic mind + that men may become wolves, at least after death. And to the uncivilized + thinker this inference is strengthened, as Mr. Spencer has shown, by + evidence registered on his own tribal totem or heraldic emblem. The bears + and lions and leopards of heraldry are the degenerate descendants of the + totem of savagery which designated the tribe by a beast-symbol. To the + untutored mind there is everything in a name; and the descendant of Brown + Bear or Yellow Tiger or Silver Hyaena cannot be pronounced unfaithful to + his own style of philosophizing, if he regards his ancestors, who career + about his hut in the darkness of night, as belonging to whatever order of + beasts his totem associations may suggest. + </p> + <p> + Thus we not only see a ray of light thrown on the subject of + metempsychosis, but we get a glimpse of the curious process by which the + intensely realistic mind of antiquity arrived at the notion that men could + be transformed into beasts. For the belief that the soul can temporarily + quit the body during lifetime has been universally entertained; and from + the conception of wolf-like ghosts it was but a short step to the + conception of corporeal werewolves. In the Middle Ages the phenomena of + trance and catalepsy were cited in proof of the theory that the soul can + leave the body and afterwards return to it. Hence it was very difficult + for a person accused of witchcraft to prove an alibi; for to any amount of + evidence showing that the body was innocently reposing at home and in bed, + the rejoinder was obvious that the soul may nevertheless have been in + attendance at the witches' Sabbath or busied in maiming a neighbour's + cattle. According to one mediaeval notion, the soul of the werewolf quit + its human body, which remained in a trance until its return. <a + href="#linknote-76" name="linknoteref-76" id="linknoteref-76"><small>76</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The mythological basis of the werewolf superstition is now, I believe, + sufficiently indicated. The belief, however, did not reach its complete + development, or acquire its most horrible features, until the pagan habits + of thought which had originated it were modified by contact with Christian + theology. To the ancient there was nothing necessarily diabolical in the + transformation of a man into a beast. But Christianity, which retained + such a host of pagan conceptions under such strange disguises, which + degraded the "All-father" Odin into the ogre of the castle to which Jack + climbed on his bean-stalk, and which blended the beneficent lightning-god + Thor and the mischievous Hermes and the faun-like Pan into the grotesque + Teutonic Devil, did not fail to impart a new and fearful character to the + belief in werewolves. Lycanthropy became regarded as a species of + witchcraft; the werewolf was supposed to have obtained his peculiar powers + through the favour or connivance of the Devil; and hundreds of persons + were burned alive or broken on the wheel for having availed themselves of + the privilege of beast-metamorphosis. The superstition, thus widely + extended and greatly intensified, was confirmed by many singular phenomena + which cannot be omitted from any thorough discussion of the nature and + causes of lycanthropy. + </p> + <p> + The first of these phenomena is the Berserker insanity, characteristic of + Scandinavia, but not unknown in other countries. In times when killing + one's enemies often formed a part of the necessary business of life, + persons were frequently found who killed for the mere love of the thing; + with whom slaughter was an end desirable in itself, not merely a means to + a desirable end. What the miser is in an age which worships mammon, such + was the Berserker in an age when the current idea of heaven was that of a + place where people could hack each other to pieces through all eternity, + and when the man who refused a challenge was punished with confiscation of + his estates. With these Northmen, in the ninth century, the chief business + and amusement in life was to set sail for some pleasant country, like + Spain or France, and make all the coasts and navigable rivers hideous with + rapine and massacre. When at home, in the intervals between their + freebooting expeditions, they were liable to become possessed by a strange + homicidal madness, during which they would array themselves in the skins + of wolves or bears, and sally forth by night to crack the backbones, smash + the skulls, and sometimes to drink with fiendish glee the blood of unwary + travellers or loiterers. These fits of madness were usually followed by + periods of utter exhaustion and nervous depression. <a href="#linknote-77" + name="linknoteref-77" id="linknoteref-77"><small>77</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Such, according to the unanimous testimony of historians, was the + celebrated "Berserker rage," not peculiar to the Northland, although there + most conspicuously manifested. Taking now a step in advance, we find that + in comparatively civilized countries there have been many cases of + monstrous homicidal insanity. The two most celebrated cases, among those + collected by Mr. Baring-Gould, are those of the Marechal de Retz, in 1440, + and of Elizabeth, a Hungarian countess, in the seventeenth century. The + Countess Elizabeth enticed young girls into her palace on divers pretexts, + and then coolly murdered them, for the purpose of bathing in their blood. + The spectacle of human suffering became at last such a delight to her, + that she would apply with her own hands the most excruciating tortures, + relishing the shrieks of her victims as the epicure relishes each sip of + his old Chateau Margaux. In this way she is said to have murdered six + hundred and fifty persons before her evil career was brought to an end; + though, when one recollects the famous men in buckram and the notorious + trio of crows, one is inclined to strike off a cipher, and regard + sixty-five as a sufficiently imposing and far less improbable number. But + the case of the Marechal de Retz is still more frightful. A marshal of + France, a scholarly man, a patriot, and a man of holy life, he became + suddenly possessed by an uncontrollable desire to murder children. During + seven years he continued to inveigle little boys and girls into his + castle, at the rate of about TWO EACH WEEK, (?) and then put them to death + in various ways, that he might witness their agonies and bathe in their + blood; experiencing after each occasion the most dreadful remorse, but led + on by an irresistible craving to repeat the crime. When this unparalleled + iniquity was finally brought to light, the castle was found to contain + bins full of children's bones. The horrible details of the trial are to be + found in the histories of France by Michelet and Martin. + </p> + <p> + Going a step further, we find cases in which the propensity to murder has + been accompanied by cannibalism. In 1598 a tailor of Chalons was sentenced + by the parliament of Paris to be burned alive for lycanthropy. "This + wretched man had decoyed children into his shop, or attacked them in the + gloaming when they strayed in the woods, had torn them with his teeth and + killed them, after which he seems calmly to have dressed their flesh as + ordinary meat, and to have eaten it with a great relish. The number of + little innocents whom he destroyed is unknown. A whole caskful of bones + was discovered in his house." <a href="#linknote-78" name="linknoteref-78" + id="linknoteref-78"><small>78</small></a> About 1850 a beggar in the + village of Polomyia, in Galicia, was proved to have killed and eaten + fourteen children. A house had one day caught fire and burnt to the + ground, roasting one of the inmates, who was unable to escape. The beggar + passed by soon after, and, as he was suffering from excessive hunger, + could not resist the temptation of making a meal off the charred body. + From that moment he was tormented by a craving for human flesh. He met a + little orphan girl, about nine years old, and giving her a pinchbeck ring + told her to seek for others like it under a tree in the neighbouring wood. + She was slain, carried to the beggar's hovel, and eaten. In the course of + three years thirteen other children mysteriously disappeared, but no one + knew whom to suspect. At last an innkeeper missed a pair of ducks, and + having no good opinion of this beggar's honesty, went unexpectedly to his + cabin, burst suddenly in at the door, and to his horror found him in the + act of hiding under his cloak a severed head; a bowl of fresh blood stood + under the oven, and pieces of a thigh were cooking over the fire. <a + href="#linknote-79" name="linknoteref-79" id="linknoteref-79"><small>79</small></a> + </p> + <p> + This occurred only about twenty years ago, and the criminal, though ruled + by an insane appetite, is not known to have been subject to any mental + delusion. But there have been a great many similar cases, in which the + homicidal or cannibal craving has been accompanied by genuine + hallucination. Forms of insanity in which the afflicted persons imagine + themselves to be brute animals are not perhaps very common, but they are + not unknown. I once knew a poor demented old man who believed himself to + be a horse, and would stand by the hour together before a manger, nibbling + hay, or deluding himself with the presence of so doing. Many of the + cannibals whose cases are related by Mr. Baring-Gould, in his chapter of + horrors, actually believed themselves to have been transformed into wolves + or other wild animals. Jean Grenier was a boy of thirteen, partially + idiotic, and of strongly marked canine physiognomy; his jaws were large + and projected forward, and his canine teeth were unnaturally long, so as + to protrude beyond the lower lip. He believed himself to be a werewolf. + One evening, meeting half a dozen young girls, he scared them out of their + wits by telling them that as soon as the sun had set he would turn into a + wolf and eat them for supper. A few days later, one little girl, having + gone out at nightfall to look after the sheep, was attacked by some + creature which in her terror she mistook for a wolf, but which afterwards + proved to be none other than Jean Grenier. She beat him off with her + sheep-staff, and fled home. As several children had mysteriously + disappeared from the neighbourhood, Grenier was at once suspected. Being + brought before the parliament of Bordeaux, he stated that two years ago he + had met the Devil one night in the woods and had signed a compact with him + and received from him a wolf-skin. Since then he had roamed about as a + wolf after dark, resuming his human shape by daylight. He had killed and + eaten several children whom he had found alone in the fields, and on one + occasion he had entered a house while the family were out and taken the + baby from its cradle. A careful investigation proved the truth of these + statements, so far as the cannibalism was concerned. There is no doubt + that the missing children were eaten by Jean Grenier, and there is no + doubt that in his own mind the halfwitted boy was firmly convinced that he + was a wolf. Here the lycanthropy was complete. + </p> + <p> + In the year 1598, "in a wild and unfrequented spot near Caude, some + countrymen came one day upon the corpse of a boy of fifteen, horribly + mutilated and bespattered with blood. As the men approached, two wolves, + which had been rending the body, bounded away into the thicket. The men + gave chase immediately, following their bloody tracks till they lost them; + when, suddenly crouching among the bushes, his teeth chattering with fear, + they found a man half naked, with long hair and beard, and with his hands + dyed in blood. His nails were long as claws, and were clotted with fresh + gore and shreds of human flesh." <a href="#linknote-80" + name="linknoteref-80" id="linknoteref-80"><small>80</small></a> + </p> + <p> + This man, Jacques Roulet, was a poor, half-witted creature under the + dominion of a cannibal appetite. He was employed in tearing to pieces the + corpse of the boy when these countrymen came up. Whether there were any + wolves in the case, except what the excited imaginations of the men may + have conjured up, I will not presume to determine; but it is certain that + Roulet supposed himself to be a wolf, and killed and ate several persons + under the influence of the delusion. He was sentenced to death, but the + parliament of Paris reversed the sentence, and charitably shut him up in a + madhouse. + </p> + <p> + The annals of the Middle Ages furnish many cases similar to these of + Grenier and Roulet. Their share in maintaining the werewolf superstition + is undeniable; but modern science finds in them nothing that cannot be + readily explained. That stupendous process of breeding, which we call + civilization, has been for long ages strengthening those kindly social + feelings by the possession of which we are chiefly distinguished from the + brutes, leaving our primitive bestial impulses to die for want of + exercise, or checking in every possible way their further expansion by + legislative enactments. But this process, which is transforming us from + savages into civilized men, is a very slow one; and now and then there + occur cases of what physiologists call atavism, or reversion to an + ancestral type of character. Now and then persons are born, in civilized + countries, whose intellectual powers are on a level with those of the most + degraded Australian savage, and these we call idiots. And now and then + persons are born possessed of the bestial appetites and cravings of + primitive man, his fiendish cruelty and his liking for human flesh. Modern + physiology knows how to classify and explain these abnormal cases, but to + the unscientific mediaeval mind they were explicable only on the + hypothesis of a diabolical metamorphosis. And there is nothing strange in + the fact that, in an age when the prevailing habits of thought rendered + the transformation of men into beasts an easily admissible notion, these + monsters of cruelty and depraved appetite should have been regarded as + capable of taking on bestial forms. Nor is it strange that the + hallucination under which these unfortunate wretches laboured should have + taken such a shape as to account to their feeble intelligence for the + existence of the appetites which they were conscious of not sharing with + their neighbours and contemporaries. If a myth is a piece of unscientific + philosophizing, it must sometimes be applied to the explanation of obscure + psychological as well as of physical phenomena. Where the modern calmly + taps his forehead and says, "Arrested development," the terrified ancient + made the sign of the cross and cried, "Werewolf." + </p> + <p> + We shall be assisted in this explanation by turning aside for a moment to + examine the wild superstitions about "changelings," which contributed, + along with so many others, to make the lives of our ancestors anxious and + miserable. These superstitions were for the most part attempts to explain + the phenomena of insanity, epilepsy, and other obscure nervous diseases. A + man who has hitherto enjoyed perfect health, and whose actions have been + consistent and rational, suddenly loses all self-control and seems + actuated by a will foreign to himself. Modern science possesses the key to + this phenomenon; but in former times it was explicable only on the + hypothesis that a demon had entered the body of the lunatic, or else that + the fairies had stolen the real man and substituted for him a diabolical + phantom exactly like him in stature and features. Hence the numerous + legends of changelings, some of which are very curious. In Irish folk-lore + we find the story of one Rickard, surnamed the Rake, from his worthless + character. A good-natured, idle fellow, he spent all his evenings in + dancing,—an accomplishment in which no one in the village could + rival him. One night, in the midst of a lively reel, he fell down in a + fit. "He's struck with a fairy-dart," exclaimed all the friends, and they + carried him home and nursed him; but his face grew so thin and his manner + so morose that by and by all began to suspect that the true Rickard was + gone and a changeling put in his place. Rickard, with all his + accomplishments, was no musician; and so, in order to put the matter to a + crucial test, a bagpipe was left in the room by the side of his bed. The + trick succeeded. One hot summer's day, when all were supposed to be in the + field making hay, some members of the family secreted in a clothes-press + saw the bedroom door open a little way, and a lean, foxy face, with a pair + of deep-sunken eyes, peer anxiously about the premises. Having satisfied + itself that the coast was clear, the face withdrew, the door was closed, + and presently such ravishing strains of music were heard as never + proceeded from a bagpipe before or since that day. Soon was heard the + rustle of innumerable fairies, come to dance to the changeling's music. + Then the "fairy-man" of the village, who was keeping watch with the + family, heated a pair of tongs red-hot, and with deafening shouts all + burst at once into the sick-chamber. The music had ceased and the room was + empty, but in at the window glared a fiendish face, with such fearful + looks of hatred, that for a moment all stood motionless with terror. But + when the fairy-man, recovering himself, advanced with the hot tongs to + pinch its nose, it vanished with an unearthly yell, and there on the bed + was Rickard, safe and sound, and cured of his epilepsy. <a + href="#linknote-81" name="linknoteref-81" id="linknoteref-81"><small>81</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Comparing this legend with numerous others relating to changelings, and + stripping off the fantastic garb of fairy-lore with which popular + imagination has invested them, it seems impossible to doubt that they have + arisen from myths devised for the purpose of explaining the obscure + phenomena of mental disease. If this be so, they afford an excellent + collateral illustration of the belief in werewolves. The same mental + habits which led men to regard the insane or epileptic person as a + changeling, and which allowed them to explain catalepsy as the temporary + departure of a witch's soul from its body, would enable them to attribute + a wolf's nature to the maniac or idiot with cannibal appetites. And when + the myth-forming process had got thus far, it would not stop short of + assigning to the unfortunate wretch a tangible lupine body; for all + ancient mythology teemed with precedents for such a transformation. + </p> + <p> + It remains for us to sum up,—to tie into a bunch the keys which have + helped us to penetrate into the secret causes of the werewolf + superstition. In a previous paper we saw what a host of myths, + fairy-tales, and superstitious observances have sprung from attempts to + interpret one simple natural phenomenon,—the descent of fire from + the clouds. Here, on the other hand, we see what a heterogeneous multitude + of mythical elements may combine to build up in course of time a single + enormous superstition, and we see how curiously fact and fancy have + co-operated in keeping the superstition from falling. In the first place + the worship of dead ancestors with wolf totems originated the notion of + the transformation of men into divine or superhuman wolves; and this + notion was confirmed by the ambiguous explanation of the storm-wind as the + rushing of a troop of dead men's souls or as the howling of wolf-like + monsters. Mediaeval Christianity retained these conceptions, merely + changing the superhuman wolves into evil demons; and finally the + occurrence of cases of Berserker madness and cannibalism, accompanied by + lycanthropic hallucinations, being interpreted as due to such demoniacal + metamorphosis, gave rise to the werewolf superstition of the Middle Ages. + The etymological proceedings, to which Mr. Cox would incontinently ascribe + the origin of the entire superstition, seemed to me to have played a very + subordinate part in the matter. To suppose that Jean Grenier imagined + himself to be a wolf, because the Greek word for wolf sounded like the + word for light, and thus gave rise to the story of a light-deity who + became a wolf, seems to me quite inadmissible. Yet as far as such verbal + equivocations may have prevailed, they doubtless helped to sustain the + delusion. + </p> + <p> + Thus we need no longer regard our werewolf as an inexplicable creature of + undetermined pedigree. But any account of him would be quite imperfect + which should omit all consideration of the methods by which his change of + form was accomplished. By the ancient Romans the werewolf was commonly + called a "skin-changer" or "turn-coat" (versipellis), and similar epithets + were applied to him in the Middle Ages The mediaeval theory was that, + while the werewolf kept his human form, his hair grew inwards; when he + wished to become a wolf, he simply turned himself inside out. In many + trials on record, the prisoners were closely interrogated as to how this + inversion might be accomplished; but I am not aware that any one of them + ever gave a satisfactory answer. At the moment of change their memories + seem to have become temporarily befogged. Now and then a poor wretch had + his arms and legs cut off, or was partially flayed, in order that the + ingrowing hair might be detected. <a href="#linknote-82" + name="linknoteref-82" id="linknoteref-82"><small>82</small></a> Another + theory was, that the possessed person had merely to put on a wolf's skin, + in order to assume instantly the lupine form and character; and in this + may perhaps be seen a vague reminiscence of the alleged fact that + Berserkers were in the habit of haunting the woods by night, clothed in + the hides of wolves or bears. <a href="#linknote-83" name="linknoteref-83" + id="linknoteref-83"><small>83</small></a> Such a wolfskin was kept by the + boy Grenier. Roulet, on the other hand, confessed to using a magic salve + or ointment. A fourth method of becoming a werewolf was to obtain a + girdle, usually made of human skin. Several cases are related in Thorpe's + "Northern Mythology." One hot day in harvest-time some reapers lay down to + sleep in the shade; when one of them, who could not sleep, saw the man + next him arise quietly and gird him with a strap, whereupon he instantly + vanished, and a wolf jumped up from among the sleepers and ran off across + the fields. Another man, who possessed such a girdle, once went away from + home without remembering to lock it up. His little son climbed up to the + cupboard and got it, and as he proceeded to buckle it around his waist, he + became instantly transformed into a strange-looking beast. Just then his + father came in, and seizing the girdle restored the child to his natural + shape. The boy said that no sooner had he buckled it on than he was + tormented with a raging hunger. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes the werewolf transformation led to unlucky accidents. At + Caseburg, as a man and his wife were making hay, the woman threw down her + pitchfork and went away, telling her husband that if a wild beast should + come to him during her absence he must throw his hat at it. Presently a + she-wolf rushed towards him. The man threw his hat at it, but a boy came + up from another part of the field and stabbed the animal with his + pitchfork, whereupon it vanished, and the woman's dead body lay at his + feet. + </p> + <p> + A parallel legend shows that this woman wished to have the hat thrown at + her, in order that she might be henceforth free from her liability to + become a werewolf. A man was one night returning with his wife from a + merry-making when he felt the change coming on. Giving his wife the reins, + he jumped from the wagon, telling her to strike with her apron at any + animal which might come to her. In a few moments a wolf ran up to the side + of the vehicle, and, as the woman struck out with her apron, it bit off a + piece and ran away. Presently the man returned with the piece of apron in + his mouth and consoled his terrified wife with the information that the + enchantment had left him forever. + </p> + <p> + A terrible case at a village in Auvergne has found its way into the annals + of witchcraft. "A gentleman while hunting was suddenly attacked by a + savage wolf of monstrous size. Impenetrable by his shot, the beast made a + spring upon the helpless huntsman, who in the struggle luckily, or + unluckily for the unfortunate lady, contrived to cut off one of its + fore-paws. This trophy he placed in his pocket, and made the best of his + way homewards in safety. On the road he met a friend, to whom he exhibited + a bleeding paw, or rather (as it now appeared) a woman's hand, upon which + was a wedding-ring. His wife's ring was at once recognized by the other. + His suspicions aroused, he immediately went in search of his wife, who was + found sitting by the fire in the kitchen, her arm hidden beneath her + apron, when the husband, seizing her by the arm, found his terrible + suspicions verified. The bleeding stump was there, evidently just fresh + from the wound. She was given into custody, and in the event was burned at + Riom, in presence of thousands of spectators." <a href="#linknote-84" + name="linknoteref-84" id="linknoteref-84"><small>84</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Sometimes a werewolf was cured merely by recognizing him while in his + brute shape. A Swedish legend tells of a cottager who, on entering the + forest one day without recollecting to say his Patter Noster, got into the + power of a Troll, who changed him into a wolf. For many years his wife + mourned him as dead. But one Christmas eve the old Troll, disguised as a + beggarwoman, came to the house for alms; and being taken in and kindly + treated, told the woman that her husband might very likely appear to her + in wolf-shape. Going at night to the pantry to lay aside a joint of meat + for tomorrow's dinner, she saw a wolf standing with its paws on the + window-sill, looking wistfully in at her. "Ah, dearest," said she, "if I + knew that thou wert really my husband, I would give thee a bone." + Whereupon the wolf-skin fell off, and her husband stood before her in the + same old clothes which he had on the day that the Troll got hold of him. + </p> + <p> + In Denmark it was believed that if a woman were to creep through a colt's + placental membrane stretched between four sticks, she would for the rest + of her life bring forth children without pain or illness; but all the boys + would in such case be werewolves, and all the girls Maras, or nightmares. + In this grotesque superstition appears that curious kinship between the + werewolf and the wife or maiden of supernatural race, which serves + admirably to illustrate the nature of both conceptions, and the + elucidation of which shall occupy us throughout the remainder of this + paper. + </p> + <p> + It is, perhaps, needless to state that in the personality of the + nightmare, or Mara, there was nothing equine. The Mara was a female demon, + <a href="#linknote-85" name="linknoteref-85" id="linknoteref-85"><small>85</small></a> + who would come at night and torment men or women by crouching on their + chests or stomachs and stopping their respiration. The scene is well + enough represented in Fuseli's picture, though the frenzied-looking horse + which there accompanies the demon has no place in the original + superstition. A Netherlandish story illustrates the character of the Mara. + Two young men were in love with the same damsel. One of them, being + tormented every night by a Mara, sought advice from his rival, and it was + a treacherous counsel that he got. "Hold a sharp knife with the point + towards your breast, and you'll never see the Mara again," said this false + friend. The lad thanked him, but when he lay down to rest he thought it as + well to be on the safe side, and so held the knife handle downward. So + when the Mara came, instead of forcing the blade into his breast, she cut + herself badly, and fled howling; and let us hope, though the legend here + leaves us in the dark, that this poor youth, who is said to have been the + comelier of the two, revenged himself on his malicious rival by marrying + the young lady. + </p> + <p> + But the Mara sometimes appeared in less revolting shape, and became the + mistress or even the wife of some mortal man to whom she happened to take + a fancy. In such cases she would vanish on being recognized. There is a + well-told monkish tale of a pious knight who, journeying one day through + the forest, found a beautiful lady stripped naked and tied to a tree, her + back all covered with deep gashes streaming with blood, from a flogging + which some bandits had given her. Of course he took her home to his castle + and married her, and for a while they lived very happily together, and the + fame of the lady's beauty was so great that kings and emperors held + tournaments in honor of her. But this pious knight used to go to mass + every Sunday, and greatly was he scandalized when he found that his wife + would never stay to assist in the Credo, but would always get up and walk + out of church just as the choir struck up. All her husband's coaxing was + of no use; threats and entreaties were alike powerless even to elicit an + explanation of this strange conduct. At last the good man determined to + use force; and so one Sunday, as the lady got up to go out, according to + custom, he seized her by the arm and sternly commanded her to remain. Her + whole frame was suddenly convulsed, and her dark eyes gleamed with weird, + unearthly brilliancy. The services paused for a moment, and all eyes were + turned toward the knight and his lady. "In God's name, tell me what thou + art," shouted the knight; and instantly, says the chronicler, "the bodily + form of the lady melted away, and was seen no more; whilst, with a cry of + anguish and of terror, an evil spirit of monstrous form rose from the + ground, clave the chapel roof asunder, and disappeared in the air." + </p> + <p> + In a Danish legend, the Mara betrays her affinity to the Nixies, or + Swan-maidens. A peasant discovered that his sweetheart was in the habit of + coming to him by night as a Mara. He kept strict watch until he discovered + her creeping into the room through a small knot-hole in the door. Next day + he made a peg, and after she had come to him, drove in the peg so that she + was unable to escape. They were married and lived together many years; but + one night it happened that the man, joking with his wife about the way in + which he had secured her, drew the peg from the knot-hole, that she might + see how she had entered his room. As she peeped through, she became + suddenly quite small, passed out, and was never seen again. + </p> + <p> + The well-known pathological phenomena of nightmare are sufficient to + account for the mediaeval theory of a fiend who sits upon one's bosom and + hinders respiration; but as we compare these various legends relating to + the Mara, we see that a more recondite explanation is needed to account + for all her peculiarities. Indigestion may interfere with our breathing, + but it does not make beautiful women crawl through keyholes, nor does it + bring wives from the spirit-world. The Mara belongs to an ancient family, + and in passing from the regions of monkish superstition to those of pure + mythology we find that, like her kinsman the werewolf, she had once seen + better days. Christianity made a demon of the Mara, and adopted the theory + that Satan employed these seductive creatures as agents for ruining human + souls. Such is the character of the knight's wife, in the monkish legend + just cited. But in the Danish tale the Mara appears as one of that large + family of supernatural wives who are permitted to live with mortal men + under certain conditions, but who are compelled to flee away when these + conditions are broken, as is always sure to be the case. The eldest and + one of the loveliest of this family is the Hindu nymph Urvasi, whose love + adventures with Pururavas are narrated in the Puranas, and form the + subject of the well-known and exquisite Sanskrit drama by Kalidasa. Urvasi + is allowed to live with Pururavas so long as she does not see him + undressed. But one night her kinsmen, the Gandharvas, or cloud-demons, + vexed at her long absence from heaven, resolved to get her away from her + mortal companion, They stole a pet lamb which had been tied at the foot of + her couch, whereat she bitterly upbraided her husband. In rage and + mortification, Pururavas sprang up without throwing on his tunic, and + grasping his sword sought the robber. Then the wicked Gandharvas sent a + flash of lightning, and Urvasi, seeing her naked husband, instantly + vanished. + </p> + <p> + The different versions of this legend, which have been elaborately + analyzed by comparative mythologists, leave no doubt that Urvasi is one of + the dawn-nymphs or bright fleecy clouds of early morning, which vanish as + the splendour of the sun is unveiled. We saw, in the preceding paper, that + the ancient Aryans regarded the sky as a sea or great lake, and that the + clouds were explained variously as Phaiakian ships with bird-like beaks + sailing over this lake, or as bright birds of divers shapes and hues. The + light fleecy cirrhi were regarded as mermaids, or as swans, or as maidens + with swan's plumage. In Sanskrit they are called Apsaras, or "those who + move in the water," and the Elves and Maras of Teutonic mythology have the + same significance. Urvasi appears in one legend as a bird; and a South + German prescription for getting rid of the Mara asserts that if she be + wrapped up in the bedclothes and firmly held, a white dove will forthwith + fly from the room, leaving the bedclothes empty. <a href="#linknote-86" + name="linknoteref-86" id="linknoteref-86"><small>86</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In the story of Melusina the cloud-maiden appears as a kind of mermaid, + but in other respects the legend resembles that of Urvasi. Raymond, Count + de la Foret, of Poitou, having by an accident killed his patron and + benefactor during a hunting excursion, fled in terror and despair into the + deep recesses of the forest. All the afternoon and evening he wandered + through the thick dark woods, until at midnight he came upon a strange + scene. All at once "the boughs of the trees became less interlaced, and + the trunks fewer; next moment his horse, crashing through the shrubs, + brought him out on a pleasant glade, white with rime, and illumined by the + new moon; in the midst bubbled up a limpid fountain, and flowed away over + a pebbly-floor with a soothing murmur. Near the fountain-head sat three + maidens in glimmering white dresses, with long waving golden hair, and + faces of inexpressible beauty." <a href="#linknote-87" + name="linknoteref-87" id="linknoteref-87"><small>87</small></a> One of + them advanced to meet Raymond, and according to all mythological + precedent, they were betrothed before daybreak. In due time the + fountain-nymph <a href="#linknote-88" name="linknoteref-88" + id="linknoteref-88"><small>88</small></a> became Countess de la Foret, but + her husband was given to understand that all her Saturdays would be passed + in strictest seclusion, upon which he must never dare to intrude, under + penalty of losing her forever. For many years all went well, save that the + fair Melusina's children were, without exception, misshapen or disfigured. + But after a while this strange weekly seclusion got bruited about all over + the neighbourhood, and people shook their heads and looked grave about it. + So many gossiping tales came to the Count's ears, that he began to grow + anxious and suspicious, and at last he determined to know the worst. He + went one Saturday to Melusina's private apartments, and going through one + empty room after another, at last came to a locked door which opened into + a bath; looking through a keyhole, there he saw the Countess transformed + from the waist downwards into a fish, disporting herself like a mermaid in + the water. Of course he could not keep the secret, but when some time + afterwards they quarrelled, must needs address her as "a vile serpent, + contaminator of his honourable race." So she disappeared through the + window, but ever afterward hovered about her husband's castle of Lusignan, + like a Banshee, whenever one of its lords was about to die. + </p> + <p> + The well-known story of Undine is similar to that of Melusina, save that + the naiad's desire to obtain a human soul is a conception foreign to the + spirit of the myth, and marks the degradation which Christianity had + inflicted upon the denizens of fairy-land. In one of Dasent's tales the + water-maiden is replaced by a kind of werewolf. A white bear marries a + young girl, but assumes the human shape at night. She is never to look + upon him in his human shape, but how could a young bride be expected to + obey such an injunction as that? She lights a candle while he is sleeping, + and discovers the handsomest prince in the world; unluckily she drops + tallow on his shirt, and that tells the story. But she is more fortunate + than poor Raymond, for after a tiresome journey to the "land east of the + sun and west of the moon," and an arduous washing-match with a parcel of + ugly Trolls, she washes out the spots, and ends her husband's enchantment. + <a href="#linknote-89" name="linknoteref-89" id="linknoteref-89"><small>89</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In the majority of these legends, however, the Apsaras, or cloud-maiden, + has a shirt of swan's feathers which plays the same part as the wolfskin + cape or girdle of the werewolf. If you could get hold of a werewolf's sack + and burn it, a permanent cure was effected. No danger of a relapse, unless + the Devil furnished him with a new wolfskin. So the swan-maiden kept her + human form, as long as she was deprived of her tunic of feathers. + Indo-European folk-lore teems with stories of swan-maidens forcibly wooed + and won by mortals who had stolen their clothes. A man travelling along + the road passes by a lake where several lovely girls are bathing; their + dresses, made of feathers curiously and daintily woven, lie on the shore. + He approaches the place cautiously and steals one of these dresses. <a + href="#linknote-90" name="linknoteref-90" id="linknoteref-90"><small>90</small></a> + When the girls have finished their bathing, they all come and get their + dresses and swim away as swans; but the one whose dress is stolen must + needs stay on shore and marry the thief. It is needless to add that they + live happily together for many years, or that finally the good man + accidentally leaves the cupboard door unlocked, whereupon his wife gets + back her swan-shirt and flies away from him, never to return. But it is + not always a shirt of feathers. In one German story, a nobleman hunting + deer finds a maiden bathing in a clear pool in the forest. He runs + stealthily up to her and seizes her necklace, at which she loses the power + to flee. They are married, and she bears seven sons at once, all of whom + have gold chains about their necks, and are able to transform themselves + into swans whenever they like. A Flemish legend tells of three Nixies, or + water-sprites, who came out of the Meuse one autumn evening, and helped + the villagers celebrate the end of the vintage. Such graceful dancers had + never been seen in Flanders, and they could sing as well as they could + dance. As the night was warm, one of them took off her gloves and gave + them to her partner to hold for her. When the clock struck twelve the + other two started off in hot haste, and then there was a hue and cry for + gloves. The lad would keep them as love-tokens, and so the poor Nixie had + to go home without them; but she must have died on the way, for next + morning the waters of the Meuse were blood-red, and those damsels never + returned. + </p> + <p> + In the Faro Islands it is believed that seals cast off their skins every + ninth night, assume human forms, and sing and dance like men and women + until daybreak, when they resume their skins and their seal natures. Of + course a man once found and hid one of these sealskins, and so got a + mermaid for a wife; and of course she recovered the skin and escaped. <a + href="#linknote-91" name="linknoteref-91" id="linknoteref-91"><small>91</small></a> + On the coasts of Ireland it is supposed to be quite an ordinary thing for + young sea-fairies to get human husbands in this way; the brazen things + even come to shore on purpose, and leave their red caps lying around for + young men to pick up; but it behooves the husband to keep a strict watch + over the red cap, if he would not see his children left motherless. + </p> + <p> + This mermaid's cap has contributed its quota to the superstitions of + witchcraft. An Irish story tells how Red James was aroused from sleep one + night by noises in the kitchen. Going down to the door, he saw a lot of + old women drinking punch around the fireplace, and laughing and joking + with his housekeeper. When the punchbowl was empty, they all put on red + caps, and singing + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "By yarrow and rue, + And my red cap too, + Hie me over to England," +</pre> + <p> + they flew up chimney. So Jimmy burst into the room, and seized the + housekeeper's cap, and went along with them. They flew across the sea to a + castle in England, passed through the keyholes from room to room and into + the cellar, where they had a famous carouse. Unluckily Jimmy, being unused + to such good cheer, got drunk, and forgot to put on his cap when the + others did. So next morning the lord's butler found him dead-drunk on the + cellar floor, surrounded by empty casks. He was sentenced to be hung + without any trial worth speaking of; but as he was carted to the gallows + an old woman cried out, "Ach, Jimmy alanna! Would you be afther dyin' in a + strange land without your red birredh?" The lord made no objections, and + so the red cap was brought and put on him. Accordingly when Jimmy had got + to the gallows and was making his last speech for the edification of the + spectators, he unexpectedly and somewhat irrelevantly exclaimed, "By + yarrow and rue," etc., and was off like a rocket, shooting through the + blue air en route for old Ireland. <a href="#linknote-92" + name="linknoteref-92" id="linknoteref-92"><small>92</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In another Irish legend an enchanted ass comes into the kitchen of a great + house every night, and washes the dishes and scours the tins, so that the + servants lead an easy life of it. After a while in their exuberant + gratitude they offer him any present for which he may feel inclined to + ask. He desires only "an ould coat, to keep the chill off of him these + could nights"; but as soon as he gets into the coat he resumes his human + form and bids them good by, and thenceforth they may wash their own dishes + and scour their own tins, for all him. + </p> + <p> + But we are diverging from the subject of swan-maidens, and are in danger + of losing ourselves in that labyrinth of popular fancies which is more + intricate than any that Daidalos ever planned. The significance of all + these sealskins and feather-dresses and mermaid caps and werewolf-girdles + may best be sought in the etymology of words like the German leichnam, in + which the body is described as a garment of flesh for the soul. <a + href="#linknote-93" name="linknoteref-93" id="linknoteref-93"><small>93</small></a> + In the naive philosophy of primitive thinkers, the soul, in passing from + one visible shape to another, had only to put on the outward integument of + the creature in which it wished to incarnate itself. With respect to the + mode of metamorphosis, there is little difference between the werewolf and + the swan-maiden; and the similarity is no less striking between the + genesis of the two conceptions. The original werewolf is the night-wind, + regarded now as a manlike deity and now as a howling lupine fiend; and the + original swan-maiden is the light fleecy cloud, regarded either as a + woman-like goddess or as a bird swimming in the sky sea. The one + conception has been productive of little else but horrors; the other has + given rise to a great variety of fanciful creations, from the treacherous + mermaid and the fiendish nightmare to the gentle Undine, the charming + Nausikaa, and the stately Muse of classic antiquity. + </p> + <p> + We have seen that the original werewolf, howling in the wintry blast, is a + kind of psychopomp, or leader of departed souls; he is the wild ancestor + of the death-dog, whose voice under the window of a sick-chamber is even + now a sound of ill-omen. The swan-maiden has also been supposed to summon + the dying to her home in the Phaiakian land. The Valkyries, with their + shirts of swan-plumage, who hovered over Scandinavian battle-fields to + receive the souls of falling heroes, were identical with the Hindu + Apsaras; and the Houris of the Mussulman belong to the same family. Even + for the angels,—women with large wings, who are seen in popular + pictures bearing mortals on high towards heaven,—we can hardly claim + a different kinship. Melusina, when she leaves the castle of Lusignan, + becomes a Banshee; and it has been a common superstition among sailors, + that the appearance of a mermaid, with her comb and looking-glass, + foretokens shipwreck, with the loss of all on board. + </p> + <p> + October, 1870. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV. LIGHT AND DARKNESS. + </h2> + <p> + WHEN Maitland blasphemously asserted that God was but "a Bogie of the + nursery," he unwittingly made a remark as suggestive in point of philology + as it was crude and repulsive in its atheism. When examined with the + lenses of linguistic science, the "Bogie" or "Bug-a-boo" or "Bugbear" of + nursery lore turns out to be identical, not only with the fairy "Puck," + whom Shakespeare has immortalized, but also with the Slavonic "Bog" and + the "Baga" of the Cuneiform Inscriptions, both of which are names for the + Supreme Being. If we proceed further, and inquire after the ancestral form + of these epithets,—so strangely incongruous in their significations,—we + shall find it in the Old Aryan "Bhaga," which reappears unchanged in the + Sanskrit of the Vedas, and has left a memento of itself in the surname of + the Phrygian Zeus "Bagaios." It seems originally to have denoted either + the unclouded sun or the sky of noonday illumined by the solar rays. In + Sayana's commentary on the Rig-Veda, Bhaga is enumerated among the seven + (or eight) sons of Aditi, the boundless Orient; and he is elsewhere + described as the lord of life, the giver of bread, and the bringer of + happiness. <a href="#linknote-94" name="linknoteref-94" id="linknoteref-94"><small>94</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Thus the same name which, to the Vedic poet, to the Persian of the time of + Xerxes, and to the modern Russian, suggests the supreme majesty of deity, + is in English associated with an ugly and ludicrous fiend, closely akin to + that grotesque Northern Devil of whom Southey was unable to think without + laughing. Such is the irony of fate toward a deposed deity. The German + name for idol—Abgott, that is, "ex-god," or "dethroned god"—sums + up in a single etymology the history of the havoc wrought by monotheism + among the ancient symbols of deity. In the hospitable Pantheon of the + Greeks and Romans a niche was always in readiness for every new divinity + who could produce respectable credentials; but the triumph of monotheism + converted the stately mansion into a Pandemonium peopled with fiends. To + the monotheist an "ex-god" was simply a devilish deceiver of mankind whom + the true God had succeeded in vanquishing; and thus the word demon, which + to the ancient meant a divine or semi-divine being, came to be applied to + fiends exclusively. Thus the Teutonic races, who preserved the name of + their highest divinity, Odin,—originally, Guodan,—by which to + designate the God of the Christian, <a href="#linknote-95" + name="linknoteref-95" id="linknoteref-95"><small>95</small></a> were + unable to regard the Bog of ancient tradition as anything but an "ex-god," + or vanquished demon. + </p> + <p> + The most striking illustration of this process is to be found in the word + devil itself: To a reader unfamiliar with the endless tricks which + language delights in playing, it may seem shocking to be told that the + Gypsies use the word devil as the name of God. <a href="#linknote-96" + name="linknoteref-96" id="linknoteref-96"><small>96</small></a> This, + however, is not because these people have made the archfiend an object of + worship, but because the Gypsy language, descending directly from the + Sanskrit, has retained in its primitive exalted sense a word which the + English language has received only in its debased and perverted sense. The + Teutonic words devil, teufel, diuval, djofull, djevful, may all be traced + back to the Zend dev, <a href="#linknote-97" name="linknoteref-97" + id="linknoteref-97"><small>97</small></a> a name in which is implicitly + contained the record of the oldest monotheistic revolution known to + history. The influence of the so-called Zoroastrian reform upon the + long-subsequent development of Christianity will receive further notice in + the course of this paper; for the present it is enough to know that it + furnished for all Christendom the name by which it designates the author + of evil. To the Parsee follower of Zarathustra the name of the Devil has + very nearly the same signification as to the Christian; yet, as Grimm has + shown, it is nothing else than a corruption of deva, the Sanskrit name for + God. When Zarathustra overthrew the primeval Aryan nature-worship in + Bactria, this name met the same evil fate which in early Christian times + overtook the word demon, and from a symbol of reverence became henceforth + a symbol of detestation. <a href="#linknote-98" name="linknoteref-98" + id="linknoteref-98"><small>98</small></a> But throughout the rest of the + Aryan world it achieved a nobler career, producing the Greek theos, the + Lithuanian diewas, the Latin deus, and hence the modern French Dieu, all + meaning God. + </p> + <p> + If we trace back this remarkable word to its primitive source in that once + lost but now partially recovered mother-tongue from which all our Aryan + languages are descended, we find a root div or dyu, meaning "to shine." + From the first-mentioned form comes deva, with its numerous progeny of + good and evil appellatives; from the latter is derived the name of Dyaus, + with its brethren, Zeus and Jupiter. In Sanskrit dyu, as a noun, means + "sky" and "day"; and there are many passages in the Rig-Veda where the + character of the god Dyaus, as the personification of the sky or the + brightness of the ethereal heavens, is unmistakably apparent. This key + unlocks for us one of the secrets of Greek mythology. So long as there was + for Zeus no better etymology than that which assigned it to the root zen, + "to live," <a href="#linknote-99" name="linknoteref-99" id="linknoteref-99"><small>99</small></a> + there was little hope of understanding the nature of Zeus. But when we + learn that Zeus is identical with Dyaus, the bright sky, we are enabled to + understand Horace's expression, "sub Jove frigido," and the prayer of the + Athenians, "Rain, rain, dear Zeus, on the land of the Athenians, and on + the fields." <a href="#linknote-100" name="linknoteref-100" + id="linknoteref-100"><small>100</small></a> Such expressions as these were + retained by the Greeks and Romans long after they had forgotten that their + supreme deity was once the sky. Yet even the Brahman, from whose mind the + physical significance of the god's name never wholly disappeared, could + speak of him as Father Dyaus, the great Pitri, or ancestor of gods and + men; and in this reverential name Dyaus pitar may be seen the exact + equivalent of the Roman's Jupiter, or Jove the Father. The same root can + be followed into Old German, where Zio is the god of day; and into + Anglo-Saxon, where Tiwsdaeg, or the day of Zeus, is the ancestral form of + Tuesday. + </p> + <p> + Thus we again reach the same results which were obtained from the + examination of the name Bhaga. These various names for the supreme Aryan + god, which without the help afforded by the Vedas could never have been + interpreted, are seen to have been originally applied to the sun-illumined + firmament. Countless other examples, when similarly analyzed, show that + the earliest Aryan conception of a Divine Power, nourishing man and + sustaining the universe, was suggested by the light of the mighty Sun; + who, as modern science has shown, is the originator of all life and motion + upon the globe, and whom the ancients delighted to believe the source, not + only of "the golden light," <a href="#linknote-101" name="linknoteref-101" + id="linknoteref-101"><small>101</small></a> but of everything that is + bright, joy-giving, and pure. Nevertheless, in accepting this conclusion + as well established by linguistic science, we must be on our guard against + an error into which writers on mythology are very liable to fall. Neither + sky nor sun nor light of day, neither Zeus nor Apollo, neither Dyaus nor + Indra, was ever worshipped by the ancient Aryan in anything like a + monotheistic sense. To interpret Zeus or Jupiter as originally the supreme + Aryan god, and to regard classic paganism as one of the degraded remnants + of a primeval monotheism, is to sin against the canons of a sound + inductive philosophy. Philology itself teaches us that this could not have + been so. Father Dyaus was originally the bright sky and nothing more. + Although his name became generalized, in the classic languages, into deus, + or God, it is quite certain that in early days, before the Aryan + separation, it had acquired no such exalted significance. It was only in + Greece and Rome—or, we may say, among the still united + Italo-Hellenic tribes—that Jupiter-Zeus attained a pre-eminence over + all other deities. The people of Iran quite rejected him, the Teutons + preferred Thor and Odin, and in India he was superseded, first by Indra, + afterwards by Brahma and Vishnu. We need not, therefore, look for a single + supreme divinity among the old Aryans; nor may we expect to find any + sense, active or dormant, of monotheism in the primitive intelligence of + uncivilized men. <a href="#linknote-102" name="linknoteref-102" + id="linknoteref-102"><small>102</small></a> The whole fabric of + comparative mythology, as at present constituted, and as described above, + in the first of these papers, rests upon the postulate that the earliest + religion was pure fetichism. + </p> + <p> + In the unsystematic nature-worship of the old Aryans the gods are + presented to us only as vague powers, with their nature and attributes + dimly defined, and their relations to each other fluctuating and often + contradictory. There is no theogony, no regular subordination of one deity + to another. The same pair of divinities appear now as father and daughter, + now as brother and sister, now as husband and wife; and again they quite + lose their personality, and are represented as mere natural phenomena. As + Muller observes, "The poets of the Veda indulged freely in theogonic + speculations without being frightened by any contradictions. They knew of + Indra as the greatest of gods, they knew of Agni as the god of gods, they + knew of Varuna as the ruler of all; but they were by no means startled at + the idea that their Indra had a mother, or that their Agni [Latin ignis] + was born like a babe from the friction of two fire-sticks, or that Varuna + and his brother Mitra were nursed in the lap of Aditi." <a + href="#linknote-103" name="linknoteref-103" id="linknoteref-103"><small>103</small></a> + Thus we have seen Bhaga, the daylight, represented as the offspring, of + Aditi, the boundless Orient; but he had several brothers, and among them + were Mitra, the sun, Varuna, the overarching firmament, and Vivasvat, the + vivifying sun. Manifestly we have here but so many different names for + what is at bottom one and the same conception. The common element which, + in Dyaus and Varuna, in Bhaga and Indra, was made an object of worship, is + the brightness, warmth, and life of day, as contrasted with the darkness, + cold, and seeming death of the night-time. And this common element was + personified in as many different ways as the unrestrained fancy of the + ancient worshipper saw fit to devise. <a href="#linknote-104" + name="linknoteref-104" id="linknoteref-104"><small>104</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Thus we begin to see why a few simple objects, like the sun, the sky, the + dawn, and the night, should be represented in mythology by such a host of + gods, goddesses, and heroes. For at one time the Sun is represented as the + conqueror of hydras and dragons who hide away from men the golden + treasures of light and warmth, and at another time he is represented as a + weary voyager traversing the sky-sea amid many perils, with the steadfast + purpose of returning to his western home and his twilight bride; hence the + different conceptions of Herakles, Bellerophon, and Odysseus. Now he is + represented as the son of the Dawn, and again, with equal propriety, as + the son of the Night, and the fickle lover of the Dawn; hence we have, on + the one hand, stories of a virgin mother who dies in giving birth to a + hero, and, on the other hand, stories of a beautiful maiden who is + forsaken and perhaps cruelly slain by her treacherous lover. Indeed, the + Sun's adventures with so many dawn-maidens have given him quite a bad + character, and the legends are numerous in which he appears as the + prototype of Don Juan. Yet again his separation from the bride of his + youth is described as due to no fault of his own, but to a resistless + decree of fate, which hurries him away as Aineias was compelled to abandon + Dido. Or, according to a third and equally plausible notion, he is a hero + of ascetic virtues, and the dawn-maiden is a wicked enchantress, daughter + of the sensual Aphrodite, who vainly endeavours to seduce him. In the + story of Odysseus these various conceptions are blended together. When + enticed by artful women, <a href="#linknote-105" name="linknoteref-105" + id="linknoteref-105"><small>105</small></a> he yields for a while to the + temptation; but by and by his longing to see Penelope takes him homeward, + albeit with a record which Penelope might not altogether have liked. + Again, though the Sun, "always roaming with a hungry heart," has seen many + cities and customs of strange men, he is nevertheless confined to a single + path,—a circumstance which seems to have occasioned much speculation + in the primeval mind. Garcilaso de la Vega relates of a certain Peruvian + Inca, who seems to have been an "infidel" with reference to the orthodox + mythology of his day, that he thought the Sun was not such a mighty god + after all; for if he were, he would wander about the heavens at random + instead of going forever, like a horse in a treadmill, along the same + course. The American Indians explained this circumstance by myths which + told how the Sun was once caught and tied with a chain which would only + let him swing a little way to one side or the other. The ancient Aryan + developed the nobler myth of the labours of Herakles, performed in + obedience to the bidding of Eurystheus. Again, the Sun must needs destroy + its parents, the Night and the Dawn; and accordingly his parents, + forewarned by prophecy, expose him in infancy, or order him to be put to + death; but his tragic destiny never fails to be accomplished to the + letter. And again the Sun, who engages in quarrels not his own, is + sometimes represented as retiring moodily from the sight of men, like + Achilleus and Meleagros: he is short-lived and ill-fated, born to do much + good and to be repaid with ingratitude; his life depends on the duration + of a burning brand, and when that is extinguished he must die. + </p> + <p> + The myth of the great Theban hero, Oidipous, well illustrates the + multiplicity of conceptions which clustered about the daily career of the + solar orb. His father, Laios, had been warned by the Delphic oracle that + he was in danger of death from his own son. The newly born Oidipous was + therefore exposed on the hillside, but, like Romulus and Remus, and all + infants similarly situated in legend, was duly rescued. He was taken to + Corinth, where he grew up to manhood. Journeying once to Thebes, he got + into a quarrel with an old man whom he met on the road, and slew him, who + was none other than his father, Laios. Reaching Thebes, he found the city + harassed by the Sphinx, who afflicted the land with drought until she + should receive an answer to her riddles. Oidipous destroyed the monster by + solving her dark sayings, and as a reward received the kingdom, with his + own mother, Iokaste, as his bride. Then the Erinyes hastened the discovery + of these dark deeds; Iokaste died in her bridal chamber; and Oidipous, + having blinded himself, fled to the grove of the Eumenides, near Athens, + where, amid flashing lightning and peals of thunder, he died. + </p> + <p> + Oidipous is the Sun. Like all the solar heroes, from Herakles and Perseus + to Sigurd and William Tell, he performs his marvellous deeds at the behest + of others. His father, Laios, is none other than the Vedic Dasyu, the + night-demon who is sure to be destroyed by his solar offspring In the + evening, Oidipous is united to the Dawn, the mother who had borne him at + daybreak; and here the original story doubtless ended. In the Vedic hymns + we find Indra, the Sun, born of Dahana (Daphne), the Dawn, whom he + afterwards, in the evening twilight, marries. To the Indian mind the story + was here complete; but the Greeks had forgotten and outgrown the primitive + signification of the myth. To them Oidipous and Iokaste were human, or at + least anthropomorphic beings; and a marriage between them was a fearful + crime which called for bitter expiation. Thus the latter part of the story + arose in the effort to satisfy a moral feeling As the name of Laios + denotes the dark night, so, like Iole, Oinone, and Iamos, the word Iokaste + signifies the delicate violet tints of the morning and evening clouds. + Oidipous was exposed, like Paris upon Ida (a Vedic word meaning "the + earth"), because the sunlight in the morning lies upon the hillside. <a + href="#linknote-106" name="linknoteref-106" id="linknoteref-106"><small>106</small></a> + He is borne on to the destruction of his father and the incestuous + marriage with his mother by an irresistible Moira, or Fate; the sun cannot + but slay the darkness and hasten to the couch of the violet twilight. <a + href="#linknote-107" name="linknoteref-107" id="linknoteref-107"><small>107</small></a> + The Sphinx is the storm-demon who sits on the cloud-rock and imprisons the + rain; she is the same as Medusa, Ahi, or Echidna, and Chimaira, and is + akin to the throttling snakes of darkness which the jealous Here sent to + destroy Herakles in his cradle. The idea was not derived from Egypt, but + the Greeks, on finding Egyptian figures resembling their conception of the + Sphinx, called them by the same name. The omniscient Sun comprehends the + sense of her dark mutterings, and destroys her, as Indra slays Vritra, + bringing down rain upon the parched earth. The Erinyes, who bring to light + the crimes of Oidipous, have been explained, in a previous paper, as the + personification of daylight, which reveals the evil deeds done under the + cover of night. The grove of the Erinyes, like the garden of the + Hyperboreans, represents "the fairy network of clouds, which are the first + to receive and the last to lose the light of the sun in the morning and in + the evening; hence, although Oidipous dies in a thunder-storm, yet the + Eumenides are kind to him, and his last hour is one of deep peace and + tranquillity." <a href="#linknote-108" name="linknoteref-108" + id="linknoteref-108"><small>108</small></a> To the last remains with him + his daughter Antigone, "she who is born opposite," the pale light which + springs up opposite to the setting sun. + </p> + <p> + These examples show that a story-root may be as prolific of heterogeneous + offspring as a word-root. Just as we find the root spak, "to look," + begetting words so various as sceptic, bishop, speculate, conspicsuous, + species, and spice, we must expect to find a simple representation of the + diurnal course of the sun, like those lyrically given in the Veda, + branching off into stories as diversified as those of Oidipous, Herakles, + Odysseus, and Siegfried. In fact, the types upon which stories are + constructed are wonderfully few. Some clever playwright—I believe it + was Scribe—has said that there are only seven possible dramatic + situations; that is, all the plays in the world may be classed with some + one of seven archetypal dramas. <a href="#linknote-109" + name="linknoteref-109" id="linknoteref-109"><small>109</small></a> If this + be true, the astonishing complexity of mythology taken in the concrete, as + compared with its extreme simplicity when analyzed, need not surprise us. + </p> + <p> + The extreme limits of divergence between stories descended from a common + root are probably reached in the myths of light and darkness with which + the present discussion is mainly concerned The subject will be best + elucidated by taking a single one of these myths and following its various + fortunes through different regions of the Aryan world. The myth of + Hercules and Cacus has been treated by M. Breal in an essay which is one + of the most valuable contributions ever made to the study of comparative + mythology; and while following his footsteps our task will be an easy one. + </p> + <p> + The battle between Hercules and Cacus, although one of the oldest of the + traditions common to the whole Indo-European race, appears in Italy as a + purely local legend, and is narrated as such by Virgil, in the eighth book + of the AEneid; by Livy, at the beginning of his history; and by Propertius + and Ovid. Hercules, journeying through Italy after his victory over + Geryon, stops to rest by the bank of the Tiber. While he is taking his + repose, the three-headed monster Cacus, a son of Vulcan and a formidable + brigand, comes and steals his cattle, and drags them tail-foremost to a + secret cavern in the rocks. But the lowing of the cows arouses Hercules, + and he runs toward the cavern where the robber, already frightened, has + taken refuge. Armed with a huge flinty rock, he breaks open the entrance + of the cavern, and confronts the demon within, who vomits forth flames at + him and roars like the thunder in the storm-cloud. After a short combat, + his hideous body falls at the feet of the invincible hero, who erects on + the spot an altar to Jupiter Inventor, in commemoration of the recovery of + his cattle. Ancient Rome teemed with reminiscences of this event, which + Livy regarded as first in the long series of the exploits of his + countrymen. The place where Hercules pastured his oxen was known long + after as the Forum Boarium; near it the Porta Trigemina preserved the + recollection of the monster's triple head; and in the time of Diodorus + Siculus sight-seers were shown the cavern of Cacus on the slope of the + Aventine. Every tenth day the earlier generations of Romans celebrated the + victory with solemn sacrifices at the Ara Maxima; and on days of triumph + the fortunate general deposited there a tithe of his booty, to be + distributed among the citizens. + </p> + <p> + In this famous myth, however, the god Hercules did not originally figure. + The Latin Hercules was an essentially peaceful and domestic deity, + watching over households and enclosures, and nearly akin to Terminus and + the Penates. He does not appear to have been a solar divinity at all. But + the purely accidental resemblance of his name to that of the Greek deity + Herakles, <a href="#linknote-110" name="linknoteref-110" + id="linknoteref-110"><small>110</small></a> and the manifest identity of + the Cacus-myth with the story of the victory of Herakles over Geryon, led + to the substitution of Hercules for the original hero of the legend, who + was none other than Jupiter, called by his Sabine name Sancus. Now + Johannes Lydus informs us that, in Sabine, Sancus signified "the sky," a + meaning which we have already seen to belong to the name Jupiter. The same + substitution of the Greek hero for the Roman divinity led to the + alteration of the name of the demon overcome by his thunderbolts. The + corrupted title Cacus was supposed to be identical with the Greek word + kakos, meaning "evil" and the corruption was suggested by the epithet of + Herakles, Alexikakos, or "the averter of ill." Originally, however, the + name was Caecius, "he who blinds or darkens," and it corresponds literally + to the name of the Greek demon Kaikias, whom an old proverb, preserved by + Aulus Gellius, describes as a stealer of the clouds. <a + href="#linknote-111" name="linknoteref-111" id="linknoteref-111"><small>111</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Thus the significance of the myth becomes apparent. The three-headed Cacus + is seen to be a near kinsman of Geryon's three-headed dog Orthros, and of + the three-headed Kerberos, the hell-hound who guards the dark regions + below the horizon. He is the original werewolf or Rakshasa, the fiend of + the storm who steals the bright cattle of Helios, and hides them in the + black cavernous rock, from which they are afterwards rescued by the + schamir or lightning-stone of the solar hero. The physical character of + the myth is apparent even in the description of Virgil, which reads + wonderfully like a Vedic hymn in celebration of the exploits of Indra. But + when we turn to the Veda itself, we find the correctness of the + interpretation demonstrated again and again, with inexhaustible + prodigality of evidence. Here we encounter again the three-headed Orthros + under the identical title of Vritra, "he who shrouds or envelops," called + also Cushna, "he who parches," Pani, "the robber," and Ahi, "the + strangler." In many hymns of the Rig-Veda the story is told over and over, + like a musical theme arranged with variations. Indra, the god of light, is + a herdsman who tends a herd of bright golden or violet-coloured cattle. + Vritra, a snake-like monster with three heads, steals them and hides them + in a cavern, but Indra slays him as Jupiter slew Caecius, and the cows are + recovered. The language of the myth is so significant, that the Hindu + commentators of the Veda have themselves given explanations of it similar + to those proposed by modern philologists. To them the legend never became + devoid of sense, as the myth of Geryon appeared to Greek scholars like + Apollodoros. <a href="#linknote-112" name="linknoteref-112" + id="linknoteref-112"><small>112</small></a> + </p> + <p> + These celestial cattle, with their resplendent coats of purple and gold, + are the clouds lit up by the solar rays; but the demon who steals them is + not always the fiend of the storm, acting in that capacity. They are + stolen every night by Vritra the concealer, and Caecius the darkener, and + Indra is obliged to spend hours in looking for them, sending Sarama, the + inconstant twilight, to negotiate for their recovery. Between the + storm-myth and the myth of night and morning the resemblance is sometimes + so close as to confuse the interpretation of the two. Many legends which + Max Muller explains as myths of the victory of day over night are + explained by Dr. Kuhn as storm-myths; and the disagreement between two + such powerful champions would be a standing reproach to what is rather + prematurely called the SCIENCE of comparative mythology, were it not easy + to show that the difference is merely apparent and non-essential. It is + the old story of the shield with two sides; and a comparison of the ideas + fundamental to these myths will show that there is no valid ground for + disagreement in the interpretation of them. The myths of schamir and the + divining-rod, analyzed in a previous paper, explain the rending of the + thunder-cloud and the procuring of water without especial reference to any + struggle between opposing divinities. But in the myth of Hercules and + Cacus, the fundamental idea is the victory of the solar god over the + robber who steals the light. Now whether the robber carries off the light + in the evening when Indra has gone to sleep, or boldly rears his black + form against the sky during the daytime, causing darkness to spread over + the earth, would make little difference to the framers of the myth. To a + chicken a solar eclipse is the same thing as nightfall, and he goes to + roost accordingly. Why, then, should the primitive thinker have made a + distinction between the darkening of the sky caused by black clouds and + that caused by the rotation of the earth? He had no more conception of the + scientific explanation of these phenomena than the chicken has of the + scientific explanation of an eclipse. For him it was enough to know that + the solar radiance was stolen, in the one case as in the other, and to + suspect that the same demon was to blame for both robberies. + </p> + <p> + The Veda itself sustains this view. It is certain that the victory of + Indra over Vritra is essentially the same as his victory over the Panis. + Vritra, the storm-fiend, is himself called one of the Panis; yet the + latter are uniformly represented as night-demons. They steal Indra's + golden cattle and drive them by circuitous paths to a dark hiding-place + near the eastern horizon. Indra sends the dawn-nymph, Sarama, to search + for them, but as she comes within sight of the dark stable, the Panis try + to coax her to stay with them: "Let us make thee our sister, do not go + away again; we will give thee part of the cows, O darling." <a + href="#linknote-113" name="linknoteref-113" id="linknoteref-113"><small>113</small></a> + According to the text of this hymn, she scorns their solicitations, but + elsewhere the fickle dawn-nymph is said to coquet with the powers of + darkness. She does not care for their cows, but will take a drink of milk, + if they will be so good as to get it for her. Then she goes back and tells + Indra that she cannot find the cows. He kicks her with his foot, and she + runs back to the Panis, followed by the god, who smites them all with his + unerring arrows and recovers the stolen light. From such a simple + beginning as this has been deduced the Greek myth of the faithlessness of + Helen. <a href="#linknote-114" name="linknoteref-114" id="linknoteref-114"><small>114</small></a> + </p> + <p> + These night-demons, the Panis, though not apparently regarded with any + strong feeling of moral condemnation, are nevertheless hated and dreaded + as the authors of calamity. They not only steal the daylight, but they + parch the earth and wither the fruits, and they slay vegetation during the + winter months. As Caecius, the "darkener," became ultimately changed into + Cacus, the "evil one," so the name of Vritra, the "concealer," the most + famous of the Panis, was gradually generalized until it came to mean + "enemy," like the English word fiend, and began to be applied + indiscriminately to any kind of evil spirit. In one place he is called + Adeva, the "enemy of the gods," an epithet exactly equivalent to the + Persian dev. + </p> + <p> + In the Zendavesta the myth of Hercules and Cacus has given rise to a vast + system of theology. The fiendish Panis are concentrated in Ahriman or + Anro-mainyas, whose name signifies the "spirit of darkness," and who + carries on a perpetual warfare against Ormuzd or Ahuramazda, who is + described by his ordinary surname, Spentomainyas, as the "spirit of + light." The ancient polytheism here gives place to a refined dualism, not + very different from what in many Christian sects has passed current as + monotheism. Ahriman is the archfiend, who struggles with Ormuzd, not for + the possession of a herd of perishable cattle, but for the dominion of the + universe. Ormuzd creates the world pure and beautiful, but Ahriman comes + after him and creates everything that is evil in it. He not only keeps the + earth covered with darkness during half of the day, and withholds the rain + and destroys the crops, but he is the author of all evil thoughts and the + instigator of all wicked actions. Like his progenitor Vritra and his + offspring Satan, he is represented under the form of a serpent; and the + destruction which ultimately awaits these demons is also in reserve for + him. Eventually there is to be a day of reckoning, when Ahriman will be + bound in chains and rendered powerless, or when, according to another + account, he will be converted to righteousness, as Burns hoped and Origen + believed would be the case with Satan. + </p> + <p> + This dualism of the ancient Persians has exerted a powerful influence upon + the development of Christian theology. The very idea of an archfiend + Satan, which Christianity received from Judaism, seems either to have been + suggested by the Persian Ahriman, or at least to have derived its + principal characteristics from that source. There is no evidence that the + Jews, previous to the Babylonish captivity, possessed the conception of a + Devil as the author of all evil. In the earlier books of the Old Testament + Jehovah is represented as dispensing with his own hand the good and the + evil, like the Zeus of the Iliad. <a href="#linknote-115" + name="linknoteref-115" id="linknoteref-115"><small>115</small></a> The + story of the serpent in Eden—an Aryan story in every particular, + which has crept into the Pentateuch—is not once alluded to in the + Old Testament; and the notion of Satan as the author of evil appears only + in the later books, composed after the Jews had come into close contact + with Persian ideas. <a href="#linknote-116" name="linknoteref-116" + id="linknoteref-116"><small>116</small></a> In the Book of Job, as Reville + observes, Satan is "still a member of the celestial court, being one of + the sons of the Elohim, but having as his special office the continual + accusation of men, and having become so suspicious by his practice as + public accuser, that he believes in the virtue of no one, and always + presupposes interested motives for the purest manifestations of human + piety." In this way the character of this angel became injured, and he + became more and more an object of dread and dislike to men, until the + later Jews ascribed to him all the attributes of Ahriman, and in this + singularly altered shape he passed into Christian theology. Between the + Satan of the Book of Job and the mediaeval Devil the metamorphosis is as + great as that which degraded the stern Erinys, who brings evil deeds to + light, into the demon-like Fury who torments wrong-doers in Tartarus; and, + making allowance for difference of circumstances, the process of + degradation has been very nearly the same in the two cases. + </p> + <p> + The mediaeval conception of the Devil is a grotesque compound of elements + derived from all the systems of pagan mythology which Christianity + superseded. He is primarily a rebellious angel, expelled from heaven along + with his followers, like the giants who attempted to scale Olympos, and + like the impious Efreets of Arabian legend who revolted against the + beneficent rule of Solomon. As the serpent prince of the outer darkness, + he retains the old characteristics of Vritra, Ahi, Typhon, and Echidna. As + the black dog which appears behind the stove in Dr. Faust's study, he is + the classic hell-hound Kerberos, the Vedic Carvara. From the sylvan deity + Pan he gets his goat-like body, his horns and cloven hoofs. Like the + wind-god Orpheus, to whose music the trees bent their heads to listen, he + is an unrivalled player on the bagpipes. Like those other wind-gods the + psychopomp Hermes and the wild huntsman Odin, he is the prince of the + powers of the air: his flight through the midnight sky, attended by his + troop of witches mounted on their brooms, which sometimes break the boughs + and sweep the leaves from the trees, is the same as the furious chase of + the Erlking Odin or the Burckar Vittikab. He is Dionysos, who causes red + wine to flow from the dry wood, alike on the deck of the Tyrrhenian + pirate-ship and in Auerbach's cellar at Leipzig. He is Wayland, the smith, + a skilful worker in metals and a wonderful architect, like the classic + fire-god Hephaistos or Vulcan; and, like Hephaistos, he is lame from the + effects of his fall from heaven. From the lightning-god Thor he obtains + his red beard, his pitchfork, and his power over thunderbolts; and, like + that ancient deity, he is in the habit of beating his wife behind the door + when the rain falls during sunshine. Finally, he takes a hint from + Poseidon and from the swan-maidens, and appears as a water-imp or Nixy + (whence probably his name of Old Nick), and as the Davy (deva) whose + "locker" is situated at the bottom of the sea. <a href="#linknote-117" + name="linknoteref-117" id="linknoteref-117"><small>117</small></a> + </p> + <p> + According to the Scotch divines of the seventeenth century, the Devil is a + learned scholar and profound thinker. Having profited by six thousand + years of intense study and meditation, he has all science, philosophy, and + theology at his tongue's end; and, as his skill has increased with age, he + is far more than a match for mortals in cunning. <a href="#linknote-118" + name="linknoteref-118" id="linknoteref-118"><small>118</small></a> Such, + however, is not the view taken by mediaeval mythology, which usually + represents his stupidity as equalling his malignity. The victory of + Hercules over Cacus is repeated in a hundred mediaeval legends in which + the Devil is overreached and made a laughing-stock. The germ of this + notion may be found in the blinding of Polyphemos by Odysseus, which is + itself a victory of the sun-hero over the night-demon, and which curiously + reappears in a Middle-Age story narrated by Mr. Cox. "The Devil asks a man + who is moulding buttons what he may be doing; and when the man answers + that he is moulding eyes, asks him further whether he can give him a pair + of new eyes. He is told to come again another day; and when he makes his + appearance accordingly, the man tells him that the operation cannot be + performed rightly unless he is first tightly bound with his back fastened + to a bench. While he is thus pinioned he asks the man's name. The reply is + Issi (`himself'). When the lead is melted, the Devil opens his eyes wide + to receive the deadly stream. As soon as he is blinded, he starts up in + agony, bearing away the bench to which he had been bound; and when some + workpeople in the fields ask him who had thus treated him, his answer is, + 'Issi teggi' (`Self did it'). With a laugh they bid him lie on the bed + which he has made: 'selbst gethan, selbst habe.' The Devil died of his new + eyes, and was never seen again." + </p> + <p> + In his attempts to obtain human souls the Devil is frequently foiled by + the superior cunning of mortals. Once, he agreed to build a house for a + peasant in exchange for the peasant's soul; but if the house were not + finished before cockcrow, the contract was to be null and void. Just as + the Devil was putting on the last tile the man imitated a cockcrow and + waked up all the roosters in the neighbourhood, so that the fiend had his + labour for his pains. A merchant of Louvain once sold himself to the + Devil, who heaped upon him all manner of riches for seven years, and then + came to get him. The merchant "took the Devil in a friendly manner by the + hand and, as it was just evening, said, 'Wife, bring a light quickly for + the gentleman.' 'That is not at all necessary,' said the Devil; 'I am + merely come to fetch you.' 'Yes, yes, that I know very well,' said the + merchant, 'only just grant me the time till this little candle-end is + burnt out, as I have a few letters to sign and to put on my coat.' 'Very + well,' said the Devil, 'but only till the candle is burnt out.' 'Good,' + said the merchant, and going into the next room, ordered the maid-servant + to place a large cask full of water close to a very deep pit that was dug + in the garden. The men-servants also carried, each of them, a cask to the + spot; and when all was done, they were ordered each to take a shovel, and + stand round the pit. The merchant then returned to the Devil, who seeing + that not more than about an inch of candle remained, said, laughing, 'Now + get yourself ready, it will soon be burnt out.' 'That I see, and am + content; but I shall hold you to your word, and stay till it IS burnt.' + 'Of course,' answered the Devil; 'I stick to my word.' 'It is dark in the + next room,' continued the merchant, 'but I must find the great book with + clasps, so let me just take the light for one moment.' 'Certainly,' said + the Devil, 'but I'll go with you.' He did so, and the merchant's + trepidation was now on the increase. When in the next room he said on a + sudden, 'Ah, now I know, the key is in the garden door.' And with these + words he ran out with the light into the garden, and before the Devil + could overtake him, threw it into the pit, and the men and the maids + poured water upon it, and then filled up the hole with earth. Now came the + Devil into the garden and asked, 'Well, did you get the key? and how is it + with the candle? where is it?' 'The candle?' said the merchant. 'Yes, the + candle.' 'Ha, ha, ha! it is not yet burnt out,' answered the merchant, + laughing, 'and will not be burnt out for the next fifty years; it lies + there a hundred fathoms deep in the earth.' When the Devil heard this he + screamed awfully, and went off with a most intolerable stench." <a + href="#linknote-119" name="linknoteref-119" id="linknoteref-119"><small>119</small></a> + </p> + <p> + One day a fowler, who was a terrible bungler and could n't hit a bird at a + dozen paces, sold his soul to the Devil in order to become a Freischutz. + The fiend was to come for him in seven years, but must be always able to + name the animal at which he was shooting, otherwise the compact was to be + nullified. After that day the fowler never missed his aim, and never did a + fowler command such wages. When the seven years were out the fowler told + all these things to his wife, and the twain hit upon an expedient for + cheating the Devil. The woman stripped herself, daubed her whole body with + molasses, and rolled herself up in a feather-bed, cut open for this + purpose. Then she hopped and skipped about the field where her husband + stood parleying with Old Nick. "there's a shot for you, fire away," said + the Devil. "Of course I'll fire, but do you first tell me what kind of a + bird it is; else our agreement is cancelled, Old Boy." There was no help + for it; the Devil had to own himself nonplussed, and off he fled, with a + whiff of brimstone which nearly suffocated the Freischutz and his good + woman. <a href="#linknote-120" name="linknoteref-120" id="linknoteref-120"><small>120</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In the legend of Gambrinus, the fiend is still more ingloriously defeated. + Gambrinus was a fiddler, who, being jilted by his sweetheart, went out + into the woods to hang himself. As he was sitting on the bough, with the + cord about his neck, preparatory to taking the fatal plunge, suddenly a + tall man in a green coat appeared before him, and offered his services. He + might become as wealthy as he liked, and make his sweetheart burst with + vexation at her own folly, but in thirty years he must give up his soul to + Beelzebub. The bargain was struck, for Gambrinus thought thirty years a + long time to enjoy one's self in, and perhaps the Devil might get him in + any event; as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb. Aided by Satan, he + invented chiming-bells and lager-beer, for both of which achievements his + name is held in grateful remembrance by the Teuton. No sooner had the Holy + Roman Emperor quaffed a gallon or two of the new beverage than he made + Gambrinus Duke of Brabant and Count of Flanders, and then it was the + fiddler's turn to laugh at the discomfiture of his old sweetheart. + Gambrinus kept clear of women, says the legend, and so lived in peace. For + thirty years he sat beneath his belfry with the chimes, meditatively + drinking beer with his nobles and burghers around him. Then Beelzebub sent + Jocko, one of his imps, with orders to bring back Gambrinus before + midnight. But Jocko was, like Swiveller's Marchioness, ignorant of the + taste of beer, never having drunk of it even in a sip, and the Flemish + schoppen were too much for him. He fell into a drunken sleep, and did not + wake up until noon next day, at which he was so mortified that he had not + the face to go back to hell at all. So Gambrinus lived on tranquilly for a + century or two, and drank so much beer that he turned into a beer-barrel. + <a href="#linknote-121" name="linknoteref-121" id="linknoteref-121"><small>121</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The character of gullibility attributed to the Devil in these legends is + probably derived from the Trolls, or "night-folk," of Northern mythology. + In most respects the Trolls resemble the Teutonic elves and fairies, and + the Jinn or Efreets of the Arabian Nights; but their pedigree is less + honourable. The fairies, or "White Ladies," were not originally spirits of + darkness, but were nearly akin to the swan-maidens, dawn-nymphs, and + dryads, and though their wrath was to be dreaded, they were not malignant + by nature. Christianity, having no place for such beings, degraded them + into something like imps; the most charitable theory being that they were + angels who had remained neutral during Satan's rebellion, in punishment + for which Michael expelled them from heaven, but has left their ultimate + fate unannounced until the day of judgment. The Jinn appear to have been + similarly degraded on the rise of Mohammedanism. But the Trolls were + always imps of darkness. They are descended from the Jotuns, or + Frost-Giants of Northern paganism, and they correspond to the Panis, or + night-demons of the Veda. In many Norse tales they are said to burst when + they see the risen sun. <a href="#linknote-122" name="linknoteref-122" + id="linknoteref-122"><small>122</small></a> They eat human flesh, are + ignorant of the simplest arts, and live in the deepest recesses of the + forest or in caverns on the hillside, where the sunlight never penetrates. + Some of these characteristics may very likely have been suggested by + reminiscences of the primeval Lapps, from whom the Aryan invaders wrested + the dominion of Europe. <a href="#linknote-123" name="linknoteref-123" + id="linknoteref-123"><small>123</small></a> In some legends the Trolls are + represented as an ancient race of beings now superseded by the human race. + "'What sort of an earth-worm is this?' said one Giant to another, when + they met a man as they walked. 'These are the earth-worms that will one + day eat us up, brother,' answered the other; and soon both Giants left + that part of Germany." "'See what pretty playthings, mother!' cries the + Giant's daughter, as she unties her apron, and shows her a plough, and + horses, and a peasant. 'Back with them this instant,' cries the mother in + wrath, 'and put them down as carefully as you can, for these playthings + can do our race great harm, and when these come we must budge.'" Very + naturally the primitive Teuton, possessing already the conception of + night-demons, would apply it to these men of the woods whom even to this + day his uneducated descendants believe to be sorcerers, able to turn men + into wolves. But whatever contributions historical fact may have added to + his character, the Troll is originally a creation of mythology, like + Polyphemos, whom he resembles in his uncouth person, his cannibal + appetite, and his lack of wit. His ready gullibility is shown in the story + of "Boots who ate a Match with the Troll." Boots, the brother of + Cinderella, and the counterpart alike of Jack the Giant-killer, and of + Odysseus, is the youngest of three brothers who go into a forest to cut + wood. The Troll appears and threatens to kill any one who dares to meddle + with his timber. The elder brothers flee, but Boots puts on a bold face. + He pulled a cheese out of his scrip and squeezed it till the whey began to + spurt out. "Hold your tongue, you dirty Troll," said he, "or I'll squeeze + you as I squeeze this stone." So the Troll grew timid and begged to be + spared, <a href="#linknote-124" name="linknoteref-124" id="linknoteref-124"><small>124</small></a> + and Boots let him off on condition that he would hew all day with him. + They worked till nightfall, and the Troll's giant strength accomplished + wonders. Then Boots went home with the Troll, having arranged that he + should get the water while his host made the fire. When they reached the + hut there were two enormous iron pails, so heavy that none but a Troll + could lift them, but Boots was not to be frightened. "Bah!" said he. "Do + you suppose I am going to get water in those paltry hand-basins? Hold on + till I go and get the spring itself!" "O dear!" said the Troll, "I'd + rather not; do you make the fire, and I'll get the water." Then when the + soup was made, Boots challenged his new friend to an eating-match; and + tying his scrip in front of him, proceeded to pour soup into it by the + ladleful. By and by the giant threw down his spoon in despair, and owned + himself conquered. "No, no! don't give it up yet," said Boots, "just cut a + hole in your stomach like this, and you can eat forever." And suiting the + action to the words, he ripped open his scrip. So the silly Troll cut + himself open and died, and Boots carried off all his gold and silver. + </p> + <p> + Once there was a Troll whose name was Wind-and-Weather, and Saint Olaf + hired him to build a church. If the church were completed within a certain + specified time, the Troll was to get possession of Saint Olaf. The saint + then planned such a stupendous edifice that he thought the giant would be + forever building it; but the work went on briskly, and at the appointed + day nothing remained but to finish the point of the spire. In his + consternation Olaf rushed about until he passed by the Troll's den, when + he heard the giantess telling her children that their father, + Wind-and-Weather, was finishing his church, and would be home to-morrow + with Saint Olaf. So the saint ran back to the church and bawled out, "Hold + on, Wind-and-Weather, your spire is crooked!" Then the giant tumbled down + from the roof and broke into a thousand pieces. As in the cases of the + Mara and the werewolf, the enchantment was at an end as soon as the + enchanter was called by name. + </p> + <p> + These Trolls, like the Arabian Efreets, had an ugly habit of carrying off + beautiful princesses. This is strictly in keeping with their character as + night-demons, or Panis. In the stories of Punchkin and the Heartless + Giant, the night-demon carries off the dawn-maiden after having turned + into stone her solar brethren. But Boots, or Indra, in search of his + kinsfolk, by and by arrives at the Troll's castle, and then the + dawn-nymph, true to her fickle character, cajoles the Giant and enables + Boots to destroy him. In the famous myth which serves as the basis for the + Volsunga Saga and the Nibelungenlied, the dragon Fafnir steals the + Valkyrie Brynhild and keeps her shut up in a castle on the Glistening + Heath, until some champion shall be found powerful enough to rescue her. + The castle is as hard to enter as that of the Sleeping Beauty; but Sigurd, + the Northern Achilleus, riding on his deathless horse, and wielding his + resistless sword Gram, forces his way in, slays Fafnir, and recovers the + Valkyrie. + </p> + <p> + In the preceding paper the Valkyries were shown to belong to the class of + cloud-maidens; and between the tale of Sigurd and that of Hercules and + Cacus there is no difference, save that the bright sunlit clouds which are + represented in the one as cows are in the other represented as maidens. In + the myth of the Argonauts they reappear as the Golden Fleece, carried to + the far east by Phrixos and Helle, who are themselves Niblungs, or + "Children of the Mist" (Nephele), and there guarded by a dragon. In all + these myths a treasure is stolen by a fiend of darkness, and recovered by + a hero of light, who slays the demon. And—remembering what Scribe + said about the fewness of dramatic types—I believe we are warranted + in asserting that all the stories of lovely women held in bondage by + monsters, and rescued by heroes who perform wonderful tasks, such as Don + Quixote burned to achieve, are derived ultimately from solar myths, like + the myth of Sigurd and Brynhild. I do not mean to say that the + story-tellers who beguiled their time in stringing together the incidents + which make up these legends were conscious of their solar character. They + did not go to work, with malice prepense, to weave allegories and + apologues. The Greeks who first told the story of Perseus and Andromeda, + the Arabians who devised the tale of Codadad and his brethren, the + Flemings who listened over their beer-mugs to the adventures of + Culotte-Verte, were not thinking of sun-gods or dawn-maidens, or + night-demons; and no theory of mythology can be sound which implies such + an extravagance. Most of these stories have lived on the lips of the + common people; and illiterate persons are not in the habit of allegorizing + in the style of mediaeval monks or rabbinical commentators. But what has + been amply demonstrated is, that the sun and the clouds, the light and the + darkness, were once supposed to be actuated by wills analogous to the + human will; that they were personified and worshipped or propitiated by + sacrifice; and that their doings were described in language which applied + so well to the deeds of human or quasi-human beings that in course of time + its primitive purport faded from recollection. No competent scholar now + doubts that the myths of the Veda and the Edda originated in this way, for + philology itself shows that the names employed in them are the names of + the great phenomena of nature. And when once a few striking stories had + thus arisen,—when once it had been told how Indra smote the Panis, + and how Sigurd rescued Brynhild, and how Odysseus blinded the Kyklops,—then + certain mythic or dramatic types had been called into existence; and to + these types, preserved in the popular imagination, future stories would + inevitably conform. We need, therefore, have no hesitation in admitting a + common origin for the vanquished Panis and the outwitted Troll or Devil; + we may securely compare the legends of St. George and Jack the + Giant-killer with the myth of Indra slaying Vritra; we may see in the + invincible Sigurd the prototype of many a doughty knight-errant of + romance; and we may learn anew the lesson, taught with fresh emphasis by + modern scholarship, that in the deepest sense there is nothing new under + the sun. + </p> + <p> + I am the more explicit on this point, because it seems to me that the + unguarded language of many students of mythology is liable to give rise to + misapprehensions, and to discredit both the method which they employ and + the results which they have obtained. If we were to give full weight to + the statements which are sometimes made, we should perforce believe that + primitive men had nothing to do but to ponder about the sun and the + clouds, and to worry themselves over the disappearance of daylight. But + there is nothing in the scientific interpretation of myths which obliges + us to go any such length. I do not suppose that any ancient Aryan, + possessed of good digestive powers and endowed with sound common-sense, + ever lay awake half the night wondering whether the sun would come back + again. <a href="#linknote-125" name="linknoteref-125" id="linknoteref-125"><small>125</small></a> + The child and the savage believe of necessity that the future will + resemble the past, and it is only philosophy which raises doubts on the + subject. <a href="#linknote-126" name="linknoteref-126" + id="linknoteref-126"><small>126</small></a> The predominance of solar + legends in most systems of mythology is not due to the lack of "that + Titanic assurance with which we say, the sun MUST rise"; <a + href="#linknote-127" name="linknoteref-127" id="linknoteref-127"><small>127</small></a> + nor again to the fact that the phenomena of day and night are the most + striking phenomena in nature. Eclipses and earthquakes and floods are + phenomena of the most terrible and astounding kind, and they have all + generated myths; yet their contributions to folk-lore are scanty compared + with those furnished by the strife between the day-god and his enemies. + The sun-myths have been so prolific because the dramatic types to which + they have given rise are of surpassing human interest. The dragon who + swallows the sun is no doubt a fearful personage; but the hero who toils + for others, who slays hydra-headed monsters, and dries the tears of + fair-haired damsels, and achieves success in spite of incredible + obstacles, is a being with whom we can all sympathize, and of whom we + never weary of hearing. + </p> + <p> + With many of these legends which present the myth of light and darkness in + its most attractive form, the reader is already acquainted, and it is + needless to retail stories which have been told over and over again in + books which every one is presumed to have read. I will content myself with + a weird Irish legend, narrated by Mr. Patrick Kennedy, <a + href="#linknote-128" name="linknoteref-128" id="linknoteref-128"><small>128</small></a> + in which we here and there catch glimpses of the primitive mythical + symbols, as fragments of gold are seen gleaming through the crystal of + quartz. + </p> + <p> + Long before the Danes ever came to Ireland, there died at Muskerry a + Sculloge, or country farmer, who by dint of hard work and close economy + had amassed enormous wealth. His only son did not resemble him. When the + young Sculloge looked about the house, the day after his father's death, + and saw the big chests full of gold and silver, and the cupboards shining + with piles of sovereigns, and the old stockings stuffed with large and + small coin, he said to himself, "Bedad, how shall I ever be able to spend + the likes o' that!" And so he drank, and gambled, and wasted his time in + hunting and horse-racing, until after a while he found the chests empty + and the cupboards poverty-stricken, and the stockings lean and penniless. + Then he mortgaged his farm-house and gambled away all the money he got for + it, and then he bethought him that a few hundred pounds might be raised on + his mill. But when he went to look at it, he found "the dam broken, and + scarcely a thimbleful of water in the mill-race, and the wheel rotten, and + the thatch of the house all gone, and the upper millstone lying flat on + the lower one, and a coat of dust and mould over everything." So he made + up his mind to borrow a horse and take one more hunt to-morrow and then + reform his habits. + </p> + <p> + As he was returning late in the evening from this farewell hunt, passing + through a lonely glen he came upon an old man playing backgammon, betting + on his left hand against his right, and crying and cursing because the + right WOULD win. "Come and bet with me," said he to Sculloge. "Faith, I + have but a sixpence in the world," was the reply; "but, if you like, I'll + wager that on the right." "Done," said the old man, who was a Druid; "if + you win I'll give you a hundred guineas." So the game was played, and the + old man, whose right hand was always the winner, paid over the guineas and + told Sculloge to go to the Devil with them. + </p> + <p> + Instead of following this bit of advice, however, the young farmer went + home and began to pay his debts, and next week he went to the glen and won + another game, and made the Druid rebuild his mill. So Sculloge became + prosperous again, and by and by he tried his luck a third time, and won a + game played for a beautiful wife. The Druid sent her to his house the next + morning before he was out of bed, and his servants came knocking at the + door and crying, "Wake up! wake up! Master Sculloge, there's a young lady + here to see you." "Bedad, it's the vanithee <a href="#linknote-129" + name="linknoteref-129" id="linknoteref-129"><small>129</small></a> + herself," said Sculloge; and getting up in a hurry, he spent three + quarters of an hour in dressing himself. At last he went down stairs, and + there on the sofa was the prettiest lady ever seen in Ireland! Naturally, + Sculloge's heart beat fast and his voice trembled, as he begged the lady's + pardon for this Druidic style of wooing, and besought her not to feel + obliged to stay with him unless she really liked him. But the young lady, + who was a king's daughter from a far country, was wondrously charmed with + the handsome farmer, and so well did they get along that the priest was + sent for without further delay, and they were married before sundown. + Sabina was the vanithee's name; and she warned her husband to have no more + dealings with Lassa Buaicht, the old man of the glen. So for a while all + went happily, and the Druidic bride was as good as she was beautiful But + by and by Sculloge began to think he was not earning money fast enough. He + could not bear to see his wife's white hands soiled with work, and thought + it would be a fine thing if he could only afford to keep a few more + servants, and drive about with Sabina in an elegant carriage, and see her + clothed in silk and adorned with jewels. + </p> + <p> + "I will play one more game and set the stakes high," said Sculloge to + himself one evening, as he sat pondering over these things; and so, + without consulting Sabina, he stole away to the glen, and played a game + for ten thousand guineas. But the evil Druid was now ready to pounce on + his prey, and he did not play as of old. Sculloge broke into a cold sweat + with agony and terror as he saw the left hand win! Then the face of Lassa + Buaicht grew dark and stern, and he laid on Sculloge the curse which is + laid upon the solar hero in misfortune, that he should never sleep twice + under the same roof, or ascend the couch of the dawn-nymph, his wife, + until he should have procured and brought to him the sword of light. When + Sculloge reached home, more dead than alive, he saw that his wife knew + all. Bitterly they wept together, but she told him that with courage all + might be set right. She gave him a Druidic horse, which bore him swiftly + over land and sea, like the enchanted steed of the Arabian Nights, until + he reached the castle of his wife's father who, as Sculloge now learned, + was a good Druid, the brother of the evil Lassa Buaicht. This good Druid + told him that the sword of light was kept by a third brother, the powerful + magician, Fiach O'Duda, who dwelt in an enchanted castle, which many brave + heroes had tried to enter, but the dark sorcerer had slain them all. Three + high walls surrounded the castle, and many had scaled the first of these, + but none had ever returned alive. But Sculloge was not to be daunted, and, + taking from his father-in-law a black steed, he set out for the fortress + of Fiach O'Duda. Over the first high wall nimbly leaped the magic horse, + and Sculloge called aloud on the Druid to come out and surrender his + sword. Then came out a tall, dark man, with coal-black eyes and hair and + melancholy visage, and made a furious sweep at Sculloge with the flaming + blade. But the Druidic beast sprang back over the wall in the twinkling of + an eye and rescued his rider, leaving, however, his tail behind in the + court-yard. Then Sculloge returned in triumph to his father-in-law's + palace, and the night was spent in feasting and revelry. + </p> + <p> + Next day Sculloge rode out on a white horse, and when he got to Fiach's + castle, he saw the first wall lying in rubbish. He leaped the second, and + the same scene occurred as the day before, save that the horse escaped + unharmed. + </p> + <p> + The third day Sculloge went out on foot, with a harp like that of Orpheus + in his hand, and as he swept its strings the grass bent to listen and the + trees bowed their heads. The castle walls all lay in ruins, and Sculloge + made his way unhindered to the upper room, where Fiach lay in Druidic + slumber, lulled by the harp. He seized the sword of light, which was hung + by the chimney sheathed in a dark scabbard, and making the best of his way + back to the good king's palace, mounted his wife's steed, and scoured over + land and sea until he found himself in the gloomy glen where Lassa Buaicht + was still crying and cursing and betting on his left hand against his + right. + </p> + <p> + "Here, treacherous fiend, take your sword of light!" shouted Sculloge in + tones of thunder; and as he drew it from its sheath the whole valley was + lighted up as with the morning sun, and next moment the head of the + wretched Druid was lying at his feet, and his sweet wife, who had come to + meet him, was laughing and crying in his arms. November, 1870. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. MYTHS OF THE BARBARIC WORLD. + </h2> + <p> + THE theory of mythology set forth in the four preceding papers, and + illustrated by the examination of numerous myths relating to the + lightning, the storm-wind, the clouds, and the sunlight, was originally + framed with reference solely to the mythic and legendary lore of the Aryan + world. The phonetic identity of the names of many Western gods and heroes + with the names of those Vedic divinities which are obviously the + personifications of natural phenomena, suggested the theory which + philosophical considerations had already foreshadowed in the works of Hume + and Comte, and which the exhaustive analysis of Greek, Hindu, Keltic, and + Teutonic legends has amply confirmed. Let us now, before proceeding to the + consideration of barbaric folk-lore, briefly recapitulate the results + obtained by modern scholarship working strictly within the limits of the + Aryan domain. + </p> + <p> + In the first place, it has been proved once for all that the languages + spoken by the Hindus, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Kelts, Slaves, and Teutons + are all descended from a single ancestral language, the Old Aryan, in the + same sense that French, Italian, and Spanish are descended from the Latin. + And from this undisputed fact it is an inevitable inference that these + various races contain, along with other elements, a race-element in + common, due to their Aryan pedigree. That the Indo-European races are + wholly Aryan is very improbable, for in every case the countries overrun + by them were occupied by inferior races, whose blood must have mingled in + varying degrees with that of their conquerors; but that every + Indo-European people is in great part descended from a common Aryan stock + is not open to question. + </p> + <p> + In the second place, along with a common fund of moral and religious ideas + and of legal and ceremonial observances, we find these kindred peoples + possessed of a common fund of myths, superstitions, proverbs, popular + poetry, and household legends. The Hindu mother amuses her child with + fairy-tales which often correspond, even in minor incidents, with stories + in Scottish or Scandinavian nurseries; and she tells them in words which + are phonetically akin to words in Swedish and Gaelic. No doubt many of + these stories might have been devised in a dozen different places + independently of each other; and no doubt many of them have been + transmitted laterally from one people to another; but a careful + examination shows that such cannot have been the case with the great + majority of legends and beliefs. The agreement between two such stories, + for instance, as those of Faithful John and Rama and Luxman is so close as + to make it incredible that they should have been independently fabricated, + while the points of difference are so important as to make it extremely + improbable that the one was ever copied from the other. Besides which, the + essential identity of such myths as those of Sigurd and Theseus, or of + Helena and Sarama, carries us back historically to a time when the + scattered Indo-European tribes had not yet begun to hold commercial and + intellectual intercourse with each other, and consequently could not have + interchanged their epic materials or their household stories. We are + therefore driven to the conclusion—which, startling as it may seem, + is after all the most natural and plausible one that can be stated—that + the Aryan nations, which have inherited from a common ancestral stock + their languages and their customs, have inherited also from the same + common original their fireside legends. They have preserved Cinderella and + Punchkin just as they have preserved the words for father and mother, ten + and twenty; and the former case, though more imposing to the imagination, + is scientifically no less intelligible than the latter. + </p> + <p> + Thirdly, it has been shown that these venerable tales may be grouped in a + few pretty well defined classes; and that the archetypal myth of each + class—the primitive story in conformity to which countless + subsequent tales have been generated—was originally a mere + description of physical phenomena, couched in the poetic diction of an age + when everything was personified, because all natural phenomena were + supposed to be due to the direct workings of a volition like that of which + men were conscious within themselves. Thus we are led to the striking + conclusion that mythology has had a common root, both with science and + with religious philosophy. The myth of Indra conquering Vritra was one of + the theorems of primitive Aryan science; it was a provisional explanation + of the thunder-storm, satisfactory enough until extended observation and + reflection supplied a better one. It also contained the germs of a + theology; for the life-giving solar light furnished an important part of + the primeval conception of deity. And finally, it became the fruitful + parent of countless myths, whether embodied in the stately epics of Homer + and the bards of the Nibelungenlied, or in the humbler legends of St. + George and William Tell and the ubiquitous Boots. + </p> + <p> + Such is the theory which was suggested half a century ago by the + researches of Jacob Grimm, and which, so far as concerns the mythology of + the Aryan race, is now victorious along the whole line. It remains for us + to test the universality of the general principles upon which it is + founded, by a brief analysis of sundry legends and superstitions of the + barbaric world. Since the fetichistic habit of explaining the outward + phenomena of nature after the analogy of the inward phenomena of conscious + intelligence is not a habit peculiar to our Aryan ancestors, but is, as + psychology shows, the inevitable result of the conditions under which + uncivilized thinking proceeds, we may expect to find the barbaric mind + personifying the powers of nature and making myths about their operations + the whole world over. And we need not be surprised if we find in the + resulting mythologic structures a strong resemblance to the familiar + creations of the Aryan intelligence. In point of fact, we shall often be + called upon to note such resemblance; and it accordingly behooves us at + the outset to inquire how far a similarity between mythical tales shall be + taken as evidence of a common traditional origin, and how far it may be + interpreted as due merely to the similar workings of the untrained + intelligence in all ages and countries. + </p> + <p> + Analogies drawn from the comparison of languages will here be of service + to us, if used discreetly; otherwise they are likely to bewilder far more + than to enlighten us. A theorem which Max Muller has laid down for our + guidance in this kind of investigation furnishes us with an excellent + example of the tricks which a superficial analogy may play even with the + trained scholar, when temporarily off his guard. Actuated by a + praiseworthy desire to raise the study of myths to something like the high + level of scientific accuracy already attained by the study of words, Max + Muller endeavours to introduce one of the most useful canons of philology + into a department of inquiry where its introduction could only work the + most hopeless confusion. One of the earliest lessons to be learned by the + scientific student of linguistics is the uselessness of comparing together + directly the words contained in derivative languages. For example, you + might set the English twelve side by side with the Latin duodecim, and + then stare at the two words to all eternity without any hope of reaching a + conclusion, good or bad, about either of them: least of all would you + suspect that they are descended from the same radical. But if you take + each word by itself and trace it back to its primitive shape, explaining + every change of every letter as you go, you will at last reach the old + Aryan dvadakan, which is the parent of both these strangely metamorphosed + words. <a href="#linknote-130" name="linknoteref-130" id="linknoteref-130"><small>130</small></a> + Nor will it do, on the other hand, to trust to verbal similarity without a + historical inquiry into the origin of such similarity. Even in the same + language two words of quite different origin may get their corners rubbed + off till they look as like one another as two pebbles. The French words + souris, a "mouse," and souris, a "smile," are spelled exactly alike; but + the one comes from Latin sorex and the other from Latin subridere. + </p> + <p> + Now Max Muller tells us that this principle, which is indispensable in the + study of words, is equally indispensable in the study of myths. <a + href="#linknote-131" name="linknoteref-131" id="linknoteref-131"><small>131</small></a> + That is, you must not rashly pronounce the Norse story of the Heartless + Giant identical with the Hindu story of Punchkin, although the two + correspond in every essential incident. In both legends a magician turns + several members of the same family into stone; the youngest member of the + family comes to the rescue, and on the way saves the lives of sundry + grateful beasts; arrived at the magician's castle, he finds a captive + princess ready to accept his love and to play the part of Delilah to the + enchanter. In both stories the enchanter's life depends on the integrity + of something which is elaborately hidden in a far-distant island, but + which the fortunate youth, instructed by the artful princess and assisted + by his menagerie of grateful beasts, succeeds in obtaining. In both + stories the youth uses his advantage to free all his friends from their + enchantment, and then proceeds to destroy the villain who wrought all this + wickedness. Yet, in spite of this agreement, Max Muller, if I understand + him aright, would not have us infer the identity of the two stories until + we have taken each one separately and ascertained its primitive mythical + significance. Otherwise, for aught we can tell, the resemblance may be + purely accidental, like that of the French words for "mouse" and "smile." + </p> + <p> + A little reflection, however, will relieve us from this perplexity, and + assure us that the alleged analogy between the comparison of words and the + comparison of stories is utterly superficial. The transformations of words—which + are often astounding enough—depend upon a few well-established + physiological principles of utterance; and since philology has learned to + rely upon these principles, it has become nearly as sure in its methods + and results as one of the so-called "exact sciences." Folly enough is + doubtless committed within its precincts by writers who venture there + without the laborious preparation which this science, more than almost any + other, demands. But the proceedings of the trained philologist are no more + arbitrary than those of the trained astronomer. And though the former may + seem to be straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel when he coolly tells + you that violin and fiddle are the same word, while English care and Latin + cura have nothing to do with each other, he is nevertheless no more + indulging in guess-work than the astronomer who confesses his ignorance as + to the habitability of Venus while asserting his knowledge of the + existence of hydrogen in the atmosphere of Sirius. To cite one example out + of a hundred, every philologist knows that s may become r, and that the + broad a-sound may dwindle into the closer o-sound; but when you adduce + some plausible etymology based on the assumption that r has changed into + s, or o into a, apart from the demonstrable influence of some adjacent + letter, the philologist will shake his head. + </p> + <p> + Now in the study of stories there are no such simple rules all cut and + dried for us to go by. There is no uniform psychological principle which + determines that the three-headed snake in one story shall become a + three-headed man in the next. There is no Grimm's Law in mythology which + decides that a Hindu magician shall always correspond to a Norwegian Troll + or a Keltic Druid. The laws of association of ideas are not so simple in + application as the laws of utterance. In short, the study of myths, though + it can be made sufficiently scientific in its methods and results, does + not constitute a science by itself, like philology. It stands on a footing + similar to that occupied by physical geography, or what the Germans call + "earth-knowledge." No one denies that all the changes going on over the + earth's surface conform to physical laws; but then no one pretends that + there is any single proximate principle which governs all the phenomena of + rain-fall, of soil-crumbling, of magnetic variation, and of the + distribution of plants and animals. All these things are explained by + principles obtained from the various sciences of physics, chemistry, + geology, and physiology. And in just the same way the development and + distribution of stories is explained by the help of divers resources + contributed by philology, psychology, and history. There is therefore no + real analogy between the cases cited by Max Muller. Two unrelated words + may be ground into exactly the same shape, just as a pebble from the North + Sea may be undistinguishable from another pebble on the beach of the + Adriatic; but two stories like those of Punchkin and the Heartless Giant + are no more likely to arise independently of each other than two coral + reefs on opposite sides of the globe are likely to develop into exactly + similar islands. + </p> + <p> + Shall we then say boldly, that close similarity between legends is proof + of kinship, and go our way without further misgivings? Unfortunately we + cannot dispose of the matter in quite so summary a fashion; for it remains + to decide what kind and degree of similarity shall be considered + satisfactory evidence of kinship. And it is just here that doctors may + disagree. Here is the point at which our "science" betrays its weakness as + compared with the sister study of philology. Before we can decide with + confidence in any case, a great mass of evidence must be brought into + court. So long as we remained on Aryan ground, all went smoothly enough, + because all the external evidence was in our favour. We knew at the + outset, that the Aryans inherit a common language and a common + civilization, and therefore we found no difficulty in accepting the + conclusion that they have inherited, among other things, a common stock of + legends. In the barbaric world it is quite otherwise. Philology does not + pronounce in favour of a common origin for all barbaric culture, such as + it is. The notion of a single primitive language, standing in the same + relation to all existing dialects as the relation of old Aryan to Latin + and English, or that of old Semitic to Hebrew and Arabic, was a notion + suited only to the infancy of linguistic science. As the case now stands, + it is certain that all the languages actually existing cannot be referred + to a common ancestor, and it is altogether probable that there never was + any such common ancestor. I am not now referring to the question of the + unity of the human race. That question lies entirely outside the sphere of + philology. The science of language has nothing to do with skulls or + complexions, and no comparison of words can tell us whether the black men + are brethren of the white men, or whether yellow and red men have a common + pedigree: these questions belong to comparative physiology. But the + science of language can and does tell us that a certain amount of + civilization is requisite for the production of a language sufficiently + durable and wide-spread to give birth to numerous mutually resembling + offspring Barbaric languages are neither widespread nor durable. Among + savages each little group of families has its own dialect, and coins its + own expressions at pleasure; and in the course of two or three generations + a dialect gets so strangely altered as virtually to lose its identity. + Even numerals and personal pronouns, which the Aryan has preserved for + fifty centuries, get lost every few years in Polynesia. Since the time of + Captain Cook the Tahitian language has thrown away five out of its ten + simple numerals, and replaced them by brand-new ones; and on the Amazon + you may acquire a fluent command of some Indian dialect, and then, coming + back after twenty years, find yourself worse off than Rip Van Winkle, and + your learning all antiquated and useless. How absurd, therefore, to + suppose that primeval savages originated a language which has held its own + like the old Aryan and become the prolific mother of the three or four + thousand dialects now in existence! Before a durable language can arise, + there must be an aggregation of numerous tribes into a people, so that + there may be need of communication on a large scale, and so that tradition + may be strengthened. Wherever mankind have associated in nations, + permanent languages have arisen, and their derivative dialects bear the + conspicuous marks of kinship; but where mankind have remained in their + primitive savage isolation, their languages have remained sporadic and + transitory, incapable of organic development, and showing no traces of a + kinship which never existed. + </p> + <p> + The bearing of these considerations upon the origin and diffusion of + barbaric myths is obvious. The development of a common stock of legends + is, of course, impossible, save where there is a common language; and thus + philology pronounces against the kinship of barbaric myths with each other + and with similar myths of the Aryan and Semitic worlds. Similar stories + told in Greece and Norway are likely to have a common pedigree, because + the persons who have preserved them in recollection speak a common + language and have inherited the same civilization. But similar stories + told in Labrador and South Africa are not likely to be genealogically + related, because it is altogether probable that the Esquimaux and the Zulu + had acquired their present race characteristics before either of them + possessed a language or a culture sufficient for the production of myths. + According to the nature and extent of the similarity, it must be decided + whether such stories have been carried about from one part of the world to + another, or have been independently originated in many different places. + </p> + <p> + Here the methods of philology suggest a rule which will often be found + useful. In comparing, the vocabularies of different languages, those words + which directly imitate natural sounds—such as whiz, crash, crackle—are + not admitted as evidence of kinship between the languages in which they + occur. Resemblances between such words are obviously no proof of a common + ancestry; and they are often met with in languages which have demonstrably + had no connection with each other. So in mythology, where we find two + stories of which the primitive character is perfectly transparent, we need + have no difficulty in supposing them to have originated independently. The + myth of Jack and his Beanstalk is found all over the world; but the idea + of a country above the sky, to which persons might gain access by + climbing, is one which could hardly fail to occur to every barbarian. + Among the American tribes, as well as among the Aryans, the rainbow and + the Milky-Way have contributed the idea of a Bridge of the Dead, over + which souls must pass on the way to the other world. In South Africa, as + well as in Germany, the habits of the fox and of his brother the jackal + have given rise to fables in which brute force is overcome by cunning. In + many parts of the world we find curiously similar stories devised to + account for the stumpy tails of the bear and hyaena, the hairless tail of + the rat, and the blindness of the mole. And in all countries may be found + the beliefs that men may be changed into beasts, or plants, or stones; + that the sun is in some way tethered or constrained to follow a certain + course; that the storm-cloud is a ravenous dragon; and that there are + talismans which will reveal hidden treasures. All these conceptions are so + obvious to the uncivilized intelligence, that stories founded upon them + need not be supposed to have a common origin, unless there turns out to be + a striking similarity among their minor details. On the other hand, the + numerous myths of an all-destroying deluge have doubtless arisen partly + from reminiscences of actually occurring local inundations, and partly + from the fact that the Scriptural account of a deluge has been carried all + over the world by Catholic and Protestant missionaries. <a + href="#linknote-132" name="linknoteref-132" id="linknoteref-132"><small>132</small></a> + </p> + <p> + By way of illustrating these principles, let us now cite a few of the + American myths so carefully collected by Dr. Brinton in his admirable + treatise. We shall not find in the mythology of the New World the wealth + of wit and imagination which has so long delighted us in the stories of + Herakles, Perseus, Hermes, Sigurd, and Indra. The mythic lore of the + American Indians is comparatively scanty and prosaic, as befits the + product of a lower grade of culture and a more meagre intellect. Not only + are the personages less characteristically pourtrayed, but there is a + continual tendency to extravagance, the sure index of an inferior + imagination. Nevertheless, after making due allowances for differences in + the artistic method of treatment, there is between the mythologies of the + Old and the New Worlds a fundamental resemblance. We come upon solar myths + and myths of the storm curiously blended with culture-myths, as in the + cases of Hermes, Prometheus, and Kadmos. The American parallels to these + are to be found in the stories of Michabo, Viracocha, Ioskeha, and + Quetzalcoatl. "As elsewhere the world over, so in America, many tribes had + to tell of.... an august character, who taught them what they knew,—the + tillage of the soil, the properties of plants, the art of picture-writing, + the secrets of magic; who founded their institutions and established their + religions; who governed them long with glory abroad and peace at home; and + finally did not die, but, like Frederic Barbarossa, Charlemagne, King + Arthur, and all great heroes, vanished mysteriously, and still lives + somewhere, ready at the right moment to return to his beloved people and + lead them to victory and happiness." <a href="#linknote-133" + name="linknoteref-133" id="linknoteref-133"><small>133</small></a> + Everyone is familiar with the numerous legends of white-skinned, + full-bearded heroes, like the mild Quetzalcoatl, who in times long + previous to Columbus came from the far East to impart the rudiments of + civilization and religion to the red men. By those who first heard these + stories they were supposed, with naive Euhemerism, to refer to + pre-Columbian visits of Europeans to this continent, like that of the + Northmen in the tenth century. But a scientific study of the subject has + dissipated such notions. These legends are far too numerous, they are too + similar to each other, they are too manifestly symbolical, to admit of any + such interpretation. By comparing them carefully with each other, and with + correlative myths of the Old World, their true character soon becomes + apparent. + </p> + <p> + One of the most widely famous of these culture-heroes was Manabozho or + Michabo, the Great Hare. With entire unanimity, says Dr. Brinton, the + various branches of the Algonquin race, "the Powhatans of Virginia, the + Lenni Lenape of the Delaware, the warlike hordes of New England, the + Ottawas of the far North, and the Western tribes, perhaps without + exception, spoke of this chimerical beast,' as one of the old missionaries + calls it, as their common ancestor. The totem, or clan, which bore his + name was looked up to with peculiar respect." Not only was Michabo the + ruler and guardian of these numerous tribes,—he was the founder of + their religious rites, the inventor of picture-writing, the ruler of the + weather, the creator and preserver of earth and heaven. "From a grain of + sand brought from the bottom of the primeval ocean he fashioned the + habitable land, and set it floating on the waters till it grew to such a + size that a strong young wolf, running constantly, died of old age ere he + reached its limits." He was also, like Nimrod, a mighty hunter. "One of + his footsteps measured eight leagues, the Great Lakes were the beaver-dams + he built, and when the cataracts impeded his progress he tore them away + with his hands." "Sometimes he was said to dwell in the skies with his + brother, the Snow, or, like many great spirits, to have built his wigwam + in the far North on some floe of ice in the Arctic Ocean..... But in the + oldest accounts of the missionaries he was alleged to reside toward the + East; and in the holy formulae of the meda craft, when the winds are + invoked to the medicine lodge, the East is summoned in his name, the door + opens in that direction, and there, at the edge of the earth where the sun + rises, on the shore of the infinite ocean that surrounds the land, he has + his house, and sends the luminaries forth on their daily journeys." <a + href="#linknote-134" name="linknoteref-134" id="linknoteref-134"><small>134</small></a> + From such accounts as this we see that Michabo was no more a wise + instructor and legislator than Minos or Kadmos. Like these heroes, he is a + personification of the solar life-giving power, which daily comes forth + from its home in the east, making the earth to rejoice. The etymology of + his name confirms the otherwise clear indications of the legend itself. It + is compounded of michi, "great," and wabos, which means alike "hare" and + "white." "Dialectic forms in Algonquin for white are wabi, wape, wampi, + etc.; for morning, wapan, wapanch, opah; for east, wapa, wanbun, etc.; for + day, wompan, oppan; for light, oppung." So that Michabo is the Great White + One, the God of the Dawn and the East. And the etymological confusion, by + virtue of which he acquired his soubriquet of the Great Hare, affords a + curious parallel to what has often happened in Aryan and Semitic + mythology, as we saw when discussing the subject of werewolves. + </p> + <p> + Keeping in mind this solar character of Michabo, let us note how full of + meaning are the myths concerning him. In the first cycle of these legends, + "he is grandson of the Moon, his father is the West Wind, and his mother, + a maiden, dies in giving him birth at the moment of conception. For the + Moon is the goddess of night; the Dawn is her daughter, who brings forth + the Morning, and perishes herself in the act; and the West, the spirit of + darkness, as the East is of light, precedes, and as it were begets the + latter, as the evening does the morning. Straightway, however, continues + the legend, the son sought the unnatural father to revenge the death of + his mother, and then commenced a long and desperate struggle. It began on + the mountains. The West was forced to give ground. Manabozho drove him + across rivers and over mountains and lakes, and at last he came to the + brink of this world. 'Hold,' cried he, 'my son, you know my power, and + that it is impossible to kill me.' What is this but the diurnal combat of + light and darkness, carried on from what time 'the jocund morn stands + tiptoe on the misty mountain-tops,' across the wide world to the sunset, + the struggle that knows no end, for both the opponents are immortal?" <a + href="#linknote-135" name="linknoteref-135" id="linknoteref-135"><small>135</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Even the Veda nowhere affords a more transparent narrative than this. The + Iroquois tradition is very similar. In it appear twin brothers, <a + href="#linknote-136" name="linknoteref-136" id="linknoteref-136"><small>136</small></a> + born of a virgin mother, daughter of the Moon, who died in giving them + life. Their names, Ioskeha and Tawiskara, signify in the Oneida dialect + the White One and the Dark One. Under the influence of Christian ideas the + contest between the brothers has been made to assume a moral character, + like the strife between Ormuzd and Ahriman. But no such intention appears + in the original myth, and Dr. Brinton has shown that none of the American + tribes had any conception of a Devil. When the quarrel came to blows, the + dark brother was signally discomfited; and the victorious Ioskeha, + returning to his grandmother, "established his lodge in the far East, on + the horders of the Great Ocean, whence the sun comes. In time he became + the father of mankind, and special guardian of the Iroquois." He caused + the earth to bring forth, he stocked the woods with game, and taught his + children the use of fire. "He it was who watched and watered their crops; + 'and, indeed, without his aid,' says the old missionary, quite out of + patience with their puerilities, 'they think they could not boil a pot.'" + There was more in it than poor Brebouf thought, as we are forcibly + reminded by recent discoveries in physical science. Even civilized men + would find it difficult to boil a pot without the aid of solar energy. + Call him what we will,—Ioskeha, Michabo, or Phoibos,—the + beneficent Sun is the master and sustainer of us all; and if we were to + relapse into heathenism, like Erckmann-Chatrian's innkeeper, we could not + do better than to select him as our chief object of worship. + </p> + <p> + The same principles by which these simple cases are explained furnish also + the key to the more complicated mythology of Mexico and Peru. Like the + deities just discussed, Viracocha, the supreme god of the Quichuas, rises + from the bosom of Lake Titicaca and journeys westward, slaying with his + lightnings the creatures who oppose him, until he finally disappears in + the Western Ocean. Like Aphrodite, he bears in his name the evidence of + his origin, Viracocha signifying "foam of the sea"; and hence the "White + One" (l'aube), the god of light rising white on the horizon, like the foam + on the surface of the waves. The Aymaras spoke of their original ancestors + as white; and to this day, as Dr. Brinton informs us, the Peruvians call a + white man Viracocha. The myth of Quetzalcoatl is of precisely the same + character. All these solar heroes present in most of their qualities and + achievements a striking likeness to those of the Old World. They combine + the attributes of Apollo, Herakles, and Hermes. Like Herakles, they + journey from east to west, smiting the powers of darkness, storm, and + winter with the thunderbolts of Zeus or the unerring arrows of Phoibos, + and sinking in a blaze of glory on the western verge of the world, where + the waves meet the firmament. Or like Hermes, in a second cycle of + legends, they rise with the soft breezes of a summer morning, driving + before them the bright celestial cattle whose udders are heavy with + refreshing rain, fanning the flames which devour the forests, blustering + at the doors of wigwams, and escaping with weird laughter through vents + and crevices. The white skins and flowing beards of these American heroes + may be aptly compared to the fair faces and long golden locks of their + Hellenic compeers. Yellow hair was in all probability as rare in Greece as + a full beard in Peru or Mexico; but in each case the description suits the + solar character of the hero. One important class of incidents, however is + apparently quite absent from the American legends. We frequently see the + Dawn described as a virgin mother who dies in giving birth to the Day; but + nowhere do we remember seeing her pictured as a lovely or valiant or + crafty maiden, ardently wooed, but speedily forsaken by her solar lover. + Perhaps in no respect is the superior richness and beauty of the Aryan + myths more manifest than in this. Brynhild, Urvasi, Medeia, Ariadne, + Oinone, and countless other kindred heroines, with their brilliant + legends, could not be spared from the mythology of our ancestors without, + leaving it meagre indeed. These were the materials which Kalidasa, the + Attic dramatists, and the bards of the Nibelungen found ready, awaiting + their artistic treatment. But the mythology of the New World, with all its + pretty and agreeable naivete, affords hardly enough, either of variety in + situation or of complexity in motive, for a grand epic or a genuine + tragedy. + </p> + <p> + But little reflection is needed to assure us that the imagination of the + barbarian, who either carries away his wife by brute force or buys her + from her relatives as he would buy a cow, could never have originated + legends in which maidens are lovingly solicited, or in which their favour + is won by the performance of deeds of valour. These stories owe their + existence to the romantic turn of mind which has always characterized the + Aryan, whose civilization, even in the times before the dispersion of his + race, was sufficiently advanced to allow of his entertaining such + comparatively exalted conceptions of the relations between men and women. + The absence of these myths from barbaric folk-lore is, therefore, just + what might be expected; but it is a fact which militates against any + possible hypothesis of the common origin of Aryan and barbaric mythology. + If there were any genetic relationship between Sigurd and Ioskeha, between + Herakles and Michabo, it would be hard to tell why Brynhild and Iole + should have disappeared entirely from one whole group of legends, while + retained, in some form or other, throughout the whole of the other group. + On the other hand, the resemblances above noticed between Aryan and + American mythology fall very far short of the resemblances between the + stories told in different parts of the Aryan domain. No barbaric legend, + of genuine barbaric growth, has yet been cited which resembles any Aryan + legend as the story of Punchkin resembles the story of the Heartless + Giant. The myths of Michabo and Viracocha are direct copies, so to speak, + of natural phenomena, just as imitative words are direct copies of natural + sounds. Neither the Redskin nor the Indo-European had any choice as to the + main features of the career of his solar divinity. He must be born of the + Night,—or of the Dawn,—must travel westward, must slay + harassing demons. Eliminating these points of likeness, the resemblance + between the Aryan and barbaric legends is at once at an end. Such an + identity in point of details as that between the wooden horse which enters + Ilion, and the horse which bears Sigurd into the place where Brynhild is + imprisoned, and the Druidic steed which leaps with Sculloge over the walls + of Fiach's enchanted castle, is, I believe, nowhere to be found after we + leave Indo-European territory. + </p> + <p> + Our conclusion, therefore, must be, that while the legends of the Aryan + and the non-Aryan worlds contain common mythical elements, the legends + themselves are not of common origin. The fact that certain mythical ideas + are possessed alike by different races, shows that in each case a similar + human intelligence has been at work explaining similar phenomena; but in + order to prove a family relationship between the culture of these + different races, we need something more than this. We need to prove not + only a community of mythical ideas, but also a community between the + stories based upon these ideas. We must show not only that Michabo is like + Herakles in those striking features which the contemplation of solar + phenomena would necessarily suggest to the imagination of the primitive + myth-maker, but also that the two characters are similarly conceived, and + that the two careers agree in seemingly arbitrary points of detail, as is + the case in the stories of Punchkin and the Heartless Giant. The mere fact + that solar heroes, all over the world, travel in a certain path and slay + imps of darkness is of great value as throwing light upon primeval habits + of thought, but it is of no value as evidence for or against an alleged + community of civilization between different races. The same is true of the + sacredness universally attached to certain numbers. Dr. Blinton's opinion + that the sanctity of the number four in nearly all systems of mythology is + due to a primitive worship of the cardinal points, becomes very probable + when we recollect that the similar pre-eminence of seven is almost + demonstrably connected with the adoration of the sun, moon, and five + visible planets, which has left its record in the structure and + nomenclature of the Aryan and Semitic week. <a href="#linknote-137" + name="linknoteref-137" id="linknoteref-137"><small>137</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In view of these considerations, the comparison of barbaric myths with + each other and with the legends of the Aryan world becomes doubly + interesting, as illustrating the similarity in the workings of the + untrained intelligence the world over. In our first paper we saw how the + moon-spots have been variously explained by Indo-Europeans, as a man with + a thorn-bush or as two children bearing a bucket of water on a pole. In + Ceylon it is said that as Sakyamuni was one day wandering half starved in + the forest, a pious hare met him, and offered itself to him to be slain + and cooked for dinner; whereupon the holy Buddha set it on high in the + moon, that future generations of men might see it and marvel at its piety. + In the Samoan Islands these dark patches are supposed to be portions of a + woman's figure. A certain woman was once hammering something with a + mallet, when the moon arose, looking so much like a bread-fruit that the + woman asked it to come down and let her child eat off a piece of it; but + the moon, enraged at the insult, gobbled up woman, mallet, and child, and + there, in the moon's belly, you may still behold them. According to the + Hottentots, the Moon once sent the Hare to inform men that as she died + away and rose again, so should men die and again come to life. But the + stupid Hare forgot the purport of the message, and, coming down to the + earth, proclaimed it far and wide that though the Moon was invariably + resuscitated whenever she died, mankind, on the other hand, should die and + go to the Devil. When the silly brute returned to the lunar country and + told what he had done, the Moon was so angry that she took up an axe and + aimed a blow at his head to split it. But the axe missed and only cut his + lip open; and that was the origin of the "hare-lip." Maddened by the pain + and the insult, the Hare flew at the Moon and almost scratched her eyes + out; and to this day she bears on her face the marks of the Hare's claws. + <a href="#linknote-138" name="linknoteref-138" id="linknoteref-138"><small>138</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Again, every reader of the classics knows how Selene cast Endymion into a + profound slumber because he refused her love, and how at sundown she used + to come and stand above him on the Latmian hill, and watch him as he lay + asleep on the marble steps of a temple half hidden among drooping + elm-trees, over which clambered vines heavy with dark blue grapes. This + represents the rising moon looking down on the setting sun; in Labrador a + similar phenomenon has suggested a somewhat different story. Among the + Esquimaux the Sun is a maiden and the Moon is her brother, who is overcome + by a wicked passion for her. Once, as this girl was at a dancing-party in + a friend's hut, some one came up and took hold of her by the shoulders and + shook her, which is (according to the legend) the Esquimaux manner of + declaring one's love. She could not tell who it was in the dark, and so + she dipped her hand in some soot and smeared one of his cheeks with it. + When a light was struck in the hut, she saw, to her dismay, that it was + her brother, and, without waiting to learn any more, she took to her + heels. He started in hot pursuit, and so they ran till they got to the end + of the world,—the jumping-off place,—when they both jumped + into the sky. There the Moon still chases his sister, the Sun; and every + now and then he turns his sooty cheek toward the earth, when he becomes so + dark that you cannot see him. <a href="#linknote-139" + name="linknoteref-139" id="linknoteref-139"><small>139</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Another story, which I cite from Mr. Tylor, shows that Malays, as well as + Indo-Europeans, have conceived of the clouds as swan-maidens. In the + island of Celebes it is said that "seven heavenly nymphs came down from + the sky to bathe, and they were seen by Kasimbaha, who thought first that + they were white doves, but in the bath he saw that they were women. Then + he stole one of the thin robes that gave the nymphs their power of flying, + and so he caught Utahagi, the one whose robe he had stolen, and took her + for his wife, and she bore him a son. Now she was called Utahagi from a + single white hair she had, which was endowed with magic power, and this + hair her husband pulled out. As soon as he had done it, there arose a + great storm, and Utahagi went up to heaven. The child cried for its + mother, and Kasimbaha was in great grief, and cast about how he should + follow Utahagi up into the sky." Here we pass to the myth of Jack and the + Beanstalk. "A rat gnawed the thorns off the rattans, and Kasimbaha + clambered up by them with his son upon his back, till he came to heaven. + There a little bird showed him the house of Utahagi, and after various + adventures he took up his abode among the gods." <a href="#linknote-140" + name="linknoteref-140" id="linknoteref-140"><small>140</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In Siberia we find a legend of swan-maidens, which also reminds us of the + story of the Heartless Giant. A certain Samojed once went out to catch + foxes, and found seven maidens swimming in a lake surrounded by gloomy + pine-trees, while their feather dresses lay on the shore. He crept up and + stole one of these dresses, and by and by the swan-maiden came to him + shivering with cold and promising to become his wife if he would only give + her back her garment of feathers. The ungallant fellow, however, did not + care for a wife, but a little revenge was not unsuited to his way of + thinking. There were seven robbers who used to prowl about the + neighbourhood, and who, when they got home, finding their hearts in the + way, used to hang them up on some pegs in the tent. One of these robbers + had killed the Samojed's mother; and so he promised to return the + swan-maiden's dress after she should have procured for him these seven + hearts. So she stole the hearts, and the Samojed smashed six of them, and + then woke up the seventh robber, and told him to restore his mother to + life, on pain of instant death, Then the robber produced a purse + containing the old woman's soul, and going to the graveyard shook it over + her bones, and she revived at once. Then the Samojed smashed the seventh + heart, and the robber died; and so the swan-maiden got back her plumage + and flew away rejoicing. <a href="#linknote-141" name="linknoteref-141" + id="linknoteref-141"><small>141</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Swan-maidens are also, according to Mr. Baring-Gould, found among the + Minussinian Tartars. But there they appear as foul demons, like the Greek + Harpies, who delight in drinking the blood of men slain in battle. There + are forty of them, who darken the whole firmament in their flight; but + sometimes they all coalesce into one great black storm-fiend, who rages + for blood, like a werewolf. + </p> + <p> + In South Africa we find the werewolf himself. <a href="#linknote-142" + name="linknoteref-142" id="linknoteref-142"><small>142</small></a> A + certain Hottentot was once travelling with a Bushwoman and her child, when + they perceived at a distance a troop of wild horses. The man, being + hungry, asked the woman to turn herself into a lioness and catch one of + these horses, that they might eat of it; whereupon the woman set down her + child, and taking off a sort of petticoat made of human skin became + instantly transformed into a lioness, which rushed across the plain, + struck down a wild horse and lapped its blood. The man climbed a tree in + terror, and conjured his companion to resume her natural shape. Then the + lioness came back, and putting on the skirt made of human skin reappeared + as a woman, and took up her child, and the two friends resumed their + journey after making a meal of the horse's flesh. <a href="#linknote-143" + name="linknoteref-143" id="linknoteref-143"><small>143</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The werewolf also appears in North America, duly furnished with his + wolf-skin sack; but neither in America nor in Africa is he the genuine + European werewolf, inspired by a diabolic frenzy, and ravening for human + flesh. The barbaric myths testify to the belief that men can be changed + into beasts or have in some cases descended from beast ancestors, but the + application of this belief to the explanation of abnormal cannibal + cravings seems to have been confined to Europe. The werewolf of the Middle + Ages was not merely a transformed man,—he was an insane cannibal, + whose monstrous appetite, due to the machinations of the Devil, showed its + power over his physical organism by changing the shape of it. The barbaric + werewolf is the product of a lower and simpler kind of thinking. There is + no diabolism about him; for barbaric races, while believing in the + existence of hurtful and malicious fiends, have not a sufficiently vivid + sense of moral abnormity to form the conception of diabolism. And the + cannibal craving, which to the mediaeval European was a phenomenon so + strange as to demand a mythological explanation, would not impress the + barbarian as either very exceptional or very blameworthy. + </p> + <p> + In the folk-lore of the Zulus, one of the most quick-witted and + intelligent of African races, the cannibal possesses many features in + common with the Scandinavian Troll, who also has a liking for human flesh. + As we saw in the preceding paper, the Troll has very likely derived some + of his characteristics from reminiscences of the barbarous races who + preceded the Aryans in Central and Northern Europe. In like manner the + long-haired cannibal of Zulu nursery literature, who is always represented + as belonging to a distinct race, has been supposed to be explained by the + existence of inferior races conquered and displaced by the Zulus. + Nevertheless, as Dr. Callaway observes, neither the long-haired mountain + cannibals of Western Africa, nor the Fulahs, nor the tribes of Eghedal + described by Barth, "can be considered as answering to the description of + long-haired as given in the Zulu legends of cannibals; neither could they + possibly have formed their historical basis..... It is perfectly clear + that the cannibals of the Zulu legends are not common men; they are + magnified into giants and magicians; they are remarkably swift and + enduring; fierce and terrible warriors." Very probably they may have a + mythical origin in modes of thought akin to those which begot the Panis of + the Veda and the Northern Trolls. The parallelism is perhaps the most + remarkable one which can be found in comparing barbaric with Aryan + folk-lore. Like the Panis and Trolls, the cannibals are represented as the + foes of the solar hero Uthlakanyana, who is almost as great a traveller as + Odysseus, and whose presence of mind amid trying circumstances is not to + be surpassed by that of the incomparable Boots. Uthlakanyana is as + precocious as Herakles or Hermes. He speaks before he is born, and no + sooner has he entered the world than he begins to outwit other people and + get possession of their property. He works bitter ruin for the cannibals, + who, with all their strength and fleetness, are no better endowed with + quick wit than the Trolls, whom Boots invariably victimizes. On one of his + journeys, Uthlakanyana fell in with a cannibal. Their greetings were + cordial enough, and they ate a bit of leopard together, and began to build + a house, and killed a couple of cows, but the cannibal's cow was lean, + while Uthlakanyana's was fat. Then the crafty traveller, fearing that his + companion might insist upon having the fat cow, turned and said, "'Let the + house be thatched now then we can eat our meat. You see the sky, that we + shall get wet.' The cannibal said, 'You are right, child of my sister; you + are a man indeed in saying, let us thatch the house, for we shall get + wet.' Uthlakanyana said, 'Do you do it then; I will go inside, and push + the thatching-needle for you, in the house.' The cannibal went up. His + hair was very, very long. Uthlakanyana went inside and pushed the needle + for him. He thatched in the hair of the cannibal, tying it very tightly; + he knotted it into the thatch constantly, taking it by separate locks and + fastening it firmly, that it might be tightly fastened to the house." Then + the rogue went outside and began to eat of the cow which was roasted. "The + cannibal said, 'What are you about, child of my sister? Let us just finish + the house; afterwards we can do that; we will do it together.' + Uthlakanyana replied, 'Come down then. I cannot go into the house any + more. The thatching is finished.' The cannibal assented. When he thought + he was going to quit the house, he was unable to quit it. He cried out + saying, 'Child of my sister, how have you managed your thatching?' + Uthlakanyana said, 'See to it yourself. I have thatched well, for I shall + not have any dispute. Now I am about to eat in peace; I no longer dispute + with anybody, for I am now alone with my cow.'" So the cannibal cried and + raved and appealed in vain to Uthlakanyana's sense of justice, until by + and by "the sky came with hailstones and lightning Uthlakanyana took all + the meat into the house; he stayed in the house and lit a fire. It hailed + and rained. The cannibal cried on the top of the house; he was struck with + the hailstones, and died there on the house. It cleared. Uthlakanyana went + out and said, 'Uncle, just come down, and come to me. It has become clear. + It no longer rains, and there is no more hail, neither is there any more + lightning. Why are you silent?' So Uthlakanyana ate his cow alone, until + he had finished it. He then went on his way." <a href="#linknote-144" + name="linknoteref-144" id="linknoteref-144"><small>144</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In another Zulu legend, a girl is stolen by cannibals, and shut up in the + rock Itshe-likantunjambili, which, like the rock of the Forty Thieves, + opens and shuts at the command of those who understand its secret. She + gets possession of the secret and escapes, and when the monsters pursue + her she throws on the ground a calabash full of sesame, which they stop to + eat. At last, getting tired of running, she climbs a tree, and there she + finds her brother, who, warned by a dream, has come out to look for her. + They ascend the tree together until they come to a beautiful country well + stocked with fat oxen. They kill an ox, and while its flesh is roasting + they amuse themselves by making a stout thong of its hide. By and by one + of the cannibals, smelling the cooking meat, comes to the foot of the + tree, and looking up discovers the boy and girl in the sky-country! They + invite him up there; to share in their feast, and throw him an end of the + thong by which to climb up. When the cannibal is dangling midway between + earth and heaven, they let go the rope, and down he falls with a terrible + crash. <a href="#linknote-145" name="linknoteref-145" id="linknoteref-145"><small>145</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In this story the enchanted rock opened by a talismanic formula brings us + again into contact with Indo-European folk-lore. And that the conception + has in both cases been suggested by the same natural phenomenon is + rendered probable by another Zulu tale, in which the cannibal's cave is + opened by a swallow which flies in the air. Here we have the elements of a + genuine lightning-myth. We see that among these African barbarians, as + well as among our own forefathers, the clouds have been conceived as birds + carrying the lightning which can cleave the rocks. In America we find the + same notion prevalent. The Dakotahs explain the thunder as "the sound of + the cloud-bird flapping his wings," and the Caribs describe the lightning + as a poisoned dart which the bird blows through a hollow reed, after the + Carib style of shooting. <a href="#linknote-146" name="linknoteref-146" + id="linknoteref-146"><small>146</small></a> On the other hand, the + Kamtchatkans know nothing of a cloud-bird, but explain the lightning as + something analogous to the flames of a volcano. The Kamtchatkans say that + when the mountain goblins have got their stoves well heated up, they throw + overboard, with true barbaric shiftlessness, all the brands not needed for + immediate use, which makes a volcanic eruption. So when it is summer on + earth, it is winter in heaven; and the gods, after heating up their + stoves, throw away their spare kindlingwood, which makes the lightning. <a + href="#linknote-147" name="linknoteref-147" id="linknoteref-147"><small>147</small></a> + </p> + <p> + When treating of Indo-European solar myths, we saw the unvarying, + unresting course of the sun variously explained as due to the subjection + of Herakles to Eurystheus, to the anger of Poseidon at Odysseus, or to the + curse laid upon the Wandering Jew. The barbaric mind has worked at the + same problem; but the explanations which it has given are more childlike + and more grotesque. A Polynesian myth tells how the Sun used to race + through the sky so fast that men could not get enough daylight to hunt + game for their subsistence. By and by an inventive genius, named Maui, + conceived the idea of catching the Sun in a noose and making him go more + deliberately. He plaited ropes and made a strong net, and, arming himself + with the jawbone of his ancestress, Muri-ranga-whenua, called together all + his brethren, and they journeyed to the place where the Sun rises, and + there spread the net. When the Sun came up, he stuck his head and + fore-paws into the net, and while the brothers tightened the ropes so that + they cut him and made him scream for mercy, Maui beat him with the jawbone + until he became so weak that ever since he has only been able to crawl + through the sky. According to another Polynesian myth, there was once a + grumbling Radical, who never could be satisfied with the way in which + things are managed on this earth. This bold Radical set out to build a + stone house which should last forever; but the days were so short and the + stones so heavy that he despaired of ever accomplishing his project. One + night, as he lay awake thinking the matter over, it occurred to him that + if he could catch the Sun in a net, he could have as much daylight as was + needful in order to finish his house. So he borrowed a noose from the god + Itu, and, it being autumn, when the Sun gets sleepy and stupid, he easily + caught the luminary. The Sun cried till his tears made a great freshet + which nearly drowned the island; but it was of no use; there he is + tethered to this day. + </p> + <p> + Similar stories are met with in North America. A Dog-Rib Indian once + chased a squirrel up a tree until he reached the sky. There he set a snare + for the squirrel and climbed down again. Next day the Sun was caught in + the snare, and night came on at once. That is to say, the sun was + eclipsed. "Something wrong up there," thought the Indian, "I must have + caught the Sun"; and so he sent up ever so many animals to release the + captive. They were all burned to ashes, but at last the mole, going up and + burrowing out through the GROUND OF THE SKY, (!) succeeded in gnawing + asunder the cords of the snare. Just as it thrust its head out through the + opening made in the sky-ground, it received a flash of light which put its + eyes out, and that is why the mole is blind. The Sun got away, but has + ever since travelled more deliberately. <a href="#linknote-148" + name="linknoteref-148" id="linknoteref-148"><small>148</small></a> + </p> + <p> + These sun-myths, many more of which are to be found collected in Mr. + Tylor's excellent treatise on "The Early History of Mankind," well + illustrate both the similarity and the diversity of the results obtained + by the primitive mind, in different times and countries, when engaged upon + similar problems. No one would think of referring these stories to a + common traditional origin with the myths of Herakles and Odysseus; yet + both classes of tales were devised to explain the same phenomenon. Both to + the Aryan and to the Polynesian the steadfast but deliberate journey of + the sun through the firmament was a strange circumstance which called for + explanation; but while the meagre intelligence of the barbarian could only + attain to the quaint conception of a man throwing a noose over the sun's + head, the rich imagination of the Indo-European created the noble picture + of Herakles doomed to serve the son of Sthenelos, in accordance with the + resistless decree of fate. + </p> + <p> + Another world-wide myth, which shows how similar are the mental habits of + uncivilized men, is the myth of the tortoise. The Hindu notion of a great + tortoise that lies beneath the earth and keeps it from falling is familiar + to every reader. According to one account, this tortoise, swimming in the + primeval ocean, bears the earth on his back; but by and by, when the gods + get ready to destroy mankind, the tortoise will grow weary and sink under + his load, and then the earth will be overwhelmed by a deluge. Another + legend tells us that when the gods and demons took Mount Mandara for a + churning-stick and churned the ocean to make ambrosia, the god Vishnu took + on the form of a tortoise and lay at the bottom of the sea, as a pivot for + the whirling mountain to rest upon. But these versions of the myth are not + primitive. In the original conception the world is itself a gigantic + tortoise swimming in a boundless ocean; the flat surface of the earth is + the lower plate which covers the reptile's belly; the rounded shell which + covers his back is the sky; and the human race lives and moves and has its + being inside of the tortoise. Now, as Mr. Tylor has pointed out, many + tribes of Redskins hold substantially the same theory of the universe. + They regard the tortoise as the symbol of the world, and address it as the + mother of mankind. Once, before the earth was made, the king of heaven + quarrelled with his wife, and gave her such a terrible kick that she fell + down into the sea. Fortunately a tortoise received her on his back, and + proceeded to raise up the earth, upon which the heavenly woman became the + mother of mankind. These first men had white faces, and they used to dig + in the ground to catch badgers. One day a zealous burrower thrust his + knife too far and stabbed the tortoise, which immediately sank into the + sea and drowned all the human race save one man. <a href="#linknote-149" + name="linknoteref-149" id="linknoteref-149"><small>149</small></a> In + Finnish mythology the world is not a tortoise, but it is an egg, of which + the white part is the ocean, the yolk is the earth, and the arched shell + is the sky. In India this is the mundane egg of Brahma; and it reappears + among the Yorubas as a pair of calabashes put together like oyster-shells, + one making a dome over the other. In Zulu-land the earth is a huge beast + called Usilosimapundu, whose face is a rock, and whose mouth is very large + and broad and red: "in some countries which were on his body it was + winter, and in others it was early harvest." Many broad rivers flow over + his back, and he is covered with forests and hills, as is indicated in his + name, which means "the rugose or knotty-backed beast." In this group of + conceptions may be seen the origin of Sindbad's great fish, which lay + still so long that sand and clay gradually accumulated upon its back, and + at last it became covered with trees. And lastly, passing from barbaric + folk-lore and from the Arabian Nights to the highest level of + Indo-European intelligence, do we not find both Plato and Kepler amusing + themselves with speculations in which the earth figures as a stupendous + animal? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. JUVENTUS MUNDI. <a href="#linknote-150" name="linknoteref-150" + id="linknoteref-150"><small>150</small></a> + </h2> + <p> + TWELVE years ago, when, in concluding his "Studies on Homer and the + Homeric Age," Mr. Gladstone applied to himself the warning addressed by + Agamemnon to the priest of Apollo, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Let not Nemesis catch me by the swift ships." +</pre> + <p> + he would seem to have intended it as a last farewell to classical studies. + Yet, whatever his intentions may have been, they have yielded to the sweet + desire of revisiting familiar ground,—a desire as strong in the + breast of the classical scholar as was the yearning which led Odysseus to + reject the proffered gift of immortality, so that he might but once more + behold the wreathed smoke curling about the roofs of his native Ithaka. In + this new treatise, on the "Youth of the World," Mr. Gladstone discusses + the same questions which were treated in his earlier work; and the main + conclusions reached in the "Studies on Homer" are here so little modified + with reference to the recent progress of archaeological inquiries, that + the book can hardly be said to have had any other reason for appearing, + save the desire of loitering by the ships of the Argives, and of returning + thither as often as possible. + </p> + <p> + The title selected by Mr. Gladstone for his new work is either a very + appropriate one or a strange misnomer, according to the point of view from + which it is regarded. Such being the case, we might readily acquiesce in + its use, and pass it by without comment, trusting that the author + understood himself when he adopted it, were it not that by incidental + references, and especially by his allusions to the legendary literature of + the Jews, Mr. Gladstone shows that he means more by the title than it can + fairly be made to express. An author who seeks to determine prehistoric + events by references to Kadmos, and Danaos, and Abraham, is at once liable + to the suspicion of holding very inadequate views as to the character of + the epoch which may properly be termed the "youth of the world." Often in + reading Mr. Gladstone we are reminded of Renan's strange suggestion that + an exploration of the Hindu Kush territory, whence probably came the + primitive Aryans, might throw some new light on the origin of language. + Nothing could well be more futile. The primitive Aryan language has + already been partly reconstructed for us; its grammatical forms and + syntactic devices are becoming familiar to scholars; one great philologist + has even composed a tale in it; yet in studying this long-buried dialect + we are not much nearer the first beginnings of human speech than in + studying the Greek of Homer, the Sanskrit of the Vedas, or the Umbrian of + the Igovine Inscriptions. The Aryan mother-tongue had passed into the last + of the three stages of linguistic growth long before the break-up of the + tribal communities in Aryana-vaedjo, and at that early date presented a + less primitive structure than is to be seen in the Chinese or the + Mongolian of our own times. So the state of society depicted in the + Homeric poems, and well illustrated by Mr. Gladstone, is many degrees less + primitive than that which is revealed to us by the archaeological + researches either of Pictet and Windischmann, or of Tylor, Lubbock, and + M'Lennan. We shall gather evidences of this as we proceed. Meanwhile let + us remember that at least eleven thousand years before the Homeric age men + lived in communities, and manufactured pottery on the banks of the Nile; + and let us not leave wholly out of sight that more distant period, perhaps + a million years ago, when sparse tribes of savage men, contemporaneous + with the mammoths of Siberia and the cave-tigers of Britain, struggled + against the intense cold of the glacial winters. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, though the Homeric age appears to be a late one when + considered with reference to the whole career of the human race, there is + a point of view from which it may be justly regarded as the "youth of the + world." However long man may have existed upon the earth, he becomes + thoroughly and distinctly human in the eyes of the historian only at the + epoch at which he began to create for himself a literature. As far back as + we can trace the progress of the human race continuously by means of the + written word, so far do we feel a true historical interest in its + fortunes, and pursue our studies with a sympathy which the mere lapse of + time is powerless to impair. But the primeval man, whose history never has + been and never will be written, whose career on the earth, dateless and + chartless, can be dimly revealed to us only by palaeontology, excites in + us a very different feeling. Though with the keenest interest we ransack + every nook and corner of the earth's surface for information about him, we + are all the while aware that what we are studying is human zoology and not + history. Our Neanderthal man is a specimen, not a character. We cannot ask + him the Homeric question, what is his name, who were his parents, and how + did he get where we found him. His language has died with him, and he can + render no account of himself. We can only regard him specifically as Homo + Anthropos, a creature of bigger brain than his congener Homo Pithekos, and + of vastly greater promise. But this, we say, is physical science, and not + history. + </p> + <p> + For the historian, therefore, who studies man in his various social + relations, the youth of the world is the period at which literature + begins. We regard the history of the western world as beginning about the + tenth century before the Christian era, because at that date we find + literature, in Greece and Palestine, beginning to throw direct light upon + the social and intellectual condition of a portion of mankind. That great + empires, rich in historical interest and in materials for sociological + generalizations, had existed for centuries before that date, in Egypt and + Assyria, we do not doubt, since they appear at the dawn of history with + all the marks of great antiquity; but the only steady historical light + thrown upon them shines from the pages of Greek and Hebrew authors, and + these know them only in their latest period. For information concerning + their early careers we must look, not to history, but to linguistic + archaeology, a science which can help us to general results, but cannot + enable us to fix dates, save in the crudest manner. + </p> + <p> + We mention the tenth century before Christ as the earliest period at which + we can begin to study human society in general and Greek society in + particular, through the medium of literature. But, strictly speaking, the + epoch in question is one which cannot be fixed with accuracy. The earliest + ascertainable date in Greek history is that of the Olympiad of Koroibos, + B. C. 776. There is no doubt that the Homeric poems were written before + this date, and that Homer is therefore strictly prehistoric. Had this fact + been duly realized by those scholars who have not attempted to deny it, a + vast amount of profitless discussion might have been avoided. Sooner or + later, as Grote says, "the lesson must be learnt, hard and painful though + it be, that no imaginable reach of critical acumen will of itself enable + us to discriminate fancy from reality, in the absence of a tolerable stock + of evidence." We do not know who Homer was; we do not know where or when + he lived; and in all probability we shall never know. The data for + settling the question are not now accessible, and it is not likely that + they will ever be discovered. Even in early antiquity the question was + wrapped in an obscurity as deep as that which shrouds it to-day. The case + between the seven or eight cities which claimed to be the birthplace of + the poet, and which Welcker has so ably discussed, cannot be decided. The + feebleness of the evidence brought into court may be judged from the fact + that the claims of Chios and the story of the poet's blindness rest alike + upon a doubtful allusion in the Hymn to Apollo, which Thukydides (III. + 104) accepted as authentic. The majority of modern critics have consoled + themselves with the vague conclusion that, as between the two great + divisions of the early Greek world, Homer at least belonged to the + Asiatic. But Mr. Gladstone has shown good reasons for doubting this + opinion. He has pointed out several instances in which the poems seem to + betray a closer topographical acquaintance with European than with Asiatic + Greece, and concludes that Athens and Argos have at least as good a claim + to Homer as Chios or Smyrna. + </p> + <p> + It is far more desirable that we should form an approximate opinion as to + the date of the Homeric poems, than that we should seek to determine the + exact locality in which they originated. Yet the one question is hardly + less obscure than the other. Different writers of antiquity assigned eight + different epochs to Homer, of which the earliest is separated from the + most recent by an interval of four hundred and sixty years,—a period + as long as that which separates the Black Prince from the Duke of + Wellington, or the age of Perikles from the Christian era. While + Theopompos quite preposterously brings him down as late as the + twenty-third Olympiad, Krates removes him to the twelfth century B. C. The + date ordinarily accepted by modern critics is the one assigned by + Herodotos, 880 B. C. Yet Mr. Gladstone shows reasons, which appear to me + convincing, for doubting or rejecting this date. + </p> + <p> + I refer to the much-abused legend of the Children of Herakles, which seems + capable of yielding an item of trustworthy testimony, provided it be + circumspectly dealt with. I differ from Mr. Gladstone in not regarding the + legend as historical in its present shape. In my apprehension, Hyllos and + Oxylos, as historical personages, have no value whatever; and I faithfully + follow Mr. Grote, in refusing to accept any date earlier than the Olympiad + of Koroibos. The tale of the "Return of the Herakleids" is undoubtedly as + unworthy of credit as the legend of Hengst and Horsa; yet, like the + latter, it doubtless embodies a historical occurrence. One cannot approve, + as scholarlike or philosophical, the scepticism of Mr. Cox, who can see in + the whole narrative nothing but a solar myth. There certainly was a time + when the Dorian tribes—described in the legend as the allies of the + Children of Herakles—conquered Peloponnesos; and that time was + certainly subsequent to the composition of the Homeric poems. It is + incredible that the Iliad and the Odyssey should ignore the existence of + Dorians in Peloponnesos, if there were Dorians not only dwelling but + ruling there at the time when the poems were written. The poems are very + accurate and rigorously consistent in their use of ethnical appellatives; + and their author, in speaking of Achaians and Argives, is as evidently + alluding to peoples directly known to him, as is Shakespeare when he + mentions Danes and Scotchmen. Now Homer knows Achaians, Argives, and + Pelasgians dwelling in Peloponnesos; and he knows Dorians also, but only + as a people inhabiting Crete. (Odyss. XIX. 175.) With Homer, moreover, the + Hellenes are not the Greeks in general but only a people dwelling in the + north, in Thessaly. When these poems were written, Greece was not known as + Hellas, but as Achaia,—the whole country taking its name from the + Achaians, the dominant race in Peloponnesos. Now at the beginning of the + truly historical period, in the eighth century B. C., all this is changed. + The Greeks as a people are called Hellenes; the Dorians rule in + Peloponnesos, while their lands are tilled by Argive Helots; and the + Achaians appear only as an insignificant people occupying the southern + shore of the Corinthian Gulf. How this change took place we cannot tell. + The explanation of it can never be obtained from history, though some + light may perhaps be thrown upon it by linguistic archaeology. But at all + events it was a great change, and could not have taken place in a moment. + It is fair to suppose that the Helleno-Dorian conquest must have begun at + least a century before the first Olympiad; for otherwise the geographical + limits of the various Greek races would not have been so completely + established as we find them to have been at that date. The Greeks, indeed, + supposed it to have begun at least three centuries earlier, but it is + impossible to collect evidence which will either refute or establish that + opinion. For our purposes it is enough to know that the conquest could not + have taken place later than 900 B. C.; and if this be the case, the + MINIMUM DATE for the composition of the Homeric poems must be the tenth + century before Christ; which is, in fact, the date assigned by Aristotle. + Thus far, and no farther, I believe it possible to go with safety. Whether + the poems were composed in the tenth, eleventh, or twelfth century cannot + be determined. We are justified only in placing them far enough back to + allow the Helleno-Dorian conquest to intervene between their composition + and the beginning of recorded history. The tenth century B. C. is the + latest date which will account for all the phenomena involved in the case, + and with this result we must be satisfied. Even on this showing, the Iliad + and Odyssey appear as the oldest existing specimens of Aryan literature, + save perhaps the hymns of the Rig-Veda and the sacred books of the Avesta. + </p> + <p> + The apparent difficulty of preserving such long poems for three or four + centuries without the aid of writing may seem at first sight to justify + the hypothesis of Wolf, that they are mere collections of ancient ballads, + like those which make up the Mahabharata, preserved in the memories of a + dozen or twenty bards, and first arranged under the orders of + Peisistratos. But on a careful examination this hypothesis is seen to + raise more difficulties than it solves. What was there in the position of + Peisistratos, or of Athens itself in the sixth century B. C., so + authoritative as to compel all Greeks to recognize the recension then and + there made of their revered poet? Besides which the celebrated ordinance + of Solon respecting the rhapsodes at the Panathenaia obliges us to infer + the existence of written manuscripts of Homer previous to 550 B. C. As Mr. + Grote well observes, the interference of Peisistratos "presupposes a + certain foreknown and ancient aggregate, the main lineaments of which were + familiar to the Grecian public, although many of the rhapsodes in their + practice may have deviated from it both by omission and interpolation. In + correcting the Athenian recitations conformably with such understood + general type, Peisistratos might hope both to procure respect for Athens + and to constitute a fashion for the rest of Greece. But this step of + 'collecting the torn body of sacred Homer' is something generically + different from the composition of a new Iliad out of pre-existing songs: + the former is as easy, suitable, and promising as the latter is violent + and gratuitous." <a href="#linknote-151" name="linknoteref-151" + id="linknoteref-151"><small>151</small></a> + </p> + <p> + As for Wolf's objection, that the Iliad and Odyssey are too long to have + been preserved by memory, it may be met by a simple denial. It is a + strange objection indeed, coming from a man of Wolf's retentive memory. I + do not see how the acquisition of the two poems can be regarded as such a + very arduous task; and if literature were as scanty now as in Greek + antiquity, there are doubtless many scholars who would long since have had + them at their tongues' end. Sir G. C. Lewis, with but little conscious + effort, managed to carry in his head a very considerable portion of Greek + and Latin classic literature; and Niebuhr (who once restored from + recollection a book of accounts which had been accidentally destroyed) was + in the habit of referring to book and chapter of an ancient author without + consulting his notes. Nay, there is Professor Sophocles, of Harvard + University, who, if you suddenly stop and interrogate him in the street, + will tell you just how many times any given Greek word occurs in + Thukydides, or in AEschylos, or in Plato, and will obligingly rehearse for + you the context. If all extant copies of the Homeric poems were to be + gathered together and burnt up to-day, like Don Quixote's library, or like + those Arabic manuscripts of which Cardinal Ximenes made a bonfire in the + streets of Granada, the poems could very likely be reproduced and orally + transmitted for several generations; and much easier must it have been for + the Greeks to preserve these books, which their imagination invested with + a quasi-sanctity, and which constituted the greater part of the literary + furniture of their minds. In Xenophon's time there were educated gentlemen + at Athens who could repeat both Iliad and Odyssey verbatim. (Xenoph. + Sympos., III. 5.) Besides this, we know that at Chios there was a company + of bards, known as Homerids, whose business it was to recite these poems + from memory; and from the edicts of Solon and the Sikyonian Kleisthenes + (Herod., V. 67), we may infer that the case was the same in other parts of + Greece. Passages from the Iliad used to be sung at the Pythian festivals, + to the accompaniment of the harp (Athenaeus, XIV. 638), and in at least + two of the Ionic islands of the AEgaean there were regular competitive + exhibitions by trained young men, at which prizes were given to the best + reciter. The difficulty of preserving the poems, under such circumstances, + becomes very insignificant; and the Wolfian argument quite vanishes when + we reflect that it would have been no easier to preserve a dozen or twenty + short poems than two long ones. Nay, the coherent, orderly arrangement of + the Iliad and Odyssey would make them even easier to remember than a group + of short rhapsodies not consecutively arranged. + </p> + <p> + When we come to interrogate the poems themselves, we find in them quite + convincing evidence that they were originally composed for the ear alone, + and without reference to manuscript assistance. They abound in catchwords, + and in verbal repetitions. The "Catalogue of Ships," as Mr. Gladstone has + acutely observed, is arranged in well-defined sections, in such a way that + the end of each section suggests the beginning of the next one. It + resembles the versus memoriales found in old-fashioned grammars. But the + most convincing proof of all is to be found in the changes which Greek + pronunciation went through between the ages of Homer and Peisistratos. "At + the time when these poems were composed, the digamma (or w) was an + effective consonant, and figured as such in the structure of the verse; at + the time when they were committed to writing, it had ceased to be + pronounced, and therefore never found a place in any of the manuscripts,—insomuch + that the Alexandrian critics, though they knew of its existence in the + much later poems of Alkaios and Sappho, never recognized it in Homer. The + hiatus, and the various perplexities of metre, occasioned by the loss of + the digamma, were corrected by different grammatical stratagems. But the + whole history of this lost letter is very curious, and is rendered + intelligible only by the supposition that the Iliad and Odyssey belonged + for a wide space of time to the memory, the voice, and the ear + exclusively." <a href="#linknote-152" name="linknoteref-152" + id="linknoteref-152"><small>152</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Many of these facts are of course fully recognized by the Wolfians; but + the inference drawn from them, that the Homeric poems began to exist in a + piecemeal condition, is, as we have seen, unnecessary. These poems may + indeed be compared, in a certain sense, with the early sacred and epic + literature of the Jews, Indians, and Teutons. But if we assign a plurality + of composers to the Psalms and Pentateuch, the Mahabharata, the Vedas, and + the Edda, we do so because of internal evidence furnished by the books + themselves, and not because these books could not have been preserved by + oral tradition. Is there, then, in the Homeric poems any such internal + evidence of dual or plural origin as is furnished by the interlaced + Elohistic and Jehovistic documents of the Pentateuch? A careful + investigation will show that there is not. Any scholar who has given some + attention to the subject can readily distinguish the Elohistic from the + Jehovistic portions of the Pentateuch; and, save in the case of a few + sporadic verses, most Biblical critics coincide in the separation which + they make between the two. But the attempts which have been made to break + up the Iliad and Odyssey have resulted in no such harmonious agreement. + There are as many systems as there are critics, and naturally enough. For + the Iliad and the Odyssey are as much alike as two peas, and the + resemblance which holds between the two holds also between the different + parts of each poem. From the appearance of the injured Chryses in the + Grecian camp down to the intervention of Athene on the field of contest at + Ithaka, we find in each book and in each paragraph the same style, the + same peculiarities of expression, the same habits of thought, the same + quite unique manifestations of the faculty of observation. Now if the + style were commonplace, the observation slovenly, or the thought trivial, + as is wont to be the case in ballad-literature, this argument from + similarity might not carry with it much conviction. But when we reflect + that throughout the whole course of human history no other works, save the + best tragedies of Shakespeare, have ever been written which for combined + keenness of observation, elevation of thought, and sublimity of style can + compare with the Homeric poems, we must admit that the argument has very + great weight indeed. Let us take, for example, the sixth and twenty-fourth + books of the Iliad. According to the theory of Lachmann, the most eminent + champion of the Wolfian hypothesis, these are by different authors. Human + speech has perhaps never been brought so near to the limit of its capacity + of expressing deep emotion as in the scene between Priam and Achilleus in + the twenty-fourth book; while the interview between Hektor and Andromache + in the sixth similarly wellnigh exhausts the power of language. Now, the + literary critic has a right to ask whether it is probable that two such + passages, agreeing perfectly in turn of expression, and alike exhibiting + the same unapproachable degree of excellence, could have been produced by + two different authors. And the physiologist—with some inward + misgivings suggested by Mr. Galton's theory that the Greeks surpassed us + in genius even as we surpass the negroes—has a right to ask whether + it is in the natural course of things for two such wonderful poets, + strangely agreeing in their minutest psychological characteristics, to be + produced at the same time. And the difficulty thus raised becomes + overwhelming when we reflect that it is the coexistence of not two only, + but at least twenty such geniuses which the Wolfian hypothesis requires us + to account for. That theory worked very well as long as scholars + thoughtlessly assumed that the Iliad and Odyssey were analogous to ballad + poetry. But, except in the simplicity of the primitive diction, there is + no such analogy. The power and beauty of the Iliad are never so hopelessly + lost as when it is rendered into the style of a modern ballad. One might + as well attempt to preserve the grandeur of the triumphant close of + Milton's Lycidas by turning it into the light Anacreontics of the ode to + "Eros stung by a Bee." The peculiarity of the Homeric poetry, which defies + translation, is its union of the simplicity characteristic of an early age + with a sustained elevation of style, which can be explained only as due to + individual genius. + </p> + <p> + The same conclusion is forced upon us when we examine the artistic + structure of these poems. With regard to the Odyssey in particular, Mr. + Grote has elaborately shown that its structure is so thoroughly integral, + that no considerable portion could be subtracted without converting the + poem into a more or less admirable fragment. The Iliad stands in a + somewhat different position. There are unmistakable peculiarities in its + structure, which have led even Mr. Grote, who utterly rejects the Wolfian + hypothesis, to regard it as made up of two poems; although he inclines to + the belief that the later poem was grafted upon the earlier by its own + author, by way of further elucidation and expansion; just as Goethe, in + his old age, added a new part to "Faust." According to Mr. Grote, the + Iliad, as originally conceived, was properly an Achilleis; its design + being, as indicated in the opening lines of the poem, to depict the wrath + of Achilleus and the unutterable woes which it entailed upon the Greeks + The plot of this primitive Achilleis is entirely contained in Books I., + VIII., and XI.-XXII.; and, in Mr. Grote's opinion, the remaining books + injure the symmetry of this plot by unnecessarily prolonging the duration + of the Wrath, while the embassy to Achilleus, in the ninth book, unduly + anticipates the conduct of Agamemnon in the nineteenth, and is therefore, + as a piece of bungling work, to be referred to the hands of an inferior + interpolator. Mr. Grote thinks it probable that these books, with the + exception of the ninth, were subsequently added by the poet, with a view + to enlarging the original Achilleis into a real Iliad, describing the war + of the Greeks against Troy. With reference to this hypothesis, I gladly + admit that Mr. Grote is, of all men now living, the one best entitled to a + reverential hearing on almost any point connected with Greek antiquity. + Nevertheless it seems to me that his theory rests solely upon imagined + difficulties which have no real existence. I doubt if any scholar, reading + the Iliad ever so much, would ever be struck by these alleged + inconsistencies of structure, unless they were suggested by some a priori + theory. And I fear that the Wolfian theory, in spite of Mr. Grote's + emphatic rejection of it, is responsible for some of these over-refined + criticisms. Even as it stands, the Iliad is not an account of the war + against Troy. It begins in the tenth year of the siege, and it does not + continue to the capture of the city. It is simply occupied with an episode + in the war,—with the wrath of Achilleus and its consequences, + according to the plan marked out in the opening lines. The supposed + additions, therefore, though they may have given to the poem a somewhat + wider scope, have not at any rate changed its primitive character of an + Achilleis. To my mind they seem even called for by the original conception + of the consequences of the wrath. To have inserted the battle at the + ships, in which Sarpedon breaks down the wall of the Greeks, immediately + after the occurrences of the first book, would have been too abrupt + altogether. Zeus, after his reluctant promise to Thetis, must not be + expected so suddenly to exhibit such fell determination. And after the + long series of books describing the valorous deeds of Aias, Diomedes, + Agamemnon, Odysseus, and Menelaos, the powerful intervention of Achilleus + appears in far grander proportions than would otherwise be possible. As + for the embassy to Achilleus, in the ninth book, I am unable to see how + the final reconciliation with Agamemnon would be complete without it. As + Mr. Gladstone well observes, what Achilleus wants is not restitution, but + apology; and Agamemnon offers no apology until the nineteenth book. In his + answer to the ambassadors, Achilleus scornfully rejects the proposals + which imply that the mere return of Briseis will satisfy his righteous + resentment, unless it be accompanied with that public humiliation to which + circumstances have not yet compelled the leader of the Greeks to subject + himself. Achilleus is not to be bought or cajoled. Even the extreme + distress of the Greeks in the thirteenth book does not prevail upon him; + nor is there anything in the poem to show that he ever would have laid + aside his wrath, had not the death of Patroklos supplied him with a new + and wholly unforeseen motive. It seems to me that his entrance into the + battle after the death of his friend would lose half its poetic effect, + were it not preceded by some such scene as that in the ninth book, in + which he is represented as deaf to all ordinary inducements. As for the + two concluding books, which Mr. Grote is inclined to regard as a + subsequent addition, not necessitated by the plan of the poem, I am at a + loss to see how the poem can be considered complete without them. To leave + the bodies of Patroklos and Hektor unburied would be in the highest degree + shocking to Greek religious feelings. Remembering the sentence incurred, + in far less superstitious times, by the generals at Arginusai, it is + impossible to believe that any conclusion which left Patroklos's manes + unpropitiated, and the mutilated corpse of Hektor unransomed, could have + satisfied either the poet or his hearers. For further particulars I must + refer the reader to the excellent criticisms of Mr. Gladstone, and also to + the article on "Greek History and Legend" in the second volume of Mr. + Mill's "Dissertations and Discussions." A careful study of the arguments + of these writers, and, above all, a thorough and independent examination + of the Iliad itself, will, I believe, convince the student that this great + poem is from beginning to end the consistent production of a single + author. + </p> + <p> + The arguments of those who would attribute the Iliad and Odyssey, taken as + wholes, to two different authors, rest chiefly upon some apparent + discrepancies in the mythology of the two poems; but many of these + difficulties have been completely solved by the recent progress of the + science of comparative mythology. Thus, for example, the fact that, in the + Iliad, Hephaistos is called the husband of Charis, while in the Odyssey he + is called the husband of Aphrodite, has been cited even by Mr. Grote as + evidence that the two poems are not by the same author. It seems to me + that one such discrepancy, in the midst of complete general agreement, + would be much better explained as Cervantes explained his own + inconsistency with reference to the stealing of Sancho's mule, in the + twenty-second chapter of "Don Quixote." But there is no discrepancy. + Aphrodite, though originally the moon-goddess, like the German Horsel, had + before Homer's time acquired many of the attributes of the dawn-goddess + Athene, while her lunar characteristics had been to a great extent + transferred to Artemis and Persephone. In her renovated character, as + goddess of the dawn, Aphrodite became identified with Charis, who appears + in the Rig-Veda as dawn-goddess. In the post-Homeric mythology, the two + were again separated, and Charis, becoming divided in personality, appears + as the Charites, or Graces, who were supposed to be constant attendants of + Aphrodite. But in the Homeric poems the two are still identical, and + either Charis or Aphrodite may be called the wife of the fire-god, without + inconsistency. + </p> + <p> + Thus to sum up, I believe that Mr. Gladstone is quite right in maintaining + that both the Iliad and Odyssey are, from beginning to end, with the + exception of a few insignificant interpolations, the work of a single + author, whom we have no ground for calling by any other name than that of + Homer. I believe, moreover, that this author lived before the beginning of + authentic history, and that we can determine neither his age nor his + country with precision. We can only decide that he was a Greek who lived + at some time previous to the year 900 B.C. + </p> + <p> + Here, however, I must begin to part company with Mr. Gladstone, and shall + henceforth unfortunately have frequent occasion to differ from him on + points of fundamental importance. For Mr. Gladstone not only regards the + Homeric age as strictly within the limits of authentic history, but he + even goes much further than this. He would not only fix the date of Homer + positively in the twelfth century B. C., but he regards the Trojan war as + a purely historical event, of which Homer is the authentic historian and + the probable eye-witness. Nay, he even takes the word of the poet as proof + conclusive of the historical character of events happening several + generations before the Troika, according to the legendary chronology. He + not only regards Agamemnon, Achilleus, and Paris as actual personages, but + he ascribes the same reality to characters like Danaos, Kadmos, and + Perseus, and talks of the Pelopid and Aiolid dynasties, and the empire of + Minos, with as much confidence as if he were dealing with Karlings or + Capetians, or with the epoch of the Crusades. + </p> + <p> + It is disheartening, at the present day, and after so much has been + finally settled by writers like Grote, Mommsen, and Sir G. C. Lewis, to + come upon such views in the work of a man of scholarship and intelligence. + One begins to wonder how many more times it will be necessary to prove + that dates and events are of no historical value, unless attested by + nearly contemporary evidence. Pausanias and Plutarch were able men no + doubt, and Thukydides was a profound historian; but what these writers + thought of the Herakleid invasion, the age of Homer, and the war of Troy, + can have no great weight with the critical historian, since even in the + time of Thukydides these events were as completely obscured by lapse of + time as they are now. There is no literary Greek history before the age of + Hekataios and Herodotos, three centuries subsequent to the first recorded + Olympiad. A portion of this period is satisfactorily covered by + inscriptions, but even these fail us before we get within a century of + this earliest ascertainable date. Even the career of the lawgiver + Lykourgos, which seems to belong to the commencement of the eighth century + B. C., presents us, from lack of anything like contemporary records, with + many insoluble problems. The Helleno-Dorian conquest, as we have seen, + must have occurred at some time or other; but it evidently did not occur + within two centuries of the earliest known inscription, and it is + therefore folly to imagine that we can determine its date or ascertain the + circumstances which attended it. Anterior to this event there is but one + fact in Greek antiquity directly known to us,—the existence of the + Homeric poems. The belief that there was a Trojan war rests exclusively + upon the contents of those poems: there is no other independent testimony + to it whatever. But the Homeric poems are of no value as testimony to the + truth of the statements contained in them, unless it can be proved that + their author was either contemporary with the Troika, or else derived his + information from contemporary witnesses. This can never be proved. To + assume, as Mr. Gladstone does, that Homer lived within fifty years after + the Troika, is to make a purely gratuitous assumption. For aught the + wisest historian can tell, the interval may have been five hundred years, + or a thousand. Indeed the Iliad itself expressly declares that it is + dealing with an ancient state of things which no longer exists. It is + difficult to see what else can be meant by the statement that the heroes + of the Troika belong to an order of men no longer seen upon the earth. + (Iliad, V. 304.) Most assuredly Achilleus the son of Thetis, and Sarpedon + the son of Zeus, and Helena the daughter of Zeus, are no ordinary mortals, + such as might have been seen and conversed with by the poet's grandfather. + They belong to an inferior order of gods, according to the peculiar + anthropomorphism of the Greeks, in which deity and humanity are so closely + mingled that it is difficult to tell where the one begins and the other + ends. Diomedes, single-handed, vanquishes not only the gentle Aphrodite, + but even the god of battles himself, the terrible Ares. Nestor quaffs + lightly from a goblet which, we are told, not two men among the poet's + contemporaries could by their united exertions raise and place upon a + table. Aias and Hektor and Aineias hurl enormous masses of rock as easily + as an ordinary man would throw a pebble. All this shows that the poet, in + his naive way, conceiving of these heroes as personages of a remote past, + was endeavouring as far as possible to ascribe to them the attributes of + superior beings. If all that were divine, marvellous, or superhuman were + to be left out of the poems, the supposed historical residue would hardly + be worth the trouble of saving. As Mr. Cox well observes, "It is of the + very essence of the narrative that Paris, who has deserted Oinone, the + child of the stream Kebren, and before whom Here, Athene, and Aphrodite + had appeared as claimants for the golden apple, steals from Sparta the + beautiful sister of the Dioskouroi; that the chiefs are summoned together + for no other purpose than to avenge her woes and wrongs; that Achilleus, + the son of the sea-nymph Thetis, the wielder of invincible weapons and the + lord of undying horses, goes to fight in a quarrel which is not his own; + that his wrath is roused because he is robbed of the maiden Briseis, and + that henceforth he takes no part in the strife until his friend Patroklos + has been slain; that then he puts on the new armour which Thetis brings to + him from the anvil of Hephaistos, and goes forth to win the victory. The + details are throughout of the same nature. Achilleus sees and converses + with Athene; Aphrodite is wounded by Diomedes, and Sleep and Death bear + away the lifeless Sarpedon on their noiseless wings to the far-off land of + light." In view of all this it is evident that Homer was not describing, + like a salaried historiographer, the state of things which existed in the + time of his father or grandfather. To his mind the occurrences which he + described were those of a remote, a wonderful, a semi-divine past. + </p> + <p> + This conclusion, which I have thus far supported merely by reference to + the Iliad itself, becomes irresistible as soon as we take into account the + results obtained during the past thirty years by the science of + comparative mythology. As long as our view was restricted to Greece, it + was perhaps excusable that Achilleus and Paris should be taken for + exaggerated copies of actual persons. Since the day when Grimm laid the + foundations of the science of mythology, all this has been changed. It is + now held that Achilleus and Paris and Helena are to be found, not only in + the Iliad, but also in the Rig-Veda, and therefore, as mythical + conceptions, date, not from Homer, but from a period preceding the + dispersion of the Aryan nations. The tale of the Wrath of Achilleus, far + from originating with Homer, far from being recorded by the author of the + Iliad as by an eyewitness, must have been known in its essential features + in Aryana-vaedjo, at that remote epoch when the Indian, the Greek, and the + Teuton were as yet one and the same. For the story has been retained by + the three races alike, in all its principal features; though the Veda has + left it in the sky where it originally belonged, while the Iliad and the + Nibelungenlied have brought it down to earth, the one locating it in Asia + Minor, and the other in Northwestern Europe. <a href="#linknote-153" + name="linknoteref-153" id="linknoteref-153"><small>153</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In the Rig-Veda the Panis are the genii of night and winter, corresponding + to the Nibelungs, or "Children of the Mist," in the Teutonic legend, and + to the children of Nephele (cloud) in the Greek myth of the Golden Fleece. + The Panis steal the cattle of the Sun (Indra, Helios, Herakles), and carry + them by an unknown route to a dark cave eastward. Sarama, the creeping + Dawn, is sent by Indra to find and recover them. The Panis then tamper + with Sarama, and try their best to induce her to betray her solar lord. + For a while she is prevailed upon to dally with them; yet she ultimately + returns to give Indra the information needful in order that he might + conquer the Panis, just as Helena, in the slightly altered version, + ultimately returns to her western home, carrying with her the treasures + (ktemata, Iliad, II. 285) of which Paris had robbed Menelaos. But, before + the bright Indra and his solar heroes can reconquer their treasures they + must take captive the offspring of Brisaya, the violet light of morning. + Thus Achilleus, answering to the solar champion Aharyu, takes captive the + daughter of Brises. But as the sun must always be parted from the + morning-light, to return to it again just before setting, so Achilleus + loses Briseis, and regains her only just before his final struggle. In + similar wise Herakles is parted from Iole ("the violet one"), and Sigurd + from Brynhild. In sullen wrath the hero retires from the conflict, and his + Myrmidons are no longer seen on the battle-field, as the sun hides behind + the dark cloud and his rays no longer appear about him. Yet toward the + evening, as Briseis returns, he appears in his might, clothed in the + dazzling armour wrought for him by the fire-god Hephaistos, and with his + invincible spear slays the great storm-cloud, which during his absence had + wellnigh prevailed over the champions of the daylight. But his triumph is + short-lived; for having trampled on the clouds that had opposed him, while + yet crimsoned with the fierce carnage, the sharp arrow of the night-demon + Paris slays him at the Western Gates. We have not space to go into further + details. In Mr. Cox's "Mythology of the Aryan Nations," and "Tales of + Ancient Greece," the reader will find the entire contents of the Iliad and + Odyssey thus minutely illustrated by comparison with the Veda, the Edda, + and the Lay of the Nibelungs. + </p> + <p> + Ancient as the Homeric poems undoubtedly are, they are modern in + comparison with the tale of Achilleus and Helena, as here unfolded. The + date of the entrance of the Greeks into Europe will perhaps never be + determined; but I do not see how any competent scholar can well place it + at less than eight hundred or a thousand years before the time of Homer. + Between the two epochs the Greek, Latin, Umbrian, and Keltic lauguages had + time to acquire distinct individualities. Far earlier, therefore, than the + Homeric "juventus mundi" was that "youth of the world," in which the Aryan + forefathers, knowing no abstract terms, and possessing no philosophy but + fetichism, deliberately spoke of the Sun, and the Dawn, and the Clouds, as + persons or as animals. The Veda, though composed much later than this,—perhaps + as late as the Iliad,—nevertheless preserves the record of the + mental life of this period. The Vedic poet is still dimly aware that + Sarama is the fickle twilight, and the Panis the night-demons who strive + to coax her from her allegiance to the day-god. He keeps the scene of + action in the sky. But the Homeric Greek had long since forgotten that + Helena and Paris were anything more than semi-divine mortals, the daughter + of Zeus and the son of the Zeus-descended Priam. The Hindu understood that + Dyaus ("the bright one") meant the sky, and Sarama ("the creeping one") + the dawn, and spoke significantly when he called the latter the daughter + of the former. But the Greek could not know that Zeus was derived from a + root div, "to shine," or that Helena belonged to a root sar, "to creep." + Phonetic change thus helped him to rise from fetichism to polytheism. His + nature-gods became thoroughly anthropomorphic; and he probably no more + remembered that Achilleus originally signified the sun, than we remember + that the word God, which we use to denote the most vast of conceptions, + originally meant simply the Storm-wind. Indeed, when the fetichistic + tendency led the Greek again to personify the powers of nature, he had + recourse to new names formed from his own language. Thus, beside Apollo we + have Helios; Selene beside Artemis and Persephone; Eos beside Athene; Gaia + beside Demeter. As a further consequence of this decomposition and new + development of the old Aryan mythology, we find, as might be expected, + that the Homeric poems are not always consistent in their use of their + mythic materials. Thus, Paris, the night-demon, is—to Max Muller's + perplexity—invested with many of the attributes of the bright solar + heroes. "Like Perseus, Oidipous, Romulus, and Cyrus, he is doomed to bring + ruin on his parents; like them he is exposed in his infancy on the + hillside, and rescued by a shepherd." All the solar heroes begin life in + this way. Whether, like Apollo, born of the dark night (Leto), or like + Oidipous, of the violet dawn (Iokaste), they are alike destined to bring + destruction on their parents, as the night and the dawn are both destroyed + by the sun. The exposure of the child in infancy represents the long rays + of the morning-sun resting on the hillside. Then Paris forsakes Oinone + ("the wine-coloured one"), but meets her again at the gloaming when she + lays herself by his side amid the crimson flames of the funeral pyre. + Sarpedon also, a solar hero, is made to fight on the side of the Niblungs + or Trojans, attended by his friend Glaukos ("the brilliant one"). They + command the Lykians, or "children of light"; and with them comes also + Memnon, son of the Dawn, from the fiery land of the Aithiopes, the + favourite haunt of Zeus and the gods of Olympos. + </p> + <p> + The Iliad-myth must therefore have been current many ages before the + Greeks inhabited Greece, long before there was any Ilion to be conquered. + Nevertheless, this does not forbid the supposition that the legend, as we + have it, may have been formed by the crystallization of mythical + conceptions about a nucleus of genuine tradition. In this view I am upheld + by a most sagacious and accurate scholar, Mr. E. A. Freeman, who finds in + Carlovingian romance an excellent illustration of the problem before us. + </p> + <p> + The Charlemagne of romance is a mythical personage. He is supposed to have + been a Frenchman, at a time when neither the French nation nor the French + language can properly be said to have existed; and he is represented as a + doughty crusader, although crusading was not thought of until long after + the Karolingian era. The legendary deeds of Charlemagne are not conformed + to the ordinary rules of geography and chronology. He is a myth, and, what + is more, he is a solar myth,—an avatar, or at least a + representative, of Odin in his solar capacity. If in his case legend were + not controlled and rectified by history, he would be for us as unreal as + Agamemnon. + </p> + <p> + History, however, tells us that there was an Emperor Karl, German in race, + name, and language, who was one of the two or three greatest men of action + that the world has ever seen, and who in the ninth century ruled over all + Western Europe. To the historic Karl corresponds in many particulars the + mythical Charlemagne. The legend has preserved the fact, which without the + information supplied by history we might perhaps set down as a fiction, + that there was a time when Germany, Gaul, Italy, and part of Spain formed + a single empire. And, as Mr. Freeman has well observed, the mythical + crusades of Charlemagne are good evidence that there were crusades, + although the real Karl had nothing whatever to do with one. + </p> + <p> + Now the case of Agamemnon may be much like that of Charlemagne, except + that we no longer have history to help us in rectifying the legend. The + Iliad preserves the tradition of a time when a large portion of the + islands and mainland of Greece were at least partially subject to a common + suzerain; and, as Mr. Freeman has again shrewdly suggested, the assignment + of a place like Mykenai, instead of Athens or Sparta or Argos, as the seat + of the suzerainty, is strong evidence of the trustworthiness of the + tradition. It appears to show that the legend was constrained by some + remembered fact, instead of being guided by general probability. + Charlemagne's seat of government has been transferred in romance from + Aachen to Paris; had it really been at Paris, says Mr. Freeman, no one + would have thought of transferring it to Aachen. Moreover, the story of + Agamemnon, though uncontrolled by historic records, is here at least + supported by archaeologic remains, which prove Mykenai to have been at + some time or other a place of great consequence. Then, as to the Trojan + war, we know that the Greeks several times crossed the AEgaean and + colonized a large part of the seacoast of Asia Minor. In order to do this + it was necessary to oust from their homes many warlike communities of + Lydians and Bithynians, and we may be sure that this was not done without + prolonged fighting. There may very probably have been now and then a levy + en masse in prehistoric Greece, as there was in mediaeval Europe; and + whether the great suzerain at Mykenai ever attended one or not, legend + would be sure to send him on such an expedition, as it afterwards sent + Charlemagne on a crusade. + </p> + <p> + It is therefore quite possible that Agamemnon and Menelaos may represent + dimly remembered sovereigns or heroes, with their characters and actions + distorted to suit the exigencies of a narrative founded upon a solar myth. + The character of the Nibelungenlied here well illustrates that of the + Iliad. Siegfried and Brunhild, Hagen and Gunther, seem to be mere + personifications of physical phenomena; but Etzel and Dietrich are none + other than Attila and Theodoric surrounded with mythical attributes; and + even the conception of Brunhild has been supposed to contain elements + derived from the traditional recollection of the historical Brunehault. + When, therefore, Achilleus is said, like a true sun-god, to have died by a + wound from a sharp instrument in the only vulnerable part of his body, we + may reply that the legendary Charlemagne conducts himself in many respects + like a solar deity. If Odysseus detained by Kalypso represents the sun + ensnared and held captive by the pale goddess of night, the legend of + Frederic Barbarossa asleep in a Thuringian mountain embodies a portion of + a kindred conception. We know that Charlemagne and Frederic have been + substituted for Odin; we may suspect that with the mythical impersonations + of Achilleus and Odysseus some traditional figures may be blended. We + should remember that in early times the solar-myth was a sort of type + after which all wonderful stories would be patterned, and that to such a + type tradition also would be made to conform. + </p> + <p> + In suggesting this view, we are not opening the door to Euhemerism. If + there is any one conclusion concerning the Homeric poems which the labours + of a whole generation of scholars may be said to have satisfactorily + established, it is this, that no trustworthy history can be obtained from + either the Iliad or the Odyssey merely by sifting out the mythical + element. Even if the poems contain the faint reminiscence of an actual + event, that event is inextricably wrapped up in mythical phraseology, so + that by no cunning of the scholar can it be construed into history. In + view of this it is quite useless for Mr. Gladstone to attempt to base + historical conclusions upon the fact that Helena is always called "Argive + Helen," or to draw ethnological inferences from the circumstances that + Menelaos, Achilleus, and the rest of the Greek heroes, have yellow hair, + while the Trojans are never so described. The Argos of the myth is not the + city of Peloponnesos, though doubtless so construed even in Homer's time. + It is "the bright land" where Zeus resides, and the epithet is applied to + his wife Here and his daughter Helena, as well as to the dog of Odysseus, + who reappears with Sarameyas in the Veda. As for yellow hair, there is no + evidence that Greeks have ever commonly possessed it; but no other colour + would do for a solar hero, and it accordingly characterizes the entire + company of them, wherever found, while for the Trojans, or children of + night, it is not required. + </p> + <p> + A wider acquaintance with the results which have been obtained during the + past thirty years by the comparative study of languages and mythologies + would have led Mr. Gladstone to reconsider many of his views concerning + the Homeric poems, and might perhaps have led him to cut out half or two + thirds of his book as hopelessly antiquated. The chapter on the divinities + of Olympos would certainly have had to be rewritten, and the ridiculous + theory of a primeval revelation abandoned. One can hardly preserve one's + gravity when Mr. Gladstone derives Apollo from the Hebrew Messiah, and + Athene from the Logos. To accredit Homer with an acquaintance with the + doctrine of the Logos, which did not exist until the time of Philo, and + did not receive its authorized Christian form until the middle of the + second century after Christ, is certainly a strange proceeding. We shall + next perhaps be invited to believe that the authors of the Volsunga Saga + obtained the conception of Sigurd from the "Thirty-Nine Articles." It is + true that these deities, Athene and Apollo, are wiser, purer, and more + dignified, on the whole, than any of the other divinities of the Homeric + Olympos. They alone, as Mr. Gladstone truly observes, are never deceived + or frustrated. For all Hellas, Apollo was the interpreter of futurity, and + in the maid Athene we have perhaps the highest conception of deity to + which the Greek mind had attained in the early times. In the Veda, Athene + is nothing but the dawn; but in the Greek mythology, while the merely + sensuous glories of daybreak are assigned to Eos, Athene becomes the + impersonation of the illuminating and knowledge-giving light of the sky. + As the dawn, she is daughter of Zeus, the sky, and in mythic language + springs from his forehead; but, according to the Greek conception, this + imagery signifies that she shares, more than any other deity, in the + boundless wisdom of Zeus. The knowledge of Apollo, on the other hand, is + the peculiar privilege of the sun, who, from his lofty position, sees + everything that takes place upon the earth. Even the secondary divinity + Helios possesses this prerogative to a certain extent. + </p> + <p> + Next to a Hebrew, Mr. Gladstone prefers a Phoenician ancestry for the + Greek divinities. But the same lack of acquaintance with the old Aryan + mythology vitiates all his conclusions. No doubt the Greek mythology is in + some particulars tinged with Phoenician conceptions. Aphrodite was + originally a purely Greek divinity, but in course of time she acquired + some of the attributes of the Semitic Astarte, and was hardly improved by + the change. Adonis is simply a Semitic divinity, imported into Greece. But + the same cannot be proved of Poseidon; <a href="#linknote-154" + name="linknoteref-154" id="linknoteref-154"><small>154</small></a> far + less of Hermes, who is identical with the Vedic Sarameyas, the rising + wind, the son of Sarama the dawn, the lying, tricksome wind-god, who + invented music, and conducts the souls of dead men to the house of Hades, + even as his counterpart the Norse Odin rushes over the tree-tops leading + the host of the departed. When one sees Iris, the messenger of Zeus, + referred to a Hebrew original, because of Jehovah's promise to Noah, one + is at a loss to understand the relationship between the two conceptions. + Nothing could be more natural to the Greeks than to call the rainbow the + messenger of the sky-god to earth-dwelling men; to call it a token set in + the sky by Jehovah, as the Hebrews did, was a very different thing. We may + admit the very close resemblance between the myth of Bellerophon and + Anteia, and that of Joseph and Zuleikha; but the fact that the Greek story + is explicable from Aryan antecedents, while the Hebrew story is isolated, + might perhaps suggest the inference that the Hebrews were the borrowers, + as they undoubtedly were in the case of the myth of Eden. Lastly, to + conclude that Helios is an Eastern deity, because he reigns in the East + over Thrinakia, is wholly unwarranted. Is not Helios pure Greek for the + sun? and where should his sacred island be placed, if not in the East? As + for his oxen, which wrought such dire destruction to the comrades of + Odysseus, and which seem to Mr. Gladstone so anomalous, they are those + very same unhappy cattle, the clouds, which were stolen by the storm-demon + Cacus and the wind-deity Hermes, and which furnished endless material for + legends to the poets of the Veda. + </p> + <p> + But the whole subject of comparative mythology seems to be terra incognita + to Mr. Gladstone. He pursues the even tenour of his way in utter disregard + of Grimm, and Kuhn, and Breal, and Dasent, and Burnouf. He takes no note + of the Rig-Veda, nor does he seem to realize that there was ever a time + when the ancestors of the Greeks and Hindus worshipped the same gods. Two + or three times he cites Max Muller, but makes no use of the copious data + which might be gathered from him. The only work which seems really to have + attracted his attention is M. Jacolliot's very discreditable performance + called "The Bible in India." Mr. Gladstone does not, indeed, unreservedly + approve of this book; but neither does he appear to suspect that it is a + disgraceful piece of charlatanry, written by a man ignorant of the very + rudiments of the subject which he professes to handle. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gladstone is equally out of his depth when he comes to treat purely + philological questions. Of the science of philology, as based upon + established laws of phonetic change, he seems to have no knowledge + whatever. He seems to think that two words are sufficiently proved to be + connected when they are seen to resemble each other in spelling or in + sound. Thus he quotes approvingly a derivation of the name Themis from an + assumed verb them, "to speak," whereas it is notoriously derived from + tiqhmi, as statute comes ultimately from stare. His reference of hieros, + "a priest," and geron, "an old man," to the same root, is utterly + baseless; the one is the Sanskrit ishiras, "a powerful man," the other is + the Sanskrit jaran, "an old man." The lists of words on pages 96-100 are + disfigured by many such errors; and indeed the whole purpose for which + they are given shows how sadly Mr. Gladstone's philology is in arrears. + The theory of Niebuhr—that the words common to Greek and Latin, + mostly descriptive of peaceful occupations, are Pelasgian—was + serviceable enough in its day, but is now rendered wholly antiquated by + the discovery that such words are Aryan, in the widest sense. The + Pelasgian theory works very smoothly so long as we only compare the Greek + with the Latin words,—as, for instance, sugon with jugum; but when + we add the English yoke and the Sanskrit yugam, it is evident that we have + got far out of the range of the Pelasgoi. But what shall we say when we + find Mr. Gladstone citing the Latin thalamus in support of this antiquated + theory? Doubtless the word thalamus is, or should be, significative of + peaceful occupations; but it is not a Latin word at all, except by + adoption. One might as well cite the word ensemble to prove the original + identity or kinship between English and French. + </p> + <p> + When Mr. Gladstone, leaving the dangerous ground of pure and applied + philology, confines himself to illustrating the contents of the Homeric + poems, he is always excellent. His chapter on the "Outer Geography" of the + Odyssey is exceedingly interesting; showing as it does how much may be + obtained from the patient and attentive study of even a single author. Mr. + Gladstone's knowledge of the SURFACE of the Iliad and Odyssey, so to + speak, is extensive and accurate. It is when he attempts to penetrate + beneath the surface and survey the treasures hidden in the bowels of the + earth, that he shows himself unprovided with the talisman of the wise + dervise, which alone can unlock those mysteries. But modern philology is + an exacting science: to approach its higher problems requires an amount of + preparation sufficient to terrify at the outset all but the boldest; and a + man who has had to regulate taxation, and make out financial statements, + and lead a political party in a great nation, may well be excused for + ignorance of philology. It is difficult enough for those who have little + else to do but to pore over treatises on phonetics, and thumb their + lexicons, to keep fully abreast with the latest views in linguistics. In + matters of detail one can hardly ever broach a new hypothesis without + misgivings lest somebody, in some weekly journal published in Germany, may + just have anticipated and refuted it. Yet while Mr. Gladstone may be + excused for being unsound in philology, it is far less excusable that he + should sit down to write a book about Homer, abounding in philological + statements, without the slightest knowledge of what has been achieved in + that science for several years past. In spite of all drawbacks, however, + his book shows an abiding taste for scholarly pursuits, and therefore + deserves a certain kind of praise. I hope,—though just now the idea + savours of the ludicrous,—that the day may some time arrive when OUR + Congressmen and Secretaries of the Treasury will spend their vacations in + writing books about Greek antiquities, or in illustrating the meaning of + Homeric phrases. + </p> + <p> + July, 1870. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. THE PRIMEVAL GHOST-WORLD. + </h2> + <p> + NO earnest student of human culture can as yet have forgotten or wholly + outlived the feeling of delight awakened by the first perusal of Max + Muller's brilliant "Essay on Comparative Mythology,"—a work in which + the scientific principles of myth-interpretation, though not newly + announced, were at least brought home to the reader with such an amount of + fresh and striking concrete illustration as they had not before received. + Yet it must have occurred to more than one reader that, while the analyses + of myths contained in this noble essay are in the main sound in principle + and correct in detail, nevertheless the author's theory of the genesis of + myth is expressed, and most likely conceived, in a way that is very + suggestive of carelessness and fallacy. There are obvious reasons for + doubting whether the existence of mythology can be due to any "disease," + abnormity, or hypertrophy of metaphor in language; and the criticism at + once arises, that with the myth-makers it was not so much the character of + the expression which originated the thought, as it was the thought which + gave character to the expression. It is not that the early Aryans were + myth-makers because their language abounded in metaphor; it is that the + Aryan mother-tongue abounded in metaphor because the men and women who + spoke it were myth-makers. And they were myth-makers because they had + nothing but the phenomena of human will and effort with which to compare + objective phenomena. Therefore it was that they spoke of the sun as an + unwearied voyager or a matchless archer, and classified inanimate no less + than animate objects as masculine and feminine. Max Muller's way of + stating his theory, both in this Essay and in his later Lectures, affords + one among several instances of the curious manner in which he combines a + marvellous penetration into the significance of details with a certain + looseness of general conception. <a href="#linknote-155" + name="linknoteref-155" id="linknoteref-155"><small>155</small></a> The + principles of philological interpretation are an indispensable aid to us + in detecting the hidden meaning of many a legend in which the powers of + nature are represented in the guise of living and thinking persons; but + before we can get at the secret of the myth-making tendency itself, we + must leave philology and enter upon a psychological study. We must inquire + into the characteristics of that primitive style of thinking to which it + seemed quite natural that the sun should be an unerring archer, and the + thunder-cloud a black demon or gigantic robber finding his richly merited + doom at the hands of the indignant Lord of Light. + </p> + <p> + Among recent treatises which have dealt with this interesting problem, we + shall find it advantageous to give especial attention to Mr. Tylor's + "Primitive Culture," <a href="#linknote-156" name="linknoteref-156" + id="linknoteref-156"><small>156</small></a> one of the few erudite works + which are at once truly great and thoroughly entertaining. The learning + displayed in it would do credit to a German specialist, both for extent + and for minuteness, while the orderly arrangement of the arguments and the + elegant lucidity of the style are such as we are accustomed to expect from + French essay-writers. And what is still more admirable is the way in which + the enthusiasm characteristic of a genial and original speculator is + tempered by the patience and caution of a cool-headed critic. Patience and + caution are nowhere more needed than in writers who deal with mythology + and with primitive religious ideas; but these qualities are too seldom + found in combination with the speculative boldness which is required when + fresh theories are to be framed or new paths of investigation opened. The + state of mind in which the explaining powers of a favourite theory are + fondly contemplated is, to some extent, antagonistic to the state of mind + in which facts are seen, with the eye of impartial criticism, in all their + obstinate and uncompromising reality. To be able to preserve the balance + between the two opposing tendencies is to give evidence of the most + consummate scientific training. It is from the want of such a balance that + the recent great work of Mr. Cox is at times so unsatisfactory. It may, I + fear, seem ill-natured to say so, but the eagerness with which Mr. Cox + waylays every available illustration of the physical theory of the origin + of myths has now and then the curious effect of weakening the reader's + conviction of the soundness of the theory. For my own part, though by no + means inclined to waver in adherence to a doctrine once adopted on good + grounds, I never felt so much like rebelling against the mythologic + supremacy of the Sun and the Dawn as when reading Mr. Cox's volumes. That + Mr. Tylor, while defending the same fundamental theory, awakens no such + rebellious feelings, is due to his clear perception and realization of the + fact that it is impossible to generalize in a single formula such + many-sided correspondences as those which primitive poetry end philosophy + have discerned between the life of man and the life of outward nature. + Whoso goes roaming up and down the elf-land of popular fancies, with sole + intent to resolve each episode of myth into some answering physical event, + his only criterion being outward resemblance, cannot be trusted in his + conclusions, since wherever he turns for evidence he is sure to find + something that can be made to serve as such. As Mr. Tylor observes, no + household legend or nursery rhyme is safe from his hermeneutics. "Should + he, for instance, demand as his property the nursery 'Song of Sixpence,' + his claim would be easily established,—obviously the four-and-twenty + blackbirds are the four-and-twenty hours, and the pie that holds them is + the underlying earth covered with the overarching sky,—how true a + touch of nature it is that when the pie is opened, that is, when day + breaks, the birds begin to sing; the King is the Sun, and his counting out + his money is pouring out the sunshine, the golden shower of Danae; the + Queen is the Moon, and her transparent honey the moonlight; the Maid is + the 'rosy-fingered' Dawn, who rises before the Sun, her master, and hangs + out the clouds, his clothes, across the sky; the particular blackbird, who + so tragically ends the tale by snipping off her nose, is the hour of + sunrise." In all this interpretation there is no a priori improbability, + save, perhaps, in its unbroken symmetry and completeness. That some + points, at least, of the story are thus derived from antique + interpretations of physical events, is in harmony with all that we know + concerning nursery rhymes. In short, "the time-honoured rhyme really wants + but one thing to prove it a sun-myth, that one thing being a proof by some + argument more valid than analogy." The character of the argument which is + lacking may be illustrated by a reference to the rhyme about Jack and + Jill, explained some time since in the paper on "The Origins of Folk + Lore." If the argument be thought valid which shows these ill-fated + children to be the spots on the moon, it is because the proof consists, + not in the analogy, which is in this case not especially obvious, but in + the fact that in the Edda, and among ignorant Swedish peasants of our own + day, the story of Jack and Jill is actually given as an explanation of the + moon-spots. To the neglect of this distinction between what is plausible + and what is supported by direct evidence, is due much of the crude + speculation which encumbers the study of myths. + </p> + <p> + It is when Mr. Tylor merges the study of mythology into the wider inquiry + into the characteristic features of the mode of thinking in which myths + originated, that we can best appreciate the practical value of that union + of speculative boldness and critical sobriety which everywhere + distinguishes him. It is pleasant to meet with a writer who can treat of + primitive religious ideas without losing his head over allegory and + symbolism, and who duly realizes the fact that a savage is not a + rabbinical commentator, or a cabalist, or a Rosicrucian, but a plain man + who draws conclusions like ourselves, though with feeble intelligence and + scanty knowledge. The mystic allegory with which such modern writers as + Lord Bacon have invested the myths of antiquity is no part of their + original clothing, but is rather the late product of a style of reasoning + from analogy quite similar to that which we shall perceive to have guided + the myth-makers in their primitive constructions. The myths and customs + and beliefs which, in an advanced stage of culture, seem meaningless save + when characterized by some quaintly wrought device of symbolic + explanation, did not seem meaningless in the lower culture which gave + birth to them. Myths, like words, survive their primitive meanings. In the + early stage the myth is part and parcel of the current mode of + philosophizing; the explanation which it offers is, for the time, the + natural one, the one which would most readily occur to any one thinking on + the theme with which the myth is concerned. But by and by the mode of + philosophizing has changed; explanations which formerly seemed quite + obvious no longer occur to any one, but the myth has acquired an + independent substantive existence, and continues to be handed down from + parents to children as something true, though no one can tell why it is + true: Lastly, the myth itself gradually fades from remembrance, often + leaving behind it some utterly unintelligible custom or seemingly absurd + superstitious notion. For example,—to recur to an illustration + already cited in a previous paper,—it is still believed here and + there by some venerable granny that it is wicked to kill robins; but he + who should attribute the belief to the old granny's refined sympathy with + all sentient existence, would be making one of the blunders which are + always committed by those who reason a priori about historical matters + without following the historical method. At an earlier date the + superstition existed in the shape of a belief that the killing of a robin + portends some calamity; in a still earlier form the calamity is specified + as death; and again, still earlier, as death by lightning. Another step + backward reveals that the dread sanctity of the robin is owing to the fact + that he is the bird of Thor, the lightning god; and finally we reach that + primitive stage of philosophizing in which the lightning is explained as a + red bird dropping from its beak a worm which cleaveth the rocks. Again, + the belief that some harm is sure to come to him who saves the life of a + drowning man, is unintelligible until it is regarded as a case of survival + in culture. In the older form of the superstition it is held that the + rescuer will sooner or later be drowned himself; and thus we pass to the + fetichistic interpretation of drowning as the seizing of the unfortunate + person by the water-spirit or nixy, who is naturally angry at being + deprived of his victim, and henceforth bears a special grudge against the + bold mortal who has thus dared to frustrate him. + </p> + <p> + The interpretation of the lightning as a red bird, and of drowning as the + work of a smiling but treacherous fiend, are parts of that primitive + philosophy of nature in which all forces objectively existing are + conceived as identical with the force subjectively known as volition. It + is this philosophy, currently known as fetichism, but treated by Mr. Tylor + under the somewhat more comprehensive name of "animism," which we must now + consider in a few of its most conspicuous exemplifications. When we have + properly characterized some of the processes which the untrained mind + habitually goes through, we shall have incidentally arrived at a fair + solution of the genesis of mythology. + </p> + <p> + Let us first note the ease with which the barbaric or uncultivated mind + reaches all manner of apparently fanciful conclusions through reckless + reasoning from analogy. It is through the operation of certain laws of + ideal association that all human thinking, that of the highest as well as + that of the lowest minds, is conducted: the discovery of the law of + gravitation, as well as the invention of such a superstition as the Hand + of Glory, is at bottom but a case of association of ideas. The difference + between the scientific and the mythologic inference consists solely in the + number of checks which in the former case combine to prevent any other + than the true conclusion from being framed into a proposition to which the + mind assents. Countless accumulated experiences have taught the modern + that there are many associations of ideas which do not correspond to any + actual connection of cause and effect in the world of phenomena; and he + has learned accordingly to apply to his newly framed notions the rigid + test of verification. Besides which the same accumulation of experiences + has built up an organized structure of ideal associations into which only + the less extravagant newly framed notions have any chance of fitting. The + primitive man, or the modern savage who is to some extent his counterpart, + must reason without the aid of these multifarious checks. That immense + mass of associations which answer to what are called physical laws, and + which in the mind of the civilized modern have become almost organic, have + not been formed in the mind of the savage; nor has he learned the + necessity of experimentally testing any of his newly framed notions, save + perhaps a few of the commonest. Consequently there is nothing but + superficial analogy to guide the course of his thought hither or thither, + and the conclusions at which he arrives will be determined by associations + of ideas occurring apparently at haphazard. Hence the quaint or grotesque + fancies with which European and barbaric folk-lore is filled, in the + framing of which the myth-maker was but reasoning according to the best + methods at his command. To this simplest class, in which the association + of ideas is determined by mere analogy, belong such cases as that of the + Zulu, who chews a piece of wood in order to soften the heart of the man + with whom he is about to trade for cows, or the Hessian lad who "thinks he + may escape the conscription by carrying a baby-girl's cap in his pocket,—a + symbolic way of repudiating manhood." <a href="#linknote-157" + name="linknoteref-157" id="linknoteref-157"><small>157</small></a> A + similar style of thinking underlies the mediaeval necromancer's practice + of making a waxen image of his enemy and shooting at it with arrows, in + order to bring about the enemy's death; as also the case of the magic rod, + mentioned in a previous paper, by means of which a sound thrashing can be + administered to an absent foe through the medium of an old coat which is + imagined to cover him. The principle involved here is one which is + doubtless familiar to most children, and is closely akin to that which + Irving so amusingly illustrates in his doughty general who struts through + a field of cabbages or corn-stalks, smiting them to earth with his cane, + and imagining himself a hero of chivalry conquering single-handed a host + of caitiff ruffians. Of like origin are the fancies that the breaking of a + mirror heralds a death in the family,—probably because of the + destruction of the reflected human image; that the "hair of the dog that + bit you" will prevent hydrophobia if laid upon the wound; or that the + tears shed by human victims, sacrificed to mother earth, will bring down + showers upon the land. Mr. Tylor cites Lord Chesterfield's remark, "that + the king had been ill, and that people generally expected the illness to + be fatal, because the oldest lion in the Tower, about the king's age, had + just died. 'So wild and capricious is the human mind,'" observes the + elegant letter-writer. But indeed, as Mr. Tylor justly remarks, "the + thought was neither wild nor capricious; it was simply such an argument + from analogy as the educated world has at length painfully learned to be + worthless, but which, it is not too much to declare, would to this day + carry considerable weight to the minds of four fifths of the human race." + Upon such symbolism are based most of the practices of divination and the + great pseudo-science of astrology. "It is an old story, that when two + brothers were once taken ill together, Hippokrates, the physician, + concluded from the coincidence that they were twins, but Poseidonios, the + astrologer, considered rather that they were born under the same + constellation; we may add that either argument would be thought reasonable + by a savage." So when a Maori fortress is attacked, the besiegers and + besieged look to see if Venus is near the moon. The moon represents the + fortress; and if it appears below the companion planet, the besiegers will + carry the day, otherwise they will be repulsed. Equally primitive and + childlike was Rousseau's train of thought on the memorable day at Les + Charmettes when, being distressed with doubts as to the safety of his + soul, he sought to determine the point by throwing a stone at a tree. + "Hit, sign of salvation; miss, sign of damnation!" The tree being a large + one and very near at hand, the result of the experiment was reassuring, + and the young philosopher walked away without further misgivings + concerning this momentous question. <a href="#linknote-158" + name="linknoteref-158" id="linknoteref-158"><small>158</small></a> + </p> + <p> + When the savage, whose highest intellectual efforts result only in + speculations of this childlike character, is confronted with the phenomena + of dreams, it is easy to see what he will make of them. His practical + knowledge of psychology is too limited to admit of his distinguishing + between the solidity of waking experience and what we may call the + unsubstantialness of the dream. He may, indeed, have learned that the + dream is not to be relied on for telling the truth; the Zulu, for example, + has even reached the perverse triumph of critical logic achieved by our + own Aryan ancestors in the saying that "dreams go by contraries." But the + Zulu has not learned, nor had the primeval Aryan learned, to disregard the + utterances of the dream as being purely subjective phenomena. To the mind + as yet untouched by modern culture, the visions seen and the voices heard + in sleep possess as much objective reality as the gestures and shouts of + waking hours. When the savage relates his dream, he tells how he SAW + certain dogs, dead warriors, or demons last night, the implication being + that the things seen were objects external to himself. As Mr. Spencer + observes, "his rude language fails to state the difference between seeing + and dreaming that he saw, doing and dreaming that he did. From this + inadequacy of his language it not only results that he cannot truly + represent this difference to others, but also that he cannot truly + represent it to himself. Hence in the absence of an alternative + interpretation, his belief, and that of those to whom he tells his + adventures, is that his OTHER SELF has been away and came back when he + awoke. And this belief, which we find among various existing savage + tribes, we equally find in the traditions of the early civilized races." + <a href="#linknote-159" name="linknoteref-159" id="linknoteref-159"><small>159</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Let us consider, for a moment, this assumption of the OTHER SELF, for upon + this is based the great mass of crude inference which constitutes the + primitive man's philosophy of nature. The hypothesis of the OTHER SELF, + which serves to account for the savage's wanderings during sleep in + strange lands and among strange people, serves also to account for the + presence in his dreams of parents, comrades, or enemies, known to be dead + and buried. The other self of the dreamer meets and converses with the + other selves of his dead brethren, joins with them in the hunt, or sits + down with them to the wild cannibal banquet. Thus arises the belief in an + ever-present world of souls or ghosts, a belief which the entire + experience of uncivilized man goes to strengthen and expand. The existence + of some tribe or tribes of savages wholly destitute of religious belief + has often been hastily asserted and as often called in question. But there + is no question that, while many savages are unable to frame a conception + so general as that of godhood, on the other hand no tribe has ever been + found so low in the scale of intelligence as not to have framed the + conception of ghosts or spiritual personalities, capable of being angered, + propitiated, or conjured with. Indeed it is not improbable a priori that + the original inference involved in the notion of the other self may be + sufficiently simple and obvious to fall within the capacity of animals + even less intelligent than uncivilized man. An authentic case is on record + of a Skye terrier who, being accustomed to obtain favours from his master + by sitting on his haunches, will also sit before his pet india-rubber ball + placed on the chimney-piece, evidently beseeching it to jump down and play + with him. <a href="#linknote-160" name="linknoteref-160" + id="linknoteref-160"><small>160</small></a> Such a fact as this is quite + in harmony with Auguste Comte's suggestion that such intelligent animals + as dogs, apes, and elephants may be capable of forming a few fetichistic + notions. The behaviour of the terrier here rests upon the assumption that + the ball is open to the same sort of entreaty which prevails with the + master; which implies, not that the wistful brute accredits the ball with + a soul, but that in his mind the distinction between life and inanimate + existence has never been thoroughly established. Just this confusion + between things living and things not living is present throughout the + whole philosophy of fetichism; and the confusion between things seen and + things dreamed, which suggests the notion of another self, belongs to this + same twilight stage of intelligence in which primeval man has not yet + clearly demonstrated his immeasurable superiority to the brutes. <a + href="#linknote-161" name="linknoteref-161" id="linknoteref-161"><small>161</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The conception of a soul or other self, capable of going away from the + body and returning to it, receives decisive confirmation from the + phenomena of fainting, trance, catalepsy, and ecstasy, <a + href="#linknote-162" name="linknoteref-162" id="linknoteref-162"><small>162</small></a> + which occur less rarely among savages, owing to their irregular mode of + life, than among civilized men. "Further verification," observes Mr. + Spencer, "is afforded by every epileptic subject, into whose body, during + the absence of the other self, some enemy has entered; for how else does + it happen that the other self on returning denies all knowledge of what + his body has been doing? And this supposition, that the body has been + 'possessed' by some other being, is confirmed by the phenomena of + somnambulism and insanity." Still further, as Mr. Spencer points out, when + we recollect that savages are very generally unwilling to have their + portraits taken, lest a portion of themselves should get carried off and + be exposed to foul play, <a href="#linknote-163" name="linknoteref-163" + id="linknoteref-163"><small>163</small></a> we must readily admit that the + weird reflection of the person and imitation of the gestures in rivers or + still woodland pools will go far to intensify the belief in the other + self. Less frequent but uniform confirmation is to be found in echoes, + which in Europe within two centuries have been commonly interpreted as the + voices of mocking fiends or wood-nymphs, and which the savage might well + regard as the utterances of his other self. + </p> + <p> + With the savage's unwillingness to have his portrait taken, lest it fall + into the hands of some enemy who may injure him by conjuring with it, may + be compared the reluctance which he often shows toward telling his name, + or mentioning the name of his friend, or king, or tutelar ghost-deity. In + fetichistic thought, the name is an entity mysteriously associated with + its owner, and it is not well to run the risk of its getting into hostile + hands. Along with this caution goes the similarly originated fear that the + person whose name is spoken may resent such meddling with his personality. + For the latter reason the Dayak will not allude by name to the small pox, + but will call it "the chief" or "jungle-leaves"; the Laplander speaks of + the bear as the "old man with the fur coat"; in Annam the tiger is called + "grandfather" or "Lord"; while in more civilized communities such sayings + are current as "talk of the Devil, and he will appear," with which we may + also compare such expressions as "Eumenides" or "gracious ones" for the + Furies, and other like euphemisms. Indeed, the maxim nil mortuis nisi + bonum had most likely at one time a fetichistic flavour. + </p> + <p> + In various islands of the Pacific, for both the reasons above specified, + the name of the reigning chief is so rigorously "tabu," that common words + and even syllables resembling that name in sound must be omitted from the + language. In New Zealand, where a chiefs name was Maripi, or "knife," it + became necessary to call knives nekra; and in Tahiti, fetu, "star," had to + be changed into fetia, and tui, "to strike," became tiai, etc., because + the king's name was Tu. Curious freaks are played with the languages of + these islands by this ever-recurring necessity. Among the Kafirs the women + have come to speak a different dialect from the men, because words + resembling the names of their lords or male relatives are in like manner + "tabu." The student of human culture will trace among such primeval + notions the origin of the Jew's unwillingness to pronounce the name of + Jehovah; and hence we may perhaps have before us the ultimate source of + the horror with which the Hebraizing Puritan regards such forms of light + swearing—"Mon Dieu," etc.—as are still tolerated on the + continent of Europe, but have disappeared from good society in Puritanic + England and America. The reader interested in this group of ideas and + customs may consult Tylor, Early History of Mankind, pp. 142, 363; Max + Muller, Science of Language, 6th edition, Vol. II. p. 37; Mackay, + Religious Development of the Greeks and Hebrews, Vol. I. p. 146. + </p> + <p> + Chamisso's well-known tale of Peter Schlemihl belongs to a widely diffused + family of legends, which show that a man's shadow has been generally + regarded not only as an entity, but as a sort of spiritual attendant of + the body, which under certain circumstances it may permanently forsake. It + is in strict accordance with this idea that not only in the classic + languages, but in various barbaric tongues, the word for "shadow" + expresses also the soul or other self. Tasmanians, Algonquins, + Central-Americans, Abipones, Basutos, and Zulus are cited by Mr. Tylor as + thus implicitly asserting the identity of the shadow with the ghost or + phantasm seen in dreams; the Basutos going so far as to think "that if a + man walks on the river-bank, a crocodile may seize his shadow in the water + and draw him in." Among the Algonquins a sick person is supposed to have + his shadow or other self temporarily detached from his body, and the + convalescent is at times "reproached for exposing himself before his + shadow was safely settled down in him." If the sick man has been plunged + into stupor, it is because his other self has travelled away as far as the + brink of the river of death, but not being allowed to cross has come back + and re-entered him. And acting upon a similar notion the ailing Fiji will + sometimes lie down and raise a hue and cry for his soul to be brought + back. Thus, continues Mr. Tylor, "in various countries the bringing back + of lost souls becomes a regular part of the sorcerer's or priest's + profession." <a href="#linknote-164" name="linknoteref-164" + id="linknoteref-164"><small>164</small></a> On Aryan soil we find the + notion of a temporary departure of the soul surviving to a late date in + the theory that the witch may attend the infernal Sabbath while her + earthly tabernacle is quietly sleeping at home. The primeval conception + reappears, clothed in bitterest sarcasm, in Dante's reference to his + living contemporaries whose souls he met with in the vaults of hell, while + their bodies were still walking about on the earth, inhabited by devils. + </p> + <p> + The theory which identifies the soul with the shadow, and supposes the + shadow to depart with the sickness and death of the body, would seem + liable to be attended with some difficulties in the way of verification, + even to the dim intelligence of the savage. But the propriety of + identifying soul and breath is borne out by all primeval experience. The + breath, which really quits the body at its decease, has furnished the + chief name for the soul, not only to the Hebrew, the Sanskrit, and the + classic tongues; not only to German and English, where geist, and ghost, + according to Max Muller, have the meaning of "breath," and are akin to + such words as gas, gust, and geyser; but also to numerous barbaric + languages. Among the natives of Nicaragua and California, in Java and in + West Australia, the soul is described as the air or breeze which passes in + and out through the nostrils and mouth; and the Greenlanders, according to + Cranz, reckon two separate souls, the breath and the shadow. "Among the + Seminoles of Florida, when a woman died in childbirth, the infant was held + over her face to receive her parting spirit, and thus acquire strength and + knowledge for its future use..... Their state of mind is kept up to this + day among Tyrolese peasants, who can still fancy a good man's soul to + issue from his mouth at death like a little white cloud." <a + href="#linknote-165" name="linknoteref-165" id="linknoteref-165"><small>165</small></a> + It is kept up, too, in Lancashire, where a well-known witch died a few + years since; "but before she could 'shuffle off this mortal coil' she must + needs TRANSFER HER FAMILIAR SPIRIT to some trusty successor. An intimate + acquaintance from a neighbouring township was consequently sent for in all + haste, and on her arrival was immediately closeted with her dying friend. + What passed between them has never fully transpired, but it is confidently + affirmed that at the close of the interview this associate RECEIVED THE + WITCH'S LAST BREATH INTO HER MOUTH AND WITH IT HER FAMILIAR SPIRIT. The + dreaded woman thus ceased to exist, but her powers for good or evil were + transferred to her companion; and on passing along the road from Burnley + to Blackburn we can point out a farmhouse at no great distance with whose + thrifty matron no neighbouring farmer will yet dare to quarrel." <a + href="#linknote-166" name="linknoteref-166" id="linknoteref-166"><small>166</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Of the theory of embodiment there will be occasion to speak further on. At + present let us not pass over the fact that the other self is not only + conceived as shadow or breath, which can at times quit the body during + life, but is also supposed to become temporarily embodied in the visible + form of some bird or beast. In discussing elsewhere the myth of Bishop + Hatto, we saw that the soul is sometimes represented in the form of a rat + or mouse; and in treating of werewolves we noticed the belief that the + spirits of dead ancestors, borne along in the night-wind, have taken on + the semblance of howling dogs or wolves. "Consistent with these quaint + ideas are ceremonies in vogue in China of bringing home in a cock (live or + artificial) the spirit of a man deceased in a distant place, and of + enticing into a sick man's coat the departing spirit which has already + left his body and so conveying it back." <a href="#linknote-167" + name="linknoteref-167" id="linknoteref-167"><small>167</small></a> In + Castren's great work on Finnish mythology, we find the story of the giant + who could not be killed because he kept his soul hidden in a twelve-headed + snake which he carried in a bag as he rode on horseback; only when the + secret was discovered and the snake carefully killed, did the giant yield + up his life. In this Finnish legend we have one of the thousand phases of + the story of the "Giant who had no Heart in his Body," but whose heart was + concealed, for safe keeping, in a duck's egg, or in a pigeon, carefully + disposed in some belfry at the world's end a million miles away, or + encased in a wellnigh infinite series of Chinese boxes. <a + href="#linknote-168" name="linknoteref-168" id="linknoteref-168"><small>168</small></a> + Since, in spite of all these precautions, the poor giant's heart + invariably came to grief, we need not wonder at the Karen superstition + that the soul is in danger when it quits the body on its excursions, as + exemplified in countless Indo-European stories of the accidental killing + of the weird mouse or pigeon which embodies the wandering spirit. + Conversely it is held that the detachment of the other self is fraught + with danger to the self which remains. In the philosophy of "wraiths" and + "fetches," the appearance of a double, like that which troubled Mistress + Affery in her waking dreams of Mr. Flintwinch, has been from time out of + mind a signal of alarm. "In New Zealand it is ominous to see the figure of + an absent person, for if it be shadowy and the face not visible, his death + may erelong be expected, but if the face be seen he is dead already. A + party of Maoris (one of whom told the story) were seated round a fire in + the open air, when there appeared, seen only by two of them, the figure of + a relative, left ill at home; they exclaimed, the figure vanished, and on + the return of the party it appeared that the sick man had died about the + time of the vision." <a href="#linknote-169" name="linknoteref-169" + id="linknoteref-169"><small>169</small></a> The belief in wraiths has + survived into modern times, and now and then appears in the records of + that remnant of primeval philosophy known as "spiritualism," as, for + example, in the case of the lady who "thought she saw her own father look + in at the church-window at the moment he was dying in his own house." + </p> + <p> + The belief in the "death-fetch," like the doctrine which identifies soul + with shadow, is instructive as showing that in barbaric thought the other + self is supposed to resemble the material self with which it has + customarily been associated. In various savage superstitions the minute + resemblance of soul to body is forcibly stated. The Australian, for + instance, not content with slaying his enemy, cuts off the right thumb of + the corpse, so that the departed soul may be incapacitated from throwing a + spear. Even the half-civilized Chinese prefer crucifixion to decapitation, + that their souls may not wander headless about the spirit-world. <a + href="#linknote-171" name="linknoteref-171" id="linknoteref-171"><small>171</small></a> + Thus we see how far removed from the Christian doctrine of souls is the + primeval theory of the soul or other self that figures in dreamland. So + grossly materialistic is the primitive conception that the savage who + cherishes it will bore holes in the coffin of his dead friend, so that the + soul may again have a chance, if it likes, to revisit the body. To this + day, among the peasants in some parts of Northern Europe, when Odin, the + spectral hunter, rides by attended by his furious host, the windows in + every sick-room are opened, in order that the soul, if it chooses to + depart, may not be hindered from joining in the headlong chase. And so, + adds Mr. Tylor, after the Indians of North America had spent a riotous + night in singeing an unfortunate captive to death with firebrands, they + would howl like the fiends they were, and beat the air with brushwood, to + drive away the distressed and revengeful ghost. "With a kindlier feeling, + the Congo negroes abstained for a whole year after a death from sweeping + the house, lest the dust should injure the delicate substance of the + ghost"; and even now, "it remains a German peasant saying that it is wrong + to slam a door, lest one should pinch a soul in it." <a + href="#linknote-172" name="linknoteref-172" id="linknoteref-172"><small>172</small></a> + Dante's experience with the ghosts in hell and purgatory, who were + astonished at his weighing down the boat in which they were carried, is + belied by the sweet German notion "that the dead mother's coming back in + the night to suckle the baby she has left on earth may be known by the + hollow pressed down in the bed where she lay." Almost universally ghosts, + however impervious to thrust of sword or shot of pistol, can eat and drink + like Squire Westerns. And lastly, we have the grotesque conception of + souls sufficiently material to be killed over again, as in the case of the + negro widows who, wishing to marry a second time, will go and duck + themselves in the pond, in order to drown the souls of their departed + husbands, which are supposed to cling about their necks; while, according + to the Fiji theory, the ghost of every dead warrior must go through a + terrible fight with Samu and his brethren, in which, if he succeeds, he + will enter Paradise, but if he fails he will be killed over again and + finally eaten by the dreaded Samu and his unearthly company. + </p> + <p> + From the conception of souls embodied in beast-forms, as above + illustrated, it is not a wide step to the conception of beast-souls which, + like human souls, survive the death of the tangible body. The wide-spread + superstitions concerning werewolves and swan-maidens, and the hardly less + general belief in metempsychosis, show that primitive culture has not + arrived at the distinction attained by modern philosophy between the + immortal man and the soulless brute. Still more direct evidence is + furnished by sundry savage customs. The Kafir who has killed an elephant + will cry that he did n't mean to do it, and, lest the elephant's soul + should still seek vengeance, he will cut off and bury the trunk, so that + the mighty beast may go crippled to the spirit-land. In like manner, the + Samoyeds, after shooting a bear, will gather about the body offering + excuses and laying the blame on the Russians; and the American redskin + will even put the pipe of peace into the dead animal's mouth, and beseech + him to forgive the deed. In Assam it is believed that the ghosts of slain + animals will become in the next world the property of the hunter who kills + them; and the Kamtchadales expressly declare that all animals, even flies + and bugs, will live after death,—a belief, which, in our own day, + has been indorsed on philosophical grounds by an eminent living + naturalist. <a href="#linknote-173" name="linknoteref-173" + id="linknoteref-173"><small>173</small></a> The Greenlanders, too, give + evidence of the same belief by supposing that when after an exhausting + fever the patient comes up in unprecedented health and vigour, it is + because he has lost his former soul and had it replaced by that of a young + child or a reindeer. In a recent work in which the crudest fancies of + primeval savagery are thinly disguised in a jargon learned from the + superficial reading of modern books of science, M. Figuier maintains that + human souls are for the most part the surviving souls of deceased animals; + in general, the souls of precocious musical children like Mozart come from + nightingales, while the souls of great architects have passed into them + from beavers, etc., etc. <a href="#linknote-174" name="linknoteref-174" + id="linknoteref-174"><small>174</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The practice of begging pardon of the animal one has just slain is in some + parts of the world extended to the case of plants. When the Talein offers + a prayer to the tree which he is about to cut down, it is obviously + because he regards the tree as endowed with a soul or ghost which in the + next life may need to be propitiated. And the doctrine of transmigration + distinctly includes plants along with animals among the future existences + into which the human soul may pass. + </p> + <p> + As plants, like animals, manifest phenomena of life, though to a much less + conspicuous degree, it is not incomprehensible that the savage should + attribute souls to them. But the primitive process of anthropomorphisation + does not end here. Not only the horse and dog, the bamboo, and the + oak-tree, but even lifeless objects, such as the hatchet, or bow and + arrows, or food and drink of the dead man, possess other selves which pass + into the world of ghosts. Fijis and other contemporary savages, when + questioned, expressly declare that this is their belief. "If an axe or a + chisel is worn out or broken up, away flies its soul for the service of + the gods." The Algonquins told Charlevoix that since hatchets and kettles + have shadows, no less than men and women, it follows, of course, that + these shadows (or souls) must pass along with human shadows (or souls) + into the spirit-land. In this we see how simple and consistent is the + logic which guides the savage, and how inevitable is the genesis of the + great mass of beliefs, to our minds so arbitrary and grotesque, which + prevail throughout the barbaric world. However absurd the belief that pots + and kettles have souls may seem to us, it is nevertheless the only belief + which can be held consistently by the savage to whom pots and kettles, no + less than human friends or enemies, may appear in his dreams; who sees + them followed by shadows as they are moved about; who hears their voices, + dull or ringing, when they are struck; and who watches their doubles + fantastically dancing in the water as they are carried across the stream. + <a href="#linknote-175" name="linknoteref-175" id="linknoteref-175"><small>175</small></a> + To minds, even in civilized countries, which are unused to the severe + training of science, no stronger evidence can be alleged than what is + called "the evidence of the senses"; for it is only long familiarity with + science which teaches us that the evidence of the senses is trustworthy + only in so far as it is correctly interpreted by reason. For the truth of + his belief in the ghosts of men and beasts, trees and axes, the savage has + undeniably the evidence of his senses which have so often seen, heard, and + handled these other selves. + </p> + <p> + The funeral ceremonies of uncultured races freshly illustrate this crude + philosophy, and receive fresh illustration from it. On the primitive + belief in the ghostly survival of persons and objects rests the almost + universal custom of sacrificing the wives, servants, horses, and dogs of + the departed chief of the tribe, as well as of presenting at his shrine + sacred offerings of food, ornaments, weapons, and money. Among the Kayans + the slaves who are killed at their master's tomb are enjoined to take + great care of their master's ghost, to wash and shampoo it, and to nurse + it when sick. Other savages think that "all whom they kill in this world + shall attend them as slaves after death," and for this reason the thrifty + Dayaks of Borneo until lately would not allow their young men to marry + until they had acquired some post mortem property by procuring at least + one human head. It is hardly necessary to do more than allude to the Fiji + custom of strangling all the wives of the deceased at his funeral, or to + the equally well-known Hindu rite of suttee. Though, as Wilson has shown, + the latter rite is not supported by any genuine Vedic authority, but only + by a shameless Brahmanic corruption of the sacred text, Mr. Tylor is + nevertheless quite right in arguing that unless the horrible custom had + received the sanction of a public opinion bequeathed from pre-Vedic times, + the Brahmans would have had no motive for fraudulently reviving it; and + this opinion is virtually established by the fact of the prevalence of + widow sacrifice among Gauls, Scandinavians, Slaves, and other European + Aryans. <a href="#linknote-176" name="linknoteref-176" id="linknoteref-176"><small>176</small></a> + Though under English rule the rite has been forcibly suppressed, yet the + archaic sentiments which so long maintained it are not yet extinct. Within + the present year there has appeared in the newspapers a not improbable + story of a beautiful and accomplished Hindu lady who, having become the + wife of a wealthy Englishman, and after living several years in England + amid the influences of modern society, nevertheless went off and privately + burned herself to death soon after her husband's decease. + </p> + <p> + The reader who thinks it far-fetched to interpret funeral offerings of + food, weapons, ornaments, or money, on the theory of object-souls, will + probably suggest that such offerings may be mere memorials of affection or + esteem for the dead man. Such, indeed, they have come to be in many + countries after surviving the phase of culture in which they originated; + but there is ample evidence to show that at the outset they were presented + in the belief that their ghosts would be eaten or otherwise employed by + the ghost of the dead man. The stout club which is buried with the dead + Fiji sends its soul along with him that he may be able to defend himself + against the hostile ghosts which will lie in ambush for him on the road to + Mbulu, seeking to kill and eat him. Sometimes the club is afterwards + removed from the grave as of no further use, since its ghost is all that + the dead man needs. In like manner, "as the Greeks gave the dead man the + obolus for Charon's toll, and the old Prussians furnished him with + spending money, to buy refreshment on his weary journey, so to this day + German peasants bury a corpse with money in his mouth or hand," and this + is also said to be one of the regular ceremonies of an Irish wake. Of + similar purport were the funeral feasts and oblations of food in Greece + and Italy, the "rice-cakes made with ghee" destined for the Hindu + sojourning in Yama's kingdom, and the meat and gruel offered by the + Chinaman to the manes of his ancestors. "Many travellers have described + the imagination with which the Chinese make such offerings. It is that the + spirits of the dead consume the impalpable essence of the food, leaving + behind its coarse material substance, wherefore the dutiful sacrificers, + having set out sumptuous feasts for ancestral souls, allow them a proper + time to satisfy their appetite, and then fall to themselves." <a + href="#linknote-177" name="linknoteref-177" id="linknoteref-177"><small>177</small></a> + So in the Homeric sacrifice to the gods, after the deity has smelled the + sweet savour and consumed the curling steam that rises ghost-like from the + roasting viands, "the assembled warriors devour the remains." <a + href="#linknote-178" name="linknoteref-178" id="linknoteref-178"><small>178</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Thus far the course of fetichistic thought which we have traced out, with + Mr. Tylor's aid, is such as is not always obvious to the modern inquirer + without considerable concrete illustration. The remainder of the process, + resulting in that systematic and complete anthropomorphisation of nature + which has given rise to mythology, may be more succinctly described. + Gathering together the conclusions already obtained, we find that daily or + frequent experience of the phenomena of shadows and dreams has combined + with less frequent experience of the phenomena of trance, ecstasy, and + insanity, to generate in the mind of uncultured man the notion of a + twofold existence appertaining alike to all animate or inanimate objects: + as all alike possess material bodies, so all alike possess ghosts or + souls. Now when the theory of object-souls is expanded into a general + doctrine of spirits, the philosophic scheme of animism is completed. Once + habituated to the conception of souls of knives and tobacco-pipes passing + to the land of ghosts, the savage cannot avoid carrying the interpretation + still further, so that wind and water, fire and storm, are accredited with + indwelling spirits akin by nature to the soul which inhabits the human + frame. That the mighty spirit or demon by whose impelling will the trees + are rooted up and the storm-clouds driven across the sky should resemble a + freed human soul, is a natural inference, since uncultured man has not + attained to the conception of physical force acting in accordance with + uniform methods, and hence all events are to his mind the manifestations + of capricious volition. If the fire burns down his hut, it is because the + fire is a person with a soul, and is angry with him, and needs to be + coaxed into a kindlier mood by means of prayer or sacrifice. Thus the + savage has a priori no alternative but to regard fire-soul as something + akin to human-soul; and in point of fact we find that savage philosophy + makes no distinction between the human ghost and the elemental demon or + deity. This is sufficiently proved by the universal prevalence of the + worship of ancestors. The essential principle of manes-worship is that the + tribal chief or patriarch, who has governed the community during life, + continues also to govern it after death, assisting it in its warfare with + hostile tribes, rewarding brave warriors, and punishing traitors and + cowards. Thus from the conception of the living king we pass to the notion + of what Mr. Spencer calls "the god-king," and thence to the rudimentary + notion of deity. Among such higher savages as the Zulus, the doctrine of + divine ancestors has been developed to the extent of recognizing a first + ancestor, the Great Father, Unkulunkulu, who made the world. But in the + stratum of savage thought in which barbaric or Aryan folk-lore is for the + most part based, we find no such exalted speculation. The ancestors of the + rude Veddas and of the Guinea negroes, the Hindu pitris (patres, + "fathers"), and the Roman manes have become elemental deities which send + rain or sunshine, health or sickness, plenty or famine, and to which their + living offspring appeal for guidance amid the vicissitudes of life. <a + href="#linknote-179" name="linknoteref-179" id="linknoteref-179"><small>179</small></a> + The theory of embodiment, already alluded to, shows how thoroughly the + demons which cause disease are identified with human and object souls. In + Australasia it is a dead man's ghost which creeps up into the liver of the + impious wretch who has ventured to pronounce his name; while conversely in + the well-known European theory of demoniacal possession, it is a fairy + from elf-land, or an imp from hell, which has entered the body of the + sufferer. In the close kinship, moreover, between disease-possession and + oracle-possession, where the body of the Pythia, or the medicine-man, is + placed under the direct control of some great deity, <a + href="#linknote-180" name="linknoteref-180" id="linknoteref-180"><small>180</small></a> + we may see how by insensible transitions the conception of the human ghost + passes into the conception of the spiritual numen, or divinity. + </p> + <p> + To pursue this line of inquiry through the countless nymphs and dryads and + nixies of the higher nature-worship up to the Olympian divinities of + classic polytheism, would be to enter upon the history of religious + belief, and in so doing to lose sight of our present purpose, which has + merely been to show by what mental process the myth-maker can speak of + natural objects in language which implies that they are animated persons. + Brief as our account of this process has been, I believe that enough has + been said, not only to reveal the inadequacy of purely philological + solutions (like those contained in Max Muller's famous Essay) to explain + the growth of myths, but also to exhibit the vast importance for this + purpose of the kind of psychological inquiry into the mental habits of + savages which Mr. Tylor has so ably conducted. Indeed, however lacking we + may still be in points of detail, I think we have already reached a very + satisfactory explanation of the genesis of mythology. Since the essential + characteristic of a myth is that it is an attempt to explain some natural + phenomenon by endowing with human feelings and capacities the senseless + factors in the phenomenon, and since it has here been shown how uncultured + man, by the best use he can make of his rude common sense, must inevitably + come, and has invariably come, to regard all objects as endowed with + souls, and all nature as peopled with supra-human entities shaped after + the general pattern of the human soul, I am inclined to suspect that we + have got very near to the root of the whole matter. We can certainly find + no difficulty in seeing why a water-spout should be described in the + "Arabian Nights" as a living demon: "The sea became troubled before them, + and there arose from it a black pillar, ascending towards the sky, and + approaching the meadow,.... and behold it was a Jinni, of gigantic + stature." We can see why the Moslem camel-driver should find it most + natural to regard the whirling simoom as a malignant Jinni; we may + understand how it is that the Persian sees in bodily shape the scarlet + fever as "a blushing maid with locks of flame and cheeks all rosy red"; + and we need not consider it strange that the primeval Aryan should have + regarded the sun as a voyager, a climber, or an archer, and the clouds as + cows driven by the wind-god Hermes to their milking. The identification of + William Tell with the sun becomes thoroughly intelligible; nor can we be + longer surprised at the conception of the howling night-wind as a ravenous + wolf. When pots and kettles are thought to have souls that live hereafter, + there is no difficulty in understanding how the blue sky can have been + regarded as the sire of gods and men. And thus, as the elves and bogarts + of popular lore are in many cases descended from ancient divinities of + Olympos and Valhalla, so these in turn must acknowledge their ancestors in + the shadowy denizens of the primeval ghost-world. + </p> + <p> + August, 1872. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTE. + </h2> + <p> + THE following are some of the modern works most likely to be of use to the + reader who is interested in the legend of William Tell. + </p> + <p> + HISELY, J. J. Dissertatio historiea inauguralis de Oulielmo Tellio, etc. + Groningae, 1824. + </p> + <p> + IDELER, J. L. Die Sage von dem Schuss des Tell. Berlin, 1836. + </p> + <p> + HAUSSER, L. Die Sage von Tell aufs Neue kritisch untersucht. Heidelberg, + 1840. + </p> + <p> + HISELY, J. J. Recherches critiques sur l'histoire de Guillaume Tell. + Lausanne, 1843. + </p> + <p> + LIEBENAU, H. Die Tell-Sage zu dem Jahre 1230 historisoh nach neuesten + Quellen. Aarau, 1864. + </p> + <p> + VISCHER, W. Die Sage von der Befreinng der Waldstatte, etc. Nebst einer + Beilage: das alteste Tellensehauspiel. Leipzig, 1867. + </p> + <p> + BORDIER, H. L. Le Grutli et Guillaume Tell, ou defense de la tradition + vulgaire sur les origines de la confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, + 1869. + </p> + <p> + The same. La querelle sur les traditions concernant l'origine de la + confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + </p> + <p> + RILLIET, A. Les origines de la confederation suisse: histoire et legende. + 2eS ed., revue et corrigee. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + </p> + <p> + The same. Lettre a M. Henri Bordier a propos de sa defense de la tradition + vulgaire sur les origines de la confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, + 1869. + </p> + <p> + HUNGERBUHLER, H. Etude critique sur les traditions relatives aux origines + de la confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + </p> + <p> + MEYER, KARL. Die Tellsage. [In Bartsch, Germanistische Studien, I. + 159-170. Wien, 1872.] + </p> + <p> + See also the articles by M. Scherer, in Le Temps, 18 Feb., 1868; by M. + Reuss, in the Revue critique d'histoire, 1868; by M. de Wiss, in the + Journal de Geneve, 7 July, 1868; also Revue critique, 17 July, 1869; + Journal de Geneve, 24 Oct., 1868; Gazette de Lausanne, feuilleton + litteraire, 2-5 Nov., 1868, "Les origines de la confederation suisse," par + M. Secretan; Edinburgh Review, Jan., 1869, "The Legend of Tell and Rutli." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_FOOT" id="link2H_FOOT"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FOOTNOTES: + </h2> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1 (<a href="#linknoteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ See Delepierre, Historical + Difficulties, p. 75.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2 (<a href="#linknoteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ Saxo Grammaticus, Bk. X. p. + 166, ed. Frankf. 1576.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3" id="linknote-3"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3 (<a href="#linknoteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ According to Mr. Isaac + Taylor, the name is really derived from "St. Celert, a Welsh saint of the + fifth century, to whom the church of Llangeller is consecrated." (Words + and Places, p. 339.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-4" id="linknote-4"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 4 (<a href="#linknoteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare Krilof's story of + the Gnat and the Shepherd, in Mr. Ralston's excellent version, Krilof and + his Fables, p. 170. Many parallel examples are cited by Mr. Baring-Gould, + Curious Myths, Vol. I. pp. 126-136. See also the story of Folliculus,—Swan, + Gesta Romanorum, ad. Wright, Vol. I. p. lxxxii] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-5" id="linknote-5"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 5 (<a href="#linknoteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ See Cox, Mythology of the + Aryan Nations, Vol. I. pp. 145-149.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-6" id="linknote-6"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 6 (<a href="#linknoteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ The same incident occurs in + the Arabian story of Seyf-el-Mulook and Bedeea-el-Jemal, where the Jinni's + soul is enclosed in the crop of a sparrow, and the sparrow imprisoned in a + small box, and this enclosed in another small box, and this again in seven + other boxes, which are put into seven chests, contained in a coffer of + marble, which is sunk in the ocean that surrounds the world. + Seyf-el-Mulook raises the coffer by the aid of Suleyman's seal-ring, and + having extricated the sparrow, strangles it, whereupon the Jinni's body is + converted into a heap of black ashes, and Seyf-el-Mulook escapes with the + maiden Dolet-Khatoon. See Lane's Arabian Nights, Vol. III. p. 316.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-7" id="linknote-7"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 7 (<a href="#linknoteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ The same incident is + repeated in the story of Hassan of El-Basrah. See Lane's Arabian Nights, + Vol. III p. 452.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-8" id="linknote-8"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 8 (<a href="#linknoteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ "Retrancher le merveilleux + d'un mythe, c'est le supprimer."—Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 50.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-9" id="linknote-9"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 9 (<a href="#linknoteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ "No distinction between the + animate and inanimate is made in the languages of the Eskimos, the + Choctaws, the Muskoghee, and the Caddo. Only the Iroquois, Cherokee, and + the Algonquin-Lenape have it, so far as is known, and with them it is + partial." According to the Fijians, "vegetables and stones, nay, even + tools and weapons, pots and canoes, have souls that are immortal, and + that, like the souls of men, pass on at last to Mbulu, the abode of + departed spirits."—M'Lennan, The Worship of Animals and Plants, + Fortnightly Review, Vol. XII. p, 416.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-10" id="linknote-10"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 10 (<a href="#linknoteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ Marcus Aurelius, V. 7.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-11" id="linknote-11"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 11 (<a href="#linknoteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ Some of these etymologies + are attacked by Mr. Mahaffy in his Prolegomena to Ancient History, p. 49. + After long consideration I am still disposed to follow Max Muller in + adopting them, with the possible exception of Achilleus. With Mr. Mahaffy + s suggestion (p. 52) that many of the Homeric legends may have clustered + around some historical basis, I fully agree; as will appear, further on, + from my paper on "Juventus Mundi."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-12" id="linknote-12"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 12 (<a href="#linknoteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ Les facultes qui + engendrent la mythologie sont les memes que celles qui engendront la + philosophie, et ce n'est pas sans raison que l'Inde et la Grece nous + presentent le phenomene de la plus riche mythologie a cote de la plus + profonde metaphysique. "La conception de la multiplicite dans l'univers, + c'est le polytheisme chez les peuples enfants; c'est la science chez les + peuples arrives a l'age mur."—Renan, Hist. des Langues Semitiques, + Tom. I. p. 9.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-13" id="linknote-13"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 13 (<a href="#linknoteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ Cases coming under this + head are discussed further on, in my paper on "Myths of the Barbaric + World."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-14" id="linknote-14"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 14 (<a href="#linknoteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ A collection of these + interesting legends may be found in Baring-Gould's "Curious Myths of the + Middle Ages," of which work this paper was originally a review.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-15" id="linknote-15"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 15 (<a href="#linknoteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ See Procopius, De Bello + Gothico, IV. 20; Villemarque, Barzas Breiz, I. 136. As a child I was + instructed by an old nurse that Vas Diemen's Land is the home of ghosts + and departed spirits.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-16" id="linknote-16"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 16 (<a href="#linknoteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Curious + Myths, Vol. I. p. 197.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-17" id="linknote-17"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 17 (<a href="#linknoteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ Hence perhaps the adage, + "Always remember to pay the piper."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-18" id="linknote-18"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 18 (<a href="#linknoteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ And it reappears as the + mysterious lyre of the Gaelic musician, who + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Could harp a fish out o' the water, + Or bluid out of a stane, + Or milk out of a maiden's breast, + That bairns had never nane."] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-19" id="linknote-19"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 19 (<a href="#linknoteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Curious + Myths, Vol. II. p. 159.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-20" id="linknote-20"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 20 (<a href="#linknoteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ Perhaps we may trace back + to this source the frantic terror which Irish servant-girls often manifest + at sight of a mouse.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-21" id="linknote-21"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 21 (<a href="#linknoteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ In Persia a dog is + brought to the bedside of the person who is dying, in order that the soul + may be sure of a prompt escort. The same custom exists in India. Breal, + Hercule et Cacus, p. 123.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-22" id="linknote-22"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 22 (<a href="#linknoteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ The Devil, who is + proverbially "active in a gale of wind," is none other than Hermes.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-23" id="linknote-23"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 23 (<a href="#linknoteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ "Il faut que la coeur + devienne ancien parmi les aneiennes choses, et la plenitude de l'histoire + ne se devoile qu'a celui qui descend, ainsi dispose, dans le passe. Mais + il faut que l'esprit demeure moderne, et n'oublie jamais qu'il n'y a pour + lui d'autre foi que la foi scientifique."—LITTRS.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-24" id="linknote-24"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 24 (<a href="#linknoteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ For an admirable example + of scientific self-analysis tracing one of these illusions to its + psychological sources, see the account of Dr. Lazarus, in Taine, De + l'Intelligence, Vol. I. pp. 121-125.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-25" id="linknote-25"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 25 (<a href="#linknoteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ See the story of Aymar in + Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. I. pp. 57-77. The learned author + attributes the discomfiture to the uncongenial Parisian environment; which + is a style of reasoning much like that of my village sorcerer, I fear.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-26" id="linknote-26"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 26 (<a href="#linknoteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ Kelly, Indo-European + Folk-Lore, p. 177.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-27" id="linknote-27"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 27 (<a href="#linknoteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ The story of the + luck-flower is well told in verse by Mr. Baring Gould, in his Silver + Store, p. 115, seq.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-28" id="linknote-28"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 28 (<a href="#linknoteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ 1 Kings vi. 7.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-29" id="linknote-29"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 29 (<a href="#linknoteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare the Mussulman + account of the building of the temple, in Baring-Gould, Legends of the + Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 337, 338. And see the story of Diocletian's + ostrich, Swan, Gesta Romanorum, ed. Wright, Vol I. p. lxiv. See also the + pretty story of the knight unjustly imprisoned, id. p. cii.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-30" id="linknote-30"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 30 (<a href="#linknoteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ "We have the receipt of + fern-seed. We walk invisible." —Shakespeare, Henry IV. See Ralston, + Songs of the Russian People, p. 98] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-31" id="linknote-31"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 31 (<a href="#linknoteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ Henderson, Folk-Lore of + the Northern Counties of England, p. 202] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-32" id="linknote-32"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 32 (<a href="#linknoteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ Kuhn, Die Herabkunft des + Feuers und des Gottertranks. Berlin, 1859.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-33" id="linknote-33"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 33 (<a href="#linknoteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ "Saga me forwhan byth seo + sunne read on aefen? Ic the secge, forthon heo locath on helle.—Tell + me, why is the sun red at even? I tell thee, because she looketh on hell." + Thorpe, Analecta Anglo-Saxonica, p. 115, apud Tylor, Primitive Culture, + Vol. II. p. 63. Barbaric thought had partly anticipated my childish + theory.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-34" id="linknote-34"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 34 (<a href="#linknoteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ "Still in North Germany + does the peasant say of thunder, that the angels are playing skittles + aloft, and of the snow, that they are shaking up the feather beds in + heaven."—Baring-Gould, Book of Werewolves, p. 172.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-35" id="linknote-35"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 35 (<a href="#linknoteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Polynesians imagine + that the sky descends at the horizon and encloses the earth. Hence they + call foreigners papalangi, or 'heaven-bursters,' as having broken in from + another world outside."—Max Muller, Chips, II. 268.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-36" id="linknote-36"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 36 (<a href="#linknoteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ "—And said the + gods, let there be a hammered plate in the midst of the waters, and let it + be dividing between waters and waters." Genesis i. 6.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-37" id="linknote-37"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 37 (<a href="#linknoteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ Genesis vii. 11.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-38" id="linknote-38"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 38 (<a href="#linknoteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ See Kelly, Indo-European + Folk-Lore, p 120; who states also that in Bengal the Garrows burn their + dead in a small boat, placed on top of the funeral-pile. In their + character of cows, also, the clouds were regarded as psychopomps; and + hence it is still a popular superstition that a cow breaking into the yard + foretokens a death in the family.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-39" id="linknote-39"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 39 (<a href="#linknoteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ The sun-god Freyr had a + cloud-ship called Skithblathnir, which is thus described in Dasent's Prose + Edda: "She is so great, that all the AEsir, with their weapons and + war-gear, may find room on board her"; but "when there is no need of + faring on the sea in her, she is made.... with so much craft that Freyr + may fold her together like a cloth, and keep her in his bag." This same + virtue was possessed by the fairy pavilion which the Peri Banou gave to + Ahmed; the cloud which is no bigger than a man's hand may soon overspread + the whole heaven, and shade the Sultan's army from the solar rays.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-40" id="linknote-40"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 40 (<a href="#linknoteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ Euhemerism has done its + best with this bird, representing it as an immense vulture or condor or as + a reminiscence of the extinct dodo. But a Chinese myth, cited by Klaproth, + well preserves its true character when it describes it as "a bird which in + flying obscures the sun, and of whose quills are made water-tuns." See + Nouveau Journal Asiatique, Tom. XII. p. 235. The big bird in the Norse + tale of the "Blue Belt" belongs to the same species.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-41" id="linknote-41"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 41 (<a href="#linknoteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Curious + Myths, Vol. II. p. 146. Compare Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 237, + seq.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-42" id="linknote-42"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 42 (<a href="#linknoteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ "If Polyphemos's eye be + the sun, then Odysseus, the solar hero, extinguishes himself, a very + primitive instance of suicide." Mahaffy, Prolegomena, p. 57. See also + Brown, Poseidon, pp. 39, 40. This objection would be relevant only in case + Homer were supposed to be constructing an allegory with entire knowledge + of its meaning. It has no validity whatever when we recollect that Homer + could have known nothing of the incongruity.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-43" id="linknote-43"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 43 (<a href="#linknoteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ The Sanskrit myth-teller + indeed mixes up his materials in a way which seems ludicrous to a Western + reader. He describes Indra (the sun-god) as not only cleaving the + cloud-mountains with his sword, but also cutting off their wings and + hurling them from the sky. See Burnouf, Bhagavata Purana, VI. 12, 26.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-44" id="linknote-44"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 44 (<a href="#linknoteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ Mr. Tylor offers a + different, and possibly a better, explanation of the Symplegades as the + gates of Night through which the solar ship, having passed successfully + once, may henceforth pass forever. See the details of the evidence in his + Primitive Culture, I. 315.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-45" id="linknote-45"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 45 (<a href="#linknoteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ The Sanskrit parvata, a + bulging or inflated body, means both "cloud" and "mountain." "In the Edda, + too, the rocks, said to have been fashioned out of Ymir's bones, are + supposed to be intended for clouds. In Old Norse Klakkr means both cloud + and rock; nay, the English word CLOUD itself has been identified with the + Anglo-Saxon clud, rock. See Justi, Orient und Occident, Vol. II. p. 62." + Max Muller, Rig-Veda, Vol. 1. p. 44.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-46" id="linknote-46"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 46 (<a href="#linknoteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ In accordance with the + mediaeval "doctrine of signatures," it was maintained "that the hard, + stony seeds of the Gromwell must be good for gravel, and the knotty tubers + of scrophularia for scrofulous glands; while the scaly pappus of scaliosa + showed it to be a specific in leprous diseases, the spotted leaves of + pulmonaria that it was a sovereign remedy for tuberculous lungs, and the + growth of saxifrage in the fissures of rocks that it would disintegrate + stone in the bladder." Prior, Popular Names of British Plants, Introd., p. + xiv. See also Chapiel, La Doctrine des Signatures. Paris, 1866.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-47" id="linknote-47"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 47 (<a href="#linknoteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ Indeed, the wish-bone, or + forked clavicle of a fowl, itself belongs to the same family of talismans + as the divining-rod.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-48" id="linknote-48"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 48 (<a href="#linknoteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ The ash, on the other + hand, has been from time immemorial used for spears in many parts of the + Aryan domain. The word oesc meant, in Anglo-Saxon, indifferently + "ash-tree," or "spear"; and the same is, or has been, true of the French + fresne and the Greek melia. The root of oesc appears in the Sanskrit as, + "to throw" or "lance," whence asa, "a bow," and asana, "an arrow." See + Pictet, Origines Indo-Europeennes, I. 222.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-49" id="linknote-49"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 49 (<a href="#linknoteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare Spenser's story + of Sir Guyon, in the "Faery Queen," where, however, the knight fares + better than this poor priest. Usually these lightning-caverns were like + Ixion's treasure-house, into which none might look and live. This + conception is the foundation of part of the story of Blue-Beard and of the + Arabian tale of the third one-eyed Calender] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-50" id="linknote-50"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 50 (<a href="#linknoteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ Cox, Mythology of the + Aryan Nations, Vol. 1. p. 161.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-51" id="linknote-51"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 51 (<a href="#linknoteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ Kelly, Indo-European + Folk-Lore, pp. 147, 183, 186, 193.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-52" id="linknote-52"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 52 (<a href="#linknoteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ Brinton, Myths of the New + World, p. 151.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-53" id="linknote-53"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 53 (<a href="#linknoteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ Callaway, Zulu Nursery + Tales, I. 173, Note 12.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-54" id="linknote-54"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 54 (<a href="#linknoteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, Early History of + Mankind, p. 238; Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 254; Darwin, Naturalist's + Voyage, p. 409.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-55" id="linknote-55"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 55 (<a href="#linknoteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ The production of fire by + the drill is often called churning, e. g. "He took the uvati [chark], and + sat down and churned it, and kindled a fire." Callaway, Zulu Nursery + Tales, I. 174.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-56" id="linknote-56"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 56 (<a href="#linknoteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ Kelly, Indo-European + Folk-Lore, p. 39. Burnouf, Bhagavata Purana, VIII. 6, 32.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-57" id="linknote-57"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 57 (<a href="#linknoteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Curious + Myths, p. 149.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-58" id="linknote-58"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 58 (<a href="#linknoteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ It is also the + regenerating water of baptism, and the "holy water" of the Roman + Catholic.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-59" id="linknote-59"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 59 (<a href="#linknoteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ In the Vedas the rain-god + Soma, originally the personification of the sacrificial ambrosia, is the + deity who imparts to men life, knowledge, and happiness. See Breal, + Hercule et Cacus, p. 85. Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 277.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-60" id="linknote-60"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 60 (<a href="#linknoteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ We may, perhaps, see here + the reason for making the Greek fire-god Hephaistos the husband of + Aphrodite.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-61" id="linknote-61"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 61 (<a href="#linknoteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ "Our country maidens are + well aware that triple leaves plucked at hazard from the common ash are + worn in the breast, for the purpose of causing prophetic dreams respecting + a dilatory lover. The leaves of the yellow trefoil are supposed to possess + similar virtues."—Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore, p. + 20.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-62" id="linknote-62"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 62 (<a href="#linknoteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ In Peru, a mighty and + far-worshipped deity was Catequil, the thunder-god,.... "he who in + thunder-flash and clap hurls from his sling the small, round, smooth + thunder-stones, treasured in the villages as fire-fetishes and charms to + kindle the flames of love."—Tylor, op. cit. Vol. II. p. 239] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-63" id="linknote-63"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 63 (<a href="#linknoteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ In Polynesia, "the great + deity Maui adds a new complication to his enigmatic solar-celestial + character by appearing as a wind-god."—Tylor, op. cit. Vol. II. p. + 242.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-64" id="linknote-64"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 64 (<a href="#linknoteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare Plato, Republic, + VIII. 15.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-65" id="linknote-65"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 65 (<a href="#linknoteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ Were-wolf = man-wolf, wer + meaning "man." Garou is a Gallic corruption of werewolf, so that + loup-garou is a tautological expression.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-66" id="linknote-66"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 66 (<a href="#linknoteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ Meyer, in Bunsen's + Philosophy of Universal History, Vol. I. p. 151.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-67" id="linknote-67"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 67 (<a href="#linknoteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ Aimoin, De Gestis + Francorum, II. 5.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-68" id="linknote-68"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 68 (<a href="#linknoteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ Taylor, Words and Places, + p. 393.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-69" id="linknote-69"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 69 (<a href="#linknoteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ Very similar to this is + the etymological confusion upon which is based the myth of the "confusion + of tongues" in the eleventh chapter of Genesis. The name "Babel" is really + Bab-Il, or "the gate of God"; but the Hebrew writer erroneously derives + the word from the root balal, "to confuse"; and hence arises the mythical + explanation,—that Babel was a place where human speech became + confused. See Rawlinson, in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. I. p. + 149; Renan, Histoire des Langues Semitiques, Vol. I. p. 32; Donaldson, New + Cratylus, p. 74, note; Colenso on the Pentateuch, Vol. IV. p. 268.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-70" id="linknote-70"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 70 (<a href="#linknoteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [ Vilg. AEn. VIII. 322. + With Latium compare plat?s, Skr. prath (to spread out), Eng. flat. Ferrar, + Comparative Grammar of Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit, Vol. I. p. 31.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-71" id="linknote-71"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 71 (<a href="#linknoteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [ M`Lennan, "The Worship of + Animals and Plants," Fortnightly Review, N. S. Vol. VI. pp. 407-427, + 562-582, Vol. VII. pp 194-216; Spencer, "The Origin of Animal Worship," + Id. Vol. VII. pp. 535-550, reprinted in his Recent Discussions in Science, + etc., pp. 31-56.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-72" id="linknote-72"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 72 (<a href="#linknoteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ Thus is explained the + singular conduct of the Hindu, who slays himself before his enemy's door, + in order to acquire greater power of injuring him. "A certain Brahman, on + whose lands a Kshatriya raja had built a house, ripped himself up in + revenge, and became a demon of the kind called Brahmadasyu, who has been + ever since the terror of the whole country, and is the most common + village-deity in Kharakpur. Toward the close of the last century there + were two Brahmans, out of whose house a man had wrongfully, as they + thought, taken forty rupees; whereupon one of the Brahmans proceeded to + cut off his own mother's head, with the professed view, entertained by + both mother and son, that her spirit, excited by the beating of a large + drum during forty days might haunt, torment, and pursue to death the taker + of their money and those concerned with him." Tylor, Primitive Culture, + Vol. II. p. 103.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-73" id="linknote-73"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 73 (<a href="#linknoteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ Hence, in many parts of + Europe, it is still customary to open the windows when a person dies, in + order that the soul may not be hindered in joining the mystic cavalcade.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-74" id="linknote-74"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 74 (<a href="#linknoteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ The story of little Red + Riding-Hood is "mutilated in the English version, but known more perfectly + by old wives in Germany, who can tell that the lovely little maid in her + shining red satin cloak was swallowed with her grandmother by the wolf, + till they both came out safe and sound when the hunter cut open the + sleeping beast." Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. 307, where also see the + kindred Russian story of Vasilissa the Beautiful. Compare the case of Tom + Thumb, who "was swallowed by the cow and came out unhurt"; the story of + Saktideva swallowed by the fish and cut out again, in Somadeva Bhatta, II. + 118-184; and the story of Jonah swallowed by the whale, in the Old + Testament. All these are different versions of the same myth, and refer to + the alternate swallowing up and casting forth of Day by Night, which is + commonly personified as a wolf, and now and then as a great fish. Compare + Grimm's story of the Wolf and Seven Kids, Tylor, loc. cit., and see Early + History of Mankind, p. 337; Hardy, Manual of Budhism, p. 501.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-75" id="linknote-75"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 75 (<a href="#linknoteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Book of + Werewolves, p. 178; Muir, Sanskrit Texts, II. 435.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-76" id="linknote-76"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 76 (<a href="#linknoteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ In those days even an + after-dinner nap seems to have been thought uncanny. See Dasent, Burnt + Njal, I. xxi.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-77" id="linknote-77"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 77 (<a href="#linknoteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ See Dasent, Burnt Njai, + Vol. I. p. xxii.; Grettis Saga, by Magnusson and Morris, chap. xix.; Viga + Glum's Saga, by Sir Edmund Head, p. 13, note, where the Berserkers are + said to have maddened themselves with drugs. Dasent compares them with the + Malays, who work themselves into a frenzy by means of arrack, or hasheesh, + and run amuck.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-78" id="linknote-78"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 78 (<a href="#linknoteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Werewolves, + p. 81.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-79" id="linknote-79"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 79 (<a href="#linknoteref-79">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, op. cit. + chap. xiv.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-80" id="linknote-80"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 80 (<a href="#linknoteref-80">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, op. cit. p. + 82.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-81" id="linknote-81"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 81 (<a href="#linknoteref-81">return</a>)<br /> [ Kennedy, Fictions of the + Irish Celts, p. 90.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-82" id="linknote-82"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 82 (<a href="#linknoteref-82">return</a>)<br /> [ "En 1541, a Padoue, dit + Wier, un homme qui se croyait change en loup courait la campagne, + attaquant et mettant a mort ceux qu'il rencontrait. Apres bien des + difficultes, on parvint s'emparer de lui. Il dit en confidence a ceux qui + l'arreterent: Je suis vraiment un loup, et si ma peau ne parait pas etre + celle d'un loup, c'est parce qu'elle est retournee et que les poils sont + en dedans.—Pour s'assurer du fait, on coupa le malheureux aux + differentes parties du corps, on lui emporta les bras et les jambes."—Taine, + De l'Intelligence, Tom. II. p. 203. See the account of Slavonic werewolves + in Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, pp. 404-418.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-83" id="linknote-83"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 83 (<a href="#linknoteref-83">return</a>)<br /> [ Mr. Cox, whose scepticism + on obscure points in history rather surpasses that of Sir G. C. Lewis, + dismisses with a sneer the subject of the Berserker madness, observing + that "the unanimous testimony of the Norse historians is worth as much and + as little as the convictions of Glanvil and Hale on the reality of + witchcraft." I have not the special knowledge requisite for pronouncing an + opinion on this point, but Mr. Cox's ordinary methods of disposing of such + questions are not such as to make one feel obliged to accept his bare + assertion, unaccompanied by critical arguments. The madness of the + bearsarks may, no doubt, be the same thing us the frenzy of Herakles; but + something more than mere dogmatism is needed to prove it.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-84" id="linknote-84"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 84 (<a href="#linknoteref-84">return</a>)<br /> [ Williams, Superstitions + of Witchcraft, p. 179. See a parallel case of a cat-woman, in Thorpe's + Northern Mythology, II. 26. "Certain witches at Thurso for a long time + tormented an honest fellow under the usual form of cats, till one night he + put them to flight with his broadsword, and cut off the leg of one less + nimble than the rest; taking it up, to his amazement he found it to be a + woman's leg, and next morning he discovered the old hag its owner with but + one leg left."—Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. 283.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-85" id="linknote-85"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 85 (<a href="#linknoteref-85">return</a>)<br /> [ "The mare in nightmare + means spirit, elf, or nymph; compare Anglo-Saxon wudurmaere (wood-mare) = + echo."—Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 173.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-86" id="linknote-86"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 86 (<a href="#linknoteref-86">return</a>)<br /> [ See Kuhn, Herabkunft des + Feuers, p. 91; Weber, Indische Studien. I. 197; Wolf, Beitrage zur + deutschen Mythologie, II. 233-281 Muller, Chips, II. 114-128.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-87" id="linknote-87"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 87 (<a href="#linknoteref-87">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Curious + Myths, II. 207.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-88" id="linknote-88"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 88 (<a href="#linknoteref-88">return</a>)<br /> [ The word nymph itself + means "cloud-maiden," as is illustrated by the kinship between the Greek + numph and the Latin nubes.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-89" id="linknote-89"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 89 (<a href="#linknoteref-89">return</a>)<br /> [ This is substantially + identical with the stories of Beauty and the Beast, Eros and Psyche, + Gandharba Sena, etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-90" id="linknote-90"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 90 (<a href="#linknoteref-90">return</a>)<br /> [ The feather-dress + reappears in the Arabian story of Hasssn of El-Basrah, who by stealing it + secures possession of the Jinniya. See Lane's Arabian Nights, Vol. III. p. + 380. Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, p. 179.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-91" id="linknote-91"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 91 (<a href="#linknoteref-91">return</a>)<br /> [ Thorpe, Northern + Mythology, III. 173; Kennedy, Fictions of the Irish Celts, p. 123.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-92" id="linknote-92"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 92 (<a href="#linknoteref-92">return</a>)<br /> [ Kennedy, Fictions of the + Irish Celts, p. 168.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-93" id="linknote-93"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 93 (<a href="#linknoteref-93">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Book of + Werewolves, p. 133.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-94" id="linknote-94"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 94 (<a href="#linknoteref-94">return</a>)<br /> [ Muir's Sanskrit Texts, + Vol. IV. p. 12; Muller, Rig-Veda Sanhita, Vol. I. pp. 230-251; Fick, + Woerterbuch der Indogermanischen Grundsprache, p. 124, s v. Bhaga.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-95" id="linknote-95"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 95 (<a href="#linknoteref-95">return</a>)<br /> [ In the North American + Review, October, 1869, p. 354, I have collected a number of facts which + seem to me to prove beyond question that the name God is derived from + Guodan, the original form of Odin, the supreme deity of our Pagan + forefathers. The case is exactly parallel to that of the French Dieu, + which is descended from the Deus of the pagan Roman.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-96" id="linknote-96"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 96 (<a href="#linknoteref-96">return</a>)<br /> [ See Pott, Die Zigeuner, + II. 311; Kuhn, Beitrage, I. 147. Yet in the worship of dewel by the + Gypsies is to be found the element of diabolism invariably present in + barbaric worship. "Dewel, the great god in heaven (dewa, deus), is rather + feared than loved by these weather-beaten outcasts, for he harms them on + their wanderings with his thunder and lightning, his snow and rain, and + his stars interfere with their dark doings. Therefore they curse him + foully when misfortune falls on them; and when a child dies, they say that + Dewel has eaten it." Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 248.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-97" id="linknote-97"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 97 (<a href="#linknoteref-97">return</a>)<br /> [ See Grimm, Deutsche + Mythologie, 939.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-98" id="linknote-98"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 98 (<a href="#linknoteref-98">return</a>)<br /> [ The Buddhistic as well as + the Zarathustrian reformation degraded the Vedic gods into demons. "In + Buddhism we find these ancient devas, Indra and the rest, carried about at + shows, as servants of Buddha, as goblins, or fabulous heroes." Max Muller, + Chips, I. 25. This is like the Christian change of Odin into an ogre, and + of Thor into the Devil.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-99" id="linknote-99"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 99 (<a href="#linknoteref-99">return</a>)<br /> [ Zeus—Dia—Zhna—di + on............ Plato Kratylos, p. 396, A., with Stallbaum's note. See also + Proklos, Comm. ad Timaeum, II. p. 226, Schneider; and compare + Pseudo-Aristotle, De Mundo, p. 401, a, 15, who adopts the etymology. See + also Diogenes Laertius, VII. 147.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-100" id="linknote-100"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 100 (<a href="#linknoteref-100">return</a>)<br /> [ Marcus Aurelius, v. 7; + Hom. Iliad, xii. 25, cf. Petronius Arbiter, Sat. xliv.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-101" id="linknote-101"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 101 (<a href="#linknoteref-101">return</a>)<br /> [ "Il Sol, dell aurea + luce eterno forte." Tasso, Gerusalemme, XV. 47; ef. Dante, Paradiso, X. + 28.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-102" id="linknote-102"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 102 (<a href="#linknoteref-102">return</a>)<br /> [ The Aryans were, + however, doubtless better off than the tribes of North America. "In no + Indian language could the early missionaries find a word to express the + idea of God. Manitou and Oki meant anything endowed with supernatural + powers, from a snake-skin or a greasy Indian conjurer up to Manabozho and + Jouskeha. The priests were forced to use a circumlocution,—`the + great chief of men,' or 'he who lives in the sky.'" Parkman, Jesuits in + North America, p. lxxix. "The Algonquins used no oaths, for their language + supplied none; doubtless because their mythology had no beings + sufficiently distinct to swear by." Ibid, p. 31.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-103" id="linknote-103"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 103 (<a href="#linknoteref-103">return</a>)<br /> [ Muller, + Rig-Veda-Sanhita, I. 230.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-104" id="linknote-104"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 104 (<a href="#linknoteref-104">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare the remarks of + Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 13.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-105" id="linknote-105"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 105 (<a href="#linknoteref-105">return</a>)<br /> [ It should be borne in + mind, however, that one of the women who tempt Odysseus is not a + dawn-maiden, but a goddess of darkness; Kalypso answers to Venus-Ursula in + the myth of Tannhauser. Kirke, on the other hand, seems to be a + dawn-maiden, like Medeia, whom she resembles. In her the wisdom of the + dawn-goddess Athene, the loftiest of Greek divinities, becomes degraded + into the art of an enchantress. She reappears, in the Arabian Nights, as + the wicked Queen Labe, whose sorcery none of her lovers can baffle, save + Beder, king of Persia.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-106" id="linknote-106"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 106 (<a href="#linknoteref-106">return</a>)<br /> [ The Persian Cyrus is an + historical personage; but the story of his perils in infancy belongs to + solar mythology as much as the stories of the magic sleep of Charlemagne + and Barbarossa. His grandfather, Astyages, is purely a mythical creation, + his name being identical with that of the night-demon, Azidahaka, who + appears in the Shah-Nameh as the biting serpent Zohak. See Cox, Mythology + of the Aryan Nations, II. 358.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-107" id="linknote-107"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 107 (<a href="#linknoteref-107">return</a>)<br /> [ In mediaeval legend + this resistless Moira is transformed into the curse which prevents the + Wandering Jew from resting until the day of judgment.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-108" id="linknote-108"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 108 (<a href="#linknoteref-108">return</a>)<br /> [ Cox, Manual of + Mythology, p. 134.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-109" id="linknote-109"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 109 (<a href="#linknoteref-109">return</a>)<br /> [ In his interesting + appendix to Henderson's Folk Lore of the Northern Counties of England, Mr. + Baring-Gould has made an ingenious and praiseworthy attempt to reduce the + entire existing mass of household legends to about fifty story-roots; and + his list, though both redundant and defective, is nevertheless, as an + empirical classification, very instructive.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-110" id="linknote-110"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 110 (<a href="#linknoteref-110">return</a>)<br /> [ There is nothing in + common between the names Hercules and Herakles. The latter is a compound, + formed like Themistokles; the former is a simple derivative from the root + of hercere, "to enclose." If Herakles had any equivalent in Latin, it + would necessarily begin with S, and not with H, as septa corresponds to + epta, sequor to epomai, etc. It should be noted, however, that Mommsen, in + the fourth edition of his History, abandons this view, and observes: "Auch + der griechische Herakles ist fruh als Herclus, Hercoles, Hercules in + Italien einheimisch und dort in eigenthumlicher Weise aufgefasst worden, + wie es scheint zunachst als Gott des gewagten Gewinns und der + ausserordentlichen Vermogensvermehrung." Romische Geschichte, I. 181. One + would gladly learn Mommsen's reasons for recurring to this apparently less + defensible opinion.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-111" id="linknote-111"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 111 (<a href="#linknoteref-111">return</a>)<br /> [ For the relations + between Sancus and Herakles, see Preller, Romische Mythologie, p. 635; + Vollmer, Mythologie, p. 970.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-112" id="linknote-112"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 112 (<a href="#linknoteref-112">return</a>)<br /> [ Burnouf, + Bhagavata-Purana, III. p. lxxxvi; Breal, op. cit. p. 98.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-113" id="linknote-113"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 113 (<a href="#linknoteref-113">return</a>)<br /> [ Max Muller, Science of + Language, II 484.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-114" id="linknote-114"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 114 (<a href="#linknoteref-114">return</a>)<br /> [ As Max Muller observes, + "apart from all mythological considerations, Sarama in Sanskrit is the + same word as Helena in Greek." Op. cit. p. 490. The names correspond + phonetically letter for letter, as, Surya corresponds to Helios, Sarameyas + to Hermeias, and Aharyu to Achilleus. Muller has plausibly suggested that + Paris similarly answers to the Panis.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-115" id="linknote-115"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 115 (<a href="#linknoteref-115">return</a>)<br /> [ "I create evil," Isaiah + xiv. 7; "Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?" + Amos iii. 6; cf. Iliad, xxiv. 527, and contrast 2 Samuel xxiv. 1 with 1 + Chronicles xxi. 1.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-116" id="linknote-116"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 116 (<a href="#linknoteref-116">return</a>)<br /> [ Nor is there any ground + for believing that the serpent in the Eden myth is intended for Satan. The + identification is entirely the work of modern dogmatic theology, and is + due, naturally enough, to the habit, so common alike among theologians and + laymen, of reasoning about the Bible as if it were a single book, and not + a collection of writings of different ages and of very different degrees + of historic authenticity. In a future work, entitled "Aryana Vaedjo," I + hope to examine, at considerable length, this interesting myth of the + garden of Eden.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-117" id="linknote-117"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 117 (<a href="#linknoteref-117">return</a>)<br /> [ For further particulars + see Cox, Mythology of the Aryan Nations, Vol. II. pp 358, 366; to which I + am indebted for several of the details here given. Compare Welcker, + Griechische Gotterlehre, I. 661, seq.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-118" id="linknote-118"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 118 (<a href="#linknoteref-118">return</a>)<br /> [ Many amusing passages + from Scotch theologians are cited in Buckle's History of Civilization, + Vol. II. p. 368. The same belief is implied in the quaint monkish tale of + "Celestinus and the Miller's Horse." See Tales from the Gesta Romanorum, + p. 134.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-119" id="linknote-119"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 119 (<a href="#linknoteref-119">return</a>)<br /> [ Thorpe, Northern + Mythology, Vol. 11. p. 258.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-120" id="linknote-120"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 120 (<a href="#linknoteref-120">return</a>)<br /> [ Thorpe, Northern + Mythology, Vol. II. p. 259. In the Norse story of "Not a Pin to choose + between them," the old woman is in doubt as to her own identity, on waking + up after the butcher has dipped her in a tar-barrel and rolled her on a + heap of feathers; and when Tray barks at her, her perplexity is as great + as the Devil's when fooled by the Frenschutz. See Dasent, Norse Tales, p. + 199.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-121" id="linknote-121"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 121 (<a href="#linknoteref-121">return</a>)<br /> [ See Deulin, Contes d'un + Buveur de Biere, pp. 3-29.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-122" id="linknote-122"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 122 (<a href="#linknoteref-122">return</a>)<br /> [ Dasent, Popular Tales + from the Norse, No. III. and No. XLII.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-123" id="linknote-123"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 123 (<a href="#linknoteref-123">return</a>)<br /> [ See Dasent's + Introduction, p. cxxxix; Campbell, Tales of the West Highlands, Vol. IV. + p. 344; and Williams, Indian Epic Poetry, p. 10.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-124" id="linknote-124"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 124 (<a href="#linknoteref-124">return</a>)<br /> [ "A Leopard was + returning home from hunting on one occasion, when he lighted on the kraal + of a Ram. Now the Leopard had never seen a Ram before, and accordingly, + approaching submissively, he said, 'Good day, friend! what may your name + be?' The other, in his gruff voice, and striking his breast with his + forefoot, said, 'I am a Ram; who are you?' 'A Leopard,' answered the + other, more dead than alive; and then, taking leave of the Ram, he ran + home as fast as he could." Bleek, Hottentot Fables, p. 24.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-125" id="linknote-125"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 125 (<a href="#linknoteref-125">return</a>)<br /> [ I agree, most heartily, + with Mr. Mahaffy's remarks, Prolegomena to Ancient History, p. 69.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-126" id="linknote-126"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 126 (<a href="#linknoteref-126">return</a>)<br /> [ Sir George Grey once + told some Australian natives about the countries within the arctic circle + where during part of the year the sun never sets. "Their astonishment now + knew no bounds. 'Ah! that must be another sun, not the same as the one we + see here,' said an old man; and in spite of all my arguments to the + contrary, the others adopted this opinion." Grey's Journals, I. 293, cited + in Tylor, Early History of Mankind, p. 301.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-127" id="linknote-127"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 127 (<a href="#linknoteref-127">return</a>)<br /> [ Max Muller, Chips, II. + 96.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-128" id="linknote-128"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 128 (<a href="#linknoteref-128">return</a>)<br /> [ Fictions of the Irish + Celts, pp. 255-270.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-129" id="linknote-129"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 129 (<a href="#linknoteref-129">return</a>)<br /> [ A corruption of Gaelic + bhan a teaigh, "lady of the house."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-130" id="linknote-130"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 130 (<a href="#linknoteref-130">return</a>)<br /> [ For the analysis of + twelve, see my essay on "The Genesis of Language," North American Review, + October 1869, p. 320.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-131" id="linknote-131"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 131 (<a href="#linknoteref-131">return</a>)<br /> [ Chips from a German + Workshop, Vol. II. p. 246.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-132" id="linknote-132"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 132 (<a href="#linknoteref-132">return</a>)<br /> [ For various legends of + a deluge, see Baring-Gould, Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. + 85-106.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-133" id="linknote-133"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 133 (<a href="#linknoteref-133">return</a>)<br /> [ Brinton, Myths of the + New World, p. 160.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-134" id="linknote-134"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 134 (<a href="#linknoteref-134">return</a>)<br /> [ Brinton, op. cit. p. + 163.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-135" id="linknote-135"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 135 (<a href="#linknoteref-135">return</a>)<br /> [ Brinton, op. cit. p. + 167.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-136" id="linknote-136"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 136 (<a href="#linknoteref-136">return</a>)<br /> [ Corresponding, in + various degrees, to the Asvins, the Dioskouroi, and the brothers True and + Untrue of Norse mythology.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-137" id="linknote-137"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 137 (<a href="#linknoteref-137">return</a>)<br /> [ See Humboldt's Kosmos, + Tom. III. pp. 469-476. A fetichistic regard for the cardinal points has + not always been absent from the minds of persons instructed in a higher + theology as witness a well-known passage in Irenaeus, and also the custom, + well-nigh universal in Europe, of building Christian churches in a line + east and west.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-138" id="linknote-138"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 138 (<a href="#linknoteref-138">return</a>)<br /> [ Bleek, Hottentot Fables + and Tales, p. 72. Compare the Fiji story of Ra Vula, the Moon, and Ra + Kalavo, the Rat, in Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. 321.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-139" id="linknote-139"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 139 (<a href="#linknoteref-139">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, Early History of + Mankind, p. 327.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-140" id="linknote-140"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 140 (<a href="#linknoteref-140">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit., p. + 346.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-141" id="linknote-141"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 141 (<a href="#linknoteref-141">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, Curious + Myths, II. 299-302.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-142" id="linknote-142"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 142 (<a href="#linknoteref-142">return</a>)<br /> [ Speaking of beliefs in + the Malay Archipelago, Mr. Wallace says: "It is universally believed in + Lombock that some men have the power to turn themselves into crocodiles, + which they do for the sake of devouring their enemies, and many strange + tales are told of such transformations." Wallace, Malay Archipelago, Vol. + I. p. 251.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-143" id="linknote-143"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 143 (<a href="#linknoteref-143">return</a>)<br /> [ Bleek, Hottentot Fables + and Tales, p. 58.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-144" id="linknote-144"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 144 (<a href="#linknoteref-144">return</a>)<br /> [ Callaway, Zulu Nursery + Tales, pp. 27-30.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-145" id="linknote-145"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 145 (<a href="#linknoteref-145">return</a>)<br /> [ Callaway, op. cit. pp. + 142-152; cf. a similar story in which the lion is fooled by the jackal. + Bleek, op. cit. p. 7. I omit the sequel of the tale.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-146" id="linknote-146"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 146 (<a href="#linknoteref-146">return</a>)<br /> [ Brinton, op. cit. p. + 104.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-147" id="linknote-147"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 147 (<a href="#linknoteref-147">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. p. + 320.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-148" id="linknote-148"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 148 (<a href="#linknoteref-148">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. pp. + 338-343.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-149" id="linknote-149"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 149 (<a href="#linknoteref-149">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. p. 336. + November, 1870] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-150" id="linknote-150"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 150 (<a href="#linknoteref-150">return</a>)<br /> [ Juventus Mundi. The + Gods and Men of the Heroic Age. By the Rt. Hon. William Ewart Gladstone. + Boston: Little, Brown, & Co. 1869.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-151" id="linknote-151"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 151 (<a href="#linknoteref-151">return</a>)<br /> [ Hist. Greece, Vol. II. + p. 208.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-152" id="linknote-152"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 152 (<a href="#linknoteref-152">return</a>)<br /> [ Grote, Hist. Greece, + Vol. II. p. 198.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-153" id="linknote-153"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 153 (<a href="#linknoteref-153">return</a>)<br /> [ For the precise extent + to which I would indorse the theory that the Iliad-myth is an account of + the victory of light over darkness, let me refer to what I have said above + on p. 134. I do not suppose that the struggle between light and darkness + was Homer's subject in the Iliad any more than it was Shakespeare's + subject in "Hamlet." Homer's subject was the wrath of the Greek hero, as + Shakespeare's subject was the vengeance of the Danish prince. + Nevertheless, the story of Hamlet, when traced back to its Norse original, + is unmistakably the story of the quarrel between summer and winter; and + the moody prince is as much a solar hero as Odin himself. See Simrock, Die + Quellen des Shakespeare, I. 127-133. Of course Shakespeare knew nothing of + this, as Homer knew nothing of the origin of his Achilleus. The two + stories, therefore, are not to be taken as sun-myths in their present + form. They are the offspring of other stories which were sun-myths; they + are stories which conform to the sun-myth type after the manner above + illustrated in the paper on Light and Darkness. [Hence there is nothing + unintelligible in the inconsistency—which seems to puzzle Max Muller + (Science of Language, 6th ed. Vol. II. p. 516, note 20)—of investing + Paris with many of the characteristics of the children of light. + Supposing, as we must, that the primitive sense of the Iliad-myth had as + entirely disappeared in the Homeric age, as the primitive sense of the + Hamlet-myth had disappeared in the times of Elizabeth, the fit ground for + wonder is that such inconsistencies are not more numerous.] The physical + theory of myths will be properly presented and comprehended, only when it + is understood that we accept the physical derivation of such stories as + the Iliad-myth in much the same way that we are bound to accept the + physical etymologies of such words as soul, consider, truth, convince, + deliberate, and the like. The late Dr. Gibbs of Yale College, in his + "Philological Studies,"—a little book which I used to read with + delight when a boy,—describes such etymologies as "faded metaphors." + In similar wise, while refraining from characterizing the Iliad or the + tragedy of Hamlet—any more than I would characterize Le Juif Errant + by Sue, or La Maison Forestiere by Erckmann-Chatrian—as + nature-myths, I would at the same time consider these poems well described + as embodying "faded nature-myths."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-154" id="linknote-154"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 154 (<a href="#linknoteref-154">return</a>)<br /> [ I have no opinion as to + the nationality of the Earth-shaker, and, regarding the etymology of his + name, I believe we can hardly do better than acknowledge, with Mr. Cox, + that it is unknown. It may well be doubted, however, whether much good is + likely to come of comparisons between Poseidon, Dagon, Oannes, and Noah, + or of distinctions between the children of Shem and the children of Ham. + See Brown's Poseidon; a Link between Semite, Hamite, and Aryan, London, + 1872,—a book which is open to several of the criticisms here + directed against Mr. Gladstone's manner of theorizing.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-155" id="linknote-155"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 155 (<a href="#linknoteref-155">return</a>)<br /> [ "The expression that + the Erinys, Saranyu, the Dawn, finds out the criminal, was originally + quite free from mythology; IT MEANT NO MORE THAN THAT CRIME WOULD BE + BROUGHT TO LIGHT SOME DAY OR OTHER. It became mythological, however, as + soon as the etymological meaning of Erinys was forgotten, and as soon as + the Dawn, a portion of time, assumed the rank of a personal being."—Science + of Language, 6th edition, II. 615. This paragraph, in which the + italicizing is mine, contains Max Muller's theory in a nutshell. It seems + to me wholly at variance with the facts of history. The facts concerning + primitive culture which are to be cited in this paper will show that the + case is just the other way. Instead of the expression "Erinys finds the + criminal" being originally a metaphor, it was originally a literal + statement of what was believed to be fact. The Dawn (not "a portion of + time,"(!) but the rosy flush of the morning sky) was originally regarded + as a real person. Primitive men, strictly speaking, do not talk in + metaphors; they believe in the literal truth of their similes and + personifications, from which, by survival in culture, our poetic metaphors + are lineally descended. Homer's allusion to a rolling stone as essumenos + or "yearning" (to keep on rolling), is to us a mere figurative expression; + but to the savage it is the description of a fact.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-156" id="linknote-156"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 156 (<a href="#linknoteref-156">return</a>)<br /> [ Primitive Culture: + Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, + and Custom By Edward B. Tylor. 2 vols. 8vo. London. 1871.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-157" id="linknote-157"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 157 (<a href="#linknoteref-157">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. + 107.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-158" id="linknote-158"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 158 (<a href="#linknoteref-158">return</a>)<br /> [ Rousseau, Confessions, + I. vi. For further illustration, see especially the note on the "doctrine + of signatures," supra, p. 55.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-159" id="linknote-159"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 159 (<a href="#linknoteref-159">return</a>)<br /> [ Spencer, Recent + Discussions in Science, etc., p. 36, "The Origin of Animal Worship."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-160" id="linknote-160"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 160 (<a href="#linknoteref-160">return</a>)<br /> [ See Nature, Vol. VI. p. + 262, August 1, 1872. The circumstances narrated are such as to exclude the + supposition that the sitting up is intended to attract the master's + attention. The dog has frequently been seen trying to soften the heart of + the ball, while observed unawares by his master.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-161" id="linknote-161"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 161 (<a href="#linknoteref-161">return</a>)<br /> [ "We would, however, + commend to Mr. Fiske's attention Mr. Mark Twain's dog, who 'couldn't be + depended on for a special providence,' as being nearer to the actual dog + of every-day life than is the Skye terrier mentioned by a certain + correspondent of Nature, to whose letter Mr. Fiske refers. The terrier is + held to have had 'a few fetichistic notions,' because he was found + standing up on his hind legs in front of a mantel-piece, upon which lay an + india-rubber ball with which he wished to play, but which he could not + reach, and which, says the letter-writer, he was evidently beseeching to + come down and play with him. We consider it more reasonable to suppose + that a dog who had been drilled into a belief that standing upon his hind + legs was very pleasing to his master, and who, therefore, had accustomed + himself to stand on his hind legs whenever he desired anything, and whose + usual way of getting what he desired was to induce somebody to get it for + him, may have stood up in front of the mantel-piece rather from force of + habit and eagerness of desire than because he had any fetichistic notions, + or expected the india-rubber ball to listen to his supplications. We + admit, however, to avoid polemical controversy, that in matter of religion + the dog is capable of anything." The Nation, Vol. XV. p. 284, October 1, + 1872. To be sure, I do not know for certain what was going on in the dog's + mind; and so, letting both explanations stand, I will only add another + fact of similar import. "The tendency in savages to imagine that natural + objects and agencies are animated by spiritual or living essences is + perhaps illustrated by a little fact which I once noticed: my dog, a + full-grown and very sensible animal, was lying on the lawn during a hot + and still day; but at a little distance a slight breeze occasionally moved + an open parasol, which would have been wholly disregarded by the dog, had + any one stood near it. As it was, every time that the parasol slightly + moved, the dog growled fiercely and barked. He must, I think, have + reasoned to himself, in a rapid and unconscious manner, that movement + without any apparent cause indicated the presence of some strange living + agent, and no stranger had a right to be on his territory." Darwin, + Descent of Man, Vol. 1. p. 64. Without insisting upon all the details of + this explanation, one may readily grant, I think, that in the dog, as in + the savage, there is an undisturbed association between motion and a + living motor agency; and that out of a multitude of just such associations + common to both, the savage, with his greater generalizing power, frames a + truly fetichistic conception.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-162" id="linknote-162"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 162 (<a href="#linknoteref-162">return</a>)<br /> [ Note the fetichism + wrapped up in the etymologies of these Greek words. Catalepsy, katalhyis, + a seizing of the body by some spirit or demon, who holds it rigid. + Ecstasy, ekstasis, a displacement or removal of the soul from the body, + into which the demon enters and causes strange laughing, crying, or + contortions. It is not metaphor, but the literal belief ill a ghost-world, + which has given rise to such words as these, and to such expressions as "a + man beside himself or transported."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-163" id="linknote-163"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 163 (<a href="#linknoteref-163">return</a>)<br /> [ Something akin to the + savage's belief in the animation of pictures may be seen in young + children. I have often been asked by my three-year-old boy, whether the + dog in a certain picture would bite him if he were to go near it; and I + can remember that, in my own childhood, when reading a book about insects, + which had the formidable likeness of a spider stamped on the centre of the + cover, I was always uneasy lest my finger should come in contact with the + dreaded thing as I held the book.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-164" id="linknote-164"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 164 (<a href="#linknoteref-164">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, Primitive + Culture, I. 394. "The Zulus hold that a dead body can cast no shadow, + because that appurtenance departed from it at the close of life." + Hardwick, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-Lore, p. 123.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-165" id="linknote-165"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 165 (<a href="#linknoteref-165">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. + 391.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-166" id="linknote-166"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 166 (<a href="#linknoteref-166">return</a>)<br /> [ Harland and Wilkinson, + Lancashire Folk-Lore, 1867, p. 210.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-167" id="linknote-167"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 167 (<a href="#linknoteref-167">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. II. + 139.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-168" id="linknote-168"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 168 (<a href="#linknoteref-168">return</a>)<br /> [ In Russia the souls of + the dead are supposed to be embodied in pigeons or crows. "Thus when the + Deacon Theodore and his three schismatic brethren were burnt in 1681, the + souls of the martyrs, as the 'Old Believers' affirm, appeared in the air + as pigeons. In Volhynia dead children are supposed to come back in the + spring to their native village under the semblance of swallows and other + small birds, and to seek by soft twittering or song to console their + sorrowing parents." Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, p. 118.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-169" id="linknote-169"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 169 (<a href="#linknoteref-169">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. + 404.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-171" id="linknote-171"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 171 (<a href="#linknoteref-171">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. + 407.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-172" id="linknote-172"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 172 (<a href="#linknoteref-172">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. 410. + In the next stage of survival this belief will take the shape that it is + wrong to slam a door, no reason being assigned; and in the succeeding + stage, when the child asks why it is naughty to slam a door, he will be + told, because it is an evidence of bad temper. Thus do old-world fancies + disappear before the inroads of the practical sense.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-173" id="linknote-173"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 173 (<a href="#linknoteref-173">return</a>)<br /> [ Agassiz, Essay on + Classification, pp. 97-99.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-174" id="linknote-174"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 174 (<a href="#linknoteref-174">return</a>)<br /> [ Figuier, The To-morrow + of Death, p. 247.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-175" id="linknote-175"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 175 (<a href="#linknoteref-175">return</a>)<br /> [ Here, as usually, the + doctrine of metempsychosis comes in to complete the proof. "Mr. Darwin saw + two Malay women in Keeling Island, who had a wooden spoon dressed in + clothes like a doll; this spoon had been carried to the grave of a dead + man, and becoming inspired at full moon, in fact lunatic, it danced about + convulsively like a table or a hat at a modern spirit-seance." Tylor, op. + cit. II. 139.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-176" id="linknote-176"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 176 (<a href="#linknoteref-176">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. + 414-422.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-177" id="linknote-177"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 177 (<a href="#linknoteref-177">return</a>)<br /> [ Tylor, op. cit. I. 435, + 446; II. 30, 36.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-178" id="linknote-178"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 178 (<a href="#linknoteref-178">return</a>)<br /> [ According to the + Karens, blindness occurs when the SOUL OF THE EYE is eaten by demons. Id., + II. 353.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-179" id="linknote-179"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 179 (<a href="#linknoteref-179">return</a>)<br /> [ The following citation + is interesting as an illustration of the directness of descent from + heathen manes-worship to Christian saint-worship: "It is well known that + Romulus, mindful of his own adventurous infancy, became after death a + Roman deity, propitious to the health and safety of young children, so + that nurses and mothers would carry sickly infants to present them in his + little round temple at the foot of the Palatine. In after ages the temple + was replaced by the church of St. Theodorus, and there Dr. Conyers + Middleton, who drew public attention to its curious history, used to look + in and see ten or a dozen women, each with a sick child in her lap, + sitting in silent reverence before the altar of the saint. The ceremony of + blessing children, especially after vaccination, may still be seen there + on Thursday mornings." Op. cit. II. 111.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-180" id="linknote-180"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 180 (<a href="#linknoteref-180">return</a>)<br /> [ Want of space prevents + me from remarking at length upon Mr. Tylor's admirable treatment of the + phenomena of oracular inspiration. Attention should be called, however, to + the brilliant explanation of the importance accorded by all religions to + the rite of fasting. Prolonged abstinence from food tends to bring on a + mental state which is favourable to visions. The savage priest or + medicine-man qualifies himself for the performance of his duties by + fasting, and where this is not sufficient, often uses intoxicating drugs; + whence the sacredness of the hasheesh, as also of the Vedic soma-juice. + The practice of fasting among civilized peoples is an instance of + survival.] + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Myths and Myth-Makers, by John Fiske + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS *** + +***** This file should be named 1061-h.htm or 1061-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/6/1061/ + +Produced by Charles Keller, and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Myths and Myth-Makers + Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology + +Author: John Fiske + +Posting Date: July 31, 2008 [EBook #1061] +Release Date: October, 1997 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller + + + + + +MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS + +Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology + +By John Fiske + + + + +La mythologie, cette science toute nouvelle, qui nous fait suivre +les croyances de nos peres, depuis le berceau du monde jusqu'aux +superstitions de nos campagnes.--EDMOND SCHERER + + + +TO MY DEAR FRIEND, WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS, IN REMEMBRANCE OF PLEASANT +AUTUMN EVENINGS SPENT AMONG WEREWOLVES AND TROLLS AND NIXIES, I dedicate +THIS RECORD OF OUR ADVENTURES. + + + + +PREFACE. + +IN publishing this somewhat rambling and unsystematic series of papers, +in which I have endeavoured to touch briefly upon a great many of the +most important points in the study of mythology, I think it right to +observe that, in order to avoid confusing the reader with intricate +discussions, I have sometimes cut the matter short, expressing myself +with dogmatic definiteness where a sceptical vagueness might perhaps +have seemed more becoming. In treating of popular legends and +superstitions, the paths of inquiry are circuitous enough, and seldom +can we reach a satisfactory conclusion until we have travelled all the +way around Robin Hood's barn and back again. I am sure that the reader +would not have thanked me for obstructing these crooked lanes with the +thorns and brambles of philological and antiquarian discussion, to such +an extent as perhaps to make him despair of ever reaching the high road. +I have not attempted to review, otherwise than incidentally, the works +of Grimm, Muller, Kuhn, Breal, Dasent, and Tylor; nor can I pretend +to have added anything of consequence, save now and then some bit of +explanatory comment, to the results obtained by the labour of these +scholars; but it has rather been my aim to present these results in such +a way as to awaken general interest in them. And accordingly, in dealing +with a subject which depends upon philology almost as much as astronomy +depends upon mathematics, I have omitted philological considerations +wherever it has been possible to do so. Nevertheless, I believe that +nothing has been advanced as established which is not now generally +admitted by scholars, and that nothing has been advanced as probable for +which due evidence cannot be produced. Yet among many points which are +proved, and many others which are probable, there must always remain +many other facts of which we cannot feel sure that our own explanation +is the true one; and the student who endeavours to fathom the primitive +thoughts of mankind, as enshrined in mythology, will do well to bear in +mind the modest words of Jacob Grimm,--himself the greatest scholar and +thinker who has ever dealt with this class of subjects,--"I shall indeed +interpret all that I can, but I cannot interpret all that I should +like." + +PETERSHAM, September 6, 1872. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + I. THE ORIGINS OF FOLK-LORE + + II. THE DESCENT OF FIRE + + III. WEREWOLVES AND SWAN-MAIDENS + + IV. LIGHT AND DARKNESS + + V. MYTHS OF THE BARBARIC WORLD + + VI. JUVENTUS MUNDI + + VII. THE PRIMEVAL GHOST-WORLD + + NOTE + + + + +MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS. + + + + +I. THE ORIGINS OF FOLK-LORE. + +FEW mediaeval heroes are so widely known as William Tell. His exploits +have been celebrated by one of the greatest poets and one of the most +popular musicians of modern times. They are doubtless familiar to +many who have never heard of Stauffacher or Winkelried, who are quite +ignorant of the prowess of Roland, and to whom Arthur and Lancelot, nay, +even Charlemagne, are but empty names. + +Nevertheless, in spite of his vast reputation, it is very likely that +no such person as William Tell ever existed, and it is certain that the +story of his shooting the apple from his son's head has no historical +value whatever. In spite of the wrath of unlearned but patriotic Swiss, +especially of those of the cicerone class, this conclusion is forced +upon us as soon as we begin to study the legend in accordance with the +canons of modern historical criticism. It is useless to point to Tell's +lime-tree, standing to-day in the centre of the market-place at Altdorf, +or to quote for our confusion his crossbow preserved in the arsenal at +Zurich, as unimpeachable witnesses to the truth of the story. It is in +vain that we are told, "The bricks are alive to this day to testify to +it; therefore, deny it not." These proofs are not more valid than the +handkerchief of St. Veronica, or the fragments of the true cross. For if +relics are to be received as evidence, we must needs admit the truth of +every miracle narrated by the Bollandists. + +The earliest work which makes any allusion to the adventures of William +Tell is the chronicle of the younger Melchior Russ, written in 1482. As +the shooting of the apple was supposed to have taken place in 1296, this +leaves an interval of one hundred and eighty-six years, during which +neither a Tell, nor a William, nor the apple, nor the cruelty of +Gessler, received any mention. It may also be observed, parenthetically, +that the charters of Kussenach, when examined, show that no man by +the name of Gessler ever ruled there. The chroniclers of the fifteenth +century, Faber and Hammerlin, who minutely describe the tyrannical acts +by which the Duke of Austria goaded the Swiss to rebellion, do not +once mention Tell's name, or betray the slightest acquaintance with his +exploits or with his existence. In the Zurich chronicle of 1479 he is +not alluded to. But we have still better negative evidence. John of +Winterthur, one of the best chroniclers of the Middle Ages, was living +at the time of the battle of Morgarten (1315), at which his father was +present. He tells us how, on the evening of that dreadful day, he saw +Duke Leopold himself in his flight from the fatal field, half dead with +fear. He describes, with the loving minuteness of a contemporary, all +the incidents of the Swiss revolution, but nowhere does he say a word +about William Tell. This is sufficiently conclusive. These mediaeval +chroniclers, who never failed to go out of their way after a bit of the +epigrammatic and marvellous, who thought far more of a pointed story +than of historical credibility, would never have kept silent about the +adventures of Tell, if they had known anything about them. + +After this, it is not surprising to find that no two authors who +describe the deeds of William Tell agree in the details of topography +and chronology. Such discrepancies never fail to confront us when +we leave the solid ground of history and begin to deal with floating +legends. Yet, if the story be not historical, what could have been +its origin? To answer this question we must considerably expand the +discussion. + +The first author of any celebrity who doubted the story of William Tell +was Guillimann, in his work on Swiss Antiquities, published in 1598. +He calls the story a pure fable, but, nevertheless, eating his words, +concludes by proclaiming his belief in it, because the tale is so +popular! Undoubtedly he acted a wise part; for, in 1760, as we are +told, Uriel Freudenberger was condemned by the canton of Uri to be burnt +alive, for publishing his opinion that the legend of Tell had a Danish +origin. [1] + +The bold heretic was substantially right, however, like so many other +heretics, earlier and later. The Danish account of Tell is given as +follows, by Saxo Grammaticus:-- + +"A certain Palnatoki, for some time among King Harold's body-guard, had +made his bravery odious to very many of his fellow-soldiers by the zeal +with which he surpassed them in the discharge of his duty. This man +once, when talking tipsily over his cups, had boasted that he was so +skilled an archer that he could hit the smallest apple placed a long way +off on a wand at the first shot; which talk, caught up at first by the +ears of backbiters, soon came to the hearing of the king. Now, mark +how the wickedness of the king turned the confidence of the sire to the +peril of the son, by commanding that this dearest pledge of his life +should be placed instead of the wand, with a threat that, unless the +author of this promise could strike off the apple at the first flight of +the arrow, he should pay the penalty of his empty boasting by the loss +of his head. The king's command forced the soldier to perform more +than he had promised, and what he had said, reported, by the tongues of +slanderers, bound him to accomplish what he had NOT said. Yet did not +his sterling courage, though caught in the snare of slander, suffer him +to lay aside his firmness of heart; nay, he accepted the trial the more +readily because it was hard. So Palnatoki warned the boy urgently when +he took his stand to await the coming of the hurtling arrow with calm +ears and unbent head, lest, by a slight turn of his body, he should +defeat the practised skill of the bowman; and, taking further counsel to +prevent his fear, he turned away his face, lest he should be scared at +the sight of the weapon. Then, taking three arrows from the quiver, he +struck the mark given him with the first he fitted to the string..... +But Palnatoki, when asked by the king why he had taken more arrows from +the quiver, when it had been settled that he should only try the fortune +of the bow ONCE, made answer, 'That I might avenge on thee the swerving +of the first by the points of the rest, lest perchance my innocence +might have been punished, while your violence escaped scot-free.'" [2] + +This ruthless king is none other than the famous Harold Blue-tooth, and +the occurrence is placed by Saxo in the year 950. But the story appears +not only in Denmark, but in England, in Norway, in Finland and Russia, +and in Persia, and there is some reason for supposing that it was known +in India. In Norway we have the adventures of Pansa the Splay-footed, +and of Hemingr, a vassal of Harold Hardrada, who invaded England in +1066. In Iceland there is the kindred legend of Egil brother of Wayland +Smith, the Norse Vulcan. In England there is the ballad of William of +Cloudeslee, which supplied Scott with many details of the archery scene +in "Ivanhoe." Here, says the dauntless bowman, + + "I have a sonne seven years old; + Hee is to me full deere; + I will tye him to a stake-- + All shall see him that bee here-- + And lay an apple upon his head, + And goe six paces him froe, + And I myself with a broad arrowe + Shall cleave the apple in towe." + +In the Malleus Maleficarum a similar story is told Puncher, a famous +magician on the Upper Rhine. The great ethnologist Castren dug up the +same legend in Finland. It is common, as Dr. Dasent observes, to the +Turks and Mongolians; "and a legend of the wild Samoyeds, who never +heard of Tell or saw a book in their lives relates it, chapter and +verse, of one of their marksmen." Finally, in the Persian poem of +Farid-Uddin Attar, born in 1119, we read a story of a prince who shoots +an apple from the head of a beloved page. In all these stories, names +and motives of course differ; but all contain the same essential +incidents. It is always an unerring archer who, at the capricious +command of a tyrant, shoots from the head of some one dear to him a +small object, be it an apple, a nut, or a piece of coin. The archer +always provides himself with a second arrow, and, when questioned as to +the use he intended to make of his extra weapon, the invariable reply +is, "To kill thee, tyrant, had I slain my son." Now, when a marvellous +occurrence is said to have happened everywhere, we may feel sure that +it never happened anywhere. Popular fancies propagate themselves +indefinitely, but historical events, especially the striking and +dramatic ones, are rarely repeated. The facts here collected lead +inevitably to the conclusion that the Tell myth was known, in its +general features, to our Aryan ancestors, before ever they left their +primitive dwelling-place in Central Asia. + +It may, indeed, be urged that some one of these wonderful marksmen may +really have existed and have performed the feat recorded in the legend; +and that his true story, carried about by hearsay tradition from one +country to another and from age to age, may have formed the theme for +all the variations above mentioned, just as the fables of La Fontaine +were patterned after those of AEsop and Phaedrus, and just as many of +Chaucer's tales were consciously adopted from Boccaccio. No doubt there +has been a good deal of borrowing and lending among the legends of +different peoples, as well as among the words of different languages; +and possibly even some picturesque fragment of early history may have +now and then been carried about the world in this manner. But as the +philologist can with almost unerring certainty distinguish between the +native and the imported words in any Aryan language, by examining their +phonetic peculiarities, so the student of popular traditions, though +working with far less perfect instruments, can safely assert, with +reference to a vast number of legends, that they cannot have been +obtained by any process of conscious borrowing. The difficulties +inseparable from any such hypothesis will become more and more apparent +as we proceed to examine a few other stories current in different +portions of the Aryan domain. + +As the Swiss must give up his Tell, so must the Welshman be deprived of +his brave dog Gellert, over whose cruel fate I confess to having shed +more tears than I should regard as well bestowed upon the misfortunes +of many a human hero of romance. Every one knows how the dear old brute +killed the wolf which had come to devour Llewellyn's child, and how the +prince, returning home and finding the cradle upset and the dog's mouth +dripping blood, hastily slew his benefactor, before the cry of the child +from behind the cradle and the sight of the wolf's body had rectified +his error. To this day the visitor to Snowdon is told the touching +story, and shown the place, called Beth-Gellert, [3] where the dog's +grave is still to be seen. Nevertheless, the story occurs in the +fireside lore of nearly every Aryan people. Under the Gellert-form it +started in the Panchatantra, a collection of Sanskrit fables; and it +has even been discovered in a Chinese work which dates from A. D. 668. +Usually the hero is a dog, but sometimes a falcon, an ichneumon, an +insect, or even a man. In Egypt it takes the following comical shape: +"A Wali once smashed a pot full of herbs which a cook had prepared. +The exasperated cook thrashed the well-intentioned but unfortunate Wali +within an inch of his life, and when he returned, exhausted with his +efforts at belabouring the man, to examine the broken pot, he discovered +amongst the herbs a poisonous snake." [4] Now this story of the Wali is +as manifestly identical with the legend of Gellert as the English word +FATHER is with the Latin pater; but as no one would maintain that +the word father is in any sense derived from pater, so it would be +impossible to represent either the Welsh or the Egyptian legend as a +copy of the other. Obviously the conclusion is forced upon us that the +stories, like the words, are related collaterally, having descended from +a common ancestral legend, or having been suggested by one and the same +primeval idea. + +Closely connected with the Gellert myth are the stories of Faithful John +and of Rama and Luxman. In the German story, Faithful John accompanies +the prince, his master, on a journey in quest of a beautiful maiden, +whom he wishes to make his bride. As they are carrying her home across +the seas, Faithful John hears some crows, whose language he understands, +foretelling three dangers impending over the prince, from which his +friend can save him only by sacrificing his own life. As soon as they +land, a horse will spring toward the king, which, if he mounts it, will +bear him away from his bride forever; but whoever shoots the horse, and +tells the king the reason, will be turned into stone from toe to knee. +Then, before the wedding a bridal garment will lie before the king, +which, if he puts it on, will burn him like the Nessos-shirt of +Herakles; but whoever throws the shirt into the fire and tells the +king the reason, will be turned into stone from knee to heart. Finally, +during the wedding-festivities, the queen will suddenly fall in a swoon, +and "unless some one takes three drops of blood from her right breast +she will die"; but whoever does so, and tells the king the reason, will +be turned into stone from head to foot. Thus forewarned, Faithful John +saves his master from all these dangers; but the king misinterprets +his motive in bleeding his wife, and orders him to be hanged. On the +scaffold he tells his story, and while the king humbles himself in an +agony of remorse, his noble friend is turned into stone. + +In the South Indian tale Luxman accompanies Rama, who is carrying home +his bride. Luxman overhears two owls talking about the perils that await +his master and mistress. First he saves them from being crushed by the +falling limb of a banyan-tree, and then he drags them away from an arch +which immediately after gives way. By and by, as they rest under a tree, +the king falls asleep. A cobra creeps up to the queen, and Luxman kills +it with his sword; but, as the owls had foretold, a drop of the cobra's +blood falls on the queen's forehead. As Luxman licks off the blood, +the king starts up, and, thinking that his vizier is kissing his wife, +upbraids him with his ingratitude, whereupon Luxman, through grief at +this unkind interpretation of his conduct, is turned into stone. [5] + +For further illustration we may refer to the Norse tale of the "Giant +who had no Heart in his Body," as related by Dr. Dasent. This burly +magician having turned six brothers with their wives into stone, the +seventh brother--the crafty Boots or many-witted Odysseus of European +folk-lore--sets out to obtain vengeance if not reparation for the evil +done to his kith and kin. On the way he shows the kindness of his nature +by rescuing from destruction a raven, a salmon, and a wolf. The grateful +wolf carries him on his back to the giant's castle, where the lovely +princess whom the monster keeps in irksome bondage promises to act, +in behalf of Boots, the part of Delilah, and to find out, if possible, +where her lord keeps his heart. The giant, like the Jewish hero, finally +succumbs to feminine blandishments. "Far, far away in a lake lies an +island; on that island stands a church; in that church is a well; in +that well swims a duck; in that duck there is an egg; and in that egg +there lies my heart, you darling." Boots, thus instructed, rides on the +wolf's back to the island; the raven flies to the top of the steeple and +gets the church-keys; the salmon dives to the bottom of the well, and +brings up the egg from the place where the duck had dropped it; and +so Boots becomes master of the situation. As he squeezes the egg, +the giant, in mortal terror, begs and prays for his life, which Boots +promises to spare on condition that his brothers and their brides should +be released from their enchantment. But when all has been duly effected, +the treacherous youth squeezes the egg in two, and the giant instantly +bursts. + +The same story has lately been found in Southern India, and is published +in Miss Frere's remarkable collection of tales entitled "Old Deccan +Days." In the Hindu version the seven daughters of a rajah, with +their husbands, are transformed into stone by the great magician +Punchkin,--all save the youngest daughter, whom Punchkin keeps shut up +in a tower until by threats or coaxing he may prevail upon her to marry +him. But the captive princess leaves a son at home in the cradle, who +grows up to manhood unmolested, and finally undertakes the rescue of his +family. After long and weary wanderings he finds his mother shut up in +Punchkin's tower, and persuades her to play the part of the princess +in the Norse legend. The trick is equally successful. "Hundreds of +thousands of miles away there lies a desolate country covered with thick +jungle. In the midst of the jungle grows a circle of palm-trees, and in +the centre of the circle stand six jars full of water, piled one above +another; below the sixth jar is a small cage which contains a little +green parrot; on the life of the parrot depends my life, and if the +parrot is killed I must die." [6] The young prince finds the place +guarded by a host of dragons, but some eaglets whom he has saved from a +devouring serpent in the course of his journey take him on their +crossed wings and carry him to the place where the jars are standing. He +instantly overturns the jars, and seizing the parrot, obtains from the +terrified magician full reparation. As soon as his own friends and a +stately procession of other royal or noble victims have been set at +liberty, he proceeds to pull the parrot to pieces. As the wings and legs +come away, so tumble off the arms and legs of the magician; and finally +as the prince wrings the bird's neck, Punchkin twists his own head round +and dies. + +The story is also told in the highlands of Scotland, and some portions +of it will be recognized by the reader as incidents in the Arabian +tale of the Princess Parizade. The union of close correspondence in +conception with manifest independence in the management of the details +of these stories is striking enough, but it is a phenomenon with which +we become quite familiar as we proceed in the study of Aryan popular +literature. The legend of the Master Thief is no less remarkable than +that of Punchkin. In the Scandinavian tale the Thief, wishing to get +possession of a farmer's ox, carefully hangs himself to a tree by the +roadside. The farmer, passing by with his ox, is indeed struck by the +sight of the dangling body, but thinks it none of his business, and +does not stop to interfere. No sooner has he passed than the Thief lets +himself down, and running swiftly along a by-path, hangs himself with +equal precaution to a second tree. This time the farmer is astonished +and puzzled; but when for the third time he meets the same unwonted +spectacle, thinking that three suicides in one morning are too much for +easy credence, he leaves his ox and runs back to see whether the other +two bodies are really where he thought he saw them. While he is framing +hypotheses of witchcraft by which to explain the phenomenon, the Thief +gets away with the ox. In the Hitopadesa the story receives a finer +point. "A Brahman, who had vowed a sacrifice, went to the market to buy +a goat. Three thieves saw him, and wanted to get hold of the goat. They +stationed themselves at intervals on the high road. When the Brahman, +who carried the goat on his back, approached the first thief, the +thief said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog on your back?' The Brahman +replied, 'It is not a dog, it is a goat.' A little while after he was +accosted by the second thief, who said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog +on your back?' The Brahman felt perplexed, put the goat down, examined +it, took it up again, and walked on. Soon after he was stopped by the +third thief, who said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog on your back?' +Then the Brahman was frightened, threw down the goat, and walked home to +perform his ablutions for having touched an unclean animal. The thieves +took the goat and ate it." The adroitness of the Norse King in "The +Three Princesses of Whiteland" shows but poorly in comparison with the +keen psychological insight and cynical sarcasm of these Hindu sharpers. +In the course of his travels this prince met three brothers fighting +on a lonely moor. They had been fighting for a hundred years about the +possession of a hat, a cloak, and a pair of boots, which would make the +wearer invisible, and convey him instantly whithersoever he might wish +to go. The King consents to act as umpire, provided he may once try the +virtue of the magic garments; but once clothed in them, of course he +disappears, leaving the combatants to sit down and suck their thumbs. +Now in the "Sea of Streams of Story," written in the twelfth century by +Somadeva of Cashmere, the Indian King Putraka, wandering in the Vindhya +Mountains, similarly discomfits two brothers who are quarrelling over +a pair of shoes, which are like the sandals of Hermes, and a bowl which +has the same virtue as Aladdin's lamp. "Why don't you run a race for +them?" suggests Putraka; and, as the two blockheads start furiously off, +he quietly picks up the bowl, ties on the shoes, and flies away! [7] + +It is unnecessary to cite further illustrations. The tales here quoted +are fair samples of the remarkable correspondence which holds good +through all the various sections of Aryan folk-lore. The hypothesis +of lateral diffusion, as we may call it, manifestly fails to explain +coincidences which are maintained on such an immense scale. It is quite +credible that one nation may have borrowed from another a solitary +legend of an archer who performs the feats of Tell and Palnatoki; but it +is utterly incredible that ten thousand stories, constituting the entire +mass of household mythology throughout a dozen separate nations, should +have been handed from one to another in this way. No one would venture +to suggest that the old grannies of Iceland and Norway, to whom we owe +such stories as the Master Thief and the Princesses of Whiteland, had +ever read Somadeva or heard of the treasures of Rhampsinitos. A large +proportion of the tales with which we are dealing were utterly unknown +to literature until they were taken down by Grimm and Frere and +Castren and Campbell, from the lips of ignorant peasants, nurses, or +house-servants, in Germany and Hindustan, in Siberia and Scotland. +Yet, as Mr. Cox observes, these old men and women, sitting by the +chimney-corner and somewhat timidly recounting to the literary explorer +the stories which they had learned in childhood from their own +nurses and grandmas, "reproduce the most subtle turns of thought and +expression, and an endless series of complicated narratives, in which +the order of incidents and the words of the speakers are preserved +with a fidelity nowhere paralleled in the oral tradition of historical +events. It may safely be said that no series of stories introduced +in the form of translations from other languages could ever thus have +filtered down into the lowest strata of society, and thence have sprung +up again, like Antaios, with greater energy and heightened beauty." +There is indeed no alternative for us but to admit that these fireside +tales have been handed down from parent to child for more than a hundred +generations; that the primitive Aryan cottager, as he took his evening +meal of yava and sipped his fermented mead, listened with his children +to the stories of Boots and Cinderella and the Master Thief, in the days +when the squat Laplander was master of Europe and the dark-skinned Sudra +was as yet unmolested in the Punjab. Only such community of origin +can explain the community in character between the stories told by the +Aryan's descendants, from the jungles of Ceylon to the highlands of +Scotland. + +This conclusion essentially modifies our view of the origin and growth +of a legend like that of William Tell. The case of the Tell legend is +radically different from the case of the blindness of Belisarius or +the burning of the Alexandrian library by order of Omar. The latter are +isolated stories or beliefs; the former is one of a family of stories or +beliefs. The latter are untrustworthy traditions of doubtful events; but +in dealing with the former, we are face to face with a MYTH. + +What, then, is a myth? The theory of Euhemeros, which was so fashionable +a century ago, in the days of the Abbe Banier, has long since been so +utterly abandoned that to refute it now is but to slay the slain. The +peculiarity of this theory was that it cut away all the extraordinary +features of a given myth, wherein dwelt its inmost significance, and to +the dull and useless residuum accorded the dignity of primeval history. +In this way the myth was lost without compensation, and the student, +in seeking good digestible bread, found but the hardest of pebbles. +Considered merely as a pretty story, the legend of the golden fruit +watched by the dragon in the garden of the Hesperides is not without its +value. But what merit can there be in the gratuitous statement which, +degrading the grand Doric hero to a level with any vulgar fruit-stealer, +makes Herakles break a close with force and arms, and carry off a crop +of oranges which had been guarded by mastiffs? It is still worse when +we come to the more homely folk-lore with which the student of mythology +now has to deal. The theories of Banier, which limped and stumbled +awkwardly enough when it was only a question of Hermes and Minos and +Odin, have fallen never to rise again since the problems of Punchkin +and Cinderella and the Blue Belt have begun to demand solution. +The conclusion has been gradually forced upon the student, that the +marvellous portion of these old stories is no illegitimate extres-cence, +but was rather the pith and centre of the whole, [8] in days when there +was no supernatural, because it had not yet been discovered that there +was such a thing as nature. The religious myths of antiquity and the +fireside legends of ancient and modern times have their common root in +the mental habits of primeval humanity. They are the earliest recorded +utterances of men concerning the visible phenomena of the world into +which they were born. + +That prosaic and coldly rational temper with which modern men are wont +to regard natural phenomena was in early times unknown. We have come +to regard all events as taking place regularly, in strict conformity to +law: whatever our official theories may be, we instinctively take this +view of things. But our primitive ancestors knew nothing about laws of +nature, nothing about physical forces, nothing about the relations of +cause and effect, nothing about the necessary regularity of things. +There was a time in the history of mankind when these things had never +been inquired into, and when no generalizations about them had been +framed, tested, or established. There was no conception of an order of +nature, and therefore no distinct conception of a supernatural order of +things. There was no belief in miracles as infractions of natural laws, +but there was a belief in the occurrence of wonderful events too mighty +to have been brought about by ordinary means. There was an unlimited +capacity for believing and fancying, because fancy and belief had not +yet been checked and headed off in various directions by established +rules of experience. Physical science is a very late acquisition of the +human mind, but we are already sufficiently imbued with it to be almost +completely disabled from comprehending the thoughts of our ancestors. +"How Finn cosmogonists could have believed the earth and heaven to be +made out of a severed egg, the upper concave shell representing +heaven, the yolk being earth, and the crystal surrounding fluid the +circumambient ocean, is to us incomprehensible; and yet it remains a +fact that they did so regard them. How the Scandinavians could have +supposed the mountains to be the mouldering bones of a mighty Jotun, +and the earth to be his festering flesh, we cannot conceive; yet such a +theory was solemnly taught and accepted. How the ancient Indians could +regard the rain-clouds as cows with full udders milked by the winds +of heaven is beyond our comprehension, and yet their Veda contains +indisputable testimony to the fact that they were so regarded." We have +only to read Mr. Baring-Gould's book of "Curious Myths," from which +I have just quoted, or to dip into Mr. Thorpe's treatise on "Northern +Mythology," to realize how vast is the difference between our +stand-point and that from which, in the later Middle Ages, our immediate +forefathers regarded things. The frightful superstition of werewolves is +a good instance. In those days it was firmly believed that men could be, +and were in the habit of being, transformed into wolves. It was believed +that women might bring forth snakes or poodle-dogs. It was believed that +if a man had his side pierced in battle, you could cure him by nursing +the sword which inflicted the wound. "As late as 1600 a German writer +would illustrate a thunder-storm destroying a crop of corn by a picture +of a dragon devouring the produce of the field with his flaming tongue +and iron teeth." + +Now if such was the condition of the human intellect only three or four +centuries ago, what must it have been in that dark antiquity when not +even the crudest generalizations of Greek or of Oriental science had +been reached? The same mighty power of imagination which now, restrained +and guided by scientific principles, leads us to discoveries and +inventions, must then have wildly run riot in mythologic fictions +whereby to explain the phenomena of nature. Knowing nothing whatever +of physical forces, of the blind steadiness with which a given effect +invariably follows its cause, the men of primeval antiquity could +interpret the actions of nature only after the analogy of their own +actions. The only force they knew was the force of which they were +directly conscious,--the force of will. Accordingly, they imagined all +the outward world to be endowed with volition, and to be directed by it. +They personified everything,--sky, clouds, thunder, sun, moon, ocean, +earthquake, whirlwind. [9] The comparatively enlightened Athenians of +the age of Perikles addressed the sky as a person, and prayed to it to +rain upon their gardens. [10] And for calling the moon a mass of dead +matter, Anaxagoras came near losing his life. To the ancients the moon +was not a lifeless ball of stones and clods: it was the horned huntress, +Artemis, coursing through the upper ether, or bathing herself in the +clear lake; or it was Aphrodite, protectress of lovers, born of the +sea-foam in the East near Cyprus. The clouds were no bodies of vaporized +water: they were cows with swelling udders, driven to the milking by +Hermes, the summer wind; or great sheep with moist fleeces, slain by +the unerring arrows of Bellerophon, the sun; or swan-maidens, flitting +across the firmament, Valkyries hovering over the battle-field to +receive the souls of falling heroes; or, again, they were mighty +mountains piled one above another, in whose cavernous recesses the +divining-wand of the storm-god Thor revealed hidden treasures. The +yellow-haired sun, Phoibos, drove westerly all day in his flaming +chariot; or perhaps, as Meleagros, retired for a while in disgust from +the sight of men; wedded at eventide the violet light (Oinone, Iole), +which he had forsaken in the morning; sank, as Herakles, upon a blazing +funeral-pyre, or, like Agamemnon, perished in a blood-stained bath; or, +as the fish-god, Dagon, swam nightly through the subterranean waters, +to appear eastward again at daybreak. Sometimes Phaethon, his rash, +inexperienced son, would take the reins and drive the solar chariot too +near the earth, causing the fruits to perish, and the grass to wither, +and the wells to dry up. Sometimes, too, the great all-seeing divinity, +in his wrath at the impiety of men, would shoot down his scorching +arrows, causing pestilence to spread over the land. Still other +conceptions clustered around the sun. Now it was the wonderful +treasure-house, into which no one could look and live; and again it +was Ixion himself, bound on the fiery wheel in punishment for violence +offered to Here, the queen of the blue air. + +This theory of ancient mythology is not only beautiful and plausible, +it is, in its essential points, demonstrated. It stands on as firm a +foundation as Grimm's law in philology, or the undulatory theory in +molecular physics. It is philology which has here enabled us to read the +primitive thoughts of mankind. A large number of the names of Greek gods +and heroes have no meaning in the Greek language; but these names occur +also in Sanskrit, with plain physical meanings. In the Veda we find +Zeus or Jupiter (Dyaus-pitar) meaning the sky, and Sarameias or Hermes, +meaning the breeze of a summer morning. We find Athene (Ahana), meaning +the light of daybreak; and we are thus enabled to understand why the +Greek described her as sprung from the forehead of Zeus. There too +we find Helena (Sarama), the fickle twilight, whom the Panis, or +night-demons, who serve as the prototypes of the Hellenic Paris, strive +to seduce from her allegiance to the solar monarch. Even Achilleus +(Aharyu) again confronts us, with his captive Briseis (Brisaya's +offspring); and the fierce Kerberos (Carvara) barks on Vedic ground in +strict conformity to the laws of phonetics. [11] Now, when the Hindu +talked about Father Dyaus, or the sleek kine of Siva, he thought of the +personified sky and clouds; he had not outgrown the primitive mental +habits of the race. But the Greek, in whose language these physical +meanings were lost, had long before the Homeric epoch come to regard +Zeus and Hermes, Athene, Helena, Paris, and Achilleus, as mere persons, +and in most cases the originals of his myths were completely forgotten. +In the Vedas the Trojan War is carried on in the sky, between the bright +deities and the demons of night; but the Greek poet, influenced perhaps +by some dim historical tradition, has located the contest on the shore +of the Hellespont, and in his mind the actors, though superhuman, are +still completely anthropomorphic. Of the true origin of his epic story +he knew as little as Euhemeros, or Lord Bacon, or the Abbe Banier. + +After these illustrations, we shall run no risk of being misunderstood +when we define a myth as, in its origin, an explanation, by the +uncivilized mind, of some natural phenomenon; not an allegory, not an +esoteric symbol,--for the ingenuity is wasted which strives to detect in +myths the remnants of a refined primeval science,--but an explanation. +Primitive men had no profound science to perpetuate by means of +allegory, nor were they such sorry pedants as to talk in riddles when +plain language would serve their purpose. Their minds, we may be sure, +worked like our own, and when they spoke of the far-darting sun-god, +they meant just what they said, save that where we propound a scientific +theorem, they constructed a myth. [12] A thing is said to be explained +when it is classified with other things with which we are already +acquainted. That is the only kind of explanation of which the highest +science is capable. We explain the origin, progress, and ending of a +thunder-storm, when we classify the phenomena presented by it along with +other more familiar phenomena of vaporization and condensation. But the +primitive man explained the same thing to his own satisfaction when he +had classified it along with the well-known phenomena of human volition, +by constructing a theory of a great black dragon pierced by the unerring +arrows of a heavenly archer. We consider the nature of the stars to +a certain extent explained when they are classified as suns; but the +Mohammedan compiler of the "Mishkat-ul-Ma'sabih" was content to explain +them as missiles useful for stoning the Devil! Now, as soon as the old +Greek, forgetting the source of his conception, began to talk of a human +Oidipous slaying a leonine Sphinx, and as soon as the Mussulman began, +if he ever did, to tell his children how the Devil once got a good +pelting with golden bullets, then both the one and the other were +talking pure mythology. + +We are justified, accordingly, in distinguishing between a myth and +a legend. Though the words are etymologically parallel, and though in +ordinary discourse we may use them interchangeably, yet when strict +accuracy is required, it is well to keep them separate. And it is +perhaps needless, save for the sake of completeness, to say that +both are to be distinguished from stories which have been designedly +fabricated. The distinction may occasionally be subtle, but is usually +broad enough. Thus, the story that Philip II. murdered his wife +Elizabeth, is a misrepresentation; but the story that the same Elizabeth +was culpably enamoured of her step-son Don Carlos, is a legend. The +story that Queen Eleanor saved the life of her husband, Edward I., by +sucking a wound made in his arm by a poisoned arrow, is a legend; but +the story that Hercules killed a great robber, Cacus, who had stolen his +cattle, conceals a physical meaning, and is a myth. While a legend is +usually confined to one or two localities, and is told of not more than +one or two persons, it is characteristic of a myth that it is spread, +in one form or another, over a large part of the earth, the leading +incidents remaining constant, while the names and often the motives +vary with each locality. This is partly due to the immense antiquity +of myths, dating as they do from a period when many nations, now widely +separated, had not yet ceased to form one people. Thus many elements of +the myth of the Trojan War are to be found in the Rig-Veda; and the myth +of St. George and the Dragon is found in all the Aryan nations. But we +must not always infer that myths have a common descent, merely because +they resemble each other. We must remember that the proceedings of the +uncultivated mind are more or less alike in all latitudes, and that +the same phenomenon might in various places independently give rise to +similar stories. [13] The myth of Jack and the Beanstalk is found not +only among people of Aryan descent, but also among the Zulus of South +Africa, and again among the American Indians. Whenever we can trace a +story in this way from one end of the world to the other, or through a +whole family of kindred nations, we are pretty safe in assuming that we +are dealing with a true myth, and not with a mere legend. + +Applying these considerations to the Tell myth, we at once obtain a +valid explanation of its origin. The conception of infallible skill +in archery, which underlies such a great variety of myths and popular +fairy-tales, is originally derived from the inevitable victory of the +sun over his enemies, the demons of night, winter, and tempest. Arrows +and spears which never miss their mark, swords from whose blow no armour +can protect, are invariably the weapons of solar divinities or heroes. +The shafts of Bellerophon never fail to slay the black demon of the +rain-cloud, and the bolt of Phoibos Chrysaor deals sure destruction +to the serpent of winter. Odysseus, warring against the impious +night-heroes, who have endeavoured throughout ten long years or hours of +darkness to seduce from her allegiance his twilight-bride, the weaver +of the never-finished web of violet clouds,--Odysseus, stripped of +his beggar's raiment and endowed with fresh youth and beauty by the +dawn-goddess, Athene, engages in no doubtful conflict as he raises the +bow which none but himself can bend. Nor is there less virtue in the +spear of Achilleus, in the swords of Perseus and Sigurd, in Roland's +stout blade Durandal, or in the brand Excalibur, with which Sir Bedivere +was so loath to part. All these are solar weapons, and so, too, are +the arrows of Tell and Palnatoki, Egil and Hemingr, and William of +Cloudeslee, whose surname proclaims him an inhabitant of the Phaiakian +land. William Tell, whether of Cloudland or of Altdorf, is the last +reflection of the beneficent divinity of daytime and summer, constrained +for a while to obey the caprice of the powers of cold and darkness, as +Apollo served Laomedon, and Herakles did the bidding of Eurystheus. +His solar character is well preserved, even in the sequel of the Swiss +legend, in which he appears no less skilful as a steersman than as an +archer, and in which, after traversing, like Dagon, the tempestuous sea +of night, he leaps at daybreak in regained freedom upon the land, and +strikes down the oppressor who has held him in bondage. + +But the sun, though ever victorious in open contest with his enemies, +is nevertheless not invulnerable. At times he succumbs to treachery, +is bound by the frost-giants, or slain by the demons of darkness. The +poisoned shirt of the cloud-fiend Nessos is fatal even to the mighty +Herakles, and the prowess of Siegfried at last fails to save him from +the craft of Hagen. In Achilleus and Meleagros we see the unhappy solar +hero doomed to toil for the profit of others, and to be cut off by an +untimely death. The more fortunate Odysseus, who lives to a ripe old +age, and triumphs again and again over all the powers of darkness, must +nevertheless yield to the craving desire to visit new cities and look +upon new works of strange men, until at last he is swallowed up in the +western sea. That the unrivalled navigator of the celestial ocean should +disappear beneath the western waves is as intelligible as it is that the +horned Venus or Astarte should rise from the sea in the far east. It is +perhaps less obvious that winter should be so frequently symbolized as a +thorn or sharp instrument. Achilleus dies by an arrow-wound in the +heel; the thigh of Adonis is pierced by the boar's tusk, while Odysseus +escapes with an ugly scar, which afterwards secures his recognition by +his old servant, the dawn-nymph Eurykleia; Sigurd is slain by a thorn, +and Balder by a sharp sprig of mistletoe; and in the myth of the +Sleeping Beauty, the earth-goddess sinks into her long winter sleep when +pricked by the point of the spindle. In her cosmic palace, all is locked +in icy repose, naught thriving save the ivy which defies the cold, until +the kiss of the golden-haired sun-god reawakens life and activity. + +The wintry sleep of nature is symbolized in innumerable stories of +spell-bound maidens and fair-featured youths, saints, martyrs, and +heroes. Sometimes it is the sun, sometimes the earth, that is supposed +to slumber. Among the American Indians the sun-god Michabo is said to +sleep through the winter months; and at the time of the falling leaves, +by way of composing himself for his nap, he fills his great pipe and +divinely smokes; the blue clouds, gently floating over the landscape, +fill the air with the haze of Indian summer. In the Greek myth the +shepherd Endymion preserves his freshness in a perennial slumber. The +German Siegfried, pierced by the thorn of winter, is sleeping until +he shall be again called forth to fight. In Switzerland, by the +Vierwald-stattersee, three Tells are awaiting the hour when their +country shall again need to be delivered from the oppressor. Charlemagne +is reposing in the Untersberg, sword in hand, waiting for the coming of +Antichrist; Olger Danske similarly dreams away his time in Avallon; and +in a lofty mountain in Thuringia, the great Emperor Yrederic Barbarossa +slumbers with his knights around him, until the time comes for him to +sally forth and raise Germany to the first rank among the kingdoms of +the world. The same story is told of Olaf Tryggvesson, of Don Sebastian +of Portugal, and of the Moorish King Boabdil. The Seven Sleepers of +Ephesus, having taken refuge in a cave from the persecutions of the +heathen Decius, slept one hundred and sixty-four years, and awoke to +find a Christian emperor on the throne. The monk of Hildesheim, in the +legend so beautifully rendered by Longfellow, doubting how with God +a thousand years ago could be as yesterday, listened three minutes +entranced by the singing of a bird in the forest, and found, on waking +from his revery, that a thousand years had flown. To the same family of +legends belong the notion that St. John is sleeping at Ephesus until the +last days of the world; the myth of the enchanter Merlin, spell-bound by +Vivien; the story of the Cretan philosopher Epimenides, who dozed away +fifty-seven years in a cave; and Rip Van Winkle's nap in the Catskills. +[14] + +We might go on almost indefinitely citing household tales of wonderful +sleepers; but, on the principle of the association of opposites, we +are here reminded of sundry cases of marvellous life and wakefulness, +illustrated in the Wandering Jew; the dancers of Kolbeck; Joseph of +Arimathaea with the Holy Grail; the Wild Huntsman who to all eternity +chases the red deer; the Captain of the Phantom Ship; the classic +Tithonos; and the Man in the Moon. + +The lunar spots have afforded a rich subject for the play of human +fancy. Plutarch wrote a treatise on them, but the myth-makers had been +before him. "Every one," says Mr. Baring-Gould, "knows that the moon +is inhabited by a man with a bundle of sticks on his back, who has been +exiled thither for many centuries, and who is so far off that he is +beyond the reach of death. He has once visited this earth, if the +nursery rhyme is to be credited when it asserts that + + 'The Man in the Moon + Came down too soon + And asked his way to Norwich'; + +but whether he ever reached that city the same authority does not +state." Dante calls him Cain; Chaucer has him put up there as a +punishment for theft, and gives him a thorn-bush to carry; Shakespeare +also loads him with the thorns, but by way of compensation gives him a +dog for a companion. Ordinarily, however, his offence is stated to have +been, not stealing, but Sabbath-breaking,--an idea derived from the Old +Testament. Like the man mentioned in the Book of Numbers, he is caught +gathering sticks on the Sabbath; and, as an example to mankind, he is +condemned to stand forever in the moon, with his bundle on his back. +Instead of a dog, one German version places with him a woman, whose +crime was churning butter on Sunday. She carries her butter-tub; and +this brings us to Mother Goose again:-- + + "Jack and Jill went up the hill + To get a pail of water. + Jack fell down and broke his crown, + And Jill came tumbling after." + +This may read like mere nonsense; but there is a point of view from +which it may be safely said that there is very little absolute nonsense +in the world. The story of Jack and Jill is a venerable one. In +Icelandic mythology we read that Jack and Jill were two children whom +the moon once kidnapped and carried up to heaven. They had been drawing +water in a bucket, which they were carrying by means of a pole placed +across their shoulders; and in this attitude they have stood to the +present day in the moon. Even now this explanation of the moon-spots +is to be heard from the mouths of Swedish peasants. They fall away one +after the other, as the moon wanes, and their water-pail symbolizes the +supposed connection of the moon with rain-storms. Other forms of the +myth occur in Sanskrit. + +The moon-goddess, or Aphrodite, of the ancient Germans, was called +Horsel, or Ursula, who figures in Christian mediaeval mythology as a +persecuted saint, attended by a troop of eleven thousand virgins, +who all suffer martyrdom as they journey from England to Cologne. The +meaning of the myth is obvious. In German mythology, England is the +Phaiakian land of clouds and phantoms; the succubus, leaving her lover +before daybreak, excuses herself on the plea that "her mother is calling +her in England." [15] The companions of Ursula are the pure stars, who +leave the cloudland and suffer martyrdom as they approach the regions +of day. In the Christian tradition, Ursula is the pure Artemis; but, +in accordance with her ancient character, she is likewise the sensual +Aphrodite, who haunts the Venusberg; and this brings us to the story of +Tannhauser. + +The Horselberg, or mountain of Venus, lies in Thuringia, between +Eisenach and Gotha. High up on its slope yawns a cavern, the +Horselloch, or cave of Venus within which is heard a muffled roar, as +of subterranean water. From this cave, in old times, the frightened +inhabitants of the neighbouring valley would hear at night wild moans +and cries issuing, mingled with peals of demon-like laughter. Here it +was believed that Venus held her court; "and there were not a few who +declared that they had seen fair forms of female beauty beckoning them +from the mouth of the chasm." [16] Tannhauser was a Frankish knight and +famous minnesinger, who, travelling at twilight past the Horselberg, +"saw a white glimmering figure of matchless beauty standing before him +and beckoning him to her." Leaving his horse, he went up to meet her, +whom he knew to be none other than Venus. He descended to her palace +in the heart of the mountain, and there passed seven years in careless +revelry. Then, stricken with remorse and yearning for another glimpse +of the pure light of day, he called in agony upon the Virgin Mother, who +took compassion on him and released him. He sought a village church, and +to priest after priest confessed his sin, without obtaining absolution, +until finally he had recourse to the Pope. But the holy father, +horrified at the enormity of his misdoing, declared that guilt such as +his could never be remitted sooner should the staff in his hand grow +green and blossom. "Then Tannhauser, full of despair and with his soul +darkened, went away, and returned to the only asylum open to him, the +Venusberg. But lo! three days after he had gone, Pope Urban discovered +that his pastoral staff had put forth buds and had burst into flower. +Then he sent messengers after Tannhauser, and they reached the Horsel +vale to hear that a wayworn man, with haggard brow and bowed head, had +just entered the Horselloch. Since then Tannhauser has not been seen." +(p. 201.) + +As Mr. Baring-Gould rightly observes, this sad legend, in its +Christianized form, is doubtless descriptive of the struggle between +the new and the old faiths. The knightly Tannhauser, satiated with +pagan sensuality, turns to Christianity for relief, but, repelled by +the hypocrisy, pride, and lack of sympathy of its ministers, gives up in +despair, and returns to drown his anxieties in his old debauchery. + +But this is not the primitive form of the myth, which recurs in the +folk-lore of every people of Aryan descent. Who, indeed, can read it +without being at once reminded of Thomas of Erceldoune (or Horsel-hill), +entranced by the sorceress of the Eilden; of the nightly visits of Numa +to the grove of the nymph Egeria; of Odysseus held captive by the Lady +Kalypso; and, last but not least, of the delightful Arabian tale of +Prince Ahmed and the Peri Banou? On his westward journey, Odysseus is +ensnared and kept in temporary bondage by the amorous nymph of darkness, +Kalypso (kalnptw, to veil or cover). So the zone of the moon-goddess +Aphrodite inveigles all-seeing Zeus to treacherous slumber on Mount +Ida; and by a similar sorcery Tasso's great hero is lulled in unseemly +idleness in Armida's golden paradise, at the western verge of the world. +The disappearance of Tannhauser behind the moonlit cliff, lured by Venus +Ursula, the pale goddess of night, is a precisely parallel circumstance. + +But solar and lunar phenomena are by no means the only sources of +popular mythology. Opposite my writing-table hangs a quaint German +picture, illustrating Goethe's ballad of the Erlking, in which the whole +wild pathos of the story is compressed into one supreme moment; we see +the fearful, half-gliding rush of the Erlking, his long, spectral arms +outstretched to grasp the child, the frantic gallop of the horse, the +alarmed father clasping his darling to his bosom in convulsive embrace, +the siren-like elves hovering overhead, to lure the little soul with +their weird harps. There can be no better illustration than is furnished +by this terrible scene of the magic power of mythology to invest the +simplest physical phenomena with the most intense human interest; for +the true significance of the whole picture is contained in the father's +address to his child, + + "Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind; + In durren Blattern sauselt der Wind." + +The story of the Piper of Hamelin, well known in the version of Robert +Browning, leads to the same conclusion. In 1284 the good people of +Hamelin could obtain no rest, night or day, by reason of the direful +host of rats which infested their town. One day came a strange man in a +bunting-suit, and offered for five hundred guilders to rid the town of +the vermin. The people agreed: whereupon the man took out a pipe and +piped, and instantly all the rats in town, in an army which blackened +the face of the earth, came forth from their haunts, and followed the +piper until he piped them to the river Weser, where they alls jumped +in and were drowned. But as soon as the torment was gone, the townsfolk +refused to pay the piper on the ground that he was evidently a wizard. +He went away, vowing vengeance, and on St. John's day reappeared, and +putting his pipe to his mouth blew a different air. Whereat all the +little, plump, rosy-cheeked, golden-haired children came merrily running +after him, their parents standing aghast, not knowing what to do, +while he led them up a hill in the neighbourhood. A door opened in the +mountain-side, through which he led them in, and they never were seen +again; save one lame boy, who hobbled not fast enough to get in before +the door shut, and who lamented for the rest of his life that he had not +been able to share the rare luck of his comrades. In the street through +which this procession passed no music was ever afterwards allowed to be +played. For a long time the town dated its public documents from this +fearful calamity, and many authorities have treated it as an historical +event. [17] Similar stories are told of other towns in Germany, and, +strange to say, in remote Abyssinia also. Wesleyan peasants in England +believe that angels pipe to children who are about to die; and in +Scandinavia, youths are said to have been enticed away by the songs of +elf-maidens. In Greece, the sirens by their magic lay allured voyagers +to destruction; and Orpheus caused the trees and dumb beasts to follow +him. Here we reach the explanation. For Orpheus is the wind sighing +through untold acres of pine forest. "The piper is no other than the +wind, and the ancients held that in the wind were the souls of the +dead." To this day the English peasantry believe that they hear the wail +of the spirits of unbaptized children, as the gale sweeps past their +cottage doors. The Greek Hermes resulted from the fusion of two deities. +He is the sun and also the wind; and in the latter capacity he bears +away the souls of the dead. So the Norse Odin, who like Hermes fillfils +a double function, is supposed to rush at night over the tree-tops, +"accompanied by the scudding train of brave men's spirits." And readers +of recent French literature cannot fail to remember Erokmann-Chatrian's +terrible story of the wild huntsman Vittikab, and how he sped through +the forest, carrying away a young girl's soul. + +Thus, as Tannhauser is the Northern Ulysses, so is Goethe's Erlking none +other than the Piper of Hamelin. And the piper, in turn, is the classic +Hermes or Orpheus, the counterpart of the Finnish Wainamoinen and the +Sanskrit Gunadhya. His wonderful pipe is the horn of Oberon, the lyre of +Apollo (who, like the piper, was a rat-killer), the harp stolen by +Jack when he climbed the bean-stalk to the ogre's castle. [18] And the +father, in Goethe's ballad, is no more than right when he assures his +child that the siren voice which tempts him is but the rustle of the +wind among the dried leaves; for from such a simple class of phenomena +arose this entire family of charming legends. + +But why does the piper, who is a leader of souls (Psychopompos), also +draw rats after him? In answering this we shall have occasion to note +that the ancients by no means shared that curious prejudice against the +brute creation which is indulged in by modern anti-Darwinians. In many +countries, rats and mice have been regarded as sacred animals; but in +Germany they were thought to represent the human soul. One story out of +a hundred must suffice to illustrate this. "In Thuringia, at Saalfeld, a +servant-girl fell asleep whilst her companions were shelling nuts. They +observed a little red mouse creep from her mouth and run out of the +window. One of the fellows present shook the sleeper, but could not wake +her, so he moved her to another place. Presently the mouse ran back to +the former place and dashed about, seeking the girl; not finding her, +it vanished; at the same moment the girl died." [19] This completes the +explanation of the piper, and it also furnishes the key to the horrible +story of Bishop Hatto. + +This wicked prelate lived on the bank of the Rhine, in the middle of +which stream he possessed a tower, now pointed out to travellers as the +Mouse Tower. In the year 970 there was a dreadful famine, and people +came from far and near craving sustenance out of the Bishop's ample and +well-filled granaries. Well, he told them all to go into the barn, and +when they had got in there, as many as could stand, he set fire to the +barn and burnt them all up, and went home to eat a merry supper. But +when he arose next morning, he heard that an army of rats had eaten all +the corn in his granaries, and was now advancing to storm the palace. +Looking from his window, he saw the roads and fields dark with them, +as they came with fell purpose straight toward his mansion. In frenzied +terror he took his boat and rowed out to the tower in the river. But it +was of no use: down into the water marched the rats, and swam across, +and scaled the walls, and gnawed through the stones, and came swarming +in about the shrieking Bishop, and ate him up, flesh, bones, and all. +Now, bearing in mind what was said above, there can be no doubt that +these rats were the souls of those whom the Bishop had murdered. There +are many versions of the story in different Teutonic countries, and +in some of them the avenging rats or mice issue directly, by a strange +metamorphosis, from the corpses of the victims. St. Gertrude, moreover, +the heathen Holda, was symbolized as a mouse, and was said Go lead an +army of mice; she was the receiver of children's souls. Odin, also, in +his character of a Psychopompos, was followed by a host of rats. [20] + +As the souls of the departed are symbolized as rats, so is the +psychopomp himself often figured as a dog. Sarameias, the Vedic +counterpart of Hermes and Odin, sometimes appears invested with canine +attributes; and countless other examples go to show that by the early +Aryan mind the howling wind was conceived as a great dog or wolf. As the +fearful beast was heard speeding by the windows or over the house-top, +the inmates trembled, for none knew but his own soul might forthwith be +required of him. Hence, to this day, among ignorant people, the howling +of a dog under the window is supposed to portend a death in the family. +It is the fleet greyhound of Hermes, come to escort the soul to the +river Styx. [21] + +But the wind-god is not always so terrible. Nothing can be more +transparent than the phraseology of the Homeric Hymn, in which Hermes is +described as acquiring the strength of a giant while yet a babe in the +cradle, as sallying out and stealing the cattle (clouds) of Apollo, +and driving them helter-skelter in various directions, then as crawling +through the keyhole, and with a mocking laugh shrinking into his cradle. +He is the Master Thief, who can steal the burgomaster's horse from under +him and his wife's mantle from off her back, the prototype not only of +the crafty architect of Rhampsinitos, but even of the ungrateful slave +who robs Sancho of his mule in the Sierra Morena. He furnishes in part +the conceptions of Boots and Reynard; he is the prototype of Paul Pry +and peeping Tom of Coventry; and in virtue of his ability to contract or +expand himself at pleasure, he is both the Devil in the Norse Tale, [22] +whom the lad persuades to enter a walnut, and the Arabian Efreet, whom +the fisherman releases from the bottle. + +The very interesting series of myths and popular superstitions suggested +by the storm-cloud and the lightning must be reserved for a future +occasion. When carefully examined, they will richly illustrate the +conclusion which is the result of the present inquiry, that the +marvellous tales and quaint superstitions current in every Aryan +household have a common origin with the classic legends of gods and +heroes, which formerly were alone thought worthy of the student's +serious attention. These stories--some of them familiar to us in +infancy, others the delight of our maturer years--constitute the debris, +or alluvium, brought down by the stream of tradition from the distant +highlands of ancient mythology. + +September, 1870. + + + + +II. THE DESCENT OF FIRE. + +IN the course of my last summer's vacation, which was spent at a small +inland village, I came upon an unexpected illustration of the tenacity +with which conceptions descended from prehistoric antiquity have now +and then kept their hold upon life. While sitting one evening under the +trees by the roadside, my attention was called to the unusual conduct of +half a dozen men and boys who were standing opposite. An elderly man +was moving slowly up and down the road, holding with both hands a forked +twig of hazel, shaped like the letter Y inverted. With his palms turned +upward, he held in each hand a branch of the twig in such a way that the +shank pointed upward; but every few moments, as he halted over a certain +spot, the twig would gradually bend downwards until it had assumed the +likeness of a Y in its natural position, where it would remain pointing +to something in the ground beneath. One by one the bystanders proceeded +to try the experiment, but with no variation in the result. Something in +the ground seemed to fascinate the bit of hazel, for it could not pass +over that spot without bending down and pointing to it. + +My thoughts reverted at once to Jacques Aymar and Dousterswivel, as +I perceived that these men were engaged in sorcery. During the long +drought more than half the wells in the village had become dry, and here +was an attempt to make good the loss by the aid of the god Thor. These +men were seeking water with a divining-rod. Here, alive before my eyes, +was a superstitious observance, which I had supposed long since dead and +forgotten by all men except students interested in mythology. + +As I crossed the road to take part in the ceremony a farmer's boy came +up, stoutly affirming his incredulity, + +and offering to show the company how he could carry the rod motionless +across the charmed spot. But when he came to take the weird twig he +trembled with an ill-defined feeling of insecurity as to the soundness +of his conclusions, and when he stood over the supposed rivulet the rod +bent in spite of him,--as was not so very strange. For, with all his +vague scepticism, the honest lad had not, and could not be supposed to +have, the foi scientifique of which Littre speaks. [23] + +Hereupon I requested leave to try the rod; but something in my manner +seemed at once to excite the suspicion and scorn of the sorcerer. "Yes, +take it," said he, with uncalled-for vehemence, "but you can't stop it; +there's water below here, and you can't help its bending, if you break +your back trying to hold it." So he gave me the twig, and awaited, with +a smile which was meant to express withering sarcasm, the discomfiture +of the supposed scoffer. But when I proceeded to walk four or five times +across the mysterious place, the rod pointing steadfastly toward the +zenith all the while, our friend became grave and began to philosophize. +"Well," said he, "you see, your temperament is peculiar; the conditions +ain't favourable in your case; there are some people who never can work +these things. But there's water below here, for all that, as you'll +find, if you dig for it; there's nothing like a hazel-rod for finding +out water." + +Very true: there are some persons who never can make such things work; +who somehow always encounter "unfavourable conditions" when they wish +to test the marvellous powers of a clairvoyant; who never can make +"Planchette" move in conformity to the requirements of any known +alphabet; who never see ghosts, and never have "presentiments," save +such as are obviously due to association of ideas. The ill-success of +these persons is commonly ascribed to their lack of faith; but, in the +majority of cases, it might be more truly referred to the strength of +their faith,--faith in the constancy of nature, and in the adequacy +of ordinary human experience as interpreted by science. [24] La foi +scientifique is an excellent preventive against that obscure, though not +uncommon, kind of self-deception which enables wooden tripods to write +and tables to tip and hazel-twigs to twist upside-down, without the +conscious intervention of the performer. It was this kind of faith, no +doubt, which caused the discomfiture of Jacques Aymar on his visit to +Paris, [25] and which has in late years prevented persons from obtaining +the handsome prize offered by the French Academy for the first authentic +case of clairvoyance. + +But our village friend, though perhaps constructively right in his +philosophizing, was certainly very defective in his acquaintance with +the time-honoured art of rhabdomancy. Had he extended his inquiries so +as to cover the field of Indo-European tradition, he would have learned +that the mountain-ash, the mistletoe, the white and black thorn, the +Hindu asvattha, and several other woods, are quite as efficient as the +hazel for the purpose of detecting water in times of drought; and in due +course of time he would have perceived that the divining-rod itself +is but one among a large class of things to which popular belief has +ascribed, along with other talismanic properties, the power of opening +the ground or cleaving rocks, in order to reveal hidden treasures. +Leaving him in peace, then, with his bit of forked hazel, to seek for +cooling springs in some future thirsty season, let us endeavour to +elucidate the origin of this curious superstition. + +The detection of subterranean water is by no means the only use to +which the divining-rod has been put. Among the ancient Frisians it was +regularly used for the detection of criminals; and the reputation of +Jacques Aymar was won by his discovery of the perpetrator of a horrible +murder at Lyons. Throughout Europe it has been used from time immemorial +by miners for ascertaining the position of veins of metal; and in the +days when talents were wrapped in napkins and buried in the field, +instead of being exposed to the risks of financial speculation, the +divining-rod was employed by persons covetous of their neighbours' +wealth. If Boulatruelle had lived in the sixteenth century, he would +have taken a forked stick of hazel when he went to search for the buried +treasures of Jean Valjean. It has also been applied to the cure of +disease, and has been kept in households, like a wizard's charm, to +insure general good-fortune and immunity from disaster. + +As we follow the conception further into the elf-land of popular +tradition, we come upon a rod which not only points out the situation of +hidden treasure, but even splits open the ground and reveals the mineral +wealth contained therein. In German legend, "a shepherd, who was driving +his flock over the Ilsenstein, having stopped to rest, leaning on his +staff, the mountain suddenly opened, for there was a springwort in his +staff without his knowing it, and the princess [Ilse] stood before him. +She bade him follow her, and when he was inside the mountain she told +him to take as much gold as he pleased. The shepherd filled all his +pockets, and was going away, when the princess called after him, 'Forget +not the best.' So, thinking she meant that he had not taken enough, +he filled his hat also; but what she meant was his staff with the +springwort, which he had laid against the wall as soon as he stepped +in. But now, just as he was going out at the opening, the rock suddenly +slammed together and cut him in two." [26] + +Here the rod derives its marvellous properties from the enclosed +springwort, but in many cases a leaf or flower is itself competent to +open the hillside. The little blue flower, forget-me-not, about which +so many sentimental associations have clustered, owes its name to the +legends told of its talismanic virtues. [27] A man, travelling on a +lonely mountain, picks up a little blue flower and sticks it in his hat. +Forthwith an iron door opens, showing up a lighted passage-way, through +which the man advances into a magnificent hall, where rubies and +diamonds and all other kinds of gems are lying piled in great heaps on +the floor. As he eagerly fills his pockets his hat drops from his head, +and when he turns to go out the little flower calls after him, "Forget +me not!" He turns back and looks around, but is too bewildered with his +good fortune to think of his bare head or of the luck-flower which he +has let fall. He selects several more of the finest jewels he can +find, and again starts to go out; but as he passes through the door the +mountain closes amid the crashing of thunder, and cuts off one of his +heels. Alone, in the gloom of the forest, he searches in vain for the +mysterious door: it has disappeared forever, and the traveller goes on +his way, thankful, let us hope, that he has fared no worse. + +Sometimes it is a white lady, like the Princess Ilse, who invites the +finder of the luck-flower to help himself to her treasures, and who +utters the enigmatical warning. The mountain where the event occurred +may be found almost anywhere in Germany, and one just like it stood in +Persia, in the golden prime of Haroun Alraschid. In the story of the +Forty Thieves, the mere name of the plant sesame serves as a talisman to +open and shut the secret door which leads into the robbers' cavern; and +when the avaricious Cassim Baba, absorbed in the contemplation of the +bags of gold and bales of rich merchandise, forgets the magic formula, +he meets no better fate than the shepherd of the Ilsenstein. In the +story of Prince Ahmed, it is an enchanted arrow which guides the young +adventurer through the hillside to the grotto of the Peri Banou. In +the tale of Baba Abdallah, it is an ointment rubbed on the eyelid which +reveals at a single glance all the treasures hidden in the bowels of the +earth. + +The ancient Romans also had their rock-breaking plant, called Saxifraga, +or "sassafras." And the further we penetrate into this charmed circle +of traditions the more evident does it appear that the power of cleaving +rocks or shattering hard substances enters, as a primitive element, into +the conception of these treasure-showing talismans. Mr. Baring-Gould +has given an excellent account of the rabbinical legends concerning the +wonderful schamir, by the aid of which Solomon was said to have built +his temple. From Asmodeus, prince of the Jann, Benaiah, the son of +Jehoiada, wrested the secret of a worm no bigger than a barley-corn, +which could split the hardest substance. This worm was called schamir. +"If Solomon desired to possess himself of the worm, he must find the +nest of the moor-hen, and cover it with a plate of glass, so that the +mother bird could not get at her young without breaking the glass. She +would seek schamir for the purpose, and the worm must be obtained from +her." As the Jewish king did need the worm in order to hew the stones +for that temple which was to be built without sound of hammer, or axe, +or any tool of iron, [28] he sent Benaiah to obtain it. According to +another account, schamir was a mystic stone which enabled Solomon to +penetrate the earth in search of mineral wealth. Directed by a Jinni, +the wise king covered a raven's eggs with a plate of crystal, and thus +obtained schamir which the bird brought in order to break the plate. +[29] + +In these traditions, which may possibly be of Aryan descent, due to the +prolonged intercourse between the Jews and the Persians, a new feature +is added to those before enumerated: the rock-splitting talisman is +always found in the possession of a bird. The same feature in the myth +reappears on Aryan soil. The springwort, whose marvellous powers we have +noticed in the case of the Ilsenstein shepherd, is obtained, according +to Pliny, by stopping up the hole in a tree where a woodpecker keeps its +young. The bird flies away, and presently returns with the springwort, +which it applies to the plug, causing it to shoot out with a loud +explosion. The same account is given in German folk-lore. Elsewhere, +as in Iceland, Normandy, and ancient Greece, the bird is an eagle, a +swallow, an ostrich, or a hoopoe. + +In the Icelandic and Pomeranian myths the schamir, or "raven-stone," +also renders its possessor invisible,--a property which it shares with +one of the treasure-finding plants, the fern. [30] In this respect +it resembles the ring of Gyges, as in its divining and rock-splitting +qualities it resembles that other ring which the African magrician gave +to Aladdin, to enable him to descend into the cavern where stood the +wonderful lamp. + +According to one North German tradition, the luck-flower also will make +its finder invisible at pleasure. But, as the myth shrewdly adds, it is +absolutely essential that the flower be found by accident: he who seeks +for it never finds it! Thus all cavils are skilfully forestalled, +even if not satisfactorily disposed of. The same kind of reasoning is +favoured by our modern dealers in mystery: somehow the "conditions" +always are askew whenever a scientific observer wishes to test their +pretensions. + +In the North of Europe schamir appears strangely and grotesquely +metamorphosed. The hand of a man that has been hanged, when dried and +prepared with certain weird unguents and set on fire, is known as the +Hand of Glory; and as it not only bursts open all safe-locks, but also +lulls to sleep all persons within the circle of its influence, it is of +course invaluable to thieves and burglars. I quote the following story +from Thorpe's "Northern Mythology": "Two fellows once came to Huy, who +pretended to be exceedingly fatigued, and when they had supped would +not retire to a sleeping-room, but begged their host would allow them +to take a nap on the hearth. But the maid-servant, who did not like the +looks of the two guests, remained by the kitchen door and peeped through +a chink, when she saw that one of them drew a thief's hand from his +pocket, the fingers of which, after having rubbed them with an ointment, +he lighted, and they all burned except one. Again they held this finger +to the fire, but still it would not burn, at which they appeared much +surprised, and one said, 'There must surely be some one in the house +who is not yet asleep.' They then hung the hand with its four burning +fingers by the chimney, and went out to call their associates. But the +maid followed them instantly and made the door fast, then ran up stairs, +where the landlord slept, that she might wake him, but was unable, +notwithstanding all her shaking and calling. In the mean time the +thieves had returned and were endeavouring to enter the house by a +window, but the maid cast them down from the ladder. They then took a +different course, and would have forced an entrance, had it not occurred +to the maid that the burning fingers might probably be the cause of her +master's profound sleep. Impressed with this idea she ran to the kitchen +and blew them out, when the master and his men-servants instantly +awoke, and soon drove away the robbers." The same event is said to have +occurred at Stainmore in England; and Torquermada relates of Mexican +thieves that they carry with them the left hand of a woman who has died +in her first childbed, before which talisman all bolts yield and all +opposition is benumbed. In 1831 "some Irish thieves attempted to commit +a robbery on the estate of Mr. Naper, of Loughcrew, county Meath. They +entered the house armed with a dead man's hand with a lighted candle in +it, believing in the superstitious notion that a candle placed in a dead +man's hand will not be seen by any but those by whom it is used; and +also that if a candle in a dead hand be introduced into a house, it will +prevent those who may be asleep from awaking. The inmates, however, were +alarmed, and the robbers fled, leaving the hand behind them." [31] + +In the Middle Ages the hand of glory was used, just like the +divining-rod, for the detection of buried treasures. + +Here, then, we have a large and motley group of objects--the forked +rod of ash or hazel, the springwort and the luck-flower, leaves, +worms, stones, rings, and dead men's hands--which are for the most part +competent to open the way into cavernous rocks, and which all agree +in pointing out hidden wealth. We find, moreover, that many of these +charmed objects are carried about by birds, and that some of them +possess, in addition to their generic properties, the specific power of +benumbing people's senses. What, now, is the common origin of this whole +group of superstitions? And since mythology has been shown to be the +result of primeval attempts to explain the phenomena of nature, what +natural phenomenon could ever have given rise to so many seemingly +wanton conceptions? Hopeless as the problem may at first sight seem, it +has nevertheless been solved. In his great treatise on "The Descent +of Fire," Dr. Kuhn has shown that all these legends and traditions are +descended from primitive myths explanatory of the lightning and the +storm-cloud. [32] + +To us, who are nourished from childhood on the truths revealed by +science, the sky is known to be merely an optical appearance due to the +partial absorption of the solar rays in passing through a thick stratum +of atmospheric air; the clouds are known to be large masses of watery +vapour, which descend in rain-drops when sufficiently condensed; and +the lightning is known to be a flash of light accompanying an electric +discharge. But these conceptions are extremely recondite, and have been +attained only through centuries of philosophizing and after careful +observation and laborious experiment. To the untaught mind of a child or +of an uncivilized man, it seems far more natural and plausible to regard +the sky as a solid dome of blue crystal, the clouds as snowy mountains, +or perhaps even as giants or angels, the lightning as a flashing dart or +a fiery serpent. In point of fact, we find that the conceptions actually +entertained are often far more grotesque than these. I can recollect +once framing the hypothesis that the flaming clouds of sunset were +transient apparitions, vouchsafed us by way of warning, of that burning +Calvinistic hell with which my childish imagination had been unwisely +terrified; [33] and I have known of a four-year-old boy who thought that +the snowy clouds of noonday were the white robes of the angels hung out +to dry in the sun. [34] My little daughter is anxious to know whether +it is necessary to take a balloon in order to get to the place where +God lives, or whether the same end can be accomplished by going to the +horizon and crawling up the sky; [35] the Mohammedan of old was working +at the same problem when he called the rainbow the bridge Es-Sirat, over +which souls must pass on their way to heaven. According to the ancient +Jew, the sky was a solid plate, hammered out by the gods, and spread +over the earth in order to keep up the ocean overhead; [36] but the +plate was full of little windows, which were opened whenever it became +necessary to let the rain come through. [37] With equal plausibility +the Greek represented the rainy sky as a sieve in which the daughters +of Danaos were vainly trying to draw water; while to the Hindu the +rain-clouds were celestial cattle milked by the wind-god. In primitive +Aryan lore, the sky itself was a blue sea, and the clouds were ships +sailing over it; and an English legend tells how one of these ships +once caught its anchor on a gravestone in the churchyard, to the great +astonishment of the people who were coming out of church. Charon's +ferry-boat was one of these vessels, and another was Odin's golden ship, +in which the souls of slain heroes were conveyed to Valhalla. Hence it +was once the Scandinavian practice to bury the dead in boats; and in +Altmark a penny is still placed in the mouth of the corpse, that it may +have the means of paying its fare to the ghostly ferryman. [38] In such +a vessel drifted the Lady of Shalott on her fatal voyage; and of similar +nature was the dusky barge, "dark as a funeral-scarf from stem to +stern," in which Arthur was received by the black-hooded queens. [39] + +But the fact that a natural phenomenon was explained in one way did not +hinder it from being explained in a dozen other ways. The fact that the +sun was generally regarded as an all-conquering hero did not prevent +its being called an egg, an apple, or a frog squatting on the waters, or +Ixion's wheel, or the eye of Polyphemos, or the stone of Sisyphos, which +was no sooner pushed to the zenith than it rolled down to the horizon. +So the sky was not only a crystal dome, or a celestial ocean, but it was +also the Aleian land through which Bellerophon wandered, the country of +the Lotos-eaters, or again the realm of the Graiai beyond the twilight; +and finally it was personified and worshipped as Dyaus or Varuna, the +Vedic prototypes of the Greek Zeus and Ouranos. The clouds, too, had +many other representatives besides ships and cows. In a future paper it +will be shown that they were sometimes regarded as angels or houris; at +present it more nearly concerns us to know that they appear, throughout +all Aryan mythology, under the form of birds. It used to be a matter of +hopeless wonder to me that Aladdin's innocent request for a roc's egg +to hang in the dome of his palace should have been regarded as a crime +worthy of punishment by the loss of the wonderful lamp; the obscurest +part of the whole affair being perhaps the Jinni's passionate allusion +to the egg as his master: "Wretch! dost thou command me to bring thee +my master, and hang him up in the midst of this vaulted dome?" But the +incident is to some extent cleared of its mystery when we learn that +the roc's egg is the bright sun, and that the roc itself is the rushing +storm-cloud which, in the tale of Sindbad, haunts the sparkling starry +firmament, symbolized as a valley of diamonds. [40] According to one +Arabic authority, the length of its wings is ten thousand fathoms. But +in European tradition it dwindles from these huge dimensions to the size +of an eagle, a raven, or a woodpecker. Among the birds enumerated by +Kuhn and others as representing the storm-cloud are likewise the wren +or "kinglet" (French roitelet); the owl, sacred to Athene; the cuckoo, +stork, and sparrow; and the red-breasted robin, whose name Robert was +originally an epithet of the lightning-god Thor. In certain parts of +France it is still believed that the robbing of a wren's nest will +render the culprit liable to be struck by lightning. The same belief was +formerly entertained in Teutonic countries with respect to the robin; +and I suppose that from this superstition is descended the prevalent +notion, which I often encountered in childhood, that there is something +peculiarly wicked in killing robins. + +Now, as the raven or woodpecker, in the various myths of schamir, is the +dark storm-cloud, so the rock-splitting worm or plant or pebble which +the bird carries in its beak and lets fall to the ground is nothing more +or less than the flash of lightning carried and dropped by the cloud. +"If the cloud was supposed to be a great bird, the lightnings were +regarded as writhing worms or serpents in its beak. These fiery +serpents, elikiai gram-moeidws feromenoi, are believed in to this day by +the Canadian Indians, who call the thunder their hissing." [41] + +But these are not the only mythical conceptions which are to be found +wrapped up in the various myths of schamir and the divining-rod. The +persons who told these stories were not weaving ingenious allegories +about thunder-storms; they were telling stories, or giving utterance +to superstitions, of which the original meaning was forgotten. The old +grannies who, along with a stoical indifference to the fate of quails +and partridges, used to impress upon me the wickedness of killing +robins, did not add that I should be struck by lightning if I failed to +heed their admonitions. They had never heard that the robin was the bird +of Thor; they merely rehearsed the remnant of the superstition which +had survived to their own times, while the essential part of it had long +since faded from recollection. The reason for regarding a robin's +life as more sacred than a partridge's had been forgotten; but it left +behind, as was natural, a vague recognition of that mythical sanctity. +The primitive meaning of a myth fades away as inevitably as the +primitive meaning of a word or phrase; and the rabbins who told of a +worm which shatters rocks no more thought of the writhing thunderbolts +than the modern reader thinks of oyster-shells when he sees the word +ostracism, or consciously breathes a prayer as he writes the phrase good +bye. It is only in its callow infancy that the full force of a myth is +felt, and its period of luxuriant development dates from the time when +its physical significance is lost or obscured. It was because the Greek +had forgotten that Zeus meant the bright sky, that he could make him +king over an anthropomorphic Olympos. The Hindu Dyaus, who carried his +significance in his name as plainly as the Greek Helios, never attained +such an exalted position; he yielded to deities of less obvious +pedigree, such as Brahma and Vishnu. + +Since, therefore, the myth-tellers recounted merely the wonderful +stories which their own nurses and grandmas had told them, and had no +intention of weaving subtle allegories or wrapping up a physical +truth in mystic emblems, it follows that they were not bound to +avoid incongruities or to preserve a philosophical symmetry in their +narratives. In the great majority of complex myths, no such symmetry is +to be found. A score of different mythical conceptions would get wrought +into the same story, and the attempt to pull them apart and construct a +single harmonious system of conceptions out of the pieces must often end +in ingenious absurdity. If Odysseus is unquestionably the sun, so is the +eye of Polyphemos, which Odysseus puts out. [42] But the Greek poet knew +nothing of the incongruity, for he was thinking only of a superhuman +hero freeing himself from a giant cannibal; he knew nothing of Sanskrit, +or of comparative mythology, and the sources of his myths were as +completely hidden from his view as the sources of the Nile. + +We need not be surprised, then, to find that in one version of the +schamir-myth the cloud is the bird which carries the worm, while in +another version the cloud is the rock or mountain which the talisman +cleaves open; nor need we wonder at it, if we find stories in which the +two conceptions are mingled together without regard to an incongruity +which in the mind of the myth-teller no longer exists. [43] + +In early Aryan mythology there is nothing by which the clouds are +more frequently represented than by rocks or mountains. Such were the +Symplegades, which, charmed by the harp of the wind-god Orpheus, parted +to make way for the talking ship Argo, with its crew of solar heroes. +[44] Such, too, were the mountains Ossa and Pelion, which the giants +piled up one upon another in their impious assault upon Zeus, the lord +of the bright sky. As Mr. Baring-Gould observes: "The ancient Aryan had +the same name for cloud and mountain. To him the piles of vapour on the +horizon were so like Alpine ranges, that he had but one word whereby to +designate both. [45] These great mountains of heaven were opened by the +lightning. In the sudden flash he beheld the dazzling splendour within, +but only for a moment, and then, with a crash, the celestial rocks +closed again. Believing these vaporous piles to contain resplendent +treasures of which partial glimpse was obtained by mortals in a +momentary gleam, tales were speedily formed, relating the adventures of +some who had succeeded in entering these treasure-mountains." + +This sudden flash is the smiting of the cloud-rock by the arrow of +Ahmed, the resistless hammer of Thor, the spear of Odin, the trident +of Poseidon, or the rod of Hermes. The forked streak of light is the +archetype of the divining-rod in its oldest form,--that in which it +not only indicates the hidden treasures, but, like the staff of the +Ilsenstein shepherd, bursts open the enchanted crypt and reveals them +to the astonished wayfarer. Hence the one thing essential to the +divining-rod, from whatever tree it be chosen, is that it shall be +forked. + +It is not difficult to comprehend the reasons which led the ancients +to speak of the lightning as a worm, serpent, trident, arrow, or forked +wand; but when we inquire why it was sometimes symbolized as a flower or +leaf; or when we seek to ascertain why certain trees, such as the ash, +hazel, white-thorn, and mistletoe, were supposed to be in a certain +sense embodiments of it, we are entering upon a subject too complicated +to be satisfactorily treated within the limits of the present paper. It +has been said that the point of resemblance between a cow and a comet, +that both have tails, was quite enough for the primitive word-maker: it +was certainly enough for the primitive myth-teller. [46] Sometimes the +pinnate shape of a leaf, the forking of a branch, the tri-cleft corolla, +or even the red colour of a flower, seems to have been sufficient to +determine the association of ideas. The Hindu commentators of the Veda +certainly lay great stress on the fact that the palasa, one of their +lightning-trees, is trident-leaved. The mistletoe branch is forked, like +a wish-bone, [47] and so is the stem which bears the forget-me-not or +wild scorpion grass. So too the leaves of the Hindu ficus religiosa +resemble long spear-heads. [48] But in many cases it is impossible +for us to determine with confidence the reasons which may have guided +primitive men in their choice of talismanic plants. In the case of some +of these stories, it would no doubt be wasting ingenuity to attempt to +assign a mythical origin for each point of detail. The ointment of the +dervise, for instance, in the Arabian tale, has probably no special +mythical significance, but was rather suggested by the exigencies of the +story, in an age when the old mythologies were so far disintegrated and +mingled together that any one talisman would serve as well as another +the purposes of the narrator. But the lightning-plants of Indo-European +folk-lore cannot be thus summarily disposed of; for however difficult it +may be for us to perceive any connection between them and the celestial +phenomena which they represent, the myths concerning them are so +numerous and explicit as to render it certain that some such connection +was imagined by the myth-makers. The superstition concerning the hand +of glory is not so hard to interpret. In the mythology of the Finns, the +storm-cloud is a black man with a bright copper hand; and in Hindustan, +Indra Savitar, the deity who slays the demon of the cloud, is +golden-handed. The selection of the hand of a man who has been hanged +is probably due to the superstition which regarded the storm-god Odin +as peculiarly the lord of the gallows. The man who is raised upon the +gallows is placed directly in the track of the wild huntsman, who comes +with his hounds to carry off the victim; and hence the notion, which, +according to Mr. Kelly, is "very common in Germany and not extinct in +England," that every suicide by hanging is followed by a storm. + +The paths of comparative mythology are devious, but we have now pursued +them long enough I believe, to have arrived at a tolerably clear +understanding of the original nature of the divining-rod. Its power of +revealing treasures has been sufficiently explained; and its affinity +for water results so obviously from the character of the lightning-myth +as to need no further comment. But its power of detecting criminals +still remains to be accounted for. + +In Greek mythology, the being which detects and punishes crime is the +Erinys, the prototype of the Latin Fury, figured by late writers as a +horrible monster with serpent locks. But this is a degradation of the +original conception. The name Erinys did not originally mean Fury, and +it cannot be explained from Greek sources alone. It appears in Sanskrit +as Saranyu, a word which signifies the light of morning creeping over +the sky. And thus we are led to the startling conclusion that, as the +light of morning reveals the evil deeds done under the cover of night, +so the lovely Dawn, or Erinys, came to be regarded under one aspect +as the terrible detector and avenger of iniquity. Yet startling as the +conclusion is, it is based on established laws of phonetic change, and +cannot be gainsaid. + +But what has the avenging daybreak to do with the lightning and the +divining-rod? To the modern mind the association is not an obvious one: +in antiquity it was otherwise. Myths of the daybreak and myths of +the lightning often resemble each other so closely that, except by a +delicate philological analysis, it is difficult to distinguish the one +from the other. The reason is obvious. In each case the phenomenon to be +explained is the struggle between the day-god and one of the demons +of darkness. There is essentially no distinction to the mind of the +primitive man between the Panis, who steal Indra's bright cows and +keep them in a dark cavern all night, and the throttling snake Ahi or +Echidna, who imprisons the waters in the stronghold of the thunder-cloud +and covers the earth with a short-lived darkness. And so the poisoned +arrows of Bellerophon, which slay the storm-dragon, differ in no +essential respect from the shafts with which Odysseus slaughters the +night-demons who have for ten long hours beset his mansion. Thus the +divining-rod, representing as it does the weapon of the god of day, +comes legitimately enough by its function of detecting and avenging +crime. + +But the lightning not only reveals strange treasures and gives water to +the thirsty land and makes plain what is doing under cover of darkness; +it also sometimes kills, benumbs, or paralyzes. Thus the head of the +Gorgon Medusa turns into stone those who look upon it. Thus the ointment +of the dervise, in the tale of Baba Abdallah, not only reveals all the +treasures of the earth, but instantly thereafter blinds the unhappy man +who tests its powers. And thus the hand of glory, which bursts open bars +and bolts, benumbs also those who happen to be near it. Indeed, few of +the favoured mortals who were allowed to visit the caverns opened by +sesame or the luck-flower, escaped without disaster. The monkish tale of +"The Clerk and the Image," in which the primeval mythical features are +curiously distorted, well illustrates this point. + +In the city of Rome there formerly stood an image with its right hand +extended and on its forefinger the words "strike here." Many wise men +puzzled in vain over the meaning of the inscription; but at last a +certain priest observed that whenever the sun shone on the figure, the +shadow of the finger was discernible on the ground at a little distance +from the statue. Having marked the spot, he waited until midnight, and +then began to dig. At last his spade struck upon something hard. It +was a trap-door, below which a flight of marble steps descended into a +spacious hall, where many men were sitting in solemn silence amid piles +of gold and diamonds and long rows of enamelled vases. Beyond this he +found another room, a gynaecium filled with beautiful women reclining +on richly embroidered sofas; yet here, too, all was profound silence. +A superb banqueting-hall next met his astonished gaze; then a silent +kitchen; then granaries loaded with forage; then a stable crowded +with motionless horses. The whole place was brilliantly lighted by a +carbuncle which was suspended in one corner of the reception-room; and +opposite stood an archer, with his bow and arrow raised, in the act of +taking aim at the jewel. As the priest passed back through this hall, he +saw a diamond-hilted knife lying on a marble table; and wishing to carry +away something wherewith to accredit his story, he reached out his +hand to take it; but no sooner had he touched it than all was dark. The +archer had shot with his arrow, the bright jewel was shivered into a +thousand pieces, the staircase had fled, and the priest found himself +buried alive. [49] + +Usually, however, though the lightning is wont to strike dead, with its +basilisk glance, those who rashly enter its mysterious caverns, it is +regarded rather as a benefactor than as a destroyer. The feelings with +which the myth-making age contemplated the thunder-shower as it +revived the earth paralyzed by a long drought, are shown in the myth of +Oidipous. The Sphinx, whose name signifies "the one who binds," is the +demon who sits on the cloud-rock and imprisons the rain, muttering, dark +sayings which none but the all-knowing sun may understand. The flash +of solar light which causes the monster to fling herself down from the +cliff with a fearful roar, restores the land to prosperity. But besides +this, the association of the thunder-storm with the approach of summer +has produced many myths in which the lightning is symbolized as the +life-renewing wand of the victorious sun-god. Hence the use of the +divining-rod in the cure of disease; and hence the large family of +schamir-myths in which the dead are restored to life by leaves or herbs. +In Grimm's tale of the "Three Snake Leaves," a prince is buried alive +(like Sindbad) with his dead wife, and seeing a snake approaching her +body, he cuts it in three pieces. Presently another snake, crawling from +the corner, saw the other lying dead, and going, away soon returned +with three green leaves in its mouth; then laying the parts of the body +together so as to join, it put one leaf on each wound, and the dead +snake was alive again. The prince, applying the leaves to his wife's +body, restores her also to life." [50] In the Greek story, told by +AElian and Apollodoros, Polyidos is shut up with the corpse of Glaukos, +which he is ordered to restore to life. He kills a dragon which is +approaching the body, but is presently astonished at seeing another +dragon come with a blade of grass and place it upon its dead companion, +which instantly rises from the ground. Polyidos takes the same blade of +grass, and with it resuscitates Glaukos. The same incident occurs in the +Hindu story of Panch Phul Ranee, and in Fouque's "Sir Elidoc," which is +founded on a Breton legend. + +We need not wonder, then, at the extraordinary therapeutic +properties which are in all Aryan folk-lore ascribed to the +various lightning-plants. In Sweden sanitary amulets are made of +mistletoe-twigs, and the plant is supposed to be a specific against +epilepsy and an antidote for poisons. In Cornwall children are passed +through holes in ash-trees in order to cure them of hernia. Ash rods are +used in some parts of England for the cure of diseased sheep, cows, and +horses; and in particular they are supposed to neutralize the venom +of serpents. The notion that snakes are afraid of an ash-tree is not +extinct even in the United States. The other day I was told, not by an +old granny, but by a man fairly educated and endowed with a very unusual +amount of good common-sense, that a rattlesnake will sooner go through +fire than creep over ash leaves or into the shadow of an ash-tree. +Exactly the same statement is made by Piny, who adds that if you draw +a circle with an ash rod around the spot of ground on which a snake +is lying, the animal must die of starvation, being as effectually +imprisoned as Ugolino in the dungeon at Pisa. In Cornwall it is believed +that a blow from an ash stick will instantly kill any serpent. The ash +shares this virtue with the hazel and fern. A Swedish peasant will tell +you that snakes may be deprived of their venom by a touch with a hazel +wand; and when an ancient Greek had occasion to make his bed in the +woods, he selected fern leaves if possible, in the belief that the smell +of them would drive away poisonous animals. [51] + +But the beneficent character of the lightning appears still more clearly +in another class of myths. To the primitive man the shaft of light +coming down from heaven was typical of the original descent of fire for +the benefit and improvement of the human race. The Sioux Indians account +for the origin of fire by a myth of unmistakable kinship; they say that +"their first ancestor obtained his fire from the sparks which a friendly +panther struck from the rocks as he scampered up a stony hill." [52] +This panther is obviously the counterpart of the Aryan bird which +drops schamir. But the Aryan imagination hit upon a far more remarkable +conception. The ancient Hindus obtained fire by a process similar to +that employed by Count Rumford in his experiments on the generation of +heat by friction. They first wound a couple of cords around a pointed +stick in such a way that the unwinding of the one would wind up the +other, and then, placing the point of the stick against a circular disk +of wood, twirled it rapidly by alternate pulls on the two strings. This +instrument is called a chark, and is still used in South Africa, [53] +in Australia, in Sumatra, and among the Veddahs of Ceylon. The Russians +found it in Kamtchatka; and it was formerly employed in America, from +Labrador to the Straits of Magellan. [54] The Hindus churned milk by +a similar process; [55] and in order to explain the thunder-storm, a +Sanskrit poem tells how "once upon a time the Devas, or gods, and their +opponents, the Asuras, made a truce, and joined together in churning +the ocean to procure amrita, the drink of immortality. They took Mount +Mandara for a churning-stick, and, wrapping the great serpent Sesha +round it for a rope, they made the mountain spin round to and fro, the +Devas pulling at the serpent's tail, and the Asuras at its head." [56] +In this myth the churning-stick, with its flying serpent-cords, is +the lightning, and the armrita, or drink of immortality, is simply the +rain-water, which in Aryan folk-lore possesses the same healing virtues +as the lightning. "In Sclavonic myths it is the water of life which +restores the dead earth, a water brought by a bird from the depths of a +gloomy cave." [57] It is the celestial soma or mead which Indra loves +to drink; it is the ambrosial nectar of the Olympian gods; it is the +charmed water which in the Arabian Nights restores to human shape +the victims of wicked sorcerers; and it is the elixir of life which +mediaeval philosophers tried to discover, and in quest of which Ponce de +Leon traversed the wilds of Florida. [58] + +"Jacky's next proceeding was to get some dry sticks and wood, and +prepare a fire, which, to George's astonishment, he lighted thus. He got +a block of wood, in the middle of which he made a hole; then he cut and +pointed a long stick, and inserting the point into the block, worked +it round between his palms for some time and with increasing rapidity. +Presently there came a smell of burning wood, and soon after it burst +into a flame at the point of contact. Jacky cut slices of shark and +roasted them."--Reade, Never too Late to Mend, chap. xxxviii. + +The most interesting point in this Hindu myth is the name of the peaked +mountain Mandara, or Manthara, which the gods and devils took for their +churning-stick. The word means "a churning-stick," and it appears also, +with a prefixed preposition, in the name of the fire-drill, pramantha. +Now Kuhn has proved that this name, pramantha, is etymologically +identical with Prometheus, the name of the beneficent Titan, who stole +fire from heaven and bestowed it upon mankind as the richest of boons. +This sublime personage was originally nothing but the celestial drill +which churns fire out of the clouds; but the Greeks had so entirely +forgotten his origin that they interpreted his name as meaning "the one +who thinks beforehand," and accredited him with a brother, Epimetheus, +or "the one who thinks too late." The Greeks had adopted another name, +trypanon, for their fire-drill, and thus the primitive character of +Prometheus became obscured. + +I have said above that it was regarded as absolutely essential that +the divining-rod should be forked. To this rule, however, there was one +exception, and if any further evidence be needed to convince the +most sceptical that the divining-rod is nothing but a symbol of +the lightning, that exception will furnish such evidence. For this +exceptional kind of divining-rod was made of a pointed stick rotating +in a block of wood, and it was the presence of hidden water or treasure +which was supposed to excite the rotatory motion. + +In the myths relating to Prometheus, the lightning-god appears as the +originator of civilization, sometimes as the creator of the human race, +and always as its friend, [59] suffering in its behalf the most fearful +tortures at the hands of the jealous Zeus. In one story he creates man +by making a clay image and infusing into it a spark of the fire which he +had brought from heaven; in another story he is himself the first man. +In the Peloponnesian myth Phoroneus, who is Prometheus under another +name, is the first man, and his mother was an ash-tree. In Norse +mythology, also, the gods were said to have made the first man out of +the ash-tree Yggdrasil. The association of the heavenly fire with +the life-giving forces of nature is very common in the myths of both +hemispheres, and in view of the facts already cited it need not surprise +us. Hence the Hindu Agni and the Norse Thor were patrons of marriage, +and in Norway, the most lucky day on which to be married is still +supposed to be Thursday, which in old times was the day of the +fire-god. [60] Hence the lightning-plants have divers virtues in +matters pertaining to marriage. The Romans made their wedding torches +of whitethorn; hazel-nuts are still used all over Europe in divinations +relating to the future lover or sweetheart; [61] and under a mistletoe +bough it is allowable for a gentleman to kiss a lady. A vast number of +kindred superstitions are described by Mr. Kelly, to whom I am indebted +for many of these examples. [62] + +Thus we reach at last the completed conception of the divining-rod, or +as it is called in this sense the wish-rod, with its kindred talismans, +from Aladdin's lamp and the purse of Bedreddin Hassan, to the Sangreal, +the philosopher's stone, and the goblets of Oberon and Tristram. These +symbols of the reproductive energies of nature, which give to the +possessor every good and perfect gift, illustrate the uncurbed belief in +the power of wish which the ancient man shared with modern children. In +the Norse story of Frodi's quern, the myth assumes a whimsical shape. +The prose Edda tells of a primeval age of gold, when everybody had +whatever he wanted. This was because the giant Frodi had a mill which +ground out peace and plenty and abundance of gold withal, so that it lay +about the roads like pebbles. Through the inexcusable avarice of +Frodi, this wonderful implement was lost to the world. For he kept his +maid-servants working at the mill until they got out of patience, and +began to make it grind out hatred and war. Then came a mighty sea-rover +by night and slew Frodi and carried away the maids and the quern. When +he got well out to sea, he told them to grind out salt, and so they did +with a vengeance. They ground the ship full of salt and sank it, and so +the quern was lost forever, but the sea remains salt unto this day. + +Mr. Kelly rightly identifies Frodi with the sun-god Fro or Freyr, and +observes that the magic mill is only another form of the fire-churn, or +chark. According to another version the quern is still grinding away +and keeping the sea salt, and over the place where it lies there is a +prodigious whirlpool or maelstrom which sucks down ships. + +In its completed shape, the lightning-wand is the caduceus, or rod of +Hermes. I observed, in the preceding paper, that in the Greek conception +of Hermes there have been fused together the attributes of two deities +who were originally distinct. The Hermes of the Homeric Hymn is a +wind-god; but the later Hermes Agoraios, the patron of gymnasia, the +mutilation of whose statues caused such terrible excitement in Athens +during the Peloponnesian War, is a very different personage. He is +a fire-god, invested with many solar attributes, and represents the +quickening forces of nature. In this capacity the invention of fire was +ascribed to him as well as to Prometheus; he was said to be the friend +of mankind, and was surnamed Ploutodotes, or "the giver of wealth." + +The Norse wind-god Odin has in like manner acquired several of the +attributes of Freyr and Thor. [63] His lightning-spear, which is +borrowed from Thor, appears by a comical metamorphosis as a wish-rod +which will administer a sound thrashing to the enemies of its possessor. +Having cut a hazel stick, you have only to lay down an old coat, name +your intended victim, wish he was there, and whack away: he will howl +with pain at every blow. This wonderful cudgel appears in Dasent's tale +of "The Lad who went to the North Wind," with which we may conclude +this discussion. The story is told, with little variation, in Hindustan, +Germany, and Scandinavia. + +The North Wind, representing the mischievous Hermes, once blew away a +poor woman's meal. So her boy went to the North Wind and demanded his +rights for the meal his mother had lost. "I have n't got your meal," +said the Wind, "but here's a tablecloth which will cover itself with an +excellent dinner whenever you tell it to." So the lad took the cloth and +started for home. At nightfall he stopped at an inn, spread his cloth +on the table, and ordered it to cover itself with good things, and so +it did. But the landlord, who thought it would be money in his pocket +to have such a cloth, stole it after the boy had gone to bed, and +substituted another just like it in appearance. Next day the boy went +home in great glee to show off for his mother's astonishment what the +North Wind had given him, but all the dinner he got that day was what +the old woman cooked for him. In his despair he went back to the North +Wind and called him a liar, and again demanded his rights for the meal +he had lost. "I have n't got your meal," said the Wind, "but here's a +ram which will drop money out of its fleece whenever you tell it to." So +the lad travelled home, stopping over night at the same inn, and when he +got home he found himself with a ram which did n't drop coins out of its +fleece. A third time he visited the North Wind, and obtained a bag with +a stick in it which, at the word of command, would jump out of the bag +and lay on until told to stop. Guessing how matters stood as to his +cloth and ram, he turned in at the same tavern, and going to a bench lay +down as if to sleep. The landlord thought that a stick carried about in +a bag must be worth something, and so he stole quietly up to the bag, +meaning to get the stick out and change it. But just as he got within +whacking distance, the boy gave the word, and out jumped the stick +and beat the thief until he promised to give back the ram and the +tablecloth. And so the boy got his rights for the meal which the North +Wind had blown away. October, 1870. + + + + +III. WEREWOLVES AND SWAN-MAIDENS. + +IT is related by Ovid that Lykaon, king of Arkadia, once invited Zeus +to dinner, and served up for him a dish of human flesh, in order to test +the god's omniscience. But the trick miserably failed, and the impious +monarch received the punishment which his crime had merited. He was +transformed into a wolf, that he might henceforth feed upon the viands +with which he had dared to pollute the table of the king of Olympos. +From that time forth, according to Pliny, a noble Arkadian was each +year, on the festival of Zeus Lykaios, led to the margin of a certain +lake. Hanging his clothes upon a tree, he then plunged into the water +and became a wolf. For the space of nine years he roamed about the +adjacent woods, and then, if he had not tasted human flesh during all +this time, he was allowed to swim back to the place where his clothes +were hanging, put them on, and return to his natural form. It is further +related of a certain Demainetos, that, having once been present at +a human sacrifice to Zeus Lykaios, he ate of the flesh, and was +transformed into a wolf for a term of ten years. [64] + +These and other similar mythical germs were developed by the mediaeval +imagination into the horrible superstition of werewolves. + +A werewolf, or loup-garou [65] was a person who had the power of +transforming himself into a wolf, being endowed, while in the lupine +state, with the intelligence of a man, the ferocity of a wolf, and the +irresistible strength of a demon. The ancients believed in the existence +of such persons; but in the Middle Ages the metamorphosis was supposed +to be a phenomenon of daily occurrence, and even at the present day, +in secluded portions of Europe, the superstition is still cherished +by peasants. The belief, moreover, is supported by a vast amount +of evidence, which can neither be argued nor pooh-poohed into +insignificance. It is the business of the comparative mythologist to +trace the pedigree of the ideas from which such a conception may have +sprung; while to the critical historian belongs the task of ascertaining +and classifying the actual facts which this particular conception was +used to interpret. + +The mediaeval belief in werewolves is especially adapted to illustrate +the complicated manner in which divers mythical conceptions and +misunderstood natural occurrences will combine to generate a +long-enduring superstition. Mr. Cox, indeed, would have us believe that +the whole notion arose from an unintentional play upon words; but +the careful survey of the field, which has been taken by Hertz and +Baring-Gould, leads to the conclusion that many other circumstances +have been at work. The delusion, though doubtless purely mythical in its +origin, nevertheless presents in its developed state a curious mixture +of mythical and historical elements. + +With regard to the Arkadian legend, taken by itself, Mr. Cox is probably +right. The story seems to belong to that large class of myths which have +been devised in order to explain the meaning of equivocal words whose +true significance has been forgotten. The epithet Lykaios, as applied to +Zeus, had originally no reference to wolves: it means "the bright one," +and gave rise to lycanthropic legends only because of the similarity +in sound between the names for "wolf" and "brightness." Aryan mythology +furnishes numerous other instances of this confusion. The solar deity, +Phoibos Lykegenes, was originally the "offspring of light"; but popular +etymology made a kind of werewolf of him by interpreting his name as +the "wolf-born." The name of the hero Autolykos means simply the +"self-luminous"; but it was more frequently interpreted as meaning "a +very wolf," in allusion to the supposed character of its possessor. +Bazra, the name of the citadel of Carthage, was the Punic word for +"fortress"; but the Greeks confounded it with byrsa, "a hide," and hence +the story of the ox-hides cut into strips by Dido in order to measure +the area of the place to be fortified. The old theory that the Irish +were Phoenicians had a similar origin. The name Fena, used to designate +the old Scoti or Irish, is the plural of Fion, "fair," seen in the +name of the hero Fion Gall, or "Fingal"; but the monkish chroniclers +identified Fena with phoinix, whence arose the myth; and by a like +misunderstanding of the epithet Miledh, or "warrior," applied to Fion by +the Gaelic bards, there was generated a mythical hero, Milesius, and the +soubriquet "Milesian," colloquially employed in speaking of the Irish. +[66] So the Franks explained the name of the town Daras, in Mesopotamia, +by the story that the Emperor Justinian once addressed the chief +magistrate with the exclamation, daras, "thou shalt give": [67] the +Greek chronicler, Malalas, who spells the name Doras, informs us +with equal complacency that it was the place where Alexander overcame +Codomannus with dorn, "the spear." A certain passage in the Alps is +called Scaletta, from its resemblance to a staircase; but according to a +local tradition it owes its name to the bleaching skeletons of a +company of Moors who were destroyed there in the eighth century, while +attempting to penetrate into Northern Italy. The name of Antwerp denotes +the town built at a "wharf"; but it sounds very much like the Flemish +handt werpen, "hand-throwing": "hence arose the legend of the giant +who cut of the hands of those who passed his castle without paying him +black-mail, and threw them into the Scheldt." [68] In the myth of Bishop +Hatto, related in a previous paper, the Mause-thurm is a corruption of +maut-thurm; it means "customs-tower," and has nothing to do with mice +or rats. Doubtless this etymology was the cause of the floating myth +getting fastened to this particular place; that it did not give rise +to the myth itself is shown by the existence of the same tale in other +places. Somewhere in England there is a place called Chateau Vert; the +peasantry have corrupted it into Shotover, and say that it has +borne that name ever since Little John shot over a high hill in the +neighbourhood. [69] Latium means "the flat land"; but, according to +Virgil, it is the place where Saturn once hid (latuisset) from the wrath +of his usurping son Jupiter. [70] + +It was in this way that the constellation of the Great Bear received +its name. The Greek word arktos, answering to the Sanskrit riksha, meant +originally any bright object, and was applied to the bear--for what +reason it would not be easy to state--and to that constellation which +was most conspicuous in the latitude of the early home of the Aryans. +When the Greeks had long forgotten why these stars were called arktoi, +they symbolized them as a Great Bear fixed in the sky. So that, as +Max Muller observes, "the name of the Arctic regions rests on a +misunderstanding of a name framed thousands of years ago in Central +Asia, and the surprise with which many a thoughtful observer has looked +at these seven bright stars, wondering why they were ever called the +Bear, is removed by a reference to the early annals of human speech." +Among the Algonquins the sun-god Michabo was represented as a hare, his +name being compounded of michi, "great," and wabos, "a hare"; yet wabos +also meant "white," so that the god was doubtless originally called +simply "the Great White One." The same naive process has made bears of +the Arkadians, whose name, like that of the Lykians, merely signified +that they were "children of light"; and the metamorphosis of Kallisto, +mother of Arkas, into a bear, and of Lykaon into a wolf, rests +apparently upon no other foundation than an erroneous etymology. +Originally Lykaon was neither man nor wolf; he was but another form of +Phoibos Lykegenes, the light-born sun, and, as Mr. Cox has shown, his +legend is but a variation of that of Tantalos, who in time of drought +offers to Zeus the flesh of his own offspring, the withered fruits, and +is punished for his impiety. + +It seems to me, however, that this explanation, though valid as far +as it goes, is inadequate to explain all the features of the werewolf +superstition, or to account for its presence in all Aryan countries and +among many peoples who are not of Aryan origin. There can be no doubt +that the myth-makers transformed Lykaon into a wolf because of his +unlucky name; because what really meant "bright man" seemed to them +to mean "wolf-man"; but it has by no means been proved that a similar +equivocation occurred in the case of all the primitive Aryan werewolves, +nor has it been shown to be probable that among each people the +being with the uncanny name got thus accidentally confounded with the +particular beast most dreaded by that people. Etymology alone does not +explain the fact that while Gaul has been the favourite haunt of the +man-wolf, Scandinavia has been preferred by the man-bear, and Hindustan +by the man-tiger. To account for such a widespread phenomenon we must +seek a more general cause. + +Nothing is more strikingly characteristic of primitive thinking than the +close community of nature which it assumes between man and brute. The +doctrine of metempsychosis, which is found in some shape or other all +over the world, implies a fundamental identity between the two; the +Hindu is taught to respect the flocks browsing in the meadow, and will +on no account lift his hand against a cow, for who knows but it may +he his own grandmother? The recent researches of Mr. M`Lennan and Mr. +Herbert Spencer have served to connect this feeling with the primeval +worship of ancestors and with the savage customs of totemism. [71] + +The worship of ancestors seems to have been every where the oldest +systematized form of fetichistic religion. The reverence paid to the +chieftain of the tribe while living was continued and exaggerated after +his death The uncivilized man is everywhere incapable of grasping +the idea of death as it is apprehended by civilized people. He cannot +understand that a man should pass away so as to be no longer capable of +communicating with his fellows. The image of his dead chief or comrade +remains in his mind, and the savage's philosophic realism far surpasses +that of the most extravagant mediaeval schoolmen; to him the persistence +of the idea implies the persistence of the reality. The dead man, +accordingly, is not really dead; he has thrown off his body like a husk, +yet still retains his old appearance, and often shows himself to his old +friends, especially after nightfall. He is no doubt possessed of more +extensive powers than before his transformation, [72] and may very +likely have a share in regulating the weather, granting or withholding +rain. Therefore, argues the uncivilized mind, he is to be cajoled and +propitiated more sedulously now than before his strange transformation. + +This kind of worship still maintains a languid existence as the state +religion of China, and it still exists as a portion of Brahmanism; but +in the Vedic religion it is to be seen in all its vigour and in all +its naive simplicity. According to the ancient Aryan, the pitris, or +"Fathers" (Lat. patres), live in the sky along with Yama, the great +original Pitri of mankind. This first man came down from heaven in the +lightning, and back to heaven both himself and all his offspring must +have gone. There they distribute light unto men below, and they shine +themselves as stars; and hence the Christianized German peasant, fifty +centuries later, tells his children that the stars are angels' eyes, and +the English cottager impresses it on the youthful mind that it is wicked +to point at the stars, though why he cannot tell. But the Pitris are not +stars only, nor do they content themselves with idly looking down on +the affairs of men, after the fashion of the laissez-faire divinities of +Lucretius. They are, on the contrary, very busy with the weather; +they send rain, thunder, and lightning; and they especially delight +in rushing over the housetops in a great gale of wind, led on by their +chief, the mysterious huntsman, Hermes or Odin. + +It has been elsewhere shown that the howling dog, or wish-hound of +Hermes, whose appearance under the windows of a sick person is such +an alarming portent, is merely the tempest personified. Throughout +all Aryan mythology the souls of the dead are supposed to ride on the +night-wind, with their howling dogs, gathering into their throng the +souls of those just dying as they pass by their houses. [73] Sometimes +the whole complex conception is wrapped up in the notion of a single +dog, the messenger of the god of shades, who comes to summon the +departing soul. Sometimes, instead of a dog, we have a great ravening +wolf who comes to devour its victim and extinguish the sunlight of life, +as that old wolf of the tribe of Fenrir devoured little Red Riding-Hood +with her robe of scarlet twilight. [74] Thus we arrive at a true +werewolf myth. The storm-wind, or howling Rakshasa of Hindu folk-lore, +is "a great misshapen giant with red beard and red hair, with pointed +protruding teeth, ready to lacerate and devour human flesh; his body is +covered with coarse, bristling hair, his huge mouth is open, he looks +from side to side as he walks, lusting after the flesh and blood of men, +to satisfy his raging hunger and quench his consuming thirst. Towards +nightfall his strength increases manifold; he can change his shape at +will; he haunts the woods, and roams howling through the jungle." [75] + +Now if the storm-wind is a host of Pitris, or one great Pitri who +appears as a fearful giant, and is also a pack of wolves or wish-hounds, +or a single savage dog or wolf, the inference is obvious to the +mythopoeic mind that men may become wolves, at least after death. And to +the uncivilized thinker this inference is strengthened, as Mr. Spencer +has shown, by evidence registered on his own tribal totem or heraldic +emblem. The bears and lions and leopards of heraldry are the degenerate +descendants of the totem of savagery which designated the tribe by a +beast-symbol. To the untutored mind there is everything in a name; and +the descendant of Brown Bear or Yellow Tiger or Silver Hyaena cannot be +pronounced unfaithful to his own style of philosophizing, if he regards +his ancestors, who career about his hut in the darkness of night, +as belonging to whatever order of beasts his totem associations may +suggest. + +Thus we not only see a ray of light thrown on the subject of +metempsychosis, but we get a glimpse of the curious process by which +the intensely realistic mind of antiquity arrived at the notion that +men could be transformed into beasts. For the belief that the soul +can temporarily quit the body during lifetime has been universally +entertained; and from the conception of wolf-like ghosts it was but a +short step to the conception of corporeal werewolves. In the Middle Ages +the phenomena of trance and catalepsy were cited in proof of the theory +that the soul can leave the body and afterwards return to it. Hence it +was very difficult for a person accused of witchcraft to prove an alibi; +for to any amount of evidence showing that the body was innocently +reposing at home and in bed, the rejoinder was obvious that the soul may +nevertheless have been in attendance at the witches' Sabbath or busied +in maiming a neighbour's cattle. According to one mediaeval notion, the +soul of the werewolf quit its human body, which remained in a trance +until its return. [76] + +The mythological basis of the werewolf superstition is now, I believe, +sufficiently indicated. The belief, however, did not reach its complete +development, or acquire its most horrible features, until the pagan +habits of thought which had originated it were modified by contact +with Christian theology. To the ancient there was nothing necessarily +diabolical in the transformation of a man into a beast. But +Christianity, which retained such a host of pagan conceptions under such +strange disguises, which degraded the "All-father" Odin into the ogre +of the castle to which Jack climbed on his bean-stalk, and which blended +the beneficent lightning-god Thor and the mischievous Hermes and the +faun-like Pan into the grotesque Teutonic Devil, did not fail to impart +a new and fearful character to the belief in werewolves. Lycanthropy +became regarded as a species of witchcraft; the werewolf was supposed +to have obtained his peculiar powers through the favour or connivance +of the Devil; and hundreds of persons were burned alive or broken on +the wheel for having availed themselves of the privilege of +beast-metamorphosis. The superstition, thus widely extended and greatly +intensified, was confirmed by many singular phenomena which cannot +be omitted from any thorough discussion of the nature and causes of +lycanthropy. + +The first of these phenomena is the Berserker insanity, characteristic +of Scandinavia, but not unknown in other countries. In times when +killing one's enemies often formed a part of the necessary business of +life, persons were frequently found who killed for the mere love of the +thing; with whom slaughter was an end desirable in itself, not merely +a means to a desirable end. What the miser is in an age which worships +mammon, such was the Berserker in an age when the current idea of heaven +was that of a place where people could hack each other to pieces through +all eternity, and when the man who refused a challenge was punished with +confiscation of his estates. With these Northmen, in the ninth century, +the chief business and amusement in life was to set sail for some +pleasant country, like Spain or France, and make all the coasts and +navigable rivers hideous with rapine and massacre. When at home, in the +intervals between their freebooting expeditions, they were liable to +become possessed by a strange homicidal madness, during which they would +array themselves in the skins of wolves or bears, and sally forth by +night to crack the backbones, smash the skulls, and sometimes to drink +with fiendish glee the blood of unwary travellers or loiterers. These +fits of madness were usually followed by periods of utter exhaustion and +nervous depression. [77] + +Such, according to the unanimous testimony of historians, was the +celebrated "Berserker rage," not peculiar to the Northland, although +there most conspicuously manifested. Taking now a step in advance, we +find that in comparatively civilized countries there have been many +cases of monstrous homicidal insanity. The two most celebrated cases, +among those collected by Mr. Baring-Gould, are those of the Marechal +de Retz, in 1440, and of Elizabeth, a Hungarian countess, in the +seventeenth century. The Countess Elizabeth enticed young girls into +her palace on divers pretexts, and then coolly murdered them, for the +purpose of bathing in their blood. The spectacle of human suffering +became at last such a delight to her, that she would apply with her +own hands the most excruciating tortures, relishing the shrieks of her +victims as the epicure relishes each sip of his old Chateau Margaux. +In this way she is said to have murdered six hundred and fifty +persons before her evil career was brought to an end; though, when one +recollects the famous men in buckram and the notorious trio of crows, +one is inclined to strike off a cipher, and regard sixty-five as a +sufficiently imposing and far less improbable number. But the case of +the Marechal de Retz is still more frightful. A marshal of France, a +scholarly man, a patriot, and a man of holy life, he became suddenly +possessed by an uncontrollable desire to murder children. During seven +years he continued to inveigle little boys and girls into his castle, +at the rate of about TWO EACH WEEK, (?) and then put them to death in +various ways, that he might witness their agonies and bathe in their +blood; experiencing after each occasion the most dreadful remorse, +but led on by an irresistible craving to repeat the crime. When this +unparalleled iniquity was finally brought to light, the castle was found +to contain bins full of children's bones. The horrible details of the +trial are to be found in the histories of France by Michelet and Martin. + +Going a step further, we find cases in which the propensity to murder +has been accompanied by cannibalism. In 1598 a tailor of Chalons was +sentenced by the parliament of Paris to be burned alive for lycanthropy. +"This wretched man had decoyed children into his shop, or attacked them +in the gloaming when they strayed in the woods, had torn them with his +teeth and killed them, after which he seems calmly to have dressed their +flesh as ordinary meat, and to have eaten it with a great relish. The +number of little innocents whom he destroyed is unknown. A whole caskful +of bones was discovered in his house." [78] About 1850 a beggar in the +village of Polomyia, in Galicia, was proved to have killed and eaten +fourteen children. A house had one day caught fire and burnt to the +ground, roasting one of the inmates, who was unable to escape. The +beggar passed by soon after, and, as he was suffering from excessive +hunger, could not resist the temptation of making a meal off the charred +body. From that moment he was tormented by a craving for human flesh. +He met a little orphan girl, about nine years old, and giving her a +pinchbeck ring told her to seek for others like it under a tree in the +neighbouring wood. She was slain, carried to the beggar's hovel, and +eaten. In the course of three years thirteen other children mysteriously +disappeared, but no one knew whom to suspect. At last an innkeeper +missed a pair of ducks, and having no good opinion of this beggar's +honesty, went unexpectedly to his cabin, burst suddenly in at the door, +and to his horror found him in the act of hiding under his cloak a +severed head; a bowl of fresh blood stood under the oven, and pieces of +a thigh were cooking over the fire. [79] + +This occurred only about twenty years ago, and the criminal, though +ruled by an insane appetite, is not known to have been subject to any +mental delusion. But there have been a great many similar cases, in +which the homicidal or cannibal craving has been accompanied by genuine +hallucination. Forms of insanity in which the afflicted persons imagine +themselves to be brute animals are not perhaps very common, but they are +not unknown. I once knew a poor demented old man who believed himself +to be a horse, and would stand by the hour together before a manger, +nibbling hay, or deluding himself with the presence of so doing. Many +of the cannibals whose cases are related by Mr. Baring-Gould, in +his chapter of horrors, actually believed themselves to have been +transformed into wolves or other wild animals. Jean Grenier was a boy of +thirteen, partially idiotic, and of strongly marked canine physiognomy; +his jaws were large and projected forward, and his canine teeth were +unnaturally long, so as to protrude beyond the lower lip. He believed +himself to be a werewolf. One evening, meeting half a dozen young girls, +he scared them out of their wits by telling them that as soon as the sun +had set he would turn into a wolf and eat them for supper. A few days +later, one little girl, having gone out at nightfall to look after the +sheep, was attacked by some creature which in her terror she mistook for +a wolf, but which afterwards proved to be none other than Jean Grenier. +She beat him off with her sheep-staff, and fled home. As several +children had mysteriously disappeared from the neighbourhood, Grenier +was at once suspected. Being brought before the parliament of Bordeaux, +he stated that two years ago he had met the Devil one night in the woods +and had signed a compact with him and received from him a wolf-skin. +Since then he had roamed about as a wolf after dark, resuming his human +shape by daylight. He had killed and eaten several children whom he had +found alone in the fields, and on one occasion he had entered a house +while the family were out and taken the baby from its cradle. A careful +investigation proved the truth of these statements, so far as the +cannibalism was concerned. There is no doubt that the missing children +were eaten by Jean Grenier, and there is no doubt that in his own mind +the halfwitted boy was firmly convinced that he was a wolf. Here the +lycanthropy was complete. + +In the year 1598, "in a wild and unfrequented spot near Caude, some +countrymen came one day upon the corpse of a boy of fifteen, horribly +mutilated and bespattered with blood. As the men approached, two wolves, +which had been rending the body, bounded away into the thicket. The men +gave chase immediately, following their bloody tracks till they lost +them; when, suddenly crouching among the bushes, his teeth chattering +with fear, they found a man half naked, with long hair and beard, and +with his hands dyed in blood. His nails were long as claws, and were +clotted with fresh gore and shreds of human flesh." [80] + +This man, Jacques Roulet, was a poor, half-witted creature under the +dominion of a cannibal appetite. He was employed in tearing to pieces +the corpse of the boy when these countrymen came up. Whether there were +any wolves in the case, except what the excited imaginations of the men +may have conjured up, I will not presume to determine; but it is certain +that Roulet supposed himself to be a wolf, and killed and ate several +persons under the influence of the delusion. He was sentenced to death, +but the parliament of Paris reversed the sentence, and charitably shut +him up in a madhouse. + +The annals of the Middle Ages furnish many cases similar to these of +Grenier and Roulet. Their share in maintaining the werewolf superstition +is undeniable; but modern science finds in them nothing that cannot be +readily explained. That stupendous process of breeding, which we call +civilization, has been for long ages strengthening those kindly social +feelings by the possession of which we are chiefly distinguished from +the brutes, leaving our primitive bestial impulses to die for want of +exercise, or checking in every possible way their further expansion by +legislative enactments. But this process, which is transforming us from +savages into civilized men, is a very slow one; and now and then there +occur cases of what physiologists call atavism, or reversion to an +ancestral type of character. Now and then persons are born, in civilized +countries, whose intellectual powers are on a level with those of the +most degraded Australian savage, and these we call idiots. And now and +then persons are born possessed of the bestial appetites and cravings +of primitive man, his fiendish cruelty and his liking for human flesh. +Modern physiology knows how to classify and explain these abnormal +cases, but to the unscientific mediaeval mind they were explicable only +on the hypothesis of a diabolical metamorphosis. And there is nothing +strange in the fact that, in an age when the prevailing habits of +thought rendered the transformation of men into beasts an easily +admissible notion, these monsters of cruelty and depraved appetite +should have been regarded as capable of taking on bestial forms. Nor is +it strange that the hallucination under which these unfortunate wretches +laboured should have taken such a shape as to account to their feeble +intelligence for the existence of the appetites which they were +conscious of not sharing with their neighbours and contemporaries. If +a myth is a piece of unscientific philosophizing, it must sometimes +be applied to the explanation of obscure psychological as well as of +physical phenomena. Where the modern calmly taps his forehead and says, +"Arrested development," the terrified ancient made the sign of the cross +and cried, "Werewolf." + +We shall be assisted in this explanation by turning aside for a +moment to examine the wild superstitions about "changelings," which +contributed, along with so many others, to make the lives of our +ancestors anxious and miserable. These superstitions were for the most +part attempts to explain the phenomena of insanity, epilepsy, and other +obscure nervous diseases. A man who has hitherto enjoyed perfect health, +and whose actions have been consistent and rational, suddenly loses all +self-control and seems actuated by a will foreign to himself. Modern +science possesses the key to this phenomenon; but in former times it was +explicable only on the hypothesis that a demon had entered the body +of the lunatic, or else that the fairies had stolen the real man and +substituted for him a diabolical phantom exactly like him in stature and +features. Hence the numerous legends of changelings, some of which +are very curious. In Irish folk-lore we find the story of one Rickard, +surnamed the Rake, from his worthless character. A good-natured, idle +fellow, he spent all his evenings in dancing,--an accomplishment in +which no one in the village could rival him. One night, in the midst of +a lively reel, he fell down in a fit. "He's struck with a fairy-dart," +exclaimed all the friends, and they carried him home and nursed him; but +his face grew so thin and his manner so morose that by and by all began +to suspect that the true Rickard was gone and a changeling put in his +place. Rickard, with all his accomplishments, was no musician; and so, +in order to put the matter to a crucial test, a bagpipe was left in the +room by the side of his bed. The trick succeeded. One hot summer's day, +when all were supposed to be in the field making hay, some members +of the family secreted in a clothes-press saw the bedroom door open a +little way, and a lean, foxy face, with a pair of deep-sunken eyes, peer +anxiously about the premises. Having satisfied itself that the coast +was clear, the face withdrew, the door was closed, and presently such +ravishing strains of music were heard as never proceeded from a bagpipe +before or since that day. Soon was heard the rustle of innumerable +fairies, come to dance to the changeling's music. Then the "fairy-man" +of the village, who was keeping watch with the family, heated a pair +of tongs red-hot, and with deafening shouts all burst at once into the +sick-chamber. The music had ceased and the room was empty, but in at the +window glared a fiendish face, with such fearful looks of hatred, that +for a moment all stood motionless with terror. But when the fairy-man, +recovering himself, advanced with the hot tongs to pinch its nose, it +vanished with an unearthly yell, and there on the bed was Rickard, safe +and sound, and cured of his epilepsy. [81] + +Comparing this legend with numerous others relating to changelings, +and stripping off the fantastic garb of fairy-lore with which popular +imagination has invested them, it seems impossible to doubt that they +have arisen from myths devised for the purpose of explaining the obscure +phenomena of mental disease. If this be so, they afford an excellent +collateral illustration of the belief in werewolves. The same mental +habits which led men to regard the insane or epileptic person as a +changeling, and which allowed them to explain catalepsy as the temporary +departure of a witch's soul from its body, would enable them to +attribute a wolf's nature to the maniac or idiot with cannibal +appetites. And when the myth-forming process had got thus far, it would +not stop short of assigning to the unfortunate wretch a tangible lupine +body; for all ancient mythology teemed with precedents for such a +transformation. + +It remains for us to sum up,--to tie into a bunch the keys which +have helped us to penetrate into the secret causes of the werewolf +superstition. In a previous paper we saw what a host of myths, +fairy-tales, and superstitious observances have sprung from attempts to +interpret one simple natural phenomenon,--the descent of fire from the +clouds. Here, on the other hand, we see what a heterogeneous multitude +of mythical elements may combine to build up in course of time a single +enormous superstition, and we see how curiously fact and fancy have +co-operated in keeping the superstition from falling. In the first place +the worship of dead ancestors with wolf totems originated the notion +of the transformation of men into divine or superhuman wolves; and this +notion was confirmed by the ambiguous explanation of the storm-wind +as the rushing of a troop of dead men's souls or as the howling of +wolf-like monsters. Mediaeval Christianity retained these conceptions, +merely changing the superhuman wolves into evil demons; and finally the +occurrence of cases of Berserker madness and cannibalism, accompanied by +lycanthropic hallucinations, being interpreted as due to such demoniacal +metamorphosis, gave rise to the werewolf superstition of the Middle +Ages. The etymological proceedings, to which Mr. Cox would incontinently +ascribe the origin of the entire superstition, seemed to me to have +played a very subordinate part in the matter. To suppose that Jean +Grenier imagined himself to be a wolf, because the Greek word for wolf +sounded like the word for light, and thus gave rise to the story of a +light-deity who became a wolf, seems to me quite inadmissible. Yet as +far as such verbal equivocations may have prevailed, they doubtless +helped to sustain the delusion. + +Thus we need no longer regard our werewolf as an inexplicable creature +of undetermined pedigree. But any account of him would be quite +imperfect which should omit all consideration of the methods by which +his change of form was accomplished. By the ancient Romans the werewolf +was commonly called a "skin-changer" or "turn-coat" (versipellis), and +similar epithets were applied to him in the Middle Ages The mediaeval +theory was that, while the werewolf kept his human form, his hair grew +inwards; when he wished to become a wolf, he simply turned himself +inside out. In many trials on record, the prisoners were closely +interrogated as to how this inversion might be accomplished; but I am +not aware that any one of them ever gave a satisfactory answer. At +the moment of change their memories seem to have become temporarily +befogged. Now and then a poor wretch had his arms and legs cut off, +or was partially flayed, in order that the ingrowing hair might be +detected. [82] Another theory was, that the possessed person had merely +to put on a wolf's skin, in order to assume instantly the lupine form +and character; and in this may perhaps be seen a vague reminiscence of +the alleged fact that Berserkers were in the habit of haunting the woods +by night, clothed in the hides of wolves or bears. [83] Such a wolfskin +was kept by the boy Grenier. Roulet, on the other hand, confessed to +using a magic salve or ointment. A fourth method of becoming a werewolf +was to obtain a girdle, usually made of human skin. Several cases are +related in Thorpe's "Northern Mythology." One hot day in harvest-time +some reapers lay down to sleep in the shade; when one of them, who could +not sleep, saw the man next him arise quietly and gird him with a strap, +whereupon he instantly vanished, and a wolf jumped up from among the +sleepers and ran off across the fields. Another man, who possessed such +a girdle, once went away from home without remembering to lock it +up. His little son climbed up to the cupboard and got it, and as he +proceeded to buckle it around his waist, he became instantly transformed +into a strange-looking beast. Just then his father came in, and seizing +the girdle restored the child to his natural shape. The boy said that no +sooner had he buckled it on than he was tormented with a raging hunger. + +Sometimes the werewolf transformation led to unlucky accidents. At +Caseburg, as a man and his wife were making hay, the woman threw down +her pitchfork and went away, telling her husband that if a wild beast +should come to him during her absence he must throw his hat at it. +Presently a she-wolf rushed towards him. The man threw his hat at it, +but a boy came up from another part of the field and stabbed the animal +with his pitchfork, whereupon it vanished, and the woman's dead body lay +at his feet. + +A parallel legend shows that this woman wished to have the hat thrown +at her, in order that she might be henceforth free from her liability +to become a werewolf. A man was one night returning with his wife from +a merry-making when he felt the change coming on. Giving his wife the +reins, he jumped from the wagon, telling her to strike with her apron +at any animal which might come to her. In a few moments a wolf ran up to +the side of the vehicle, and, as the woman struck out with her apron, it +bit off a piece and ran away. Presently the man returned with the +piece of apron in his mouth and consoled his terrified wife with the +information that the enchantment had left him forever. + +A terrible case at a village in Auvergne has found its way into the +annals of witchcraft. "A gentleman while hunting was suddenly attacked +by a savage wolf of monstrous size. Impenetrable by his shot, the beast +made a spring upon the helpless huntsman, who in the struggle luckily, +or unluckily for the unfortunate lady, contrived to cut off one of its +fore-paws. This trophy he placed in his pocket, and made the best of +his way homewards in safety. On the road he met a friend, to whom he +exhibited a bleeding paw, or rather (as it now appeared) a woman's hand, +upon which was a wedding-ring. His wife's ring was at once recognized by +the other. His suspicions aroused, he immediately went in search of his +wife, who was found sitting by the fire in the kitchen, her arm hidden +beneath her apron, when the husband, seizing her by the arm, found his +terrible suspicions verified. The bleeding stump was there, evidently +just fresh from the wound. She was given into custody, and in the event +was burned at Riom, in presence of thousands of spectators." [84] + +Sometimes a werewolf was cured merely by recognizing him while in his +brute shape. A Swedish legend tells of a cottager who, on entering the +forest one day without recollecting to say his Patter Noster, got into +the power of a Troll, who changed him into a wolf. For many years his +wife mourned him as dead. But one Christmas eve the old Troll, disguised +as a beggarwoman, came to the house for alms; and being taken in and +kindly treated, told the woman that her husband might very likely appear +to her in wolf-shape. Going at night to the pantry to lay aside a joint +of meat for tomorrow's dinner, she saw a wolf standing with its paws on +the window-sill, looking wistfully in at her. "Ah, dearest," said she, +"if I knew that thou wert really my husband, I would give thee a bone." +Whereupon the wolf-skin fell off, and her husband stood before her in +the same old clothes which he had on the day that the Troll got hold of +him. + +In Denmark it was believed that if a woman were to creep through a +colt's placental membrane stretched between four sticks, she would for +the rest of her life bring forth children without pain or illness; but +all the boys would in such case be werewolves, and all the girls Maras, +or nightmares. In this grotesque superstition appears that curious +kinship between the werewolf and the wife or maiden of supernatural +race, which serves admirably to illustrate the nature of both +conceptions, and the elucidation of which shall occupy us throughout the +remainder of this paper. + +It is, perhaps, needless to state that in the personality of the +nightmare, or Mara, there was nothing equine. The Mara was a female +demon, [85] who would come at night and torment men or women by +crouching on their chests or stomachs and stopping their respiration. +The scene is well enough represented in Fuseli's picture, though the +frenzied-looking horse which there accompanies the demon has no place +in the original superstition. A Netherlandish story illustrates the +character of the Mara. Two young men were in love with the same damsel. +One of them, being tormented every night by a Mara, sought advice from +his rival, and it was a treacherous counsel that he got. "Hold a sharp +knife with the point towards your breast, and you'll never see the Mara +again," said this false friend. The lad thanked him, but when he lay +down to rest he thought it as well to be on the safe side, and so held +the knife handle downward. So when the Mara came, instead of forcing the +blade into his breast, she cut herself badly, and fled howling; and let +us hope, though the legend here leaves us in the dark, that this poor +youth, who is said to have been the comelier of the two, revenged +himself on his malicious rival by marrying the young lady. + +But the Mara sometimes appeared in less revolting shape, and became the +mistress or even the wife of some mortal man to whom she happened to +take a fancy. In such cases she would vanish on being recognized. There +is a well-told monkish tale of a pious knight who, journeying one day +through the forest, found a beautiful lady stripped naked and tied to a +tree, her back all covered with deep gashes streaming with blood, from a +flogging which some bandits had given her. Of course he took her home +to his castle and married her, and for a while they lived very happily +together, and the fame of the lady's beauty was so great that kings and +emperors held tournaments in honor of her. But this pious knight used +to go to mass every Sunday, and greatly was he scandalized when he found +that his wife would never stay to assist in the Credo, but would always +get up and walk out of church just as the choir struck up. All her +husband's coaxing was of no use; threats and entreaties were alike +powerless even to elicit an explanation of this strange conduct. At last +the good man determined to use force; and so one Sunday, as the lady got +up to go out, according to custom, he seized her by the arm and sternly +commanded her to remain. Her whole frame was suddenly convulsed, and her +dark eyes gleamed with weird, unearthly brilliancy. The services paused +for a moment, and all eyes were turned toward the knight and his +lady. "In God's name, tell me what thou art," shouted the knight; and +instantly, says the chronicler, "the bodily form of the lady melted +away, and was seen no more; whilst, with a cry of anguish and of terror, +an evil spirit of monstrous form rose from the ground, clave the chapel +roof asunder, and disappeared in the air." + +In a Danish legend, the Mara betrays her affinity to the Nixies, or +Swan-maidens. A peasant discovered that his sweetheart was in the habit +of coming to him by night as a Mara. He kept strict watch until he +discovered her creeping into the room through a small knot-hole in the +door. Next day he made a peg, and after she had come to him, drove in +the peg so that she was unable to escape. They were married and lived +together many years; but one night it happened that the man, joking with +his wife about the way in which he had secured her, drew the peg from +the knot-hole, that she might see how she had entered his room. As she +peeped through, she became suddenly quite small, passed out, and was +never seen again. + +The well-known pathological phenomena of nightmare are sufficient to +account for the mediaeval theory of a fiend who sits upon one's bosom +and hinders respiration; but as we compare these various legends +relating to the Mara, we see that a more recondite explanation is needed +to account for all her peculiarities. Indigestion may interfere with our +breathing, but it does not make beautiful women crawl through keyholes, +nor does it bring wives from the spirit-world. The Mara belongs to an +ancient family, and in passing from the regions of monkish superstition +to those of pure mythology we find that, like her kinsman the werewolf, +she had once seen better days. Christianity made a demon of the Mara, +and adopted the theory that Satan employed these seductive creatures as +agents for ruining human souls. Such is the character of the knight's +wife, in the monkish legend just cited. But in the Danish tale the +Mara appears as one of that large family of supernatural wives who are +permitted to live with mortal men under certain conditions, but who are +compelled to flee away when these conditions are broken, as is always +sure to be the case. The eldest and one of the loveliest of this family +is the Hindu nymph Urvasi, whose love adventures with Pururavas are +narrated in the Puranas, and form the subject of the well-known and +exquisite Sanskrit drama by Kalidasa. Urvasi is allowed to live with +Pururavas so long as she does not see him undressed. But one night her +kinsmen, the Gandharvas, or cloud-demons, vexed at her long absence from +heaven, resolved to get her away from her mortal companion, They stole +a pet lamb which had been tied at the foot of her couch, whereat she +bitterly upbraided her husband. In rage and mortification, Pururavas +sprang up without throwing on his tunic, and grasping his sword sought +the robber. Then the wicked Gandharvas sent a flash of lightning, and +Urvasi, seeing her naked husband, instantly vanished. + +The different versions of this legend, which have been elaborately +analyzed by comparative mythologists, leave no doubt that Urvasi is +one of the dawn-nymphs or bright fleecy clouds of early morning, which +vanish as the splendour of the sun is unveiled. We saw, in the preceding +paper, that the ancient Aryans regarded the sky as a sea or great lake, +and that the clouds were explained variously as Phaiakian ships with +bird-like beaks sailing over this lake, or as bright birds of divers +shapes and hues. The light fleecy cirrhi were regarded as mermaids, or +as swans, or as maidens with swan's plumage. In Sanskrit they are called +Apsaras, or "those who move in the water," and the Elves and Maras of +Teutonic mythology have the same significance. Urvasi appears in one +legend as a bird; and a South German prescription for getting rid of +the Mara asserts that if she be wrapped up in the bedclothes and +firmly held, a white dove will forthwith fly from the room, leaving the +bedclothes empty. [86] + +In the story of Melusina the cloud-maiden appears as a kind of mermaid, +but in other respects the legend resembles that of Urvasi. Raymond, +Count de la Foret, of Poitou, having by an accident killed his patron +and benefactor during a hunting excursion, fled in terror and despair +into the deep recesses of the forest. All the afternoon and evening he +wandered through the thick dark woods, until at midnight he came upon +a strange scene. All at once "the boughs of the trees became less +interlaced, and the trunks fewer; next moment his horse, crashing +through the shrubs, brought him out on a pleasant glade, white with +rime, and illumined by the new moon; in the midst bubbled up a limpid +fountain, and flowed away over a pebbly-floor with a soothing murmur. +Near the fountain-head sat three maidens in glimmering white dresses, +with long waving golden hair, and faces of inexpressible beauty." [87] +One of them advanced to meet Raymond, and according to all mythological +precedent, they were betrothed before daybreak. In due time the +fountain-nymph [88] became Countess de la Foret, but her husband was +given to understand that all her Saturdays would be passed in strictest +seclusion, upon which he must never dare to intrude, under penalty of +losing her forever. For many years all went well, save that the fair +Melusina's children were, without exception, misshapen or disfigured. +But after a while this strange weekly seclusion got bruited about all +over the neighbourhood, and people shook their heads and looked grave +about it. So many gossiping tales came to the Count's ears, that he +began to grow anxious and suspicious, and at last he determined to know +the worst. He went one Saturday to Melusina's private apartments, and +going through one empty room after another, at last came to a locked +door which opened into a bath; looking through a keyhole, there he +saw the Countess transformed from the waist downwards into a fish, +disporting herself like a mermaid in the water. Of course he could not +keep the secret, but when some time afterwards they quarrelled, must +needs address her as "a vile serpent, contaminator of his honourable +race." So she disappeared through the window, but ever afterward hovered +about her husband's castle of Lusignan, like a Banshee, whenever one of +its lords was about to die. + +The well-known story of Undine is similar to that of Melusina, save that +the naiad's desire to obtain a human soul is a conception foreign to +the spirit of the myth, and marks the degradation which Christianity had +inflicted upon the denizens of fairy-land. In one of Dasent's tales the +water-maiden is replaced by a kind of werewolf. A white bear marries a +young girl, but assumes the human shape at night. She is never to look +upon him in his human shape, but how could a young bride be expected +to obey such an injunction as that? She lights a candle while he is +sleeping, and discovers the handsomest prince in the world; unluckily +she drops tallow on his shirt, and that tells the story. But she is more +fortunate than poor Raymond, for after a tiresome journey to the "land +east of the sun and west of the moon," and an arduous washing-match +with a parcel of ugly Trolls, she washes out the spots, and ends her +husband's enchantment. [89] + +In the majority of these legends, however, the Apsaras, or cloud-maiden, +has a shirt of swan's feathers which plays the same part as the wolfskin +cape or girdle of the werewolf. If you could get hold of a werewolf's +sack and burn it, a permanent cure was effected. No danger of a relapse, +unless the Devil furnished him with a new wolfskin. So the swan-maiden +kept her human form, as long as she was deprived of her tunic of +feathers. Indo-European folk-lore teems with stories of swan-maidens +forcibly wooed and won by mortals who had stolen their clothes. A man +travelling along the road passes by a lake where several lovely girls +are bathing; their dresses, made of feathers curiously and daintily +woven, lie on the shore. He approaches the place cautiously and steals +one of these dresses. [90] When the girls have finished their bathing, +they all come and get their dresses and swim away as swans; but the one +whose dress is stolen must needs stay on shore and marry the thief. It +is needless to add that they live happily together for many years, +or that finally the good man accidentally leaves the cupboard door +unlocked, whereupon his wife gets back her swan-shirt and flies away +from him, never to return. But it is not always a shirt of feathers. In +one German story, a nobleman hunting deer finds a maiden bathing in a +clear pool in the forest. He runs stealthily up to her and seizes her +necklace, at which she loses the power to flee. They are married, and +she bears seven sons at once, all of whom have gold chains about their +necks, and are able to transform themselves into swans whenever they +like. A Flemish legend tells of three Nixies, or water-sprites, who came +out of the Meuse one autumn evening, and helped the villagers celebrate +the end of the vintage. Such graceful dancers had never been seen in +Flanders, and they could sing as well as they could dance. As the night +was warm, one of them took off her gloves and gave them to her partner +to hold for her. When the clock struck twelve the other two started off +in hot haste, and then there was a hue and cry for gloves. The lad would +keep them as love-tokens, and so the poor Nixie had to go home without +them; but she must have died on the way, for next morning the waters of +the Meuse were blood-red, and those damsels never returned. + +In the Faro Islands it is believed that seals cast off their skins every +ninth night, assume human forms, and sing and dance like men and women +until daybreak, when they resume their skins and their seal natures. +Of course a man once found and hid one of these sealskins, and so got +a mermaid for a wife; and of course she recovered the skin and escaped. +[91] On the coasts of Ireland it is supposed to be quite an ordinary +thing for young sea-fairies to get human husbands in this way; the +brazen things even come to shore on purpose, and leave their red caps +lying around for young men to pick up; but it behooves the husband to +keep a strict watch over the red cap, if he would not see his children +left motherless. + +This mermaid's cap has contributed its quota to the superstitions of +witchcraft. An Irish story tells how Red James was aroused from sleep +one night by noises in the kitchen. Going down to the door, he saw a +lot of old women drinking punch around the fireplace, and laughing and +joking with his housekeeper. When the punchbowl was empty, they all put +on red caps, and singing + + "By yarrow and rue, + And my red cap too, + Hie me over to England," + +they flew up chimney. So Jimmy burst into the room, and seized the +housekeeper's cap, and went along with them. They flew across the sea to +a castle in England, passed through the keyholes from room to room and +into the cellar, where they had a famous carouse. Unluckily Jimmy, being +unused to such good cheer, got drunk, and forgot to put on his cap when +the others did. So next morning the lord's butler found him dead-drunk +on the cellar floor, surrounded by empty casks. He was sentenced to be +hung without any trial worth speaking of; but as he was carted to the +gallows an old woman cried out, "Ach, Jimmy alanna! Would you be afther +dyin' in a strange land without your red birredh?" The lord made no +objections, and so the red cap was brought and put on him. Accordingly +when Jimmy had got to the gallows and was making his last speech for the +edification of the spectators, he unexpectedly and somewhat irrelevantly +exclaimed, "By yarrow and rue," etc., and was off like a rocket, +shooting through the blue air en route for old Ireland. [92] + +In another Irish legend an enchanted ass comes into the kitchen of a +great house every night, and washes the dishes and scours the tins, +so that the servants lead an easy life of it. After a while in their +exuberant gratitude they offer him any present for which he may feel +inclined to ask. He desires only "an ould coat, to keep the chill off of +him these could nights"; but as soon as he gets into the coat he resumes +his human form and bids them good by, and thenceforth they may wash +their own dishes and scour their own tins, for all him. + +But we are diverging from the subject of swan-maidens, and are in danger +of losing ourselves in that labyrinth of popular fancies which is more +intricate than any that Daidalos ever planned. The significance of +all these sealskins and feather-dresses and mermaid caps and +werewolf-girdles may best be sought in the etymology of words like the +German leichnam, in which the body is described as a garment of flesh +for the soul. [93] In the naive philosophy of primitive thinkers, the +soul, in passing from one visible shape to another, had only to put on +the outward integument of the creature in which it wished to incarnate +itself. With respect to the mode of metamorphosis, there is little +difference between the werewolf and the swan-maiden; and the similarity +is no less striking between the genesis of the two conceptions. The +original werewolf is the night-wind, regarded now as a manlike deity and +now as a howling lupine fiend; and the original swan-maiden is the +light fleecy cloud, regarded either as a woman-like goddess or as a +bird swimming in the sky sea. The one conception has been productive of +little else but horrors; the other has given rise to a great variety +of fanciful creations, from the treacherous mermaid and the fiendish +nightmare to the gentle Undine, the charming Nausikaa, and the stately +Muse of classic antiquity. + +We have seen that the original werewolf, howling in the wintry blast, +is a kind of psychopomp, or leader of departed souls; he is the +wild ancestor of the death-dog, whose voice under the window of a +sick-chamber is even now a sound of ill-omen. The swan-maiden has also +been supposed to summon the dying to her home in the Phaiakian land. +The Valkyries, with their shirts of swan-plumage, who hovered over +Scandinavian battle-fields to receive the souls of falling heroes, were +identical with the Hindu Apsaras; and the Houris of the Mussulman belong +to the same family. Even for the angels,--women with large wings, who +are seen in popular pictures bearing mortals on high towards heaven,--we +can hardly claim a different kinship. Melusina, when she leaves +the castle of Lusignan, becomes a Banshee; and it has been a common +superstition among sailors, that the appearance of a mermaid, with her +comb and looking-glass, foretokens shipwreck, with the loss of all on +board. + +October, 1870. + + + + +IV. LIGHT AND DARKNESS. + +WHEN Maitland blasphemously asserted that God was but "a Bogie of +the nursery," he unwittingly made a remark as suggestive in point of +philology as it was crude and repulsive in its atheism. When examined +with the lenses of linguistic science, the "Bogie" or "Bug-a-boo" or +"Bugbear" of nursery lore turns out to be identical, not only with +the fairy "Puck," whom Shakespeare has immortalized, but also with the +Slavonic "Bog" and the "Baga" of the Cuneiform Inscriptions, both +of which are names for the Supreme Being. If we proceed further, and +inquire after the ancestral form of these epithets,--so strangely +incongruous in their significations,--we shall find it in the Old Aryan +"Bhaga," which reappears unchanged in the Sanskrit of the Vedas, and has +left a memento of itself in the surname of the Phrygian Zeus "Bagaios." +It seems originally to have denoted either the unclouded sun or the sky +of noonday illumined by the solar rays. In Sayana's commentary on the +Rig-Veda, Bhaga is enumerated among the seven (or eight) sons of Aditi, +the boundless Orient; and he is elsewhere described as the lord of life, +the giver of bread, and the bringer of happiness. [94] + +Thus the same name which, to the Vedic poet, to the Persian of the time +of Xerxes, and to the modern Russian, suggests the supreme majesty +of deity, is in English associated with an ugly and ludicrous fiend, +closely akin to that grotesque Northern Devil of whom Southey was unable +to think without laughing. Such is the irony of fate toward a deposed +deity. The German name for idol--Abgott, that is, "ex-god," or +"dethroned god"--sums up in a single etymology the history of the +havoc wrought by monotheism among the ancient symbols of deity. In +the hospitable Pantheon of the Greeks and Romans a niche was always +in readiness for every new divinity who could produce respectable +credentials; but the triumph of monotheism converted the stately mansion +into a Pandemonium peopled with fiends. To the monotheist an "ex-god" +was simply a devilish deceiver of mankind whom the true God had +succeeded in vanquishing; and thus the word demon, which to the ancient +meant a divine or semi-divine being, came to be applied to fiends +exclusively. Thus the Teutonic races, who preserved the name of their +highest divinity, Odin,--originally, Guodan,--by which to designate +the God of the Christian, [95] were unable to regard the Bog of ancient +tradition as anything but an "ex-god," or vanquished demon. + +The most striking illustration of this process is to be found in the +word devil itself: To a reader unfamiliar with the endless tricks which +language delights in playing, it may seem shocking to be told that the +Gypsies use the word devil as the name of God. [96] This, however, is +not because these people have made the archfiend an object of worship, +but because the Gypsy language, descending directly from the Sanskrit, +has retained in its primitive exalted sense a word which the English +language has received only in its debased and perverted sense. The +Teutonic words devil, teufel, diuval, djofull, djevful, may all +be traced back to the Zend dev, [97] a name in which is implicitly +contained the record of the oldest monotheistic revolution known to +history. The influence of the so-called Zoroastrian reform upon the +long-subsequent development of Christianity will receive further notice +in the course of this paper; for the present it is enough to know that +it furnished for all Christendom the name by which it designates the +author of evil. To the Parsee follower of Zarathustra the name of the +Devil has very nearly the same signification as to the Christian; yet, +as Grimm has shown, it is nothing else than a corruption of deva, the +Sanskrit name for God. When Zarathustra overthrew the primeval Aryan +nature-worship in Bactria, this name met the same evil fate which in +early Christian times overtook the word demon, and from a symbol of +reverence became henceforth a symbol of detestation. [98] But throughout +the rest of the Aryan world it achieved a nobler career, producing the +Greek theos, the Lithuanian diewas, the Latin deus, and hence the modern +French Dieu, all meaning God. + +If we trace back this remarkable word to its primitive source in that +once lost but now partially recovered mother-tongue from which all our +Aryan languages are descended, we find a root div or dyu, meaning "to +shine." From the first-mentioned form comes deva, with its numerous +progeny of good and evil appellatives; from the latter is derived the +name of Dyaus, with its brethren, Zeus and Jupiter. In Sanskrit dyu, +as a noun, means "sky" and "day"; and there are many passages in the +Rig-Veda where the character of the god Dyaus, as the personification +of the sky or the brightness of the ethereal heavens, is unmistakably +apparent. This key unlocks for us one of the secrets of Greek mythology. +So long as there was for Zeus no better etymology than that which +assigned it to the root zen, "to live," [99] there was little hope +of understanding the nature of Zeus. But when we learn that Zeus is +identical with Dyaus, the bright sky, we are enabled to understand +Horace's expression, "sub Jove frigido," and the prayer of the +Athenians, "Rain, rain, dear Zeus, on the land of the Athenians, and on +the fields." [100] Such expressions as these were retained by the Greeks +and Romans long after they had forgotten that their supreme deity +was once the sky. Yet even the Brahman, from whose mind the physical +significance of the god's name never wholly disappeared, could speak of +him as Father Dyaus, the great Pitri, or ancestor of gods and men; and +in this reverential name Dyaus pitar may be seen the exact equivalent of +the Roman's Jupiter, or Jove the Father. The same root can be followed +into Old German, where Zio is the god of day; and into Anglo-Saxon, +where Tiwsdaeg, or the day of Zeus, is the ancestral form of Tuesday. + +Thus we again reach the same results which were obtained from the +examination of the name Bhaga. These various names for the supreme Aryan +god, which without the help afforded by the Vedas could never have +been interpreted, are seen to have been originally applied to the +sun-illumined firmament. Countless other examples, when similarly +analyzed, show that the earliest Aryan conception of a Divine Power, +nourishing man and sustaining the universe, was suggested by the light +of the mighty Sun; who, as modern science has shown, is the originator +of all life and motion upon the globe, and whom the ancients delighted +to believe the source, not only of "the golden light," [101] but of +everything that is bright, joy-giving, and pure. Nevertheless, in +accepting this conclusion as well established by linguistic science, we +must be on our guard against an error into which writers on mythology +are very liable to fall. Neither sky nor sun nor light of day, neither +Zeus nor Apollo, neither Dyaus nor Indra, was ever worshipped by the +ancient Aryan in anything like a monotheistic sense. To interpret Zeus +or Jupiter as originally the supreme Aryan god, and to regard classic +paganism as one of the degraded remnants of a primeval monotheism, is to +sin against the canons of a sound inductive philosophy. Philology itself +teaches us that this could not have been so. Father Dyaus was originally +the bright sky and nothing more. Although his name became generalized, +in the classic languages, into deus, or God, it is quite certain that in +early days, before the Aryan separation, it had acquired no such exalted +significance. It was only in Greece and Rome--or, we may say, among +the still united Italo-Hellenic tribes--that Jupiter-Zeus attained a +pre-eminence over all other deities. The people of Iran quite +rejected him, the Teutons preferred Thor and Odin, and in India he was +superseded, first by Indra, afterwards by Brahma and Vishnu. We need +not, therefore, look for a single supreme divinity among the old Aryans; +nor may we expect to find any sense, active or dormant, of monotheism in +the primitive intelligence of uncivilized men. [102] The whole fabric +of comparative mythology, as at present constituted, and as described +above, in the first of these papers, rests upon the postulate that the +earliest religion was pure fetichism. + +In the unsystematic nature-worship of the old Aryans the gods are +presented to us only as vague powers, with their nature and attributes +dimly defined, and their relations to each other fluctuating and often +contradictory. There is no theogony, no regular subordination of one +deity to another. The same pair of divinities appear now as father and +daughter, now as brother and sister, now as husband and wife; and again +they quite lose their personality, and are represented as mere natural +phenomena. As Muller observes, "The poets of the Veda indulged freely in +theogonic speculations without being frightened by any contradictions. +They knew of Indra as the greatest of gods, they knew of Agni as the god +of gods, they knew of Varuna as the ruler of all; but they were by no +means startled at the idea that their Indra had a mother, or that +their Agni [Latin ignis] was born like a babe from the friction of two +fire-sticks, or that Varuna and his brother Mitra were nursed in the lap +of Aditi." [103] Thus we have seen Bhaga, the daylight, represented +as the offspring, of Aditi, the boundless Orient; but he had several +brothers, and among them were Mitra, the sun, Varuna, the overarching +firmament, and Vivasvat, the vivifying sun. Manifestly we have here +but so many different names for what is at bottom one and the same +conception. The common element which, in Dyaus and Varuna, in Bhaga and +Indra, was made an object of worship, is the brightness, warmth, and +life of day, as contrasted with the darkness, cold, and seeming death +of the night-time. And this common element was personified in as many +different ways as the unrestrained fancy of the ancient worshipper saw +fit to devise. [104] + +Thus we begin to see why a few simple objects, like the sun, the sky, +the dawn, and the night, should be represented in mythology by such +a host of gods, goddesses, and heroes. For at one time the Sun is +represented as the conqueror of hydras and dragons who hide away from +men the golden treasures of light and warmth, and at another time he is +represented as a weary voyager traversing the sky-sea amid many perils, +with the steadfast purpose of returning to his western home and +his twilight bride; hence the different conceptions of Herakles, +Bellerophon, and Odysseus. Now he is represented as the son of the Dawn, +and again, with equal propriety, as the son of the Night, and the fickle +lover of the Dawn; hence we have, on the one hand, stories of a virgin +mother who dies in giving birth to a hero, and, on the other hand, +stories of a beautiful maiden who is forsaken and perhaps cruelly slain +by her treacherous lover. Indeed, the Sun's adventures with so many +dawn-maidens have given him quite a bad character, and the legends are +numerous in which he appears as the prototype of Don Juan. Yet again his +separation from the bride of his youth is described as due to no fault +of his own, but to a resistless decree of fate, which hurries him away +as Aineias was compelled to abandon Dido. Or, according to a third +and equally plausible notion, he is a hero of ascetic virtues, and the +dawn-maiden is a wicked enchantress, daughter of the sensual Aphrodite, +who vainly endeavours to seduce him. In the story of Odysseus these +various conceptions are blended together. When enticed by artful women, +[105] he yields for a while to the temptation; but by and by his longing +to see Penelope takes him homeward, albeit with a record which Penelope +might not altogether have liked. Again, though the Sun, "always roaming +with a hungry heart," has seen many cities and customs of strange men, +he is nevertheless confined to a single path,--a circumstance which +seems to have occasioned much speculation in the primeval mind. +Garcilaso de la Vega relates of a certain Peruvian Inca, who seems to +have been an "infidel" with reference to the orthodox mythology of his +day, that he thought the Sun was not such a mighty god after all; for +if he were, he would wander about the heavens at random instead of +going forever, like a horse in a treadmill, along the same course. The +American Indians explained this circumstance by myths which told how the +Sun was once caught and tied with a chain which would only let him swing +a little way to one side or the other. The ancient Aryan developed the +nobler myth of the labours of Herakles, performed in obedience to the +bidding of Eurystheus. Again, the Sun must needs destroy its parents, +the Night and the Dawn; and accordingly his parents, forewarned by +prophecy, expose him in infancy, or order him to be put to death; but +his tragic destiny never fails to be accomplished to the letter. +And again the Sun, who engages in quarrels not his own, is sometimes +represented as retiring moodily from the sight of men, like Achilleus +and Meleagros: he is short-lived and ill-fated, born to do much good +and to be repaid with ingratitude; his life depends on the duration of a +burning brand, and when that is extinguished he must die. + +The myth of the great Theban hero, Oidipous, well illustrates the +multiplicity of conceptions which clustered about the daily career of +the solar orb. His father, Laios, had been warned by the Delphic oracle +that he was in danger of death from his own son. The newly born Oidipous +was therefore exposed on the hillside, but, like Romulus and Remus, and +all infants similarly situated in legend, was duly rescued. He was taken +to Corinth, where he grew up to manhood. Journeying once to Thebes, he +got into a quarrel with an old man whom he met on the road, and slew +him, who was none other than his father, Laios. Reaching Thebes, he +found the city harassed by the Sphinx, who afflicted the land with +drought until she should receive an answer to her riddles. Oidipous +destroyed the monster by solving her dark sayings, and as a reward +received the kingdom, with his own mother, Iokaste, as his bride. Then +the Erinyes hastened the discovery of these dark deeds; Iokaste died in +her bridal chamber; and Oidipous, having blinded himself, fled to the +grove of the Eumenides, near Athens, where, amid flashing lightning and +peals of thunder, he died. + +Oidipous is the Sun. Like all the solar heroes, from Herakles and +Perseus to Sigurd and William Tell, he performs his marvellous deeds at +the behest of others. His father, Laios, is none other than the +Vedic Dasyu, the night-demon who is sure to be destroyed by his solar +offspring In the evening, Oidipous is united to the Dawn, the mother who +had borne him at daybreak; and here the original story doubtless ended. +In the Vedic hymns we find Indra, the Sun, born of Dahana (Daphne), +the Dawn, whom he afterwards, in the evening twilight, marries. To the +Indian mind the story was here complete; but the Greeks had forgotten +and outgrown the primitive signification of the myth. To them Oidipous +and Iokaste were human, or at least anthropomorphic beings; and a +marriage between them was a fearful crime which called for bitter +expiation. Thus the latter part of the story arose in the effort to +satisfy a moral feeling As the name of Laios denotes the dark night, so, +like Iole, Oinone, and Iamos, the word Iokaste signifies the delicate +violet tints of the morning and evening clouds. Oidipous was exposed, +like Paris upon Ida (a Vedic word meaning "the earth"), because the +sunlight in the morning lies upon the hillside. [106] He is borne on +to the destruction of his father and the incestuous marriage with his +mother by an irresistible Moira, or Fate; the sun cannot but slay the +darkness and hasten to the couch of the violet twilight. [107] The +Sphinx is the storm-demon who sits on the cloud-rock and imprisons the +rain; she is the same as Medusa, Ahi, or Echidna, and Chimaira, and is +akin to the throttling snakes of darkness which the jealous Here sent to +destroy Herakles in his cradle. The idea was not derived from Egypt, but +the Greeks, on finding Egyptian figures resembling their conception of +the Sphinx, called them by the same name. The omniscient Sun comprehends +the sense of her dark mutterings, and destroys her, as Indra slays +Vritra, bringing down rain upon the parched earth. The Erinyes, who +bring to light the crimes of Oidipous, have been explained, in a +previous paper, as the personification of daylight, which reveals the +evil deeds done under the cover of night. The grove of the Erinyes, like +the garden of the Hyperboreans, represents "the fairy network of clouds, +which are the first to receive and the last to lose the light of the sun +in the morning and in the evening; hence, although Oidipous dies in a +thunder-storm, yet the Eumenides are kind to him, and his last hour is +one of deep peace and tranquillity." [108] To the last remains with him +his daughter Antigone, "she who is born opposite," the pale light which +springs up opposite to the setting sun. + +These examples show that a story-root may be as prolific of +heterogeneous offspring as a word-root. Just as we find the root spak, +"to look," begetting words so various as sceptic, bishop, speculate, +conspicsuous, species, and spice, we must expect to find a simple +representation of the diurnal course of the sun, like those lyrically +given in the Veda, branching off into stories as diversified as those +of Oidipous, Herakles, Odysseus, and Siegfried. In fact, the types +upon which stories are constructed are wonderfully few. Some clever +playwright--I believe it was Scribe--has said that there are only seven +possible dramatic situations; that is, all the plays in the world may be +classed with some one of seven archetypal dramas. [109] If this be +true, the astonishing complexity of mythology taken in the concrete, as +compared with its extreme simplicity when analyzed, need not surprise +us. + +The extreme limits of divergence between stories descended from a common +root are probably reached in the myths of light and darkness with which +the present discussion is mainly concerned The subject will be best +elucidated by taking a single one of these myths and following its +various fortunes through different regions of the Aryan world. The myth +of Hercules and Cacus has been treated by M. Breal in an essay which +is one of the most valuable contributions ever made to the study of +comparative mythology; and while following his footsteps our task will +be an easy one. + +The battle between Hercules and Cacus, although one of the oldest of the +traditions common to the whole Indo-European race, appears in Italy as +a purely local legend, and is narrated as such by Virgil, in the eighth +book of the AEneid; by Livy, at the beginning of his history; and +by Propertius and Ovid. Hercules, journeying through Italy after his +victory over Geryon, stops to rest by the bank of the Tiber. While he is +taking his repose, the three-headed monster Cacus, a son of Vulcan and +a formidable brigand, comes and steals his cattle, and drags them +tail-foremost to a secret cavern in the rocks. But the lowing of the +cows arouses Hercules, and he runs toward the cavern where the robber, +already frightened, has taken refuge. Armed with a huge flinty rock, he +breaks open the entrance of the cavern, and confronts the demon within, +who vomits forth flames at him and roars like the thunder in the +storm-cloud. After a short combat, his hideous body falls at the feet +of the invincible hero, who erects on the spot an altar to Jupiter +Inventor, in commemoration of the recovery of his cattle. Ancient Rome +teemed with reminiscences of this event, which Livy regarded as first +in the long series of the exploits of his countrymen. The place where +Hercules pastured his oxen was known long after as the Forum Boarium; +near it the Porta Trigemina preserved the recollection of the monster's +triple head; and in the time of Diodorus Siculus sight-seers were shown +the cavern of Cacus on the slope of the Aventine. Every tenth day +the earlier generations of Romans celebrated the victory with solemn +sacrifices at the Ara Maxima; and on days of triumph the fortunate +general deposited there a tithe of his booty, to be distributed among +the citizens. + +In this famous myth, however, the god Hercules did not originally +figure. The Latin Hercules was an essentially peaceful and domestic +deity, watching over households and enclosures, and nearly akin to +Terminus and the Penates. He does not appear to have been a solar +divinity at all. But the purely accidental resemblance of his name to +that of the Greek deity Herakles, [110] and the manifest identity of the +Cacus-myth with the story of the victory of Herakles over Geryon, led +to the substitution of Hercules for the original hero of the legend, +who was none other than Jupiter, called by his Sabine name Sancus. Now +Johannes Lydus informs us that, in Sabine, Sancus signified "the sky," +a meaning which we have already seen to belong to the name Jupiter. The +same substitution of the Greek hero for the Roman divinity led to the +alteration of the name of the demon overcome by his thunderbolts. The +corrupted title Cacus was supposed to be identical with the Greek word +kakos, meaning "evil" and the corruption was suggested by the epithet of +Herakles, Alexikakos, or "the averter of ill." Originally, however, +the name was Caecius, "he who blinds or darkens," and it corresponds +literally to the name of the Greek demon Kaikias, whom an old proverb, +preserved by Aulus Gellius, describes as a stealer of the clouds. [111] + +Thus the significance of the myth becomes apparent. The three-headed +Cacus is seen to be a near kinsman of Geryon's three-headed dog Orthros, +and of the three-headed Kerberos, the hell-hound who guards the dark +regions below the horizon. He is the original werewolf or Rakshasa, the +fiend of the storm who steals the bright cattle of Helios, and hides +them in the black cavernous rock, from which they are afterwards rescued +by the schamir or lightning-stone of the solar hero. The physical +character of the myth is apparent even in the description of Virgil, +which reads wonderfully like a Vedic hymn in celebration of the exploits +of Indra. But when we turn to the Veda itself, we find the correctness +of the interpretation demonstrated again and again, with inexhaustible +prodigality of evidence. Here we encounter again the three-headed +Orthros under the identical title of Vritra, "he who shrouds or +envelops," called also Cushna, "he who parches," Pani, "the robber," and +Ahi, "the strangler." In many hymns of the Rig-Veda the story is told +over and over, like a musical theme arranged with variations. Indra, +the god of light, is a herdsman who tends a herd of bright golden or +violet-coloured cattle. Vritra, a snake-like monster with three heads, +steals them and hides them in a cavern, but Indra slays him as Jupiter +slew Caecius, and the cows are recovered. The language of the myth is +so significant, that the Hindu commentators of the Veda have +themselves given explanations of it similar to those proposed by modern +philologists. To them the legend never became devoid of sense, as the +myth of Geryon appeared to Greek scholars like Apollodoros. [112] + +These celestial cattle, with their resplendent coats of purple and gold, +are the clouds lit up by the solar rays; but the demon who steals them +is not always the fiend of the storm, acting in that capacity. They are +stolen every night by Vritra the concealer, and Caecius the darkener, +and Indra is obliged to spend hours in looking for them, sending Sarama, +the inconstant twilight, to negotiate for their recovery. Between +the storm-myth and the myth of night and morning the resemblance is +sometimes so close as to confuse the interpretation of the two. Many +legends which Max Muller explains as myths of the victory of day over +night are explained by Dr. Kuhn as storm-myths; and the disagreement +between two such powerful champions would be a standing reproach to what +is rather prematurely called the SCIENCE of comparative mythology, +were it not easy to show that the difference is merely apparent and +non-essential. It is the old story of the shield with two sides; and a +comparison of the ideas fundamental to these myths will show that there +is no valid ground for disagreement in the interpretation of them. The +myths of schamir and the divining-rod, analyzed in a previous paper, +explain the rending of the thunder-cloud and the procuring of water +without especial reference to any struggle between opposing divinities. +But in the myth of Hercules and Cacus, the fundamental idea is the +victory of the solar god over the robber who steals the light. Now +whether the robber carries off the light in the evening when Indra has +gone to sleep, or boldly rears his black form against the sky during the +daytime, causing darkness to spread over the earth, would make little +difference to the framers of the myth. To a chicken a solar eclipse +is the same thing as nightfall, and he goes to roost accordingly. Why, +then, should the primitive thinker have made a distinction between +the darkening of the sky caused by black clouds and that caused by +the rotation of the earth? He had no more conception of the scientific +explanation of these phenomena than the chicken has of the scientific +explanation of an eclipse. For him it was enough to know that the solar +radiance was stolen, in the one case as in the other, and to suspect +that the same demon was to blame for both robberies. + +The Veda itself sustains this view. It is certain that the victory of +Indra over Vritra is essentially the same as his victory over the Panis. +Vritra, the storm-fiend, is himself called one of the Panis; yet the +latter are uniformly represented as night-demons. They steal Indra's +golden cattle and drive them by circuitous paths to a dark hiding-place +near the eastern horizon. Indra sends the dawn-nymph, Sarama, to search +for them, but as she comes within sight of the dark stable, the Panis +try to coax her to stay with them: "Let us make thee our sister, do not +go away again; we will give thee part of the cows, O darling." [113] +According to the text of this hymn, she scorns their solicitations, but +elsewhere the fickle dawn-nymph is said to coquet with the powers of +darkness. She does not care for their cows, but will take a drink of +milk, if they will be so good as to get it for her. Then she goes back +and tells Indra that she cannot find the cows. He kicks her with his +foot, and she runs back to the Panis, followed by the god, who smites +them all with his unerring arrows and recovers the stolen light. From +such a simple beginning as this has been deduced the Greek myth of the +faithlessness of Helen. [114] + +These night-demons, the Panis, though not apparently regarded with any +strong feeling of moral condemnation, are nevertheless hated and dreaded +as the authors of calamity. They not only steal the daylight, but they +parch the earth and wither the fruits, and they slay vegetation during +the winter months. As Caecius, the "darkener," became ultimately changed +into Cacus, the "evil one," so the name of Vritra, the "concealer," the +most famous of the Panis, was gradually generalized until it came to +mean "enemy," like the English word fiend, and began to be applied +indiscriminately to any kind of evil spirit. In one place he is called +Adeva, the "enemy of the gods," an epithet exactly equivalent to the +Persian dev. + +In the Zendavesta the myth of Hercules and Cacus has given rise to a +vast system of theology. The fiendish Panis are concentrated in Ahriman +or Anro-mainyas, whose name signifies the "spirit of darkness," and +who carries on a perpetual warfare against Ormuzd or Ahuramazda, who +is described by his ordinary surname, Spentomainyas, as the "spirit of +light." The ancient polytheism here gives place to a refined dualism, +not very different from what in many Christian sects has passed current +as monotheism. Ahriman is the archfiend, who struggles with Ormuzd, not +for the possession of a herd of perishable cattle, but for the dominion +of the universe. Ormuzd creates the world pure and beautiful, but +Ahriman comes after him and creates everything that is evil in it. He +not only keeps the earth covered with darkness during half of the day, +and withholds the rain and destroys the crops, but he is the author of +all evil thoughts and the instigator of all wicked actions. Like his +progenitor Vritra and his offspring Satan, he is represented under the +form of a serpent; and the destruction which ultimately awaits these +demons is also in reserve for him. Eventually there is to be a day of +reckoning, when Ahriman will be bound in chains and rendered powerless, +or when, according to another account, he will be converted to +righteousness, as Burns hoped and Origen believed would be the case with +Satan. + +This dualism of the ancient Persians has exerted a powerful influence +upon the development of Christian theology. The very idea of an +archfiend Satan, which Christianity received from Judaism, seems either +to have been suggested by the Persian Ahriman, or at least to have +derived its principal characteristics from that source. There is no +evidence that the Jews, previous to the Babylonish captivity, possessed +the conception of a Devil as the author of all evil. In the earlier +books of the Old Testament Jehovah is represented as dispensing with his +own hand the good and the evil, like the Zeus of the Iliad. [115] The +story of the serpent in Eden--an Aryan story in every particular, +which has crept into the Pentateuch--is not once alluded to in the Old +Testament; and the notion of Satan as the author of evil appears only +in the later books, composed after the Jews had come into close contact +with Persian ideas. [116] In the Book of Job, as Reville observes, Satan +is "still a member of the celestial court, being one of the sons of the +Elohim, but having as his special office the continual accusation of +men, and having become so suspicious by his practice as public accuser, +that he believes in the virtue of no one, and always presupposes +interested motives for the purest manifestations of human piety." In +this way the character of this angel became injured, and he became more +and more an object of dread and dislike to men, until the later Jews +ascribed to him all the attributes of Ahriman, and in this singularly +altered shape he passed into Christian theology. Between the Satan of +the Book of Job and the mediaeval Devil the metamorphosis is as great +as that which degraded the stern Erinys, who brings evil deeds to light, +into the demon-like Fury who torments wrong-doers in Tartarus; and, +making allowance for difference of circumstances, the process of +degradation has been very nearly the same in the two cases. + +The mediaeval conception of the Devil is a grotesque compound of +elements derived from all the systems of pagan mythology which +Christianity superseded. He is primarily a rebellious angel, expelled +from heaven along with his followers, like the giants who attempted +to scale Olympos, and like the impious Efreets of Arabian legend who +revolted against the beneficent rule of Solomon. As the serpent prince +of the outer darkness, he retains the old characteristics of Vritra, +Ahi, Typhon, and Echidna. As the black dog which appears behind the +stove in Dr. Faust's study, he is the classic hell-hound Kerberos, the +Vedic Carvara. From the sylvan deity Pan he gets his goat-like body, his +horns and cloven hoofs. Like the wind-god Orpheus, to whose music the +trees bent their heads to listen, he is an unrivalled player on the +bagpipes. Like those other wind-gods the psychopomp Hermes and the wild +huntsman Odin, he is the prince of the powers of the air: his flight +through the midnight sky, attended by his troop of witches mounted on +their brooms, which sometimes break the boughs and sweep the leaves from +the trees, is the same as the furious chase of the Erlking Odin or the +Burckar Vittikab. He is Dionysos, who causes red wine to flow from +the dry wood, alike on the deck of the Tyrrhenian pirate-ship and in +Auerbach's cellar at Leipzig. He is Wayland, the smith, a skilful +worker in metals and a wonderful architect, like the classic fire-god +Hephaistos or Vulcan; and, like Hephaistos, he is lame from the effects +of his fall from heaven. From the lightning-god Thor he obtains his red +beard, his pitchfork, and his power over thunderbolts; and, like that +ancient deity, he is in the habit of beating his wife behind the door +when the rain falls during sunshine. Finally, he takes a hint from +Poseidon and from the swan-maidens, and appears as a water-imp or Nixy +(whence probably his name of Old Nick), and as the Davy (deva) whose +"locker" is situated at the bottom of the sea. [117] + +According to the Scotch divines of the seventeenth century, the Devil is +a learned scholar and profound thinker. Having profited by six thousand +years of intense study and meditation, he has all science, philosophy, +and theology at his tongue's end; and, as his skill has increased with +age, he is far more than a match for mortals in cunning. [118] Such, +however, is not the view taken by mediaeval mythology, which usually +represents his stupidity as equalling his malignity. The victory of +Hercules over Cacus is repeated in a hundred mediaeval legends in which +the Devil is overreached and made a laughing-stock. The germ of this +notion may be found in the blinding of Polyphemos by Odysseus, which +is itself a victory of the sun-hero over the night-demon, and which +curiously reappears in a Middle-Age story narrated by Mr. Cox. "The +Devil asks a man who is moulding buttons what he may be doing; and when +the man answers that he is moulding eyes, asks him further whether he +can give him a pair of new eyes. He is told to come again another day; +and when he makes his appearance accordingly, the man tells him that the +operation cannot be performed rightly unless he is first tightly bound +with his back fastened to a bench. While he is thus pinioned he asks the +man's name. The reply is Issi (`himself'). When the lead is melted, the +Devil opens his eyes wide to receive the deadly stream. As soon as he is +blinded, he starts up in agony, bearing away the bench to which he had +been bound; and when some workpeople in the fields ask him who had thus +treated him, his answer is, 'Issi teggi' (`Self did it'). With a laugh +they bid him lie on the bed which he has made: 'selbst gethan, selbst +habe.' The Devil died of his new eyes, and was never seen again." + +In his attempts to obtain human souls the Devil is frequently foiled by +the superior cunning of mortals. Once, he agreed to build a house for +a peasant in exchange for the peasant's soul; but if the house were not +finished before cockcrow, the contract was to be null and void. Just as +the Devil was putting on the last tile the man imitated a cockcrow and +waked up all the roosters in the neighbourhood, so that the fiend had +his labour for his pains. A merchant of Louvain once sold himself to +the Devil, who heaped upon him all manner of riches for seven years, and +then came to get him. The merchant "took the Devil in a friendly manner +by the hand and, as it was just evening, said, 'Wife, bring a light +quickly for the gentleman.' 'That is not at all necessary,' said the +Devil; 'I am merely come to fetch you.' 'Yes, yes, that I know very +well,' said the merchant, 'only just grant me the time till this little +candle-end is burnt out, as I have a few letters to sign and to put +on my coat.' 'Very well,' said the Devil, 'but only till the candle is +burnt out.' 'Good,' said the merchant, and going into the next room, +ordered the maid-servant to place a large cask full of water close to a +very deep pit that was dug in the garden. The men-servants also carried, +each of them, a cask to the spot; and when all was done, they were +ordered each to take a shovel, and stand round the pit. The merchant +then returned to the Devil, who seeing that not more than about an inch +of candle remained, said, laughing, 'Now get yourself ready, it will +soon be burnt out.' 'That I see, and am content; but I shall hold you to +your word, and stay till it IS burnt.' 'Of course,' answered the Devil; +'I stick to my word.' 'It is dark in the next room,' continued the +merchant, 'but I must find the great book with clasps, so let me just +take the light for one moment.' 'Certainly,' said the Devil, 'but I'll +go with you.' He did so, and the merchant's trepidation was now on the +increase. When in the next room he said on a sudden, 'Ah, now I know, +the key is in the garden door.' And with these words he ran out with the +light into the garden, and before the Devil could overtake him, threw it +into the pit, and the men and the maids poured water upon it, and then +filled up the hole with earth. Now came the Devil into the garden and +asked, 'Well, did you get the key? and how is it with the candle? where +is it?' 'The candle?' said the merchant. 'Yes, the candle.' 'Ha, ha, ha! +it is not yet burnt out,' answered the merchant, laughing, 'and will not +be burnt out for the next fifty years; it lies there a hundred fathoms +deep in the earth.' When the Devil heard this he screamed awfully, and +went off with a most intolerable stench." [119] + +One day a fowler, who was a terrible bungler and could n't hit a bird +at a dozen paces, sold his soul to the Devil in order to become a +Freischutz. The fiend was to come for him in seven years, but must be +always able to name the animal at which he was shooting, otherwise the +compact was to be nullified. After that day the fowler never missed his +aim, and never did a fowler command such wages. When the seven years +were out the fowler told all these things to his wife, and the twain hit +upon an expedient for cheating the Devil. The woman stripped herself, +daubed her whole body with molasses, and rolled herself up in a +feather-bed, cut open for this purpose. Then she hopped and skipped +about the field where her husband stood parleying with Old Nick. +"there's a shot for you, fire away," said the Devil. "Of course I'll +fire, but do you first tell me what kind of a bird it is; else our +agreement is cancelled, Old Boy." There was no help for it; the +Devil had to own himself nonplussed, and off he fled, with a whiff of +brimstone which nearly suffocated the Freischutz and his good woman. +[120] + +In the legend of Gambrinus, the fiend is still more ingloriously +defeated. Gambrinus was a fiddler, who, being jilted by his sweetheart, +went out into the woods to hang himself. As he was sitting on the bough, +with the cord about his neck, preparatory to taking the fatal plunge, +suddenly a tall man in a green coat appeared before him, and offered +his services. He might become as wealthy as he liked, and make his +sweetheart burst with vexation at her own folly, but in thirty years +he must give up his soul to Beelzebub. The bargain was struck, for +Gambrinus thought thirty years a long time to enjoy one's self in, and +perhaps the Devil might get him in any event; as well be hung for a +sheep as for a lamb. Aided by Satan, he invented chiming-bells and +lager-beer, for both of which achievements his name is held in grateful +remembrance by the Teuton. No sooner had the Holy Roman Emperor quaffed +a gallon or two of the new beverage than he made Gambrinus Duke of +Brabant and Count of Flanders, and then it was the fiddler's turn to +laugh at the discomfiture of his old sweetheart. Gambrinus kept clear of +women, says the legend, and so lived in peace. For thirty years he sat +beneath his belfry with the chimes, meditatively drinking beer with his +nobles and burghers around him. Then Beelzebub sent Jocko, one of his +imps, with orders to bring back Gambrinus before midnight. But Jocko +was, like Swiveller's Marchioness, ignorant of the taste of beer, never +having drunk of it even in a sip, and the Flemish schoppen were too much +for him. He fell into a drunken sleep, and did not wake up until noon +next day, at which he was so mortified that he had not the face to go +back to hell at all. So Gambrinus lived on tranquilly for a century or +two, and drank so much beer that he turned into a beer-barrel. [121] + +The character of gullibility attributed to the Devil in these legends +is probably derived from the Trolls, or "night-folk," of Northern +mythology. In most respects the Trolls resemble the Teutonic elves +and fairies, and the Jinn or Efreets of the Arabian Nights; but their +pedigree is less honourable. The fairies, or "White Ladies," were +not originally spirits of darkness, but were nearly akin to the +swan-maidens, dawn-nymphs, and dryads, and though their wrath was to +be dreaded, they were not malignant by nature. Christianity, having no +place for such beings, degraded them into something like imps; the most +charitable theory being that they were angels who had remained neutral +during Satan's rebellion, in punishment for which Michael expelled them +from heaven, but has left their ultimate fate unannounced until the day +of judgment. The Jinn appear to have been similarly degraded on the rise +of Mohammedanism. But the Trolls were always imps of darkness. They are +descended from the Jotuns, or Frost-Giants of Northern paganism, and +they correspond to the Panis, or night-demons of the Veda. In many Norse +tales they are said to burst when they see the risen sun. [122] They eat +human flesh, are ignorant of the simplest arts, and live in the deepest +recesses of the forest or in caverns on the hillside, where the sunlight +never penetrates. Some of these characteristics may very likely have +been suggested by reminiscences of the primeval Lapps, from whom the +Aryan invaders wrested the dominion of Europe. [123] In some legends the +Trolls are represented as an ancient race of beings now superseded by +the human race. "'What sort of an earth-worm is this?' said one Giant to +another, when they met a man as they walked. 'These are the earth-worms +that will one day eat us up, brother,' answered the other; and soon +both Giants left that part of Germany." "'See what pretty playthings, +mother!' cries the Giant's daughter, as she unties her apron, and shows +her a plough, and horses, and a peasant. 'Back with them this instant,' +cries the mother in wrath, 'and put them down as carefully as you can, +for these playthings can do our race great harm, and when these come we +must budge.'" Very naturally the primitive Teuton, possessing already +the conception of night-demons, would apply it to these men of the +woods whom even to this day his uneducated descendants believe to be +sorcerers, able to turn men into wolves. But whatever contributions +historical fact may have added to his character, the Troll is originally +a creation of mythology, like Polyphemos, whom he resembles in his +uncouth person, his cannibal appetite, and his lack of wit. His ready +gullibility is shown in the story of "Boots who ate a Match with the +Troll." Boots, the brother of Cinderella, and the counterpart alike +of Jack the Giant-killer, and of Odysseus, is the youngest of three +brothers who go into a forest to cut wood. The Troll appears and +threatens to kill any one who dares to meddle with his timber. The elder +brothers flee, but Boots puts on a bold face. He pulled a cheese out of +his scrip and squeezed it till the whey began to spurt out. "Hold your +tongue, you dirty Troll," said he, "or I'll squeeze you as I squeeze +this stone." So the Troll grew timid and begged to be spared, [124] and +Boots let him off on condition that he would hew all day with him. +They worked till nightfall, and the Troll's giant strength accomplished +wonders. Then Boots went home with the Troll, having arranged that he +should get the water while his host made the fire. When they reached the +hut there were two enormous iron pails, so heavy that none but a Troll +could lift them, but Boots was not to be frightened. "Bah!" said he. "Do +you suppose I am going to get water in those paltry hand-basins? Hold +on till I go and get the spring itself!" "O dear!" said the Troll, "I'd +rather not; do you make the fire, and I'll get the water." Then when the +soup was made, Boots challenged his new friend to an eating-match; and +tying his scrip in front of him, proceeded to pour soup into it by the +ladleful. By and by the giant threw down his spoon in despair, and owned +himself conquered. "No, no! don't give it up yet," said Boots, "just cut +a hole in your stomach like this, and you can eat forever." And suiting +the action to the words, he ripped open his scrip. So the silly Troll +cut himself open and died, and Boots carried off all his gold and +silver. + +Once there was a Troll whose name was Wind-and-Weather, and Saint Olaf +hired him to build a church. If the church were completed within a +certain specified time, the Troll was to get possession of Saint Olaf. +The saint then planned such a stupendous edifice that he thought the +giant would be forever building it; but the work went on briskly, and at +the appointed day nothing remained but to finish the point of the spire. +In his consternation Olaf rushed about until he passed by the Troll's +den, when he heard the giantess telling her children that their father, +Wind-and-Weather, was finishing his church, and would be home to-morrow +with Saint Olaf. So the saint ran back to the church and bawled out, +"Hold on, Wind-and-Weather, your spire is crooked!" Then the giant +tumbled down from the roof and broke into a thousand pieces. As in the +cases of the Mara and the werewolf, the enchantment was at an end as +soon as the enchanter was called by name. + +These Trolls, like the Arabian Efreets, had an ugly habit of carrying +off beautiful princesses. This is strictly in keeping with their +character as night-demons, or Panis. In the stories of Punchkin and +the Heartless Giant, the night-demon carries off the dawn-maiden after +having turned into stone her solar brethren. But Boots, or Indra, in +search of his kinsfolk, by and by arrives at the Troll's castle, and +then the dawn-nymph, true to her fickle character, cajoles the Giant +and enables Boots to destroy him. In the famous myth which serves as the +basis for the Volsunga Saga and the Nibelungenlied, the dragon Fafnir +steals the Valkyrie Brynhild and keeps her shut up in a castle on the +Glistening Heath, until some champion shall be found powerful enough +to rescue her. The castle is as hard to enter as that of the Sleeping +Beauty; but Sigurd, the Northern Achilleus, riding on his deathless +horse, and wielding his resistless sword Gram, forces his way in, slays +Fafnir, and recovers the Valkyrie. + +In the preceding paper the Valkyries were shown to belong to the class +of cloud-maidens; and between the tale of Sigurd and that of Hercules +and Cacus there is no difference, save that the bright sunlit clouds +which are represented in the one as cows are in the other represented +as maidens. In the myth of the Argonauts they reappear as the Golden +Fleece, carried to the far east by Phrixos and Helle, who are themselves +Niblungs, or "Children of the Mist" (Nephele), and there guarded by a +dragon. In all these myths a treasure is stolen by a fiend of darkness, +and recovered by a hero of light, who slays the demon. And--remembering +what Scribe said about the fewness of dramatic types--I believe we are +warranted in asserting that all the stories of lovely women held in +bondage by monsters, and rescued by heroes who perform wonderful tasks, +such as Don Quixote burned to achieve, are derived ultimately from solar +myths, like the myth of Sigurd and Brynhild. I do not mean to say that +the story-tellers who beguiled their time in stringing together the +incidents which make up these legends were conscious of their solar +character. They did not go to work, with malice prepense, to weave +allegories and apologues. The Greeks who first told the story of Perseus +and Andromeda, the Arabians who devised the tale of Codadad and +his brethren, the Flemings who listened over their beer-mugs to +the adventures of Culotte-Verte, were not thinking of sun-gods or +dawn-maidens, or night-demons; and no theory of mythology can be sound +which implies such an extravagance. Most of these stories have lived +on the lips of the common people; and illiterate persons are not in +the habit of allegorizing in the style of mediaeval monks or rabbinical +commentators. But what has been amply demonstrated is, that the sun +and the clouds, the light and the darkness, were once supposed to +be actuated by wills analogous to the human will; that they were +personified and worshipped or propitiated by sacrifice; and that their +doings were described in language which applied so well to the deeds of +human or quasi-human beings that in course of time its primitive purport +faded from recollection. No competent scholar now doubts that the myths +of the Veda and the Edda originated in this way, for philology itself +shows that the names employed in them are the names of the great +phenomena of nature. And when once a few striking stories had thus +arisen,--when once it had been told how Indra smote the Panis, and how +Sigurd rescued Brynhild, and how Odysseus blinded the Kyklops,--then +certain mythic or dramatic types had been called into existence; and to +these types, preserved in the popular imagination, future stories would +inevitably conform. We need, therefore, have no hesitation in admitting +a common origin for the vanquished Panis and the outwitted Troll or +Devil; we may securely compare the legends of St. George and Jack the +Giant-killer with the myth of Indra slaying Vritra; we may see in the +invincible Sigurd the prototype of many a doughty knight-errant of +romance; and we may learn anew the lesson, taught with fresh emphasis by +modern scholarship, that in the deepest sense there is nothing new under +the sun. + +I am the more explicit on this point, because it seems to me that the +unguarded language of many students of mythology is liable to give rise +to misapprehensions, and to discredit both the method which they employ +and the results which they have obtained. If we were to give full weight +to the statements which are sometimes made, we should perforce believe +that primitive men had nothing to do but to ponder about the sun and the +clouds, and to worry themselves over the disappearance of daylight. But +there is nothing in the scientific interpretation of myths which obliges +us to go any such length. I do not suppose that any ancient Aryan, +possessed of good digestive powers and endowed with sound common-sense, +ever lay awake half the night wondering whether the sun would come back +again. [125] The child and the savage believe of necessity that the +future will resemble the past, and it is only philosophy which raises +doubts on the subject. [126] The predominance of solar legends in most +systems of mythology is not due to the lack of "that Titanic assurance +with which we say, the sun MUST rise"; [127] nor again to the fact +that the phenomena of day and night are the most striking phenomena in +nature. Eclipses and earthquakes and floods are phenomena of the most +terrible and astounding kind, and they have all generated myths; +yet their contributions to folk-lore are scanty compared with those +furnished by the strife between the day-god and his enemies. The +sun-myths have been so prolific because the dramatic types to which +they have given rise are of surpassing human interest. The dragon who +swallows the sun is no doubt a fearful personage; but the hero who toils +for others, who slays hydra-headed monsters, and dries the tears +of fair-haired damsels, and achieves success in spite of incredible +obstacles, is a being with whom we can all sympathize, and of whom we +never weary of hearing. + +With many of these legends which present the myth of light and darkness +in its most attractive form, the reader is already acquainted, and it is +needless to retail stories which have been told over and over again in +books which every one is presumed to have read. I will content myself +with a weird Irish legend, narrated by Mr. Patrick Kennedy, [128] +in which we here and there catch glimpses of the primitive mythical +symbols, as fragments of gold are seen gleaming through the crystal of +quartz. + +Long before the Danes ever came to Ireland, there died at Muskerry a +Sculloge, or country farmer, who by dint of hard work and close economy +had amassed enormous wealth. His only son did not resemble him. When the +young Sculloge looked about the house, the day after his father's +death, and saw the big chests full of gold and silver, and the cupboards +shining with piles of sovereigns, and the old stockings stuffed with +large and small coin, he said to himself, "Bedad, how shall I ever be +able to spend the likes o' that!" And so he drank, and gambled, and +wasted his time in hunting and horse-racing, until after a while he +found the chests empty and the cupboards poverty-stricken, and the +stockings lean and penniless. Then he mortgaged his farm-house and +gambled away all the money he got for it, and then he bethought him that +a few hundred pounds might be raised on his mill. But when he went to +look at it, he found "the dam broken, and scarcely a thimbleful of water +in the mill-race, and the wheel rotten, and the thatch of the house all +gone, and the upper millstone lying flat on the lower one, and a coat +of dust and mould over everything." So he made up his mind to borrow a +horse and take one more hunt to-morrow and then reform his habits. + +As he was returning late in the evening from this farewell hunt, passing +through a lonely glen he came upon an old man playing backgammon, +betting on his left hand against his right, and crying and cursing +because the right WOULD win. "Come and bet with me," said he to +Sculloge. "Faith, I have but a sixpence in the world," was the reply; +"but, if you like, I'll wager that on the right." "Done," said the old +man, who was a Druid; "if you win I'll give you a hundred guineas." So +the game was played, and the old man, whose right hand was always the +winner, paid over the guineas and told Sculloge to go to the Devil with +them. + +Instead of following this bit of advice, however, the young farmer went +home and began to pay his debts, and next week he went to the glen +and won another game, and made the Druid rebuild his mill. So Sculloge +became prosperous again, and by and by he tried his luck a third time, +and won a game played for a beautiful wife. The Druid sent her to his +house the next morning before he was out of bed, and his servants came +knocking at the door and crying, "Wake up! wake up! Master Sculloge, +there's a young lady here to see you." "Bedad, it's the vanithee [129] +herself," said Sculloge; and getting up in a hurry, he spent three +quarters of an hour in dressing himself. At last he went down stairs, +and there on the sofa was the prettiest lady ever seen in Ireland! +Naturally, Sculloge's heart beat fast and his voice trembled, as he +begged the lady's pardon for this Druidic style of wooing, and besought +her not to feel obliged to stay with him unless she really liked him. +But the young lady, who was a king's daughter from a far country, was +wondrously charmed with the handsome farmer, and so well did they get +along that the priest was sent for without further delay, and they were +married before sundown. Sabina was the vanithee's name; and she warned +her husband to have no more dealings with Lassa Buaicht, the old man of +the glen. So for a while all went happily, and the Druidic bride was as +good as she was beautiful But by and by Sculloge began to think he was +not earning money fast enough. He could not bear to see his wife's white +hands soiled with work, and thought it would be a fine thing if he could +only afford to keep a few more servants, and drive about with Sabina +in an elegant carriage, and see her clothed in silk and adorned with +jewels. + +"I will play one more game and set the stakes high," said Sculloge to +himself one evening, as he sat pondering over these things; and so, +without consulting Sabina, he stole away to the glen, and played a game +for ten thousand guineas. But the evil Druid was now ready to pounce +on his prey, and he did not play as of old. Sculloge broke into a cold +sweat with agony and terror as he saw the left hand win! Then the face +of Lassa Buaicht grew dark and stern, and he laid on Sculloge the curse +which is laid upon the solar hero in misfortune, that he should never +sleep twice under the same roof, or ascend the couch of the dawn-nymph, +his wife, until he should have procured and brought to him the sword of +light. When Sculloge reached home, more dead than alive, he saw that his +wife knew all. Bitterly they wept together, but she told him that with +courage all might be set right. She gave him a Druidic horse, which bore +him swiftly over land and sea, like the enchanted steed of the Arabian +Nights, until he reached the castle of his wife's father who, as +Sculloge now learned, was a good Druid, the brother of the evil Lassa +Buaicht. This good Druid told him that the sword of light was kept by +a third brother, the powerful magician, Fiach O'Duda, who dwelt in an +enchanted castle, which many brave heroes had tried to enter, but +the dark sorcerer had slain them all. Three high walls surrounded +the castle, and many had scaled the first of these, but none had ever +returned alive. But Sculloge was not to be daunted, and, taking from +his father-in-law a black steed, he set out for the fortress of Fiach +O'Duda. Over the first high wall nimbly leaped the magic horse, and +Sculloge called aloud on the Druid to come out and surrender his sword. +Then came out a tall, dark man, with coal-black eyes and hair and +melancholy visage, and made a furious sweep at Sculloge with the flaming +blade. But the Druidic beast sprang back over the wall in the twinkling +of an eye and rescued his rider, leaving, however, his tail behind in +the court-yard. Then Sculloge returned in triumph to his father-in-law's +palace, and the night was spent in feasting and revelry. + +Next day Sculloge rode out on a white horse, and when he got to Fiach's +castle, he saw the first wall lying in rubbish. He leaped the second, +and the same scene occurred as the day before, save that the horse +escaped unharmed. + +The third day Sculloge went out on foot, with a harp like that of +Orpheus in his hand, and as he swept its strings the grass bent to +listen and the trees bowed their heads. The castle walls all lay in +ruins, and Sculloge made his way unhindered to the upper room, where +Fiach lay in Druidic slumber, lulled by the harp. He seized the sword +of light, which was hung by the chimney sheathed in a dark scabbard, and +making the best of his way back to the good king's palace, mounted his +wife's steed, and scoured over land and sea until he found himself in +the gloomy glen where Lassa Buaicht was still crying and cursing and +betting on his left hand against his right. + +"Here, treacherous fiend, take your sword of light!" shouted Sculloge in +tones of thunder; and as he drew it from its sheath the whole valley +was lighted up as with the morning sun, and next moment the head of the +wretched Druid was lying at his feet, and his sweet wife, who had come +to meet him, was laughing and crying in his arms. November, 1870. + + + + +V. MYTHS OF THE BARBARIC WORLD. + +THE theory of mythology set forth in the four preceding papers, and +illustrated by the examination of numerous myths relating to the +lightning, the storm-wind, the clouds, and the sunlight, was originally +framed with reference solely to the mythic and legendary lore of the +Aryan world. The phonetic identity of the names of many Western gods and +heroes with the names of those Vedic divinities which are obviously +the personifications of natural phenomena, suggested the theory which +philosophical considerations had already foreshadowed in the works +of Hume and Comte, and which the exhaustive analysis of Greek, Hindu, +Keltic, and Teutonic legends has amply confirmed. Let us now, before +proceeding to the consideration of barbaric folk-lore, briefly +recapitulate the results obtained by modern scholarship working strictly +within the limits of the Aryan domain. + +In the first place, it has been proved once for all that the languages +spoken by the Hindus, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Kelts, Slaves, and +Teutons are all descended from a single ancestral language, the Old +Aryan, in the same sense that French, Italian, and Spanish are descended +from the Latin. And from this undisputed fact it is an inevitable +inference that these various races contain, along with other elements, +a race-element in common, due to their Aryan pedigree. That the +Indo-European races are wholly Aryan is very improbable, for in every +case the countries overrun by them were occupied by inferior races, +whose blood must have mingled in varying degrees with that of their +conquerors; but that every Indo-European people is in great part +descended from a common Aryan stock is not open to question. + +In the second place, along with a common fund of moral and religious +ideas and of legal and ceremonial observances, we find these kindred +peoples possessed of a common fund of myths, superstitions, proverbs, +popular poetry, and household legends. The Hindu mother amuses her child +with fairy-tales which often correspond, even in minor incidents, with +stories in Scottish or Scandinavian nurseries; and she tells them in +words which are phonetically akin to words in Swedish and Gaelic. No +doubt many of these stories might have been devised in a dozen different +places independently of each other; and no doubt many of them have +been transmitted laterally from one people to another; but a careful +examination shows that such cannot have been the case with the great +majority of legends and beliefs. The agreement between two such stories, +for instance, as those of Faithful John and Rama and Luxman is so +close as to make it incredible that they should have been independently +fabricated, while the points of difference are so important as to make +it extremely improbable that the one was ever copied from the other. +Besides which, the essential identity of such myths as those of Sigurd +and Theseus, or of Helena and Sarama, carries us back historically to a +time when the scattered Indo-European tribes had not yet begun to +hold commercial and intellectual intercourse with each other, and +consequently could not have interchanged their epic materials or their +household stories. We are therefore driven to the conclusion--which, +startling as it may seem, is after all the most natural and plausible +one that can be stated--that the Aryan nations, which have inherited +from a common ancestral stock their languages and their customs, have +inherited also from the same common original their fireside legends. +They have preserved Cinderella and Punchkin just as they have preserved +the words for father and mother, ten and twenty; and the former case, +though more imposing to the imagination, is scientifically no less +intelligible than the latter. + +Thirdly, it has been shown that these venerable tales may be grouped in +a few pretty well defined classes; and that the archetypal myth of each +class--the primitive story in conformity to which countless subsequent +tales have been generated--was originally a mere description of physical +phenomena, couched in the poetic diction of an age when everything was +personified, because all natural phenomena were supposed to be due to +the direct workings of a volition like that of which men were conscious +within themselves. Thus we are led to the striking conclusion that +mythology has had a common root, both with science and with religious +philosophy. The myth of Indra conquering Vritra was one of the theorems +of primitive Aryan science; it was a provisional explanation of the +thunder-storm, satisfactory enough until extended observation and +reflection supplied a better one. It also contained the germs of a +theology; for the life-giving solar light furnished an important part +of the primeval conception of deity. And finally, it became the fruitful +parent of countless myths, whether embodied in the stately epics of +Homer and the bards of the Nibelungenlied, or in the humbler legends of +St. George and William Tell and the ubiquitous Boots. + +Such is the theory which was suggested half a century ago by the +researches of Jacob Grimm, and which, so far as concerns the mythology +of the Aryan race, is now victorious along the whole line. It remains +for us to test the universality of the general principles upon which it +is founded, by a brief analysis of sundry legends and superstitions +of the barbaric world. Since the fetichistic habit of explaining the +outward phenomena of nature after the analogy of the inward phenomena of +conscious intelligence is not a habit peculiar to our Aryan ancestors, +but is, as psychology shows, the inevitable result of the conditions +under which uncivilized thinking proceeds, we may expect to find the +barbaric mind personifying the powers of nature and making myths about +their operations the whole world over. And we need not be surprised if +we find in the resulting mythologic structures a strong resemblance to +the familiar creations of the Aryan intelligence. In point of fact, we +shall often be called upon to note such resemblance; and it accordingly +behooves us at the outset to inquire how far a similarity between +mythical tales shall be taken as evidence of a common traditional +origin, and how far it may be interpreted as due merely to the similar +workings of the untrained intelligence in all ages and countries. + +Analogies drawn from the comparison of languages will here be of service +to us, if used discreetly; otherwise they are likely to bewilder far +more than to enlighten us. A theorem which Max Muller has laid down +for our guidance in this kind of investigation furnishes us with an +excellent example of the tricks which a superficial analogy may play +even with the trained scholar, when temporarily off his guard. Actuated +by a praiseworthy desire to raise the study of myths to something like +the high level of scientific accuracy already attained by the study of +words, Max Muller endeavours to introduce one of the most useful canons +of philology into a department of inquiry where its introduction could +only work the most hopeless confusion. One of the earliest lessons to be +learned by the scientific student of linguistics is the uselessness of +comparing together directly the words contained in derivative languages. +For example, you might set the English twelve side by side with the +Latin duodecim, and then stare at the two words to all eternity without +any hope of reaching a conclusion, good or bad, about either of them: +least of all would you suspect that they are descended from the same +radical. But if you take each word by itself and trace it back to its +primitive shape, explaining every change of every letter as you go, you +will at last reach the old Aryan dvadakan, which is the parent of both +these strangely metamorphosed words. [130] Nor will it do, on the other +hand, to trust to verbal similarity without a historical inquiry into +the origin of such similarity. Even in the same language two words of +quite different origin may get their corners rubbed off till they look +as like one another as two pebbles. The French words souris, a "mouse," +and souris, a "smile," are spelled exactly alike; but the one comes from +Latin sorex and the other from Latin subridere. + +Now Max Muller tells us that this principle, which is indispensable +in the study of words, is equally indispensable in the study of myths. +[131] That is, you must not rashly pronounce the Norse story of the +Heartless Giant identical with the Hindu story of Punchkin, although the +two correspond in every essential incident. In both legends a magician +turns several members of the same family into stone; the youngest member +of the family comes to the rescue, and on the way saves the lives of +sundry grateful beasts; arrived at the magician's castle, he finds +a captive princess ready to accept his love and to play the part of +Delilah to the enchanter. In both stories the enchanter's life +depends on the integrity of something which is elaborately hidden in +a far-distant island, but which the fortunate youth, instructed by +the artful princess and assisted by his menagerie of grateful beasts, +succeeds in obtaining. In both stories the youth uses his advantage +to free all his friends from their enchantment, and then proceeds to +destroy the villain who wrought all this wickedness. Yet, in spite of +this agreement, Max Muller, if I understand him aright, would not have +us infer the identity of the two stories until we have taken each +one separately and ascertained its primitive mythical significance. +Otherwise, for aught we can tell, the resemblance may be purely +accidental, like that of the French words for "mouse" and "smile." + +A little reflection, however, will relieve us from this perplexity, and +assure us that the alleged analogy between the comparison of words and +the comparison of stories is utterly superficial. The transformations +of words--which are often astounding enough--depend upon a few +well-established physiological principles of utterance; and since +philology has learned to rely upon these principles, it has become +nearly as sure in its methods and results as one of the so-called "exact +sciences." Folly enough is doubtless committed within its precincts by +writers who venture there without the laborious preparation which this +science, more than almost any other, demands. But the proceedings of +the trained philologist are no more arbitrary than those of the trained +astronomer. And though the former may seem to be straining at a gnat and +swallowing a camel when he coolly tells you that violin and fiddle are +the same word, while English care and Latin cura have nothing to do with +each other, he is nevertheless no more indulging in guess-work than the +astronomer who confesses his ignorance as to the habitability of Venus +while asserting his knowledge of the existence of hydrogen in the +atmosphere of Sirius. To cite one example out of a hundred, every +philologist knows that s may become r, and that the broad a-sound may +dwindle into the closer o-sound; but when you adduce some plausible +etymology based on the assumption that r has changed into s, or o into +a, apart from the demonstrable influence of some adjacent letter, the +philologist will shake his head. + +Now in the study of stories there are no such simple rules all cut and +dried for us to go by. There is no uniform psychological principle +which determines that the three-headed snake in one story shall become a +three-headed man in the next. There is no Grimm's Law in mythology which +decides that a Hindu magician shall always correspond to a Norwegian +Troll or a Keltic Druid. The laws of association of ideas are not so +simple in application as the laws of utterance. In short, the study of +myths, though it can be made sufficiently scientific in its methods and +results, does not constitute a science by itself, like philology. It +stands on a footing similar to that occupied by physical geography, +or what the Germans call "earth-knowledge." No one denies that all the +changes going on over the earth's surface conform to physical laws; but +then no one pretends that there is any single proximate principle which +governs all the phenomena of rain-fall, of soil-crumbling, of magnetic +variation, and of the distribution of plants and animals. All these +things are explained by principles obtained from the various sciences +of physics, chemistry, geology, and physiology. And in just the same way +the development and distribution of stories is explained by the help +of divers resources contributed by philology, psychology, and history. +There is therefore no real analogy between the cases cited by Max +Muller. Two unrelated words may be ground into exactly the same shape, +just as a pebble from the North Sea may be undistinguishable from +another pebble on the beach of the Adriatic; but two stories like +those of Punchkin and the Heartless Giant are no more likely to arise +independently of each other than two coral reefs on opposite sides of +the globe are likely to develop into exactly similar islands. + +Shall we then say boldly, that close similarity between legends is proof +of kinship, and go our way without further misgivings? Unfortunately +we cannot dispose of the matter in quite so summary a fashion; for it +remains to decide what kind and degree of similarity shall be considered +satisfactory evidence of kinship. And it is just here that doctors may +disagree. Here is the point at which our "science" betrays its weakness +as compared with the sister study of philology. Before we can decide +with confidence in any case, a great mass of evidence must be brought +into court. So long as we remained on Aryan ground, all went smoothly +enough, because all the external evidence was in our favour. We knew +at the outset, that the Aryans inherit a common language and a common +civilization, and therefore we found no difficulty in accepting the +conclusion that they have inherited, among other things, a common stock +of legends. In the barbaric world it is quite otherwise. Philology does +not pronounce in favour of a common origin for all barbaric culture, +such as it is. The notion of a single primitive language, standing in +the same relation to all existing dialects as the relation of old Aryan +to Latin and English, or that of old Semitic to Hebrew and Arabic, was a +notion suited only to the infancy of linguistic science. As the case now +stands, it is certain that all the languages actually existing cannot be +referred to a common ancestor, and it is altogether probable that +there never was any such common ancestor. I am not now referring to the +question of the unity of the human race. That question lies entirely +outside the sphere of philology. The science of language has nothing to +do with skulls or complexions, and no comparison of words can tell us +whether the black men are brethren of the white men, or whether +yellow and red men have a common pedigree: these questions belong to +comparative physiology. But the science of language can and does tell us +that a certain amount of civilization is requisite for the production +of a language sufficiently durable and wide-spread to give birth to +numerous mutually resembling offspring Barbaric languages are neither +widespread nor durable. Among savages each little group of families has +its own dialect, and coins its own expressions at pleasure; and in the +course of two or three generations a dialect gets so strangely altered +as virtually to lose its identity. Even numerals and personal pronouns, +which the Aryan has preserved for fifty centuries, get lost every few +years in Polynesia. Since the time of Captain Cook the Tahitian language +has thrown away five out of its ten simple numerals, and replaced them +by brand-new ones; and on the Amazon you may acquire a fluent command +of some Indian dialect, and then, coming back after twenty years, find +yourself worse off than Rip Van Winkle, and your learning all antiquated +and useless. How absurd, therefore, to suppose that primeval savages +originated a language which has held its own like the old Aryan and +become the prolific mother of the three or four thousand dialects now +in existence! Before a durable language can arise, there must be an +aggregation of numerous tribes into a people, so that there may be +need of communication on a large scale, and so that tradition may be +strengthened. Wherever mankind have associated in nations, permanent +languages have arisen, and their derivative dialects bear the +conspicuous marks of kinship; but where mankind have remained in their +primitive savage isolation, their languages have remained sporadic and +transitory, incapable of organic development, and showing no traces of a +kinship which never existed. + +The bearing of these considerations upon the origin and diffusion of +barbaric myths is obvious. The development of a common stock of legends +is, of course, impossible, save where there is a common language; and +thus philology pronounces against the kinship of barbaric myths with +each other and with similar myths of the Aryan and Semitic worlds. +Similar stories told in Greece and Norway are likely to have a common +pedigree, because the persons who have preserved them in recollection +speak a common language and have inherited the same civilization. But +similar stories told in Labrador and South Africa are not likely to +be genealogically related, because it is altogether probable that the +Esquimaux and the Zulu had acquired their present race characteristics +before either of them possessed a language or a culture sufficient +for the production of myths. According to the nature and extent of the +similarity, it must be decided whether such stories have been carried +about from one part of the world to another, or have been independently +originated in many different places. + +Here the methods of philology suggest a rule which will often be found +useful. In comparing, the vocabularies of different languages, those +words which directly imitate natural sounds--such as whiz, crash, +crackle--are not admitted as evidence of kinship between the languages +in which they occur. Resemblances between such words are obviously no +proof of a common ancestry; and they are often met with in languages +which have demonstrably had no connection with each other. So in +mythology, where we find two stories of which the primitive character is +perfectly transparent, we need have no difficulty in supposing them to +have originated independently. The myth of Jack and his Beanstalk is +found all over the world; but the idea of a country above the sky, to +which persons might gain access by climbing, is one which could hardly +fail to occur to every barbarian. Among the American tribes, as well +as among the Aryans, the rainbow and the Milky-Way have contributed the +idea of a Bridge of the Dead, over which souls must pass on the way to +the other world. In South Africa, as well as in Germany, the habits of +the fox and of his brother the jackal have given rise to fables in which +brute force is overcome by cunning. In many parts of the world we find +curiously similar stories devised to account for the stumpy tails of the +bear and hyaena, the hairless tail of the rat, and the blindness of +the mole. And in all countries may be found the beliefs that men may be +changed into beasts, or plants, or stones; that the sun is in some way +tethered or constrained to follow a certain course; that the storm-cloud +is a ravenous dragon; and that there are talismans which will +reveal hidden treasures. All these conceptions are so obvious to the +uncivilized intelligence, that stories founded upon them need not +be supposed to have a common origin, unless there turns out to be a +striking similarity among their minor details. On the other hand, the +numerous myths of an all-destroying deluge have doubtless arisen partly +from reminiscences of actually occurring local inundations, and partly +from the fact that the Scriptural account of a deluge has been carried +all over the world by Catholic and Protestant missionaries. [132] + +By way of illustrating these principles, let us now cite a few of the +American myths so carefully collected by Dr. Brinton in his admirable +treatise. We shall not find in the mythology of the New World the wealth +of wit and imagination which has so long delighted us in the stories +of Herakles, Perseus, Hermes, Sigurd, and Indra. The mythic lore of +the American Indians is comparatively scanty and prosaic, as befits the +product of a lower grade of culture and a more meagre intellect. Not +only are the personages less characteristically pourtrayed, but there +is a continual tendency to extravagance, the sure index of an inferior +imagination. Nevertheless, after making due allowances for differences +in the artistic method of treatment, there is between the mythologies of +the Old and the New Worlds a fundamental resemblance. We come upon solar +myths and myths of the storm curiously blended with culture-myths, as in +the cases of Hermes, Prometheus, and Kadmos. The American parallels to +these are to be found in the stories of Michabo, Viracocha, Ioskeha, and +Quetzalcoatl. "As elsewhere the world over, so in America, many tribes +had to tell of.... an august character, who taught them what they +knew,--the tillage of the soil, the properties of plants, the art of +picture-writing, the secrets of magic; who founded their institutions +and established their religions; who governed them long with glory +abroad and peace at home; and finally did not die, but, like Frederic +Barbarossa, Charlemagne, King Arthur, and all great heroes, vanished +mysteriously, and still lives somewhere, ready at the right moment to +return to his beloved people and lead them to victory and happiness." +[133] Everyone is familiar with the numerous legends of white-skinned, +full-bearded heroes, like the mild Quetzalcoatl, who in times long +previous to Columbus came from the far East to impart the rudiments of +civilization and religion to the red men. By those who first heard +these stories they were supposed, with naive Euhemerism, to refer to +pre-Columbian visits of Europeans to this continent, like that of the +Northmen in the tenth century. But a scientific study of the subject has +dissipated such notions. These legends are far too numerous, they are +too similar to each other, they are too manifestly symbolical, to admit +of any such interpretation. By comparing them carefully with each other, +and with correlative myths of the Old World, their true character soon +becomes apparent. + +One of the most widely famous of these culture-heroes was Manabozho or +Michabo, the Great Hare. With entire unanimity, says Dr. Brinton, the +various branches of the Algonquin race, "the Powhatans of Virginia, the +Lenni Lenape of the Delaware, the warlike hordes of New England, the +Ottawas of the far North, and the Western tribes, perhaps without +exception, spoke of this chimerical beast,' as one of the old +missionaries calls it, as their common ancestor. The totem, or clan, +which bore his name was looked up to with peculiar respect." Not only +was Michabo the ruler and guardian of these numerous tribes,--he was the +founder of their religious rites, the inventor of picture-writing, the +ruler of the weather, the creator and preserver of earth and heaven. +"From a grain of sand brought from the bottom of the primeval ocean he +fashioned the habitable land, and set it floating on the waters till it +grew to such a size that a strong young wolf, running constantly, died +of old age ere he reached its limits." He was also, like Nimrod, a +mighty hunter. "One of his footsteps measured eight leagues, the Great +Lakes were the beaver-dams he built, and when the cataracts impeded his +progress he tore them away with his hands." "Sometimes he was said +to dwell in the skies with his brother, the Snow, or, like many great +spirits, to have built his wigwam in the far North on some floe of ice +in the Arctic Ocean..... But in the oldest accounts of the missionaries +he was alleged to reside toward the East; and in the holy formulae of +the meda craft, when the winds are invoked to the medicine lodge, the +East is summoned in his name, the door opens in that direction, and +there, at the edge of the earth where the sun rises, on the shore of the +infinite ocean that surrounds the land, he has his house, and sends the +luminaries forth on their daily journeys." [134] From such accounts as +this we see that Michabo was no more a wise instructor and legislator +than Minos or Kadmos. Like these heroes, he is a personification of the +solar life-giving power, which daily comes forth from its home in the +east, making the earth to rejoice. The etymology of his name confirms +the otherwise clear indications of the legend itself. It is compounded +of michi, "great," and wabos, which means alike "hare" and "white." +"Dialectic forms in Algonquin for white are wabi, wape, wampi, etc.; for +morning, wapan, wapanch, opah; for east, wapa, wanbun, etc.; for day, +wompan, oppan; for light, oppung." So that Michabo is the Great White +One, the God of the Dawn and the East. And the etymological confusion, +by virtue of which he acquired his soubriquet of the Great Hare, affords +a curious parallel to what has often happened in Aryan and Semitic +mythology, as we saw when discussing the subject of werewolves. + +Keeping in mind this solar character of Michabo, let us note how full +of meaning are the myths concerning him. In the first cycle of these +legends, "he is grandson of the Moon, his father is the West Wind, +and his mother, a maiden, dies in giving him birth at the moment of +conception. For the Moon is the goddess of night; the Dawn is her +daughter, who brings forth the Morning, and perishes herself in the act; +and the West, the spirit of darkness, as the East is of light, precedes, +and as it were begets the latter, as the evening does the morning. +Straightway, however, continues the legend, the son sought the unnatural +father to revenge the death of his mother, and then commenced a long and +desperate struggle. It began on the mountains. The West was forced to +give ground. Manabozho drove him across rivers and over mountains and +lakes, and at last he came to the brink of this world. 'Hold,' cried he, +'my son, you know my power, and that it is impossible to kill me.' What +is this but the diurnal combat of light and darkness, carried on from +what time 'the jocund morn stands tiptoe on the misty mountain-tops,' +across the wide world to the sunset, the struggle that knows no end, for +both the opponents are immortal?" [135] + +Even the Veda nowhere affords a more transparent narrative than this. +The Iroquois tradition is very similar. In it appear twin brothers, +[136] born of a virgin mother, daughter of the Moon, who died in giving +them life. Their names, Ioskeha and Tawiskara, signify in the Oneida +dialect the White One and the Dark One. Under the influence of Christian +ideas the contest between the brothers has been made to assume a moral +character, like the strife between Ormuzd and Ahriman. But no such +intention appears in the original myth, and Dr. Brinton has shown that +none of the American tribes had any conception of a Devil. When the +quarrel came to blows, the dark brother was signally discomfited; and +the victorious Ioskeha, returning to his grandmother, "established his +lodge in the far East, on the horders of the Great Ocean, whence the sun +comes. In time he became the father of mankind, and special guardian of +the Iroquois." He caused the earth to bring forth, he stocked the woods +with game, and taught his children the use of fire. "He it was who +watched and watered their crops; 'and, indeed, without his aid,' says +the old missionary, quite out of patience with their puerilities, +'they think they could not boil a pot.'" There was more in it than poor +Brebouf thought, as we are forcibly reminded by recent discoveries in +physical science. Even civilized men would find it difficult to boil a +pot without the aid of solar energy. Call him what we will,--Ioskeha, +Michabo, or Phoibos,--the beneficent Sun is the master and sustainer +of us all; and if we were to relapse into heathenism, like +Erckmann-Chatrian's innkeeper, we could not do better than to select him +as our chief object of worship. + +The same principles by which these simple cases are explained furnish +also the key to the more complicated mythology of Mexico and Peru. Like +the deities just discussed, Viracocha, the supreme god of the Quichuas, +rises from the bosom of Lake Titicaca and journeys westward, slaying +with his lightnings the creatures who oppose him, until he finally +disappears in the Western Ocean. Like Aphrodite, he bears in his name +the evidence of his origin, Viracocha signifying "foam of the sea"; and +hence the "White One" (l'aube), the god of light rising white on the +horizon, like the foam on the surface of the waves. The Aymaras spoke +of their original ancestors as white; and to this day, as Dr. Brinton +informs us, the Peruvians call a white man Viracocha. The myth of +Quetzalcoatl is of precisely the same character. All these solar heroes +present in most of their qualities and achievements a striking likeness +to those of the Old World. They combine the attributes of Apollo, +Herakles, and Hermes. Like Herakles, they journey from east to west, +smiting the powers of darkness, storm, and winter with the thunderbolts +of Zeus or the unerring arrows of Phoibos, and sinking in a blaze +of glory on the western verge of the world, where the waves meet the +firmament. Or like Hermes, in a second cycle of legends, they rise with +the soft breezes of a summer morning, driving before them the bright +celestial cattle whose udders are heavy with refreshing rain, fanning +the flames which devour the forests, blustering at the doors of wigwams, +and escaping with weird laughter through vents and crevices. The white +skins and flowing beards of these American heroes may be aptly compared +to the fair faces and long golden locks of their Hellenic compeers. +Yellow hair was in all probability as rare in Greece as a full beard +in Peru or Mexico; but in each case the description suits the solar +character of the hero. One important class of incidents, however is +apparently quite absent from the American legends. We frequently see the +Dawn described as a virgin mother who dies in giving birth to the Day; +but nowhere do we remember seeing her pictured as a lovely or valiant or +crafty maiden, ardently wooed, but speedily forsaken by her solar lover. +Perhaps in no respect is the superior richness and beauty of the Aryan +myths more manifest than in this. Brynhild, Urvasi, Medeia, Ariadne, +Oinone, and countless other kindred heroines, with their brilliant +legends, could not be spared from the mythology of our ancestors +without, leaving it meagre indeed. These were the materials which +Kalidasa, the Attic dramatists, and the bards of the Nibelungen found +ready, awaiting their artistic treatment. But the mythology of the New +World, with all its pretty and agreeable naivete, affords hardly enough, +either of variety in situation or of complexity in motive, for a grand +epic or a genuine tragedy. + +But little reflection is needed to assure us that the imagination of the +barbarian, who either carries away his wife by brute force or buys her +from her relatives as he would buy a cow, could never have originated +legends in which maidens are lovingly solicited, or in which their +favour is won by the performance of deeds of valour. These stories +owe their existence to the romantic turn of mind which has always +characterized the Aryan, whose civilization, even in the times before +the dispersion of his race, was sufficiently advanced to allow of his +entertaining such comparatively exalted conceptions of the relations +between men and women. The absence of these myths from barbaric +folk-lore is, therefore, just what might be expected; but it is a fact +which militates against any possible hypothesis of the common origin +of Aryan and barbaric mythology. If there were any genetic relationship +between Sigurd and Ioskeha, between Herakles and Michabo, it would be +hard to tell why Brynhild and Iole should have disappeared entirely +from one whole group of legends, while retained, in some form or +other, throughout the whole of the other group. On the other hand, the +resemblances above noticed between Aryan and American mythology fall +very far short of the resemblances between the stories told in different +parts of the Aryan domain. No barbaric legend, of genuine barbaric +growth, has yet been cited which resembles any Aryan legend as the story +of Punchkin resembles the story of the Heartless Giant. The myths +of Michabo and Viracocha are direct copies, so to speak, of natural +phenomena, just as imitative words are direct copies of natural sounds. +Neither the Redskin nor the Indo-European had any choice as to the main +features of the career of his solar divinity. He must be born of the +Night,--or of the Dawn,--must travel westward, must slay harassing +demons. Eliminating these points of likeness, the resemblance between +the Aryan and barbaric legends is at once at an end. Such an identity +in point of details as that between the wooden horse which enters +Ilion, and the horse which bears Sigurd into the place where Brynhild +is imprisoned, and the Druidic steed which leaps with Sculloge over the +walls of Fiach's enchanted castle, is, I believe, nowhere to be found +after we leave Indo-European territory. + +Our conclusion, therefore, must be, that while the legends of the Aryan +and the non-Aryan worlds contain common mythical elements, the legends +themselves are not of common origin. The fact that certain mythical +ideas are possessed alike by different races, shows that in each case +a similar human intelligence has been at work explaining similar +phenomena; but in order to prove a family relationship between the +culture of these different races, we need something more than this. +We need to prove not only a community of mythical ideas, but also a +community between the stories based upon these ideas. We must show not +only that Michabo is like Herakles in those striking features which +the contemplation of solar phenomena would necessarily suggest to +the imagination of the primitive myth-maker, but also that the two +characters are similarly conceived, and that the two careers agree in +seemingly arbitrary points of detail, as is the case in the stories of +Punchkin and the Heartless Giant. The mere fact that solar heroes, all +over the world, travel in a certain path and slay imps of darkness is of +great value as throwing light upon primeval habits of thought, but it +is of no value as evidence for or against an alleged community of +civilization between different races. The same is true of the sacredness +universally attached to certain numbers. Dr. Blinton's opinion that the +sanctity of the number four in nearly all systems of mythology is due to +a primitive worship of the cardinal points, becomes very probable +when we recollect that the similar pre-eminence of seven is almost +demonstrably connected with the adoration of the sun, moon, and +five visible planets, which has left its record in the structure and +nomenclature of the Aryan and Semitic week. [137] + +In view of these considerations, the comparison of barbaric myths +with each other and with the legends of the Aryan world becomes doubly +interesting, as illustrating the similarity in the workings of the +untrained intelligence the world over. In our first paper we saw how +the moon-spots have been variously explained by Indo-Europeans, as a +man with a thorn-bush or as two children bearing a bucket of water on a +pole. In Ceylon it is said that as Sakyamuni was one day wandering half +starved in the forest, a pious hare met him, and offered itself to him +to be slain and cooked for dinner; whereupon the holy Buddha set it on +high in the moon, that future generations of men might see it and marvel +at its piety. In the Samoan Islands these dark patches are supposed +to be portions of a woman's figure. A certain woman was once hammering +something with a mallet, when the moon arose, looking so much like a +bread-fruit that the woman asked it to come down and let her child +eat off a piece of it; but the moon, enraged at the insult, gobbled up +woman, mallet, and child, and there, in the moon's belly, you may still +behold them. According to the Hottentots, the Moon once sent the Hare to +inform men that as she died away and rose again, so should men die +and again come to life. But the stupid Hare forgot the purport of the +message, and, coming down to the earth, proclaimed it far and wide that +though the Moon was invariably resuscitated whenever she died, mankind, +on the other hand, should die and go to the Devil. When the silly brute +returned to the lunar country and told what he had done, the Moon was so +angry that she took up an axe and aimed a blow at his head to split it. +But the axe missed and only cut his lip open; and that was the origin +of the "hare-lip." Maddened by the pain and the insult, the Hare flew at +the Moon and almost scratched her eyes out; and to this day she bears on +her face the marks of the Hare's claws. [138] + +Again, every reader of the classics knows how Selene cast Endymion into +a profound slumber because he refused her love, and how at sundown she +used to come and stand above him on the Latmian hill, and watch him as +he lay asleep on the marble steps of a temple half hidden among drooping +elm-trees, over which clambered vines heavy with dark blue grapes. This +represents the rising moon looking down on the setting sun; in Labrador +a similar phenomenon has suggested a somewhat different story. Among +the Esquimaux the Sun is a maiden and the Moon is her brother, who +is overcome by a wicked passion for her. Once, as this girl was at a +dancing-party in a friend's hut, some one came up and took hold of her +by the shoulders and shook her, which is (according to the legend) the +Esquimaux manner of declaring one's love. She could not tell who it was +in the dark, and so she dipped her hand in some soot and smeared one of +his cheeks with it. When a light was struck in the hut, she saw, to her +dismay, that it was her brother, and, without waiting to learn any more, +she took to her heels. He started in hot pursuit, and so they ran till +they got to the end of the world,--the jumping-off place,--when they +both jumped into the sky. There the Moon still chases his sister, the +Sun; and every now and then he turns his sooty cheek toward the earth, +when he becomes so dark that you cannot see him. [139] + +Another story, which I cite from Mr. Tylor, shows that Malays, as well +as Indo-Europeans, have conceived of the clouds as swan-maidens. In the +island of Celebes it is said that "seven heavenly nymphs came down from +the sky to bathe, and they were seen by Kasimbaha, who thought first +that they were white doves, but in the bath he saw that they were women. +Then he stole one of the thin robes that gave the nymphs their power of +flying, and so he caught Utahagi, the one whose robe he had stolen, +and took her for his wife, and she bore him a son. Now she was called +Utahagi from a single white hair she had, which was endowed with magic +power, and this hair her husband pulled out. As soon as he had done +it, there arose a great storm, and Utahagi went up to heaven. The child +cried for its mother, and Kasimbaha was in great grief, and cast about +how he should follow Utahagi up into the sky." Here we pass to the myth +of Jack and the Beanstalk. "A rat gnawed the thorns off the rattans, and +Kasimbaha clambered up by them with his son upon his back, till he came +to heaven. There a little bird showed him the house of Utahagi, and +after various adventures he took up his abode among the gods." [140] + +In Siberia we find a legend of swan-maidens, which also reminds us of +the story of the Heartless Giant. A certain Samojed once went out to +catch foxes, and found seven maidens swimming in a lake surrounded by +gloomy pine-trees, while their feather dresses lay on the shore. He +crept up and stole one of these dresses, and by and by the swan-maiden +came to him shivering with cold and promising to become his wife if he +would only give her back her garment of feathers. The ungallant fellow, +however, did not care for a wife, but a little revenge was not unsuited +to his way of thinking. There were seven robbers who used to prowl about +the neighbourhood, and who, when they got home, finding their hearts +in the way, used to hang them up on some pegs in the tent. One of these +robbers had killed the Samojed's mother; and so he promised to return +the swan-maiden's dress after she should have procured for him these +seven hearts. So she stole the hearts, and the Samojed smashed six of +them, and then woke up the seventh robber, and told him to restore his +mother to life, on pain of instant death, Then the robber produced a +purse containing the old woman's soul, and going to the graveyard shook +it over her bones, and she revived at once. Then the Samojed smashed the +seventh heart, and the robber died; and so the swan-maiden got back her +plumage and flew away rejoicing. [141] + +Swan-maidens are also, according to Mr. Baring-Gould, found among the +Minussinian Tartars. But there they appear as foul demons, like the +Greek Harpies, who delight in drinking the blood of men slain in battle. +There are forty of them, who darken the whole firmament in their flight; +but sometimes they all coalesce into one great black storm-fiend, who +rages for blood, like a werewolf. + +In South Africa we find the werewolf himself. [142] A certain Hottentot +was once travelling with a Bushwoman and her child, when they perceived +at a distance a troop of wild horses. The man, being hungry, asked the +woman to turn herself into a lioness and catch one of these horses, that +they might eat of it; whereupon the woman set down her child, and taking +off a sort of petticoat made of human skin became instantly transformed +into a lioness, which rushed across the plain, struck down a wild horse +and lapped its blood. The man climbed a tree in terror, and conjured his +companion to resume her natural shape. Then the lioness came back, and +putting on the skirt made of human skin reappeared as a woman, and took +up her child, and the two friends resumed their journey after making a +meal of the horse's flesh. [143] + +The werewolf also appears in North America, duly furnished with his +wolf-skin sack; but neither in America nor in Africa is he the genuine +European werewolf, inspired by a diabolic frenzy, and ravening for human +flesh. The barbaric myths testify to the belief that men can be changed +into beasts or have in some cases descended from beast ancestors, but +the application of this belief to the explanation of abnormal cannibal +cravings seems to have been confined to Europe. The werewolf of +the Middle Ages was not merely a transformed man,--he was an insane +cannibal, whose monstrous appetite, due to the machinations of the +Devil, showed its power over his physical organism by changing the shape +of it. The barbaric werewolf is the product of a lower and simpler kind +of thinking. There is no diabolism about him; for barbaric races, while +believing in the existence of hurtful and malicious fiends, have not a +sufficiently vivid sense of moral abnormity to form the conception of +diabolism. And the cannibal craving, which to the mediaeval European was +a phenomenon so strange as to demand a mythological explanation, +would not impress the barbarian as either very exceptional or very +blameworthy. + +In the folk-lore of the Zulus, one of the most quick-witted and +intelligent of African races, the cannibal possesses many features in +common with the Scandinavian Troll, who also has a liking for human +flesh. As we saw in the preceding paper, the Troll has very likely +derived some of his characteristics from reminiscences of the barbarous +races who preceded the Aryans in Central and Northern Europe. In like +manner the long-haired cannibal of Zulu nursery literature, who is +always represented as belonging to a distinct race, has been supposed to +be explained by the existence of inferior races conquered and displaced +by the Zulus. Nevertheless, as Dr. Callaway observes, neither the +long-haired mountain cannibals of Western Africa, nor the Fulahs, +nor the tribes of Eghedal described by Barth, "can be considered as +answering to the description of long-haired as given in the Zulu legends +of cannibals; neither could they possibly have formed their historical +basis..... It is perfectly clear that the cannibals of the Zulu legends +are not common men; they are magnified into giants and magicians; they +are remarkably swift and enduring; fierce and terrible warriors." Very +probably they may have a mythical origin in modes of thought akin to +those which begot the Panis of the Veda and the Northern Trolls. The +parallelism is perhaps the most remarkable one which can be found in +comparing barbaric with Aryan folk-lore. Like the Panis and Trolls, the +cannibals are represented as the foes of the solar hero Uthlakanyana, +who is almost as great a traveller as Odysseus, and whose presence of +mind amid trying circumstances is not to be surpassed by that of the +incomparable Boots. Uthlakanyana is as precocious as Herakles or Hermes. +He speaks before he is born, and no sooner has he entered the world than +he begins to outwit other people and get possession of their property. +He works bitter ruin for the cannibals, who, with all their strength and +fleetness, are no better endowed with quick wit than the Trolls, whom +Boots invariably victimizes. On one of his journeys, Uthlakanyana fell +in with a cannibal. Their greetings were cordial enough, and they ate a +bit of leopard together, and began to build a house, and killed a couple +of cows, but the cannibal's cow was lean, while Uthlakanyana's was fat. +Then the crafty traveller, fearing that his companion might insist upon +having the fat cow, turned and said, "'Let the house be thatched now +then we can eat our meat. You see the sky, that we shall get wet.' The +cannibal said, 'You are right, child of my sister; you are a man indeed +in saying, let us thatch the house, for we shall get wet.' +Uthlakanyana said, 'Do you do it then; I will go inside, and push the +thatching-needle for you, in the house.' The cannibal went up. His hair +was very, very long. Uthlakanyana went inside and pushed the needle for +him. He thatched in the hair of the cannibal, tying it very tightly; he +knotted it into the thatch constantly, taking it by separate locks and +fastening it firmly, that it might be tightly fastened to the house." +Then the rogue went outside and began to eat of the cow which was +roasted. "The cannibal said, 'What are you about, child of my sister? +Let us just finish the house; afterwards we can do that; we will do it +together.' Uthlakanyana replied, 'Come down then. I cannot go into the +house any more. The thatching is finished.' The cannibal assented. When +he thought he was going to quit the house, he was unable to quit it. +He cried out saying, 'Child of my sister, how have you managed your +thatching?' Uthlakanyana said, 'See to it yourself. I have thatched +well, for I shall not have any dispute. Now I am about to eat in peace; +I no longer dispute with anybody, for I am now alone with my cow.'" +So the cannibal cried and raved and appealed in vain to Uthlakanyana's +sense of justice, until by and by "the sky came with hailstones and +lightning Uthlakanyana took all the meat into the house; he stayed in +the house and lit a fire. It hailed and rained. The cannibal cried on +the top of the house; he was struck with the hailstones, and died there +on the house. It cleared. Uthlakanyana went out and said, 'Uncle, just +come down, and come to me. It has become clear. It no longer rains, and +there is no more hail, neither is there any more lightning. Why are you +silent?' So Uthlakanyana ate his cow alone, until he had finished it. He +then went on his way." [144] + +In another Zulu legend, a girl is stolen by cannibals, and shut up +in the rock Itshe-likantunjambili, which, like the rock of the Forty +Thieves, opens and shuts at the command of those who understand its +secret. She gets possession of the secret and escapes, and when the +monsters pursue her she throws on the ground a calabash full of sesame, +which they stop to eat. At last, getting tired of running, she climbs a +tree, and there she finds her brother, who, warned by a dream, has come +out to look for her. They ascend the tree together until they come to a +beautiful country well stocked with fat oxen. They kill an ox, and while +its flesh is roasting they amuse themselves by making a stout thong of +its hide. By and by one of the cannibals, smelling the cooking meat, +comes to the foot of the tree, and looking up discovers the boy and girl +in the sky-country! They invite him up there; to share in their feast, +and throw him an end of the thong by which to climb up. When the +cannibal is dangling midway between earth and heaven, they let go the +rope, and down he falls with a terrible crash. [145] + +In this story the enchanted rock opened by a talismanic formula brings +us again into contact with Indo-European folk-lore. And that the +conception has in both cases been suggested by the same natural +phenomenon is rendered probable by another Zulu tale, in which the +cannibal's cave is opened by a swallow which flies in the air. Here we +have the elements of a genuine lightning-myth. We see that among these +African barbarians, as well as among our own forefathers, the clouds +have been conceived as birds carrying the lightning which can cleave +the rocks. In America we find the same notion prevalent. The Dakotahs +explain the thunder as "the sound of the cloud-bird flapping his wings," +and the Caribs describe the lightning as a poisoned dart which the bird +blows through a hollow reed, after the Carib style of shooting. [146] +On the other hand, the Kamtchatkans know nothing of a cloud-bird, but +explain the lightning as something analogous to the flames of a volcano. +The Kamtchatkans say that when the mountain goblins have got their +stoves well heated up, they throw overboard, with true barbaric +shiftlessness, all the brands not needed for immediate use, which makes +a volcanic eruption. So when it is summer on earth, it is winter in +heaven; and the gods, after heating up their stoves, throw away their +spare kindlingwood, which makes the lightning. [147] + +When treating of Indo-European solar myths, we saw the unvarying, +unresting course of the sun variously explained as due to the subjection +of Herakles to Eurystheus, to the anger of Poseidon at Odysseus, or to +the curse laid upon the Wandering Jew. The barbaric mind has worked +at the same problem; but the explanations which it has given are more +childlike and more grotesque. A Polynesian myth tells how the Sun used +to race through the sky so fast that men could not get enough daylight +to hunt game for their subsistence. By and by an inventive genius, named +Maui, conceived the idea of catching the Sun in a noose and making +him go more deliberately. He plaited ropes and made a strong net, and, +arming himself with the jawbone of his ancestress, Muri-ranga-whenua, +called together all his brethren, and they journeyed to the place where +the Sun rises, and there spread the net. When the Sun came up, he stuck +his head and fore-paws into the net, and while the brothers tightened +the ropes so that they cut him and made him scream for mercy, Maui beat +him with the jawbone until he became so weak that ever since he has +only been able to crawl through the sky. According to another Polynesian +myth, there was once a grumbling Radical, who never could be satisfied +with the way in which things are managed on this earth. This bold +Radical set out to build a stone house which should last forever; but +the days were so short and the stones so heavy that he despaired of +ever accomplishing his project. One night, as he lay awake thinking the +matter over, it occurred to him that if he could catch the Sun in a net, +he could have as much daylight as was needful in order to finish his +house. So he borrowed a noose from the god Itu, and, it being autumn, +when the Sun gets sleepy and stupid, he easily caught the luminary. The +Sun cried till his tears made a great freshet which nearly drowned the +island; but it was of no use; there he is tethered to this day. + +Similar stories are met with in North America. A Dog-Rib Indian once +chased a squirrel up a tree until he reached the sky. There he set a +snare for the squirrel and climbed down again. Next day the Sun was +caught in the snare, and night came on at once. That is to say, the sun +was eclipsed. "Something wrong up there," thought the Indian, "I must +have caught the Sun"; and so he sent up ever so many animals to release +the captive. They were all burned to ashes, but at last the mole, going +up and burrowing out through the GROUND OF THE SKY, (!) succeeded in +gnawing asunder the cords of the snare. Just as it thrust its head out +through the opening made in the sky-ground, it received a flash of light +which put its eyes out, and that is why the mole is blind. The Sun got +away, but has ever since travelled more deliberately. [148] + +These sun-myths, many more of which are to be found collected in Mr. +Tylor's excellent treatise on "The Early History of Mankind," well +illustrate both the similarity and the diversity of the results obtained +by the primitive mind, in different times and countries, when engaged +upon similar problems. No one would think of referring these stories to +a common traditional origin with the myths of Herakles and Odysseus; yet +both classes of tales were devised to explain the same phenomenon. Both +to the Aryan and to the Polynesian the steadfast but deliberate journey +of the sun through the firmament was a strange circumstance which called +for explanation; but while the meagre intelligence of the barbarian +could only attain to the quaint conception of a man throwing a noose +over the sun's head, the rich imagination of the Indo-European created +the noble picture of Herakles doomed to serve the son of Sthenelos, in +accordance with the resistless decree of fate. + +Another world-wide myth, which shows how similar are the mental habits +of uncivilized men, is the myth of the tortoise. The Hindu notion of a +great tortoise that lies beneath the earth and keeps it from falling +is familiar to every reader. According to one account, this tortoise, +swimming in the primeval ocean, bears the earth on his back; but by and +by, when the gods get ready to destroy mankind, the tortoise will grow +weary and sink under his load, and then the earth will be overwhelmed +by a deluge. Another legend tells us that when the gods and demons +took Mount Mandara for a churning-stick and churned the ocean to make +ambrosia, the god Vishnu took on the form of a tortoise and lay at the +bottom of the sea, as a pivot for the whirling mountain to rest upon. +But these versions of the myth are not primitive. In the original +conception the world is itself a gigantic tortoise swimming in a +boundless ocean; the flat surface of the earth is the lower plate which +covers the reptile's belly; the rounded shell which covers his back is +the sky; and the human race lives and moves and has its being inside of +the tortoise. Now, as Mr. Tylor has pointed out, many tribes of Redskins +hold substantially the same theory of the universe. They regard the +tortoise as the symbol of the world, and address it as the mother of +mankind. Once, before the earth was made, the king of heaven quarrelled +with his wife, and gave her such a terrible kick that she fell down into +the sea. Fortunately a tortoise received her on his back, and proceeded +to raise up the earth, upon which the heavenly woman became the mother +of mankind. These first men had white faces, and they used to dig in the +ground to catch badgers. One day a zealous burrower thrust his knife too +far and stabbed the tortoise, which immediately sank into the sea and +drowned all the human race save one man. [149] In Finnish mythology the +world is not a tortoise, but it is an egg, of which the white part is +the ocean, the yolk is the earth, and the arched shell is the sky. In +India this is the mundane egg of Brahma; and it reappears among the +Yorubas as a pair of calabashes put together like oyster-shells, one +making a dome over the other. In Zulu-land the earth is a huge beast +called Usilosimapundu, whose face is a rock, and whose mouth is very +large and broad and red: "in some countries which were on his body it +was winter, and in others it was early harvest." Many broad rivers flow +over his back, and he is covered with forests and hills, as is indicated +in his name, which means "the rugose or knotty-backed beast." In this +group of conceptions may be seen the origin of Sindbad's great fish, +which lay still so long that sand and clay gradually accumulated upon +its back, and at last it became covered with trees. And lastly, passing +from barbaric folk-lore and from the Arabian Nights to the highest level +of Indo-European intelligence, do we not find both Plato and Kepler +amusing themselves with speculations in which the earth figures as a +stupendous animal? + + + + +VI. JUVENTUS MUNDI. [150] + + +TWELVE years ago, when, in concluding his "Studies on Homer and the +Homeric Age," Mr. Gladstone applied to himself the warning addressed by +Agamemnon to the priest of Apollo, + + "Let not Nemesis catch me by the swift ships." + +he would seem to have intended it as a last farewell to classical +studies. Yet, whatever his intentions may have been, they have yielded +to the sweet desire of revisiting familiar ground,--a desire as strong +in the breast of the classical scholar as was the yearning which led +Odysseus to reject the proffered gift of immortality, so that he might +but once more behold the wreathed smoke curling about the roofs of his +native Ithaka. In this new treatise, on the "Youth of the World," Mr. +Gladstone discusses the same questions which were treated in his earlier +work; and the main conclusions reached in the "Studies on Homer" +are here so little modified with reference to the recent progress of +archaeological inquiries, that the book can hardly be said to have had +any other reason for appearing, save the desire of loitering by the +ships of the Argives, and of returning thither as often as possible. + +The title selected by Mr. Gladstone for his new work is either a very +appropriate one or a strange misnomer, according to the point of +view from which it is regarded. Such being the case, we might readily +acquiesce in its use, and pass it by without comment, trusting that +the author understood himself when he adopted it, were it not that by +incidental references, and especially by his allusions to the legendary +literature of the Jews, Mr. Gladstone shows that he means more by the +title than it can fairly be made to express. An author who seeks to +determine prehistoric events by references to Kadmos, and Danaos, and +Abraham, is at once liable to the suspicion of holding very inadequate +views as to the character of the epoch which may properly be termed the +"youth of the world." Often in reading Mr. Gladstone we are reminded +of Renan's strange suggestion that an exploration of the Hindu Kush +territory, whence probably came the primitive Aryans, might throw some +new light on the origin of language. Nothing could well be more futile. +The primitive Aryan language has already been partly reconstructed for +us; its grammatical forms and syntactic devices are becoming familiar to +scholars; one great philologist has even composed a tale in it; yet +in studying this long-buried dialect we are not much nearer the first +beginnings of human speech than in studying the Greek of Homer, the +Sanskrit of the Vedas, or the Umbrian of the Igovine Inscriptions. The +Aryan mother-tongue had passed into the last of the three stages of +linguistic growth long before the break-up of the tribal communities +in Aryana-vaedjo, and at that early date presented a less primitive +structure than is to be seen in the Chinese or the Mongolian of our own +times. So the state of society depicted in the Homeric poems, and well +illustrated by Mr. Gladstone, is many degrees less primitive than that +which is revealed to us by the archaeological researches either of +Pictet and Windischmann, or of Tylor, Lubbock, and M'Lennan. We shall +gather evidences of this as we proceed. Meanwhile let us remember that +at least eleven thousand years before the Homeric age men lived in +communities, and manufactured pottery on the banks of the Nile; and let +us not leave wholly out of sight that more distant period, perhaps a +million years ago, when sparse tribes of savage men, contemporaneous +with the mammoths of Siberia and the cave-tigers of Britain, struggled +against the intense cold of the glacial winters. + +Nevertheless, though the Homeric age appears to be a late one when +considered with reference to the whole career of the human race, there +is a point of view from which it may be justly regarded as the "youth of +the world." However long man may have existed upon the earth, he becomes +thoroughly and distinctly human in the eyes of the historian only at the +epoch at which he began to create for himself a literature. As far back +as we can trace the progress of the human race continuously by means of +the written word, so far do we feel a true historical interest in its +fortunes, and pursue our studies with a sympathy which the mere lapse of +time is powerless to impair. But the primeval man, whose history never +has been and never will be written, whose career on the earth, dateless +and chartless, can be dimly revealed to us only by palaeontology, +excites in us a very different feeling. Though with the keenest interest +we ransack every nook and corner of the earth's surface for information +about him, we are all the while aware that what we are studying is +human zoology and not history. Our Neanderthal man is a specimen, not a +character. We cannot ask him the Homeric question, what is his name, who +were his parents, and how did he get where we found him. His language +has died with him, and he can render no account of himself. We can only +regard him specifically as Homo Anthropos, a creature of bigger brain +than his congener Homo Pithekos, and of vastly greater promise. But +this, we say, is physical science, and not history. + +For the historian, therefore, who studies man in his various social +relations, the youth of the world is the period at which literature +begins. We regard the history of the western world as beginning about +the tenth century before the Christian era, because at that date we find +literature, in Greece and Palestine, beginning to throw direct light +upon the social and intellectual condition of a portion of mankind. +That great empires, rich in historical interest and in materials for +sociological generalizations, had existed for centuries before that +date, in Egypt and Assyria, we do not doubt, since they appear at the +dawn of history with all the marks of great antiquity; but the only +steady historical light thrown upon them shines from the pages of Greek +and Hebrew authors, and these know them only in their latest period. For +information concerning their early careers we must look, not to history, +but to linguistic archaeology, a science which can help us to general +results, but cannot enable us to fix dates, save in the crudest manner. + +We mention the tenth century before Christ as the earliest period at +which we can begin to study human society in general and Greek society +in particular, through the medium of literature. But, strictly speaking, +the epoch in question is one which cannot be fixed with accuracy. The +earliest ascertainable date in Greek history is that of the Olympiad +of Koroibos, B. C. 776. There is no doubt that the Homeric poems +were written before this date, and that Homer is therefore strictly +prehistoric. Had this fact been duly realized by those scholars who have +not attempted to deny it, a vast amount of profitless discussion might +have been avoided. Sooner or later, as Grote says, "the lesson must +be learnt, hard and painful though it be, that no imaginable reach of +critical acumen will of itself enable us to discriminate fancy from +reality, in the absence of a tolerable stock of evidence." We do not +know who Homer was; we do not know where or when he lived; and in all +probability we shall never know. The data for settling the question +are not now accessible, and it is not likely that they will ever be +discovered. Even in early antiquity the question was wrapped in an +obscurity as deep as that which shrouds it to-day. The case between the +seven or eight cities which claimed to be the birthplace of the +poet, and which Welcker has so ably discussed, cannot be decided. The +feebleness of the evidence brought into court may be judged from the +fact that the claims of Chios and the story of the poet's blindness rest +alike upon a doubtful allusion in the Hymn to Apollo, which Thukydides +(III. 104) accepted as authentic. The majority of modern critics have +consoled themselves with the vague conclusion that, as between the two +great divisions of the early Greek world, Homer at least belonged to +the Asiatic. But Mr. Gladstone has shown good reasons for doubting this +opinion. He has pointed out several instances in which the poems seem +to betray a closer topographical acquaintance with European than with +Asiatic Greece, and concludes that Athens and Argos have at least as +good a claim to Homer as Chios or Smyrna. + +It is far more desirable that we should form an approximate opinion as +to the date of the Homeric poems, than that we should seek to determine +the exact locality in which they originated. Yet the one question is +hardly less obscure than the other. Different writers of antiquity +assigned eight different epochs to Homer, of which the earliest is +separated from the most recent by an interval of four hundred and sixty +years,--a period as long as that which separates the Black Prince from +the Duke of Wellington, or the age of Perikles from the Christian era. +While Theopompos quite preposterously brings him down as late as the +twenty-third Olympiad, Krates removes him to the twelfth century B. C. +The date ordinarily accepted by modern critics is the one assigned by +Herodotos, 880 B. C. Yet Mr. Gladstone shows reasons, which appear to me +convincing, for doubting or rejecting this date. + +I refer to the much-abused legend of the Children of Herakles, which +seems capable of yielding an item of trustworthy testimony, provided +it be circumspectly dealt with. I differ from Mr. Gladstone in +not regarding the legend as historical in its present shape. In my +apprehension, Hyllos and Oxylos, as historical personages, have no value +whatever; and I faithfully follow Mr. Grote, in refusing to accept any +date earlier than the Olympiad of Koroibos. The tale of the "Return of +the Herakleids" is undoubtedly as unworthy of credit as the legend +of Hengst and Horsa; yet, like the latter, it doubtless embodies +a historical occurrence. One cannot approve, as scholarlike or +philosophical, the scepticism of Mr. Cox, who can see in the whole +narrative nothing but a solar myth. There certainly was a time when the +Dorian tribes--described in the legend as the allies of the Children of +Herakles--conquered Peloponnesos; and that time was certainly subsequent +to the composition of the Homeric poems. It is incredible that the Iliad +and the Odyssey should ignore the existence of Dorians in Peloponnesos, +if there were Dorians not only dwelling but ruling there at the time +when the poems were written. The poems are very accurate and rigorously +consistent in their use of ethnical appellatives; and their author, in +speaking of Achaians and Argives, is as evidently alluding to peoples +directly known to him, as is Shakespeare when he mentions Danes and +Scotchmen. Now Homer knows Achaians, Argives, and Pelasgians dwelling in +Peloponnesos; and he knows Dorians also, but only as a people inhabiting +Crete. (Odyss. XIX. 175.) With Homer, moreover, the Hellenes are not the +Greeks in general but only a people dwelling in the north, in Thessaly. +When these poems were written, Greece was not known as Hellas, but +as Achaia,--the whole country taking its name from the Achaians, +the dominant race in Peloponnesos. Now at the beginning of the truly +historical period, in the eighth century B. C., all this is changed. +The Greeks as a people are called Hellenes; the Dorians rule in +Peloponnesos, while their lands are tilled by Argive Helots; and the +Achaians appear only as an insignificant people occupying the southern +shore of the Corinthian Gulf. How this change took place we cannot tell. +The explanation of it can never be obtained from history, though some +light may perhaps be thrown upon it by linguistic archaeology. But at +all events it was a great change, and could not have taken place in a +moment. It is fair to suppose that the Helleno-Dorian conquest must have +begun at least a century before the first Olympiad; for otherwise the +geographical limits of the various Greek races would not have been so +completely established as we find them to have been at that date. The +Greeks, indeed, supposed it to have begun at least three centuries +earlier, but it is impossible to collect evidence which will either +refute or establish that opinion. For our purposes it is enough to know +that the conquest could not have taken place later than 900 B. C.; and +if this be the case, the MINIMUM DATE for the composition of the Homeric +poems must be the tenth century before Christ; which is, in fact, the +date assigned by Aristotle. Thus far, and no farther, I believe it +possible to go with safety. Whether the poems were composed in the +tenth, eleventh, or twelfth century cannot be determined. We +are justified only in placing them far enough back to allow the +Helleno-Dorian conquest to intervene between their composition and the +beginning of recorded history. The tenth century B. C. is the latest +date which will account for all the phenomena involved in the case, and +with this result we must be satisfied. Even on this showing, the Iliad +and Odyssey appear as the oldest existing specimens of Aryan literature, +save perhaps the hymns of the Rig-Veda and the sacred books of the +Avesta. + +The apparent difficulty of preserving such long poems for three or four +centuries without the aid of writing may seem at first sight to justify +the hypothesis of Wolf, that they are mere collections of ancient +ballads, like those which make up the Mahabharata, preserved in the +memories of a dozen or twenty bards, and first arranged under the orders +of Peisistratos. But on a careful examination this hypothesis is seen to +raise more difficulties than it solves. What was there in the position +of Peisistratos, or of Athens itself in the sixth century B. C., so +authoritative as to compel all Greeks to recognize the recension then +and there made of their revered poet? Besides which the celebrated +ordinance of Solon respecting the rhapsodes at the Panathenaia obliges +us to infer the existence of written manuscripts of Homer previous to +550 B. C. As Mr. Grote well observes, the interference of Peisistratos +"presupposes a certain foreknown and ancient aggregate, the main +lineaments of which were familiar to the Grecian public, although many +of the rhapsodes in their practice may have deviated from it both by +omission and interpolation. In correcting the Athenian recitations +conformably with such understood general type, Peisistratos might hope +both to procure respect for Athens and to constitute a fashion for the +rest of Greece. But this step of 'collecting the torn body of sacred +Homer' is something generically different from the composition of a new +Iliad out of pre-existing songs: the former is as easy, suitable, and +promising as the latter is violent and gratuitous." [151] + +As for Wolf's objection, that the Iliad and Odyssey are too long to +have been preserved by memory, it may be met by a simple denial. It is a +strange objection indeed, coming from a man of Wolf's retentive memory. +I do not see how the acquisition of the two poems can be regarded as +such a very arduous task; and if literature were as scanty now as in +Greek antiquity, there are doubtless many scholars who would long since +have had them at their tongues' end. Sir G. C. Lewis, with but little +conscious effort, managed to carry in his head a very considerable +portion of Greek and Latin classic literature; and Niebuhr (who +once restored from recollection a book of accounts which had been +accidentally destroyed) was in the habit of referring to book and +chapter of an ancient author without consulting his notes. Nay, there +is Professor Sophocles, of Harvard University, who, if you suddenly stop +and interrogate him in the street, will tell you just how many times any +given Greek word occurs in Thukydides, or in AEschylos, or in Plato, and +will obligingly rehearse for you the context. If all extant copies of +the Homeric poems were to be gathered together and burnt up to-day, +like Don Quixote's library, or like those Arabic manuscripts of which +Cardinal Ximenes made a bonfire in the streets of Granada, the poems +could very likely be reproduced and orally transmitted for several +generations; and much easier must it have been for the Greeks +to preserve these books, which their imagination invested with a +quasi-sanctity, and which constituted the greater part of the literary +furniture of their minds. In Xenophon's time there were educated +gentlemen at Athens who could repeat both Iliad and Odyssey verbatim. +(Xenoph. Sympos., III. 5.) Besides this, we know that at Chios there was +a company of bards, known as Homerids, whose business it was to recite +these poems from memory; and from the edicts of Solon and the Sikyonian +Kleisthenes (Herod., V. 67), we may infer that the case was the same in +other parts of Greece. Passages from the Iliad used to be sung at the +Pythian festivals, to the accompaniment of the harp (Athenaeus, XIV. +638), and in at least two of the Ionic islands of the AEgaean there were +regular competitive exhibitions by trained young men, at which prizes +were given to the best reciter. The difficulty of preserving the poems, +under such circumstances, becomes very insignificant; and the Wolfian +argument quite vanishes when we reflect that it would have been no +easier to preserve a dozen or twenty short poems than two long ones. +Nay, the coherent, orderly arrangement of the Iliad and Odyssey would +make them even easier to remember than a group of short rhapsodies not +consecutively arranged. + +When we come to interrogate the poems themselves, we find in them quite +convincing evidence that they were originally composed for the ear +alone, and without reference to manuscript assistance. They abound in +catchwords, and in verbal repetitions. The "Catalogue of Ships," as Mr. +Gladstone has acutely observed, is arranged in well-defined sections, +in such a way that the end of each section suggests the beginning of +the next one. It resembles the versus memoriales found in old-fashioned +grammars. But the most convincing proof of all is to be found in the +changes which Greek pronunciation went through between the ages of +Homer and Peisistratos. "At the time when these poems were composed, the +digamma (or w) was an effective consonant, and figured as such in the +structure of the verse; at the time when they were committed to writing, +it had ceased to be pronounced, and therefore never found a place in any +of the manuscripts,--insomuch that the Alexandrian critics, though they +knew of its existence in the much later poems of Alkaios and Sappho, +never recognized it in Homer. The hiatus, and the various perplexities +of metre, occasioned by the loss of the digamma, were corrected by +different grammatical stratagems. But the whole history of this lost +letter is very curious, and is rendered intelligible only by the +supposition that the Iliad and Odyssey belonged for a wide space of time +to the memory, the voice, and the ear exclusively." [152] + +Many of these facts are of course fully recognized by the Wolfians; but +the inference drawn from them, that the Homeric poems began to exist in +a piecemeal condition, is, as we have seen, unnecessary. These poems may +indeed be compared, in a certain sense, with the early sacred and +epic literature of the Jews, Indians, and Teutons. But if we assign a +plurality of composers to the Psalms and Pentateuch, the Mahabharata, +the Vedas, and the Edda, we do so because of internal evidence furnished +by the books themselves, and not because these books could not have been +preserved by oral tradition. Is there, then, in the Homeric poems any +such internal evidence of dual or plural origin as is furnished by +the interlaced Elohistic and Jehovistic documents of the Pentateuch? A +careful investigation will show that there is not. Any scholar who +has given some attention to the subject can readily distinguish the +Elohistic from the Jehovistic portions of the Pentateuch; and, save in +the case of a few sporadic verses, most Biblical critics coincide in the +separation which they make between the two. But the attempts which have +been made to break up the Iliad and Odyssey have resulted in no such +harmonious agreement. There are as many systems as there are critics, +and naturally enough. For the Iliad and the Odyssey are as much alike +as two peas, and the resemblance which holds between the two holds also +between the different parts of each poem. From the appearance of the +injured Chryses in the Grecian camp down to the intervention of Athene +on the field of contest at Ithaka, we find in each book and in each +paragraph the same style, the same peculiarities of expression, the same +habits of thought, the same quite unique manifestations of the faculty +of observation. Now if the style were commonplace, the observation +slovenly, or the thought trivial, as is wont to be the case in +ballad-literature, this argument from similarity might not carry with it +much conviction. But when we reflect that throughout the whole course +of human history no other works, save the best tragedies of Shakespeare, +have ever been written which for combined keenness of observation, +elevation of thought, and sublimity of style can compare with the +Homeric poems, we must admit that the argument has very great weight +indeed. Let us take, for example, the sixth and twenty-fourth books +of the Iliad. According to the theory of Lachmann, the most eminent +champion of the Wolfian hypothesis, these are by different authors. +Human speech has perhaps never been brought so near to the limit of its +capacity of expressing deep emotion as in the scene between Priam and +Achilleus in the twenty-fourth book; while the interview between Hektor +and Andromache in the sixth similarly wellnigh exhausts the power of +language. Now, the literary critic has a right to ask whether it +is probable that two such passages, agreeing perfectly in turn of +expression, and alike exhibiting the same unapproachable degree of +excellence, could have been produced by two different authors. And the +physiologist--with some inward misgivings suggested by Mr. Galton's +theory that the Greeks surpassed us in genius even as we surpass the +negroes--has a right to ask whether it is in the natural course of +things for two such wonderful poets, strangely agreeing in their +minutest psychological characteristics, to be produced at the same time. +And the difficulty thus raised becomes overwhelming when we reflect that +it is the coexistence of not two only, but at least twenty such geniuses +which the Wolfian hypothesis requires us to account for. That theory +worked very well as long as scholars thoughtlessly assumed that the +Iliad and Odyssey were analogous to ballad poetry. But, except in the +simplicity of the primitive diction, there is no such analogy. The +power and beauty of the Iliad are never so hopelessly lost as when it is +rendered into the style of a modern ballad. One might as well attempt +to preserve the grandeur of the triumphant close of Milton's Lycidas by +turning it into the light Anacreontics of the ode to "Eros stung by a +Bee." The peculiarity of the Homeric poetry, which defies translation, +is its union of the simplicity characteristic of an early age with a +sustained elevation of style, which can be explained only as due to +individual genius. + +The same conclusion is forced upon us when we examine the artistic +structure of these poems. With regard to the Odyssey in particular, +Mr. Grote has elaborately shown that its structure is so thoroughly +integral, that no considerable portion could be subtracted without +converting the poem into a more or less admirable fragment. The +Iliad stands in a somewhat different position. There are unmistakable +peculiarities in its structure, which have led even Mr. Grote, who +utterly rejects the Wolfian hypothesis, to regard it as made up of +two poems; although he inclines to the belief that the later poem +was grafted upon the earlier by its own author, by way of further +elucidation and expansion; just as Goethe, in his old age, added a +new part to "Faust." According to Mr. Grote, the Iliad, as originally +conceived, was properly an Achilleis; its design being, as indicated in +the opening lines of the poem, to depict the wrath of Achilleus and +the unutterable woes which it entailed upon the Greeks The plot of +this primitive Achilleis is entirely contained in Books I., VIII., and +XI.-XXII.; and, in Mr. Grote's opinion, the remaining books injure the +symmetry of this plot by unnecessarily prolonging the duration of +the Wrath, while the embassy to Achilleus, in the ninth book, unduly +anticipates the conduct of Agamemnon in the nineteenth, and is +therefore, as a piece of bungling work, to be referred to the hands of +an inferior interpolator. Mr. Grote thinks it probable that these books, +with the exception of the ninth, were subsequently added by the poet, +with a view to enlarging the original Achilleis into a real Iliad, +describing the war of the Greeks against Troy. With reference to this +hypothesis, I gladly admit that Mr. Grote is, of all men now living, the +one best entitled to a reverential hearing on almost any point connected +with Greek antiquity. Nevertheless it seems to me that his theory rests +solely upon imagined difficulties which have no real existence. I doubt +if any scholar, reading the Iliad ever so much, would ever be struck by +these alleged inconsistencies of structure, unless they were suggested +by some a priori theory. And I fear that the Wolfian theory, in spite of +Mr. Grote's emphatic rejection of it, is responsible for some of these +over-refined criticisms. Even as it stands, the Iliad is not an account +of the war against Troy. It begins in the tenth year of the siege, and +it does not continue to the capture of the city. It is simply occupied +with an episode in the war,--with the wrath of Achilleus and its +consequences, according to the plan marked out in the opening lines. The +supposed additions, therefore, though they may have given to the poem +a somewhat wider scope, have not at any rate changed its primitive +character of an Achilleis. To my mind they seem even called for by the +original conception of the consequences of the wrath. To have inserted +the battle at the ships, in which Sarpedon breaks down the wall of the +Greeks, immediately after the occurrences of the first book, would have +been too abrupt altogether. Zeus, after his reluctant promise to Thetis, +must not be expected so suddenly to exhibit such fell determination. And +after the long series of books describing the valorous deeds of Aias, +Diomedes, Agamemnon, Odysseus, and Menelaos, the powerful intervention +of Achilleus appears in far grander proportions than would otherwise +be possible. As for the embassy to Achilleus, in the ninth book, I +am unable to see how the final reconciliation with Agamemnon would be +complete without it. As Mr. Gladstone well observes, what Achilleus +wants is not restitution, but apology; and Agamemnon offers no apology +until the nineteenth book. In his answer to the ambassadors, Achilleus +scornfully rejects the proposals which imply that the mere return of +Briseis will satisfy his righteous resentment, unless it be accompanied +with that public humiliation to which circumstances have not yet +compelled the leader of the Greeks to subject himself. Achilleus is not +to be bought or cajoled. Even the extreme distress of the Greeks in the +thirteenth book does not prevail upon him; nor is there anything in the +poem to show that he ever would have laid aside his wrath, had not the +death of Patroklos supplied him with a new and wholly unforeseen motive. +It seems to me that his entrance into the battle after the death of his +friend would lose half its poetic effect, were it not preceded by some +such scene as that in the ninth book, in which he is represented as deaf +to all ordinary inducements. As for the two concluding books, which Mr. +Grote is inclined to regard as a subsequent addition, not necessitated +by the plan of the poem, I am at a loss to see how the poem can be +considered complete without them. To leave the bodies of Patroklos +and Hektor unburied would be in the highest degree shocking to Greek +religious feelings. Remembering the sentence incurred, in far less +superstitious times, by the generals at Arginusai, it is impossible to +believe that any conclusion which left Patroklos's manes unpropitiated, +and the mutilated corpse of Hektor unransomed, could have satisfied +either the poet or his hearers. For further particulars I must refer +the reader to the excellent criticisms of Mr. Gladstone, and also to the +article on "Greek History and Legend" in the second volume of Mr. Mill's +"Dissertations and Discussions." A careful study of the arguments of +these writers, and, above all, a thorough and independent examination of +the Iliad itself, will, I believe, convince the student that this great +poem is from beginning to end the consistent production of a single +author. + +The arguments of those who would attribute the Iliad and Odyssey, taken +as wholes, to two different authors, rest chiefly upon some apparent +discrepancies in the mythology of the two poems; but many of these +difficulties have been completely solved by the recent progress of the +science of comparative mythology. Thus, for example, the fact that, +in the Iliad, Hephaistos is called the husband of Charis, while in the +Odyssey he is called the husband of Aphrodite, has been cited even by +Mr. Grote as evidence that the two poems are not by the same author. It +seems to me that one such discrepancy, in the midst of complete general +agreement, would be much better explained as Cervantes explained his own +inconsistency with reference to the stealing of Sancho's mule, in the +twenty-second chapter of "Don Quixote." But there is no discrepancy. +Aphrodite, though originally the moon-goddess, like the German +Horsel, had before Homer's time acquired many of the attributes of the +dawn-goddess Athene, while her lunar characteristics had been to a +great extent transferred to Artemis and Persephone. In her renovated +character, as goddess of the dawn, Aphrodite became identified with +Charis, who appears in the Rig-Veda as dawn-goddess. In the post-Homeric +mythology, the two were again separated, and Charis, becoming divided in +personality, appears as the Charites, or Graces, who were supposed to be +constant attendants of Aphrodite. But in the Homeric poems the two are +still identical, and either Charis or Aphrodite may be called the wife +of the fire-god, without inconsistency. + +Thus to sum up, I believe that Mr. Gladstone is quite right in +maintaining that both the Iliad and Odyssey are, from beginning to end, +with the exception of a few insignificant interpolations, the work of a +single author, whom we have no ground for calling by any other name than +that of Homer. I believe, moreover, that this author lived before the +beginning of authentic history, and that we can determine neither his +age nor his country with precision. We can only decide that he was a +Greek who lived at some time previous to the year 900 B.C. + +Here, however, I must begin to part company with Mr. Gladstone, and +shall henceforth unfortunately have frequent occasion to differ from him +on points of fundamental importance. For Mr. Gladstone not only regards +the Homeric age as strictly within the limits of authentic history, but +he even goes much further than this. He would not only fix the date of +Homer positively in the twelfth century B. C., but he regards the +Trojan war as a purely historical event, of which Homer is the authentic +historian and the probable eye-witness. Nay, he even takes the word +of the poet as proof conclusive of the historical character of events +happening several generations before the Troika, according to the +legendary chronology. He not only regards Agamemnon, Achilleus, +and Paris as actual personages, but he ascribes the same reality to +characters like Danaos, Kadmos, and Perseus, and talks of the Pelopid +and Aiolid dynasties, and the empire of Minos, with as much confidence +as if he were dealing with Karlings or Capetians, or with the epoch of +the Crusades. + +It is disheartening, at the present day, and after so much has been +finally settled by writers like Grote, Mommsen, and Sir G. C. Lewis, +to come upon such views in the work of a man of scholarship and +intelligence. One begins to wonder how many more times it will be +necessary to prove that dates and events are of no historical value, +unless attested by nearly contemporary evidence. Pausanias and Plutarch +were able men no doubt, and Thukydides was a profound historian; but +what these writers thought of the Herakleid invasion, the age of +Homer, and the war of Troy, can have no great weight with the critical +historian, since even in the time of Thukydides these events were +as completely obscured by lapse of time as they are now. There is no +literary Greek history before the age of Hekataios and Herodotos, three +centuries subsequent to the first recorded Olympiad. A portion of this +period is satisfactorily covered by inscriptions, but even these fail us +before we get within a century of this earliest ascertainable date. +Even the career of the lawgiver Lykourgos, which seems to belong to +the commencement of the eighth century B. C., presents us, from lack of +anything like contemporary records, with many insoluble problems. The +Helleno-Dorian conquest, as we have seen, must have occurred at some +time or other; but it evidently did not occur within two centuries of +the earliest known inscription, and it is therefore folly to imagine +that we can determine its date or ascertain the circumstances which +attended it. Anterior to this event there is but one fact in Greek +antiquity directly known to us,--the existence of the Homeric poems. The +belief that there was a Trojan war rests exclusively upon the contents +of those poems: there is no other independent testimony to it whatever. +But the Homeric poems are of no value as testimony to the truth of the +statements contained in them, unless it can be proved that their author +was either contemporary with the Troika, or else derived his information +from contemporary witnesses. This can never be proved. To assume, as Mr. +Gladstone does, that Homer lived within fifty years after the Troika, is +to make a purely gratuitous assumption. For aught the wisest historian +can tell, the interval may have been five hundred years, or a thousand. +Indeed the Iliad itself expressly declares that it is dealing with an +ancient state of things which no longer exists. It is difficult to see +what else can be meant by the statement that the heroes of the Troika +belong to an order of men no longer seen upon the earth. (Iliad, V. +304.) Most assuredly Achilleus the son of Thetis, and Sarpedon the son +of Zeus, and Helena the daughter of Zeus, are no ordinary mortals, such +as might have been seen and conversed with by the poet's grandfather. +They belong to an inferior order of gods, according to the peculiar +anthropomorphism of the Greeks, in which deity and humanity are so +closely mingled that it is difficult to tell where the one begins and +the other ends. Diomedes, single-handed, vanquishes not only the gentle +Aphrodite, but even the god of battles himself, the terrible Ares. +Nestor quaffs lightly from a goblet which, we are told, not two men +among the poet's contemporaries could by their united exertions raise +and place upon a table. Aias and Hektor and Aineias hurl enormous masses +of rock as easily as an ordinary man would throw a pebble. All this +shows that the poet, in his naive way, conceiving of these heroes as +personages of a remote past, was endeavouring as far as possible to +ascribe to them the attributes of superior beings. If all that were +divine, marvellous, or superhuman were to be left out of the poems, the +supposed historical residue would hardly be worth the trouble of saving. +As Mr. Cox well observes, "It is of the very essence of the narrative +that Paris, who has deserted Oinone, the child of the stream Kebren, and +before whom Here, Athene, and Aphrodite had appeared as claimants +for the golden apple, steals from Sparta the beautiful sister of the +Dioskouroi; that the chiefs are summoned together for no other purpose +than to avenge her woes and wrongs; that Achilleus, the son of the +sea-nymph Thetis, the wielder of invincible weapons and the lord of +undying horses, goes to fight in a quarrel which is not his own; that +his wrath is roused because he is robbed of the maiden Briseis, and that +henceforth he takes no part in the strife until his friend Patroklos has +been slain; that then he puts on the new armour which Thetis brings to +him from the anvil of Hephaistos, and goes forth to win the victory. The +details are throughout of the same nature. Achilleus sees and converses +with Athene; Aphrodite is wounded by Diomedes, and Sleep and Death bear +away the lifeless Sarpedon on their noiseless wings to the far-off +land of light." In view of all this it is evident that Homer was not +describing, like a salaried historiographer, the state of things which +existed in the time of his father or grandfather. To his mind the +occurrences which he described were those of a remote, a wonderful, a +semi-divine past. + +This conclusion, which I have thus far supported merely by reference to +the Iliad itself, becomes irresistible as soon as we take into account +the results obtained during the past thirty years by the science of +comparative mythology. As long as our view was restricted to Greece, +it was perhaps excusable that Achilleus and Paris should be taken for +exaggerated copies of actual persons. Since the day when Grimm laid the +foundations of the science of mythology, all this has been changed. It +is now held that Achilleus and Paris and Helena are to be found, not +only in the Iliad, but also in the Rig-Veda, and therefore, as mythical +conceptions, date, not from Homer, but from a period preceding the +dispersion of the Aryan nations. The tale of the Wrath of Achilleus, far +from originating with Homer, far from being recorded by the author of +the Iliad as by an eyewitness, must have been known in its essential +features in Aryana-vaedjo, at that remote epoch when the Indian, the +Greek, and the Teuton were as yet one and the same. For the story has +been retained by the three races alike, in all its principal features; +though the Veda has left it in the sky where it originally belonged, +while the Iliad and the Nibelungenlied have brought it down to earth, +the one locating it in Asia Minor, and the other in Northwestern Europe. +[153] + +In the Rig-Veda the Panis are the genii of night and winter, +corresponding to the Nibelungs, or "Children of the Mist," in the +Teutonic legend, and to the children of Nephele (cloud) in the Greek +myth of the Golden Fleece. The Panis steal the cattle of the Sun (Indra, +Helios, Herakles), and carry them by an unknown route to a dark cave +eastward. Sarama, the creeping Dawn, is sent by Indra to find and +recover them. The Panis then tamper with Sarama, and try their best to +induce her to betray her solar lord. For a while she is prevailed +upon to dally with them; yet she ultimately returns to give Indra the +information needful in order that he might conquer the Panis, just +as Helena, in the slightly altered version, ultimately returns to her +western home, carrying with her the treasures (ktemata, Iliad, II. 285) +of which Paris had robbed Menelaos. But, before the bright Indra and his +solar heroes can reconquer their treasures they must take captive the +offspring of Brisaya, the violet light of morning. Thus Achilleus, +answering to the solar champion Aharyu, takes captive the daughter of +Brises. But as the sun must always be parted from the morning-light, to +return to it again just before setting, so Achilleus loses Briseis, +and regains her only just before his final struggle. In similar wise +Herakles is parted from Iole ("the violet one"), and Sigurd from +Brynhild. In sullen wrath the hero retires from the conflict, and his +Myrmidons are no longer seen on the battle-field, as the sun hides +behind the dark cloud and his rays no longer appear about him. Yet +toward the evening, as Briseis returns, he appears in his might, clothed +in the dazzling armour wrought for him by the fire-god Hephaistos, and +with his invincible spear slays the great storm-cloud, which during his +absence had wellnigh prevailed over the champions of the daylight. But +his triumph is short-lived; for having trampled on the clouds that had +opposed him, while yet crimsoned with the fierce carnage, the sharp +arrow of the night-demon Paris slays him at the Western Gates. We have +not space to go into further details. In Mr. Cox's "Mythology of the +Aryan Nations," and "Tales of Ancient Greece," the reader will find the +entire contents of the Iliad and Odyssey thus minutely illustrated by +comparison with the Veda, the Edda, and the Lay of the Nibelungs. + +Ancient as the Homeric poems undoubtedly are, they are modern in +comparison with the tale of Achilleus and Helena, as here unfolded. The +date of the entrance of the Greeks into Europe will perhaps never be +determined; but I do not see how any competent scholar can well place it +at less than eight hundred or a thousand years before the time of Homer. +Between the two epochs the Greek, Latin, Umbrian, and Keltic lauguages +had time to acquire distinct individualities. Far earlier, therefore, +than the Homeric "juventus mundi" was that "youth of the world," in +which the Aryan forefathers, knowing no abstract terms, and possessing +no philosophy but fetichism, deliberately spoke of the Sun, and the +Dawn, and the Clouds, as persons or as animals. The Veda, +though composed much later than this,--perhaps as late as the +Iliad,--nevertheless preserves the record of the mental life of this +period. The Vedic poet is still dimly aware that Sarama is the fickle +twilight, and the Panis the night-demons who strive to coax her from her +allegiance to the day-god. He keeps the scene of action in the sky. But +the Homeric Greek had long since forgotten that Helena and Paris were +anything more than semi-divine mortals, the daughter of Zeus and the +son of the Zeus-descended Priam. The Hindu understood that Dyaus ("the +bright one") meant the sky, and Sarama ("the creeping one") the dawn, +and spoke significantly when he called the latter the daughter of the +former. But the Greek could not know that Zeus was derived from a root +div, "to shine," or that Helena belonged to a root sar, "to creep." +Phonetic change thus helped him to rise from fetichism to polytheism. +His nature-gods became thoroughly anthropomorphic; and he probably no +more remembered that Achilleus originally signified the sun, than we +remember that the word God, which we use to denote the most vast of +conceptions, originally meant simply the Storm-wind. Indeed, when the +fetichistic tendency led the Greek again to personify the powers of +nature, he had recourse to new names formed from his own language. Thus, +beside Apollo we have Helios; Selene beside Artemis and Persephone; Eos +beside Athene; Gaia beside Demeter. As a further consequence of this +decomposition and new development of the old Aryan mythology, we find, +as might be expected, that the Homeric poems are not always consistent +in their use of their mythic materials. Thus, Paris, the night-demon, +is--to Max Muller's perplexity--invested with many of the attributes of +the bright solar heroes. "Like Perseus, Oidipous, Romulus, and Cyrus, he +is doomed to bring ruin on his parents; like them he is exposed in +his infancy on the hillside, and rescued by a shepherd." All the solar +heroes begin life in this way. Whether, like Apollo, born of the dark +night (Leto), or like Oidipous, of the violet dawn (Iokaste), they are +alike destined to bring destruction on their parents, as the night and +the dawn are both destroyed by the sun. The exposure of the child in +infancy represents the long rays of the morning-sun resting on the +hillside. Then Paris forsakes Oinone ("the wine-coloured one"), but +meets her again at the gloaming when she lays herself by his side amid +the crimson flames of the funeral pyre. Sarpedon also, a solar hero, is +made to fight on the side of the Niblungs or Trojans, attended by his +friend Glaukos ("the brilliant one"). They command the Lykians, or +"children of light"; and with them comes also Memnon, son of the Dawn, +from the fiery land of the Aithiopes, the favourite haunt of Zeus and +the gods of Olympos. + +The Iliad-myth must therefore have been current many ages before +the Greeks inhabited Greece, long before there was any Ilion to be +conquered. Nevertheless, this does not forbid the supposition that the +legend, as we have it, may have been formed by the crystallization of +mythical conceptions about a nucleus of genuine tradition. In this view +I am upheld by a most sagacious and accurate scholar, Mr. E. A. Freeman, +who finds in Carlovingian romance an excellent illustration of the +problem before us. + +The Charlemagne of romance is a mythical personage. He is supposed to +have been a Frenchman, at a time when neither the French nation nor +the French language can properly be said to have existed; and he is +represented as a doughty crusader, although crusading was not thought of +until long after the Karolingian era. The legendary deeds of Charlemagne +are not conformed to the ordinary rules of geography and chronology. +He is a myth, and, what is more, he is a solar myth,--an avatar, or at +least a representative, of Odin in his solar capacity. If in his case +legend were not controlled and rectified by history, he would be for us +as unreal as Agamemnon. + +History, however, tells us that there was an Emperor Karl, German in +race, name, and language, who was one of the two or three greatest men +of action that the world has ever seen, and who in the ninth century +ruled over all Western Europe. To the historic Karl corresponds in many +particulars the mythical Charlemagne. The legend has preserved the fact, +which without the information supplied by history we might perhaps set +down as a fiction, that there was a time when Germany, Gaul, Italy, +and part of Spain formed a single empire. And, as Mr. Freeman has well +observed, the mythical crusades of Charlemagne are good evidence that +there were crusades, although the real Karl had nothing whatever to do +with one. + +Now the case of Agamemnon may be much like that of Charlemagne, except +that we no longer have history to help us in rectifying the legend. +The Iliad preserves the tradition of a time when a large portion of +the islands and mainland of Greece were at least partially subject to a +common suzerain; and, as Mr. Freeman has again shrewdly suggested, +the assignment of a place like Mykenai, instead of Athens or Sparta +or Argos, as the seat of the suzerainty, is strong evidence of the +trustworthiness of the tradition. It appears to show that the legend was +constrained by some remembered fact, instead of being guided by general +probability. Charlemagne's seat of government has been transferred in +romance from Aachen to Paris; had it really been at Paris, says Mr. +Freeman, no one would have thought of transferring it to Aachen. +Moreover, the story of Agamemnon, though uncontrolled by historic +records, is here at least supported by archaeologic remains, which prove +Mykenai to have been at some time or other a place of great consequence. +Then, as to the Trojan war, we know that the Greeks several times +crossed the AEgaean and colonized a large part of the seacoast of Asia +Minor. In order to do this it was necessary to oust from their homes +many warlike communities of Lydians and Bithynians, and we may be +sure that this was not done without prolonged fighting. There may very +probably have been now and then a levy en masse in prehistoric Greece, +as there was in mediaeval Europe; and whether the great suzerain at +Mykenai ever attended one or not, legend would be sure to send him on +such an expedition, as it afterwards sent Charlemagne on a crusade. + +It is therefore quite possible that Agamemnon and Menelaos may represent +dimly remembered sovereigns or heroes, with their characters and actions +distorted to suit the exigencies of a narrative founded upon a solar +myth. The character of the Nibelungenlied here well illustrates that of +the Iliad. Siegfried and Brunhild, Hagen and Gunther, seem to be mere +personifications of physical phenomena; but Etzel and Dietrich are none +other than Attila and Theodoric surrounded with mythical attributes; and +even the conception of Brunhild has been supposed to contain elements +derived from the traditional recollection of the historical Brunehault. +When, therefore, Achilleus is said, like a true sun-god, to have died by +a wound from a sharp instrument in the only vulnerable part of his body, +we may reply that the legendary Charlemagne conducts himself in many +respects like a solar deity. If Odysseus detained by Kalypso represents +the sun ensnared and held captive by the pale goddess of night, the +legend of Frederic Barbarossa asleep in a Thuringian mountain embodies +a portion of a kindred conception. We know that Charlemagne and Frederic +have been substituted for Odin; we may suspect that with the mythical +impersonations of Achilleus and Odysseus some traditional figures may +be blended. We should remember that in early times the solar-myth was a +sort of type after which all wonderful stories would be patterned, and +that to such a type tradition also would be made to conform. + +In suggesting this view, we are not opening the door to Euhemerism. +If there is any one conclusion concerning the Homeric poems which +the labours of a whole generation of scholars may be said to have +satisfactorily established, it is this, that no trustworthy history can +be obtained from either the Iliad or the Odyssey merely by sifting out +the mythical element. Even if the poems contain the faint reminiscence +of an actual event, that event is inextricably wrapped up in mythical +phraseology, so that by no cunning of the scholar can it be construed +into history. In view of this it is quite useless for Mr. Gladstone +to attempt to base historical conclusions upon the fact that Helena is +always called "Argive Helen," or to draw ethnological inferences from +the circumstances that Menelaos, Achilleus, and the rest of the Greek +heroes, have yellow hair, while the Trojans are never so described. The +Argos of the myth is not the city of Peloponnesos, though doubtless +so construed even in Homer's time. It is "the bright land" where Zeus +resides, and the epithet is applied to his wife Here and his daughter +Helena, as well as to the dog of Odysseus, who reappears with Sarameyas +in the Veda. As for yellow hair, there is no evidence that Greeks have +ever commonly possessed it; but no other colour would do for a solar +hero, and it accordingly characterizes the entire company of them, +wherever found, while for the Trojans, or children of night, it is not +required. + +A wider acquaintance with the results which have been obtained during +the past thirty years by the comparative study of languages and +mythologies would have led Mr. Gladstone to reconsider many of his views +concerning the Homeric poems, and might perhaps have led him to cut out +half or two thirds of his book as hopelessly antiquated. The chapter on +the divinities of Olympos would certainly have had to be rewritten, and +the ridiculous theory of a primeval revelation abandoned. One can hardly +preserve one's gravity when Mr. Gladstone derives Apollo from the +Hebrew Messiah, and Athene from the Logos. To accredit Homer with an +acquaintance with the doctrine of the Logos, which did not exist until +the time of Philo, and did not receive its authorized Christian form +until the middle of the second century after Christ, is certainly a +strange proceeding. We shall next perhaps be invited to believe that the +authors of the Volsunga Saga obtained the conception of Sigurd from +the "Thirty-Nine Articles." It is true that these deities, Athene and +Apollo, are wiser, purer, and more dignified, on the whole, than any +of the other divinities of the Homeric Olympos. They alone, as Mr. +Gladstone truly observes, are never deceived or frustrated. For all +Hellas, Apollo was the interpreter of futurity, and in the maid Athene +we have perhaps the highest conception of deity to which the Greek mind +had attained in the early times. In the Veda, Athene is nothing but the +dawn; but in the Greek mythology, while the merely sensuous glories of +daybreak are assigned to Eos, Athene becomes the impersonation of the +illuminating and knowledge-giving light of the sky. As the dawn, she +is daughter of Zeus, the sky, and in mythic language springs from his +forehead; but, according to the Greek conception, this imagery signifies +that she shares, more than any other deity, in the boundless wisdom +of Zeus. The knowledge of Apollo, on the other hand, is the peculiar +privilege of the sun, who, from his lofty position, sees everything that +takes place upon the earth. Even the secondary divinity Helios possesses +this prerogative to a certain extent. + +Next to a Hebrew, Mr. Gladstone prefers a Phoenician ancestry for the +Greek divinities. But the same lack of acquaintance with the old Aryan +mythology vitiates all his conclusions. No doubt the Greek mythology is +in some particulars tinged with Phoenician conceptions. Aphrodite was +originally a purely Greek divinity, but in course of time she acquired +some of the attributes of the Semitic Astarte, and was hardly improved +by the change. Adonis is simply a Semitic divinity, imported into +Greece. But the same cannot be proved of Poseidon; [154] far less of +Hermes, who is identical with the Vedic Sarameyas, the rising wind, +the son of Sarama the dawn, the lying, tricksome wind-god, who invented +music, and conducts the souls of dead men to the house of Hades, even +as his counterpart the Norse Odin rushes over the tree-tops leading +the host of the departed. When one sees Iris, the messenger of Zeus, +referred to a Hebrew original, because of Jehovah's promise to Noah, one +is at a loss to understand the relationship between the two conceptions. +Nothing could be more natural to the Greeks than to call the rainbow the +messenger of the sky-god to earth-dwelling men; to call it a token set +in the sky by Jehovah, as the Hebrews did, was a very different thing. +We may admit the very close resemblance between the myth of Bellerophon +and Anteia, and that of Joseph and Zuleikha; but the fact that the Greek +story is explicable from Aryan antecedents, while the Hebrew story is +isolated, might perhaps suggest the inference that the Hebrews were the +borrowers, as they undoubtedly were in the case of the myth of Eden. +Lastly, to conclude that Helios is an Eastern deity, because he reigns +in the East over Thrinakia, is wholly unwarranted. Is not Helios pure +Greek for the sun? and where should his sacred island be placed, if not +in the East? As for his oxen, which wrought such dire destruction to the +comrades of Odysseus, and which seem to Mr. Gladstone so anomalous, they +are those very same unhappy cattle, the clouds, which were stolen by the +storm-demon Cacus and the wind-deity Hermes, and which furnished endless +material for legends to the poets of the Veda. + +But the whole subject of comparative mythology seems to be terra +incognita to Mr. Gladstone. He pursues the even tenour of his way in +utter disregard of Grimm, and Kuhn, and Breal, and Dasent, and Burnouf. +He takes no note of the Rig-Veda, nor does he seem to realize that there +was ever a time when the ancestors of the Greeks and Hindus worshipped +the same gods. Two or three times he cites Max Muller, but makes no +use of the copious data which might be gathered from him. The only work +which seems really to have attracted his attention is M. Jacolliot's +very discreditable performance called "The Bible in India." Mr. +Gladstone does not, indeed, unreservedly approve of this book; but +neither does he appear to suspect that it is a disgraceful piece of +charlatanry, written by a man ignorant of the very rudiments of the +subject which he professes to handle. + +Mr. Gladstone is equally out of his depth when he comes to treat purely +philological questions. Of the science of philology, as based upon +established laws of phonetic change, he seems to have no knowledge +whatever. He seems to think that two words are sufficiently proved to +be connected when they are seen to resemble each other in spelling or in +sound. Thus he quotes approvingly a derivation of the name Themis from +an assumed verb them, "to speak," whereas it is notoriously derived from +tiqhmi, as statute comes ultimately from stare. His reference of hieros, +"a priest," and geron, "an old man," to the same root, is utterly +baseless; the one is the Sanskrit ishiras, "a powerful man," the other +is the Sanskrit jaran, "an old man." The lists of words on pages 96-100 +are disfigured by many such errors; and indeed the whole purpose for +which they are given shows how sadly Mr. Gladstone's philology is in +arrears. The theory of Niebuhr--that the words common to Greek and +Latin, mostly descriptive of peaceful occupations, are Pelasgian--was +serviceable enough in its day, but is now rendered wholly antiquated +by the discovery that such words are Aryan, in the widest sense. The +Pelasgian theory works very smoothly so long as we only compare the +Greek with the Latin words,--as, for instance, sugon with jugum; but +when we add the English yoke and the Sanskrit yugam, it is evident that +we have got far out of the range of the Pelasgoi. But what shall we say +when we find Mr. Gladstone citing the Latin thalamus in support of +this antiquated theory? Doubtless the word thalamus is, or should be, +significative of peaceful occupations; but it is not a Latin word at +all, except by adoption. One might as well cite the word ensemble to +prove the original identity or kinship between English and French. + +When Mr. Gladstone, leaving the dangerous ground of pure and applied +philology, confines himself to illustrating the contents of the Homeric +poems, he is always excellent. His chapter on the "Outer Geography" of +the Odyssey is exceedingly interesting; showing as it does how much +may be obtained from the patient and attentive study of even a single +author. Mr. Gladstone's knowledge of the SURFACE of the Iliad and +Odyssey, so to speak, is extensive and accurate. It is when he attempts +to penetrate beneath the surface and survey the treasures hidden in the +bowels of the earth, that he shows himself unprovided with the talisman +of the wise dervise, which alone can unlock those mysteries. But modern +philology is an exacting science: to approach its higher problems +requires an amount of preparation sufficient to terrify at the outset +all but the boldest; and a man who has had to regulate taxation, and +make out financial statements, and lead a political party in a great +nation, may well be excused for ignorance of philology. It is difficult +enough for those who have little else to do but to pore over treatises +on phonetics, and thumb their lexicons, to keep fully abreast with the +latest views in linguistics. In matters of detail one can hardly ever +broach a new hypothesis without misgivings lest somebody, in some weekly +journal published in Germany, may just have anticipated and refuted it. +Yet while Mr. Gladstone may be excused for being unsound in philology, +it is far less excusable that he should sit down to write a book about +Homer, abounding in philological statements, without the slightest +knowledge of what has been achieved in that science for several years +past. In spite of all drawbacks, however, his book shows an abiding +taste for scholarly pursuits, and therefore deserves a certain kind +of praise. I hope,--though just now the idea savours of the +ludicrous,--that the day may some time arrive when OUR Congressmen and +Secretaries of the Treasury will spend their vacations in writing books +about Greek antiquities, or in illustrating the meaning of Homeric +phrases. + +July, 1870. + + + + +VII. THE PRIMEVAL GHOST-WORLD. + +NO earnest student of human culture can as yet have forgotten or wholly +outlived the feeling of delight awakened by the first perusal of Max +Muller's brilliant "Essay on Comparative Mythology,"--a work in which +the scientific principles of myth-interpretation, though not newly +announced, were at least brought home to the reader with such an amount +of fresh and striking concrete illustration as they had not before +received. Yet it must have occurred to more than one reader that, while +the analyses of myths contained in this noble essay are in the main +sound in principle and correct in detail, nevertheless the author's +theory of the genesis of myth is expressed, and most likely conceived, +in a way that is very suggestive of carelessness and fallacy. There are +obvious reasons for doubting whether the existence of mythology can be +due to any "disease," abnormity, or hypertrophy of metaphor in language; +and the criticism at once arises, that with the myth-makers it was not +so much the character of the expression which originated the thought, +as it was the thought which gave character to the expression. It is not +that the early Aryans were myth-makers because their language abounded +in metaphor; it is that the Aryan mother-tongue abounded in metaphor +because the men and women who spoke it were myth-makers. And they were +myth-makers because they had nothing but the phenomena of human will and +effort with which to compare objective phenomena. Therefore it was that +they spoke of the sun as an unwearied voyager or a matchless archer, +and classified inanimate no less than animate objects as masculine and +feminine. Max Muller's way of stating his theory, both in this Essay +and in his later Lectures, affords one among several instances of the +curious manner in which he combines a marvellous penetration into the +significance of details with a certain looseness of general conception. +[155] The principles of philological interpretation are an indispensable +aid to us in detecting the hidden meaning of many a legend in which the +powers of nature are represented in the guise of living and thinking +persons; but before we can get at the secret of the myth-making tendency +itself, we must leave philology and enter upon a psychological study. +We must inquire into the characteristics of that primitive style of +thinking to which it seemed quite natural that the sun should be an +unerring archer, and the thunder-cloud a black demon or gigantic robber +finding his richly merited doom at the hands of the indignant Lord of +Light. + +Among recent treatises which have dealt with this interesting problem, +we shall find it advantageous to give especial attention to Mr. Tylor's +"Primitive Culture," [156] one of the few erudite works which are at +once truly great and thoroughly entertaining. The learning displayed +in it would do credit to a German specialist, both for extent and for +minuteness, while the orderly arrangement of the arguments and the +elegant lucidity of the style are such as we are accustomed to expect +from French essay-writers. And what is still more admirable is the +way in which the enthusiasm characteristic of a genial and original +speculator is tempered by the patience and caution of a cool-headed +critic. Patience and caution are nowhere more needed than in writers +who deal with mythology and with primitive religious ideas; but these +qualities are too seldom found in combination with the speculative +boldness which is required when fresh theories are to be framed or new +paths of investigation opened. The state of mind in which the explaining +powers of a favourite theory are fondly contemplated is, to some extent, +antagonistic to the state of mind in which facts are seen, with the +eye of impartial criticism, in all their obstinate and uncompromising +reality. To be able to preserve the balance between the two opposing +tendencies is to give evidence of the most consummate scientific +training. It is from the want of such a balance that the recent great +work of Mr. Cox is at times so unsatisfactory. It may, I fear, seem +ill-natured to say so, but the eagerness with which Mr. Cox waylays +every available illustration of the physical theory of the origin of +myths has now and then the curious effect of weakening the reader's +conviction of the soundness of the theory. For my own part, though by no +means inclined to waver in adherence to a doctrine once adopted on good +grounds, I never felt so much like rebelling against the mythologic +supremacy of the Sun and the Dawn as when reading Mr. Cox's volumes. +That Mr. Tylor, while defending the same fundamental theory, awakens no +such rebellious feelings, is due to his clear perception and realization +of the fact that it is impossible to generalize in a single formula +such many-sided correspondences as those which primitive poetry end +philosophy have discerned between the life of man and the life of +outward nature. Whoso goes roaming up and down the elf-land of popular +fancies, with sole intent to resolve each episode of myth into some +answering physical event, his only criterion being outward resemblance, +cannot be trusted in his conclusions, since wherever he turns for +evidence he is sure to find something that can be made to serve as such. +As Mr. Tylor observes, no household legend or nursery rhyme is safe from +his hermeneutics. "Should he, for instance, demand as his property +the nursery 'Song of Sixpence,' his claim would be easily +established,--obviously the four-and-twenty blackbirds are the +four-and-twenty hours, and the pie that holds them is the underlying +earth covered with the overarching sky,--how true a touch of nature +it is that when the pie is opened, that is, when day breaks, the birds +begin to sing; the King is the Sun, and his counting out his money is +pouring out the sunshine, the golden shower of Danae; the Queen is +the Moon, and her transparent honey the moonlight; the Maid is the +'rosy-fingered' Dawn, who rises before the Sun, her master, and hangs +out the clouds, his clothes, across the sky; the particular blackbird, +who so tragically ends the tale by snipping off her nose, is the hour of +sunrise." In all this interpretation there is no a priori improbability, +save, perhaps, in its unbroken symmetry and completeness. That +some points, at least, of the story are thus derived from antique +interpretations of physical events, is in harmony with all that we know +concerning nursery rhymes. In short, "the time-honoured rhyme really +wants but one thing to prove it a sun-myth, that one thing being a proof +by some argument more valid than analogy." The character of the argument +which is lacking may be illustrated by a reference to the rhyme about +Jack and Jill, explained some time since in the paper on "The Origins of +Folk Lore." If the argument be thought valid which shows these ill-fated +children to be the spots on the moon, it is because the proof consists, +not in the analogy, which is in this case not especially obvious, but +in the fact that in the Edda, and among ignorant Swedish peasants of our +own day, the story of Jack and Jill is actually given as an explanation +of the moon-spots. To the neglect of this distinction between what is +plausible and what is supported by direct evidence, is due much of the +crude speculation which encumbers the study of myths. + +It is when Mr. Tylor merges the study of mythology into the wider +inquiry into the characteristic features of the mode of thinking in +which myths originated, that we can best appreciate the practical +value of that union of speculative boldness and critical sobriety which +everywhere distinguishes him. It is pleasant to meet with a writer who +can treat of primitive religious ideas without losing his head over +allegory and symbolism, and who duly realizes the fact that a savage +is not a rabbinical commentator, or a cabalist, or a Rosicrucian, but +a plain man who draws conclusions like ourselves, though with feeble +intelligence and scanty knowledge. The mystic allegory with which such +modern writers as Lord Bacon have invested the myths of antiquity is +no part of their original clothing, but is rather the late product of +a style of reasoning from analogy quite similar to that which we +shall perceive to have guided the myth-makers in their primitive +constructions. The myths and customs and beliefs which, in an advanced +stage of culture, seem meaningless save when characterized by +some quaintly wrought device of symbolic explanation, did not seem +meaningless in the lower culture which gave birth to them. Myths, like +words, survive their primitive meanings. In the early stage the myth is +part and parcel of the current mode of philosophizing; the explanation +which it offers is, for the time, the natural one, the one which would +most readily occur to any one thinking on the theme with which the myth +is concerned. But by and by the mode of philosophizing has changed; +explanations which formerly seemed quite obvious no longer occur to any +one, but the myth has acquired an independent substantive existence, and +continues to be handed down from parents to children as something true, +though no one can tell why it is true: Lastly, the myth itself +gradually fades from remembrance, often leaving behind it some utterly +unintelligible custom or seemingly absurd superstitious notion. For +example,--to recur to an illustration already cited in a previous +paper,--it is still believed here and there by some venerable granny +that it is wicked to kill robins; but he who should attribute the belief +to the old granny's refined sympathy with all sentient existence, would +be making one of the blunders which are always committed by those +who reason a priori about historical matters without following the +historical method. At an earlier date the superstition existed in the +shape of a belief that the killing of a robin portends some calamity; +in a still earlier form the calamity is specified as death; and again, +still earlier, as death by lightning. Another step backward reveals that +the dread sanctity of the robin is owing to the fact that he is the bird +of Thor, the lightning god; and finally we reach that primitive stage +of philosophizing in which the lightning is explained as a red bird +dropping from its beak a worm which cleaveth the rocks. Again, the +belief that some harm is sure to come to him who saves the life of +a drowning man, is unintelligible until it is regarded as a case of +survival in culture. In the older form of the superstition it is held +that the rescuer will sooner or later be drowned himself; and thus we +pass to the fetichistic interpretation of drowning as the seizing of the +unfortunate person by the water-spirit or nixy, who is naturally angry +at being deprived of his victim, and henceforth bears a special grudge +against the bold mortal who has thus dared to frustrate him. + +The interpretation of the lightning as a red bird, and of drowning as +the work of a smiling but treacherous fiend, are parts of that primitive +philosophy of nature in which all forces objectively existing are +conceived as identical with the force subjectively known as volition. +It is this philosophy, currently known as fetichism, but treated by Mr. +Tylor under the somewhat more comprehensive name of "animism," which +we must now consider in a few of its most conspicuous exemplifications. +When we have properly characterized some of the processes which the +untrained mind habitually goes through, we shall have incidentally +arrived at a fair solution of the genesis of mythology. + +Let us first note the ease with which the barbaric or uncultivated mind +reaches all manner of apparently fanciful conclusions through reckless +reasoning from analogy. It is through the operation of certain laws of +ideal association that all human thinking, that of the highest as well +as that of the lowest minds, is conducted: the discovery of the law of +gravitation, as well as the invention of such a superstition as the +Hand of Glory, is at bottom but a case of association of ideas. The +difference between the scientific and the mythologic inference consists +solely in the number of checks which in the former case combine to +prevent any other than the true conclusion from being framed into a +proposition to which the mind assents. Countless accumulated experiences +have taught the modern that there are many associations of ideas which +do not correspond to any actual connection of cause and effect in the +world of phenomena; and he has learned accordingly to apply to his newly +framed notions the rigid test of verification. Besides which the same +accumulation of experiences has built up an organized structure of ideal +associations into which only the less extravagant newly framed notions +have any chance of fitting. The primitive man, or the modern savage who +is to some extent his counterpart, must reason without the aid of these +multifarious checks. That immense mass of associations which answer to +what are called physical laws, and which in the mind of the civilized +modern have become almost organic, have not been formed in the mind of +the savage; nor has he learned the necessity of experimentally testing +any of his newly framed notions, save perhaps a few of the commonest. +Consequently there is nothing but superficial analogy to guide the +course of his thought hither or thither, and the conclusions at which he +arrives will be determined by associations of ideas occurring apparently +at haphazard. Hence the quaint or grotesque fancies with which European +and barbaric folk-lore is filled, in the framing of which the myth-maker +was but reasoning according to the best methods at his command. To this +simplest class, in which the association of ideas is determined by mere +analogy, belong such cases as that of the Zulu, who chews a piece of +wood in order to soften the heart of the man with whom he is about +to trade for cows, or the Hessian lad who "thinks he may escape the +conscription by carrying a baby-girl's cap in his pocket,--a symbolic +way of repudiating manhood." [157] A similar style of thinking underlies +the mediaeval necromancer's practice of making a waxen image of his +enemy and shooting at it with arrows, in order to bring about the +enemy's death; as also the case of the magic rod, mentioned in a +previous paper, by means of which a sound thrashing can be administered +to an absent foe through the medium of an old coat which is imagined +to cover him. The principle involved here is one which is doubtless +familiar to most children, and is closely akin to that which Irving so +amusingly illustrates in his doughty general who struts through a field +of cabbages or corn-stalks, smiting them to earth with his cane, and +imagining himself a hero of chivalry conquering single-handed a host of +caitiff ruffians. Of like origin are the fancies that the breaking of +a mirror heralds a death in the family,--probably because of the +destruction of the reflected human image; that the "hair of the dog that +bit you" will prevent hydrophobia if laid upon the wound; or that the +tears shed by human victims, sacrificed to mother earth, will bring down +showers upon the land. Mr. Tylor cites Lord Chesterfield's remark, "that +the king had been ill, and that people generally expected the illness +to be fatal, because the oldest lion in the Tower, about the king's age, +had just died. 'So wild and capricious is the human mind,'" observes +the elegant letter-writer. But indeed, as Mr. Tylor justly remarks, "the +thought was neither wild nor capricious; it was simply such an argument +from analogy as the educated world has at length painfully learned to be +worthless, but which, it is not too much to declare, would to this +day carry considerable weight to the minds of four fifths of the human +race." Upon such symbolism are based most of the practices of divination +and the great pseudo-science of astrology. "It is an old story, that +when two brothers were once taken ill together, Hippokrates, the +physician, concluded from the coincidence that they were twins, but +Poseidonios, the astrologer, considered rather that they were born under +the same constellation; we may add that either argument would be thought +reasonable by a savage." So when a Maori fortress is attacked, the +besiegers and besieged look to see if Venus is near the moon. The moon +represents the fortress; and if it appears below the companion planet, +the besiegers will carry the day, otherwise they will be repulsed. +Equally primitive and childlike was Rousseau's train of thought on the +memorable day at Les Charmettes when, being distressed with doubts as to +the safety of his soul, he sought to determine the point by throwing a +stone at a tree. "Hit, sign of salvation; miss, sign of damnation!" +The tree being a large one and very near at hand, the result of the +experiment was reassuring, and the young philosopher walked away without +further misgivings concerning this momentous question. [158] + +When the savage, whose highest intellectual efforts result only in +speculations of this childlike character, is confronted with the +phenomena of dreams, it is easy to see what he will make of them. +His practical knowledge of psychology is too limited to admit of his +distinguishing between the solidity of waking experience and what we may +call the unsubstantialness of the dream. He may, indeed, have learned +that the dream is not to be relied on for telling the truth; the Zulu, +for example, has even reached the perverse triumph of critical logic +achieved by our own Aryan ancestors in the saying that "dreams go by +contraries." But the Zulu has not learned, nor had the primeval Aryan +learned, to disregard the utterances of the dream as being purely +subjective phenomena. To the mind as yet untouched by modern culture, +the visions seen and the voices heard in sleep possess as much objective +reality as the gestures and shouts of waking hours. When the savage +relates his dream, he tells how he SAW certain dogs, dead warriors, +or demons last night, the implication being that the things seen were +objects external to himself. As Mr. Spencer observes, "his rude language +fails to state the difference between seeing and dreaming that he saw, +doing and dreaming that he did. From this inadequacy of his language +it not only results that he cannot truly represent this difference to +others, but also that he cannot truly represent it to himself. Hence in +the absence of an alternative interpretation, his belief, and that of +those to whom he tells his adventures, is that his OTHER SELF has been +away and came back when he awoke. And this belief, which we find among +various existing savage tribes, we equally find in the traditions of the +early civilized races." [159] + +Let us consider, for a moment, this assumption of the OTHER SELF, for +upon this is based the great mass of crude inference which constitutes +the primitive man's philosophy of nature. The hypothesis of the OTHER +SELF, which serves to account for the savage's wanderings during sleep +in strange lands and among strange people, serves also to account for +the presence in his dreams of parents, comrades, or enemies, known to be +dead and buried. The other self of the dreamer meets and converses with +the other selves of his dead brethren, joins with them in the hunt, or +sits down with them to the wild cannibal banquet. Thus arises the belief +in an ever-present world of souls or ghosts, a belief which the entire +experience of uncivilized man goes to strengthen and expand. The +existence of some tribe or tribes of savages wholly destitute of +religious belief has often been hastily asserted and as often called in +question. But there is no question that, while many savages are unable +to frame a conception so general as that of godhood, on the other hand +no tribe has ever been found so low in the scale of intelligence as +not to have framed the conception of ghosts or spiritual personalities, +capable of being angered, propitiated, or conjured with. Indeed it is +not improbable a priori that the original inference involved in the +notion of the other self may be sufficiently simple and obvious to fall +within the capacity of animals even less intelligent than uncivilized +man. An authentic case is on record of a Skye terrier who, being +accustomed to obtain favours from his master by sitting on his +haunches, will also sit before his pet india-rubber ball placed on the +chimney-piece, evidently beseeching it to jump down and play with him. +[160] Such a fact as this is quite in harmony with Auguste Comte's +suggestion that such intelligent animals as dogs, apes, and elephants +may be capable of forming a few fetichistic notions. The behaviour of +the terrier here rests upon the assumption that the ball is open to the +same sort of entreaty which prevails with the master; which implies, not +that the wistful brute accredits the ball with a soul, but that in his +mind the distinction between life and inanimate existence has never been +thoroughly established. Just this confusion between things living +and things not living is present throughout the whole philosophy of +fetichism; and the confusion between things seen and things dreamed, +which suggests the notion of another self, belongs to this same +twilight stage of intelligence in which primeval man has not yet clearly +demonstrated his immeasurable superiority to the brutes. [161] + +The conception of a soul or other self, capable of going away from +the body and returning to it, receives decisive confirmation from the +phenomena of fainting, trance, catalepsy, and ecstasy, [162] which occur +less rarely among savages, owing to their irregular mode of life, than +among civilized men. "Further verification," observes Mr. Spencer, "is +afforded by every epileptic subject, into whose body, during the absence +of the other self, some enemy has entered; for how else does it happen +that the other self on returning denies all knowledge of what his body +has been doing? And this supposition, that the body has been 'possessed' +by some other being, is confirmed by the phenomena of somnambulism and +insanity." Still further, as Mr. Spencer points out, when we recollect +that savages are very generally unwilling to have their portraits taken, +lest a portion of themselves should get carried off and be exposed to +foul play, [163] we must readily admit that the weird reflection of the +person and imitation of the gestures in rivers or still woodland pools +will go far to intensify the belief in the other self. Less frequent but +uniform confirmation is to be found in echoes, which in Europe within +two centuries have been commonly interpreted as the voices of mocking +fiends or wood-nymphs, and which the savage might well regard as the +utterances of his other self. + +With the savage's unwillingness to have his portrait taken, lest it fall +into the hands of some enemy who may injure him by conjuring with it, +may be compared the reluctance which he often shows toward telling +his name, or mentioning the name of his friend, or king, or tutelar +ghost-deity. In fetichistic thought, the name is an entity mysteriously +associated with its owner, and it is not well to run the risk of its +getting into hostile hands. Along with this caution goes the similarly +originated fear that the person whose name is spoken may resent such +meddling with his personality. For the latter reason the Dayak will +not allude by name to the small pox, but will call it "the chief" or +"jungle-leaves"; the Laplander speaks of the bear as the "old man with +the fur coat"; in Annam the tiger is called "grandfather" or "Lord"; +while in more civilized communities such sayings are current as "talk +of the Devil, and he will appear," with which we may also compare such +expressions as "Eumenides" or "gracious ones" for the Furies, and other +like euphemisms. Indeed, the maxim nil mortuis nisi bonum had most +likely at one time a fetichistic flavour. + +In various islands of the Pacific, for both the reasons above specified, +the name of the reigning chief is so rigorously "tabu," that common +words and even syllables resembling that name in sound must be omitted +from the language. In New Zealand, where a chiefs name was Maripi, or +"knife," it became necessary to call knives nekra; and in Tahiti, fetu, +"star," had to be changed into fetia, and tui, "to strike," became tiai, +etc., because the king's name was Tu. Curious freaks are played with the +languages of these islands by this ever-recurring necessity. Among the +Kafirs the women have come to speak a different dialect from the men, +because words resembling the names of their lords or male relatives are +in like manner "tabu." The student of human culture will trace among +such primeval notions the origin of the Jew's unwillingness to pronounce +the name of Jehovah; and hence we may perhaps have before us the +ultimate source of the horror with which the Hebraizing Puritan regards +such forms of light swearing--"Mon Dieu," etc.--as are still tolerated +on the continent of Europe, but have disappeared from good society in +Puritanic England and America. The reader interested in this group of +ideas and customs may consult Tylor, Early History of Mankind, pp. +142, 363; Max Muller, Science of Language, 6th edition, Vol. II. p. 37; +Mackay, Religious Development of the Greeks and Hebrews, Vol. I. p. 146. + +Chamisso's well-known tale of Peter Schlemihl belongs to a widely +diffused family of legends, which show that a man's shadow has been +generally regarded not only as an entity, but as a sort of spiritual +attendant of the body, which under certain circumstances it may +permanently forsake. It is in strict accordance with this idea that not +only in the classic languages, but in various barbaric tongues, the +word for "shadow" expresses also the soul or other self. Tasmanians, +Algonquins, Central-Americans, Abipones, Basutos, and Zulus are cited by +Mr. Tylor as thus implicitly asserting the identity of the shadow with +the ghost or phantasm seen in dreams; the Basutos going so far as to +think "that if a man walks on the river-bank, a crocodile may seize his +shadow in the water and draw him in." Among the Algonquins a sick person +is supposed to have his shadow or other self temporarily detached from +his body, and the convalescent is at times "reproached for exposing +himself before his shadow was safely settled down in him." If the sick +man has been plunged into stupor, it is because his other self has +travelled away as far as the brink of the river of death, but not being +allowed to cross has come back and re-entered him. And acting upon a +similar notion the ailing Fiji will sometimes lie down and raise a hue +and cry for his soul to be brought back. Thus, continues Mr. Tylor, "in +various countries the bringing back of lost souls becomes a regular part +of the sorcerer's or priest's profession." [164] On Aryan soil we find +the notion of a temporary departure of the soul surviving to a late date +in the theory that the witch may attend the infernal Sabbath while her +earthly tabernacle is quietly sleeping at home. The primeval conception +reappears, clothed in bitterest sarcasm, in Dante's reference to his +living contemporaries whose souls he met with in the vaults of hell, +while their bodies were still walking about on the earth, inhabited by +devils. + +The theory which identifies the soul with the shadow, and supposes the +shadow to depart with the sickness and death of the body, would seem +liable to be attended with some difficulties in the way of verification, +even to the dim intelligence of the savage. But the propriety of +identifying soul and breath is borne out by all primeval experience. The +breath, which really quits the body at its decease, has furnished the +chief name for the soul, not only to the Hebrew, the Sanskrit, and the +classic tongues; not only to German and English, where geist, and ghost, +according to Max Muller, have the meaning of "breath," and are akin +to such words as gas, gust, and geyser; but also to numerous barbaric +languages. Among the natives of Nicaragua and California, in Java and in +West Australia, the soul is described as the air or breeze which +passes in and out through the nostrils and mouth; and the Greenlanders, +according to Cranz, reckon two separate souls, the breath and +the shadow. "Among the Seminoles of Florida, when a woman died in +childbirth, the infant was held over her face to receive her parting +spirit, and thus acquire strength and knowledge for its future use..... +Their state of mind is kept up to this day among Tyrolese peasants, who +can still fancy a good man's soul to issue from his mouth at death like +a little white cloud." [165] It is kept up, too, in Lancashire, where a +well-known witch died a few years since; "but before she could 'shuffle +off this mortal coil' she must needs TRANSFER HER FAMILIAR SPIRIT to +some trusty successor. An intimate acquaintance from a neighbouring +township was consequently sent for in all haste, and on her arrival was +immediately closeted with her dying friend. What passed between them has +never fully transpired, but it is confidently affirmed that at the close +of the interview this associate RECEIVED THE WITCH'S LAST BREATH INTO +HER MOUTH AND WITH IT HER FAMILIAR SPIRIT. The dreaded woman thus +ceased to exist, but her powers for good or evil were transferred to her +companion; and on passing along the road from Burnley to Blackburn we +can point out a farmhouse at no great distance with whose thrifty matron +no neighbouring farmer will yet dare to quarrel." [166] + +Of the theory of embodiment there will be occasion to speak further on. +At present let us not pass over the fact that the other self is not only +conceived as shadow or breath, which can at times quit the body during +life, but is also supposed to become temporarily embodied in the visible +form of some bird or beast. In discussing elsewhere the myth of Bishop +Hatto, we saw that the soul is sometimes represented in the form of a +rat or mouse; and in treating of werewolves we noticed the belief that +the spirits of dead ancestors, borne along in the night-wind, have +taken on the semblance of howling dogs or wolves. "Consistent with these +quaint ideas are ceremonies in vogue in China of bringing home in a cock +(live or artificial) the spirit of a man deceased in a distant place, +and of enticing into a sick man's coat the departing spirit which has +already left his body and so conveying it back." [167] In Castren's +great work on Finnish mythology, we find the story of the giant who +could not be killed because he kept his soul hidden in a twelve-headed +snake which he carried in a bag as he rode on horseback; only when the +secret was discovered and the snake carefully killed, did the giant +yield up his life. In this Finnish legend we have one of the thousand +phases of the story of the "Giant who had no Heart in his Body," but +whose heart was concealed, for safe keeping, in a duck's egg, or in a +pigeon, carefully disposed in some belfry at the world's end a million +miles away, or encased in a wellnigh infinite series of Chinese boxes. +[168] Since, in spite of all these precautions, the poor giant's heart +invariably came to grief, we need not wonder at the Karen superstition +that the soul is in danger when it quits the body on its excursions, as +exemplified in countless Indo-European stories of the accidental killing +of the weird mouse or pigeon which embodies the wandering spirit. +Conversely it is held that the detachment of the other self is fraught +with danger to the self which remains. In the philosophy of "wraiths" +and "fetches," the appearance of a double, like that which troubled +Mistress Affery in her waking dreams of Mr. Flintwinch, has been from +time out of mind a signal of alarm. "In New Zealand it is ominous to see +the figure of an absent person, for if it be shadowy and the face not +visible, his death may erelong be expected, but if the face be seen he +is dead already. A party of Maoris (one of whom told the story) were +seated round a fire in the open air, when there appeared, seen only by +two of them, the figure of a relative, left ill at home; they exclaimed, +the figure vanished, and on the return of the party it appeared that +the sick man had died about the time of the vision." [169] The belief in +wraiths has survived into modern times, and now and then appears in the +records of that remnant of primeval philosophy known as "spiritualism," +as, for example, in the case of the lady who "thought she saw her own +father look in at the church-window at the moment he was dying in his +own house." + +The belief in the "death-fetch," like the doctrine which identifies +soul with shadow, is instructive as showing that in barbaric thought the +other self is supposed to resemble the material self with which it has +customarily been associated. In various savage superstitions the minute +resemblance of soul to body is forcibly stated. The Australian, for +instance, not content with slaying his enemy, cuts off the right thumb +of the corpse, so that the departed soul may be incapacitated from +throwing a spear. Even the half-civilized Chinese prefer crucifixion +to decapitation, that their souls may not wander headless about the +spirit-world. [171] Thus we see how far removed from the Christian +doctrine of souls is the primeval theory of the soul or other self +that figures in dreamland. So grossly materialistic is the primitive +conception that the savage who cherishes it will bore holes in the +coffin of his dead friend, so that the soul may again have a chance, if +it likes, to revisit the body. To this day, among the peasants in some +parts of Northern Europe, when Odin, the spectral hunter, rides by +attended by his furious host, the windows in every sick-room are opened, +in order that the soul, if it chooses to depart, may not be hindered +from joining in the headlong chase. And so, adds Mr. Tylor, after +the Indians of North America had spent a riotous night in singeing an +unfortunate captive to death with firebrands, they would howl like the +fiends they were, and beat the air with brushwood, to drive away the +distressed and revengeful ghost. "With a kindlier feeling, the Congo +negroes abstained for a whole year after a death from sweeping the +house, lest the dust should injure the delicate substance of the ghost"; +and even now, "it remains a German peasant saying that it is wrong +to slam a door, lest one should pinch a soul in it." [172] Dante's +experience with the ghosts in hell and purgatory, who were astonished at +his weighing down the boat in which they were carried, is belied by the +sweet German notion "that the dead mother's coming back in the night to +suckle the baby she has left on earth may be known by the hollow pressed +down in the bed where she lay." Almost universally ghosts, however +impervious to thrust of sword or shot of pistol, can eat and drink like +Squire Westerns. And lastly, we have the grotesque conception of souls +sufficiently material to be killed over again, as in the case of the +negro widows who, wishing to marry a second time, will go and duck +themselves in the pond, in order to drown the souls of their departed +husbands, which are supposed to cling about their necks; while, +according to the Fiji theory, the ghost of every dead warrior must go +through a terrible fight with Samu and his brethren, in which, if he +succeeds, he will enter Paradise, but if he fails he will be killed over +again and finally eaten by the dreaded Samu and his unearthly company. + +From the conception of souls embodied in beast-forms, as above +illustrated, it is not a wide step to the conception of beast-souls +which, like human souls, survive the death of the tangible body. The +wide-spread superstitions concerning werewolves and swan-maidens, and +the hardly less general belief in metempsychosis, show that primitive +culture has not arrived at the distinction attained by modern philosophy +between the immortal man and the soulless brute. Still more direct +evidence is furnished by sundry savage customs. The Kafir who has +killed an elephant will cry that he did n't mean to do it, and, lest the +elephant's soul should still seek vengeance, he will cut off and bury +the trunk, so that the mighty beast may go crippled to the spirit-land. +In like manner, the Samoyeds, after shooting a bear, will gather about +the body offering excuses and laying the blame on the Russians; and the +American redskin will even put the pipe of peace into the dead animal's +mouth, and beseech him to forgive the deed. In Assam it is believed that +the ghosts of slain animals will become in the next world the property +of the hunter who kills them; and the Kamtchadales expressly declare +that all animals, even flies and bugs, will live after death,--a belief, +which, in our own day, has been indorsed on philosophical grounds by an +eminent living naturalist. [173] The Greenlanders, too, give evidence +of the same belief by supposing that when after an exhausting fever the +patient comes up in unprecedented health and vigour, it is because he +has lost his former soul and had it replaced by that of a young child +or a reindeer. In a recent work in which the crudest fancies of primeval +savagery are thinly disguised in a jargon learned from the superficial +reading of modern books of science, M. Figuier maintains that human +souls are for the most part the surviving souls of deceased animals; in +general, the souls of precocious musical children like Mozart come from +nightingales, while the souls of great architects have passed into them +from beavers, etc., etc. [174] + +The practice of begging pardon of the animal one has just slain is in +some parts of the world extended to the case of plants. When the +Talein offers a prayer to the tree which he is about to cut down, it is +obviously because he regards the tree as endowed with a soul or ghost +which in the next life may need to be propitiated. And the doctrine of +transmigration distinctly includes plants along with animals among the +future existences into which the human soul may pass. + +As plants, like animals, manifest phenomena of life, though to a much +less conspicuous degree, it is not incomprehensible that the +savage should attribute souls to them. But the primitive process of +anthropomorphisation does not end here. Not only the horse and dog, +the bamboo, and the oak-tree, but even lifeless objects, such as the +hatchet, or bow and arrows, or food and drink of the dead man, possess +other selves which pass into the world of ghosts. Fijis and other +contemporary savages, when questioned, expressly declare that this is +their belief. "If an axe or a chisel is worn out or broken up, away +flies its soul for the service of the gods." The Algonquins told +Charlevoix that since hatchets and kettles have shadows, no less than +men and women, it follows, of course, that these shadows (or souls) must +pass along with human shadows (or souls) into the spirit-land. In this +we see how simple and consistent is the logic which guides the savage, +and how inevitable is the genesis of the great mass of beliefs, to our +minds so arbitrary and grotesque, which prevail throughout the barbaric +world. However absurd the belief that pots and kettles have souls +may seem to us, it is nevertheless the only belief which can be held +consistently by the savage to whom pots and kettles, no less than human +friends or enemies, may appear in his dreams; who sees them followed +by shadows as they are moved about; who hears their voices, dull +or ringing, when they are struck; and who watches their doubles +fantastically dancing in the water as they are carried across the +stream. [175] To minds, even in civilized countries, which are unused to +the severe training of science, no stronger evidence can be alleged +than what is called "the evidence of the senses"; for it is only long +familiarity with science which teaches us that the evidence of the +senses is trustworthy only in so far as it is correctly interpreted by +reason. For the truth of his belief in the ghosts of men and beasts, +trees and axes, the savage has undeniably the evidence of his senses +which have so often seen, heard, and handled these other selves. + +The funeral ceremonies of uncultured races freshly illustrate this crude +philosophy, and receive fresh illustration from it. On the primitive +belief in the ghostly survival of persons and objects rests the almost +universal custom of sacrificing the wives, servants, horses, and dogs of +the departed chief of the tribe, as well as of presenting at his shrine +sacred offerings of food, ornaments, weapons, and money. Among the +Kayans the slaves who are killed at their master's tomb are enjoined to +take great care of their master's ghost, to wash and shampoo it, and to +nurse it when sick. Other savages think that "all whom they kill in this +world shall attend them as slaves after death," and for this reason the +thrifty Dayaks of Borneo until lately would not allow their young men to +marry until they had acquired some post mortem property by procuring at +least one human head. It is hardly necessary to do more than allude +to the Fiji custom of strangling all the wives of the deceased at his +funeral, or to the equally well-known Hindu rite of suttee. Though, as +Wilson has shown, the latter rite is not supported by any genuine Vedic +authority, but only by a shameless Brahmanic corruption of the sacred +text, Mr. Tylor is nevertheless quite right in arguing that unless the +horrible custom had received the sanction of a public opinion bequeathed +from pre-Vedic times, the Brahmans would have had no motive for +fraudulently reviving it; and this opinion is virtually established +by the fact of the prevalence of widow sacrifice among Gauls, +Scandinavians, Slaves, and other European Aryans. [176] Though under +English rule the rite has been forcibly suppressed, yet the archaic +sentiments which so long maintained it are not yet extinct. Within the +present year there has appeared in the newspapers a not improbable story +of a beautiful and accomplished Hindu lady who, having become the wife +of a wealthy Englishman, and after living several years in England amid +the influences of modern society, nevertheless went off and privately +burned herself to death soon after her husband's decease. + +The reader who thinks it far-fetched to interpret funeral offerings of +food, weapons, ornaments, or money, on the theory of object-souls, will +probably suggest that such offerings may be mere memorials of affection +or esteem for the dead man. Such, indeed, they have come to be in many +countries after surviving the phase of culture in which they originated; +but there is ample evidence to show that at the outset they were +presented in the belief that their ghosts would be eaten or otherwise +employed by the ghost of the dead man. The stout club which is buried +with the dead Fiji sends its soul along with him that he may be able to +defend himself against the hostile ghosts which will lie in ambush for +him on the road to Mbulu, seeking to kill and eat him. Sometimes the +club is afterwards removed from the grave as of no further use, since +its ghost is all that the dead man needs. In like manner, "as the Greeks +gave the dead man the obolus for Charon's toll, and the old Prussians +furnished him with spending money, to buy refreshment on his weary +journey, so to this day German peasants bury a corpse with money in +his mouth or hand," and this is also said to be one of the regular +ceremonies of an Irish wake. Of similar purport were the funeral feasts +and oblations of food in Greece and Italy, the "rice-cakes made with +ghee" destined for the Hindu sojourning in Yama's kingdom, and the meat +and gruel offered by the Chinaman to the manes of his ancestors. "Many +travellers have described the imagination with which the Chinese +make such offerings. It is that the spirits of the dead consume the +impalpable essence of the food, leaving behind its coarse material +substance, wherefore the dutiful sacrificers, having set out sumptuous +feasts for ancestral souls, allow them a proper time to satisfy +their appetite, and then fall to themselves." [177] So in the Homeric +sacrifice to the gods, after the deity has smelled the sweet savour +and consumed the curling steam that rises ghost-like from the roasting +viands, "the assembled warriors devour the remains." [178] + +Thus far the course of fetichistic thought which we have traced out, +with Mr. Tylor's aid, is such as is not always obvious to the modern +inquirer without considerable concrete illustration. The remainder +of the process, resulting in that systematic and complete +anthropomorphisation of nature which has given rise to mythology, may +be more succinctly described. Gathering together the conclusions already +obtained, we find that daily or frequent experience of the phenomena +of shadows and dreams has combined with less frequent experience of the +phenomena of trance, ecstasy, and insanity, to generate in the mind of +uncultured man the notion of a twofold existence appertaining alike to +all animate or inanimate objects: as all alike possess material +bodies, so all alike possess ghosts or souls. Now when the theory +of object-souls is expanded into a general doctrine of spirits, the +philosophic scheme of animism is completed. Once habituated to the +conception of souls of knives and tobacco-pipes passing to the land +of ghosts, the savage cannot avoid carrying the interpretation still +further, so that wind and water, fire and storm, are accredited with +indwelling spirits akin by nature to the soul which inhabits the human +frame. That the mighty spirit or demon by whose impelling will the +trees are rooted up and the storm-clouds driven across the sky should +resemble a freed human soul, is a natural inference, since uncultured +man has not attained to the conception of physical force acting in +accordance with uniform methods, and hence all events are to his mind +the manifestations of capricious volition. If the fire burns down his +hut, it is because the fire is a person with a soul, and is angry with +him, and needs to be coaxed into a kindlier mood by means of prayer or +sacrifice. Thus the savage has a priori no alternative but to regard +fire-soul as something akin to human-soul; and in point of fact we find +that savage philosophy makes no distinction between the human ghost +and the elemental demon or deity. This is sufficiently proved by +the universal prevalence of the worship of ancestors. The essential +principle of manes-worship is that the tribal chief or patriarch, who +has governed the community during life, continues also to govern it +after death, assisting it in its warfare with hostile tribes, rewarding +brave warriors, and punishing traitors and cowards. Thus from the +conception of the living king we pass to the notion of what Mr. Spencer +calls "the god-king," and thence to the rudimentary notion of deity. +Among such higher savages as the Zulus, the doctrine of divine ancestors +has been developed to the extent of recognizing a first ancestor, the +Great Father, Unkulunkulu, who made the world. But in the stratum of +savage thought in which barbaric or Aryan folk-lore is for the most part +based, we find no such exalted speculation. The ancestors of the rude +Veddas and of the Guinea negroes, the Hindu pitris (patres, "fathers"), +and the Roman manes have become elemental deities which send rain or +sunshine, health or sickness, plenty or famine, and to which their +living offspring appeal for guidance amid the vicissitudes of life. +[179] The theory of embodiment, already alluded to, shows how thoroughly +the demons which cause disease are identified with human and object +souls. In Australasia it is a dead man's ghost which creeps up into +the liver of the impious wretch who has ventured to pronounce his +name; while conversely in the well-known European theory of demoniacal +possession, it is a fairy from elf-land, or an imp from hell, which +has entered the body of the sufferer. In the close kinship, moreover, +between disease-possession and oracle-possession, where the body of the +Pythia, or the medicine-man, is placed under the direct control of +some great deity, [180] we may see how by insensible transitions +the conception of the human ghost passes into the conception of the +spiritual numen, or divinity. + +To pursue this line of inquiry through the countless nymphs and dryads +and nixies of the higher nature-worship up to the Olympian divinities +of classic polytheism, would be to enter upon the history of religious +belief, and in so doing to lose sight of our present purpose, which has +merely been to show by what mental process the myth-maker can speak +of natural objects in language which implies that they are animated +persons. Brief as our account of this process has been, I believe +that enough has been said, not only to reveal the inadequacy of purely +philological solutions (like those contained in Max Muller's famous +Essay) to explain the growth of myths, but also to exhibit the vast +importance for this purpose of the kind of psychological inquiry into +the mental habits of savages which Mr. Tylor has so ably conducted. +Indeed, however lacking we may still be in points of detail, I think we +have already reached a very satisfactory explanation of the genesis of +mythology. Since the essential characteristic of a myth is that it is +an attempt to explain some natural phenomenon by endowing with human +feelings and capacities the senseless factors in the phenomenon, and +since it has here been shown how uncultured man, by the best use he can +make of his rude common sense, must inevitably come, and has invariably +come, to regard all objects as endowed with souls, and all nature as +peopled with supra-human entities shaped after the general pattern of +the human soul, I am inclined to suspect that we have got very near to +the root of the whole matter. We can certainly find no difficulty in +seeing why a water-spout should be described in the "Arabian Nights" as +a living demon: "The sea became troubled before them, and there arose +from it a black pillar, ascending towards the sky, and approaching the +meadow,.... and behold it was a Jinni, of gigantic stature." We can see +why the Moslem camel-driver should find it most natural to regard the +whirling simoom as a malignant Jinni; we may understand how it is that +the Persian sees in bodily shape the scarlet fever as "a blushing maid +with locks of flame and cheeks all rosy red"; and we need not consider +it strange that the primeval Aryan should have regarded the sun as a +voyager, a climber, or an archer, and the clouds as cows driven by the +wind-god Hermes to their milking. The identification of William Tell +with the sun becomes thoroughly intelligible; nor can we be longer +surprised at the conception of the howling night-wind as a ravenous +wolf. When pots and kettles are thought to have souls that live +hereafter, there is no difficulty in understanding how the blue sky can +have been regarded as the sire of gods and men. And thus, as the elves +and bogarts of popular lore are in many cases descended from ancient +divinities of Olympos and Valhalla, so these in turn must acknowledge +their ancestors in the shadowy denizens of the primeval ghost-world. + +August, 1872. + + + + +NOTE. + +THE following are some of the modern works most likely to be of use to +the reader who is interested in the legend of William Tell. + +HISELY, J. J. Dissertatio historiea inauguralis de Oulielmo Tellio, etc. +Groningae, 1824. + +IDELER, J. L. Die Sage von dem Schuss des Tell. Berlin, 1836. + +HAUSSER, L. Die Sage von Tell aufs Neue kritisch untersucht. Heidelberg, +1840. + +HISELY, J. J. Recherches critiques sur l'histoire de Guillaume Tell. +Lausanne, 1843. + +LIEBENAU, H. Die Tell-Sage zu dem Jahre 1230 historisoh nach neuesten +Quellen. Aarau, 1864. + +VISCHER, W. Die Sage von der Befreinng der Waldstatte, etc. Nebst einer +Beilage: das alteste Tellensehauspiel. Leipzig, 1867. + +BORDIER, H. L. Le Grutli et Guillaume Tell, ou defense de la tradition +vulgaire sur les origines de la confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, +1869. + +The same. La querelle sur les traditions concernant l'origine de la +confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + +RILLIET, A. Les origines de la confederation suisse: histoire et +legende. 2eS ed., revue et corrigee. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + +The same. Lettre a M. Henri Bordier a propos de sa defense de la +tradition vulgaire sur les origines de la confederation suisse. Geneve +et Bale, 1869. + +HUNGERBUHLER, H. Etude critique sur les traditions relatives aux +origines de la confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + +MEYER, KARL. Die Tellsage. [In Bartsch, Germanistische Studien, I. +159-170. Wien, 1872.] + +See also the articles by M. Scherer, in Le Temps, 18 Feb., 1868; by M. +Reuss, in the Revue critique d'histoire, 1868; by M. de Wiss, in the +Journal de Geneve, 7 July, 1868; also Revue critique, 17 July, 1869; +Journal de Geneve, 24 Oct., 1868; Gazette de Lausanne, feuilleton +litteraire, 2-5 Nov., 1868, "Les origines de la confederation suisse," +par M. Secretan; Edinburgh Review, Jan., 1869, "The Legend of Tell and +Rutli." + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[Footnote 1: See Delepierre, Historical Difficulties, p. 75.] + +[Footnote 2: Saxo Grammaticus, Bk. X. p. 166, ed. Frankf. 1576.] + +[Footnote 3: According to Mr. Isaac Taylor, the name is really derived +from "St. Celert, a Welsh saint of the fifth century, to whom the church +of Llangeller is consecrated." (Words and Places, p. 339.)] + +[Footnote 4: Compare Krilof's story of the Gnat and the Shepherd, in +Mr. Ralston's excellent version, Krilof and his Fables, p. 170. Many +parallel examples are cited by Mr. Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. I. +pp. 126-136. See also the story of Folliculus,--Swan, Gesta Romanorum, +ad. Wright, Vol. I. p. lxxxii] + +[Footnote 5: See Cox, Mythology of the Aryan Nations, Vol. I. pp. +145-149.] + +[Footnote 6: The same incident occurs in the Arabian story of +Seyf-el-Mulook and Bedeea-el-Jemal, where the Jinni's soul is enclosed +in the crop of a sparrow, and the sparrow imprisoned in a small box, and +this enclosed in another small box, and this again in seven other boxes, +which are put into seven chests, contained in a coffer of marble, which +is sunk in the ocean that surrounds the world. Seyf-el-Mulook raises +the coffer by the aid of Suleyman's seal-ring, and having extricated the +sparrow, strangles it, whereupon the Jinni's body is converted into +a heap of black ashes, and Seyf-el-Mulook escapes with the maiden +Dolet-Khatoon. See Lane's Arabian Nights, Vol. III. p. 316.] + +[Footnote 7: The same incident is repeated in the story of Hassan of +El-Basrah. See Lane's Arabian Nights, Vol. III p. 452.] + +[Footnote 8: "Retrancher le merveilleux d'un mythe, c'est le +supprimer."--Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 50.] + +[Footnote 9: "No distinction between the animate and inanimate is made +in the languages of the Eskimos, the Choctaws, the Muskoghee, and the +Caddo. Only the Iroquois, Cherokee, and the Algonquin-Lenape have it, so +far as is known, and with them it is partial." According to the Fijians, +"vegetables and stones, nay, even tools and weapons, pots and canoes, +have souls that are immortal, and that, like the souls of men, pass on +at last to Mbulu, the abode of departed spirits."--M'Lennan, The Worship +of Animals and Plants, Fortnightly Review, Vol. XII. p, 416.] + +[Footnote 10: Marcus Aurelius, V. 7.] + +[Footnote 11: Some of these etymologies are attacked by Mr. Mahaffy in +his Prolegomena to Ancient History, p. 49. After long consideration I am +still disposed to follow Max Muller in adopting them, with the possible +exception of Achilleus. With Mr. Mahaffy s suggestion (p. 52) that many +of the Homeric legends may have clustered around some historical basis, +I fully agree; as will appear, further on, from my paper on "Juventus +Mundi."] + +[Footnote 12: Les facultes qui engendrent la mythologie sont les memes +que celles qui engendront la philosophie, et ce n'est pas sans raison +que l'Inde et la Grece nous presentent le phenomene de la plus riche +mythologie a cote de la plus profonde metaphysique. "La conception de +la multiplicite dans l'univers, c'est le polytheisme chez les peuples +enfants; c'est la science chez les peuples arrives a l'age mur."--Renan, +Hist. des Langues Semitiques, Tom. I. p. 9.] + +[Footnote 13: Cases coming under this head are discussed further on, in +my paper on "Myths of the Barbaric World."] + +[Footnote 14: A collection of these interesting legends may be found in +Baring-Gould's "Curious Myths of the Middle Ages," of which work this +paper was originally a review.] + +[Footnote 15: See Procopius, De Bello Gothico, IV. 20; Villemarque, +Barzas Breiz, I. 136. As a child I was instructed by an old nurse that +Vas Diemen's Land is the home of ghosts and departed spirits.] + +[Footnote 16: Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. I. p. 197.] + +[Footnote 17: Hence perhaps the adage, "Always remember to pay the +piper."] + +[Footnote 18: And it reappears as the mysterious lyre of the Gaelic +musician, who + + "Could harp a fish out o' the water, + Or bluid out of a stane, + Or milk out of a maiden's breast, + That bairns had never nane."] + +[Footnote 19: Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. II. p. 159.] + +[Footnote 20: Perhaps we may trace back to this source the frantic +terror which Irish servant-girls often manifest at sight of a mouse.] + +[Footnote 21: In Persia a dog is brought to the bedside of the person +who is dying, in order that the soul may be sure of a prompt escort. The +same custom exists in India. Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 123.] + +[Footnote 22: The Devil, who is proverbially "active in a gale of wind," +is none other than Hermes.] + +[Footnote 23: "Il faut que la coeur devienne ancien parmi les aneiennes +choses, et la plenitude de l'histoire ne se devoile qu'a celui qui +descend, ainsi dispose, dans le passe. Mais il faut que l'esprit demeure +moderne, et n'oublie jamais qu'il n'y a pour lui d'autre foi que la foi +scientifique."--LITTRS.] + +[Footnote 24: For an admirable example of scientific self-analysis +tracing one of these illusions to its psychological sources, see +the account of Dr. Lazarus, in Taine, De l'Intelligence, Vol. I. pp. +121-125.] + +[Footnote 25: See the story of Aymar in Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, +Vol. I. pp. 57-77. The learned author attributes the discomfiture to +the uncongenial Parisian environment; which is a style of reasoning much +like that of my village sorcerer, I fear.] + +[Footnote 26: Kelly, Indo-European Folk-Lore, p. 177.] + +[Footnote 27: The story of the luck-flower is well told in verse by Mr. +Baring Gould, in his Silver Store, p. 115, seq.] + +[Footnote 28: 1 Kings vi. 7.] + +[Footnote 29: Compare the Mussulman account of the building of the +temple, in Baring-Gould, Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets, +pp. 337, 338. And see the story of Diocletian's ostrich, Swan, Gesta +Romanorum, ed. Wright, Vol I. p. lxiv. See also the pretty story of the +knight unjustly imprisoned, id. p. cii.] + +[Footnote 30: "We have the receipt of fern-seed. We walk invisible." +--Shakespeare, Henry IV. See Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, p. 98] + +[Footnote 31: Henderson, Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England, +p. 202] + +[Footnote 32: Kuhn, Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Gottertranks. +Berlin, 1859.] + +[Footnote 33: "Saga me forwhan byth seo sunne read on aefen? Ic the +secge, forthon heo locath on helle.--Tell me, why is the sun red at +even? I tell thee, because she looketh on hell." Thorpe, Analecta +Anglo-Saxonica, p. 115, apud Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 63. +Barbaric thought had partly anticipated my childish theory.] + +[Footnote 34: "Still in North Germany does the peasant say of thunder, +that the angels are playing skittles aloft, and of the snow, that they +are shaking up the feather beds in heaven."--Baring-Gould, Book of +Werewolves, p. 172.] + +[Footnote 35: "The Polynesians imagine that the sky descends at the +horizon and encloses the earth. Hence they call foreigners papalangi, or +'heaven-bursters,' as having broken in from another world outside."--Max +Muller, Chips, II. 268.] + +[Footnote 36: "--And said the gods, let there be a hammered plate in the +midst of the waters, and let it be dividing between waters and waters." +Genesis i. 6.] + +[Footnote 37: Genesis vii. 11.] + +[Footnote 38: See Kelly, Indo-European Folk-Lore, p 120; who states also +that in Bengal the Garrows burn their dead in a small boat, placed on +top of the funeral-pile. In their character of cows, also, the clouds +were regarded as psychopomps; and hence it is still a popular +superstition that a cow breaking into the yard foretokens a death +in the family.] + +[Footnote 39: The sun-god Freyr had a cloud-ship called Skithblathnir, +which is thus described in Dasent's Prose Edda: "She is so great, that +all the AEsir, with their weapons and war-gear, may find room on board +her"; but "when there is no need of faring on the sea in her, she is +made.... with so much craft that Freyr may fold her together like a +cloth, and keep her in his bag." This same virtue was possessed by the +fairy pavilion which the Peri Banou gave to Ahmed; the cloud which is no +bigger than a man's hand may soon overspread the whole heaven, and shade +the Sultan's army from the solar rays.] + +[Footnote 40: Euhemerism has done its best with this bird, representing +it as an immense vulture or condor or as a reminiscence of the extinct +dodo. But a Chinese myth, cited by Klaproth, well preserves its true +character when it describes it as "a bird which in flying obscures +the sun, and of whose quills are made water-tuns." See Nouveau Journal +Asiatique, Tom. XII. p. 235. The big bird in the Norse tale of the "Blue +Belt" belongs to the same species.] + +[Footnote 41: Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. II. p. 146. Compare +Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 237, seq.] + +[Footnote 42: "If Polyphemos's eye be the sun, then Odysseus, the solar +hero, extinguishes himself, a very primitive instance of suicide." +Mahaffy, Prolegomena, p. 57. See also Brown, Poseidon, pp. 39, 40. +This objection would be relevant only in case Homer were supposed to be +constructing an allegory with entire knowledge of its meaning. It has no +validity whatever when we recollect that Homer could have known nothing +of the incongruity.] + +[Footnote 43: The Sanskrit myth-teller indeed mixes up his materials in +a way which seems ludicrous to a Western reader. He describes Indra (the +sun-god) as not only cleaving the cloud-mountains with his sword, but +also cutting off their wings and hurling them from the sky. See Burnouf, +Bhagavata Purana, VI. 12, 26.] + +[Footnote 44: Mr. Tylor offers a different, and possibly a better, +explanation of the Symplegades as the gates of Night through which +the solar ship, having passed successfully once, may henceforth pass +forever. See the details of the evidence in his Primitive Culture, I. +315.] + +[Footnote 45: The Sanskrit parvata, a bulging or inflated body, means +both "cloud" and "mountain." "In the Edda, too, the rocks, said to have +been fashioned out of Ymir's bones, are supposed to be intended for +clouds. In Old Norse Klakkr means both cloud and rock; nay, the English +word CLOUD itself has been identified with the Anglo-Saxon clud, rock. +See Justi, Orient und Occident, Vol. II. p. 62." Max Muller, Rig-Veda, +Vol. 1. p. 44.] + +[Footnote 46: In accordance with the mediaeval "doctrine of signatures," +it was maintained "that the hard, stony seeds of the Gromwell must be +good for gravel, and the knotty tubers of scrophularia for scrofulous +glands; while the scaly pappus of scaliosa showed it to be a specific +in leprous diseases, the spotted leaves of pulmonaria that it was a +sovereign remedy for tuberculous lungs, and the growth of saxifrage in +the fissures of rocks that it would disintegrate stone in the bladder." +Prior, Popular Names of British Plants, Introd., p. xiv. See also +Chapiel, La Doctrine des Signatures. Paris, 1866.] + +[Footnote 47: Indeed, the wish-bone, or forked clavicle of a fowl, +itself belongs to the same family of talismans as the divining-rod.] + +[Footnote 48: The ash, on the other hand, has been from time immemorial +used for spears in many parts of the Aryan domain. The word oesc meant, +in Anglo-Saxon, indifferently "ash-tree," or "spear"; and the same is, +or has been, true of the French fresne and the Greek melia. The root of +oesc appears in the Sanskrit as, "to throw" or "lance," whence asa, "a +bow," and asana, "an arrow." See Pictet, Origines Indo-Europeennes, I. +222.] + +[Footnote 49: Compare Spenser's story of Sir Guyon, in the "Faery +Queen," where, however, the knight fares better than this poor priest. +Usually these lightning-caverns were like Ixion's treasure-house, into +which none might look and live. This conception is the foundation of +part of the story of Blue-Beard and of the Arabian tale of the third +one-eyed Calender] + +[Footnote 50: Cox, Mythology of the Aryan Nations, Vol. 1. p. 161.] + +[Footnote 51: Kelly, Indo-European Folk-Lore, pp. 147, 183, 186, 193.] + +[Footnote 52: Brinton, Myths of the New World, p. 151.] + +[Footnote 53: Callaway, Zulu Nursery Tales, I. 173, Note 12.] + +[Footnote 54: Tylor, Early History of Mankind, p. 238; Primitive +Culture, Vol. II. p. 254; Darwin, Naturalist's Voyage, p. 409.] + +[Footnote 55: The production of fire by the drill is often called +churning, e. g. "He took the uvati [chark], and sat down and churned it, +and kindled a fire." Callaway, Zulu Nursery Tales, I. 174.] + +[Footnote 56: Kelly, Indo-European Folk-Lore, p. 39. Burnouf, Bhagavata +Purana, VIII. 6, 32.] + +[Footnote 57: Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, p. 149.] + +[Footnote 58: It is also the regenerating water of baptism, and the +"holy water" of the Roman Catholic.] + +[Footnote 59: In the Vedas the rain-god Soma, originally the +personification of the sacrificial ambrosia, is the deity who imparts to +men life, knowledge, and happiness. See Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 85. +Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 277.] + +[Footnote 60: We may, perhaps, see here the reason for making the Greek +fire-god Hephaistos the husband of Aphrodite.] + +[Footnote 61: "Our country maidens are well aware that triple leaves +plucked at hazard from the common ash are worn in the breast, for the +purpose of causing prophetic dreams respecting a dilatory lover. +The leaves of the yellow trefoil are supposed to possess similar +virtues."--Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore, p. 20.] + +[Footnote 62: In Peru, a mighty and far-worshipped deity was Catequil, +the thunder-god,.... "he who in thunder-flash and clap hurls from his +sling the small, round, smooth thunder-stones, treasured in the villages +as fire-fetishes and charms to kindle the flames of love."--Tylor, op. +cit. Vol. II. p. 239] + +[Footnote 63: In Polynesia, "the great deity Maui adds a new +complication to his enigmatic solar-celestial character by appearing as +a wind-god."--Tylor, op. cit. Vol. II. p. 242.] + +[Footnote 64: Compare Plato, Republic, VIII. 15.] + +[Footnote 65: Were-wolf = man-wolf, wer meaning "man." Garou is a +Gallic corruption of werewolf, so that loup-garou is a tautological +expression.] + +[Footnote 66: Meyer, in Bunsen's Philosophy of Universal History, Vol. +I. p. 151.] + +[Footnote 67: Aimoin, De Gestis Francorum, II. 5.] + +[Footnote 68: Taylor, Words and Places, p. 393.] + +[Footnote 69: Very similar to this is the etymological confusion upon +which is based the myth of the "confusion of tongues" in the eleventh +chapter of Genesis. The name "Babel" is really Bab-Il, or "the gate of +God"; but the Hebrew writer erroneously derives the word from the root +balal, "to confuse"; and hence arises the mythical explanation,--that +Babel was a place where human speech became confused. See Rawlinson, +in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. I. p. 149; Renan, Histoire des +Langues Semitiques, Vol. I. p. 32; Donaldson, New Cratylus, p. 74, note; +Colenso on the Pentateuch, Vol. IV. p. 268.] + +[Footnote 70: Vilg. AEn. VIII. 322. With Latium compare plat?s, Skr. +prath (to spread out), Eng. flat. Ferrar, Comparative Grammar of Greek, +Latin, and Sanskrit, Vol. I. p. 31.] + +[Footnote 71: M`Lennan, "The Worship of Animals and Plants," Fortnightly +Review, N. S. Vol. VI. pp. 407-427, 562-582, Vol. VII. pp 194-216; +Spencer, "The Origin of Animal Worship," Id. Vol. VII. pp. 535-550, +reprinted in his Recent Discussions in Science, etc., pp. 31-56.] + +[Footnote 72: Thus is explained the singular conduct of the Hindu, who +slays himself before his enemy's door, in order to acquire greater power +of injuring him. "A certain Brahman, on whose lands a Kshatriya raja had +built a house, ripped himself up in revenge, and became a demon of the +kind called Brahmadasyu, who has been ever since the terror of the whole +country, and is the most common village-deity in Kharakpur. Toward the +close of the last century there were two Brahmans, out of whose house a +man had wrongfully, as they thought, taken forty rupees; whereupon one +of the Brahmans proceeded to cut off his own mother's head, with the +professed view, entertained by both mother and son, that her spirit, +excited by the beating of a large drum during forty days might haunt, +torment, and pursue to death the taker of their money and those +concerned with him." Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 103.] + +[Footnote 73: Hence, in many parts of Europe, it is still customary to +open the windows when a person dies, in order that the soul may not be +hindered in joining the mystic cavalcade.] + +[Footnote 74: The story of little Red Riding-Hood is "mutilated in the +English version, but known more perfectly by old wives in Germany, who +can tell that the lovely little maid in her shining red satin cloak was +swallowed with her grandmother by the wolf, till they both came out safe +and sound when the hunter cut open the sleeping beast." Tylor, Primitive +Culture, I. 307, where also see the kindred Russian story of Vasilissa +the Beautiful. Compare the case of Tom Thumb, who "was swallowed by the +cow and came out unhurt"; the story of Saktideva swallowed by the fish +and cut out again, in Somadeva Bhatta, II. 118-184; and the story +of Jonah swallowed by the whale, in the Old Testament. All these +are different versions of the same myth, and refer to the alternate +swallowing up and casting forth of Day by Night, which is commonly +personified as a wolf, and now and then as a great fish. Compare Grimm's +story of the Wolf and Seven Kids, Tylor, loc. cit., and see Early +History of Mankind, p. 337; Hardy, Manual of Budhism, p. 501.] + +[Footnote 75: Baring-Gould, Book of Werewolves, p. 178; Muir, Sanskrit +Texts, II. 435.] + +[Footnote 76: In those days even an after-dinner nap seems to have been +thought uncanny. See Dasent, Burnt Njal, I. xxi.] + +[Footnote 77: See Dasent, Burnt Njai, Vol. I. p. xxii.; Grettis Saga, by +Magnusson and Morris, chap. xix.; Viga Glum's Saga, by Sir Edmund Head, +p. 13, note, where the Berserkers are said to have maddened themselves +with drugs. Dasent compares them with the Malays, who work themselves +into a frenzy by means of arrack, or hasheesh, and run amuck.] + +[Footnote 78: Baring-Gould, Werewolves, p. 81.] + +[Footnote 79: Baring-Gould, op. cit. chap. xiv.] + +[Footnote 80: Baring-Gould, op. cit. p. 82.] + +[Footnote 81: Kennedy, Fictions of the Irish Celts, p. 90.] + +[Footnote 82: "En 1541, a Padoue, dit Wier, un homme qui se croyait +change en loup courait la campagne, attaquant et mettant a mort ceux +qu'il rencontrait. Apres bien des difficultes, on parvint s'emparer de +lui. Il dit en confidence a ceux qui l'arreterent: Je suis vraiment +un loup, et si ma peau ne parait pas etre celle d'un loup, c'est parce +qu'elle est retournee et que les poils sont en dedans.--Pour s'assurer +du fait, on coupa le malheureux aux differentes parties du corps, on lui +emporta les bras et les jambes."--Taine, De l'Intelligence, Tom. II. +p. 203. See the account of Slavonic werewolves in Ralston, Songs of the +Russian People, pp. 404-418.] + +[Footnote 83: Mr. Cox, whose scepticism on obscure points in history +rather surpasses that of Sir G. C. Lewis, dismisses with a sneer +the subject of the Berserker madness, observing that "the unanimous +testimony of the Norse historians is worth as much and as little as the +convictions of Glanvil and Hale on the reality of witchcraft." I have +not the special knowledge requisite for pronouncing an opinion on this +point, but Mr. Cox's ordinary methods of disposing of such questions +are not such as to make one feel obliged to accept his bare assertion, +unaccompanied by critical arguments. The madness of the bearsarks may, +no doubt, be the same thing us the frenzy of Herakles; but something +more than mere dogmatism is needed to prove it.] + +[Footnote 84: Williams, Superstitions of Witchcraft, p. 179. See a +parallel case of a cat-woman, in Thorpe's Northern Mythology, II. 26. +"Certain witches at Thurso for a long time tormented an honest fellow +under the usual form of cats, till one night he put them to flight with +his broadsword, and cut off the leg of one less nimble than the rest; +taking it up, to his amazement he found it to be a woman's leg, and +next morning he discovered the old hag its owner with but one leg +left."--Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. 283.] + +[Footnote 85: "The mare in nightmare means spirit, elf, or nymph; +compare Anglo-Saxon wudurmaere (wood-mare) = echo."--Tylor, Primitive +Culture, Vol. II. p. 173.] + +[Footnote 86: See Kuhn, Herabkunft des Feuers, p. 91; Weber, Indische +Studien. I. 197; Wolf, Beitrage zur deutschen Mythologie, II. 233-281 +Muller, Chips, II. 114-128.] + +[Footnote 87: Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, II. 207.] + +[Footnote 88: The word nymph itself means "cloud-maiden," as is +illustrated by the kinship between the Greek numph and the Latin nubes.] + +[Footnote 89: This is substantially identical with the stories of Beauty +and the Beast, Eros and Psyche, Gandharba Sena, etc.] + +[Footnote 90: The feather-dress reappears in the Arabian story of Hasssn +of El-Basrah, who by stealing it secures possession of the Jinniya. See +Lane's Arabian Nights, Vol. III. p. 380. Ralston, Songs of the Russian +People, p. 179.] + +[Footnote 91: Thorpe, Northern Mythology, III. 173; Kennedy, Fictions of +the Irish Celts, p. 123.] + +[Footnote 92: Kennedy, Fictions of the Irish Celts, p. 168.] + +[Footnote 93: Baring-Gould, Book of Werewolves, p. 133.] + +[Footnote 94: Muir's Sanskrit Texts, Vol. IV. p. 12; Muller, Rig-Veda +Sanhita, Vol. I. pp. 230-251; Fick, Woerterbuch der Indogermanischen +Grundsprache, p. 124, s v. Bhaga.] + +[Footnote 95: In the North American Review, October, 1869, p. 354, +I have collected a number of facts which seem to me to prove beyond +question that the name God is derived from Guodan, the original form of +Odin, the supreme deity of our Pagan forefathers. The case is exactly +parallel to that of the French Dieu, which is descended from the Deus of +the pagan Roman.] + +[Footnote 96: See Pott, Die Zigeuner, II. 311; Kuhn, Beitrage, I. 147. +Yet in the worship of dewel by the Gypsies is to be found the element of +diabolism invariably present in barbaric worship. "Dewel, the great +god in heaven (dewa, deus), is rather feared than loved by these +weather-beaten outcasts, for he harms them on their wanderings with his +thunder and lightning, his snow and rain, and his stars interfere with +their dark doings. Therefore they curse him foully when misfortune +falls on them; and when a child dies, they say that Dewel has eaten it." +Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 248.] + +[Footnote 97: See Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, 939.] + +[Footnote 98: The Buddhistic as well as the Zarathustrian reformation +degraded the Vedic gods into demons. "In Buddhism we find these ancient +devas, Indra and the rest, carried about at shows, as servants of +Buddha, as goblins, or fabulous heroes." Max Muller, Chips, I. 25. This +is like the Christian change of Odin into an ogre, and of Thor into the +Devil.] + +[Footnote 99: Zeus--Dia--Zhna--di on............ Plato Kratylos, p. 396, +A., with Stallbaum's note. See also Proklos, Comm. ad Timaeum, II. p. +226, Schneider; and compare Pseudo-Aristotle, De Mundo, p. 401, a, 15, +who adopts the etymology. See also Diogenes Laertius, VII. 147.] + +[Footnote 100: Marcus Aurelius, v. 7; Hom. Iliad, xii. 25, cf. Petronius +Arbiter, Sat. xliv.] + +[Footnote 101: "Il Sol, dell aurea luce eterno forte." Tasso, +Gerusalemme, XV. 47; ef. Dante, Paradiso, X. 28.] + +[Footnote 102: The Aryans were, however, doubtless better off than +the tribes of North America. "In no Indian language could the early +missionaries find a word to express the idea of God. Manitou and Oki +meant anything endowed with supernatural powers, from a snake-skin or +a greasy Indian conjurer up to Manabozho and Jouskeha. The priests were +forced to use a circumlocution,--`the great chief of men,' or 'he who +lives in the sky.'" Parkman, Jesuits in North America, p. lxxix. "The +Algonquins used no oaths, for their language supplied none; doubtless +because their mythology had no beings sufficiently distinct to swear +by." Ibid, p. 31.] + +[Footnote 103: Muller, Rig-Veda-Sanhita, I. 230.] + +[Footnote 104: Compare the remarks of Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 13.] + +[Footnote 105: It should be borne in mind, however, that one of +the women who tempt Odysseus is not a dawn-maiden, but a goddess of +darkness; Kalypso answers to Venus-Ursula in the myth of Tannhauser. +Kirke, on the other hand, seems to be a dawn-maiden, like Medeia, +whom she resembles. In her the wisdom of the dawn-goddess Athene, +the loftiest of Greek divinities, becomes degraded into the art of an +enchantress. She reappears, in the Arabian Nights, as the wicked Queen +Labe, whose sorcery none of her lovers can baffle, save Beder, king of +Persia.] + +[Footnote 106: The Persian Cyrus is an historical personage; but the +story of his perils in infancy belongs to solar mythology as much as +the stories of the magic sleep of Charlemagne and Barbarossa. His +grandfather, Astyages, is purely a mythical creation, his name being +identical with that of the night-demon, Azidahaka, who appears in the +Shah-Nameh as the biting serpent Zohak. See Cox, Mythology of the Aryan +Nations, II. 358.] + +[Footnote 107: In mediaeval legend this resistless Moira is transformed +into the curse which prevents the Wandering Jew from resting until the +day of judgment.] + +[Footnote 108: Cox, Manual of Mythology, p. 134.] + +[Footnote 109: In his interesting appendix to Henderson's Folk Lore of +the Northern Counties of England, Mr. Baring-Gould has made an ingenious +and praiseworthy attempt to reduce the entire existing mass of household +legends to about fifty story-roots; and his list, though both redundant +and defective, is nevertheless, as an empirical classification, very +instructive.] + +[Footnote 110: There is nothing in common between the names Hercules and +Herakles. The latter is a compound, formed like Themistokles; the +former is a simple derivative from the root of hercere, "to enclose." If +Herakles had any equivalent in Latin, it would necessarily begin with S, +and not with H, as septa corresponds to epta, sequor to epomai, etc. +It should be noted, however, that Mommsen, in the fourth edition of +his History, abandons this view, and observes: "Auch der griechische +Herakles ist fruh als Herclus, Hercoles, Hercules in Italien einheimisch +und dort in eigenthumlicher Weise aufgefasst worden, wie es scheint +zunachst als Gott des gewagten Gewinns und der ausserordentlichen +Vermogensvermehrung." Romische Geschichte, I. 181. One would gladly +learn Mommsen's reasons for recurring to this apparently less defensible +opinion.] + +[Footnote 111: For the relations between Sancus and Herakles, see +Preller, Romische Mythologie, p. 635; Vollmer, Mythologie, p. 970.] + +[Footnote 112: Burnouf, Bhagavata-Purana, III. p. lxxxvi; Breal, op. +cit. p. 98.] + +[Footnote 113: Max Muller, Science of Language, II 484.] + +[Footnote 114: As Max Muller observes, "apart from all mythological +considerations, Sarama in Sanskrit is the same word as Helena in Greek." +Op. cit. p. 490. The names correspond phonetically letter for letter, +as, Surya corresponds to Helios, Sarameyas to Hermeias, and Aharyu to +Achilleus. Muller has plausibly suggested that Paris similarly answers +to the Panis.] + +[Footnote 115: "I create evil," Isaiah xiv. 7; "Shall there be evil in +the city, and the Lord hath not done it?" Amos iii. 6; cf. Iliad, xxiv. +527, and contrast 2 Samuel xxiv. 1 with 1 Chronicles xxi. 1.] + +[Footnote 116: Nor is there any ground for believing that the serpent in +the Eden myth is intended for Satan. The identification is entirely the +work of modern dogmatic theology, and is due, naturally enough, to the +habit, so common alike among theologians and laymen, of reasoning about +the Bible as if it were a single book, and not a collection of +writings of different ages and of very different degrees of historic +authenticity. In a future work, entitled "Aryana Vaedjo," I hope to +examine, at considerable length, this interesting myth of the garden of +Eden.] + +[Footnote 117: For further particulars see Cox, Mythology of the Aryan +Nations, Vol. II. pp 358, 366; to which I am indebted for several of the +details here given. Compare Welcker, Griechische Gotterlehre, I. 661, +seq.] + +[Footnote 118: Many amusing passages from Scotch theologians are cited +in Buckle's History of Civilization, Vol. II. p. 368. The same belief +is implied in the quaint monkish tale of "Celestinus and the Miller's +Horse." See Tales from the Gesta Romanorum, p. 134.] + +[Footnote 119: Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. 11. p. 258.] + +[Footnote 120: Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. II. p. 259. In the Norse +story of "Not a Pin to choose between them," the old woman is in doubt +as to her own identity, on waking up after the butcher has dipped her in +a tar-barrel and rolled her on a heap of feathers; and when Tray barks +at her, her perplexity is as great as the Devil's when fooled by the +Frenschutz. See Dasent, Norse Tales, p. 199.] + +[Footnote 121: See Deulin, Contes d'un Buveur de Biere, pp. 3-29.] + +[Footnote 122: Dasent, Popular Tales from the Norse, No. III. and No. +XLII.] + +[Footnote 123: See Dasent's Introduction, p. cxxxix; Campbell, Tales of +the West Highlands, Vol. IV. p. 344; and Williams, Indian Epic Poetry, +p. 10.] + +[Footnote 124: "A Leopard was returning home from hunting on one +occasion, when he lighted on the kraal of a Ram. Now the Leopard had +never seen a Ram before, and accordingly, approaching submissively, he +said, 'Good day, friend! what may your name be?' The other, in his gruff +voice, and striking his breast with his forefoot, said, 'I am a Ram; +who are you?' 'A Leopard,' answered the other, more dead than alive; and +then, taking leave of the Ram, he ran home as fast as he could." Bleek, +Hottentot Fables, p. 24.] + +[Footnote 125: I agree, most heartily, with Mr. Mahaffy's remarks, +Prolegomena to Ancient History, p. 69.] + +[Footnote 126: Sir George Grey once told some Australian natives about +the countries within the arctic circle where during part of the year the +sun never sets. "Their astonishment now knew no bounds. 'Ah! that must +be another sun, not the same as the one we see here,' said an old man; +and in spite of all my arguments to the contrary, the others adopted +this opinion." Grey's Journals, I. 293, cited in Tylor, Early History of +Mankind, p. 301.] + +[Footnote 127: Max Muller, Chips, II. 96.] + +[Footnote 128: Fictions of the Irish Celts, pp. 255-270.] + +[Footnote 129: A corruption of Gaelic bhan a teaigh, "lady of the +house."] + +[Footnote 130: For the analysis of twelve, see my essay on "The Genesis +of Language," North American Review, October 1869, p. 320.] + +[Footnote 131: Chips from a German Workshop, Vol. II. p. 246.] + +[Footnote 132: For various legends of a deluge, see Baring-Gould, +Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 85-106.] + +[Footnote 133: Brinton, Myths of the New World, p. 160.] + +[Footnote 134: Brinton, op. cit. p. 163.] + +[Footnote 135: Brinton, op. cit. p. 167.] + +[Footnote 136: Corresponding, in various degrees, to the Asvins, the +Dioskouroi, and the brothers True and Untrue of Norse mythology.] + +[Footnote 137: See Humboldt's Kosmos, Tom. III. pp. 469-476. A +fetichistic regard for the cardinal points has not always been absent +from the minds of persons instructed in a higher theology as witness a +well-known passage in Irenaeus, and also the custom, well-nigh universal +in Europe, of building Christian churches in a line east and west.] + +[Footnote 138: Bleek, Hottentot Fables and Tales, p. 72. Compare the +Fiji story of Ra Vula, the Moon, and Ra Kalavo, the Rat, in Tylor, +Primitive Culture, I. 321.] + +[Footnote 139: Tylor, Early History of Mankind, p. 327.] + +[Footnote 140: Tylor, op. cit., p. 346.] + +[Footnote 141: Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, II. 299-302.] + +[Footnote 142: Speaking of beliefs in the Malay Archipelago, Mr. Wallace +says: "It is universally believed in Lombock that some men have the +power to turn themselves into crocodiles, which they do for the sake +of devouring their enemies, and many strange tales are told of such +transformations." Wallace, Malay Archipelago, Vol. I. p. 251.] + +[Footnote 143: Bleek, Hottentot Fables and Tales, p. 58.] + +[Footnote 144: Callaway, Zulu Nursery Tales, pp. 27-30.] + +[Footnote 145: Callaway, op. cit. pp. 142-152; cf. a similar story in +which the lion is fooled by the jackal. Bleek, op. cit. p. 7. I omit the +sequel of the tale.] + +[Footnote 146: Brinton, op. cit. p. 104.] + +[Footnote 147: Tylor, op. cit. p. 320.] + +[Footnote 148: Tylor, op. cit. pp. 338-343.] + +[Footnote 149: Tylor, op. cit. p. 336. November, 1870] + +[Footnote 150: Juventus Mundi. The Gods and Men of the Heroic Age. +By the Rt. Hon. William Ewart Gladstone. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co. +1869.] + +[Footnote 151: Hist. Greece, Vol. II. p. 208.] + +[Footnote 152: Grote, Hist. Greece, Vol. II. p. 198.] + +[Footnote 153: For the precise extent to which I would indorse the +theory that the Iliad-myth is an account of the victory of light over +darkness, let me refer to what I have said above on p. 134. I do not +suppose that the struggle between light and darkness was Homer's subject +in the Iliad any more than it was Shakespeare's subject in "Hamlet." +Homer's subject was the wrath of the Greek hero, as Shakespeare's +subject was the vengeance of the Danish prince. Nevertheless, the story +of Hamlet, when traced back to its Norse original, is unmistakably the +story of the quarrel between summer and winter; and the moody prince +is as much a solar hero as Odin himself. See Simrock, Die Quellen des +Shakespeare, I. 127-133. Of course Shakespeare knew nothing of this, +as Homer knew nothing of the origin of his Achilleus. The two stories, +therefore, are not to be taken as sun-myths in their present form. +They are the offspring of other stories which were sun-myths; they +are stories which conform to the sun-myth type after the manner above +illustrated in the paper on Light and Darkness. [Hence there is nothing +unintelligible in the inconsistency--which seems to puzzle Max Muller +(Science of Language, 6th ed. Vol. II. p. 516, note 20)--of investing +Paris with many of the characteristics of the children of light. +Supposing, as we must, that the primitive sense of the Iliad-myth had as +entirely disappeared in the Homeric age, as the primitive sense of the +Hamlet-myth had disappeared in the times of Elizabeth, the fit ground +for wonder is that such inconsistencies are not more numerous.] The +physical theory of myths will be properly presented and comprehended, +only when it is understood that we accept the physical derivation of +such stories as the Iliad-myth in much the same way that we are bound to +accept the physical etymologies of such words as soul, consider, truth, +convince, deliberate, and the like. The late Dr. Gibbs of Yale College, +in his "Philological Studies,"--a little book which I used to read with +delight when a boy,--describes such etymologies as "faded metaphors." +In similar wise, while refraining from characterizing the Iliad or the +tragedy of Hamlet--any more than I would characterize Le Juif Errant by +Sue, or La Maison Forestiere by Erckmann-Chatrian--as nature-myths, I +would at the same time consider these poems well described as embodying +"faded nature-myths."] + +[Footnote 154: I have no opinion as to the nationality of the +Earth-shaker, and, regarding the etymology of his name, I believe we can +hardly do better than acknowledge, with Mr. Cox, that it is unknown. +It may well be doubted, however, whether much good is likely to come +of comparisons between Poseidon, Dagon, Oannes, and Noah, or of +distinctions between the children of Shem and the children of Ham. See +Brown's Poseidon; a Link between Semite, Hamite, and Aryan, London, +1872,--a book which is open to several of the criticisms here directed +against Mr. Gladstone's manner of theorizing.] + +[Footnote 155: "The expression that the Erinys, Saranyu, the Dawn, finds +out the criminal, was originally quite free from mythology; IT MEANT +NO MORE THAN THAT CRIME WOULD BE BROUGHT TO LIGHT SOME DAY OR OTHER. +It became mythological, however, as soon as the etymological meaning +of Erinys was forgotten, and as soon as the Dawn, a portion of time, +assumed the rank of a personal being."--Science of Language, 6th +edition, II. 615. This paragraph, in which the italicizing is mine, +contains Max Muller's theory in a nutshell. It seems to me wholly at +variance with the facts of history. The facts concerning primitive +culture which are to be cited in this paper will show that the case +is just the other way. Instead of the expression "Erinys finds the +criminal" being originally a metaphor, it was originally a literal +statement of what was believed to be fact. The Dawn (not "a portion of +time,"(!) but the rosy flush of the morning sky) was originally regarded +as a real person. Primitive men, strictly speaking, do not talk in +metaphors; they believe in the literal truth of their similes and +personifications, from which, by survival in culture, our poetic +metaphors are lineally descended. Homer's allusion to a rolling stone as +essumenos or "yearning" (to keep on rolling), is to us a mere figurative +expression; but to the savage it is the description of a fact.] + +[Footnote 156: Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of +Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom By Edward B. Tylor. 2 +vols. 8vo. London. 1871.] + +[Footnote 157: Tylor, op. cit. I. 107.] + +[Footnote 158: Rousseau, Confessions, I. vi. For further illustration, +see especially the note on the "doctrine of signatures," supra, p. 55.] + +[Footnote 159: Spencer, Recent Discussions in Science, etc., p. 36, "The +Origin of Animal Worship."] + +[Footnote 160: See Nature, Vol. VI. p. 262, August 1, 1872. The +circumstances narrated are such as to exclude the supposition that the +sitting up is intended to attract the master's attention. The dog has +frequently been seen trying to soften the heart of the ball, while +observed unawares by his master.] + +[Footnote 161: "We would, however, commend to Mr. Fiske's attention +Mr. Mark Twain's dog, who 'couldn't be depended on for a special +providence,' as being nearer to the actual dog of every-day life than +is the Skye terrier mentioned by a certain correspondent of Nature, to +whose letter Mr. Fiske refers. The terrier is held to have had 'a few +fetichistic notions,' because he was found standing up on his hind legs +in front of a mantel-piece, upon which lay an india-rubber ball with +which he wished to play, but which he could not reach, and which, says +the letter-writer, he was evidently beseeching to come down and play +with him. We consider it more reasonable to suppose that a dog who had +been drilled into a belief that standing upon his hind legs was very +pleasing to his master, and who, therefore, had accustomed himself to +stand on his hind legs whenever he desired anything, and whose usual way +of getting what he desired was to induce somebody to get it for him, may +have stood up in front of the mantel-piece rather from force of habit +and eagerness of desire than because he had any fetichistic notions, or +expected the india-rubber ball to listen to his supplications. We admit, +however, to avoid polemical controversy, that in matter of religion the +dog is capable of anything." The Nation, Vol. XV. p. 284, October 1, +1872. To be sure, I do not know for certain what was going on in the +dog's mind; and so, letting both explanations stand, I will only add +another fact of similar import. "The tendency in savages to imagine +that natural objects and agencies are animated by spiritual or living +essences is perhaps illustrated by a little fact which I once noticed: +my dog, a full-grown and very sensible animal, was lying on the lawn +during a hot and still day; but at a little distance a slight breeze +occasionally moved an open parasol, which would have been wholly +disregarded by the dog, had any one stood near it. As it was, every time +that the parasol slightly moved, the dog growled fiercely and barked. +He must, I think, have reasoned to himself, in a rapid and unconscious +manner, that movement without any apparent cause indicated the presence +of some strange living agent, and no stranger had a right to be on his +territory." Darwin, Descent of Man, Vol. 1. p. 64. Without insisting +upon all the details of this explanation, one may readily grant, I +think, that in the dog, as in the savage, there is an undisturbed +association between motion and a living motor agency; and that out of a +multitude of just such associations common to both, the savage, with his +greater generalizing power, frames a truly fetichistic conception.] + +[Footnote 162: Note the fetichism wrapped up in the etymologies of these +Greek words. Catalepsy, katalhyis, a seizing of the body by some spirit +or demon, who holds it rigid. Ecstasy, ekstasis, a displacement or +removal of the soul from the body, into which the demon enters and +causes strange laughing, crying, or contortions. It is not metaphor, but +the literal belief ill a ghost-world, which has given rise to such +words as these, and to such expressions as "a man beside himself or +transported."] + +[Footnote 163: Something akin to the savage's belief in the animation +of pictures may be seen in young children. I have often been asked by my +three-year-old boy, whether the dog in a certain picture would bite him +if he were to go near it; and I can remember that, in my own childhood, +when reading a book about insects, which had the formidable likeness of +a spider stamped on the centre of the cover, I was always uneasy lest +my finger should come in contact with the dreaded thing as I held the +book.] + +[Footnote 164: Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. 394. "The Zulus hold that a +dead body can cast no shadow, because that appurtenance departed from +it at the close of life." Hardwick, Traditions, Superstitions, and +Folk-Lore, p. 123.] + +[Footnote 165: Tylor, op. cit. I. 391.] + +[Footnote 166: Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore, 1867, p. +210.] + +[Footnote 167: Tylor, op. cit. II. 139.] + +[Footnote 168: In Russia the souls of the dead are supposed to be +embodied in pigeons or crows. "Thus when the Deacon Theodore and his +three schismatic brethren were burnt in 1681, the souls of the martyrs, +as the 'Old Believers' affirm, appeared in the air as pigeons. In +Volhynia dead children are supposed to come back in the spring to their +native village under the semblance of swallows and other small birds, +and to seek by soft twittering or song to console their sorrowing +parents." Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, p. 118.] + +[Footnote 169: Tylor, op. cit. I. 404.] + +[Footnote 171: Tylor, op. cit. I. 407.] + +[Footnote 172: Tylor, op. cit. I. 410. In the next stage of survival +this belief will take the shape that it is wrong to slam a door, no +reason being assigned; and in the succeeding stage, when the child asks +why it is naughty to slam a door, he will be told, because it is an +evidence of bad temper. Thus do old-world fancies disappear before the +inroads of the practical sense.] + +[Footnote 173: Agassiz, Essay on Classification, pp. 97-99.] + +[Footnote 174: Figuier, The To-morrow of Death, p. 247.] + +[Footnote 175: Here, as usually, the doctrine of metempsychosis comes +in to complete the proof. "Mr. Darwin saw two Malay women in Keeling +Island, who had a wooden spoon dressed in clothes like a doll; this +spoon had been carried to the grave of a dead man, and becoming inspired +at full moon, in fact lunatic, it danced about convulsively like a table +or a hat at a modern spirit-seance." Tylor, op. cit. II. 139.] + +[Footnote 176: Tylor, op. cit. I. 414-422.] + +[Footnote 177: Tylor, op. cit. I. 435, 446; II. 30, 36.] + +[Footnote 178: According to the Karens, blindness occurs when the SOUL +OF THE EYE is eaten by demons. Id., II. 353.] + +[Footnote 179: The following citation is interesting as an illustration +of the directness of descent from heathen manes-worship to Christian +saint-worship: "It is well known that Romulus, mindful of his own +adventurous infancy, became after death a Roman deity, propitious to the +health and safety of young children, so that nurses and mothers would +carry sickly infants to present them in his little round temple at +the foot of the Palatine. In after ages the temple was replaced by +the church of St. Theodorus, and there Dr. Conyers Middleton, who drew +public attention to its curious history, used to look in and see ten +or a dozen women, each with a sick child in her lap, sitting in silent +reverence before the altar of the saint. The ceremony of blessing +children, especially after vaccination, may still be seen there on +Thursday mornings." Op. cit. II. 111.] + +[Footnote 180: Want of space prevents me from remarking at length +upon Mr. Tylor's admirable treatment of the phenomena of oracular +inspiration. Attention should be called, however, to the brilliant +explanation of the importance accorded by all religions to the rite of +fasting. Prolonged abstinence from food tends to bring on a mental +state which is favourable to visions. The savage priest or medicine-man +qualifies himself for the performance of his duties by fasting, and +where this is not sufficient, often uses intoxicating drugs; whence +the sacredness of the hasheesh, as also of the Vedic soma-juice. The +practice of fasting among civilized peoples is an instance of survival.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Myths and Myth-Makers, by John Fiske + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS *** + +***** This file should be named 1061.txt or 1061.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/6/1061/ + +Produced by Charles Keller + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Myths and Myth-Makers: Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted +by comparative mythology by John Fiske + +Scanned by Charles Keller with OmniPage Professional OCR software + + + + + +MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS OLD TALES AND SUPERSTITIONS INTERPRETED +BY COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGY + +BY JOHN FISKE + + + + +La mythologie, cette science toute nouvelle, qui nous fait +suivre les croyances de nos peres, depuis le berceau du monde +jusqu'aux superstitions de nos campagnes.--EDMOND SCHERER + + + +TO MY DEAR FRIEND, WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS,IN REMEMBRANCE OF +PLEASANT AUTUMN EVENINGS SPENT AMONG WEREWOLVES AND TROLLS AND +NIXIES, I dedicate THIS RECORD OF OUR ADVENTURES. + + + + +PREFACE. + +IN publishing this somewhat rambling and unsystematic series +of papers, in which I have endeavoured to touch briefly upon a +great many of the most important points in the study of +mythology, I think it right to observe that, in order to avoid +confusing the reader with intricate discussions, I have +sometimes cut the matter short, expressing myself with +dogmatic definiteness where a sceptical vagueness might +perhaps have seemed more becoming. In treating of popular +legends and superstitions, the paths of inquiry are circuitous +enough, and seldom can we reach a satisfactory conclusion +until we have travelled all the way around Robin Hood's barn +and back again. I am sure that the reader would not have +thanked me for obstructing these crooked lanes with the thorns +and brambles of philological and antiquarian discussion, to +such an extent as perhaps to make him despair of ever reaching +the high road. I have not attempted to review, otherwise than +incidentally, the works of Grimm, Muller, Kuhn, Breal, Dasent, +and Tylor; nor can I pretend to have added anything of +consequence, save now and then some bit of explanatory +comment, to the results obtained by the labour of these +scholars; but it has rather been my aim to present these +results in such a way as to awaken general interest in them. +And accordingly, in dealing with a subject which depends upon +philology almost as much as astronomy depends upon +mathematics, I have omitted philological considerations +wherever it has been possible to do so. Nevertheless, I +believe that nothing has been advanced as established which is +not now generally admitted by scholars, and that nothing has +been advanced as probable for which due evidence cannot be +produced. Yet among many points which are proved, and many +others which are probable, there must always remain many other +facts of which we cannot feel sure that our own explanation is +the true one; and the student who endeavours to fathom the +primitive thoughts of mankind, as enshrined in mythology, will +do well to bear in mind the modest words of Jacob Grimm,-- +himself the greatest scholar and thinker who has ever dealt +with this class of subjects,--"I shall indeed interpret all +that I can, but I cannot interpret all that I should like." + +PETERSHAM, September 6, 1872. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +I. THE ORIGINS OF FOLK-LORE + +II. THE DESCENT OF FIRE + +III. WEREWOLVES AND SWAN-MAIDENS + +IV. LIGHT AND DARKNESS + +V. MYTHS OF THE BARBARIC WORLD + +VI. JUVENTUS MUNDI + +VII. THE PRIMEVAL GHOST-WORLD + +NOTE + + + + +MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS. + + +I. THE ORIGINS OF FOLK-LORE. + +FEW mediaeval heroes are so widely known as William Tell. His +exploits have been celebrated by one of the greatest poets and +one of the most popular musicians of modern times. They are +doubtless familiar to many who have never heard of Stauffacher +or Winkelried, who are quite ignorant of the prowess of +Roland, and to whom Arthur and Lancelot, nay, even Charlemagne, +are but empty names. + +Nevertheless, in spite of his vast reputation, it is very +likely that no such person as William Tell ever existed, and +it is certain that the story of his shooting the apple from +his son's head has no historical value whatever. In spite of +the wrath of unlearned but patriotic Swiss, especially of +those of the cicerone class, this conclusion is forced upon us +as soon as we begin to study the legend in accordance with the +canons of modern historical criticism. It is useless to point +to Tell's lime-tree, standing to-day in the centre of the +market-place at Altdorf, or to quote for our confusion his +crossbow preserved in the arsenal at Zurich, as unimpeachable +witnesses to the truth of the story. It is in vain that we are +told, "The bricks are alive to this day to testify to it; +therefore, deny it not." These proofs are not more valid than +the handkerchief of St. Veronica, or the fragments of the true +cross. For if relics are to be received as evidence, we must +needs admit the truth of every miracle narrated by the +Bollandists. + +The earliest work which makes any allusion to the adventures +of William Tell is the chronicle of the younger Melchior Russ, +written in 1482. As the shooting of the apple was supposed to +have taken place in 1296, this leaves an interval of one +hundred and eighty-six years, during which neither a Tell, nor +a William, nor the apple, nor the cruelty of Gessler, received +any mention. It may also be observed, parenthetically, that +the charters of Kussenach, when examined, show that no man by +the name of Gessler ever ruled there. The chroniclers of the +fifteenth century, Faber and Hammerlin, who minutely describe +the tyrannical acts by which the Duke of Austria goaded the +Swiss to rebellion, do not once mention Tell's name, or betray +the slightest acquaintance with his exploits or with his +existence. In the Zurich chronicle of 1479 he is not alluded +to. But we have still better negative evidence. John of +Winterthur, one of the best chroniclers of the Middle Ages, +was living at the time of the battle of Morgarten (1315), at +which his father was present. He tells us how, on the evening +of that dreadful day, he saw Duke Leopold himself in his +flight from the fatal field, half dead with fear. He +describes, with the loving minuteness of a contemporary, all +the incidents of the Swiss revolution, but nowhere does he say +a word about William Tell. This is sufficiently conclusive. +These mediaeval chroniclers, who never failed to go out of +their way after a bit of the epigrammatic and marvellous, who +thought far more of a pointed story than of historical +credibility, would never have kept silent about the adventures +of Tell, if they had known anything about them. + +After this, it is not surprising to find that no two authors +who describe the deeds of William Tell agree in the details of +topography and chronology. Such discrepancies never fail to +confront us when we leave the solid ground of history and +begin to deal with floating legends. Yet, if the story be not +historical, what could have been its origin? To answer this +question we must considerably expand the discussion. + +The first author of any celebrity who doubted the story of +William Tell was Guillimann, in his work on Swiss Antiquities, +published in 1598. He calls the story a pure fable, but, +nevertheless, eating his words, concludes by proclaiming his +belief in it, because the tale is so popular! Undoubtedly he +acted a wise part; for, in 1760, as we are told, Uriel +Freudenberger was condemned by the canton of Uri to be burnt +alive, for publishing his opinion that the legend of Tell had +a Danish origin.[1] + +[1] See Delepierre, Historical Difficulties, p. 75. + +The bold heretic was substantially right, however, like so +many other heretics, earlier and later. The Danish account of +Tell is given as follows, by Saxo Grammaticus:-- + +"A certain Palnatoki, for some time among King Harold's +body-guard, had made his bravery odious to very many of his +fellow-soldiers by the zeal with which he surpassed them in +the discharge of his duty. This man once, when talking tipsily +over his cups, had boasted that he was so skilled an archer +that he could hit the smallest apple placed a long way off on +a wand at the first shot; which talk, caught up at first by +the ears of backbiters, soon came to the hearing of the king. +Now, mark how the wickedness of the king turned the confidence +of the sire to the peril of the son, by commanding that this +dearest pledge of his life should be placed instead of the +wand, with a threat that, unless the author of this promise +could strike off the apple at the first flight of the arrow, +he should pay the penalty of his empty boasting by the loss of +his head. The king's command forced the soldier to perform +more than he had promised, and what he had said, reported, by +the tongues of slanderers, bound him to accomplish what he had +NOT said. Yet did not his sterling courage, though caught in +the snare of slander, suffer him to lay aside his firmness of +heart; nay, he accepted the trial the more readily because it +was hard. So Palnatoki warned the boy urgently when he took +his stand to await the coming of the hurtling arrow with calm +ears and unbent head, lest, by a slight turn of his body, he +should defeat the practised skill of the bowman; and, taking +further counsel to prevent his fear, he turned away his face, +lest he should be scared at the sight of the weapon. Then, +taking three arrows from the quiver, he struck the mark given +him with the first he fitted to the string. . . . . But +Palnatoki, when asked by the king why he had taken more arrows +from the quiver, when it had been settled that he should only +try the fortune of the bow ONCE, made answer, 'That I might +avenge on thee the swerving of the first by the points of the +rest, lest perchance my innocence might have been punished, +while your violence escaped scot-free.' "[2] + +[2] Saxo Grammaticus, Bk. X. p. 166, ed. Frankf. 1576. + +This ruthless king is none other than the famous Harold +Blue-tooth, and the occurrence is placed by Saxo in the year +950. But the story appears not only in Denmark, but in +Fingland, in Norway, in Finland and Russia, and in Persia, and +there is some reason for supposing that it was known in India. +In Norway we have the adventures of Pansa the Splay-footed, +and of Hemingr, a vassal of Harold Hardrada, who invaded +England in 1066. In Iceland there is the kindred legend of +Egil brother of Wayland Smith, the Norse Vulcan. In England +there is the ballad of William of Cloudeslee, which supplied +Scott with many details of the archery scene in "Ivanhoe." +Here, says the dauntless bowman, + + "I have a sonne seven years old; + Hee is to me full deere; + I will tye him to a stake-- + All shall see him that bee here-- + And lay an apple upon his head, + And goe six paces him froe, + And I myself with a broad arrowe + Shall cleave the apple in towe." + +In the Malleus Maleficarum a similar story is told Puncher, a +famous magician on the Upper Rhine. The great ethnologist +Castren dug up the same legend in Finland. It is common, as +Dr. Dasent observes, to the Turks and Mongolians; "and a +legend of the wild Samoyeds, who never heard of Tell or saw a +book in their lives relates it, chapter and verse, of one of +their marksmen." Finally, in the Persian poem of Farid-Uddin +Attar, born in 1119, we read a story of a prince who shoots an +apple from the head of a beloved page. In all these stories, +names and motives of course differ; but all contain the same +essential incidents. It is always an unerring archer who, at +the capricious command of a tyrant, shoots from the head of +some one dear to him a small object, be it an apple, a nut, or +a piece of coin. The archer always provides himself with a +second arrow, and, when questioned as to the use he intended +to make of his extra weapon, the invariable reply is, "To kill +thee, tyrant, had I slain my son." Now, when a marvellous +occurrence is said to have happened everywhere, we may feel +sure that it never happened anywhere. Popular fancies +propagate themselves indefinitely, but historical events, +especially the striking and dramatic ones, are rarely +repeated. The facts here collected lead inevitably to the +conclusion that the Tell myth was known, in its general +features, to our Aryan ancestors, before ever they left their +primitive dwelling-place in Central Asia. + +It may, indeed, be urged that some one of these wonderful +marksmen may really have existed and have performed the feat +recorded in the legend; and that his true story, carried about +by hearsay tradition from one country to another and from age +to age, may have formed the theme for all the variations above +mentioned, just as the fables of La Fontaine were patterned +after those of AEsop and Phaedrus, and just as many of +Chaucer's tales were consciously adopted from Boccaccio. No +doubt there has been a good deal of borrowing and lending +among the legends of different peoples, as well as among the +words of different languages; and possibly even some +picturesque fragment of early history may have now and then +been carried about the world in this manner. But as the +philologist can with almost unerring certainty distinguish +between the native and the imported words in any Aryan +language, by examining their phonetic peculiarities, so the +student of popular traditions, though working with far less +perfect instruments, can safely assert, with reference to a +vast number of legends, that they cannot have been obtained by +any process of conscious borrowing. The difficulties +inseparable from any such hypothesis will become more and more +apparent as we proceed to examine a few other stories current +in different portions of the Aryan domain. + +As the Swiss must give up his Tell, so must the Welshman be +deprived of his brave dog Gellert, over whose cruel fate I +confess to having shed more tears than I should regard as well +bestowed upon the misfortunes of many a human hero of romance. +Every one knows how the dear old brute killed the wolf which +had come to devour Llewellyn's child, and how the prince, +returning home and finding the cradle upset and the dog's +mouth dripping blood, hastily slew his benefactor, before the +cry of the child from behind the cradle and the sight of the +wolf's body had rectified his error. To this day the visitor +to Snowdon is told the touching story, and shown the place, +called Beth-Gellert,[3] where the dog's grave is still to be +seen. Nevertheless, the story occurs in the fireside lore of +nearly every Aryan people. Under the Gellert-form it started +in the Panchatantra, a collection of Sanskrit fables; and it +has even been discovered in a Chinese work which dates from A. +D. 668. Usually the hero is a dog, but sometimes a falcon, an +ichneumon, an insect, or even a man. In Egypt it takes the +following comical shape: "A Wali once smashed a pot full of +herbs which a cook had prepared. The exasperated cook thrashed +the well-intentioned but unfortunate Wali within an inch of +his life, and when he returned, exhausted with his efforts at +belabouring the man, to examine the broken pot, he discovered +amongst the herbs a poisonous snake."[4] Now this story of the +Wali is as manifestly identical with the legend of Gellert as +the English word FATHER is with the Latin pater; but as no one +would maintain that the word father is in any sense derived +from pater, so it would be impossible to represent either the +Welsh or the Egyptian legend as a copy of the other. Obviously +the conclusion is forced upon us that the stories, like the +words, are related collaterally, having descended from a +common ancestral legend, or having been suggested by one and +the same primeval idea. + +[3] According to Mr. Isaac Taylor, the name is really derived +from "St. Celert, a Welsh saint of the fifth century, to whom +the church of Llangeller is consecrated." (Words and Places, +p. 339.) + +[4] Compare Krilof's story of the Gnat and the Shepherd, in +Mr. Ralston's excellent version, Krilof and his Fables, p. +170. Many parallel examples are cited by Mr. Baring-Gould, +Curious Myths, Vol. I. pp. 126-136. See also the story of +Folliculus,--Swan, Gesta Romanorum, ad. Wright, Vol. I. p. +lxxxii + +Closely connected with the Gellert myth are the stories of +Faithful John and of Rama and Luxman. In the German story, +Faithful John accompanies the prince, his master, on a journey +in quest of a beautiful maiden, whom he wishes to make his +bride. As they are carrying her home across the seas, Faithful +John hears some crows, whose language he understands, +foretelling three dangers impending over the prince, from +which his friend can save him only by sacrificing his own +life. As soon as they land, a horse will spring toward the +king, which, if he mounts it, will bear him away from his +bride forever; but whoever shoots the horse, and tells the +king the reason, will be turned into stone from toe to knee. +Then, before the wedding a bridal garment will lie before the +king, which, if he puts it on, will burn him like the +Nessos-shirt of Herakles; but whoever throws the shirt into +the fire and tells the king the reason, will be turned into +stone from knee to heart. Finally, during the +wedding-festivities, the queen will suddenly fall in a swoon, +and "unless some one takes three drops of blood from her right +breast she will die"; but whoever does so, and tells the king +the reason, will be turned into stone from head to foot. Thus +forewarned, Faithful John saves his master from all these +dangers; but the king misinterprets his motive in bleeding his +wife, and orders him to be hanged. On the scaffold he tells +his story, and while the king humbles himself in an agony of +remorse, his noble friend is turned into stone. + +In the South Indian tale Luxman accompanies Rama, who is +carrying home his bride. Luxman overhears two owls talking +about the perils that await his master and mistress. First he +saves them from being crushed by the falling limb of a +banyan-tree, and then he drags them away from an arch which +immediately after gives way. By and by, as they rest under a +tree, the king falls asleep. A cobra creeps up to the queen, +and Luxman kills it with his sword; but, as the owls had +foretold, a drop of the cobra's blood falls on the queen's +forehead. As Luxman licks off the blood, the king starts up, +and, thinking that his vizier is kissing his wife, upbraids +him with his ingratitude, whereupon Luxman, through grief at +this unkind interpretation of his conduct, is turned into +stone.[5] + +[5] See Cox, Mythology of the Aryan Nations, Vol. I. pp. +145-149. + +For further illustration we may refer to the Norse tale of the +"Giant who had no Heart in his Body," as related by Dr. +Dasent. This burly magician having turned six brothers with +their wives into stone, the seventh brother--the crafty Boots +or many-witted Odysseus of European folk-lore--sets out to +obtain vengeance if not reparation for the evil done to his +kith and kin. On the way he shows the kindness of his nature +by rescuing from destruction a raven, a salmon, and a wolf. +The grateful wolf carries him on his back to the giant's +castle, where the lovely princess whom the monster keeps in +irksome bondage promises to act, in behalf of Boots, the part +of Delilah, and to find out, if possible, where her lord keeps +his heart. The giant, like the Jewish hero, finally succumbs +to feminine blandishments. "Far, far away in a lake lies an +island; on that island stands a church; in that church is a +well; in that well swims a duck; in that duck there is an egg; +and in that egg there lies my heart, you darling." Boots, thus +instructed, rides on the wolf's back to the island; the raven +flies to the top of the steeple and gets the church-keys; the +salmon dives to the bottom of the well, and brings up the egg +from the place where the duck had dropped it; and so Boots +becomes master of the situation. As he squeezes the egg, the +giant, in mortal terror, begs and prays for his life, which +Boots promises to spare on condition that his brothers and +their brides should be released from their enchantment. But +when all has been duly effected, the treacherous youth +squeezes the egg in two, and the giant instantly bursts. + +The same story has lately been found in Southern India, and is +published in Miss Frere's remarkable collection of tales +entitled "Old Deccan Days." In the Hindu version the seven +daughters of a rajah, with their husbands, are transformed +into stone by the great magician Punchkin,--all save the +youngest daughter, whom Punchkin keeps shut up in a tower +until by threats or coaxing he may prevail upon her to marry +him. But the captive princess leaves a son at home in the +cradle, who grows up to manhood unmolested, and finally +undertakes the rescue of his family. After long and weary +wanderings he finds his mother shut up in Punchkin's tower, +and persuades her to play the part of the princess in the +Norse legend. The trick is equally successful. "Hundreds of +thousands of miles away there lies a desolate country covered +with thick jungle. In the midst of the jungle grows a circle +of palm-trees, and in the centre of the circle stand six jars +full of water, piled one above another; below the sixth jar is +a small cage which contains a little green parrot; on the life +of the parrot depends my life, and if the parrot is killed I +must die."[6] The young prince finds the place guarded by a +host of dragons, but some eaglets whom he has saved from a +devouring serpent in the course of his journey take him on +their crossed wings and carry him to the place where the jars +are standing. He instantly overturns the jars, and seizing the +parrot, obtains from the terrified magician full reparation. +As soon as his own friends and a stately procession of other +royal or noble victims have been set at liberty, he proceeds +to pull the parrot to pieces. As the wings and legs come away, +so tumble off the arms and legs of the magician; and finally +as the prince wrings the bird's neck, Punchkin twists his own +head round and dies. + +[6] The same incident occurs in the Arabian story of +Seyf-el-Mulook and Bedeea-el-Jemal, where the Jinni's soul is +enclosed in the crop of a sparrow, and the sparrow imprisoned +in a small box, and this enclosed in another small box, and +this again in seven other boxes, which are put into seven +chests, contained in a coffer of marble, which is sunk in the +ocean that surrounds the world. Seyf-el-Mulook raises the +coffer by the aid of Suleyman's seal-ring, and having +extricated the sparrow, strangles it, whereupon the Jinni's +body is converted into a heap of black ashes, and +Seyf-el-Mulook escapes with the maiden Dolet-Khatoon. See +Lane's Arabian Nights, Vol. III. p. 316. + +The story is also told in the highlands of Scotland, and some +portions of it will be recognized by the reader as incidents +in the Arabian tale of the Princess Parizade. The union of +close correspondence in conception with manifest independence +in the management of the details of these stories is striking +enough, but it is a phenomenon with which we become quite +familiar as we proceed in the study of Aryan popular +literature. The legend of the Master Thief is no less +remarkable than that of Punchkin. In the Scandinavian tale the +Thief, wishing to get possession of a farmer's ox, carefully +hangs himself to a tree by the roadside. The farmer, passing +by with his ox, is indeed struck by the sight of the dangling +body, but thinks it none of his business, and does not stop to +interfere. No sooner has he passed than the Thief lets himself +down, and running swiftly along a by-path, hangs himself with +equal precaution to a second tree. This time the farmer is +astonished and puzzled; but when for the third time he meets +the same unwonted spectacle, thinking that three suicides in +one morning are too much for easy credence, he leaves his ox +and runs back to see whether the other two bodies are really +where he thought he saw them. While he is framing hypotheses +of witchcraft by which to explain the phenomenon, the Thief +gets away with the ox. In the Hitopadesa the story receives a +finer point. "A Brahman, who had vowed a sacrifice, went to +the market to buy a goat. Three thieves saw him, and wanted to +get hold of the goat. They stationed themselves at intervals +on the high road. When the Brahman, who carried the goat on +his back, approached the first thief, the thief said, +'Brahman, why do you carry a dog on your back?' The Brahman +replied, 'It is not a dog, it is a goat.' A little while after +he was accosted by the second thief, who said, 'Brahman, why +do you carry a dog on your back?' The Brahman felt perplexed, +put the goat down, examined it, took it up again, and walked +on. Soon after he was stopped by the third thief, who said, +'Brahman, why do you carry a dog on your back?' Then the +Brahman was frightened, threw down the goat, and walked home +to perform his ablutions for having touched an unclean animal. +The thieves took the goat and ate it." The adroitness of the +Norse King in "The Three Princesses of Whiteland" shows but +poorly in comparison with the keen psychological insight and +cynical sarcasm of these Hindu sharpers. In the course of his +travels this prince met three brothers fighting on a lonely +moor. They had been fighting for a hundred years about the +possession of a hat, a cloak, and a pair of boots, which would +make the wearer invisible, and convey him instantly +whithersoever he might wish to go. The King consents to act as +umpire, provided he may once try the virtue of the magic +garments; but once clothed in them, of course he disappears, +leaving the combatants to sit down and suck their thumbs. Now +in the "Sea of Streams of Story," written in the twelfth +century by Somadeva of Cashmere, the Indian King Putraka, +wandering in the Vindhya Mountains, similarly discomfits two +brothers who are quarrelling over a pair of shoes, which are +like the sandals of Hermes, and a bowl which has the same +virtue as Aladdin's lamp. "Why don't you run a race for them?" +suggests Putraka; and, as the two blockheads start furiously +off, he quietly picks up the bowl, ties on the shoes, and +flies away![7] + +[7] The same incident is repeated in the story of Hassan of +El-Basrah. See Lane's Arabian Nights, Vol. III p. 452. + +It is unnecessary to cite further illustrations. The tales +here quoted are fair samples of the remarkable correspondence +which holds good through all the various sections of Aryan +folk-lore. The hypothesis of lateral diffusion, as we may call +it, manifestly fails to explain coincidences which are +maintained on such an immense scale. It is quite credible that +one nation may have borrowed from another a solitary legend of +an archer who performs the feats of Tell and Palnatoki; but it +is utterly incredible that ten thousand stories, constituting +the entire mass of household mythology throughout a dozen +separate nations, should have been handed from one to another +in this way. No one would venture to suggest that the old +grannies of Iceland and Norway, to whom we owe such stories as +the Master Thief and the Princesses of Whiteland, had ever +read Somadeva or heard of the treasures of Rhampsinitos. A +large proportion of the tales with which we are dealing were +utterly unknown to literature until they were taken down by +Grimm and Frere and Castren and Campbell, from the lips of +ignorant peasants, nurses, or house-servants, in Germany and +Hindustan, in Siberia and Scotland. Yet, as Mr. Cox observes, +these old men and women, sitting by the chimney-corner and +somewhat timidly recounting to the literary explorer the +stories which they had learned in childhood from their own +nurses and grandmas, "reproduce the most subtle turns of +thought and expression, and an endless series of complicated +narratives, in which the order of incidents and the words of +the speakers are preserved with a fidelity nowhere paralleled +in the oral tradition of historical events. It may safely be +said that no series of stories introduced in the form of +translations from other languages could ever thus have +filtered down into the lowest strata of society, and thence +have sprung up again, like Antaios, with greater energy and +heightened beauty." There is indeed no alternative for us but +to admit that these fireside tales have been handed down from +parent to child for more than a hundred generations; that the +primitive Aryan cottager, as he took his evening meal of yava +and sipped his fermented mead, listened with his children to +the stories of Boots and Cinderella and the Master Thief, in +the days when the squat Laplander was master of Europe and the +dark-skinned Sudra was as yet unmolested in the Punjab. Only +such community of origin can explain the community in +character between the stories told by the Aryan's descendants, +from the jungles of Ceylon to the highlands of Scotland. + +This conclusion essentially modifies our view of the origin +and growth of a legend like that of William Tell. The case of +the Tell legend is radically different from the case of the +blindness of Belisarius or the burning of the Alexandrian +library by order of Omar. The latter are isolated stories or +beliefs; the former is one of a family of stories or beliefs. +The latter are untrustworthy traditions of doubtful events; +but in dealing with the former, we are face to face with a +MYTH. + +What, then, is a myth? The theory of Euhemeros, which was so +fashionable a century ago, in the days of the Abbe Banier, has +long since been so utterly abandoned that to refute it now is +but to slay the slain. The peculiarity of this theory was that +it cut away all the extraordinary features of a given myth, +wherein dwelt its inmost significance, and to the dull and +useless residuum accorded the dignity of primeval history. In +this way the myth was lost without compensation, and the +student, in seeking good digestible bread, found but the +hardest of pebbles. Considered merely as a pretty story, the +legend of the golden fruit watched by the dragon in the garden +of the Hesperides is not without its value. But what merit can +there be in the gratuitous statement which, degrading the +grand Doric hero to a level with any vulgar fruit-stealer, +makes Herakles break a close with force and arms, and carry +off a crop of oranges which had been guarded by mastiffs? It +is still worse when we come to the more homely folk-lore with +which the student of mythology now has to deal. The theories +of Banier, which limped and stumbled awkwardly enough when it +was only a question of Hermes and Minos and Odin, have fallen +never to rise again since the problems of Punchkin and +Cinderella and the Blue Belt have begun to demand solution. +The conclusion has been gradually forced upon the student, +that the marvellous portion of these old stories is no +illegitimate extres-cence, but was rather the pith and centre +of the whole,[8] in days when there was no supernatural, +because it had not yet been discovered that there was such a +thing as nature. The religious myths of antiquity and the +fireside legends of ancient and modern times have their common +root in the mental habits of primeval humanity. They are the +earliest recorded utterances of men concerning the visible +phenomena of the world into which they were born. + +[8] "Retrancher le merveilleux d'un mythe, c'est le +supprimer."--Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 50. + +That prosaic and coldly rational temper with which modern men +are wont to regard natural phenomena was in early times +unknown. We have come to regard all events as taking place +regularly, in strict conformity to law: whatever our official +theories may be, we instinctively take this view of things. +But our primitive ancestors knew nothing about laws of nature, +nothing about physical forces, nothing about the relations of +cause and effect, nothing about the necessary regularity of +things. There was a time in the history of mankind when these +things had never been inquired into, and when no +generalizations about them had been framed, tested, or +established. There was no conception of an order of nature, +and therefore no distinct conception of a supernatural order +of things. There was no belief in miracles as infractions of +natural laws, but there was a belief in the occurrence of +wonderful events too mighty to have been brought about by +ordinary means. There was an unlimited capacity for believing +and fancying, because fancy and belief had not yet been +checked and headed off in various directions by established +rules of experience. Physical science is a very late +acquisition of the human mind, but we are already sufficiently +imbued with it to be almost completely disabled from +comprehending the thoughts of our ancestors. "How Finn +cosmogonists could have believed the earth and heaven to be +made out of a severed egg, the upper concave shell +representing heaven, the yolk being earth, and the crystal +surrounding fluid the circumambient ocean, is to us +incomprehensible; and yet it remains a fact that they did so +regard them. How the Scandinavians could have supposed the +mountains to be the mouldering bones of a mighty Jotun, and +the earth to be his festering flesh, we cannot conceive; yet +such a theory was solemnly taught and accepted. How the +ancient Indians could regard the rain-clouds as cows with full +udders milked by the winds of heaven is beyond our +comprehension, and yet their Veda contains indisputable +testimony to the fact that they were so regarded." We have +only to read Mr. Baring-Gould's book of "Curious Myths," from +which I have just quoted, or to dip into Mr. Thorpe's treatise +on "Northern Mythology," to realize how vast is the difference +between our stand-point and that from which, in the later +Middle Ages, our immediate forefathers regarded things. The +frightful superstition of werewolves is a good instance. In +those days it was firmly believed that men could be, and were +in the habit of being, transformed into wolves. It was +believed that women might bring forth snakes or poodle-dogs. +It was believed that if a man had his side pierced in battle, +you could cure him by nursing the sword which inflicted the +wound. "As late as 1600 a German writer would illustrate a +thunder-storm destroying a crop of corn by a picture of a +dragon devouring the produce of the field with his flaming +tongue and iron teeth." + +Now if such was the condition of the human intellect only +three or four centuries ago, what must it have been in that +dark antiquity when not even the crudest generalizations of +Greek or of Oriental science had been reached? The same +mighty power of imagination which now, restrained and guided +by scientific principles, leads us to discoveries and +inventions, must then have wildly run riot in mythologic +fictions whereby to explain the phenomena of nature. Knowing +nothing whatever of physical forces, of the blind steadiness +with which a given effect invariably follows its cause, the +men of primeval antiquity could interpret the actions of +nature only after the analogy of their own actions. The only +force they knew was the force of which they were directly +conscious,--the force of will. Accordingly, they imagined all +the outward world to be endowed with volition, and to be +directed by it. They personified everything,--sky, clouds, +thunder, sun, moon, ocean, earthquake, whirlwind.[9] The +comparatively enlightened Athenians of the age of Perikles +addressed the sky as a person, and prayed to it to rain upon +their gardens.[10] And for calling the moon a mass of dead +matter, Anaxagoras came near losing his life. To the ancients +the moon was not a lifeless ball of stones and clods: it was +the horned huntress, Artemis, coursing through the upper +ether, or bathing herself in the clear lake; or it was +Aphrodite, protectress of lovers, born of the sea-foam in the +East near Cyprus. The clouds were no bodies of vaporized +water: they were cows with swelling udders, driven to the +milking by Hermes, the summer wind; or great sheep with moist +fleeces, slain by the unerring arrows of Bellerophon, the sun; +or swan-maidens, flitting across the firmament, Valkyries +hovering over the battle-field to receive the souls of falling +heroes; or, again, they were mighty mountains piled one above +another, in whose cavernous recesses the divining-wand of the +storm-god Thor revealed hidden treasures. The yellow-haired +sun, Phoibos, drove westerly all day in his flaming chariot; +or perhaps, as Meleagros, retired for a while in disgust from +the sight of men; wedded at eventide the violet light (Oinone, +Iole), which he had forsaken in the morning; sank, as +Herakles, upon a blazing funeral-pyre, or, like Agamemnon, +perished in a blood-stained bath; or, as the fish-god, Dagon, +swam nightly through the subterranean waters, to appear +eastward again at daybreak. Sometimes Phaethon, his rash, +inexperienced son, would take the reins and drive the solar +chariot too near the earth, causing the fruits to perish, and +the grass to wither, and the wells to dry up. Sometimes, too, +the great all-seeing divinity, in his wrath at the impiety of +men, would shoot down his scorching arrows, causing pestilence +to spread over the land. Still other conceptions clustered +around the sun. Now it was the wonderful treasure-house, into +which no one could look and live; and again it was Ixion +himself, bound on the fiery wheel in punishment for violence +offered to Here, the queen of the blue air. + +[9] "No distinction between the animate and inanimate is made +in the languages of the Eskimos, the Choctaws, the Muskoghee, +and the Caddo. Only the Iroquois, Cherokee, and the +Algonquin-Lenape have it, so far as is known, and with them it +is partial." According to the Fijians, "vegetables and stones, +nay, even tools and weapons, pots and canoes, have souls that +are immortal, and that, like the souls of men, pass on at last +to Mbulu, the abode of departed spirits."--M'Lennan, The +Worship of Animals and Plants, Fortnightly Review, Vol. XII. +p, 416. + +[10] Marcus Aurelius, V. 7. + +This theory of ancient mythology is not only beautiful and +plausible, it is, in its essential points, demonstrated. It +stands on as firm a foundation as Grimm's law in philology, or +the undulatory theory in molecular physics. It is philology +which has here enabled us to read the primitive thoughts of +mankind. A large number of the names of Greek gods and heroes +have no meaning in the Greek language; but these names occur +also in Sanskrit, with plain physical meanings. In the Veda we +find Zeus or Jupiter (Dyaus-pitar) meaning the sky, and +Sarameias or Hermes, meaning the breeze of a summer morning. +We find Athene (Ahana), meaning the light of daybreak; and we +are thus enabled to understand why the Greek described her as +sprung from the forehead of Zeus. There too we find Helena +(Sarama), the fickle twilight, whom the Panis, or +night-demons, who serve as the prototypes of the Hellenic +Paris, strive to seduce from her allegiance to the solar +monarch. Even Achilleus (Aharyu) again confronts us, with his +captive Briseis (Brisaya's offspring); and the fierce Kerberos +(Carvara) barks on Vedic ground in strict conformity to the +laws of phonetics.[11] Now, when the Hindu talked about Father +Dyaus, or the sleek kine of Siva, he thought of the +personified sky and clouds; he had not outgrown the primitive +mental habits of the race. But the Greek, in whose language +these physical meanings were lost, had long before the Homeric +epoch come to regard Zeus and Hermes, Athene, Helena, Paris, +and Achilleus, as mere persons, and in most cases the +originals of his myths were completely forgotten. In the Vedas +the Trojan War is carried on in the sky, between the bright +deities and the demons of night; but the Greek poet, +influenced perhaps by some dim historical tradition, has +located the contest on the shore of the Hellespont, and in his +mind the actors, though superhuman, are still completely +anthropomorphic. Of the true origin of his epic story he knew +as little as Euhemeros, or Lord Bacon, or the Abbe Banier. + +[11] Some of these etymologies are attacked by Mr. Mahaffy in +his Prolegomena to Ancient History, p. 49. After long +consideration I am still disposed to follow Max Muller in +adopting them, with the possible exception of Achilleus. With +Mr. Mahaffy s suggestion (p. 52) that many of the Homeric +legends may have clustered around some historical basis, I +fully agree; as will appear, further on, from my paper on +"Juventus Mundi." + +After these illustrations, we shall run no risk of being +misunderstood when we define a myth as, in its origin, an +explanation, by the uncivilized mind, of some natural +phenomenon; not an allegory, not an esoteric symbol,--for the +ingenuity is wasted which strives to detect in myths the +remnants of a refined primeval science,--but an explanation. +Primitive men had no profound science to perpetuate by means +of allegory, nor were they such sorry pedants as to talk in +riddles when plain language would serve their purpose. Their +minds, we may be sure, worked like our own, and when they +spoke of the far-darting sun-god, they meant just what they +said, save that where we propound a scientific theorem, they +constructed a myth.[12] A thing is said to be explained when +it is classified with other things with which we are already +acquainted. That is the only kind of explanation of which the +highest science is capable. We explain the origin, progress, +and ending of a thunder-storm, when we classify the phenomena +presented by it along with other more familiar phenomena of +vaporization and condensation. But the primitive man explained +the same thing to his own satisfaction when he had classified +it along with the well-known phenomena of human volition, by +constructing a theory of a great black dragon pierced by the +unerring arrows of a heavenly archer. We consider the nature +of the stars to a certain extent explained when they are +classified as suns; but the Mohammedan compiler of the +"Mishkat-ul-Ma'sabih" was content to explain them as missiles +useful for stoning the Devil! Now, as soon as the old Greek, +forgetting the source of his conception, began to talk of a +human Oidipous slaying a leonine Sphinx, and as soon as the +Mussulman began, if he ever did, to tell his children how the +Devil once got a good pelting with golden bullets, then both +the one and the other were talking pure mythology. + +[12] Les facultes qui engendrent la mythologie sont les memes +que celles qui engendront la philosophie, et ce n'est pas sans +raison que l'Inde et la Grece nous presentent le phenomene de +la plus riche mythologie a cote de la plus profonde +metaphysique. "La conception de la multiplicite dans +l'univers, c'est le polytheisme chez les peuples enfants; +c'est la science chez les peuples arrives a l'age mur.--Renan, +Hist. des Langues Semitiques, Tom. I. p. 9. + +We are justified, accordingly, in distinguishing between a +myth and a legend. Though the words are etymologically +parallel, and though in ordinary discourse we may use them +interchangeably, yet when strict accuracy is required, it is +well to keep them separate. And it is perhaps needless, save +for the sake of completeness, to say that both are to be +distinguished from stories which have been designedly +fabricated. The distinction may occasionally be subtle, but is +usually broad enough. Thus, the story that Philip II. murdered +his wife Elizabeth, is a misrepresentation; but the story that +the same Elizabeth was culpably enamoured of her step-son Don +Carlos, is a legend. The story that Queen Eleanor saved the +life of her husband, Edward I., by sucking a wound made in his +arm by a poisoned arrow, is a legend; but the story that +Hercules killed a great robber, Cacus, who had stolen his +cattle, conceals a physical meaning, and is a myth. While a +legend is usually confined to one or two localities, and is +told of not more than one or two persons, it is characteristic +of a myth that it is spread, in one form or another, over a +large part of the earth, the leading incidents remaining +constant, while the names and often the motives vary with each +locality. This is partly due to the immense antiquity of +myths, dating as they do from a period when many nations, now +widely separated, had not yet ceased to form one people. Thus +many elements of the myth of the Trojan War are to be found in +the Rig-Veda; and the myth of St. George and the Dragon is +found in all the Aryan nations. But we must not always infer +that myths have a common descent, merely because they resemble +each other. We must remember that the proceedings of the +uncultivated mind are more or less alike in all latitudes, and +that the same phenomenon might in various places independently +give rise to similar stories.[13] The myth of Jack and the +BeanStalk is found not only among people of Aryan descent, but +also among the Zulus of South Africa, and again among the +American Indians. Whenever we can trace a story in this way +from one end of the world to the other, or through a whole +family of kindred nations, we are pretty safe in assuming that +we are dealing with a true myth, and not with a mere legend. + +[13] Cases coming under this head are discussed further on, in +my paper on "Myths of the Barbaric World." + +Applying these considerations to the Tell myth, we at once +obtain a valid explanation of its origin. The conception of +infallible skill in archery, which underlies such a great +variety of myths and popular fairy-tales, is originally +derived from the inevitable victory of the sun over his +enemies, the demons of night, winter, and tempest. Arrows and +spears which never miss their mark, swords from whose blow no +armour can protect, are invariably the weapons of solar +divinities or heroes. The shafts of Bellerophon never fail to +slay the black demon of the rain-cloud, and the bolt of +Phoibos Chrysaor deals sure destruction to the serpent of +winter. Odysseus, warring against the impious night-heroes, +who have endeavoured throughout ten long years or hours of +darkness to seduce from her allegiance his twilight-bride, the +weaver of the never-finished web of violet clouds,--Odysseus, +stripped of his beggar's raiment and endowed with fresh youth +and beauty by the dawn-goddess, Athene, engages in no doubtful +conflict as he raises the bow which none but himself can bend. +Nor is there less virtue in the spear of Achilleus, in the +swords of Perseus and Sigurd, in Roland's stout blade +Durandal, or in the brand Excalibur, with which Sir Bedivere +was so loath to part. All these are solar weapons, and so, +too, are the arrows of Tell and Palnatoki, Egil and Hemingr, +and William of Cloudeslee, whose surname proclaims him an +inhabitant of the Phaiakian land. William Tell, whether of +Cloudland or of Altdorf, is the last reflection of the +beneficent divinity of daytime and summer, constrained for a +while to obey the caprice of the powers of cold and darkness, +as Apollo served Laomedon, and Herakles did the bidding of +Eurystheus. His solar character is well preserved, even in the +sequel of the Swiss legend, in which he appears no less +skilful as a steersman than as an archer, and in which, after +traversing, like Dagon, the tempestuous sea of night, he leaps +at daybreak in regained freedom upon the land, and strikes +down the oppressor who has held him in bondage. + +But the sun, though ever victorious in open contest with his +enemies, is nevertheless not invulnerable. At times he +succumbs to treachery, is bound by the frost-giants, or slain +by the demons of darkness. The poisoned shirt of the +cloud-fiend Nessos is fatal even to the mighty Herakles, and +the prowess of Siegfried at last fails to save him from the +craft of Hagen. In Achilleus and Meleagros we see the unhappy +solar hero doomed to toil for the profit of others, and to be +cut off by an untimely death. The more fortunate Odysseus, who +lives to a ripe old age, and triumphs again and again over all +the powers of darkness, must nevertheless yield to the craving +desire to visit new cities and look upon new works of strange +men, until at last he is swallowed up in the western sea. That +the unrivalled navigator of the celestial ocean should +disappear beneath the western waves is as intelligible as it +is that the horned Venus or Astarte should rise from the sea +in the far east. It is perhaps less obvious that winter should +be so frequently symbolized as a thorn or sharp instrument. +Achilleus dies by an arrow-wound in the heel; the thigh of +Adonis is pierced by the boar's tusk, while Odysseus escapes +with an ugly scar, which afterwards secures his recognition by +his old servant, the dawn-nymph Eurykleia; Sigurd is slain by +a thorn, and Balder by a sharp sprig of mistletoe; and in the +myth of the Sleeping Beauty, the earth-goddess sinks into her +long winter sleep when pricked by the point of the spindle. In +her cosmic palace, all is locked in icy repose, naught +thriving save the ivy which defies the cold, until the kiss of +the golden-haired sun-god reawakens life and activity. + +The wintry sleep of nature is symbolized in innumerable +stories of spell-bound maidens and fair-featured youths, +saints, martyrs, and heroes. Sometimes it is the sun, +sometimes the earth, that is supposed to slumber. Among the +American Indians the sun-god Michabo is said to sleep through +the winter months; and at the time of the falling leaves, by +way of composing himself for his nap, he fills his great pipe +and divinely smokes; the blue clouds, gently floating over the +landscape, fill the air with the haze of Indian summer. In the +Greek myth the shepherd Endymion preserves his freshness in a +perennial slumber. The German Siegfried, pierced by the thorn +of winter, is sleeping until he shall be again called forth to +fight. In Switzerland, by the Vierwald-stattersee, three Tells +are awaiting the hour when their country shall again need to +be delivered from the oppressor. Charlemagne is reposing in +the Untersberg, sword in hand, waiting for the coming of +Antichrist; Olger Danske similarly dreams away his time in +Avallon; and in a lofty mountain in Thuringia, the great +Emperor Yrederic Barbarossa slumbers with his knights around +him, until the time comes for him to sally forth and raise +Germany to the first rank among the kingdoms of the world. The +same story is told of Olaf Tryggvesson, of Don Sebastian of +Portugal, and of the Moorish King Boabdil. The Seven Sleepers +of Ephesus, having taken refuge in a cave from the +persecutions of the heathen Decius, slept one hundred and +sixty-four years, and awoke to find a Christian emperor on the +throne. The monk of Hildesheim, in the legend so beautifully +rendered by Longfellow, doubting how with God a thousand years +ago could be as yesterday, listened three minutes entranced by +the singing of a bird in the forest, and found, on waking from +his revery, that a thousand years had flown. To the same +family of legends belong the notion that St. John is sleeping +at Ephesus until the last days of the world; the myth of the +enchanter Merlin, spell-bound by Vivien; the story of the +Cretan philosopher Epimenides, who dozed away fifty-seven +years in a cave; and Rip Van Winkle's nap in the +Catskills.[14] + +[14] A collection of these interesting legends may be found in +Baring-Gould's "Curious Myths of the Middle Ages," of which +work this paper was originally a review. + +We might go on almost indefinitely citing household tales of +wonderful sleepers; but, on the principle of the association +of opposites, we are here reminded of sundry cases of +marvellous life and wakefulness, illustrated in the Wandering +Jew; the dancers of Kolbeck; Joseph of Arimathaea with the +Holy Grail; the Wild Huntsman who to all eternity chases the +red deer; the Captain of the Phantom Ship; the classic +Tithonos; and the Man in the Moon. + +The lunar spots have afforded a rich subject for the play of +human fancy. Plutarch wrote a treatise on them, but the +myth-makers had been before him. "Every one," says Mr. +Baring-Gould, "knows that the moon is inhabited by a man with +a bundle of sticks on his back, who has been exiled thither +for many centuries, and who is so far off that he is beyond +the reach of death. He has once visited this earth, if the +nursery rhyme is to be credited when it asserts that + + 'The Man in the Moon + Came down too soon + And asked his way to Norwich'; + +but whether he ever reached that city the same authority does +not state." Dante calls him Cain; Chaucer has him put up there +as a punishment for theft, and gives him a thorn-bush to +carry; Shakespeare also loads him with the thorns, but by way +of compensation gives him a dog for a companion. Ordinarily, +however, his offence is stated to have been, not stealing, but +Sabbath-breaking,--an idea derived from the Old Testament. +Like the man mentioned in the Book of Numbers, he is caught +gathering sticks on the Sabbath; and, as an example to +mankind, he is condemned to stand forever in the moon, with +his bundle on his back. Instead of a dog, one German version +places with him a woman, whose crime was churning butter on +Sunday. She carries her butter-tub; and this brings us to +Mother Goose again:-- + + "Jack and Jill went up the hill To get a pail +of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, +And Jill came tumbling after." + +This may read like mere nonsense; but there is a point of view +from which it may be safely said that there is very little +absolute nonsense in the world. The story of Jack and Jill is +a venerable one. In Icelandic mythology we read that Jack and +Jill were two children whom the moon once kidnapped and +carried up to heaven. They had been drawing water in a bucket, +which they were carrying by means of a pole placed across +their shoulders; and in this attitude they have stood to the +present day in the moon. Even now this explanation of the +moon-spots is to be heard from the mouths of Swedish peasants. +They fall away one after the other, as the moon wanes, and +their water-pail symbolizes the supposed connection of the +moon with rain-storms. Other forms of the myth occur in +Sanskrit. + +The moon-goddess, or Aphrodite, of the ancient Germans, was +called Horsel, or Ursula, who figures in Christian mediaeval +mythology as a persecuted saint, attended by a troop of eleven +thousand virgins, who all suffer martyrdom as they journey +from England to Cologne. The meaning of the myth is obvious. +In German mythology, England is the Phaiakian land of clouds +and phantoms; the succubus, leaving her lover before daybreak, +excuses herself on the plea that "her mother is calling her in +England."[15] The companions of Ursula are the pure stars, who +leave the cloudland and suffer martyrdom as they approach the +regions of day. In the Christian tradition, Ursula is the pure +Artemis; but, in accordance with her ancient character, she is +likewise the sensual Aphrodite, who haunts the Venusberg; and +this brings us to the story of Tannhauser. + +[15] See Procopius, De Bello Gothico, IV. 20; Villemarque, +Barzas Breiz, I. 136. As a child I was instructed by an old +nurse that Vas Diemen's Land is the home of ghosts and +departed spirits. + +The Horselberg, or mountain of Venus, lies in Thuringia, +between Eisenach and Gotha. High up on its slope yawns a +cavern, the Horselloch, or cave of Venus within which is heard +a muffled roar, as of subterranean water. From this cave, in +old times, the frightened inhabitants of the neighbouring +valley would hear at night wild moans and cries issuing, +mingled with peals of demon-like laughter. Here it was +believed that Venus held her court; "and there were not a few +who declared that they had seen fair forms of female beauty +beckoning them from the mouth of the chasm."[16] Tannhauser +was a Frankish knight and famous minnesinger, who, travelling +at twilight past the Horselberg, "saw a white glimmering +figure of matchless beauty standing before him and beckoning +him to her." Leaving his horse, he went up to meet her, whom +he knew to be none other than Venus. He descended to her +palace in the heart of the mountain, and there passed seven +years in careless revelry. Then, stricken with remorse and +yearning for another glimpse of the pure light of day, he +called in agony upon the Virgin Mother, who took compassion on +him and released him. He sought a village church, and to +priest after priest confessed his sin, without obtaining +absolution, until finally he had recourse to the Pope. But the +holy father, horrified at the enormity of his misdoing, +declared that guilt such as his could never be remitted sooner +should the staff in his hand grow green and blossom. "Then +Tannhauser, full of despair and with his soul darkened, went +away, and returned to the only asylum open to him, the +Venusberg. But lo! three days after he had gone, Pope Urban +discovered that his pastoral staff had put forth buds and had +burst into flower. Then he sent messengers after Tannhauser, +and they reached the Horsel vale to hear that a wayworn man, +with haggard brow and bowed head, had just entered the +Horselloch. Since then Tannhauser has not been seen." (p. +201.) + +[16] Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. I. p. 197. + +As Mr. Baring-Gould rightly observes, this sad legend, in its +Christianized form, is doubtless descriptive of the struggle +between the new and the old faiths. The knightly Tannhauser, +satiated with pagan sensuality, turns to Christianity for +relief, but, repelled by the hypocrisy, pride, and lack of +sympathy of its ministers, gives up in despair, and returns to +drown his anxieties in his old debauchery. + +But this is not the primitive form of the myth, which recurs +in the folk-lore of every people of Aryan descent. Who, +indeed, can read it without being at once reminded of Thomas +of Erceldoune (or Horsel-hill), entranced by the sorceress of +the Eilden; of the nightly visits of Numa to the grove of the +nymph Egeria; of Odysseus held captive by the Lady Kalypso; +and, last but not least, of the delightful Arabian tale of +Prince Ahmed and the Peri Banou? On his westward journey, +Odysseus is ensnared and kept in temporary bondage by the +amorous nymph of darkness, Kalypso (kalnptw, to veil or +cover). So the zone of the moon-goddess Aphrodite inveigles +all-seeing Zeus to treacherous slumber on Mount Ida; and by a +similar sorcery Tasso's great hero is lulled in unseemly +idleness in Armida's golden paradise, at the western verge of +the world. The disappearance of Tannhauser behind the moonlit +cliff, lured by Venus Ursula, the pale goddess of night, is a +precisely parallel circumstance. + +But solar and lunar phenomena are by no means the only sources +of popular mythology. Opposite my writing-table hangs a quaint +German picture, illustrating Goethe's ballad of the Erlking, +in which the whole wild pathos of the story is compressed into +one supreme moment; we see the fearful, half-gliding rush of +the Erlking, his long, spectral arms outstretched to grasp the +child, the frantic gallop of the horse, the alarmed father +clasping his darling to his bosom in convulsive embrace, the +siren-like elves hovering overhead, to lure the little soul +with their weird harps. There can be no better illustration +than is furnished by this terrible scene of the magic power of +mythology to invest the simplest physical phenomena with the +most intense human interest; for the true significance of the +whole picture is contained in the father's address to his +child, + + "Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind; + In durren Blattern sauselt der Wind." + +The story of the Piper of Hamelin, well known in the version +of Robert Browning, leads to the same conclusion. In 1284 the +good people of Hamelin could obtain no rest, night or day, by +reason of the direful host of rats which infested their town. +One day came a strange man in a bunting-suit, and offered for +five hundred guilders to rid the town of the vermin. The +people agreed: whereupon the man took out a pipe and piped, +and instantly all the rats in town, in an army which blackened +the face of the earth, came forth from their haunts, and +followed the piper until he piped them to the river Weser, +where they alls jumped in and were drowned. But as soon as the +torment was gone, the townsfolk refused to pay the piper on +the ground that he was evidently a wizard. He went away, +vowing vengeance, and on St. John's day reappeared, and +putting his pipe to his mouth blew a different air. Whereat +all the little, plump, rosy-cheeked, golden-haired children +came merrily running after him, their parents standing aghast, +not knowing what to do, while he led them up a hill in the +neighbourhood. A door opened in the mountain-side, through +which he led them in, and they never were seen again; save one +lame boy, who hobbled not fast enough to get in before the +door shut, and who lamented for the rest of his life that he +had not been able to share the rare luck of his comrades. In +the street through which this procession passed no music was +ever afterwards allowed to be played. For a long time the town +dated its public documents from this fearful calamity, and +many authorities have treated it as an historical event.[17] +Similar stories are told of other towns in Germany, and, +strange to say, in remote Abyssinia also. Wesleyan peasants in +England believe that angels pipe to children who are about to +die; and in Scandinavia, youths are said to have been enticed +away by the songs of elf-maidens. In Greece, the sirens by +their magic lay allured voyagers to destruction; and Orpheus +caused the trees and dumb beasts to follow him. Here we reach +the explanation. For Orpheus is the wind sighing through +untold acres of pine forest. "The piper is no other than the +wind, and the ancients held that in the wind were the souls of +the dead." To this day the English peasantry believe that they +hear the wail of the spirits of unbaptized children, as the +gale sweeps past their cottage doors. The Greek Hermes +resulted from the fusion of two deities. He is the sun and +also the wind; and in the latter capacity he bears away the +souls of the dead. So the Norse Odin, who like Hermes fillfils +a double function, is supposed to rush at night over the +tree-tops, "accompanied by the scudding train of brave men's +spirits." And readers of recent French literature cannot fail +to remember Erokmann-Chatrian's terrible story of the wild +huntsman Vittikab, and how he sped through the forest, +carrying away a young girl's soul. + +[17] Hence perhaps the adage, "Always remember to pay the +piper." + +Thus, as Tannhauser is the Northern Ulysses, so is Goethe's +Erlking none other than the Piper of Hamelin. And the piper, +in turn, is the classic Hermes or Orpheus, the counterpart of +the Finnish Wainamoinen and the Sanskrit Gunadhya. His +wonderful pipe is the horn of Oberon, the lyre of Apollo (who, +like the piper, was a rat-killer), the harp stolen by Jack +when he climbed the bean-stalk to the ogre's castle.[18] And +the father, in Goethe's ballad, is no more than right when he +assures his child that the siren voice which tempts him is but +the rustle of the wind among the dried leaves; for from such a +simple class of phenomena arose this entire family of charming +legends. + +[18] And it reappears as the mysterious lyre of the Gaelic +musician, who + +"Could harp a fish out o' the water, +Or bluid out of a stane, +Or milk out of a maiden's breast, +That bairns had never nane." + +But why does the piper, who is a leader of souls +(Psychopompos), also draw rats after him? In answering this +we shall have occasion to note that the ancients by no means +shared that curious prejudice against the brute creation which +is indulged in by modern anti-Darwinians. In many countries, +rats and mice have been regarded as sacred animals; but in +Germany they were thought to represent the human soul. One +story out of a hundred must suffice to illustrate this. "In +Thuringia, at Saalfeld, a servant-girl fell asleep whilst her +companions were shelling nuts. They observed a little red +mouse creep from her mouth and run out of the window. One of +the fellows present shook the sleeper, but could not wake her, +so he moved her to another place. Presently the mouse ran back +to the former place and dashed about, seeking the girl; not +finding her, it vanished; at the same moment the girl +died."[19] This completes the explanation of the piper, and it +also furnishes the key to the horrible story of Bishop Hatto. + +[19] Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. II. p. 159. + +This wicked prelate lived on the bank of the Rhine, in the +middle of which stream he possessed a tower, now pointed out +to travellers as the Mouse Tower. In the year 970 there was a +dreadful famine, and people came from far and near craving +sustenance out of the Bishop's ample and well-filled +granaries. Well, he told them all to go into the barn, and +when they had got in there, as many as could stand, he set +fire to the barn and burnt them all up, and went home to eat a +merry supper. But when he arose next morning, he heard that an +army of rats had eaten all the corn in his granaries, and was +now advancing to storm the palace. Looking from his window, he +saw the roads and fields dark with them, as they came with +fell purpose straight toward his mansion. In frenzied terror +he took his boat and rowed out to the tower in the river. But +it was of no use: down into the water marched the rats, and +swam across, and scaled the walls, and gnawed through the +stones, and came swarming in about the shrieking Bishop, and +ate him up, flesh, bones, and all. Now, bearing in mind what +was said above, there can be no doubt that these rats were the +souls of those whom the Bishop had murdered. There are many +versions of the story in different Teutonic countries, and in +some of them the avenging rats or mice issue directly, by a +strange metamorphosis, from the corpses of the victims. St. +Gertrude, moreover, the heathen Holda, was symbolized as a +mouse, and was said Go lead an army of mice; she was the +receiver of children's souls. Odin, also, in his character of +a Psychopompos, was followed by a host of rats.[20] + +[20] Perhaps we may trace back to this source the frantic +terror which Irish servant-girls often manifest at sight of a +mouse. + +As the souls of the departed are symbolized as rats, so is the +psychopomp himself often figured as a dog. Sarameias, the +Vedic counterpart of Hermes and Odin, sometimes appears +invested with canine attributes; and countless other examples +go to show that by the early Aryan mind the howling wind was +conceived as a great dog or wolf. As the fearful beast was +heard speeding by the windows or over the house-top, the +inmates trembled, for none knew but his own soul might +forthwith be required of him. Hence, to this day, among +ignorant people, the howling of a dog under the window is +supposed to portend a death in the family. It is the fleet +greyhound of Hermes, come to escort the soul to the river +Styx.[21] + +[21] In Persia a dog is brought to the bedside of the person +who is dying, in order that the soul may be sure of a prompt +escort. The same custom exists in India. Breal, Hercule et +Cacus, p. 123. + +But the wind-god is not always so terrible. Nothing can be +more transparent than the phraseology of the Homeric Hymn, in +which Hermes is described as acquiring the strength of a giant +while yet a babe in the cradle, as sallying out and stealing +the cattle (clouds) of Apollo, and driving them helter-skelter +in various directions, then as crawling through the keyhole, +and with a mocking laugh shrinking into his cradle. He is the +Master Thief, who can steal the burgomaster's horse from under +him and his wife's mantle from off her back, the prototype not +only of the crafty architect of Rhampsinitos, but even of the +ungrateful slave who robs Sancho of his mule in the Sierra +Morena. He furnishes in part the conceptions of Boots and +Reynard; he is the prototype of Paul Pry and peeping Tom of +Coventry; and in virtue of his ability to contract or expand +himself at pleasure, he is both the Devil in the Norse +Tale,[22] whom the lad persuades to enter a walnut, and the +Arabian Efreet, whom the fisherman releases from the bottle. + +[22] The Devil, who is proverbially "active in a gale of +wind," is none other than Hermes. + +The very interesting series of myths and popular superstitions +suggested by the storm-cloud and the lightning must be +reserved for a future occasion. When carefully examined, they +will richly illustrate the conclusion which is the result of +the present inquiry, that the marvellous tales and quaint +superstitions current in every Aryan household have a common +origin with the classic legends of gods and heroes, which +formerly were alone thought worthy of the student's serious +attention. These stories--some of them familiar to us in +infancy, others the delight of our maturer years--constitute +the debris, or alluvium, brought down by the stream of +tradition from the distant highlands of ancient mythology. + +September, 1870. + + + +II. THE DESCENT OF FIRE. + +IN the course of my last summer's vacation, which was spent at +a small inland village, I came upon an unexpected illustration +of the tenacity with which conceptions descended from +prehistoric antiquity have now and then kept their hold upon +life. While sitting one evening under the trees by the +roadside, my attention was called to the unusual conduct of +half a dozen men and boys who were standing opposite. An +elderly man was moving slowly up and down the road, holding +with both hands a forked twig of hazel, shaped like the letter +Y inverted. With his palms turned upward, he held in each hand +a branch of the twig in such a way that the shank pointed +upward; but every few moments, as he halted over a certain +spot, the twig would gradually bend downwards until it had +assumed the likeness of a Y in its natural position, where it +would remain pointing to something in the ground beneath. One +by one the bystanders proceeded to try the experiment, but +with no variation in the result. Something in the ground +seemed to fascinate the bit of hazel, for it could not pass +over that spot without bending down and pointing to it. + +My thoughts reverted at once to Jacques Aymar and +Dousterswivel, as I perceived that these men were engaged in +sorcery. During the long drought more than half the wells in +the village had become dry, and here was an attempt to make +good the loss by the aid of the god Thor. These men were +seeking water with a divining-rod. Here, alive before my eyes, +was a superstitious observance, which I had supposed long +since dead and forgotten by all men except students interested +in mythology. + +As I crossed the road to take part in the ceremony a farmer's +boy came up, stoutly affirming his incredulity, + +and offering to show the company how he could carry the rod +motionless across the charmed spot. But when he came to take +the weird twig he trembled with an ill-defined feeling of +insecurity as to the soundness of his conclusions, and when he +stood over the supposed rivulet the rod bent in spite of +him,--as was not so very strange. For, with all his vague +scepticism, the honest lad had not, and could not be supposed +to have, the foi scientifique of which Littre speaks.[23] + +[23] "Il faut que la coeur devienne ancien parmi les aneiennes +choses, et la plenitude de l'histoire ne se devoile qu'a celui +qui descend, ainsi dispose, dans le passe. Mais il faut que +l'esprit demeure moderne, et n'oublie jamais qu'il n'y a pour +lui d'autre foi que la foi scientifique.'--LITTRS. + +Hereupon I requested leave to try the rod; but something in my +manner seemed at once to excite the suspicion and scorn of the +sorcerer. "Yes, take it," said he, with uncalled-for +vehemence, "but you can't stop it; there's water below here, +and you can't help its bending, if you break your back trying +to hold it." So he gave me the twig, and awaited, with a +smile which was meant to express withering sarcasm, the +discomfiture of the supposed scoffer. But when I proceeded to +walk four or five times across the mysterious place, the rod +pointing steadfastly toward the zenith all the while, our +friend became grave and began to philosophize. "Well," said +he, "you see, your temperament is peculiar; the conditions +ain't favourable in your case; there are some people who never +can work these things. But there's water below here, for all +that, as you'll find, if you dig for it; there's nothing like +a hazel-rod for finding out water." + +Very true: there are some persons who never can make such +things work; who somehow always encounter "unfavourable +conditions" when they wish to test the marvellous powers of a +clairvoyant; who never can make "Planchette" move in +conformity to the requirements of any known alphabet; who +never see ghosts, and never have "presentiments," save such as +are obviously due to association of ideas. The ill-success of +these persons is commonly ascribed to their lack of faith; +but, in the majority of cases, it might be more truly referred +to the strength of their faith,--faith in the constancy of +nature, and in the adequacy of ordinary human experience as +interpreted by science.[24] La foi scientifique is an +excellent preventive against that obscure, though not +uncommon, kind of self-deception which enables wooden tripods +to write and tables to tip and hazel-twigs to twist +upside-down, without the conscious intervention of the +performer. It was this kind of faith, no doubt, which caused +the discomfiture of Jacques Aymar on his visit to Paris,[25] +and which has in late years prevented persons from obtaining +the handsome prize offered by the French Academy for the first +authentic case of clairvoyance. + +[24] For an admirable example of scientific self-analysis +tracing one of these illusions to its psychological sources, +see the account of Dr. Lazarus, in Taine, De l'Intelligence, +Vol. I. pp. 121-125. + +[25] See the story of Aymar in Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, +Vol. I. pp. 57-77. The learned author attributes the +discomfiture to the uncongenial Parisian environment; which is +a style of reasoning much like that of my village sorcerer, I +fear. + +But our village friend, though perhaps constructively right in +his philosophizing, was certainly very defective in his +acquaintance with the time-honoured art of rhabdomancy. Had he +extended his inquiries so as to cover the field of +Indo-European tradition, he would have learned that the +mountain-ash, the mistletoe, the white and black thorn, the +Hindu asvattha, and several other woods, are quite as +efficient as the hazel for the purpose of detecting water in +times of drought; and in due course of time he would have +perceived that the divining-rod itself is but one among a +large class of things to which popular belief has ascribed, +along with other talismanic properties, the power of opening +the ground or cleaving rocks, in order to reveal hidden +treasures. Leaving him in peace, then, with his bit of forked +hazel, to seek for cooling springs in some future thirsty +season, let us endeavour to elucidate the origin of this +curious superstition. + +The detection of subterranean water is by no means the only +use to which the divining-rod has been put. Among the ancient +Frisians it was regularly used for the detection of criminals; +and the reputation of Jacques Aymar was won by his discovery +of the perpetrator of a horrible murder at Lyons. Throughout +Europe it has been used from time immemorial by miners for +ascertaining the position of veins of metal; and in the days +when talents were wrapped in napkins and buried in the field, +instead of being exposed to the risks of financial +speculation, the divining-rod was employed by persons covetous +of their neighbours' wealth. If Boulatruelle had lived in the +sixteenth century, he would have taken a forked stick of hazel +when he went to search for the buried treasures of Jean +Valjean. It has also been applied to the cure of disease, and +has been kept in households, like a wizard's charm, to insure +general good-fortune and immunity from disaster. + +As we follow the conception further into the elf-land of +popular tradition, we come upon a rod which not only points +out the situation of hidden treasure, but even splits open the +ground and reveals the mineral wealth contained therein. In +German legend, "a shepherd, who was driving his flock over the +Ilsenstein, having stopped to rest, leaning on his staff, the +mountain suddenly opened, for there was a springwort in his +staff without his knowing it, and the princess [Ilse] stood +before him. She bade him follow her, and when he was inside +the mountain she told him to take as much gold as he pleased. +The shepherd filled all his pockets, and was going away, when +the princess called after him, 'Forget not the best.' So, +thinking she meant that he had not taken enough, he filled his +hat also; but what she meant was his staff with the +springwort, which he had laid against the wall as soon as he +stepped in. But now, just as he was going out at the opening, +the rock suddenly slammed together and cut him in two."[26] + +[26] Kelly, Indo-European Folk-Lore, p. 177. + +Here the rod derives its marvellous properties from the +enclosed springwort, but in many cases a leaf or flower is +itself competent to open the hillside. The little blue flower, +forget-me-not, about which so many sentimental associations +have clustered, owes its name to the legends told of its +talismanic virtues.[27] A man, travelling on a lonely +mountain, picks up a little blue flower and sticks it in his +hat. Forthwith an iron door opens, showing up a lighted +passage-way, through which the man advances into a magnificent +hall, where rubies and diamonds and all other kinds of gems +are lying piled in great heaps on the floor. As he eagerly +fills his pockets his hat drops from his head, and when he +turns to go out the little flower calls after him, "Forget me +not!" He turns back and looks around, but is too bewildered +with his good fortune to think of his bare head or of the +luck-flower which he has let fall. He selects several more of +the finest jewels he can find, and again starts to go out; but +as he passes through the door the mountain closes amid the +crashing of thunder, and cuts off one of his heels. Alone, in +the gloom of the forest, he searches in vain for the +mysterious door: it has disappeared forever, and the traveller +goes on his way, thankful, let us hope, that he has fared no +worse. + +[27] The story of the luck-flower is well told in verse by Mr. +Baring Gould, in his Silver Store, p. 115, seq. + +Sometimes it is a white lady, like the Princess Ilse, who +invites the finder of the luck-flower to help himself to her +treasures, and who utters the enigmatical warning. The +mountain where the event occurred may be found almost anywhere +in Germany, and one just like it stood in Persia, in the +golden prime of Haroun Alraschid. In the story of the Forty +Thieves, the mere name of the plant sesame serves as a +talisman to open and shut the secret door which leads into the +robbers' cavern; and when the avaricious Cassim Baba, absorbed +in the contemplation of the bags of gold and bales of rich +merchandise, forgets the magic formula, he meets no better +fate than the shepherd of the Ilsenstein. In the story of +Prince Ahmed, it is an enchanted arrow which guides the young +adventurer through the hillside to the grotto of the Peri +Banou. In the tale of Baba Abdallah, it is an ointment rubbed +on the eyelid which reveals at a single glance all the +treasures hidden in the bowels of the earth + +The ancient Romans also had their rock-breaking plant, called +Saxifraga, or "sassafras." And the further we penetrate into +this charmed circle of traditions the more evident does it +appear that the power of cleaving rocks or shattering hard +substances enters, as a primitive element, into the conception +of these treasure-showing talismans. Mr. Baring-Gould has +given an excellent account of the rabbinical legends +concerning the wonderful schamir, by the aid of which Solomon +was said to have built his temple. From Asmodeus, prince of +the Jann, Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, wrested the secret of +a worm no bigger than a barley-corn, which could split the +hardest substance. This worm was called schamir. "If Solomon +desired to possess himself of the worm, he must find the nest +of the moor-hen, and cover it with a plate of glass, so that +the mother bird could not get at her young without breaking +the glass. She would seek schamir for the purpose, and the +worm must be obtained from her." As the Jewish king did need +the worm in order to hew the stones for that temple which was +to be built without sound of hammer, or axe, or any tool of +iron,[28] he sent Benaiah to obtain it. According to another +account, schamir was a mystic stone which enabled Solomon to +penetrate the earth in search of mineral wealth. Directed by a +Jinni, the wise king covered a raven's eggs with a plate of +crystal, and thus obtained schamir which the bird brought in +order to break the plate.[29] + +[28] 1 Kings vi. 7. + +[29] Compare the Mussulman account of the building of the +temple, in Baring-Gould, Legends of the Patriarchs and +Prophets, pp. 337, 338. And see the story of Diocletian's +ostrich, Swan, Gesta Romanorum, ed. Wright, Vol I. p. lxiv. +See also the pretty story of the knight unjustly imprisoned, +id. p. cii. + +In these traditions, which may possibly be of Aryan descent, +due to the prolonged intercourse between the Jews and the +Persians, a new feature is added to those before enumerated: +the rock-splitting talisman is always found in the possession +of a bird. The same feature in the myth reappears on Aryan +soil. The springwort, whose marvellous powers we have noticed +in the case of the Ilsenstein shepherd, is obtained, according +to Pliny, by stopping up the hole in a tree where a woodpecker +keeps its young. The bird flies away, and presently returns +with the springwort, which it applies to the plug, causing it +to shoot out with a loud explosion. The same account is given +in German folk-lore. Elsewhere, as in Iceland, Normandy, and +ancient Greece, the bird is an eagle, a swallow, an ostrich, +or a hoopoe. + +In the Icelandic and Pomeranian myths the schamir, or +"raven-stone," also renders its possessor invisible,--a +property which it shares with one of the treasure-finding +plants, the fern.[30] In this respect it resembles the ring of +Gyges, as in its divining and rock-splitting qualities it +resembles that other ring which the African magri-cian gave to +Aladdin, to enable him to descend into the cavern where stood +the wonderful lamp. + +[30] "We have the receipt of fern-seed. We walk invisible."-- +Shakespeare, Henry IV. See Ralston, Songs of the Russian +People, p. 98 + +According to one North German tradition, the luck-flower also +will make its finder invisible at pleasure. But, as the myth +shrewdly adds, it is absolutely essential that the flower be +found by accident: he who seeks for it never finds it! Thus +all cavils are skilfully forestalled, even if not +satisfactorily disposed of. The same kind of reasoning is +favoured by our modern dealers in mystery: somehow the +"conditions" always are askew whenever a scientific observer +wishes to test their pretensions. + +In the North of Europe schamir appears strangely and +grotesquely metamorphosed. The hand of a man that has been +hanged, when dried and prepared with certain weird unguents +and set on fire, is known as the Hand of Glory; and as it not +only bursts open all safe-locks, but also lulls to sleep all +persons within the circle of its influence, it is of course +invaluable to thieves and burglars. I quote the following +story from Thorpe's "Northern Mythology": "Two fellows once +came to Huy, who pretended to be exceedingly fatigued, and +when they had supped would not retire to a sleeping-room, but +begged their host would allow them to take a nap on the +hearth. But the maid-servant, who did not like the looks of +the two guests, remained by the kitchen door and peeped +through a chink, when she saw that one of them drew a thief's +hand from his pocket, the fingers of which, after having +rubbed them with an ointment, he lighted, and they all burned +except one. Again they held this finger to the fire, but still +it would not burn, at which they appeared much surprised, and +one said, 'There must surely be some one in the house who is +not yet asleep.' They then hung the hand with its four +burning fingers by the chimney, and went out to call their +associates. But the maid followed them instantly and made the +door fast, then ran up stairs, where the landlord slept, that +she might wake him, but was unable, notwithstanding all her +shaking and calling. In the mean time the thieves had returned +and were endeavouring to enter the house by a window, but the +maid cast them down from the ladder. They then took a +different course, and would have forced an entrance, had it +not occurred to the maid that the burning fingers might +probably be the cause of her master's profound sleep. +Impressed with this idea she ran to the kitchen and blew them +out, when the master and his men-servants instantly awoke, and +soon drove away the robbers." The same event is said to have +occurred at Stainmore in England; and Torquermada relates of +Mexican thieves that they carry with them the left hand of a +woman who has died in her first childbed, before which +talisman all bolts yield and all opposition is benumbed. In +1831 "some Irish thieves attempted to commit a robbery on the +estate of Mr. Naper, of Loughcrew, county Meath. They entered +the house armed with a dead man's hand with a lighted candle +in it, believing in the superstitious notion that a candle +placed in a dead man's hand will not be seen by any but those +by whom it is used; and also that if a candle in a dead hand +be introduced into a house, it will prevent those who may be +asleep from awaking. The inmates, however, were alarmed, and +the robbers fled, leaving the hand behind them."[31] + +[31] Henderson, Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England, +p. 202 + +In the Middle Ages the hand of glory was used, just like the +divining-rod, for the detection of buried treasures. + +Here, then, we have a large and motley group of objects--the +forked rod of ash or hazel, the springwort and the +luck-flower, leaves, worms, stones, rings, and dead men's +hands--which are for the most part competent to open the way +into cavernous rocks, and which all agree in pointing out +hidden wealth. We find, moreover, that many of these charmed +objects are carried about by birds, and that some of them +possess, in addition to their generic properties, the specific +power of benumbing people's senses. What, now, is the common +origin of this whole group of superstitions? And since +mythology has been shown to be the result of primeval attempts +to explain the phenomena of nature, what natural phenomenon +could ever have given rise to so many seemingly wanton +conceptions? Hopeless as the problem may at first sight seem, +it has nevertheless been solved. In his great treatise on "The +Descent of Fire," Dr. Kuhn has shown that all these legends +and traditions are descended from primitive myths explanatory +of the lightning and the storm-cloud.[32] + +[32] Kuhn, Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Gottertranks. +Berlin, 1859. + +To us, who are nourished from childhood on the truths revealed +by science, the sky is known to be merely an optical +appearance due to the partial absorption of the solar rays in +passing through a thick stratum of atmospheric air; the clouds +are known to be large masses of watery vapour, which descend +in rain-drops when sufficiently condensed; and the lightning +is known to be a flash of light accompanying an electric +discharge. But these conceptions are extremely recondite, and +have been attained only through centuries of philosophizing +and after careful observation and laborious experiment. To the +untaught mind of a child or of an uncivilized man, it seems +far more natural and plausible to regard the sky as a solid +dome of blue crystal, the clouds as snowy mountains, or +perhaps even as giants or angels, the lightning as a flashing +dart or a fiery serpent. In point of fact, we find that the +conceptions actually entertained are often far more grotesque +than these. I can recollect once framing the hypothesis that +the flaming clouds of sunset were transient apparitions, +vouchsafed us by way of warning, of that burning Calvinistic +hell with which my childish imagination had been unwisely +terrified;[33] and I have known of a four-year-old boy who +thought that the snowy clouds of noonday were the white robes +of the angels hung out to dry in the sun.[34] My little +daughter is anxious to know whether it is necessary to take a +balloon in order to get to the place where God lives, or +whether the same end can be accomplished by going to the +horizon and crawling up the sky;[35] the Mohammedan of old was +working at the same problem when he called the rainbow the +bridge Es-Sirat, over which souls must pass on their way to +heaven. According to the ancient Jew, the sky was a solid +plate, hammered out by the gods, and spread over the earth in +order to keep up the ocean overhead;[36] but the plate was +full of little windows, which were opened whenever it became +necessary to let the rain come through.[37] With equal +plausibility the Greek represented the rainy sky as a sieve in +which the daughters of Danaos were vainly trying to draw +water; while to the Hindu the rain-clouds were celestial +cattle milked by the wind-god. In primitive Aryan lore, the +sky itself was a blue sea, and the clouds were ships sailing +over it; and an English legend tells how one of these ships +once caught its anchor on a gravestone in the churchyard, to +the great astonishment of the people who were coming out of +church. Charon's ferry-boat was one of these vessels, and +another was Odin's golden ship, in which the souls of slain +heroes were conveyed to Valhalla. Hence it was once the +Scandinavian practice to bury the dead in boats; and in +Altmark a penny is still placed in the mouth of the corpse, +that it may have the means of paying its fare to the ghostly +ferryman.[38] In such a vessel drifted the Lady of Shalott on +her fatal voyage; and of similar nature was the dusky barge, +"dark as a funeral-scarf from stem to stern," in which Arthur +was received by the black-hooded queens.[39] + +[33] "Saga me forwhan byth seo sunne read on aefen? Ic the +secge, forthon heo locath on helle.--Tell me, why is the sun +red at even? I tell thee, because she looketh on hell." +Thorpe, Analecta Anglo-Saxonica, p. 115, apud Tylor, Primitive +Culture, Vol. II. p. 63. Barbaric thought had partly +anticipated my childish theory. + +[34] "Still in North Germany does the peasant say of thunder, +that the angels are playing skittles aloft, and of the snow, +that they are shaking up the feather beds in heaven."-- +Baring-Gould, Book of Werewolves, p. 172. + +[35] "The Polynesians imagine that the sky descends at the +horizon and encloses the earth. Hence they call foreigners +papalangi, or 'heaven-bursters,' as having broken in from +another world outside."--Max Muller, Chips, II. 268. + +[36] "--And said the gods, let there be a hammered plate in the +midst of the waters, and let it be dividing between waters and +waters." Genesis i. 6. + +[37] Genesis vii. 11. + +[38] See Kelly, Indo-European Folk-Lore, p 120; who states +also that in Bengal the Garrows burn their dead in a small +boat, placed on top of the funeral-pile. + +In their character of cows, also, the clouds were regarded as +psychopomps; and hence it is still a popular superstition that +a cow breaking into the yard foretokens a death in the family. + +[39] The sun-god Freyr had a cloud-ship called Skithblathnir, +which is thus described in Dasent's Prose Edda: "She is so +great, that all the AEsir, with their weapons and war-gear, +may find room on board her"; but "when there is no need of +faring on the sea in her, she is made. . . . with so much +craft that Freyr may fold her together like a cloth, and keep +her in his bag." This same virtue was possessed by the fairy +pavilion which the Peri Banou gave to Ahmed; the cloud which +is no bigger than a man's hand may soon overspread the whole +heaven, and shade the Sultan's army from the solar rays. + +But the fact that a natural phenomenon was explained in one +way did not hinder it from being explained in a dozen other +ways. The fact that the sun was generally regarded as an +all-conquering hero did not prevent its being called an egg, +an apple, or a frog squatting on the waters, or Ixion's wheel, +or the eye of Polyphemos, or the stone of Sisyphos, which was +no sooner pushed to the zenith than it rolled down to the +horizon. So the sky was not only a crystal dome, or a +celestial ocean, but it was also the Aleian land through which +Bellerophon wandered, the country of the Lotos-eaters, or +again the realm of the Graiai beyond the twilight; and finally +it was personified and worshipped as Dyaus or Varuna, the +Vedic prototypes of the Greek Zeus and Ouranos. The clouds, +too, had many other representatives besides ships and cows. In +a future paper it will be shown that they were sometimes +regarded as angels or houris; at present it more nearly +concerns us to know that they appear, throughout all Aryan +mythology, under the form of birds. It used to be a matter of +hopeless wonder to me that Aladdin's innocent request for a +roc's egg to hang in the dome of his palace should have been +regarded as a crime worthy of punishment by the loss of the +wonderful lamp; the obscurest part of the whole affair being +perhaps the Jinni's passionate allusion to the egg as his +master: "Wretch! dost thou command me to bring thee my +master, and hang him up in the midst of this vaulted dome?" +But the incident is to some extent cleared of its mystery when +we learn that the roc's egg is the bright sun, and that the +roc itself is the rushing storm-cloud which, in the tale of +Sindbad, haunts the sparkling starry firmament, symbolized as +a valley of diamonds.[40] According to one Arabic authority, +the length of its wings is ten thousand fathoms. But in +European tradition it dwindles from these huge dimensions to +the size of an eagle, a raven, or a woodpecker. Among the +birds enumerated by Kuhn and others as representing the +storm-cloud are likewise the wren or "kinglet" (French +roitelet); the owl, sacred to Athene; the cuckoo, stork, and +sparrow; and the red-breasted robin, whose name Robert was +originally an epithet of the lightning-god Thor. In certain +parts of France it is still believed that the robbing of a +wren's nest will render the culprit liable to be struck by +lightning. The same belief was formerly entertained in +Teutonic countries with respect to the robin; and I suppose +that from this superstition is descended the prevalent notion, +which I often encountered in childhood, that there is +something peculiarly wicked in killing robins. + +[40] Euhemerism has done its best with this bird, representing +it as an immense vulture or condor or as a reminiscence of the +extinct dodo. But a Chinese myth, cited by Klaproth, well +preserves its true character when it describes it as "a bird +which in flying obscures the sun, and of whose quills are made +water-tuns." See Nouveau Journal Asiatique, Tom. XII. p. 235. +The big bird in the Norse tale of the "Blue Belt" belongs to +the same species. + +Now, as the raven or woodpecker, in the various myths of +schamir, is the dark storm-cloud, so the rock-splitting worm +or plant or pebble which the bird carries in its beak and lets +fall to the ground is nothing more or less than the flash of +lightning carried and dropped by the cloud. "If the cloud was +supposed to be a great bird, the lightnings were regarded as +writhing worms or serpents in its beak. These fiery serpents, +elikiai gram-moeidws feromenoi, are believed in to this day by +the Canadian Indians, who call the thunder their hissing."[41] + +[41] Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. II. p. 146. Compare +Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 237, seq. + +But these are not the only mythical conceptions which are to +be found wrapped up in the various myths of schamir and the +divining-rod. The persons who told these stories were not +weaving ingenious allegories about thunder-storms; they were +telling stories, or giving utterance to superstitions, of +which the original meaning was forgotten. The old grannies +who, along with a stoical indifference to the fate of quails +and partridges, used to impress upon me the wickedness of +killing robins, did not add that I should be struck by +lightning if I failed to heed their admonitions. They had +never heard that the robin was the bird of Thor; they merely +rehearsed the remnant of the superstition which had survived +to their own times, while the essential part of it had long +since faded from recollection. The reason for regarding a +robin's life as more sacred than a partridge's had been +forgotten; but it left behind, as was natural, a vague +recognition of that mythical sanctity. The primitive meaning +of a myth fades away as inevitably as the primitive meaning of +a word or phrase; and the rabbins who told of a worm which +shatters rocks no more thought of the writhing thunderbolts +than the modern reader thinks of oyster-shells when he sees +the word ostracism, or consciously breathes a prayer as he +writes the phrase good bye. It is only in its callow infancy +that the full force of a myth is felt, and its period of +luxuriant development dates from the time when its physical +significance is lost or obscured. It was because the Greek had +forgotten that Zeus meant the bright sky, that he could make +him king over an anthropomorphic Olympos. The Hindu Dyaus, who +carried his significance in his name as plainly as the Greek +Helios, never attained such an exalted position; he yielded to +deities of less obvious pedigree, such as Brahma and Vishnu. + +Since, therefore, the myth-tellers recounted merely the +wonderful stories which their own nurses and grandmas had told +them, and had no intention of weaving subtle allegories or +wrapping up a physical truth in mystic emblems, it follows +that they were not bound to avoid incongruities or to preserve +a philosophical symmetry in their narratives. In the great +majority of complex myths, no such symmetry is to be found. A +score of different mythical conceptions would get wrought into +the same story, and the attempt to pull them apart and +construct a single harmonious system of conceptions out of the +pieces must often end in ingenious absurdity. If Odysseus is +unquestionably the sun, so is the eye of Polyphemos, which +Odysseus puts out.[42] But the Greek poet knew nothing of the +incongruity, for he was thinking only of a superhuman hero +freeing himself from a giant cannibal; he knew nothing of +Sanskrit, or of comparative mythology, and the sources of his +myths were as completely hidden from his view as the sources +of the Nile. + +[42] "If Polyphemos's eye be the sun, then Odysseus, the solar +hero, extinguishes himself, a very primitive instance of +suicide." Mahaffy, Prolegomena, p. 57. See also Brown, +Poseidon, pp. 39, 40. This objection would be relevant only in +case Homer were supposed to be constructing an allegory with +entire knowledge of its meaning. It has no validity whatever +when we recollect that Homer could have known nothing of the +incongruity. + +We need not be surprised, then, to find that in one version of +the schamir-myth the cloud is the bird which carries the worm, +while in another version the cloud is the rock or mountain +which the talisman cleaves open; nor need we wonder at it, if +we find stories in which the two conceptions are mingled +together without regard to an incongruity which in the mind of +the myth-teller no longer exists.[43] + +[43] The Sanskrit myth-teller indeed mixes up his materials in +a way which seems ludicrous to a Western reader. He describes +Indra (the sun-god) as not only cleaving the cloud-mountains +with his sword, but also cutting off their wings and hurling +them from the sky. See Burnouf, Bhagavata Purana, VI. 12, 26. + +In early Aryan mythology there is nothing by which the clouds +are more frequently represented than by rocks or mountains. +Such were the Symplegades, which, charmed by the harp of the +wind-god Orpheus, parted to make way for the talking ship +Argo, with its crew of solar heroes.[44] Such, too, were the +mountains Ossa and Pelion, which the giants piled up one upon +another in their impious assault upon Zeus, the lord of the +bright sky. As Mr. Baring-Gould observes: "The ancient Aryan +had the same name for cloud and mountain. To him the piles of +vapour on the horizon were so like Alpine ranges, that he had +but one word whereby to designate both.[45] These great +mountains of heaven were opened by the lightning. In the +sudden flash he beheld the dazzling splendour within, but only +for a moment, and then, with a crash, the celestial rocks +closed again. Believing these vaporous piles to contain +resplendent treasures of which partial glimpse was obtained by +mortals in a momentary gleam, tales were speedily formed, +relating the adventures of some who had succeeded in entering +these treasure-mountains." + +[44] Mr. Tylor offers a different, and possibly a better, +explanation of the Symplegades as the gates of Night through +which the solar ship, having passed successfully once, may +henceforth pass forever. See the details of the evidence in +his Primitive Culture, I. 315. + +[45] The Sanskrit parvata, a bulging or inflated body, means +both "cloud" and "mountain." "In the Edda, too, the rocks, +said to have been fashioned out of Ymir's bones, are supposed +to be intended for clouds. In Old Norse Klakkr means both +cloud and rock; nay, the English word CLOUD itself has been +identified with the Anglo-Saxon clud, rock. See Justi, Orient +und Occident, Vol. II. p. 62." Max Muller, Rig-Veda, Vol. 1. +p. 44. + +This sudden flash is the smiting of the cloud-rock by the +arrow of Ahmed, the resistless hammer of Thor, the spear of +Odin, the trident of Poseidon, or the rod of Hermes. The +forked streak of light is the archetype of the divining-rod in +its oldest form,--that in which it not only indicates the +hidden treasures, but, like the staff of the Ilsenstein +shepherd, bursts open the enchanted crypt and reveals them to +the astonished wayfarer. Hence the one thing essential to the +divining-rod, from whatever tree it be chosen, is that it +shall be forked. + +It is not difficult to comprehend the reasons which led the +ancients to speak of the lightning as a worm, serpent, +trident, arrow, or forked wand; but when we inquire why it was +sometimes symbolized as a flower or leaf; or when we seek to +ascertain why certain trees, such as the ash, hazel, +white-thorn, and mistletoe, were supposed to be in a certain +sense embodiments of it, we are entering upon a subject too +complicated to be satisfactorily treated within the limits of +the present paper. It has been said that the point of +resemblance between a cow and a comet, that both have tails, +was quite enough for the primitive word-maker: it was +certainly enough for the primitive myth-teller.[46] Sometimes +the pinnate shape of a leaf, the forking of a branch, the +tri-cleft corolla, or even the red colour of a flower, seems +to have been sufficient to determine the association of ideas. +The Hindu commentators of the Veda certainly lay great stress +on the fact that the palasa, one of their lightning-trees, is +trident-leaved. The mistletoe branch is forked, like a +wish-bone,[47] and so is the stem which bears the +forget-me-not or wild scorpion grass. So too the leaves of the +Hindu ficus religiosa resemble long spear-heads.[48] But in +many cases it is impossible for us to determine with +confidence the reasons which may have guided primitive men in +their choice of talismanic plants. In the case of some of +these stories, it would no doubt be wasting ingenuity to +attempt to assign a mythical origin for each point of detail. +The ointment of the dervise, for instance, in the Arabian +tale, has probably no special mythical significance, but was +rather suggested by the exigencies of the story, in an age +when the old mythologies were so far disintegrated and mingled +together that any one talisman would serve as well as another +the purposes of the narrator. But the lightning-plants of +Indo-European folk-lore cannot be thus summarily disposed of; +for however difficult it may be for us to perceive any +connection between them and the celestial phenomena which they +represent, the myths concerning them are so numerous and +explicit as to render it certain that some such connection was +imagined by the myth-makers. The superstition concerning the +hand of glory is not so hard to interpret. In the mythology of +the Finns, the storm-cloud is a black man with a bright copper +hand; and in Hindustan, Indra Savitar, the deity who slays the +demon of the cloud, is golden-handed. The selection of the +hand of a man who has been hanged is probably due to the +superstition which regarded the storm-god Odin as peculiarly +the lord of the gallows. The man who is raised upon the +gallows is placed directly in the track of the wild huntsman, +who comes with his hounds to carry off the victim; and hence +the notion, which, according to Mr. Kelly, is "very common in +Germany and not extinct in England," that every suicide by +hanging is followed by a storm. + +[46] In accordance with the mediaeval "doctrine of +signatures," it was maintained "that the hard, stony seeds of +the Gromwell must be good for gravel, and the knotty tubers of +scrophularia for scrofulous glands; while the scaly pappus of +scaliosa showed it to be a specific in leprous diseases, the +spotted leaves of pulmonaria that it was a sovereign remedy +for tuberculous lungs, and the growth of saxifrage in the +fissures of rocks that it would disintegrate stone in the +bladder." Prior, Popular Names of British Plants, Introd., p. +xiv. See also Chapiel, La Doctrine des Signatures. Paris, +1866. + +[47] Indeed, the wish-bone, or forked clavicle of a fowl, +itself belongs to the same family of talismans as the +divining-rod. + +[48] The ash, on the other hand, has been from time immemorial +used for spears in many parts of the Aryan domain. The word +oesc meant, in Anglo-Saxon, indifferently "ash-tree," or +"spear"; and the same is, or has been, true of the French +fresne and the Greek melia. The root of oesc appears in the +Sanskrit as, "to throw" or "lance," whence asa, "a bow," and +asana, "an arrow." See Pictet, Origines Indo-Europeennes, I. +222. + +The paths of comparative mythology are devious, but we have +now pursued them long enough I believe, to have arrived at a +tolerably clear understanding of the original nature of the +divining-rod. Its power of revealing treasures has been +sufficiently explained; and its affinity for water results so +obviously from the character of the lightning-myth as to need +no further comment. But its power of detecting criminals still +remains to be accounted for. + +In Greek mythology, the being which detects and punishes crime +is the Erinys, the prototype of the Latin Fury, figured by +late writers as a horrible monster with serpent locks. But +this is a degradation of the original conception. The name +Erinys did not originally mean Fury, and it cannot be +explained from Greek sources alone. It appears in Sanskrit as +Saranyu, a word which signifies the light of morning creeping +over the sky. And thus we are led to the startling conclusion +that, as the light of morning reveals the evil deeds done +under the cover of night, so the lovely Dawn, or Erinys, came +to be regarded under one aspect as the terrible detector and +avenger of iniquity. Yet startling as the conclusion is, it is +based on established laws of phonetic change, and cannot be +gainsaid. + +But what has the avenging daybreak to do with the lightning +and the divining-rod? To the modern mind the association is +not an obvious one: in antiquity it was otherwise. Myths of +the daybreak and myths of the lightning often resemble each +other so closely that, except by a delicate philological +analysis, it is difficult to distinguish the one from the +other. The reason is obvious. In each case the phenomenon to +be explained is the struggle between the day-god and one of +the demons of darkness. There is essentially no distinction to +the mind of the primitive man between the Panis, who steal +Indra's bright cows and keep them in a dark cavern all night, +and the throttling snake Ahi or Echidna, who imprisons the +waters in the stronghold of the thunder-cloud and covers the +earth with a short-lived darkness. And so the poisoned arrows +of Bellerophon, which slay the storm-dragon, differ in no +essential respect from the shafts with which Odysseus +slaughters the night-demons who have for ten long hours beset +his mansion. Thus the divining-rod, representing as it does +the weapon of the god of day, comes legitimately enough by its +function of detecting and avenging crime. + +But the lightning not only reveals strange treasures and gives +water to the thirsty land and makes plain what is doing under +cover of darkness; it also sometimes kills, benumbs, or +paralyzes. Thus the head of the Gorgon Medusa turns into stone +those who look upon it. Thus the ointment of the dervise, in +the tale of Baba Abdallah, not only reveals all the treasures +of the earth, but instantly thereafter blinds the unhappy man +who tests its powers. And thus the hand of glory, which bursts +open bars and bolts, benumbs also those who happen to be near +it. Indeed, few of the favoured mortals who were allowed to +visit the caverns opened by sesame or the luck-flower, escaped +without disaster. The monkish tale of "The Clerk and the +Image," in which the primeval mythical features are curiously +distorted, well illustrates this point. + +In the city of Rome there formerly stood an image with its +right hand extended and on its forefinger the words "strike +here." Many wise men puzzled in vain over the meaning of the +inscription; but at last a certain priest observed that +whenever the sun shone on the figure, the shadow of the finger +was discernible on the ground at a little distance from the +statue. Having marked the spot, he waited until midnight, and +then began to dig. At last his spade struck upon something +hard. It was a trap-door, below which a flight of marble steps +descended into a spacious hall, where many men were sitting in +solemn silence amid piles of gold and diamonds and long rows +of enamelled vases. Beyond this he found another room, a +gynaecium filled with beautiful women reclining on richly +embroidered sofas; yet here, too, all was profound silence. A +superb banqueting-hall next met his astonished gaze; then a +silent kitchen; then granaries loaded with forage; then a +stable crowded with motionless horses. The whole place was +brilliantly lighted by a carbuncle which was suspended in one +corner of the reception-room; and opposite stood an archer, +with his bow and arrow raised, in the act of taking aim at the +jewel. As the priest passed back through this hall, he saw a +diamond-hilted knife lying on a marble table; and wishing to +carry away something wherewith to accredit his story, he +reached out his hand to take it; but no sooner had he touched +it than all was dark. The archer had shot with his arrow, the +bright jewel was shivered into a thousand pieces, the +staircase had fled, and the priest found himself buried +alive.[49] + +[49] Compare Spenser's story of Sir Guyon, in the "Faery +Queen," where, however, the knight fares better than this poor +priest. Usually these lightning-caverns were like Ixion's +treasure-house, into which none might look and live. This +conception is the foundation of part of the story of +Blue-Beard and of the Arabian tale of the third one-eyed +Calender + +Usually, however, though the lightning is wont to strike dead, +with its basilisk glance, those who rashly enter its +mysterious caverns, it is regarded rather as a benefactor than +as a destroyer. The feelings with which the myth-making age +contemplated the thunder-shower as it revived the earth +paralyzed by a long drought, are shown in the myth of +Oidipous. The Sphinx, whose name signifies "the one who +binds," is the demon who sits on the cloud-rock and imprisons +the rain, muttering, dark sayings which none but the +all-knowing sun may understand. The flash of solar light which +causes the monster to fling herself down from the cliff with a +fearful roar, restores the land to prosperity. But besides +this, the association of the thunder-storm with the approach +of summer has produced many myths in which the lightning is +symbolized as the life-renewing wand of the victorious +sun-god. Hence the use of the divining-rod in the cure of +disease; and hence the large family of schamir-myths in which +the dead are restored to life by leaves or herbs. In Grimm's +tale of the Three Snake Leaves," a prince is buried alive +(like Sindbad) with his dead wife, and seeing a snake +approaching her body, he cuts it in three pieces. Presently +another snake, crawling from the corner, saw the other lying +dead, and going, away soon returned with three green leaves in +its mouth; then laying the parts of the body together so as to +join, it put one leaf on each wound, and the dead snake was +alive again. The prince, applying the leaves to his wife's +body, restores her also to life."[50] In the Greek story, told +by AElian and Apollodoros, Polyidos is shut up with the corpse +of Glaukos, which he is ordered to restore to life. He kills a +dragon which is approaching the body, but is presently +astonished at seeing another dragon come with a blade of grass +and place it upon its dead companion, which instantly rises +from the ground. Polyidos takes the same blade of grass, and +with it resuscitates Glaukos. The same incident occurs in the +Hindu story of Panch Phul Ranee, and in Fouque's "Sir Elidoc," +which is founded on a Breton legend. + +[50] Cox, Mythology of the Aryan Nations, Vol. 1. p. 161. + +We need not wonder, then, at the extraordinary therapeutic +properties which are in all Aryan folk-lore ascribed to the +various lightning-plants. In Sweden sanitary amulets are made +of mistletoe-twigs, and the plant is supposed to be a specific +against epilepsy and an antidote for poisons. In Cornwall +children are passed through holes in ash-trees in order to +cure them of hernia. Ash rods are used in some parts of +England for the cure of diseased sheep, cows, and horses; and +in particular they are supposed to neutralize the venom of +serpents. The notion that snakes are afraid of an ash-tree is +not extinct even in the United States. The other day I was +told, not by an old granny, but by a man fairly educated and +endowed with a very unusual amount of good common-sense, that +a rattlesnake will sooner go through fire than creep over ash +leaves or into the shadow of an ash-tree. Exactly the same +statement is made by Piny, who adds that if you draw a circle +with an ash rod around the spot of ground on which a snake is +lying, the animal must die of starvation, being as effectually +imprisoned as Ugolino in the dungeon at Pisa. In Cornwall it +is believed that a blow from an ash stick will instantly kill +any serpent. The ash shares this virtue with the hazel and +fern. A Swedish peasant will tell you that snakes may be +deprived of their venom by a touch with a hazel wand; and when +an ancient Greek had occasion to make his bed in the woods, he +selected fern leaves if possible, in the belief that the smell +of them would drive away poisonous animals.[51] + +[51] Kelly, Indo-European Folk-Lore, pp. 147, 183, 186, 193. + +But the beneficent character of the lightning appears still +more clearly in another class of myths. To the primitive man +the shaft of light coming down from heaven was typical of the +original descent of fire for the benefit and improvement of +the human race. The Sioux Indians account for the origin of +fire by a myth of unmistakable kinship; they say that "their +first ancestor obtained his fire from the sparks which a +friendly panther struck from the rocks as he scampered up a +stony hill."[52] This panther is obviously the counterpart of +the Aryan bird which drops schamir. But the Aryan imagination +hit upon a far more remarkable conception. The ancient Hindus +obtained fire by a process similar to that employed by Count +Rumford in his experiments on the generation of heat by +friction. They first wound a couple of cords around a pointed +stick in such a way that the unwinding of the one would wind +up the other, and then, placing the point of the stick against +a circular disk of wood, twirled it rapidly by alternate pulls +on the two strings. This instrument is called a chark, and is +still used in South Africa,[53] in Australia, in Sumatra, and +among the Veddahs of Ceylon. The Russians found it in +Kamtchatka; and it was formerly employed in America, from +Labrador to the Straits of Magellan.[54] The Hindus churned +milk by a similar process;[55] and in order to explain the +thunder-storm, a Sanskrit poem tells how "once upon a time the +Devas, or gods, and their opponents, the Asuras, made a truce, +and joined together in churning the ocean to procure amrita, +the drink of immortality. They took Mount Mandara for a +churning-stick, and, wrapping the great serpent Sesha round it +for a rope, they made the mountain spin round to and fro, the +Devas pulling at the serpent's tail, and the Asuras at its +head."[56] In this myth the churning-stick, with its flying +serpent-cords, is the lightning, and the armrita, or drink of +immortality, is simply the rain-water, which in Aryan +folk-lore possesses the same healing virtues as the lightning. +"In Sclavonic myths it is the water of life which restores the +dead earth, a water brought by a bird from the depths of a +gloomy cave."[57] It is the celestial soma or mead which Indra +loves to drink; it is the ambrosial nectar of the Olympian +gods; it is the charmed water which in the Arabian Nights +restores to human shape the victims of wicked sorcerers; and +it is the elixir of life which mediaeval philosophers tried to +discover, and in quest of which Ponce de Leon traversed the +wilds of Florida.[58] + +[52] Brinton, Myths of the New World, p. 151. + +[53] Callaway, Zulu Nursery Tales, I. 173, Note 12. + +[54] Tylor, Early History of Mankind, p. 238; Primitive +Culture, Vol. II. p. 254; Darwin, Naturalist's Voyage, p. 409. + +"Jacky's next proceeding was to get some dry sticks and wood, +and prepare a fire, which, to George's astonishment, he +lighted thus. He got a block of wood, in the middle of which +he made a hole; then he cut and pointed a long stick, and +inserting the point into the block, worked it round between +his palms for some time and with increasing rapidity. +Presently there came a smell of burning wood, and soon after +it burst into a flame at the point of contact. Jacky cut +slices of shark and roasted them."--Reade, Never too Late to +Mend, chap. xxxviii. + +[55] The production of fire by the drill is often called +churning, e. g. "He took the uvati [chark], and sat down and +churned it, and kindled a fire." Callaway, Zulu Nursery +Tales, I. 174. + +[56] Kelly, Indo-European Folk-Lore, p. 39. Burnouf, Bhagavata +Purana, VIII. 6, 32. + +[57] Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, p. 149. + +[58] It is also the regenerating water of baptism, and the +"holy water " of the Roman Catholic. + +The most interesting point in this Hindu myth is the name of +the peaked mountain Mandara, or Manthara, which the gods and +devils took for their churning-stick. The word means "a +churning-stick," and it appears also, with a prefixed +preposition, in the name of the fire-drill, pramantha. Now +Kuhn has proved that this name, pramantha, is etymologically +identical with Prometheus, the name of the beneficent Titan, +who stole fire from heaven and bestowed it upon mankind as the +richest of boons. This sublime personage was originally +nothing but the celestial drill which churns fire out of the +clouds; but the Greeks had so entirely forgotten his origin +that they interpreted his name as meaning "the one who thinks +beforehand," and accredited him with a brother, Epimetheus, or +"the one who thinks too late." The Greeks had adopted another +name, trypanon, for their fire-drill, and thus the primitive +character of Prometheus became obscured. + +I have said above that it was regarded as absolutely essential +that the divining-rod should be forked. To this rule, however, +there was one exception, and if any further evidence be needed +to convince the most sceptical that the divining-rod is +nothing but a symbol of the lightning, that exception will +furnish such evidence. For this exceptional kind of +divining-rod was made of a pointed stick rotating in a block +of wood, and it was the presence of hidden water or treasure +which was supposed to excite the rotatory motion. + +In the myths relating to Prometheus, the lightning-god appears +as the originator of civilization, sometimes as the creator of +the human race, and always as its friend,[59] suffering in its +behalf the most fearful tortures at the hands of the jealous +Zeus. In one story he creates man by making a clay image and +infusing into it a spark of the fire which he had brought from +heaven; in another story he is himself the first man. In the +Peloponnesian myth Phoroneus, who is Prometheus under another +name, is the first man, and his mother was an ash-tree. In +Norse mythology, also, the gods were said to have made the +first man out of the ash-tree Yggdrasil. The association of +the heavenly fire with the life-giving forces of nature is +very common in the myths of both hemispheres, and in view of +the facts already cited it need not surprise us. Hence the +Hindu Agni and the Norse Thor were patrons of marriage, and in +Norway, the most lucky day on which to be married is still +supposed to be Thursday, which in old times was the day of the +fire-god.[60] Hence the lightning-plants have divers virtues +in matters pertaining to marriage. The Romans made their +wedding torches of whitethorn; hazel-nuts are still used all +over Europe in divinations relating to the future lover or +sweetheart;[61] and under a mistletoe bough it is allowable +for a gentleman to kiss a lady. A vast number of kindred +superstitions are described by Mr. Kelly, to whom I am +indebted for many of these examples.[62] + +[59] In the Vedas the rain-god Soma, originally the +personification of the sacrificial ambrosia, is the deity who +imparts to men life, knowledge, and happiness. See Breal, +Hercule et Cacus, p. 85. Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. +277. + +[60] We may, perhaps, see here the reason for making the Greek +fire-god Hephaistos the husband of Aphrodite. + +[61] "Our country maidens are well aware that triple leaves +plucked at hazard from the common ash are worn in the breast, +for the purpose of causing prophetic dreams respecting a +dilatory lover. The leaves of the yellow trefoil are supposed +to possess similar virtues."--Harland and Wilkinson, +Lancashire Folk-Lore, p. 20. + +[62] In Peru, a mighty and far-worshipped deity was Catequil, +the thunder-god, .... he who in thunder-flash and clap hurls +from his sling the small, round, smooth thunder-stones, +treasured in the villages as fire-fetishes and charms to +kindle the flames of love."--Tylor, op. cit. Vol. II. p. 239 + +Thus we reach at last the completed conception of the +divining-rod, or as it is called in this sense the wish-rod, +with its kindred talismans, from Aladdin's lamp and the purse +of Bedreddin Hassan, to the Sangreal, the philosopher's stone, +and the goblets of Oberon and Tristram. These symbols of the +reproductive energies of nature, which give to the possessor +every good and perfect gift, illustrate the uncurbed belief in +the power of wish which the ancient man shared with modern +children. In the Norse story of Frodi's quern, the myth +assumes a whimsical shape. The prose Edda tells of a primeval +age of gold, when everybody had whatever he wanted. This was +because the giant Frodi had a mill which ground out peace and +plenty and abundance of gold withal, so that it lay about the +roads like pebbles. Through the inexcusable avarice of Frodi, +this wonderful implement was lost to the world. For he kept +his maid-servants working at the mill until they got out of +patience, and began to make it grind out hatred and war. Then +came a mighty sea-rover by night and slew Frodi and carried +away the maids and the quern. When he got well out to sea, he +told them to grind out salt, and so they did with a vengeance. +They ground the ship full of salt and sank it, and so the +quern was lost forever, but the sea remains salt unto this +day. + +Mr. Kelly rightly identifies Frodi with the sun-god Fro or +Freyr, and observes that the magic mill is only another form +of the fire-churn, or chark. According to another version the +quern is still grinding away and keeping the sea salt, and +over the place where it lies there is a prodigious whirlpool +or maelstrom which sucks down ships. + +In its completed shape, the lightning-wand is the caduceus, or +rod of Hermes. I observed, in the preceding paper, that in the +Greek conception of Hermes there have been fused together the +attributes of two deities who were originally distinct. The +Hermes of the Homeric Hymn is a wind-god; but the later Hermes +Agoraios, the patron of gymnasia, the mutilation of whose +statues caused such terrible excitement in Athens during the +Peloponnesian War, is a very different personage. He is a +fire-god, invested with many solar attributes, and represents +the quickening forces of nature. In this capacity the +invention of fire was ascribed to him as well as to +Prometheus; he was said to be the friend of mankind, and was +surnamed Ploutodotes, or "the giver of wealth." + +The Norse wind-god Odin has in like manner acquired several of +the attributes of Freyr and Thor.[63] His lightning-spear, +which is borrowed from Thor, appears by a comical +metamorphosis as a wish-rod which will administer a sound +thrashing to the enemies of its possessor. Having cut a hazel +stick, you have only to lay down an old coat, name your +intended victim, wish he was there, and whack away: he will +howl with pain at every blow. This wonderful cudgel appears in +Dasent's tale of "The Lad who went to the North Wind," with +which we may conclude this discussion. The story is told, with +little variation, in Hindustan, Germany, and Scandinavia. + +[63] In Polynesia, "the great deity Maui adds a new +complication to his enigmatic solar-celestial character by +appearing as a wind-god."--Tylor, op. cit. Vol. II. p. 242. + +The North Wind, representing the mischievous Hermes, once blew +away a poor woman's meal. So her boy went to the North Wind +and demanded his rights for the meal his mother had lost. "I +have n't got your meal," said the Wind, "but here's a +tablecloth which will cover itself with an excellent dinner +whenever you tell it to." So the lad took the cloth and +started for home. At nightfall he stopped at an inn, spread +his cloth on the table, and ordered it to cover itself with +good things, and so it did. But the landlord, who thought it +would be money in his pocket to have such a cloth, stole it +after the boy had gone to bed, and substituted another just +like it in appearance. Next day the boy went home in great +glee to show off for his mother's astonishment what the North +Wind had given him, but all the dinner he got that day was +what the old woman cooked for him. In his despair he went back +to the North Wind and called him a liar, and again demanded +his rights for the meal he had lost. "I have n't got your +meal," said the Wind, "but here's a ram which will drop money +out of its fleece whenever you tell it to." So the lad +travelled home, stopping over night at the same inn, and when +he got home he found himself with a ram which did n't drop +coins out of its fleece. A third time he visited the North +Wind, and obtained a bag with a stick in it which, at the word +of command, would jump out of the bag and lay on until told to +stop. Guessing how matters stood as to his cloth and ram, he +turned in at the same tavern, and going to a bench lay down as +if to sleep. The landlord thought that a stick carried about +in a bag must be worth something, and so he stole quietly up +to the bag, meaning to get the stick out and change it. But +just as he got within whacking distance, the boy gave the +word, and out jumped the stick and beat the thief until he +promised to give back the ram and the tablecloth. And so the +boy got his rights for the meal which the North Wind had blown +away. October, 1870. + + + +III. WEREWOLVES AND SWAN-MAIDENS. + +IT is related by Ovid that Lykaon, king of Arkadia, once +invited Zeus to dinner, and served up for him a dish of human +flesh, in order to test the god's omniscience. But the trick +miserably failed, and the impious monarch received the +punishment which his crime had merited. He was transformed +into a wolf, that he might henceforth feed upon the viands +with which he had dared to pollute the table of the king of +Olympos. From that time forth, according to Pliny, a noble +Arkadian was each year, on the festival of Zeus Lykaios, led +to the margin of a certain lake. Hanging his clothes upon a +tree, he then plunged into the water and became a wolf. For +the space of nine years he roamed about the adjacent woods, +and then, if he had not tasted human flesh during all this +time, he was allowed to swim back to the place where his +clothes were hanging, put them on, and return to his natural +form. It is further related of a certain Demainetos, that, +having once been present at a human sacrifice to Zeus Lykaios, +he ate of the flesh, and was transformed into a wolf for a +term of ten years.[64] + +[64] Compare Plato, Republic, VIII. 15. + +These and other similar mythical germs were developed by the +mediaeval imagination into the horrible superstition of +werewolves. + +A werewolf, or loup-garou[65] was a person who had the power +of transforming himself into a wolf, being endowed, while in +the lupine state, with the intelligence of a man, the ferocity +of a wolf, and the irresistible strength of a demon. The +ancients believed in the existence of such persons; but in the +Middle Ages the metamorphosis was supposed to be a phenomenon +of daily occurrence, and even at the present day, in secluded +portions of Europe, the superstition is still cherished by +peasants. The belief, moreover, is supported by a vast amount +of evidence, which can neither be argued nor pooh-poohed into +insignificance. It is the business of the comparative +mythologist to trace the pedigree of the ideas from which such +a conception may have sprung; while to the critical historian +belongs the task of ascertaining and classifying the actual +facts which this particular conception was used to interpret. + +[65] Were-wolf = man-wolf, wer meaning "man." Garou is a +Gallic corruption of werewolf, so that loup-garou is a +tautological expression. + +The mediaeval belief in werewolves is especially adapted to +illustrate the complicated manner in which divers mythical +conceptions and misunderstood natural occurrences will combine +to generate a long-enduring superstition. Mr. Cox, indeed, +would have us believe that the whole notion arose from an +unintentional play upon words; but the careful survey of the +field, which has been taken by Hertz and Baring-Gould, leads +to the conclusion that many other circumstances have been at +work. The delusion, though doubtless purely mythical in its +origin, nevertheless presents in its developed state a curious +mixture of mythical and historical elements. + +With regard to the Arkadian legend, taken by itself, Mr. Cox +is probably right. The story seems to belong to that large +class of myths which have been devised in order to explain the +meaning of equivocal words whose true significance has been +forgotten. The epithet Lykaios, as applied to Zeus, had +originally no reference to wolves: it means "the bright one," +and gave rise to lycanthropic legends only because of the +similarity in sound between the names for "wolf" and +"brightness." Aryan mythology furnishes numerous other +instances of this confusion. The solar deity, Phoibos +Lykegenes, was originally the "offspring of light"; but +popular etymology made a kind of werewolf of him by +interpreting his name as the "wolf-born." The name of the hero +Autolykos means simply the "self-luminous"; but it was more +frequently interpreted as meaning "a very wolf," in allusion +to the supposed character of its possessor. Bazra, the name of +the citadel of Carthage, was the Punic word for "fortress"; +but the Greeks confounded it with byrsa, "a hide," and hence +the story of the ox-hides cut into strips by Dido in order to +measure the area of the place to be fortified. The old theory +that the Irish were Phoenicians had a similar origin. The name +Fena, used to designate the old Scoti or Irish, is the plural +of Fion, "fair," seen in the name of the hero Fion Gall, or +"Fingal"; but the monkish chroniclers identified Fena with +phoinix, whence arose the myth; and by a like misunderstanding +of the epithet Miledh, or "warrior," applied to Fion by the +Gaelic bards, there was generated a mythical hero, Milesius, +and the soubriquet "Milesian," colloquially employed in +speaking of the Irish.[66] So the Franks explained the name of +the town Daras, in Mesopotamia, by the story that the Emperor +Justinian once addressed the chief magistrate with the +exclamation, daras, "thou shalt give":[67] the Greek +chronicler, Malalas, who spells the name Doras, informs us +with equal complacency that it was the place where Alexander +overcame Codomannus with dorn, "the spear." A certain passage +in the Alps is called Scaletta, from its resemblance to a +staircase; but according to a local tradition it owes its name +to the bleaching skeletons of a company of Moors who were +destroyed there in the eighth century, while attempting to +penetrate into Northern Italy. The name of Antwerp denotes the +town built at a "wharf"; but it sounds very much like the +Flemish handt werpen, "hand-throwing": "hence arose the legend +of the giant who cut of the hands of those who passed his +castle without paying him black-mail, and threw them into the +Scheldt."[68] In the myth of Bishop Hatto, related in a +previous paper, the Mause-thurm is a corruption of maut-thurm; +it means "customs-tower," and has nothing to do with mice or +rats. Doubtless this etymology was the cause of the floating +myth getting fastened to this particular place; that it did +not give rise to the myth itself is shown by the existence of +the same tale in other places. Somewhere in England there is a +place called Chateau Vert; the peasantry have corrupted it +into Shotover, and say that it has borne that name ever since +Little John shot over a high hill in the neighbourhood.[69] +Latium means "the flat land"; but, according to Virgil, it is +the place where Saturn once hid (latuisset) from the wrath of +his usurping son Jupiter.[70] + +[66] Meyer, in Bunsen's Philosophy of Universal History, Vol. +I. p. 151. + +[67] Aimoin, De Gestis Francorum, II. 5. + +[68] Taylor, Words and Places, p. 393. + +[69] Very similar to this is the etymological confusion upon +which is based the myth of the "confusion of tongues" in the +eleventh chapter of Genesis. The name "Babel" is really +Bab-Il, or "the gate of God"; but the Hebrew writer +erroneously derives the word from the root balal, "to +confuse"; and hence arises the mythical explanation,--that +Babel was a place where human speech became confused. See +Rawlinson, in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. I. p. 149; +Renan, Histoire des Langues Semitiques, Vol. I. p. 32; +Donaldson, New Cratylus, p. 74, note; Colenso on the +Pentateuch, Vol. IV. p. 268. + +[70] Vilg. AEn. VIII. 322. With Latium compare plat?s, Skr. +prath (to spread out), Eng. flat. Ferrar, Comparative Grammar +of Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit, Vol. I. p. 31. + +It was in this way that the constellation of the Great Bear +received its name. The Greek word arktos, answering to the +Sanskrit riksha, meant originally any bright object, and was +applied to the bear--for what reason it would not be easy to +state--and to that constellation which was most conspicuous in +the latitude of the early home of the Aryans. When the Greeks +had long forgotten why these stars were called arktoi, they +symbolized them as a Great Bear fixed in the sky. So that, as +Max Muller observes, "the name of the Arctic regions rests on +a misunderstanding of a name framed thousands of years ago in +Central Asia, and the surprise with which many a thoughtful +observer has looked at these seven bright stars, wondering why +they were ever called the Bear, is removed by a reference to +the early annals of human speech." Among the Algonquins the +sun-god Michabo was represented as a hare, his name being +compounded of michi, "great," and wabos, "a hare"; yet wabos +also meant "white," so that the god was doubtless originally +called simply "the Great White One." The same naive process +has made bears of the Arkadians, whose name, like that of the +Lykians, merely signified that they were "children of light"; +and the metamorphosis of Kallisto, mother of Arkas, into a +bear, and of Lykaon into a wolf, rests apparently upon no +other foundation than an erroneous etymology. Originally +Lykaon was neither man nor wolf; he was but another form of +Phoibos Lykegenes, the light-born sun, and, as Mr. Cox has +shown, his legend is but a variation of that of Tantalos, who +in time of drought offers to Zeus the flesh of his own +offspring, the withered fruits, and is punished for his +impiety. + +It seems to me, however, that this explanation, though valid +as far as it goes, is inadequate to explain all the features +of the werewolf superstition, or to account for its presence +in all Aryan countries and among many peoples who are not of +Aryan origin. There can be no doubt that the myth-makers +transformed Lykaon into a wolf because of his unlucky name; +because what really meant "bright man" seemed to them to mean +"wolf-man"; but it has by no means been proved that a similar +equivocation occurred in the case of all the primitive Aryan +werewolves, nor has it been shown to be probable that among +each people the being with the uncanny name got thus +accidentally confounded with the particular beast most dreaded +by that people. Etymology alone does not explain the fact that +while Gaul has been the favourite haunt of the man-wolf, +Scandinavia has been preferred by the man-bear, and Hindustan +by the man-tiger. To account for such a widespread phenomenon +we must seek a more general cause. + +Nothing is more strikingly characteristic of primitive +thinking than the close community of nature which it assumes +between man and brute. The doctrine of metempsychosis, which +is found in some shape or other all over the world, implies a +fundamental identity between the two; the Hindu is taught to +respect the flocks browsing in the meadow, and will on no +account lift his hand against a cow, for who knows but it may +he his own grandmother? The recent researches of Mr. M`Lennan +and Mr. Herbert Spencer have served to connect this feeling +with the primeval worship of ancestors and with the savage +customs of totemism.[71] + +[71] M`Lennan, "The Worship of Animals and Plants," +Fortnightly Review, N. S. Vol. VI. pp. 407-427, 562-582, Vol. +VII. pp 194-216; Spencer, "The Origin of Animal Worship," Id. +Vol. VII. pp. 535-550, reprinted in his Recent Discussions in +Science, etc., pp. 31-56. + +The worship of ancestors seems to have been every where the +oldest systematized form of fetichistic religion. The +reverence paid to the chieftain of the tribe while living was +continued and exaggerated after his death The uncivilized man +is everywhere incapable of grasping the idea of death as it is +apprehended by civilized people. He cannot understand that a +man should pass away so as to be no longer capable of +communicating with his fellows. The image of his dead chief or +comrade remains in his mind, and the savage's philosophic +realism far surpasses that of the most extravagant mediaeval +schoolmen; to him the persistence of the idea implies the +persistence of the reality. The dead man, accordingly, is not +really dead; he has thrown off his body like a husk, yet still +retains his old appearance, and often shows himself to his old +friends, especially after nightfall. He is no doubt possessed +of more extensive powers than before his transformation,[72] +and may very likely have a share in regulating the weather, +granting or withholding rain. Therefore, argues the +uncivilized mind, he is to be cajoled and propitiated more +sedulously now than before his strange transformation. + +[72] Thus is explained. the singular conduct of the Hindu, who +slays himself before his enemy's door, in order to acquire +greater power of injuring him. "A certain Brahman, on whose +lands a Kshatriya raja had built a house, ripped himself up in +revenge, and became a demon of the kind called Brahmadasyu, +who has been ever since the terror of the whole country, and +is the most common village-deity in Kharakpur. Toward the +close of the last century there were two Brahmans, out of +whose house a man had wrongfully, as they thought, taken forty +rupees; whereupon one of the Brahmans proceeded to cut off his +own mother's head, with the professed view, entertained by +both mother and son, that her spirit, excited by the beating +of a large drum during forty days might haunt, torment, and +pursue to death the taker of their money and those concerned +with him." Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 103. + +This kind of worship still maintains a languid existence as +the state religion of China, and it still exists as a portion +of Brahmanism; but in the Vedic religion it is to be seen in +all its vigour and in all its naive simplicity. According to +the ancient Aryan, the pitris, or "Fathers" (Lat. patres), +live in the sky along with Yama, the great original Pitri of +mankind. This first man came down from heaven in the +lightning, and back to heaven both himself and all his +offspring must have gone. There they distribute light unto men +below, and they shine themselves as stars; and hence the +Christianized German peasant, fifty centuries later, tells his +children that the stars are angels' eyes, and the English +cottager impresses it on the youthful mind that it is wicked +to point at the stars, though why he cannot tell. But the +Pitris are not stars only, nor do they content themselves with +idly looking down on the affairs of men, after the fashion of +the laissez-faire divinities of Lucretius. They are, on the +contrary, very busy with the weather; they send rain, thunder, +and lightning; and they especially delight in rushing over the +housetops in a great gale of wind, led on by their chief, the +mysterious huntsman, Hermes or Odin. + +It has been elsewhere shown that the howling dog, or +wish-hound of Hermes, whose appearance under the windows of a +sick person is such an alarming portent, is merely the tempest +personified. Throughout all Aryan mythology the souls of the +dead are supposed to ride on the night-wind, with their +howling dogs, gathering into their throng the souls of those +just dying as they pass by their houses.[73] Sometimes the +whole complex conception is wrapped up in the notion of a +single dog, the messenger of the god of shades, who comes to +summon the departing soul. Sometimes, instead of a dog, we +have a great ravening wolf who comes to devour its victim and +extinguish the sunlight of life, as that old wolf of the tribe +of Fenrir devoured little Red Riding-Hood with her robe of +scarlet twilight.[74] Thus we arrive at a true werewolf myth. +The storm-wind, or howling Rakshasa of Hindu folk-lore, is "a +great misshapen giant with red beard and red hair, with +pointed protruding teeth, ready to lacerate and devour human +flesh; his body is covered with coarse, bristling hair, his +huge mouth is open, he looks from side to side as he walks, +lusting after the flesh and blood of men, to satisfy his +raging hunger and quench his consuming thirst. Towards +nightfall his strength increases manifold; he can change his +shape at will; he haunts the woods, and roams howling through +the jungle."[75] + +[73] Hence, in many parts of Europe, it is still customary to +open the windows when a person dies, in order that the soul +may not be hindered in joining the mystic cavalcade. + +[74] The story of little Red Riding-Hood is "mutilated in the +English version, but known more perfectly by old wives in +Germany, who can tell that the lovely little maid in her +shining red satin cloak was swallowed with her grandmother by +the wolf, till they both came out safe and sound when the +hunter cut open the sleeping beast." Tylor, Primitive +Culture, I. 307, where also see the kindred Russian story of +Vasilissa the Beautiful. Compare the case of Tom Thumb, who +"was swallowed by the cow and came out unhurt"; the story of +Saktideva swallowed by the fish and cut out again, in Somadeva +Bhatta, II. 118-184; and the story of Jonah swallowed by the +whale, in the Old Testament. All these are different versions +of the same myth, and refer to the alternate swallowing up and +casting forth of Day by Night, which is commonly personified +as a wolf, and now and then as a great fish. Compare Grimm's +story of the Wolf and Seven Kids, Tylor, loc. cit., and see +Early History of Mankind, p. 337; Hardy, Manual of Budhism, p. +501. + +[75] Baring-Gould, Book of Werewolves, p. 178; Muir, Sanskrit +Texts, II. 435. + +Now if the storm-wind is a host of Pitris, or one great Pitri +who appears as a fearful giant, and is also a pack of wolves +or wish-hounds, or a single savage dog or wolf, the inference +is obvious to the mythopoeic mind that men may become wolves, +at least after death. And to the uncivilized thinker this +inference is strengthened, as Mr. Spencer has shown, by +evidence registered on his own tribal totem or heraldic +emblem. The bears and lions and leopards of heraldry are the +degenerate descendants of the totem of savagery which +designated the tribe by a beast-symbol. To the untutored mind +there is everything in a name; and the descendant of Brown +Bear or Yellow Tiger or Silver Hyaena cannot be pronounced +unfaithful to his own style of philosophizing, if he regards +his ancestors, who career about his hut in the darkness of +night, as belonging to whatever order of beasts his totem +associations may suggest. + +Thus we not only see a ray of light thrown on the subject of +metempsychosis, but we get a glimpse of the curious process by +which the intensely realistic mind of antiquity arrived at the +notion that men could be transformed into beasts. For the +belief that the soul can temporarily quit the body during +lifetime has been universally entertained; and from the +conception of wolf-like ghosts it was but a short step to the +conception of corporeal werewolves. In the Middle Ages the +phenomena of trance and catalepsy were cited in proof of the +theory that the soul can leave the body and afterwards return +to it. Hence it was very difficult for a person accused of +witchcraft to prove an alibi; for to any amount of evidence +showing that the body was innocently reposing at home and in +bed, the rejoinder was obvious that the soul may nevertheless +have been in attendance at the witches' Sabbath or busied in +maiming a neighbour's cattle. According to one mediaeval +notion, the soul of the werewolf quit its human body, which +remained in a trance until its return.[76] + +[76] In those days even an after-dinner nap seems to have been +thought uncanny. See Dasent, Burnt Njal, I. xxi. + +The mythological basis of the werewolf superstition is now, I +believe, sufficiently indicated. The belief, however, did not +reach its complete development, or acquire its most horrible +features, until the pagan habits of thought which had +originated it were modified by contact with Christian +theology. To the ancient there was nothing necessarily +diabolical in the transformation of a man into a beast. But +Christianity, which retained such a host of pagan conceptions +under such strange disguises, which degraded the "All-father" +Odin into the ogre of the castle to which Jack climbed on his +bean-stalk, and which blended the beneficent lightning-god +Thor and the mischievous Hermes and the faun-like Pan into the +grotesque Teutonic Devil, did not fail to impart a new and +fearful character to the belief in werewolves. Lycanthropy +became regarded as a species of witchcraft; the werewolf was +supposed to have obtained his peculiar powers through the +favour or connivance of the Devil; and hundreds of persons +were burned alive or broken on the wheel for having availed +themselves of the privilege of beast-metamorphosis. The +superstition, thus widely extended and greatly intensified, +was confirmed by many singular phenomena which cannot be +omitted from any thorough discussion of the nature and causes +of lycanthropy. + +The first of these phenomena is the Berserker insanity, +characteristic of Scandinavia, but not unknown in other +countries. In times when killing one's enemies often formed a +part of the necessary business of life, persons were +frequently found who killed for the mere love of the thing; +with whom slaughter was an end desirable in itself, not merely +a means to a desirable end. What the miser is in an age which +worships mammon, such was the Berserker in an age when the +current idea of heaven was that of a place where people could +hack each other to pieces through all eternity, and when the +man who refused a challenge was punished with confiscation of +his estates. With these Northmen, in the ninth century, the +chief business and amusement in life was to set sail for some +pleasant country, like Spain or France, and make all the +coasts and navigable rivers hideous with rapine and massacre. +When at home, in the intervals between their freebooting +expeditions, they were liable to become possessed by a strange +homicidal madness, during which they would array themselves in +the skins of wolves or bears, and sally forth by night to +crack the backbones, smash the skulls, and sometimes to drink +with fiendish glee the blood of unwary travellers or +loiterers. These fits of madness were usually followed by +periods of utter exhaustion and nervous depression.[77] + +[77] See Dasent, Burnt Njai, Vol. I. p. xxii.; Grettis Saga, +by Magnusson and Morris, chap. xix.; Viga Glum's Saga, by Sir +Edmund Head, p. 13, note, where the Berserkers are said to +have maddened themselves with drugs. Dasent compares them with +the Malays, who work themselves into a frenzy by means of +arrack, or hasheesh, and run amuck. + +Such, according to the unanimous testimony of historians, was +the celebrated "Berserker rage," not peculiar to the +Northland, although there most conspicuously manifested. +Taking now a step in advance, we find that in comparatively +civilized countries there have been many cases of monstrous +homicidal insanity. The two most celebrated cases, among those +collected by Mr. Baring-Gould, are those of the Marechal de +Retz, in 1440, and of Elizabeth, a Hungarian countess, in the +seventeenth century. The Countess Elizabeth enticed young +girls into her palace on divers pretexts, and then coolly +murdered them, for the purpose of bathing in their blood. The +spectacle of human suffering became at last such a delight to +her, that she would apply with her own hands the most +excruciating tortures, relishing the shrieks of her victims as +the epicure relishes each sip of his old Chateau Margaux. In +this way she is said to have murdered six hundred and fifty +persons before her evil career was brought to an end; though, +when one recollects the famous men in buckram and the +notorious trio of crows, one is inclined to strike off a +cipher, and regard sixty-five as a sufficiently imposing and +far less improbable number. But the case of the Marechal de +Retz is still more frightful. A marshal of France, a scholarly +man, a patriot, and a man of holy life, he became suddenly +possessed by an uncontrollable desire to murder children. +During seven years he continued to inveigle little boys and +girls into his castle, at the rate of about TWO EACH WEEK, (?) +and then put them to death in various ways, that he might +witness their agonies and bathe in their blood; experiencing +after each occasion the most dreadful remorse, but led on by +an irresistible craving to repeat the crime. When this +unparalleled iniquity was finally brought to light, the castle +was found to contain bins full of children's bones. The +horrible details of the trial are to be found in the histories +of France by Michelet and Martin. + +Going a step further, we find cases in which the propensity to +murder has been accompanied by cannibalism. In 1598 a tailor +of Chalons was sentenced by the parliament of Paris to be +burned alive for lycanthropy. "This wretched man had decoyed +children into his shop, or attacked them in the gloaming when +they strayed in the woods, had torn them with his teeth and +killed them, after which he seems calmly to have dressed their +flesh as ordinary meat, and to have eaten it with a great +relish. The number of little innocents whom he destroyed is +unknown. A whole caskful of bones was discovered in his +house."[78] About 1850 a beggar in the village of Polomyia, in +Galicia, was proved to have killed and eaten fourteen +children. A house had one day caught fire and burnt to the +ground, roasting one of the inmates, who was unable to escape. +The beggar passed by soon after, and, as he was suffering from +excessive hunger, could not resist the temptation of making a +meal off the charred body. From that moment he was tormented +by a craving for human flesh. He met a little orphan girl, +about nine years old, and giving her a pinchbeck ring told her +to seek for others like it under a tree in the neighbouring +wood. She was slain, carried to the beggar's hovel, and eaten. +In the course of three years thirteen other children +mysteriously disappeared, but no one knew whom to suspect. At +last an innkeeper missed a pair of ducks, and having no good +opinion of this beggar's honesty, went unexpectedly to his +cabin, burst suddenly in at the door, and to his horror found +him in the act of hiding under his cloak a severed head; a +bowl of fresh blood stood under the oven, and pieces of a +thigh were cooking over the fire.[79] + +[78] Baring-Gould, Werewolves, p. 81. + +[79] Baring-Gould, op. cit. chap. xiv. + +This occurred only about twenty years ago, and the criminal, +though ruled by an insane appetite, is not known to have been +subject to any mental delusion. But there have been a great +many similar cases, in which the homicidal or cannibal craving +has been accompanied by genuine hallucination. Forms of +insanity in which the afflicted persons imagine themselves to +be brute animals are not perhaps very common, but they are not +unknown. I once knew a poor demented old man who believed +himself to be a horse, and would stand by the hour together +before a manger, nibbling hay, or deluding himself with the +presence of so doing. Many of the cannibals whose cases are +related by Mr. Baring-Gould, in his chapter of horrors, +actually believed themselves to have been transformed into +wolves or other wild animals. Jean Grenier was a boy of +thirteen, partially idiotic, and of strongly marked canine +physiognomy; his jaws were large and projected forward, and +his canine teeth were unnaturally long, so as to protrude +beyond the lower lip. He believed himself to be a werewolf. +One evening, meeting half a dozen young girls, he scared them +out of their wits by telling them that as soon as the sun had +set he would turn into a wolf and eat them for supper. A few +days later, one little girl, having gone out at nightfall to +look after the sheep, was attacked by some creature which in +her terror she mistook for a wolf, but which afterwards proved +to be none other than Jean Grenier. She beat him off with her +sheep-staff, and fled home. As several children had +mysteriously disappeared from the neighbourhood, Grenier was +at once suspected. Being brought before the parliament of +Bordeaux, he stated that two years ago he had met the Devil +one night in the woods and had signed a compact with him and +received from him a wolf-skin. Since then he had roamed about +as a wolf after dark, resuming his human shape by daylight. He +had killed and eaten several children whom he had found alone +in the fields, and on one occasion he had entered a house +while the family were out and taken the baby from its cradle. +A careful investigation proved the truth of these statements, +so far as the cannibalism was concerned. There is no doubt +that the missing children were eaten by Jean Grenier, and +there is no doubt that in his own mind the halfwitted boy was +firmly convinced that he was a wolf. Here the lycanthropy was +complete. + +In the year 1598, "in a wild and unfrequented spot near Caude, +some countrymen came one day upon the corpse of a boy of +fifteen, horribly mutilated and bespattered with blood. As the +men approached, two wolves, which had been rending the body, +bounded away into the thicket. The men gave chase immediately, +following their bloody tracks till they lost them; when, +suddenly crouching among the bushes, his teeth chattering with +fear, they found a man half naked, with long hair and beard, +and with his hands dyed in blood. His nails were long as +claws, and were clotted with fresh gore and shreds of human +flesh."[80] + +[80] Baring-Gould, op. cit. p. 82. + +This man, Jacques Roulet, was a poor, half-witted creature +under the dominion of a cannibal appetite. He was employed in +tearing to pieces the corpse of the boy when these countrymen +came up. Whether there were any wolves in the case, except +what the excited imaginations of the men may have conjured up, +I will not presume to determine; but it is certain that Roulet +supposed himself to be a wolf, and killed and ate several +persons under the influence of the delusion. He was sentenced +to death, but the parliament of Paris reversed the sentence, +and charitably shut him up in a madhouse. + +The annals of the Middle Ages furnish many cases similar to +these of Grenier and Roulet. Their share in maintaining the +werewolf superstition is undeniable; but modern science finds +in them nothing that cannot be readily explained. That +stupendous process of breeding, which we call civilization, +has been for long ages strengthening those kindly social +feelings by the possession of which we are chiefly +distinguished from the brutes, leaving our primitive bestial +impulses to die for want of exercise, or checking in every +possible way their further expansion by legislative +enactments. But this process, which is transforming us from +savages into civilized men, is a very slow one; and now and +then there occur cases of what physiologists call atavism, or +reversion to an ancestral type of character. Now and then +persons are born, in civilized countries, whose intellectual +powers are on a level with those of the most degraded +Australian savage, and these we call idiots. And now and then +persons are born possessed of the bestial appetites and +cravings of primitive man, his fiendish cruelty and his liking +for human flesh. Modern physiology knows how to classify and +explain these abnormal cases, but to the unscientific +mediaeval mind they were explicable only on the hypothesis of +a diabolical metamorphosis. And there is nothing strange in +the fact that, in an age when the prevailing habits of thought +rendered the transformation of men into beasts an easily +admissible notion, these monsters of cruelty and depraved +appetite should have been regarded as capable of taking on +bestial forms. Nor is it strange that the hallucination under +which these unfortunate wretches laboured should have taken +such a shape as to account to their feeble intelligence for +the existence of the appetites which they were conscious of +not sharing with their neighbours and contemporaries. If a +myth is a piece of unscientific philosophizing, it must +sometimes be applied to the explanation of obscure +psychological as well as of physical phenomena. Where the +modern calmly taps his forehead and says, "Arrested +development," the terrified ancient made the sign of the cross +and cried, "Werewolf." + +We shall be assisted in this explanation by turning aside for +a moment to examine the wild superstitions about +"changelings," which contributed, along with so many others, +to make the lives of our ancestors anxious and miserable. +These superstitions were for the most part attempts to explain +the phenomena of insanity, epilepsy, and other obscure nervous +diseases. A man who has hitherto enjoyed perfect health, and +whose actions have been consistent and rational, suddenly +loses all self-control and seems actuated by a will foreign to +himself. Modern science possesses the key to this phenomenon; +but in former times it was explicable only on the hypothesis +that a demon had entered the body of the lunatic, or else that +the fairies had stolen the real man and substituted for him a +diabolical phantom exactly like him in stature and features. +Hence the numerous legends of changelings, some of which are +very curious. In Irish folk-lore we find the story of one +Rickard, surnamed the Rake, from his worthless character. A +good-natured, idle fellow, he spent all his evenings in +dancing,--an accomplishment in which no one in the village +could rival him. One night, in the midst of a lively reel, he +fell down in a fit. "He's struck with a fairy-dart," +exclaimed all the friends, and they carried him home and +nursed him; but his face grew so thin and his manner so morose +that by and by all began to suspect that the true Rickard was +gone and a changeling put in his place. Rickard, with all his +accomplishments, was no musician; and so, in order to put the +matter to a crucial test, a bagpipe was left in the room by +the side of his bed. The trick succeeded. One hot summer's +day, when all were supposed to be in the field making hay, +some members of the family secreted in a clothes-press saw the +bedroom door open a little way, and a lean, foxy face, with a +pair of deep-sunken eyes, peer anxiously about the premises. +Having satisfied itself that the coast was clear, the face +withdrew, the door was closed, and presently such ravishing +strains of music were heard as never proceeded from a bagpipe +before or since that day. Soon was heard the rustle of +innumerable fairies, come to dance to the changeling's music. +Then the "fairy-man" of the village, who was keeping watch +with the family, heated a pair of tongs red-hot, and with +deafening shouts all burst at once into the sick-chamber. The +music had ceased and the room was empty, but in at the window +glared a fiendish face, with such fearful looks of hatred, +that for a moment all stood motionless with terror. But when +the fairy-man, recovering himself, advanced with the hot tongs +to pinch its nose, it vanished with an unearthly yell, and +there on the bed was Rickard, safe and sound, and cured of his +epilepsy.[81] + +[81] Kennedy, Fictions of the Irish Celts, p. 90. + +Comparing this legend with numerous others relating to +changelings, and stripping off the fantastic garb of +fairy-lore with which popular imagination has invested them, +it seems impossible to doubt that they have arisen from myths +devised for the purpose of explaining the obscure phenomena of +mental disease. If this be so, they afford an excellent +collateral illustration of the belief in werewolves. The same +mental habits which led men to regard the insane or epileptic +person as a changeling, and which allowed them to explain +catalepsy as the temporary departure of a witch's soul from +its body, would enable them to attribute a wolf's nature to +the maniac or idiot with cannibal appetites. And when the +myth-forming process had got thus far, it would not stop short +of assigning to the unfortunate wretch a tangible lupine body; +for all ancient mythology teemed with precedents for such a +transformation. + +It remains for us to sum up,--to tie into a bunch the keys +which have helped us to penetrate into the secret causes of +the werewolf superstition. In a previous paper we saw what a +host of myths, fairy-tales, and superstitious observances have +sprung from attempts to interpret one simple natural +phenomenon,--the descent of fire from the clouds. Here, on the +other hand, we see what a heterogeneous multitude of mythical +elements may combine to build up in course of time a single +enormous superstition, and we see how curiously fact and fancy +have co-operated in keeping the superstition from falling. In +the first place the worship of dead ancestors with wolf totems +originated the notion of the transformation of men into divine +or superhuman wolves; and this notion was confirmed by the +ambiguous explanation of the storm-wind as the rushing of a +troop of dead men's souls or as the howling of wolf-like +monsters. Mediaeval Christianity retained these conceptions, +merely changing the superhuman wolves into evil demons; and +finally the occurrence of cases of Berserker madness and +cannibalism, accompanied by lycanthropic hallucinations, being +interpreted as due to such demoniacal metamorphosis, gave rise +to the werewolf superstition of the Middle Ages. The +etymological proceedings, to which Mr. Cox would incontinently +ascribe the origin of the entire superstition, seemed to me to +have played a very subordinate part in the matter. To suppose +that Jean Grenier imagined himself to be a wolf, because the +Greek word for wolf sounded like the word for light, and thus +gave rise to the story of a light-deity who became a wolf, +seems to me quite inadmissible. Yet as far as such verbal +equivocations may have prevailed, they doubtless helped to +sustain the delusion. + +Thus we need no longer regard our werewolf as an inexplicable +creature of undetermined pedigree. But any account of him +would be quite imperfect which should omit all consideration +of the methods by which his change of form was accomplished. +By the ancient Romans the werewolf was commonly called a +"skin-changer" or "turn-coat" (versipellis), and similar +epithets were applied to him in the Middle Ages The mediaeval +theory was that, while the werewolf kept his human form, his +hair grew inwards; when he wished to become a wolf, he simply +turned himself inside out. In many trials on record, the +prisoners were closely interrogated as to how this inversion +might be accomplished; but I am not aware that any one of them +ever gave a satisfactory answer. At the moment of change their +memories seem to have become temporarily befogged. Now and +then a poor wretch had his arms and legs cut off, or was +partially flayed, in order that the ingrowing hair might be +detected.[82] Another theory was, that the possessed person +had merely to put on a wolf's skin, in order to assume +instantly the lupine form and character; and in this may +perhaps be seen a vague reminiscence of the alleged fact that +Berserkers were in the habit of haunting the woods by night, +clothed in the hides of wolves or bears.[83] Such a wolfskin +was kept by the boy Grenier. Roulet, on the other hand, +confessed to using a magic salve or ointment. A fourth method +of becoming a werewolf was to obtain a girdle, usually made of +human skin. Several cases are related in Thorpe's "Northern +Mythology." One hot day in harvest-time some reapers lay down +to sleep in the shade; when one of them, who could not sleep, +saw the man next him arise quietly and gird him with a strap, +whereupon he instantly vanished, and a wolf jumped up from +among the sleepers and ran off across the fields. Another man, +who possessed such a girdle, once went away from home without +remembering to lock it up. His little son climbed up to the +cupboard and got it, and as he proceeded to buckle it around +his waist, he became instantly transformed into a +strange-looking beast. Just then his father came in, and +seizing the girdle restored the child to his natural shape. +The boy said that no sooner had he buckled it on than he was +tormented with a raging hunger. + +[82] "En 1541, a Padoue, dit Wier, un homme qui se croyait +change en loup courait la campagne, attaquant et mettant a +mort ceux qu'il rencontrait. Apres bien des difficultes, on +parvint s'emparer de lui. Il dit en confidence a ceux qui +l'arreterent: Je suis vraiment un loup, et si ma peau ne +parait pas etre celle d'un loup, c'est parce qu'elle est +retournee et que les poils sont en dedans.--Pour s'assurer du +fait, on coupa le malheureux aux differentes parties du corps, +on lui emporta les bras et les jambes."--Taine, De +l'Intelligence, Tom. II. p. 203. See the account of Slavonic +werewolves in Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, pp. +404-418. + +[83] Mr. Cox, whose scepticism on obscure points in history +rather surpasses that of Sir G. C. Lewis, dismisses with a +sneer the subject of the Berserker madness, observing that +"the unanimous testimony of the Norse historians is worth as +much and as little as the convictions of Glanvil and Hale on +the reality of witchcraft." I have not the special knowledge +requisite for pronouncing an opinion on this point, but Mr. +Cox's ordinary methods of disposing of such questions are not +such as to make one feel obliged to accept his bare assertion, +unaccompanied by critical arguments. The madness of the +bearsarks may, no doubt, be the same thing us the frenzy of +Herakles; but something more than mere dogmatism is needed to +prove it. + +Sometimes the werewolf transformation led to unlucky +accidents. At Caseburg, as a man and his wife were making hay, +the woman threw down her pitchfork and went away, telling her +husband that if a wild beast should come to him during her +absence he must throw his hat at it. Presently a she-wolf +rushed towards him. The man threw his hat at it, but a boy +came up from another part of the field and stabbed the animal +with his pitchfork, whereupon it vanished, and the woman's +dead body lay at his feet. + +A parallel legend shows that this woman wished to have the hat +thrown at her, in order that she might be henceforth free from +her liability to become a werewolf. A man was one night +returning with his wife from a merry-making when he felt the +change coming on. Giving his wife the reins, he jumped from +the wagon, telling her to strike with her apron at any animal +which might come to her. In a few moments a wolf ran up to the +side of the vehicle, and, as the woman struck out with her +apron, it bit off a piece and ran away. Presently the man +returned with the piece of apron in his mouth and consoled his +terrified wife with the information that the enchantment had +left him forever. + +A terrible case at a village in Auvergne has found its way +into the annals of witchcraft. "A gentleman while hunting was +suddenly attacked by a savage wolf of monstrous size. +Impenetrable by his shot, the beast made a spring upon the +helpless huntsman, who in the struggle luckily, or unluckily +for the unfortunate lady, contrived to cut off one of its +fore-paws. This trophy he placed in his pocket, and made the +best of his way homewards in safety. On the road he met a +friend, to whom he exhibited a bleeding paw, or rather (as it +now appeared) a woman's hand, upon which was a wedding-ring. +His wife's ring was at once recognized by the other. His +suspicions aroused, he immediately went in search of his wife, +who was found sitting by the fire in the kitchen, her arm +hidden beneath her apron, when the husband, seizing her by the +arm, found his terrible suspicions verified. The bleeding +stump was there, evidently just fresh from the wound. She was +given into custody, and in the event was burned at Riom, in +presence of thousands of spectators."[84] + +[84] Williams, Superstitions of Witchcraft, p. 179. See a +parallel case of a cat-woman, in Thorpe's Northern Mythology, +II. 26. "Certain witches at Thurso for a long time tormented +an honest fellow under the usual form of cats, till one night +he put them to flight with his broadsword, and cut off the leg +of one less nimble than the rest; taking it up, to his +amazement he found it to be a woman's leg, and next morning he +discovered the old hag its owner with but one leg +left."--Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. 283. + +Sometimes a werewolf was cured merely by recognizing him while +in his brute shape. A Swedish legend tells of a cottager who, +on entering the forest one day without recollecting to say his +Patter Noster, got into the power of a Troll, who changed him +into a wolf. For many years his wife mourned him as dead. But +one Christmas eve the old Troll, disguised as a beggarwoman, +came to the house for alms; and being taken in and kindly +treated, told the woman that her husband might very likely +appear to her in wolf-shape. Going at night to the pantry to +lay aside a joint of meat for tomorrow's dinner, she saw a +wolf standing with its paws on the window-sill, looking +wistfully in at her. "Ah, dearest," said she, "if I knew that +thou wert really my husband, I would give thee a bone." +Whereupon the wolf-skin fell off, and her husband stood before +her in the same old clothes which he had on the day that the +Troll got hold of him. + +In Denmark it was believed that if a woman were to creep +through a colt's placental membrane stretched between four +sticks, she would for the rest of her life bring forth +children without pain or illness; but all the boys would in +such case be werewolves, and all the girls Maras, or +nightmares. In this grotesque superstition appears that +curious kinship between the werewolf and the wife or maiden of +supernatural race, which serves admirably to illustrate the +nature of both conceptions, and the elucidation of which shall +occupy us throughout the remainder of this paper. + +It is, perhaps, needless to state that in the personality of +the nightmare, or Mara, there was nothing equine. The Mara was +a female demon,[85] who would come at night and torment men or +women by crouching on their chests or stomachs and stopping +their respiration. The scene is well enough represented in +Fuseli's picture, though the frenzied-looking horse which +there accompanies the demon has no place in the original +superstition. A Netherlandish story illustrates the character +of the Mara. Two young men were in love with the same damsel. +One of them, being tormented every night by a Mara, sought +advice from his rival, and it was a treacherous counsel that +he got. "Hold a sharp knife with the point towards your +breast, and you'll never see the Mara again," said this false +friend. The lad thanked him, but when he lay down to rest he +thought it as well to be on the safe side, and so held the +knife handle downward. So when the Mara came, instead of +forcing the blade into his breast, she cut herself badly, and +fled howling; and let us hope, though the legend here leaves +us in the dark, that this poor youth, who is said to have been +the comelier of the two, revenged himself on his malicious +rival by marrying the young lady. + +[85] "The mare in nightmare means spirit, elf, or nymph; +compare Anglo-Saxon wudurmaere (wood-mare) = echo."--Tylor, +Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 173. + +But the Mara sometimes appeared in less revolting shape, and +became the mistress or even the wife of some mortal man to +whom she happened to take a fancy. In such cases she would +vanish on being recognized. There is a well-told monkish tale +of a pious knight who, journeying one day through the forest, +found a beautiful lady stripped naked and tied to a tree, her +back all covered with deep gashes streaming with blood, from a +flogging which some bandits had given her. Of course he took +her home to his castle and married her, and for a while they +lived very happily together, and the fame of the lady's beauty +was so great that kings and emperors held tournaments in honor +of her. But this pious knight used to go to mass every Sunday, +and greatly was he scandalized when he found that his wife +would never stay to assist in the Credo, but would always get +up and walk out of church just as the choir struck up. All her +husband's coaxing was of no use; threats and entreaties were +alike powerless even to elicit an explanation of this strange +conduct. At last the good man determined to use force; and so +one Sunday, as the lady got up to go out, according to custom, +he seized her by the arm and sternly commanded her to remain. +Her whole frame was suddenly convulsed, and her dark eyes +gleamed with weird, unearthly brilliancy. The services paused +for a moment, and all eyes were turned toward the knight and +his lady. "In God's name, tell me what thou art," shouted the +knight; and instantly, says the chronicler, "the bodily form +of the lady melted away, and was seen no more; whilst, with a +cry of anguish and of terror, an evil spirit of monstrous form +rose from the ground, clave the chapel roof asunder, and +disappeared in the air." + +In a Danish legend, the Mara betrays her affinity to the +Nixies, or Swan-maidens. A peasant discovered that his +sweetheart was in the habit of coming to him by night as a +Mara. He kept strict watch until he discovered her creeping +into the room through a small knot-hole in the door. Next day +he made a peg, and after she had come to him, drove in the peg +so that she was unable to escape. They were married and lived +together many years; but one night it happened that the man, +joking with his wife about the way in which he had secured +her, drew the peg from the knot-hole, that she might see how +she had entered his room. As she peeped through, she became +suddenly quite small, passed out, and was never seen again. + +The well-known pathological phenomena of nightmare are +sufficient to account for the mediaeval theory of a fiend who +sits upon one's bosom and hinders respiration; but as we +compare these various legends relating to the Mara, we see +that a more recondite explanation is needed to account for all +her peculiarities. Indigestion may interfere with our +breathing, but it does not make beautiful women crawl through +keyholes, nor does it bring wives from the spirit-world. The +Mara belongs to an ancient family, and in passing from the +regions of monkish superstition to those of pure mythology we +find that, like her kinsman the werewolf, she had once seen +better days. Christianity made a demon of the Mara, and +adopted the theory that Satan employed these seductive +creatures as agents for ruining human souls. Such is the +character of the knight's wife, in the monkish legend just +cited. But in the Danish tale the Mara appears as one of that +large family of supernatural wives who are permitted to live +with mortal men under certain conditions, but who are +compelled to flee away when these conditions are broken, as is +always sure to be the case. The eldest and one of the +loveliest of this family is the Hindu nymph Urvasi, whose love +adventures with Pururavas are narrated in the Puranas, and +form the subject of the well-known and exquisite Sanskrit +drama by Kalidasa. Urvasi is allowed to live with Pururavas so +long as she does not see him undressed. But one night her +kinsmen, the Gandharvas, or cloud-demons, vexed at her long +absence from heaven, resolved to get her away from her mortal +companion, They stole a pet lamb which had been tied at the +foot of her couch, whereat she bitterly upbraided her husband. +In rage and mortification, Pururavas sprang up without +throwing on his tunic, and grasping his sword sought the +robber. Then the wicked Gandharvas sent a flash of lightning, +and Urvasi, seeing her naked husband, instantly vanished. + +The different versions of this legend, which have been +elaborately analyzed by comparative mythologists, leave no +doubt that Urvasi is one of the dawn-nymphs or bright fleecy +clouds of early morning, which vanish as the splendour of the +sun is unveiled. We saw, in the preceding paper, that the +ancient Aryans regarded the sky as a sea or great lake, and +that the clouds were explained variously as Phaiakian ships +with bird-like beaks sailing over this lake, or as bright +birds of divers shapes and hues. The light fleecy cirrhi were +regarded as mermaids, or as swans, or as maidens with swan's +plumage. In Sanskrit they are called Apsaras, or "those who +move in the water," and the Elves and Maras of Teutonic +mythology have the same significance. Urvasi appears in one +legend as a bird; and a South German prescription for getting +rid of the Mara asserts that if she be wrapped up in the +bedclothes and firmly held, a white dove will forthwith fly +from the room, leaving the bedclothes empty.[86] + +[86] See Kuhn, Herabkunft des Feuers, p. 91; Weber, Indische +Studien. I. 197; Wolf, Beitrage zur deutschen Mythologie, II. +233-281 Muller, Chips, II. 114-128. + +In the story of Melusina the cloud-maiden appears as a kind of +mermaid, but in other respects the legend resembles that of +Urvasi. Raymond, Count de la Foret, of Poitou, having by an +accident killed his patron and benefactor during a hunting +excursion, fled in terror and despair into the deep recesses +of the forest. All the afternoon and evening he wandered +through the thick dark woods, until at midnight he came upon a +strange scene. All at once "the boughs of the trees became +less interlaced, and the trunks fewer; next moment his horse, +crashing through the shrubs, brought him out on a pleasant +glade, white with rime, and illumined by the new moon; in the +midst bubbled up a limpid fountain, and flowed away over a +pebbly-floor with a soothing murmur. Near the fountain-head +sat three maidens in glimmering white dresses, with long +waving golden hair, and faces of inexpressible beauty."[87] +One of them advanced to meet Raymond, and according to all +mythological precedent, they were betrothed before daybreak. +In due time the fountain-nymph[88] became Countess de la +Foret, but her husband was given to understand that all her +Saturdays would be passed in strictest seclusion, upon which +he must never dare to intrude, under penalty of losing her +forever. For many years all went well, save that the fair +Melusina's children were, without exception, misshapen or +disfigured. But after a while this strange weekly seclusion +got bruited about all over the neighbourhood, and people shook +their heads and looked grave about it. So many gossiping tales +came to the Count's ears, that he began to grow anxious and +suspicious, and at last he determined to know the worst. He +went one Saturday to Melusina's private apartments, and going +through one empty room after another, at last came to a locked +door which opened into a bath; looking through a keyhole, +there he saw the Countess transformed from the waist downwards +into a fish, disporting herself like a mermaid in the water. +Of course he could not keep the secret, but when some time +afterwards they quarrelled, must needs address her as "a vile +serpent, contaminator of his honourable race." So she +disappeared through the window, but ever afterward hovered +about her husband's castle of Lusignan, like a Banshee, +whenever one of its lords was about to die. + +[87] Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, II. 207. + +[88] The word nymph itself means "cloud-maiden," as is +illustrated by the kinship between the Greek numph and the +Latin nubes. + +The well-known story of Undine is similar to that of Melusina, +save that the naiad's desire to obtain a human soul is a +conception foreign to the spirit of the myth, and marks the +degradation which Christianity had inflicted upon the denizens +of fairy-land. In one of Dasent's tales the water-maiden is +replaced by a kind of werewolf. A white bear marries a young +girl, but assumes the human shape at night. She is never to +look upon him in his human shape, but how could a young bride +be expected to obey such an injunction as that? She lights a +candle while he is sleeping, and discovers the handsomest +prince in the world; unluckily she drops tallow on his shirt, +and that tells the story. But she is more fortunate than poor +Raymond, for after a tiresome journey to the "land east of the +sun and west of the moon," and an arduous washing-match with a +parcel of ugly Trolls, she washes out the spots, and ends her +husband's enchantment.[89] + +[89] This is substantially identical with the stories of +Beauty and the Beast, Eros and Psyche, Gandharba Sena, etc. + +In the majority of these legends, however, the Apsaras, or +cloud-maiden, has a shirt of swan's feathers which plays the +same part as the wolfskin cape or girdle of the werewolf. If +you could get hold of a werewolf's sack and burn it, a +permanent cure was effected. No danger of a relapse, unless +the Devil furnished him with a new wolfskin. So the +swan-maiden kept her human form, as long as she was deprived +of her tunic of feathers. Indo-European folk-lore teems with +stories of swan-maidens forcibly wooed and won by mortals who +had stolen their clothes. A man travelling along the road +passes by a lake where several lovely girls are bathing; their +dresses, made of feathers curiously and daintily woven, lie on +the shore. He approaches the place cautiously and steals one +of these dresses.[90] When the girls have finished their +bathing, they all come and get their dresses and swim away as +swans; but the one whose dress is stolen must needs stay on +shore and marry the thief. It is needless to add that they +live happily together for many years, or that finally the good +man accidentally leaves the cupboard door unlocked, whereupon +his wife gets back her swan-shirt and flies away from him, +never to return. But it is not always a shirt of feathers. In +one German story, a nobleman hunting deer finds a maiden +bathing in a clear pool in the forest. He runs stealthily up +to her and seizes her necklace, at which she loses the power +to flee. They are married, and she bears seven sons at once, +all of whom have gold chains about their necks, and are able +to transform themselves into swans whenever they like. A +Flemish legend tells of three Nixies, or water-sprites, who +came out of the Meuse one autumn evening, and helped the +villagers celebrate the end of the vintage. Such graceful +dancers had never been seen in Flanders, and they could sing +as well as they could dance. As the night was warm, one of +them took off her gloves and gave them to her partner to hold +for her. When the clock struck twelve the other two started +off in hot haste, and then there was a hue and cry for gloves. +The lad would keep them as love-tokens, and so the poor Nixie +had to go home without them; but she must have died on the +way, for next morning the waters of the Meuse were blood-red, +and those damsels never returned. + +[90] The feather-dress reappears in the Arabian story of +Hasssn of El-Basrah, who by stealing it secures possession of +the Jinniya. See Lane's Arabian Nights, Vol. III. p. 380. +Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, p. 179. + +In the Faro Islands it is believed that seals cast off their +skins every ninth night, assume human forms, and sing and +dance like men and women until daybreak, when they resume +their skins and their seal natures. Of course a man once found +and hid one of these sealskins, and so got a mermaid for a +wife; and of course she recovered the skin and escaped.[91] On +the coasts of Ireland it is supposed to be quite an ordinary +thing for young sea-fairies to get human husbands in this way; +the brazen things even come to shore on purpose, and leave +their red caps lying around for young men to pick up; but it +behooves the husband to keep a strict watch over the red cap, +if he would not see his children left motherless. + +[91] Thorpe, Northern Mythology, III. 173; Kennedy, Fictions +of the Irish Celts, p. 123. + +This mermaid's cap has contributed its quota to the +superstitions of witchcraft. An Irish story tells how Red +James was aroused from sleep one night by noises in the +kitchen. Going down to the door, he saw a lot of old women +drinking punch around the fireplace, and laughing and joking +with his housekeeper. When the punchbowl was empty, they all +put on red caps, and singing + + "By yarrow and rue, And my red cap too, +Hie me over to England," + +they flew up chimney. So Jimmy burst into the room, and seized +the housekeeper's cap, and went along with them. They flew +across the sea to a castle in England, passed through the +keyholes from room to room and into the cellar, where they had +a famous carouse. Unluckily Jimmy, being unused to such good +cheer, got drunk, and forgot to put on his cap when the others +did. So next morning the lord's butler found him dead-drunk on +the cellar floor, surrounded by empty casks. He was sentenced +to be hung without any trial worth speaking of; but as he was +carted to the gallows an old woman cried out, "Ach, Jimmy +alanna! Would you be afther dyin' in a strange land without +your red birredh?" The lord made no objections, and so the red +cap was brought and put on him. Accordingly when Jimmy had got +to the gallows and was making his last speech for the +edification of the spectators, he unexpectedly and somewhat +irrelevantly exclaimed, "By yarrow and rue," etc., and was off +like a rocket, shooting through the blue air en route for old +Ireland.[92] + +[92] Kennedy, Fictions of the Irish Celts, p. 168. + +In another Irish legend an enchanted ass comes into the +kitchen of a great house every night, and washes the dishes +and scours the tins, so that the servants lead an easy life of +it. After a while in their exuberant gratitude they offer him +any present for which he may feel inclined to ask. He desires +only "an ould coat, to keep the chill off of him these could +nights"; but as soon as he gets into the coat he resumes his +human form and bids them good by, and thenceforth they may +wash their own dishes and scour their own tins, for all him. + +But we are diverging from the subject of swan-maidens, and are +in danger of losing ourselves in that labyrinth of popular +fancies which is more intricate than any that Daidalos ever +planned. The significance of all these sealskins and +feather-dresses and mermaid caps and werewolf-girdles may best +be sought in the etymology of words like the German leichnam, +in which the body is described as a garment of flesh for the +soul.[93] In the naive philosophy of primitive thinkers, the +soul, in passing from one visible shape to another, had only +to put on the outward integument of the creature in which it +wished to incarnate itself. With respect to the mode of +metamorphosis, there is little difference between the werewolf +and the swan-maiden; and the similarity is no less striking +between the genesis of the two conceptions. The original +werewolf is the night-wind, regarded now as a manlike deity +and now as a howling lupine fiend; and the original +swan-maiden is the light fleecy cloud, regarded either as a +woman-like goddess or as a bird swimming in the sky sea. The +one conception has been productive of little else but horrors; +the other has given rise to a great variety of fanciful +creations, from the treacherous mermaid and the fiendish +nightmare to the gentle Undine, the charming Nausikaa, and the +stately Muse of classic antiquity. + +[93] Baring-Gould, Book of Werewolves, p. 133. + +We have seen that the original werewolf, howling in the wintry +blast, is a kind of psychopomp, or leader of departed souls; +he is the wild ancestor of the death-dog, whose voice under +the window of a sick-chamber is even now a sound of ill-omen. +The swan-maiden has also been supposed to summon the dying to +her home in the Phaiakian land. The Valkyries, with their +shirts of swan-plumage, who hovered over Scandinavian +battle-fields to receive the souls of falling heroes, were +identical with the Hindu Apsaras; and the Houris of the +Mussulman belong to the same family. Even for the +angels,--women with large wings, who are seen in popular +pictures bearing mortals on high towards heaven,--we can +hardly claim a different kinship. Melusina, when she leaves +the castle of Lusignan, becomes a Banshee; and it has been a +common superstition among sailors, that the appearance of a +mermaid, with her comb and looking-glass, foretokens +shipwreck, with the loss of all on board. + +October, 1870. + + + +IV. LIGHT AND DARKNESS. + +WHEN Maitland blasphemously asserted that God was but "a Bogie +of the nursery," he unwittingly made a remark as suggestive in +point of philology as it was crude and repulsive in its +atheism. When examined with the lenses of linguistic science, +the "Bogie" or "Bug-a-boo" or "Bugbear" of nursery lore turns +out to be identical, not only with the fairy "Puck," whom +Shakespeare has immortalized, but also with the Slavonic "Bog" +and the "Baga" of the Cuneiform Inscriptions, both of which +are names for the Supreme Being. If we proceed further, and +inquire after the ancestral form of these epithets,--so +strangely incongruous in their significations,--we shall find +it in the Old Aryan "Bhaga," which reappears unchanged in the +Sanskrit of the Vedas, and has left a memento of itself in the +surname of the Phrygian Zeus "Bagaios." It seems originally +to have denoted either the unclouded sun or the sky of noonday +illumined by the solar rays. In Sayana's commentary on the +Rig-Veda, Bhaga is enumerated among the seven (or eight) sons +of Aditi, the boundless Orient; and he is elsewhere described +as the lord of life, the giver of bread, and the bringer of +happiness.[94] + +[94] Muir's Sanskrit Texts, Vol. IV. p. 12; Muller, Rig-Veda +Sanhita, Vol. I. pp. 230-251; Fick, Woerterbuch der +Indogermanischen Grundsprache, p. 124, s v. Bhaga. + +Thus the same name which, to the Vedic poet, to the Persian of +the time of Xerxes, and to the modern Russian, suggests the +supreme majesty of deity, is in English associated with an +ugly and ludicrous fiend, closely akin to that grotesque +Northern Devil of whom Southey was unable to think without +laughing. Such is the irony of fate toward a deposed deity. +The German name for idol--Abgott, that is, "ex-god," or +"dethroned god"--sums up in a single etymology the history of +the havoc wrought by monotheism among the ancient symbols of +deity. In the hospitable Pantheon of the Greeks and Romans a +niche was always in readiness for every new divinity who could +produce respectable credentials; but the triumph of monotheism +converted the stately mansion into a Pandemonium peopled with +fiends. To the monotheist an "ex-god" was simply a devilish +deceiver of mankind whom the true God had succeeded in +vanquishing; and thus the word demon, which to the ancient +meant a divine or semi-divine being, came to be applied to +fiends exclusively. Thus the Teutonic races, who preserved the +name of their highest divinity, Odin,--originally, Guodan,--by +which to designate the God of the Christian,[95] were unable +to regard the Bog of ancient tradition as anything but an +"ex-god," or vanquished demon. + +[95] In the North American Review, October, 1869, p. 354, I +have collected a number of facts which seem to me to prove +beyond question that the name God is derived from Guodan, the +original form of Odin, the supreme deity of our Pagan +forefathers. The case is exactly parallel to that of the +French Dieu, which is descended from the Deus of the pagan +Roman. + +The most striking illustration of this process is to be found +in the word devil itself: To a reader unfamiliar with the +endless tricks which language delights in playing, it may seem +shocking to be told that the Gypsies use the word devil as the +name of God.[96] This, however, is not because these people +have made the archfiend an object of worship, but because the +Gypsy language, descending directly from the Sanskrit, has +retained in its primitive exalted sense a word which the +English language has received only in its debased and +perverted sense. The Teutonic words devil, teufel, diuval, +djofull, djevful, may all be traced back to the Zend dev,[97] +a name in which is implicitly contained the record of the +oldest monotheistic revolution known to history. The influence +of the so-called Zoroastrian reform upon the long-subsequent +development of Christianity will receive further notice in the +course of this paper; for the present it is enough to know +that it furnished for all Christendom the name by which it +designates the author of evil. To the Parsee follower of +Zarathustra the name of the Devil has very nearly the same +signification as to the Christian; yet, as Grimm has shown, it +is nothing else than a corruption of deva, the Sanskrit name +for God. When Zarathustra overthrew the primeval Aryan +nature-worship in Bactria, this name met the same evil fate +which in early Christian times overtook the word demon, and +from a symbol of reverence became henceforth a symbol of +detestation.[98] But throughout the rest of the Aryan world it +achieved a nobler career, producing the Greek theos, the +Lithuanian diewas, the Latin deus, and hence the modern French +Dieu, all meaning God. + +[96] See Pott, Die Zigeuner, II. 311; Kuhn, Beitrage, I. 147. +Yet in the worship of dewel by the Gypsies is to be found the +element of diabolism invariably present in barbaric worship. +"Dewel, the great god in heaven (dewa, deus), is rather feared +than loved by these weather-beaten outcasts, for he harms them +on their wanderings with his thunder and lightning, his snow +and rain, and his stars interfere with their dark doings. +Therefore they curse him foully when misfortune falls on them; +and when a child dies, they say that Dewel has eaten it." +Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. II. p. 248. + +[97] See Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, 939. + +[98] The Buddhistic as well as the Zarathustrian reformation +degraded the Vedic gods into demons. "In Buddhism we find +these ancient devas, Indra and the rest, carried about at +shows, as servants of Buddha, as goblins, or fabulous heroes." +Max Muller, Chips, I. 25. This is like the Christian change of +Odin into an ogre, and of Thor into the Devil. + +If we trace back this remarkable word to its primitive source +in that once lost but now partially recovered mother-tongue +from which all our Aryan languages are descended, we find a +root div or dyu, meaning "to shine." From the first-mentioned +form comes deva, with its numerous progeny of good and evil +appellatives; from the latter is derived the name of Dyaus, +with its brethren, Zeus and Jupiter. In Sanskrit dyu, as a +noun, means "sky" and "day"; and there are many passages in +the Rig-Veda where the character of the god Dyaus, as the +personification of the sky or the brightness of the ethereal +heavens, is unmistakably apparent. This key unlocks for us one +of the secrets of Greek mythology. So long as there was for +Zeus no better etymology than that which assigned it to the +root zen, "to live,"[99] there was little hope of +understanding the nature of Zeus. But when we learn that Zeus +is identical with Dyaus, the bright sky, we are enabled to +understand Horace's expression, "sub Jove frigido," and the +prayer of the Athenians, "Rain, rain, dear Zeus, on the land +of the Athenians, and on the fields."[100] Such expressions as +these were retained by the Greeks and Romans long after they +had forgotten that their supreme deity was once the sky. Yet +even the Brahman, from whose mind the physical significance of +the god's name never wholly disappeared, could speak of him as +Father Dyaus, the great Pitri, or ancestor of gods and men; +and in this reverential name Dyaus pitar may be seen the exact +equivalent of the Roman's Jupiter, or Jove the Father. The +same root can be followed into Old German, where Zio is the +god of day; and into Anglo-Saxon, where Tiwsdaeg, or the day +of Zeus, is the ancestral form of Tuesday. + +[99] Zeus--Dia--Zhna--di on ............ Plato Kratylos, p. +396, A., with Stallbaum's note. See also Proklos, Comm. ad +Timaeum, II. p. 226, Schneider; and compare Pseudo-Aristotle, +De Mundo, p. 401, a, 15, who adopts the etymology. See also +Diogenes Laertius, VII. 147. + +[100] Marcus Aurelius, v. 7; Hom. Iliad, xii. 25, cf. +Petronius Arbiter, Sat. xliv. + +Thus we again reach the same results which were obtained from +the examination of the name Bhaga. These various names for the +supreme Aryan god, which without the help afforded by the +Vedas could never have been interpreted, are seen to have been +originally applied to the sun-illumined firmament. Countless +other examples, when similarly analyzed, show that the +earliest Aryan conception of a Divine Power, nourishing man +and sustaining the universe, was suggested by the light of the +mighty Sun; who, as modern science has shown, is the +originator of all life and motion upon the globe, and whom the +ancients delighted to believe the source, not only of "the +golden light,"[101] but of everything that is bright, +joy-giving, and pure. Nevertheless, in accepting this +conclusion as well established by linguistic science, we must +be on our guard against an error into which writers on +mythology are very liable to fall. Neither sky nor sun nor +light of day, neither Zeus nor Apollo, neither Dyaus nor +Indra, was ever worshipped by the ancient Aryan in anything +like a monotheistic sense. To interpret Zeus or Jupiter as +originally the supreme Aryan god, and to regard classic +paganism as one of the degraded remnants of a primeval +monotheism, is to sin against the canons of a sound inductive +philosophy. Philology itself teaches us that this could not +have been so. Father Dyaus was originally the bright sky and +nothing more. Although his name became generalized, in the +classic languages, into deus, or God, it is quite certain that +in early days, before the Aryan separation, it had acquired no +such exalted significance. It was only in Greece and Rome--or, +we may say, among the still united Italo-Hellenic tribes--that +Jupiter-Zeus attained a pre-eminence over all other deities. +The people of Iran quite rejected him, the Teutons preferred +Thor and Odin, and in India he was superseded, first by Indra, +afterwards by Brahma and Vishnu. We need not, therefore, look +for a single supreme divinity among the old Aryans; nor may we +expect to find any sense, active or dormant, of monotheism in +the primitive intelligence of uncivilized men.[102] The whole +fabric of comparative mythology, as at present constituted, +and as described above, in the first of these papers, rests +upon the postulate that the earliest religion was pure +fetichism. + +[101] "Il Sol, dell aurea luce eterno forte." Tasso, +Gerusalemme, XV. 47; ef. Dante, Paradiso, X. 28. + +[102] The Aryans were, however, doubtless better off than the +tribes of North America. "In no Indian language could the +early missionaries find a word to express the idea of God. +Manitou and Oki meant anything endowed with supernatural +powers, from a snake-skin or a greasy Indian conjurer up to +Manabozho and Jouskeha. The priests were forced to use a +circumlocution,--`the great chief of men,' or 'he who lives in +the sky.' " Parkman, Jesuits in North America, p. lxxix. "The +Algonquins used no oaths, for their language supplied none; +doubtless because their mythology had no beings sufficiently +distinct to swear by." Ibid, p. 31. + +In the unsystematic nature-worship of the old Aryans the gods +are presented to us only as vague powers, with their nature +and attributes dimly defined, and their relations to each +other fluctuating and often contradictory. There is no +theogony, no regular subordination of one deity to another. +The same pair of divinities appear now as father and daughter, +now as brother and sister, now as husband and wife; and again +they quite lose their personality, and are represented as mere +natural phenomena. As Muller observes, "The poets of the Veda +indulged freely in theogonic speculations without being +frightened by any contradictions. They knew of Indra as the +greatest of gods, they knew of Agni as the god of gods, they +knew of Varuna as the ruler of all; but they were by no means +startled at the idea that their Indra had a mother, or that +their Agni [Latin ignis] was born like a babe from the +friction of two fire-sticks, or that Varuna and his brother +Mitra were nursed in the lap of Aditi."[103] Thus we have seen +Bhaga, the daylight, represented as the offspring, of Aditi, +the boundless Orient; but he had several brothers, and among +them were Mitra, the sun, Varuna, the overarching firmament, +and Vivasvat, the vivifying sun. Manifestly we have here but +so many different names for what is at bottom one and the same +conception. The common element which, in Dyaus and Varuna, in +Bhaga and Indra, was made an object of worship, is the +brightness, warmth, and life of day, as contrasted with the +darkness, cold, and seeming death of the night-time. And this +common element was personified in as many different ways as +the unrestrained fancy of the ancient worshipper saw fit to +devise.[104] + +[103] Muller, Rig-Veda-Sanhita, I. 230. + +[104] Compare the remarks of Breal, Hercule et Cacus, p. 13. + +Thus we begin to see why a few simple objects, like the sun, +the sky, the dawn, and the night, should be represented in +mythology by such a host of gods, goddesses, and heroes. For +at one time the Sun is represented as the conqueror of hydras +and dragons who hide away from men the golden treasures of +light and warmth, and at another time he is represented as a +weary voyager traversing the sky-sea amid many perils, with +the steadfast purpose of returning to his western home and his +twilight bride; hence the different conceptions of Herakles, +Bellerophon, and Odysseus. Now he is represented as the son of +the Dawn, and again, with equal propriety, as the son of the +Night, and the fickle lover of the Dawn; hence we have, on the +one hand, stories of a virgin mother who dies in giving birth +to a hero, and, on the other hand, stories of a beautiful +maiden who is forsaken and perhaps cruelly slain by her +treacherous lover. Indeed, the Sun's adventures with so many +dawn-maidens have given him quite a bad character, and the +legends are numerous in which he appears as the prototype of +Don Juan. Yet again his separation from the bride of his youth +is described as due to no fault of his own, but to a +resistless decree of fate, which hurries him away as Aineias +was compelled to abandon Dido. Or, according to a third and +equally plausible notion, he is a hero of ascetic virtues, and +the dawn-maiden is a wicked enchantress, daughter of the +sensual Aphrodite, who vainly endeavours to seduce him. In the +story of Odysseus these various conceptions are blended +together. When enticed by artful women,[105] he yields for a +while to the temptation; but by and by his longing to see +Penelope takes him homeward, albeit with a record which +Penelope might not altogether have liked. Again, though the +Sun, "always roaming with a hungry heart," has seen many +cities and customs of strange men, he is nevertheless confined +to a single path,--a circumstance which seems to have +occasioned much speculation in the primeval mind. Garcilaso de +la Vega relates of a certain Peruvian Inca, who seems to have +been an "infidel" with reference to the orthodox mythology of +his day, that he thought the Sun was not such a mighty god +after all; for if he were, he would wander about the heavens +at random instead of going forever, like a horse in a +treadmill, along the same course. The American Indians +explained this circumstance by myths which told how the Sun +was once caught and tied with a chain which would only let him +swing a little way to one side or the other. The ancient Aryan +developed the nobler myth of the labours of Herakles, +performed in obedience to the bidding of Eurystheus. Again, +the Sun must needs destroy its parents, the Night and the +Dawn; and accordingly his parents, forewarned by prophecy, +expose him in infancy, or order him to be put to death; but +his tragic destiny never fails to be accomplished to the +letter. And again the Sun, who engages in quarrels not his +own, is sometimes represented as retiring moodily from the +sight of men, like Achilleus and Meleagros: he is short-lived +and ill-fated, born to do much good and to be repaid with +ingratitude; his life depends on the duration of a burning +brand, and when that is extinguished he must die. + +[105] It should be borne in mind, however, that one of the +women who tempt Odysseus is not a dawn-maiden, but a goddess +of darkness; Kalypso answers to Venus-Ursula in the myth of +Tannhauser. Kirke, on the other hand, seems to be a +dawn-maiden, like Medeia, whom she resembles. In her the +wisdom of the dawn-goddess Athene, the loftiest of Greek +divinities, becomes degraded into the art of an enchantress. +She reappears, in the Arabian Nights, as the wicked Queen +Labe, whose sorcery none of her lovers can baffle, save Beder, +king of Persia. + +The myth of the great Theban hero, Oidipous, well illustrates +the multiplicity of conceptions which clustered about the +daily career of the solar orb. His father, Laios, had been +warned by the Delphic oracle that he was in danger of death +from his own son. The newly born Oidipous was therefore +exposed on the hillside, but, like Romulus and Remus, and all +infants similarly situated in legend, was duly rescued. He was +taken to Corinth, where he grew up to manhood. Journeying once +to Thebes, he got into a quarrel with an old man whom he met +on the road, and slew him, who was none other than his father, +Laios. Reaching Thebes, he found the city harassed by the +Sphinx, who afflicted the land with drought until she should +receive an answer to her riddles. Oidipous destroyed the +monster by solving her dark sayings, and as a reward received +the kingdom, with his own mother, Iokaste, as his bride. Then +the Erinyes hastened the discovery of these dark deeds; +Iokaste died in her bridal chamber; and Oidipous, having +blinded himself, fled to the grove of the Eumenides, near +Athens, where, amid flashing lightning and peals of thunder, +he died. + +Oidipous is the Sun. Like all the solar heroes, from Herakles +and Perseus to Sigurd and William Tell, he performs his +marvellous deeds at the behest of others. His father, Laios, +is none other than the Vedic Dasyu, the night-demon who is +sure to be destroyed by his solar offspring In the evening, +Oidipous is united to the Dawn, the mother who had borne him +at daybreak; and here the original story doubtless ended. In +the Vedic hymns we find Indra, the Sun, born of Dahana +(Daphne), the Dawn, whom he afterwards, in the evening +twilight, marries. To the Indian mind the story was here +complete; but the Greeks had forgotten and outgrown the +primitive signification of the myth. To them Oidipous and +Iokaste were human, or at least anthropomorphic beings; and a +marriage between them was a fearful crime which called for +bitter expiation. Thus the latter part of the story arose in +the effort to satisfy a moral feeling As the name of Laios +denotes the dark night, so, like Iole, Oinone, and Iamos, the +word Iokaste signifies the delicate violet tints of the +morning and evening clouds. Oidipous was exposed, like Paris +upon Ida (a Vedic word meaning "the earth"), because the +sunlight in the morning lies upon the hillside.[106] He is +borne on to the destruction of his father and the incestuous +marriage with his mother by an irresistible Moira, or Fate; +the sun cannot but slay the darkness and hasten to the couch +of the violet twilight.[107] The Sphinx is the storm-demon who +sits on the cloud-rock and imprisons the rain; she is the same +as Medusa, Ahi, or Echidna, and Chimaira, and is akin to the +throttling snakes of darkness which the jealous Here sent to +destroy Herakles in his cradle. The idea was not derived from +Egypt, but the Greeks, on finding Egyptian figures resembling +their conception of the Sphinx, called them by the same name. +The omniscient Sun comprehends the sense of her dark +mutterings, and destroys her, as Indra slays Vritra, bringing +down rain upon the parched earth. The Erinyes, who bring to +light the crimes of Oidipous, have been explained, in a +previous paper, as the personification of daylight, which +reveals the evil deeds done under the cover of night. The +grove of the Erinyes, like the garden of the Hyperboreans, +represents "the fairy network of clouds, which are the first +to receive and the last to lose the light of the sun in the +morning and in the evening; hence, although Oidipous dies in a +thunder-storm, yet the Eumenides are kind to him, and his last +hour is one of deep peace and tranquillity."[108] To the last +remains with him his daughter Antigone, "she who is born +opposite," the pale light which springs up opposite to the +setting sun. + +[106] The Persian Cyrus is an historical personage; but the +story of his perils in infancy belongs to solar mythology as +much as the stories of the magic sleep of Charlemagne and +Barbarossa. His grandfather, Astyages, is purely a mythical +creation, his name being identical with that of the +night-demon, Azidahaka, who appears in the Shah-Nameh as the +biting serpent Zohak. See Cox, Mythology of the Aryan Nations, +II. 358. + +[107] In mediaeval legend this resistless Moira is transformed +into the curse which prevents the Wandering Jew from resting +until the day of judgment. + +[108] Cox, Manual of Mythology, p. 134. + +These examples show that a story-root may be as prolific of +heterogeneous offspring as a word-root. Just as we find the +root spak, "to look," begetting words so various as sceptic, +bishop, speculate, conspicsuous, species, and spice, we must +expect to find a simple representation of the diurnal course +of the sun, like those lyrically given in the Veda, branching +off into stories as diversified as those of Oidipous, +Herakles, Odysseus, and Siegfried. In fact, the types upon +which stories are constructed are wonderfully few. Some clever +playwright--I believe it was Scribe--has said that there are +only seven possible dramatic situations; that is, all the +plays in the world may be classed with some one of seven +archetypal dramas.[109] If this be true, the astonishing +complexity of mythology taken in the concrete, as compared +with its extreme simplicity when analyzed, need not surprise +us. + +[109] In his interesting appendix to Henderson's Folk Lore of +the Northern Counties of England, Mr. Baring-Gould has made an +ingenious and praiseworthy attempt to reduce the entire +existing mass of household legends to about fifty story-roots; +and his list, though both redundant and defective, is +nevertheless, as an empirical classification, very +instructive. + +The extreme limits of divergence between stories descended +from a common root are probably reached in the myths of light +and darkness with which the present discussion is mainly +concerned The subject will be best elucidated by taking a +single one of these myths and following its various fortunes +through different regions of the Aryan world. The myth of +Hercules and Cacus has been treated by M. Breal in an essay +which is one of the most valuable contributions ever made to +the study of comparative mythology; and while following his +footsteps our task will be an easy one. + +The battle between Hercules and Cacus, although one of the +oldest of the traditions common to the whole Indo-European +race, appears in Italy as a purely local legend, and is +narrated as such by Virgil, in the eighth book of the AEneid; +by Livy, at the beginning of his history; and by Propertius +and Ovid. Hercules, journeying through Italy after his victory +over Geryon, stops to rest by the bank of the Tiber. While he +is taking his repose, the three-headed monster Cacus, a son of +Vulcan and a formidable brigand, comes and steals his cattle, +and drags them tail-foremost to a secret cavern in the rocks. +But the lowing of the cows arouses Hercules, and he runs +toward the cavern where the robber, already frightened, has +taken refuge. Armed with a huge flinty rock, he breaks open +the entrance of the cavern, and confronts the demon within, +who vomits forth flames at him and roars like the thunder in +the storm-cloud. After a short combat, his hideous body falls +at the feet of the invincible hero, who erects on the spot an +altar to Jupiter Inventor, in commemoration of the recovery of +his cattle. Ancient Rome teemed with reminiscences of this +event, which Livy regarded as first in the long series of the +exploits of his countrymen. The place where Hercules pastured +his oxen was known long after as the Forum Boarium; near it +the Porta Trigemina preserved the recollection of the +monster's triple head; and in the time of Diodorus Siculus +sight-seers were shown the cavern of Cacus on the slope of the +Aventine. Every tenth day the earlier generations of Romans +celebrated the victory with solemn sacrifices at the Ara +Maxima; and on days of triumph the fortunate general deposited +there a tithe of his booty, to be distributed among the +citizens. + +In this famous myth, however, the god Hercules did not +originally figure. The Latin Hercules was an essentially +peaceful and domestic deity, watching over households and +enclosures, and nearly akin to Terminus and the Penates. He +does not appear to have been a solar divinity at all. But the +purely accidental resemblance of his name to that of the Greek +deity Herakles,[110] and the manifest identity of the +Cacus-myth with the story of the victory of Herakles over +Geryon, led to the substitution of Hercules for the original +hero of the legend, who was none other than Jupiter, called by +his Sabine name Sancus. Now Johannes Lydus informs us that, in +Sabine, Sancus signified "the sky," a meaning which we have +already seen to belong to the name Jupiter. The same +substitution of the Greek hero for the Roman divinity led to +the alteration of the name of the demon overcome by his +thunderbolts. The corrupted title Cacus was supposed to be +identical with the Greek word kakos, meaning "evil" and the +corruption was suggested by the epithet of Herakles, +Alexikakos, or "the averter of ill." Originally, however, the +name was Caecius, "he who blinds or darkens," and it +corresponds literally to the name of the Greek demon Kaikias, +whom an old proverb, preserved by Aulus Gellius, describes as +a stealer of the clouds.[111] + +[110] There is nothing in common between the names Hercules +and Herakles. The latter is a compound, formed like +Themistokles; the former is a simple derivative from the root +of hercere, "to enclose." If Herakles had any equivalent in +Latin, it would necessarily begin with S, and not with H, as +septa corresponds to epta, sequor to epomai, etc. It should be +noted, however, that Mommsen, in the fourth edition of his +History, abandons this view, and observes: "Auch der +griechische Herakles ist fruh als Herclus, Hercoles, Hercules +in Italien einheimisch und dort in eigenthumlicher Weise +aufgefasst worden, wie es scheint zunachst als Gott des +gewagten Gewinns und der ausserordentlichen +Vermogensvermehrung." Romische Geschichte, I. 181. One would +gladly learn Mommsen's reasons for recurring to this +apparently less defensible opinion. + +[111] For the relations between Sancus and Herakles, see +Preller, Romische Mythologie, p. 635; Vollmer, Mythologie, p. +970. + +Thus the significance of the myth becomes apparent. The +three-headed Cacus is seen to be a near kinsman of Geryon's +three-headed dog Orthros, and of the three-headed Kerberos, +the hell-hound who guards the dark regions below the horizon. +He is the original werewolf or Rakshasa, the fiend of the +storm who steals the bright cattle of Helios, and hides them +in the black cavernous rock, from which they are afterwards +rescued by the schamir or lightning-stone of the solar hero. +The physical character of the myth is apparent even in the +description of Virgil, which reads wonderfully like a Vedic +hymn in celebration of the exploits of Indra. But when we turn +to the Veda itself, we find the correctness of the +interpretation demonstrated again and again, with +inexhaustible prodigality of evidence. Here we encounter again +the three-headed Orthros under the identical title of Vritra, +"he who shrouds or envelops," called also Cushna, "he who +parches," Pani, "the robber," and Ahi, "the strangler." In +many hymns of the Rig-Veda the story is told over and over, +like a musical theme arranged with variations. Indra, the god +of light, is a herdsman who tends a herd of bright golden or +violet-coloured cattle. Vritra, a snake-like monster with +three heads, steals them and hides them in a cavern, but Indra +slays him as Jupiter slew Caecius, and the cows are recovered. +The language of the myth is so significant, that the Hindu +commentators of tile Veda have themselves given explanations +of it similar to those proposed by modern philologists. To +them the legend never became devoid of sense, as the myth of +Geryon appeared to Greek scholars like Apollodoros.[112] + +[112] Burnouf, Bhagavata-Purana, III. p. lxxxvi; Breal, op. +cit. p. 98. + +These celestial cattle, with their resplendent coats of purple +and gold, are the clouds lit up by the solar rays; but the +demon who steals them is not always the fiend of the storm, +acting in that capacity. They are stolen every night by Vritra +the concealer, and Caecius the darkener, and Indra is obliged +to spend hours in looking for them, sending Sarama, the +inconstant twilight, to negotiate for their recovery. Between +the storm-myth and the myth of night and morning the +resemblance is sometimes so close as to confuse the +interpretation of the two. Many legends which Max Muller +explains as myths of the victory of day over night are +explained by Dr. Kuhn as storm-myths; and the disagreement +between two such powerful champions would be a standing +reproach to what is rather prematurely called the SCIENCE of +comparative mythology, were it not easy to show that the +difference is merely apparent and non-essential. It is the old +story of the shield with two sides; and a comparison of the +ideas fundamental to these myths will show that there is no +valid ground for disagreement in the interpretation of them. +The myths of schamir and the divining-rod, analyzed in a +previous paper, explain the rending of the thunder-cloud and +the procuring of water without especial reference to any +struggle between opposing divinities. But in the myth of +Hercules and Cacus, the fundamental idea is the victory of the +solar god over the robber who steals the light. Now whether +the robber carries off the light in the evening when Indra has +gone to sleep, or boldly rears his black form against the sky +during the daytime, causing darkness to spread over the earth, +would make little difference to the framers of the myth. To a +chicken a solar eclipse is the same thing as nightfall, and he +goes to roost accordingly. Why, then, should the primitive +thinker have made a distinction between the darkening of the +sky caused by black clouds and that caused by the rotation of +the earth? He had no more conception of the scientific +explanation of these phenomena than the chicken has of the +scientific explanation of an eclipse. For him it was enough to +know that the solar radiance was stolen, in the one case as in +the other, and to suspect that the same demon was to blame for +both robberies. + +The Veda itself sustains this view. It is certain that the +victory of Indra over Vritra is essentially the same as his +victory over the Panis. Vritra, the storm-fiend, is himself +called one of the Panis; yet the latter are uniformly +represented as night-demons. They steal Indra's golden cattle +and drive them by circuitous paths to a dark hiding-place near +the eastern horizon. Indra sends the dawn-nymph, Sarama, to +search for them, but as she comes within sight of the dark +stable, the Panis try to coax her to stay with them: "Let us +make thee our sister, do not go away again; we will give thee +part of the cows, O darling."[113] According to the text of +this hymn, she scorns their solicitations, but elsewhere the +fickle dawn-nymph is said to coquet with the powers of +darkness. She does not care for their cows, but will take a +drink of milk, if they will be so good as to get it for her. +Then she goes back and tells Indra that she cannot find the +cows. He kicks her with his foot, and she runs back to the +Panis, followed by the god, who smites them all with his +unerring arrows and recovers the stolen light. From such a +simple beginning as this + +has been deduced the Greek myth of the faithlessness of +Helen.[114] + +[113] Max Muller, Science of Language, II 484. + +[114] As Max Muller observes, "apart from all mythological +considerations, Sarama in Sanskrit is the same word as Helena +in Greek." Op. cit. p. 490. The names correspond phonetically +letter for letter, as, Surya corresponds to Helios, Sarameyas +to Hermeias, and Aharyu to Achilleus. Muller has plausibly +suggested that Paris similarly answers to the Panis. + +These night-demons, the Panis, though not apparently regarded +with any strong feeling of moral condemnation, are +nevertheless hated and dreaded as the authors of calamity. +They not only steal the daylight, but they parch the earth and +wither the fruits, and they slay vegetation during the winter +months. As Caecius, the "darkener," became ultimately changed +into Cacus, the "evil one," so the name of Vritra, the +"concealer," the most famous of the Panis, was gradually +generalized until it came to mean "enemy," like the English +word fiend, and began to be applied indiscriminately to any +kind of evil spirit. In one place he is called Adeva, the +"enemy of the gods," an epithet exactly equivalent to the +Persian dev. + +In the Zendavesta the myth of Hercules and Cacus has given +rise to a vast system of theology. The fiendish Panis are +concentrated in Ahriman or Anro-mainyas, whose name signifies +the "spirit of darkness," and who carries on a perpetual +warfare against Ormuzd or Ahuramazda, who is described by his +ordinary surname, Spentomainyas, as the "spirit of light." The +ancient polytheism here gives place to a refined dualism, not +very different from what in many Christian sects has passed +current as monotheism. Ahriman is the archfiend, who struggles +with Ormuzd, not for the possession of a herd of perishable +cattle, but for the dominion of the universe. Ormuzd creates +the world pure and beautiful, but Ahriman comes after him and +creates everything that is evil in it. He not only keeps the +earth covered with darkness during half of the day, and +withholds the rain and destroys the crops, but he is the +author of all evil thoughts and the instigator of all wicked +actions. Like his progenitor Vritra and his offspring Satan, +he is represented under the form of a serpent; and the +destruction which ultimately awaits these demons is also in +reserve for him. Eventually there is to be a day of reckoning, +when Ahriman will be bound in chains and rendered powerless, +or when, according to another account, he will be converted to +righteousness, as Burns hoped and Origen believed would be the +case with Satan. + +This dualism of the ancient Persians has exerted a powerful +influence upon the development of Christian theology. The very +idea of an archfiend Satan, which Christianity received from +Judaism, seems either to have been suggested by the Persian +Ahriman, or at least to have derived its principal +characteristics from that source. There is no evidence that +the Jews, previous to the Babylonish captivity, possessed the +conception of a Devil as the author of all evil. In the +earlier books of the Old Testament Jehovah is represented as +dispensing with his own hand the good and the evil, like the +Zeus of the Iliad.[115] The story of the serpent in Eden--an +Aryan story in every particular, which has crept into the +Pentateuch--is not once alluded to in the Old Testament; and +the notion of Satan as the author of evil appears only in the +later books, composed after the Jews had come into close +contact with Persian ideas.[116] In the Book of Job, as +Reville observes, Satan is "still a member of the celestial +court, being one of the sons of the Elohim, but having as his +special office the continual accusation of men, and having +become so suspicious by his practice as public accuser, that +he believes in the virtue of no one, and always presupposes +interested motives for the purest manifestations of human +piety." In this way the character of this angel became +injured, and he became more and more an object of dread and +dislike to men, until the later Jews ascribed to him all the +attributes of Ahriman, and in this singularly altered shape he +passed into Christian theology. Between the Satan of the Book +of Job and the mediaeval Devil the metamorphosis is as great +as that which degraded the stern Erinys, who brings evil deeds +to light, into the demon-like Fury who torments wrong-doers in +Tartarus; and, making allowance for difference of +circumstances, the process of degradation has been very nearly +the same in the two cases. + +[115] "I create evil," Isaiah xiv. 7; "Shall there be evil in +the city, and the Lord hath not done it?" Amos iii. 6; cf. +Iliad, xxiv. 527, and contrast 2 Samuel xxiv. 1 with 1 +Chronicles xxi. 1. + +[116] Nor is there any ground for believing that the serpent +in the Eden myth is intended for Satan. The identification is +entirely the work of modern dogmatic theology, and is due, +naturally enough, to the habit, so common alike among +theologians and laymen, of reasoning about the Bible as if it +were a single book, and not a collection of writings of +different ages and of very different degrees of historic +authenticity. In a future work, entitled "Aryana Vaedjo," I +hope to examine, at considerable length, this interesting myth +of the garden of Eden. + +The mediaeval conception of the Devil is a grotesque compound +of elements derived from all the systems of pagan mythology +which Christianity superseded. He is primarily a rebellious +angel, expelled from heaven along with his followers, like the +giants who attempted to scale Olympos, and like the impious +Efreets of Arabian legend who revolted against the beneficent +rule of Solomon. As the serpent prince of the outer darkness, +he retains the old characteristics of Vritra, Ahi, Typhon, and +Echidna. As the black dog which appears behind the stove in +Dr. Faust's study, he is the classic hell-hound Kerberos, the +Vedic Carvara. From the sylvan deity Pan he gets his goat-like +body, his horns and cloven hoofs. Like the wind-god Orpheus, +to whose music the trees bent their heads to listen, he is an +unrivalled player on the bagpipes. Like those other wind-gods +the psychopomp Hermes and the wild huntsman Odin, he is the +prince of the powers of the air: his flight through the +midnight sky, attended by his troop of witches mounted on +their brooms, which sometimes break the boughs and sweep the +leaves from the trees, is the same as the furious chase of the +Erlking Odin or the Burckar Vittikab. He is Dionysos, who +causes red wine to flow from the dry wood, alike on the deck +of the Tyrrhenian pirate-ship and in Auerbach's cellar at +Leipzig. He is Wayland, the smith, a skilful worker in metals +and a wonderful architect, like the classic fire-god +Hephaistos or Vulcan; and, like Hephaistos, he is lame from +the effects of his fall from heaven. From the lightning-god +Thor he obtains his red beard, his pitchfork, and his power +over thunderbolts; and, like that ancient deity, he is in the +habit of beating his wife behind the door when the rain falls +during sunshine. Finally, he takes a hint from Poseidon and +from the swan-maidens, and appears as a water-imp or Nixy +(whence probably his name of Old Nick), and as the Davy (deva) +whose "locker" is situated at the bottom of the sea.[117] + +[117] For further particulars see Cox, Mythology of the Aryan +Nations, Vol. II. pp 358, 366; to which I am indebted for +several of the details here given. Compare Welcker, +Griechische Gotterlehre, I. 661, seq. + +According to the Scotch divines of the seventeenth century, +the Devil is a learned scholar and profound thinker. Having +profited by six thousand years of intense study and +meditation, he has all science, philosophy, and theology at +his tongue's end; and, as his skill has increased with age, he +is far more than a match for mortals in cunning.[118] Such, +however, is not the view taken by mediaeval mythology, which +usually represents his stupidity as equalling his malignity. +The victory of Hercules over Cacus is repeated in a hundred +mediaeval legends in which the Devil is overreached and made a +laughing-stock. The germ of this notion may be found in the +blinding of Polyphemos by Odysseus, which is itself a victory +of the sun-hero over the night-demon, and which curiously +reappears in a Middle-Age story narrated by Mr. Cox. "The +Devil asks a man who is moulding buttons what he may be doing; +and when the man answers that he is moulding eyes, asks him +further whether he can give him a pair of new eyes. He is told +to come again another day; and when he makes his appearance +accordingly, the man tells him that the operation cannot be +performed rightly unless he is first tightly bound with his +back fastened to a bench. While he is thus pinioned he asks +the man's name. The reply is Issi (`himself'). When the lead +is melted, the Devil opens his eyes wide to receive the deadly +stream. As soon as he is blinded, he starts up in agony, +bearing away the bench to which he had been bound; and when +some workpeople in the fields ask him who had thus treated +him, his answer is, 'Issi teggi' (`Self did it'). With a laugh +they bid him lie on the bed which he has made: 'selbst +gethan, selbst habe.' The Devil died of his new eyes, and was +never seen again." + +[118] "Many amusing passages from Scotch theologians are cited +in Buckle's History of Civilization, Vol. II. p. 368. The same +belief is implied in the quaint monkish tale of "Celestinus +and the Miller's Horse." See Tales from the Gesta Romanorum, +p. 134. + +In his attempts to obtain human souls the Devil is frequently +foiled by the superior cunning of mortals. Once, he agreed to +build a house for a peasant in exchange for the peasant's +soul; but if the house were not finished before cockcrow, the +contract was to be null and void. Just as the Devil was +putting on the last tile the man imitated a cockcrow and waked +up all the roosters in the neighbourhood, so that the fiend +had his labour for his pains. A merchant of Louvain once sold +himself to the Devil, who heaped upon him all manner of riches +for seven years, and then came to get him. The merchant "took +the Devil in a friendly manner by the hand and, as it was just +evening, said, 'Wife, bring a light quickly for the +gentleman.' 'That is not at all necessary,' said the Devil; +'I am merely come to fetch you.' 'Yes, yes, that I know very +well,' said the merchant, 'only just grant me the time till +this little candle-end is burnt out, as I have a few letters +to sign and to put on my coat.' 'Very well,' said the Devil, +'but only till the candle is burnt out.' 'Good,' said the +merchant, and going into the next room, ordered the +maid-servant to place a large cask full of water close to a +very deep pit that was dug in the garden. The men-servants +also carried, each of them, a cask to the spot; and when all +was done, they were ordered each to take a shovel, and stand +round the pit. The merchant then returned to the Devil, who +seeing that not more than about an inch of candle remained, +said, laughing, 'Now get yourself ready, it will soon be burnt +out.' 'That I see, and am content; but I shall hold you to +your word, and stay till it IS burnt.' 'Of course,' answered +the Devil; 'I stick to my word.' 'It is dark in the next +room,' continued the merchant, 'but I must find the great book +with clasps, so let me just take the light for one moment.' +'Certainly,' said the Devil, 'but I'll go with you.' He did +so, and the merchant's trepidation was now on the increase. +When in the next room he said on a sudden, 'Ah, now I know, +the key is in the garden door.' And with these words he ran +out with the light into the garden, and before the Devil could +overtake him, threw it into the pit, and the men and the maids +poured water upon it, and then filled up the hole with earth. +Now came the Devil into the garden and asked, 'Well, did you +get the key? and how is it with the candle? where is it?' 'The +candle?' said the merchant. 'Yes, the candle.' 'Ha, ha, ha! it +is not yet burnt out,' answered the merchant, laughing, 'and +will not be burnt out for the next fifty years; it lies there +a hundred fathoms deep in the earth.' When the Devil heard +this he screamed awfully, and went off with a most intolerable +stench."[119] + +[119] Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. 11. p. 258. + +One day a fowler, who was a terrible bungler and could n't hit +a bird at a dozen paces, sold his soul to the Devil in order +to become a Freischutz. The fiend was to come for him in seven +years, but must be always able to name the animal at which he +was shooting, otherwise the compact was to be nullified. After +that day the fowler never missed his aim, and never did a +fowler command such wages. When the seven years were out the +fowler told all these things to his wife, and the twain hit +upon an expedient for cheating the Devil. The woman stripped +herself, daubed her whole body with molasses, and rolled +herself up in a feather-bed, cut open for this purpose. Then +she hopped and skipped about the field where her husband stood +parleying with Old Nick. "there's a shot for you, fire away," +said the Devil. "Of course I'll fire, but do you first tell me +what kind of a bird it is; else our agreement is cancelled, +Old Boy." There was no help for it; the Devil had to own +himself nonplussed, and off he fled, with a whiff of brimstone +which nearly suffocated the Freischutz and his good +woman.[120] + +[120] Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. II. p. 259. In the +Norse story of "Not a Pin to choose between them," the old +woman is in doubt as to her own identity, on waking up after +the butcher has dipped her in a tar-barrel and rolled her on a +heap of feathers; and when Tray barks at her, her perplexity +is as great as the Devil's when fooled by the Frenschutz. See +Dasent, Norse Tales, p. 199. + +In the legend of Gambrinus, the fiend is still more +ingloriously defeated. Gambrinus was a fiddler, who, being +jilted by his sweetheart, went out into the woods to hang +himself. As he was sitting on the bough, with the cord about +his neck, preparatory to taking the fatal plunge, suddenly a +tall man in a green coat appeared before him, and offered his +services. He might become as wealthy as he liked, and make his +sweetheart burst with vexation at her own folly, but in thirty +years he must give up his soul to Beelzebub. The bargain was +struck, for Gambrinus thought thirty years a long time to +enjoy one's self in, and perhaps the Devil might get him in +any event; as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb. Aided by +Satan, he invented chiming-bells and lager-beer, for both of +which achievements his name is held in grateful remembrance by +the Teuton. No sooner had the Holy Roman Emperor quaffed a +gallon or two of the new beverage than he made Gambrinus Duke +of Brabant and Count of Flanders, and then it was the +fiddler's turn to laugh at the discomfiture of his old +sweetheart. Gambrinus kept clear of women, says the legend, +and so lived in peace. For thirty years he sat beneath his +belfry with the chimes, meditatively drinking beer with his +nobles and burghers around him. Then Beelzebub sent Jocko, one +of his imps, with orders to bring back Gambrinus before +midnight. But Jocko was, like Swiveller's Marchioness, +ignorant of the taste of beer, never having drunk of it even +in a sip, and the Flemish schoppen were too much for him. He +fell into a drunken sleep, and did not wake up until noon next +day, at which he was so mortified that he had not the face to +go back to hell at all. So Gambrinus lived on tranquilly for a +century or two, and drank so much beer that he turned into a +beer-barrel.[121] + +[121] See Deulin, Contes d'un Buveur de Biere, pp. 3-29. + +The character of gullibility attributed to the Devil in these +legends is probably derived from the Trolls, or "night-folk," +of Northern mythology. In most respects the Trolls resemble +the Teutonic elves and fairies, and the Jinn or Efreets of the +Arabian Nights; but their pedigree is less honourable. The +fairies, or "White Ladies," were not originally spirits of +darkness, but were nearly akin to the swan-maidens, +dawn-nymphs, and dryads, and though their wrath was to be +dreaded, they were not malignant by nature. Christianity, +having no place for such beings, degraded them into something +like imps; the most charitable theory being that they were +angels who had remained neutral during Satan's rebellion, in +punishment for which Michael expelled them from heaven, but +has left their ultimate fate unannounced until the day of +judgment. The Jinn appear to have been similarly degraded on +the rise of Mohammedanism. But the Trolls were always imps of +darkness. They are descended from the Jotuns, or Frost-Giants +of Northern paganism, and they correspond to the Panis, or +night-demons of the Veda. In many Norse tales they are said to +burst when they see the risen sun.[122] They eat human flesh, +are ignorant of the simplest arts, and live in the deepest +recesses of the forest or in caverns on the hillside, where +the sunlight never penetrates. Some of these characteristics +may very likely have been suggested by reminiscences of the +primeval Lapps, from whom the Aryan invaders wrested the +dominion of Europe.[123] In some legends the Trolls are +represented as an ancient race of beings now superseded by the +human race. " 'What sort of an earth-worm is this?' said one +Giant to another, when they met a man as they walked. 'These +are the earth-worms that will one day eat us up, brother,' +answered the other; and soon both Giants left that part of +Germany." " 'See what pretty playthings, mother!' cries the +Giant's daughter, as she unties her apron, and shows her a +plough, and horses, and a peasant. 'Back with them this +instant,' cries the mother in wrath, 'and put them down as +carefully as you can, for these playthings can do our race +great harm, and when these come we must budge.' " Very +naturally the primitive Teuton, possessing already the +conception of night-demons, would apply it to these men of the +woods whom even to this day his uneducated descendants believe +to be sorcerers, able to turn men into wolves. But whatever +contributions historical fact may have added to his character, +the Troll is originally a creation of mythology, like +Polyphemos, whom he resembles in his uncouth person, his +cannibal appetite, and his lack of wit. His ready gullibility +is shown in the story of "Boots who ate a Match with the +Troll." Boots, the brother of Cinderella, and the counterpart +alike of Jack the Giant-killer, and of Odysseus, is the +youngest of three brothers who go into a forest to cut wood. +The Troll appears and threatens to kill any one who dares to +meddle with his timber. The elder brothers flee, but Boots +puts on a bold face. He pulled a cheese out of his scrip and +squeezed it till the whey began to spurt out. "Hold your +tongue, you dirty Troll," said he, "or I'll squeeze you as I +squeeze this stone." So the Troll grew timid and begged to be +spared,[124] and Boots let him off on condition that he would +hew all day with him. They worked till nightfall, and the +Troll's giant strength accomplished wonders. Then Boots went +home with the Troll, having arranged that he should get the +water while his host made the fire. When they reached the hut +there were two enormous iron pails, so heavy that none but a +Troll could lift them, but Boots was not to be frightened. +"Bah!" said he. "Do you suppose I am going to get water in +those paltry hand-basins? Hold on till I go and get the spring +itself!" "O dear!" said the Troll, "I'd rather not; do you +make the fire, and I'll get the water." Then when the soup +was made, Boots challenged his new friend to an eating-match; +and tying his scrip in front of him, proceeded to pour soup +into it by the ladleful. By and by the giant threw down his +spoon in despair, and owned himself conquered. "No, no! don't +give it up yet," said Boots, "just cut a hole in your stomach +like this, and you can eat forever." And suiting the action to +the words, he ripped open his scrip. So the silly Troll cut +himself open and died, and Boots carried off all his gold and +silver. + +[122] Dasent, Popular Tales from the Norse, No. III. and No. +XLII. + +[123] See Dasent's Introduction, p. cxxxix; Campbell, Tales of +the West Highlands, Vol. IV. p. 344; and Williams, Indian Epic +Poetry, p. 10. + +[124] "A Leopard was returning home from hunting on one +occasion, when he lighted on the kraal of a Ram. Now the +Leopard had never seen a Ram before, and accordingly, +approaching submissively, he said, 'Good day, friend! what may +your name be?' The other, in his gruff voice, and striking +his breast with his forefoot, said, 'I am a Ram; who are you?' +'A Leopard,' answered the other, more dead than alive; and +then, taking leave of the Ram, he ran home as fast as he +could." Bleek, Hottentot Fables, p. 24. + +Once there was a Troll whose name was Wind-and-Weather, and +Saint Olaf hired him to build a church. If the church were +completed within a certain specified time, the Troll was to +get possession of Saint Olaf. The saint then planned such a +stupendous edifice that he thought the giant would be forever +building it; but the work went on briskly, and at the +appointed day nothing remained but to finish the point of the +spire. In his consternation Olaf rushed about until he passed +by the Troll's den, when he heard the giantess telling her +children that their father, Wind-and-Weather, was finishing +his church, and would be home to-morrow with Saint Olaf. So +the saint ran back to the church and bawled out, "Hold on, +Wind-and-Weather, your spire is crooked!" Then the giant +tumbled down from the roof and broke into a thousand pieces. +As in the cases of the Mara and the werewolf, the enchantment +was at an end as soon as the enchanter was called by name. + +These Trolls, like the Arabian Efreets, had an ugly habit of +carrying off beautiful princesses. This is strictly in keeping +with their character as night-demons, or Panis. In the stories +of Punchkin and the Heartless Giant, the night-demon carries +off the dawn-maiden after having turned into stone her solar +brethren. But Boots, or Indra, in search of his kinsfolk, by +and by arrives at the Troll's castle, and then the dawn-nymph, +true to her fickle character, cajoles the Giant and enables +Boots to destroy him. In the famous myth which serves as the +basis for the Volsunga Saga and the Nibelungenlied, the dragon +Fafnir steals the Valkyrie Brynhild and keeps her shut up in a +castle on the Glistening Heath, until some champion shall be +found powerful enough to rescue her. The castle is as hard to +enter as that of the Sleeping Beauty; but Sigurd, the Northern +Achilleus, riding on his deathless horse, and wielding his +resistless sword Gram, forces his way in, slays Fafnir, and +recovers the Valkyrie. + +In the preceding paper the Valkyries were shown to belong to +the class of cloud-maidens; and between the tale of Sigurd and +that of Hercules and Cacus there is no difference, save that +the bright sunlit clouds which are represented in the one as +cows are in the other represented as maidens. In the myth of +the Argonauts they reappear as the Golden Fleece, carried to +the far east by Phrixos and Helle, who are themselves +Niblungs, or "Children of the Mist" (Nephele), and there +guarded by a dragon. In all these myths a treasure is stolen +by a fiend of darkness, and recovered by a hero of light, who +slays the demon. And--remembering what Scribe said about the +fewness of dramatic types--I believe we are warranted in +asserting that all the stories of lovely women held in bondage +by monsters, and rescued by heroes who perform wonderful +tasks, such as Don Quixote burned to achieve, are derived +ultimately from solar myths, like the myth of Sigurd and +Brynhild. I do not mean to say that the story-tellers who +beguiled their time in stringing together the incidents which +make up these legends were conscious of their solar character. +They did not go to work, with malice prepense, to weave +allegories and apologues. The Greeks who first told the story +of Perseus and Andromeda, the Arabians who devised the tale of +Codadad and his brethren, the Flemings who listened over their +beer-mugs to the adventures of Culotte-Verte, were not +thinking of sun-gods or dawn-maidens, or night-demons; and no +theory of mythology can be sound which implies such an +extravagance. Most of these stories have lived on the lips of +the common people; and illiterate persons are not in the habit +of allegorizing in the style of mediaeval monks or rabbinical +commentators. But what has been amply demonstrated is, that +the sun and the clouds, the light and the darkness, were once +supposed to be actuated by wills analogous to the human will; +that they were personified and worshipped or propitiated by +sacrifice; and that their doings were described in language +which applied so well to the deeds of human or quasi-human +beings that in course of time its primitive purport faded from +recollection. No competent scholar now doubts that the myths +of the Veda and the Edda originated in this way, for philology +itself shows that the names employed in them are the names of +the great phenomena of nature. And when once a few striking +stories had thus arisen,--when once it had been told how Indra +smote the Panis, and how Sigurd rescued Brynhild, and how +Odysseus blinded the Kyklops,--then certain mythic or +dramatic types had been called into existence; and to these +types, preserved in the popular imagination, future stories +would inevitably conform. We need, therefore, have no +hesitation in admitting a common origin for the vanquished +Panis and the outwitted Troll or Devil; we may securely +compare the legends of St. George and Jack the Giant-killer +with the myth of Indra slaying Vritra; we may see in the +invincible Sigurd the prototype of many a doughty +knight-errant of romance; and we may learn anew the lesson, +taught with fresh emphasis by modern scholarship, that in the +deepest sense there is nothing new under the sun. + +I am the more explicit on this point, because it seems to me +that the unguarded language of many students of mythology is +liable to give rise to misapprehensions, and to discredit both +the method which they employ and the results which they have +obtained. If we were to give full weight to the statements +which are sometimes made, we should perforce believe that +primitive men had nothing to do but to ponder about the sun +and the clouds, and to worry themselves over the disappearance +of daylight. But there is nothing in the scientific +interpretation of myths which obliges us to go any such +length. I do not suppose that any ancient Aryan, possessed of +good digestive powers and endowed with sound common-sense, +ever lay awake half the night wondering whether the sun would +come back again.[125] The child and the savage believe of +necessity that the future will resemble the past, and it is +only philosophy which raises doubts on the subject.[126] The +predominance of solar legends in most systems of mythology is +not due to the lack of "that Titanic assurance with which we +say, the sun MUST rise";[127] nor again to the fact that the +phenomena of day and night are the most striking phenomena in +nature. Eclipses and earthquakes and floods are phenomena of +the most terrible and astounding kind, and they have all +generated myths; yet their contributions to folk-lore are +scanty compared with those furnished by the strife between the +day-god and his enemies. The sun-myths have been so prolific +because the dramatic types to which they have given rise are +of surpassing human interest. The dragon who swallows the sun +is no doubt a fearful personage; but the hero who toils for +others, who slays hydra-headed monsters, and dries the tears +of fair-haired damsels, and achieves success in spite of +incredible obstacles, is a being with whom we can all +sympathize, and of whom we never weary of hearing. + +[125] I agree, most heartily, with Mr. Mahaffy's remarks, +Prolegomena to Ancient History, p. 69. + +[126] Sir George Grey once told some Australian natives about +the countries within the arctic circle where during part of +the year the sun never sets. "Their astonishment now knew no +bounds. 'Ah! that must be another sun, not the same as the one +we see here,' said an old man; and in spite of all my +arguments to the contrary, the others adopted this opinion." +Grey's Journals, I. 293, cited in Tylor, Early History of +Mankind, p. 301. + +[127] Max Muller, Chips, II. 96. + +With many of these legends which present the myth of light and +darkness in its most attractive form, the reader is already +acquainted, and it is needless to retail stories which have +been told over and over again in books which every one is +presumed to have read. I will content myself with a weird +Irish legend, narrated by Mr. Patrick Kennedy,[128] in which +we here and there catch glimpses of the primitive mythical +symbols, as fragments of gold are seen gleaming through the +crystal of quartz. + +[128] Fictions of the Irish Celts, pp. 255-270. + +Long before the Danes ever came to Ireland, there died at +Muskerry a Sculloge, or country farmer, who by dint of hard +work and close economy had amassed enormous wealth. His only +son did not resemble him. When the young Sculloge looked about +the house, the day after his father's death, and saw the big +chests full of gold and silver, and the cupboards shining with +piles of sovereigns, and the old stockings stuffed with large +and small coin, he said to himself, "Bedad, how shall I ever +be able to spend the likes o' that!" And so he drank, and +gambled, and wasted his time in hunting and horse-racing, +until after a while he found the chests empty and the +cupboards poverty-stricken, and the stockings lean and +penniless. Then he mortgaged his farm-house and gambled away +all the money he got for it, and then he bethought him that a +few hundred pounds might be raised on his mill. But when he +went to look at it, he found "the dam broken, and scarcely a +thimbleful of water in the mill-race, and the wheel rotten, +and the thatch of the house all gone, and the upper millstone +lying flat on the lower one, and a coat of dust and mould over +everything." So he made up his mind to borrow a horse and take +one more hunt to-morrow and then reform his habits. + +As he was returning late in the evening from this farewell +hunt, passing through a lonely glen he came upon an old man +playing backgammon, betting on his left hand against his +right, and crying and cursing because the right WOULD win. +"Come and bet with me," said he to Sculloge. "Faith, I have +but a sixpence in the world," was the reply; "but, if you +like, I'll wager that on the right." "Done," said the old +man, who was a Druid; "if you win I'll give you a hundred +guineas." So the game was played, and the old man, whose right +hand was always the winner, paid over the guineas and told +Sculloge to go to the Devil with them. + +Instead of following this bit of advice, however, the young +farmer went home and began to pay his debts, and next week he +went to the glen and won another game, and made the Druid +rebuild his mill. So Sculloge became prosperous again, and by +and by he tried his luck a third time, and won a game played +for a beautiful wife. The Druid sent her to his house the next +morning before he was out of bed, and his servants came +knocking at the door and crying, "Wake up! wake up! Master +Sculloge, there's a young lady here to see you." "Bedad, it's +the vanithee[129] herself," said Sculloge; and getting up in a +hurry, he spent three quarters of an hour in dressing himself. +At last he went down stairs, and there on the sofa was the +prettiest lady ever seen in Ireland! Naturally, Sculloge's +heart beat fast and his voice trembled, as he begged the +lady's pardon for this Druidic style of wooing, and besought +her not to feel obliged to stay with him unless she really +liked him. But the young lady, who was a king's daughter from +a far country, was wondrously charmed with the handsome +farmer, and so well did they get along that the priest was +sent for without further delay, and they were married before +sundown. Sabina was the vanithee's name; and she warned her +husband to have no more dealings with Lassa Buaicht, the old +man of the glen. So for a while all went happily, and the +Druidic bride was as good as she was beautiful But by and by +Sculloge began to think he was not earning money fast enough. +He could not bear to see his wife's white hands soiled with +work, and thought it would be a fine thing if he could only +afford to keep a few more servants, and drive about with +Sabina in an elegant carriage, and see her clothed in silk and +adorned with jewels. + +[129] A corruption of Gaelic bhan a teaigh, "lady of the +house." + +"I will play one more game and set the stakes high," said +Sculloge to himself one evening, as he sat pondering over +these things; and so, without consulting Sabina, he stole away +to the glen, and played a game for ten thousand guineas. But +the evil Druid was now ready to pounce on his prey, and he did +not play as of old. Sculloge broke into a cold sweat with +agony and terror as he saw the left hand win! Then the face of +Lassa Buaicht grew dark and stern, and he laid on Sculloge the +curse which is laid upon the solar hero in misfortune, that he +should never sleep twice under the same roof, or ascend the +couch of the dawn-nymph, his wife, until he should have +procured and brought to him the sword of light. When Sculloge +reached home, more dead than alive, he saw that his wife knew +all. Bitterly they wept together, but she told him that with +courage all might be set right. She gave him a Druidic horse, +which bore him swiftly over land and sea, like the enchanted +steed of the Arabian Nights, until he reached the castle of +his wife's father who, as Sculloge now learned, was a good +Druid, the brother of the evil Lassa Buaicht. This good Druid +told him that the sword of light was kept by a third brother, +the powerful magician, Fiach O'Duda, who dwelt in an enchanted +castle, which many brave heroes had tried to enter, but the +dark sorcerer had slain them all. Three high walls surrounded +the castle, and many had scaled the first of these, but none +had ever returned alive. But Sculloge was not to be daunted, +and, taking from his father-in-law a black steed, he set out +for the fortress of Fiach O'Duda. Over the first high wall +nimbly leaped the magic horse, and Sculloge called aloud on +the Druid to come out and surrender his sword. Then came out a +tall, dark man, with coal-black eyes and hair and melancholy +visage, and made a furious sweep at Sculloge with the flaming +blade. But the Druidic beast sprang back over the wall in the +twinkling of an eye and rescued his rider, leaving, however, +his tail behind in the court-yard. Then Sculloge returned in +triumph to his father-in-law's palace, and the night was spent +in feasting and revelry. + +Next day Sculloge rode out on a white horse, and when he got +to Fiach's castle, he saw the first wall lying in rubbish. He +leaped the second, and the same scene occurred as the day +before, save that the horse escaped unharmed. + +The third day Sculloge went out on foot, with a harp like that +of Orpheus in his hand, and as he swept its strings the grass +bent to listen and the trees bowed their heads. The castle +walls all lay in ruins, and Sculloge made his way unhindered +to the upper room, where Fiach lay in Druidic slumber, lulled +by the harp. He seized the sword of light, which was hung by +the chimney sheathed in a dark scabbard, and making the best +of his way back to the good king's palace, mounted his wife's +steed, and scoured over land and sea until he found himself in +the gloomy glen where Lassa Buaicht was still crying and +cursing and betting on his left hand against his right. + +"Here, treacherous fiend, take your sword of light!" shouted +Sculloge in tones of thunder; and as he drew it from its +sheath the whole valley was lighted up as with the morning +sun, and next moment the head of the wretched Druid was lying +at his feet, and his sweet wife, who had come to meet him, was +laughing and crying in his arms. November, 1870. + + + +V. MYTHS OF THE BARBARIC WORLD. + +THE theory of mythology set forth in the four preceding +papers, and illustrated by the examination of numerous myths +relating to the lightning, the storm-wind, the clouds, and the +sunlight, was originally framed with reference solely to the +mythic and legendary lore of the Aryan world. The phonetic +identity of the names of many Western gods and heroes with the +names of those Vedic divinities which are obviously the +personifications of natural phenomena, suggested the theory +which philosophical considerations had already foreshadowed in +the works of Hume and Comte, and which the exhaustive analysis +of Greek, Hindu, Keltic, and Teutonic legends has amply +confirmed. Let us now, before proceeding to the consideration +of barbaric folk-lore, briefly recapitulate the results +obtained by modern scholarship working strictly within the +limits of the Aryan domain. + +In the first place, it has been proved once for all that the +languages spoken by the Hindus, Persians, Greeks, Romans, +Kelts, Slaves, and Teutons are all descended from a single +ancestral language, the Old Aryan, in the same sense that +French, Italian, and Spanish are descended from the Latin. And +from this undisputed fact it is an inevitable inference that +these various races contain, along with other elements, a +race-element in common, due to their Aryan pedigree. That the +Indo-European races are wholly Aryan is very improbable, for +in every case the countries overrun by them were occupied by +inferior races, whose blood must have mingled in varying +degrees with that of their conquerors; but that every +Indo-European people is in great part descended from a common +Aryan stock is not open to question. + +In the second place, along with a common fund of moral and +religious ideas and of legal and ceremonial observances, we +find these kindred peoples possessed of a common fund of +myths, superstitions, proverbs, popular poetry, and household +legends. The Hindu mother amuses her child with fairy-tales +which often correspond, even in minor incidents, with stories +in Scottish or Scandinavian nurseries; and she tells them in +words which are phonetically akin to words in Swedish and +Gaelic. No doubt many of these stories might have been devised +in a dozen different places independently of each other; and +no doubt many of them have been transmitted laterally from one +people to another; but a careful examination shows that such +cannot have been the case with the great majority of legends +and beliefs. The agreement between two such stories, for +instance, as those of Faithful John and Rama and Luxman is so +close as to make it incredible that they should have been +independently fabricated, while the points of difference are +so important as to make it extremely improbable that the one +was ever copied from the other. Besides which, the essential +identity of such myths as those of Sigurd and Theseus, or of +Helena and Sarama, carries us back historically to a time when +the scattered Indo-European tribes had not yet begun to hold +commercial and intellectual intercourse with each other, and +consequently could not have interchanged their epic materials +or their household stories. We are therefore driven to the +conclusion--which, startling as it may seem, is after all the +most natural and plausible one that can be stated--that the +Aryan nations, which have inherited from a common ancestral +stock their languages and their customs, have inherited also +from the same common original their fireside legends. They +have preserved Cinderella and Punchkin just as they have +preserved the words for father and mother, ten and twenty; and +the former case, though more imposing to the imagination, is +scientifically no less intelligible than the latter. + +Thirdly, it has been shown that these venerable tales may be +grouped in a few pretty well defined classes; and that the +archetypal myth of each class--the primitive story in +conformity to which countless subsequent tales have been +generated--was originally a mere description of physical +phenomena, couched in the poetic diction of an age when +everything was personified, because all natural phenomena were +supposed to be due to the direct workings of a volition like +that of which men were conscious within themselves. Thus we +are led to the striking conclusion that mythology has had a +common root, both with science and with religious philosophy. +The myth of Indra conquering Vritra was one of the theorems of +primitive Aryan science; it was a provisional explanation of +the thunder-storm, satisfactory enough until extended +observation and reflection supplied a better one. It also +contained the germs of a theology; for the life-giving solar +light furnished an important part of the primeval conception +of deity. And finally, it became the fruitful parent of +countless myths, whether embodied in the stately epics of +Homer and the bards of the Nibelungenlied, or in the humbler +legends of St. George and William Tell and the ubiquitous +Boots. + +Such is the theory which was suggested half a century ago by +the researches of Jacob Grimm, and which, so far as concerns +the mythology of the Aryan race, is now victorious along the +whole line. It remains for us to test the universality of the +general principles upon which it is founded, by a brief +analysis of sundry legends and superstitions of the barbaric +world. Since the fetichistic habit of explaining the outward +phenomena of nature after the analogy of the inward phenomena +of conscious intelligence is not a habit peculiar to our Aryan +ancestors, but is, as psychology shows, the inevitable result +of the conditions under which uncivilized thinking proceeds, +we may expect to find the barbaric mind personifying the +powers of nature and making myths about their operations the +whole world over. And we need not be surprised if we find in +the resulting mythologic structures a strong resemblance to +the familiar creations of the Aryan intelligence. In point of +fact, we shall often be called upon to note such resemblance; +and it accordingly behooves us at the outset to inquire how +far a similarity between mythical tales shall be taken as +evidence of a common traditional origin, and how far it may be +interpreted as due merely to the similar workings of the +untrained intelligence in all ages and countries. + +Analogies drawn from the comparison of languages will here be +of service to us, if used discreetly; otherwise they are +likely to bewilder far more than to enlighten us. A theorem +which Max Muller has laid down for our guidance in this kind +of investigation furnishes us with an excellent example of the +tricks which a superficial analogy may play even with the +trained scholar, when temporarily off his guard. Actuated by a +praiseworthy desire to raise the study of myths to something +like the high level of scientific accuracy already attained by +the study of words, Max Muller endeavours to introduce one of +the most useful canons of philology into a department of +inquiry where its introduction could only work the most +hopeless confusion. One of the earliest lessons to be learned +by the scientific student of linguistics is the uselessness of +comparing together directly the words contained in derivative +languages. For example, you might set the English twelve side +by side with the Latin duodecim, and then stare at the two +words to all eternity without any hope of reaching a +conclusion, good or bad, about either of them: least of all +would you suspect that they are descended from the same +radical. But if you take each word by itself and trace it back +to its primitive shape, explaining every change of every +letter as you go, you will at last reach the old Aryan +dvadakan, which is the parent of both these strangely +metamorphosed words.[130] Nor will it do, on the other hand, +to trust to verbal similarity without a historical inquiry +into the origin of such similarity. Even in the same language +two words of quite different origin may get their corners +rubbed off till they look as like one another as two pebbles. +The French words souris, a "mouse," and souris, a "smile," are +spelled exactly alike; but the one comes from Latin sorex and +the other from Latin subridere. + +[130] For the analysis of twelve, see my essay on "The Genesis +of Language," North American Review, October 1869, p. 320. + +Now Max Muller tells us that this principle, which is +indispensable in the study of words, is equally indispensable +in the study of myths.[131] That is, you must not rashly +pronounce the Norse story of the Heartless Giant identical +with the Hindu story of Punchkin, although the two correspond +in every essential incident. In both legends a magician turns +several members of the same family into stone; the youngest +member of the family comes to the rescue, and on the way saves +the lives of sundry grateful beasts; arrived at the magician's +castle, he finds a captive princess ready to accept his love +and to play the part of Delilah to the enchanter. In both +stories the enchanter's life depends on the integrity of +something which is elaborately hidden in a far-distant island, +but which the fortunate youth, instructed by the artful +princess and assisted by his menagerie of grateful beasts, +succeeds in obtaining. In both stories the youth uses his +advantage to free all his friends from their enchantment, and +then proceeds to destroy the villain who wrought all this +wickedness. Yet, in spite of this agreement, Max Muller, if I +understand him aright, would not have us infer the identity of +the two stories until we have taken each one separately and +ascertained its primitive mythical significance. Otherwise, +for aught we can tell, the resemblance may be purely +accidental, like that of the French words for "mouse" and +"smile." + +[131] Chips from a German Workshop, Vol. II. p. 246. + +A little reflection, however, will relieve us from this +perplexity, and assure us that the alleged analogy between the +comparison of words and the comparison of stories is utterly +superficial. The transformations of words--which are often +astounding enough--depend upon a few well-established +physiological principles of utterance; and since philology has +learned to rely upon these principles, it has become nearly as +sure in its methods and results as one of the so-called "exact +sciences." Folly enough is doubtless committed within its +precincts by writers who venture there without the laborious +preparation which this science, more than almost any other, +demands. But the proceedings of the trained philologist are no +more arbitrary than those of the trained astronomer. And +though the former may seem to be straining at a gnat and +swallowing a camel when he coolly tells you that violin and +fiddle are the same word, while English care and Latin cura +have nothing to do with each other, he is nevertheless no more +indulging in guess-work than the astronomer who confesses his +ignorance as to the habitability of Venus while asserting his +knowledge of the existence of hydrogen in the atmosphere of +Sirius. To cite one example out of a hundred, every +philologist knows that s may become r, and that the broad +a-sound may dwindle into the closer o-sound; but when you +adduce some plausible etymology based on the assumption that r +has changed into s, or o into a, apart from the demonstrable +influence of some adjacent letter, the philologist will shake +his head. + +Now in the study of stories there are no such simple rules all +cut and dried for us to go by. There is no uniform +psychological principle which determines that the three-headed +snake in one story shall become a three-headed man in the +next. There is no Grimm's Law in mythology which decides that +a Hindu magician shall always correspond to a Norwegian Troll +or a Keltic Druid. The laws of association of ideas are not so +simple in application as the laws of utterance. In short, the +study of myths, though it can be made sufficiently scientific +in its methods and results, does not constitute a science by +itself, like philology. It stands on a footing similar to that +occupied by physical geography, or what the Germans call +"earth-knowledge." No one denies that all the changes going on +over the earth's surface conform to physical laws; but then no +one pretends that there is any single proximate principle +which governs all the phenomena of rain-fall, of +soil-crumbling, of magnetic variation, and of the distribution +of plants and animals. All these things are explained by +principles obtained from the various sciences of physics, +chemistry, geology, and physiology. And in just the same way +the development and distribution of stories is explained by +the help of divers resources contributed by philology, +psychology, and history. There is therefore no real analogy +between the cases cited by Max Muller. Two unrelated words may +be ground into exactly the same shape, just as a pebble from +the North Sea may be undistinguishable from another pebble on +the beach of the Adriatic; but two stories like those of +Punchkin and the Heartless Giant are no more likely to arise +independently of each other than two coral reefs on opposite +sides of the globe are likely to develop into exactly similar +islands. + +Shall we then say boldly, that close similarity between +legends is proof of kinship, and go our way without further +misgivings? Unfortunately we cannot dispose of the matter in +quite so summary a fashion; for it remains to decide what kind +and degree of similarity shall be considered satisfactory +evidence of kinship. And it is just here that doctors may +disagree. Here is the point at which our "science" betrays its +weakness as compared with the sister study of philology. +Before we can decide with confidence in any case, a great mass +of evidence must be brought into court. So long as we remained +on Aryan ground, all went smoothly enough, because all the +external evidence was in our favour. We knew at the outset, +that the Aryans inherit a common language and a common +civilization, and therefore we found no difficulty in +accepting the conclusion that they have inherited, among other +things, a common stock of legends. In the barbaric world it is +quite otherwise. Philology does not pronounce in favour of a +common origin for all barbaric culture, such as it is. The +notion of a single primitive language, standing in the same +relation to all existing dialects as the relation of old Aryan +to Latin and English, or that of old Semitic to Hebrew and +Arabic, was a notion suited only to the infancy of linguistic +science. As the case now stands, it is certain that all the +languages actually existing cannot be referred to a common +ancestor, and it is altogether probable that there never was +any such common ancestor. I am not now referring to the +question of the unity of the human race. That question lies +entirely outside the sphere of philology. The science of +language has nothing to do with skulls or complexions, and no +comparison of words can tell us whether the black men are +brethren of the white men, or whether yellow and red men have +a common pedigree: these questions belong to comparative +physiology. But the science of language can and does tell us +that a certain amount of civilization is requisite for the +production of a language sufficiently durable and wide-spread +to give birth to numerous mutually resembling offspring +Barbaric languages are neither widespread nor durable. Among +savages each little group of families has its own dialect, and +coins its own expressions at pleasure; and in the course of +two or three generations a dialect gets so strangely altered +as virtually to lose its identity. Even numerals and personal +pronouns, which the Aryan has preserved for fifty centuries, +get lost every few years in Polynesia. Since the time of +Captain Cook the Tahitian language has thrown away five out of +its ten simple numerals, and replaced them by brand-new ones; +and on the Amazon you may acquire a fluent command of some +Indian dialect, and then, coming back after twenty years, find +yourself worse off than Rip Van Winkle, and your learning all +antiquated and useless. How absurd, therefore, to suppose that +primeval savages originated a language which has held its own +like the old Aryan and become the prolific mother of the three +or four thousand dialects now in existence! Before a durable +language can arise, there must be an aggregation of numerous +tribes into a people, so that there may be need of +communication on a large scale, and so that tradition may be +strengthened. Wherever mankind have associated in nations, +permanent languages have arisen, and their derivative dialects +bear the conspicuous marks of kinship; but where mankind have +remained in their primitive savage isolation, their languages +have remained sporadic and transitory, incapable of organic +development, and showing no traces of a kinship which never +existed. + +The bearing of these considerations upon the origin and +diffusion of barbaric myths is obvious. The development of a +common stock of legends is, of course, impossible, save where +there is a common language; and thus philology pronounces +against the kinship of barbaric myths with each other and with +similar myths of the Aryan and Semitic worlds. Similar stories +told in Greece and Norway are likely to have a common +pedigree, because the persons who have preserved them in +recollection speak a common language and have inherited the +same civilization. But similar stories told in Labrador and +South Africa are not likely to be genealogically related, +because it is altogether probable that the Esquimaux and the +Zulu had acquired their present race characteristics before +either of them possessed a language or a culture sufficient +for the production of myths. According to the nature and +extent of the similarity, it must be decided whether such +stories have been carried about from one part of the world to +another, or have been independently originated in many +different places. + +Here the methods of philology suggest a rule which will often +be found useful. In comparing, the vocabularies of different +languages, those words which directly imitate natural sounds-- +such as whiz, crash, crackle--are not admitted as evidence of +kinship between the languages in which they occur. +Resemblances between such words are obviously no proof of a +common ancestry; and they are often met with in languages +which have demonstrably had no connection with each other. So +in mythology, where we find two stories of which the primitive +character is perfectly transparent, we need have no difficulty +in supposing them to have originated independently. The myth +of Jack and his Beanstalk is found all over the world; but the +idea of a country above the sky, to which persons might gain +access by climbing, is one which could hardly fail to occur to +every barbarian. Among the American tribes, as well as among +the Aryans, the rainbow and the Milky-Way have contributed the +idea of a Bridge of the Dead, over which souls must pass on +the way to the other world. In South Africa, as well as in +Germany, the habits of the fox and of his brother the jackal +have given rise to fables in which brute force is overcome by +cunning. In many parts of the world we find curiously similar +stories devised to account for the stumpy tails of the bear +and hyaena, the hairless tail of the rat, and the blindness of +the mole. And in all countries may be found the beliefs that +men may be changed into beasts, or plants, or stones; that the +sun is in some way tethered or constrained to follow a certain +course; that the storm-cloud is a ravenous dragon; and that +there are talismans which will reveal hidden treasures. All +these conceptions are so obvious to the uncivilized +intelligence, that stories founded upon them need not be +supposed to have a common origin, unless there turns out to be +a striking similarity among their minor details. On the other +hand, the numerous myths of an all-destroying deluge have +doubtless arisen partly from reminiscences of actually +occurring local inundations, and partly from the fact that the +Scriptural account of a deluge has been carried all over the +world by Catholic and Protestant missionaries.[132] + +[132] For various legends of a deluge, see Baring-Gould, +Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 85-106. + +By way of illustrating these principles, let us now cite a few +of the American myths so carefully collected by Dr. Brinton in +his admirable treatise. We shall not find in the mythology of +the New World the wealth of wit and imagination which has so +long delighted us in the stories of Herakles, Perseus, Hermes, +Sigurd, and Indra. The mythic lore of the American Indians is +comparatively scanty and prosaic, as befits the product of a +lower grade of culture and a more meagre intellect. Not only +are the personages less characteristically pourtrayed, but +there is a continual tendency to extravagance, the sure index +of an inferior imagination. Nevertheless, after making due +allowances for differences in the artistic method of +treatment, there is between the mythologies of the Old and the +New Worlds a fundamental resemblance. We come upon solar myths +and myths of the storm curiously blended with culture-myths, +as in the cases of Hermes, Prometheus, and Kadmos. The +American parallels to these are to be found in the stories of +Michabo, Viracocha, Ioskeha, and Quetzalcoatl. "As elsewhere +the world over, so in America, many tribes had to tell of .... +an august character, who taught them what they knew,--the +tillage of the soil, the properties of plants, the art of +picture-writing, the secrets of magic; who founded their +institutions and established their religions; who governed +them long with glory abroad and peace at home; and finally did +not die, but, like Frederic Barbarossa, Charlemagne, King +Arthur, and all great heroes, vanished mysteriously, and still +lives somewhere, ready at the right moment to return to his +beloved people and lead them to victory and happiness."[133] +Everyone is familiar with the numerous legends of +white-skinned, full-bearded heroes, like the mild +Quetzalcoatl, who in times long previous to Columbus came from +the far East to impart the rudiments of civilization and +religion to the red men. By those who first heard these +stories they were supposed, with naive Euhemerism, to refer to +pre-Columbian visits of Europeans to this continent, like that +of the Northmen in the tenth century. But a scientific study +of the subject has dissipated such notions. These legends are +far too numerous, they are too similar to each other, they are +too manifestly symbolical, to admit of any such +interpretation. By comparing them carefully with each other, +and with correlative myths of the Old World, their true +character soon becomes apparent. + +[133] Brinton, Myths of the New World, p. 160. + +One of the most widely famous of these culture-heroes was +Manabozho or Michabo, the Great Hare. With entire unanimity, +says Dr. Brinton, the various branches of the Algonquin race, +"the Powhatans of Virginia, the Lenni Lenape of the Delaware, +the warlike hordes of New England, the Ottawas of the far +North, and the Western tribes, perhaps without exception, +spoke of this chimerical beast,' as one of the old +missionaries calls it, as their common ancestor. The totem, or +clan, which bore his name was looked up to with peculiar +respect." Not only was Michabo the ruler and guardian of these +numerous tribes,--he was the founder of their religious +rites, the inventor of picture-writing, the ruler of the +weather, the creator and preserver of earth and heaven. "From +a grain of sand brought from the bottom of the primeval ocean +he fashioned the habitable land, and set it floating on the +waters till it grew to such a size that a strong young wolf, +running constantly, died of old age ere he reached its +limits." He was also, like Nimrod, a mighty hunter. "One of +his footsteps measured eight leagues, the Great Lakes were the +beaver-dams he built, and when the cataracts impeded his +progress he tore them away with his hands." "Sometimes he was +said to dwell in the skies with his brother, the Snow, or, +like many great spirits, to have built his wigwam in the far +North on some floe of ice in the Arctic Ocean..... But in the +oldest accounts of the missionaries he was alleged to reside +toward the East; and in the holy formulae of the meda craft, +when the winds are invoked to the medicine lodge, the East is +summoned in his name, the door opens in that direction, and +there, at the edge of the earth where the sun rises, on the +shore of the infinite ocean that surrounds the land, he has +his house, and sends the luminaries forth on their daily +journeys."[134] From such accounts as this we see that Michabo +was no more a wise instructor and legislator than Minos or +Kadmos. Like these heroes, he is a personification of the +solar life-giving power, which daily comes forth from its home +in the east, making the earth to rejoice. The etymology of his +name confirms the otherwise clear indications of the legend +itself. It is compounded of michi, "great," and wabos, which +means alike "hare" and "white." "Dialectic forms in Algonquin +for white are wabi, wape, wampi, etc.; for morning, wapan, +wapanch, opah; for east, wapa, wanbun, etc.; for day, wompan, +oppan; for light, oppung." So that Michabo is the Great White +One, the God of the Dawn and the East. And the etymological +confusion, by virtue of which he acquired his soubriquet of +the Great Hare, affords a curious parallel to what has often +happened in Aryan and Semitic mythology, as we saw when +discussing the subject of werewolves. + +[134] Brinton, op. cit. p. 163. + +Keeping in mind this solar character of Michabo, let us note +how full of meaning are the myths concerning him. In the first +cycle of these legends, "he is grandson of the Moon, his +father is the West Wind, and his mother, a maiden, dies in +giving him birth at the moment of conception. For the Moon is +the goddess of night; the Dawn is her daughter, who brings +forth the Morning, and perishes herself in the act; and the +West, the spirit of darkness, as the East is of light, +precedes, and as it were begets the latter, as the evening +does the morning. Straightway, however, continues the legend, +the son sought the unnatural father to revenge the death of +his mother, and then commenced a long and desperate struggle. +It began on the mountains. The West was forced to give ground. +Manabozho drove him across rivers and over mountains and +lakes, and at last he came to the brink of this world. 'Hold,' +cried he, 'my son, you know my power, and that it is +impossible to kill me.' What is this but the diurnal combat of +light and darkness, carried on from what time 'the jocund morn +stands tiptoe on the misty mountain-tops,' across the wide +world to the sunset, the struggle that knows no end, for both +the opponents are immortal?"[135] + +[135] Brinton, op. cit. p. 167. + +Even the Veda nowhere affords a more transparent narrative +than this. The Iroquois tradition is very similar. In it +appear twin brothers,[136] born of a virgin mother, daughter +of the Moon, who died in giving them life. Their names, +Ioskeha and Tawiskara, signify in the Oneida dialect the White +One and the Dark One. Under the influence of Christian ideas +the contest between the brothers has been made to assume a +moral character, like the strife between Ormuzd and Ahriman. +But no such intention appears in the original myth, and Dr. +Brinton has shown that none of the American tribes had any +conception of a Devil. When the quarrel came to blows, the +dark brother was signally discomfited; and the victorious +Ioskeha, returning to his grandmother, "established his lodge +in the far East, on the horders of the Great Ocean, whence the +sun comes. In time he became the father of mankind, and +special guardian of the Iroquois." He caused the earth to +bring forth, he stocked the woods with game, and taught his +children the use of fire. "He it was who watched and watered +their crops; 'and, indeed, without his aid,' says the old +missionary, quite out of patience with their puerilities, +'they think they could not boil a pot.' " There was more in it +than poor Brebouf thought, as we are forcibly reminded by +recent discoveries in physical science. Even civilized men +would find it difficult to boil a pot without the aid of solar +energy. Call him what we will,--Ioskeha, Michabo, or +Phoibos,--the beneficent Sun is the master and sustainer of us +all; and if we were to relapse into heathenism, like +Erckmann-Chatrian's innkeeper, we could not do better than to +select him as our chief object of worship. + +[136] Corresponding, in various degrees, to the Asvins, the +Dioskouroi, and the brothers True and Untrue of Norse +mythology. + +The same principles by which these simple cases are explained +furnish also the key to the more complicated mythology of +Mexico and Peru. Like the deities just discussed, Viracocha, +the supreme god of the Quichuas, rises from the bosom of Lake +Titicaca and journeys westward, slaying with his lightnings +the creatures who oppose him, until he finally disappears in +the Western Ocean. Like Aphrodite, he bears in his name the +evidence of his origin, Viracocha signifying "foam of the +sea"; and hence the "White One" (l'aube), the god of light +rising white on the horizon, like the foam on the surface of +the waves. The Aymaras spoke of their original ancestors as +white; and to this day, as Dr. Brinton informs us, the +Peruvians call a white man Viracocha. The myth of Quetzalcoatl +is of precisely the same character. All these solar heroes +present in most of their qualities and achievements a striking +likeness to those of the Old World. They combine the +attributes of Apollo, Herakles, and Hermes. Like Herakles, +they journey from east to west, smiting the powers of +darkness, storm, and winter with the thunderbolts of Zeus or +the unerring arrows of Phoibos, and sinking in a blaze of +glory on the western verge of the world, where the waves meet +the firmament. Or like Hermes, in a second cycle of legends, +they rise with the soft breezes of a summer morning, driving +before them the bright celestial cattle whose udders are heavy +with refreshing rain, fanning the flames which devour the +forests, blustering at the doors of wigwams, and escaping with +weird laughter through vents and crevices. The white skins and +flowing beards of these American heroes may be aptly compared +to the fair faces and long golden locks of their Hellenic +compeers. Yellow hair was in all probability as rare in Greece +as a full beard in Peru or Mexico; but in each case the +description suits the solar character of the hero. One +important class of incidents, however is apparently quite +absent from the American legends. We frequently see the Dawn +described as a virgin mother who dies in giving birth to the +Day; but nowhere do we remember seeing her pictured as a +lovely or valiant or crafty maiden, ardently wooed, but +speedily forsaken by her solar lover. Perhaps in no respect is +the superior richness and beauty of the Aryan myths more +manifest than in this. Brynhild, Urvasi, Medeia, Ariadne, +Oinone, and countless other kindred heroines, with their +brilliant legends, could not be spared from the mythology of +our ancestors without, leaving it meagre indeed. These were +the materials which Kalidasa, the Attic dramatists, and the +bards of the Nibelungen found ready, awaiting their artistic +treatment. But the mythology of the New World, with all its +pretty and agreeable naivete, affords hardly enough, either of +variety in situation or of complexity in motive, for a grand +epic or a genuine tragedy. + +But little reflection is needed to assure us that the +imagination of the barbarian, who either carries away his wife +by brute force or buys her from her relatives as he would buy +a cow, could never have originated legends in which maidens +are lovingly solicited, or in which their favour is won by the +performance of deeds of valour. These stories owe their +existence to the romantic turn of mind which has always +characterized the Aryan, whose civilization, even in the times +before the dispersion of his race, was sufficiently advanced +to allow of his entertaining such comparatively exalted +conceptions of the relations between men and women. The +absence of these myths from barbaric folk-lore is, therefore, +just what might be expected; but it is a fact which militates +against any possible hypothesis of the common origin of Aryan +and barbaric mythology. If there were any genetic relationship +between Sigurd and Ioskeha, between Herakles and Michabo, it +would be hard to tell why Brynhild and Iole should have +disappeared entirely from one whole group of legends, while +retained, in some form or other, throughout the whole of the +other group. On the other hand, the resemblances above noticed +between Aryan and American mythology fall very far short of +the resemblances between the stories told in different parts +of the Aryan domain. No barbaric legend, of genuine barbaric +growth, has yet been cited which resembles any Aryan legend as +the story of Punchkin resembles the story of the Heartless +Giant. The myths of Michabo and Viracocha are direct copies, +so to speak, of natural phenomena, just as imitative words are +direct copies of natural sounds. Neither the Redskin nor the +Indo-European had any choice as to the main features of the +career of his solar divinity. He must be born of the +Night,--or of the Dawn,--must travel westward, must slay +harassing demons. Eliminating these points of likeness, the +resemblance between the Aryan and barbaric legends is at once +at an end. Such an identity in point of details as that +between the wooden horse which enters Ilion, and the horse +which bears Sigurd into the place where Brynhild is +imprisoned, and the Druidic steed which leaps with Sculloge +over the walls of Fiach's enchanted castle, is, I believe, +nowhere to be found after we leave Indo-European territory. + +Our conclusion, therefore, must be, that while the legends of +the Aryan and the non-Aryan worlds contain common mythical +elements, the legends themselves are not of common origin. The +fact that certain mythical ideas are possessed alike by +different races, shows that in each case a similar human +intelligence has been at work explaining similar phenomena; +but in order to prove a family relationship between the +culture of these different races, we need something more than +this. We need to prove not only a community of mythical ideas, +but also a community between the stories based upon these +ideas. We must show not only that Michabo is like Herakles in +those striking features which the contemplation of solar +phenomena would necessarily suggest to the imagination of the +primitive myth-maker, but also that the two characters are +similarly conceived, and that the two careers agree in +seemingly arbitrary points of detail, as is the case in the +stories of Punchkin and the Heartless Giant. The mere fact +that solar heroes, all over the world, travel in a certain +path and slay imps of darkness is of great value as throwing +light upon primeval habits of thought, but it is of no value +as evidence for or against an alleged community of +civilization between different races. The same is true of the +sacredness universally attached to certain numbers. Dr. +Blinton's opinion that the sanctity of the number four in +nearly all systems of mythology is due to a primitive worship +of the cardinal points, becomes very probable when we +recollect that the similar pre-eminence of seven is almost +demonstrably connected with the adoration of the sun, moon, +and five visible planets, which has left its record in the +structure and nomenclature of the Aryan and Semitic week.[137] + +[137] See Humboldt's Kosmos, Tom. III. pp. 469-476. A +fetichistic regard for the cardinal points has not always been +absent from the minds of persons instructed in a higher +theology as witness a well-known passage in Irenaeus, and also +the custom, well-nigh universal in Europe, of building +Christian churches in a line east and west. + +In view of these considerations, the comparison of barbaric +myths with each other and with the legends of the Aryan world +becomes doubly interesting, as illustrating the similarity in +the workings of the untrained intelligence the world over. In +our first paper we saw how the moon-spots have been variously +explained by Indo-Europeans, as a man with a thorn-bush or as +two children bearing a bucket of water on a pole. In Ceylon it +is said that as Sakyamuni was one day wandering half starved +in the forest, a pious hare met him, and offered itself to him +to be slain and cooked for dinner; whereupon the holy Buddha +set it on high in the moon, that future generations of men +might see it and marvel at its piety. In the Samoan Islands +these dark patches are supposed to be portions of a woman's +figure. A certain woman was once hammering something with a +mallet, when the moon arose, looking so much like a +bread-fruit that the woman asked it to come down and let her +child eat off a piece of it; but the moon, enraged at the +insult, gobbled up woman, mallet, and child, and there, in the +moon's belly, you may still behold them. According to the +Hottentots, the Moon once sent the Hare to inform men that as +she died away and rose again, so should men die and again come +to life. But the stupid Hare forgot the purport of the +message, and, coming down to the earth, proclaimed it far and +wide that though the Moon was invariably resuscitated whenever +she died, mankind, on the other hand, should die and go to the +Devil. When the silly brute returned to the lunar country and +told what he had done, the Moon was so angry that she took up +an axe and aimed a blow at his head to split it. But the axe +missed and only cut his lip open; and that was the origin of +the "hare-lip." Maddened by the pain and the insult, the Hare +flew at the Moon and almost scratched her eyes out; and to +this day she bears on her face the marks of the Hare's +claws.[138] + +[138] Bleek, Hottentot Fables and Tales, p. 72. Compare the +Fiji story of Ra Vula, the Moon, and Ra Kalavo, the Rat, in +Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. 321. + +Again, every reader of the classics knows how Selene cast +Endymion into a profound slumber because he refused her love, +and how at sundown she used to come and stand above him on the +Latmian hill, and watch him as he lay asleep on the marble +steps of a temple half hidden among drooping elm-trees, over +which clambered vines heavy with dark blue grapes. This +represents the rising moon looking down on the setting sun; in +Labrador a similar phenomenon has suggested a somewhat +different story. Among the Esquimaux the Sun is a maiden and +the Moon is her brother, who is overcome by a wicked passion +for her. Once, as this girl was at a dancing-party in a +friend's hut, some one came up and took hold of her by the +shoulders and shook her, which is (according to the legend) +the Esquimaux manner of declaring one's love. She could not +tell who it was in the dark, and so she dipped her hand in +some soot and smeared one of his cheeks with it. When a light +was struck in the hut, she saw, to her dismay, that it was her +brother, and, without waiting to learn any more, she took to +her heels. He started in hot pursuit, and so they ran till +they got to the end of the world,--the jumping-off +place,--when they both jumped into the sky. There the Moon +still chases his sister, the Sun; and every now and then he +turns his sooty cheek toward the earth, when he becomes so +dark that you cannot see him.[139] + +[139] Tylor, Early History of Mankind, p. 327. + +Another story, which I cite from Mr. Tylor, shows that Malays, +as well as Indo-Europeans, have conceived of the clouds as +swan-maidens. In the island of Celebes it is said that "seven +heavenly nymphs came down from the sky to bathe, and they were +seen by Kasimbaha, who thought first that they were white +doves, but in the bath he saw that they were women. Then he +stole one of the thin robes that gave the nymphs their power +of flying, and so he caught Utahagi, the one whose robe he had +stolen, and took her for his wife, and she bore him a son. Now +she was called Utahagi from a single white hair she had, which +was endowed with magic power, and this hair her husband pulled +out. As soon as he had done it, there arose a great storm, and +Utahagi went up to heaven. The child cried for its mother, and +Kasimbaha was in great grief, and cast about how he should +follow Utahagi up into the sky." Here we pass to the myth of +Jack and the Beanstalk. "A rat gnawed the thorns off the +rattans, and Kasimbaha clambered up by them with his son upon +his back, till he came to heaven. There a little bird showed +him the house of Utahagi, and after various adventures he took +up his abode among the gods."[140] + +[140] Tylor, op. cit., p. 346. + +In Siberia we find a legend of swan-maidens, which also +reminds us of the story of the Heartless Giant. A certain +Samojed once went out to catch foxes, and found seven maidens +swimming in a lake surrounded by gloomy pine-trees, while +their feather dresses lay on the shore. He crept up and stole +one of these dresses, and by and by the swan-maiden came to +him shivering with cold and promising to become his wife if he +would only give her back her garment of feathers. The +ungallant fellow, however, did not care for a wife, but a +little revenge was not unsuited to his way of thinking. There +were seven robbers who used to prowl about the neighbourhood, +and who, when they got home, finding their hearts in the way, +used to hang them up on some pegs in the tent. One of these +robbers had killed the Samojed's mother; and so he promised to +return the swan-maiden's dress after she should have procured +for him these seven hearts. So she stole the hearts, and the +Samojed smashed six of them, and then woke up the seventh +robber, and told him to restore his mother to life, on pain of +instant death, Then the robber produced a purse containing the +old woman's soul, and going to the graveyard shook it over her +bones, and she revived at once. Then the Samojed smashed the +seventh heart, and the robber died; and so the swan-maiden got +back her plumage and flew away rejoicing.[141] + +[141] Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, II. 299-302. + +Swan-maidens are also, according to Mr. Baring-Gould, found +among the Minussinian Tartars. But there they appear as foul +demons, like the Greek Harpies, who delight in drinking the +blood of men slain in battle. There are forty of them, who +darken the whole firmament in their flight; but sometimes they +all coalesce into one great black storm-fiend, who rages for +blood, like a werewolf. + +In South Africa we find the werewolf himself.[142] A certain +Hottentot was once travelling with a Bushwoman and her child, +when they perceived at a distance a troop of wild horses. The +man, being hungry, asked the woman to turn herself into a +lioness and catch one of these horses, that they might eat of +it; whereupon the woman set down her child, and taking off a +sort of petticoat made of human skin became instantly +transformed into a lioness, which rushed across the plain, +struck down a wild horse and lapped its blood. The man climbed +a tree in terror, and conjured his companion to resume her +natural shape. Then the lioness came back, and putting on the +skirt made of human skin reappeared as a woman, and took up +her child, and the two friends resumed their journey after +making a meal of the horse's flesh.[143] + +[142] Speaking of beliefs in the Malay Archipelago, Mr. +Wallace says: "It is universally believed in Lombock that some +men have the power to turn themselves into crocodiles, which +they do for the sake of devouring their enemies, and many +strange tales are told of such transformations." Wallace, +Malay Archipelago, Vol. I. p. 251. + +[143] Bleek, Hottentot Fables and Tales, p. 58. + +The werewolf also appears in North America, duly furnished +with his wolf-skin sack; but neither in America nor in Africa +is he the genuine European werewolf, inspired by a diabolic +frenzy, and ravening for human flesh. The barbaric myths +testify to the belief that men can be changed into beasts or +have in some cases descended from beast ancestors, but the +application of this belief to the explanation of abnormal +cannibal cravings seems to have been confined to Europe. The +werewolf of the Middle Ages was not merely a transformed +man,--he was an insane cannibal, whose monstrous appetite, due +to the machinations of the Devil, showed its power over his +physical organism by changing the shape of it. The barbaric +werewolf is the product of a lower and simpler kind of +thinking. There is no diabolism about him; for barbaric races, +while believing in the existence of hurtful and malicious +fiends, have not a sufficiently vivid sense of moral abnormity +to form the conception of diabolism. And the cannibal craving, +which to the mediaeval European was a phenomenon so strange as +to demand a mythological explanation, would not impress the +barbarian as either very exceptional or very blameworthy. + +In the folk-lore of the Zulus, one of the most quick-witted +and intelligent of African races, the cannibal possesses many +features in common with the Scandinavian Troll, who also has a +liking for human flesh. As we saw in the preceding paper, the +Troll has very likely derived some of his characteristics from +reminiscences of the barbarous races who preceded the Aryans +in Central and Northern Europe. In like manner the long-haired +cannibal of Zulu nursery literature, who is always represented +as belonging to a distinct race, has been supposed to be +explained by the existence of inferior races conquered and +displaced by the Zulus. Nevertheless, as Dr. Callaway +observes, neither the long-haired mountain cannibals of +Western Africa, nor the Fulahs, nor the tribes of Eghedal +described by Barth, "can be considered as answering to the +description of long-haired as given in the Zulu legends of +cannibals; neither could they possibly have formed their +historical basis..... It is perfectly clear that the cannibals +of the Zulu legends are not common men; they are magnified +into giants and magicians; they are remarkably swift and +enduring; fierce and terrible warriors." Very probably they +may have a mythical origin in modes of thought akin to those +which begot the Panis of the Veda and the Northern Trolls. The +parallelism is perhaps the most remarkable one which can be +found in comparing barbaric with Aryan folk-lore. Like the +Panis and Trolls, the cannibals are represented as the foes of +the solar hero Uthlakanyana, who is almost as great a +traveller as Odysseus, and whose presence of mind amid trying +circumstances is not to be surpassed by that of the +incomparable Boots. Uthlakanyana is as precocious as Herakles +or Hermes. He speaks before he is born, and no sooner has he +entered the world than he begins to outwit other people and +get possession of their property. He works bitter ruin for the +cannibals, who, with all their strength and fleetness, are no +better endowed with quick wit than the Trolls, whom Boots +invariably victimizes. On one of his journeys, Uthlakanyana +fell in with a cannibal. Their greetings were cordial enough, +and they ate a bit of leopard together, and began to build a +house, and killed a couple of cows, but the cannibal's cow was +lean, while Uthlakanyana's was fat. Then the crafty traveller, +fearing that his companion might insist upon having the fat +cow, turned and said, " 'Let the house be thatched now then we +can eat our meat. You see the sky, that we shall get wet.' +The cannibal said, 'You are right, child of my sister; you are +a man indeed in saying, let us thatch the house, for we shall +get wet.' Uthlakanyana said, 'Do you do it then; I will go +inside, and push the thatching-needle for you, in the house.' +The cannibal went up. His hair was very, very long. +Uthlakanyana went inside and pushed the needle for him. He +thatched in the hair of the cannibal, tying it very tightly; +he knotted it into the thatch constantly, taking it by +separate locks and fastening it firmly, that it might be +tightly fastened to the house." Then the rogue went outside +and began to eat of the cow which was roasted. "The cannibal +said, 'What are you about, child of my sister? Let us just +finish the house; afterwards we can do that; we will do it +together.' Uthlakanyana replied, 'Come down then. I cannot go +into the house any more. The thatching is finished.' The +cannibal assented. When he thought he was going to quit the +house, he was unable to quit it. He cried out saying, 'Child +of my sister, how have you managed your thatching?' +Uthlakanyana said, 'See to it yourself. I have thatched well, +for I shall not have any dispute. Now I am about to eat in +peace; I no longer dispute with anybody, for I am now alone +with my cow.' " So the cannibal cried and raved and appealed +in vain to Uthlakanyana's sense of justice, until by and by +"the sky came with hailstones and lightning Uthlakanyana took +all the meat into the house; he stayed in the house and lit a +fire. It hailed and rained. The cannibal cried on the top of +the house; he was struck with the hailstones, and died there +on the house. It cleared. Uthlakanyana went out and said, +'Uncle, just come down, and come to me. It has become clear. +It no longer rains, and there is no more hail, neither is +there any more lightning. Why are you silent?' So +Uthlakanyana ate his cow alone, until he had finished it. He +then went on his way."[144] + +[144] Callaway, Zulu Nursery Tales, pp. 27-30. + +In another Zulu legend, a girl is stolen by cannibals, and +shut up in the rock Itshe-likantunjambili, which, like the +rock of the Forty Thieves, opens and shuts at the command of +those who understand its secret. She gets possession of the +secret and escapes, and when the monsters pursue her she +throws on the ground a calabash full of sesame, which they +stop to eat. At last, getting tired of running, she climbs a +tree, and there she finds her brother, who, warned by a dream, +has come out to look for her. They ascend the tree together +until they come to a beautiful country well stocked with fat +oxen. They kill an ox, and while its flesh is roasting they +amuse themselves by making a stout thong of its hide. By and +by one of the cannibals, smelling the cooking meat, comes to +the foot of the tree, and looking up discovers the boy and +girl in the sky-country! They invite him up there; to share in +their feast, and throw him an end of the thong by which to +climb up. When the cannibal is dangling midway between earth +and heaven, they let go the rope, and down he falls with a +terrible crash.[145] + +[145] Callaway, op. cit. pp. 142-152; cf. a similar story in +which the lion is fooled by the jackal. Bleek, op. cit. p. 7. +I omit the sequel of the tale. + +In this story the enchanted rock opened by a talismanic +formula brings us again into contact with Indo-European +folk-lore. And that the conception has in both cases been +suggested by the same natural phenomenon is rendered probable +by another Zulu tale, in which the cannibal's cave is opened +by a swallow which flies in the air. Here we have the elements +of a genuine lightning-myth. We see that among these African +barbarians, as well as among our own forefathers, the clouds +have been conceived as birds carrying the lightning which can +cleave the rocks. In America we find the same notion +prevalent. The Dakotahs explain the thunder as "the sound of +the cloud-bird flapping his wings," and the Caribs describe +the lightning as a poisoned dart which the bird blows through +a hollow reed, after the Carib style of shooting.[146] On the +other hand, the Kamtchatkans know nothing of a cloud-bird, but +explain the lightning as something analogous to the flames of +a volcano. The Kamtchatkans say that when the mountain goblins +have got their stoves well heated up, they throw overboard, +with true barbaric shiftlessness, all the brands not needed +for immediate use, which makes a volcanic eruption. So when it +is summer on earth, it is winter in heaven; and the gods, +after heating up their stoves, throw away their spare +kindlingwood, which makes the lightning.[147] + +[146] Brinton, op. cit. p. 104. + +[147] Tylor, op. cit. p. 320. + +When treating of Indo-European solar myths, we saw the +unvarying, unresting course of the sun variously explained as +due to the subjection of Herakles to Eurystheus, to the anger +of Poseidon at Odysseus, or to the curse laid upon the +Wandering Jew. The barbaric mind has worked at the same +problem; but the explanations which it has given are more +childlike and more grotesque. A Polynesian myth tells how the +Sun used to race through the sky so fast that men could not +get enough daylight to hunt game for their subsistence. By and +by an inventive genius, named Maui, conceived the idea of +catching the Sun in a noose and making him go more +deliberately. He plaited ropes and made a strong net, and, +arming himself with the jawbone of his ancestress, +Muri-ranga-whenua, called together all his brethren, and they +journeyed to the place where the Sun rises, and there spread +the net. When the Sun came up, he stuck his head and fore-paws +into the net, and while the brothers tightened the ropes so +that they cut him and made him scream for mercy, Maui beat him +with the jawbone until he became so weak that ever since he +has only been able to crawl through the sky. According to +another Polynesian myth, there was once a grumbling Radical, +who never could be satisfied with the way in which things are +managed on this earth. This bold Radical set out to build a +stone house which should last forever; but the days were so +short and the stones so heavy that he despaired of ever +accomplishing his project. One night, as he lay awake thinking +the matter over, it occurred to him that if he could catch the +Sun in a net, he could have as much daylight as was needful in +order to finish his house. So he borrowed a noose from the god +Itu, and, it being autumn, when the Sun gets sleepy and +stupid, he easily caught the luminary. The Sun cried till his +tears made a great freshet which nearly drowned the island; +but it was of no use; there he is tethered to this day. + +Similar stories are met with in North America. A Dog-Rib +Indian once chased a squirrel up a tree until he reached the +sky. There he set a snare for the squirrel and climbed down +again. Next day the Sun was caught in the snare, and night +came on at once. That is to say, the sun was eclipsed. +"Something wrong up there," thought the Indian, "I must have +caught the Sun"; and so he sent up ever so many animals to +release the captive. They were all burned to ashes, but at +last the mole, going up and burrowing out through the GROUND +OF THE SKY, (!) succeeded in gnawing asunder the cords of the +snare. Just as it thrust its head out through the opening made +in the sky-ground, it received a flash of light which put its +eyes out, and that is why the mole is blind. The Sun got away, +but has ever since travelled more deliberately.[148] + +[148] Tylor, op. cit. pp. 338-343. + +These sun-myths, many more of which are to be found collected +in Mr. Tylor's excellent treatise on "The Early History of +Mankind," well illustrate both the similarity and the +diversity of the results obtained by the primitive mind, in +different times and countries, when engaged upon similar +problems. No one would think of referring these stories to a +common traditional origin with the myths of Herakles and +Odysseus; yet both classes of tales were devised to explain +the same phenomenon. Both to the Aryan and to the Polynesian +the steadfast but deliberate journey of the sun through the +firmament was a strange circumstance which called for +explanation; but while the meagre intelligence of the +barbarian could only attain to the quaint conception of a man +throwing a noose over the sun's head, the rich imagination of +the Indo-European created the noble picture of Herakles doomed +to serve the son of Sthenelos, in accordance with the +resistless decree of fate. + +Another world-wide myth, which shows how similar are the +mental habits of uncivilized men, is the myth of the tortoise. +The Hindu notion of a great tortoise that lies beneath the +earth and keeps it from falling is familiar to every reader. +According to one account, this tortoise, swimming in the +primeval ocean, bears the earth on his back; but by and by, +when the gods get ready to destroy mankind, the tortoise will +grow weary and sink under his load, and then the earth will be +overwhelmed by a deluge. Another legend tells us that when the +gods and demons took Mount Mandara for a churning-stick and +churned the ocean to make ambrosia, the god Vishnu took on the +form of a tortoise and lay at the bottom of the sea, as a +pivot for the whirling mountain to rest upon. But these +versions of the myth are not primitive. In the original +conception the world is itself a gigantic tortoise swimming in +a boundless ocean; the flat surface of the earth is the lower +plate which covers the reptile's belly; the rounded shell +which covers his back is the sky; and the human race lives and +moves and has its being inside of the tortoise. Now, as Mr. +Tylor has pointed out, many tribes of Redskins hold +substantially the same theory of the universe. They regard the +tortoise as the symbol of the world, and address it as the +mother of mankind. Once, before the earth was made, the king +of heaven quarrelled with his wife, and gave her such a +terrible kick that she fell down into the sea. Fortunately a +tortoise received her on his back, and proceeded to raise up +the earth, upon which the heavenly woman became the mother of +mankind. These first men had white faces, and they used to dig +in the ground to catch badgers. One day a zealous burrower +thrust his knife too far and stabbed the tortoise, which +immediately sank into the sea and drowned all the human race +save one man.[149] In Finnish mythology the world is not a +tortoise, but it is an egg, of which the white part is the +ocean, the yolk is the earth, and the arched shell is the sky. +In India this is the mundane egg of Brahma; and it reappears +among the Yorubas as a pair of calabashes put together like +oyster-shells, one making a dome over the other. In Zulu-land +the earth is a huge beast called Usilosimapundu, whose face is +a rock, and whose mouth is very large and broad and red: "in +some countries which were on his body it was winter, and in +others it was early harvest." Many broad rivers flow over his +back, and he is covered with forests and hills, as is +indicated in his name, which means "the rugose or +knotty-backed beast." In this group of conceptions may be seen +the origin of Sindbad's great fish, which lay still so long +that sand and clay gradually accumulated upon its back, and at +last it became covered with trees. And lastly, passing from +barbaric folk-lore and from the Arabian Nights to the highest +level of Indo-European intelligence, do we not find both Plato +and Kepler amusing themselves with speculations in which the +earth figures as a stupendous animal? + +[149] Tylor, op. cit. p. 336. November, 1870 + + + +VI. JUVENTUS MUNDI.[150] + +[150] Juventus Mundi. The Gods and Men of the Heroic Age. By +the Rt. Hon. William Ewart Gladstone. Boston: Little, Brown, +& Co. 1869. + +TWELVE years ago, when, in concluding his "Studies on Homer +and the Homeric Age," Mr. Gladstone applied to himself the +warning addressed by Agamemnon to the priest of Apollo, + +"Let not Nemesis catch me by the swift ships." + +he would seem to have intended it as a last farewell to +classical studies. Yet, whatever his intentions may have been, +they have yielded to the sweet desire of revisiting familiar +ground,--a desire as strong in the breast of the classical +scholar as was the yearning which led Odysseus to reject the +proffered gift of immortality, so that he might but once more +behold the wreathed smoke curling about the roofs of his +native Ithaka. In this new treatise, on the "Youth of the +World," Mr. Gladstone discusses the same questions which were +treated in his earlier work; and the main conclusions reached +in the "Studies on Homer" are here so little modified with +reference to the recent progress of archaeological inquiries, +that the book can hardly be said to have had any other reason +for appearing, save the desire of loitering by the ships of +the Argives, and of returning thither as often as possible. + +The title selected by Mr. Gladstone for his new work is either +a very appropriate one or a strange misnomer, according to the +point of view from which it is regarded. Such being the case, +we might readily acquiesce in its use, and pass it by without +comment, trusting that the author understood himself when he +adopted it, were it not that by incidental references, and +especially by his allusions to the legendary literature of the +Jews, Mr. Gladstone shows that he means more by the title than +it can fairly be made to express. An author who seeks to +determine prehistoric events by references to Kadmos, and +Danaos, and Abraham, is at once liable to the suspicion of +holding very inadequate views as to the character of the epoch +which may properly be termed the "youth of the world." Often +in reading Mr. Gladstone we are reminded of Renan's strange +suggestion that an exploration of the Hindu Kush territory, +whence probably came the primitive Aryans, might throw some +new light on the origin of language. Nothing could well be +more futile. The primitive Aryan language has already been +partly reconstructed for us; its grammatical forms and +syntactic devices are becoming familiar to scholars; one great +philologist has even composed a tale in it; yet in studying +this long-buried dialect we are not much nearer the first +beginnings of human speech than in studying the Greek of +Homer, the Sanskrit of the Vedas, or the Umbrian of the +Igovine Inscriptions. The Aryan mother-tongue had passed into +the last of the three stages of linguistic growth long before +the break-up of the tribal communities in Aryana-vaedjo, and +at that early date presented a less primitive structure than +is to be seen in the Chinese or the Mongolian of our own +times. So the state of society depicted in the Homeric poems, +and well illustrated by Mr. Gladstone, is many degrees less +primitive than that which is revealed to us by the +archaeological researches either of Pictet and Windischmann, +or of Tylor, Lubbock, and M'Lennan. We shall gather evidences +of this as we proceed. Meanwhile let us remember that at least +eleven thousand years before the Homeric age men lived in +communities, and manufactured pottery on the banks of the +Nile; and let us not leave wholly out of sight that more +distant period, perhaps a million years ago, when sparse +tribes of savage men, contemporaneous with the mammoths of +Siberia and the cave-tigers of Britain, struggled against the +intense cold of the glacial winters. + +Nevertheless, though the Homeric age appears to be a late one +when considered with reference to the whole career of the +human race, there is a point of view from which it may be +justly regarded as the "youth of the world." However long man +may have existed upon the earth, he becomes thoroughly and +distinctly human in the eyes of the historian only at the +epoch at which he began to create for himself a literature. As +far back as we can trace the progress of the human race +continuously by means of the written word, so far do we feel a +true historical interest in its fortunes, and pursue our +studies with a sympathy which the mere lapse of time is +powerless to impair. But the primeval man, whose history never +has been and never will be written, whose career on the earth, +dateless and chartless, can be dimly revealed to us only by +palaeontology, excites in us a very different feeling. Though +with the keenest interest we ransack every nook and corner of +the earth's surface for information about him, we are all the +while aware that what we are studying is human zoology and not +history. Our Neanderthal man is a specimen, not a character. +We cannot ask him the Homeric question, what is his name, who +were his parents, and how did he get where we found him. His +language has died with him, and he can render no account of +himself. We can only regard him specifically as Homo +Anthropos, a creature of bigger brain than his congener Homo +Pithekos, and of vastly greater promise. But this, we say, is +physical science, and not history. + +For the historian, therefore, who studies man in his various +social relations, the youth of the world is the period at +which literature begins. We regard the history of the western +world as beginning about the tenth century before the +Christian era, because at that date we find literature, in +Greece and Palestine, beginning to throw direct light upon the +social and intellectual condition of a portion of mankind. +That great empires, rich in historical interest and in +materials for sociological generalizations, had existed for +centuries before that date, in Egypt and Assyria, we do not +doubt, since they appear at the dawn of history with all the +marks of great antiquity; but the only steady historical light +thrown upon them shines from the pages of Greek and Hebrew +authors, and these know them only in their latest period. For +information concerning their early careers we must look, not +to history, but to linguistic archaeology, a science which can +help us to general results, but cannot enable us to fix dates, +save in the crudest manner. + +We mention the tenth century before Christ as the earliest +period at which we can begin to study human society in general +and Greek society in particular, through the medium of +literature. But, strictly speaking, the epoch in question is +one which cannot be fixed with accuracy. The earliest +ascertainable date in Greek history is that of the Olympiad of +Koroibos, B. C. 776. There is no doubt that the Homeric poems +were written before this date, and that Homer is therefore +strictly prehistoric. Had this fact been duly realized by +those scholars who have not attempted to deny it, a vast +amount of profitless discussion might have been avoided. +Sooner or later, as Grote says, "the lesson must be learnt, +hard and painful though it be, that no imaginable reach of +critical acumen will of itself enable us to discriminate fancy +from reality, in the absence of a tolerable stock of +evidence." We do not know who Homer was; we do not know where +or when he lived; and in all probability we shall never know. +The data for settling the question are not now accessible, and +it is not likely that they will ever be discovered. Even in +early antiquity the question was wrapped in an obscurity as +deep as that which shrouds it to-day. The case between the +seven or eight cities which claimed to be the birthplace of +the poet, and which Welcker has so ably discussed, cannot be +decided. The feebleness of the evidence brought into court may +be judged from the fact that the claims of Chios and the story +of the poet's blindness rest alike upon a doubtful allusion in +the Hymn to Apollo, which Thukydides (III. 104) accepted as +authentic. The majority of modern critics have consoled +themselves with the vague conclusion that, as between the two +great divisions of the early Greek world, Homer at least +belonged to the Asiatic. But Mr. Gladstone has shown good +reasons for doubting this opinion. He has pointed out several +instances in which the poems seem to betray a closer +topographical acquaintance with European than with Asiatic +Greece, and concludes that Athens and Argos have at least as +good a claim to Homer as Chios or Smyrna. + +It is far more desirable that we should form an approximate +opinion as to the date of the Homeric poems, than that we +should seek to determine the exact locality in which they +originated. Yet the one question is hardly less obscure than +the other. Different writers of antiquity assigned eight +different epochs to Homer, of which the earliest is separated +from the most recent by an interval of four hundred and sixty +years,--a period as long as that which separates the Black +Prince from the Duke of Wellington, or the age of Perikles +from the Christian era. While Theopompos quite preposterously +brings him down as late as the twenty-third Olympiad, Krates +removes him to the twelfth century B. C. The date ordinarily +accepted by modern critics is the one assigned by Herodotos, +880 B. C. Yet Mr. Gladstone shows reasons, which appear to me +convincing, for doubting or rejecting this date. + +I refer to the much-abused legend of the Children of Herakles, +which seems capable of yielding an item of trustworthy +testimony, provided it be circumspectly dealt with. I differ +from Mr. Gladstone in not regarding the legend as historical +in its present shape. In my apprehension, Hyllos and Oxylos, +as historical personages, have no value whatever; and I +faithfully follow Mr. Grote, in refusing to accept any date +earlier than the Olympiad of Koroibos. The tale of the "Return +of the Herakleids" is undoubtedly as unworthy of credit as the +legend of Hengst and Horsa; yet, like the latter, it doubtless +embodies a historical occurrence. One cannot approve, as +scholarlike or philosophical, the scepticism of Mr. Cox, who +can see in the whole narrative nothing but a solar myth. There +certainly was a time when the Dorian tribes--described in the +legend as the allies of the Children of Herakles--conquered +Peloponnesos; and that time was certainly subsequent to the +composition of the Homeric poems. It is incredible that the +Iliad and the Odyssey should ignore the existence of Dorians +in Peloponnesos, if there were Dorians not only dwelling but +ruling there at the time when the poems were written. The +poems are very accurate and rigorously consistent in their use +of ethnical appellatives; and their author, in speaking of +Achaians and Argives, is as evidently alluding to peoples +directly known to him, as is Shakespeare when he mentions +Danes and Scotchmen. Now Homer knows Achaians, Argives, and +Pelasgians dwelling in Peloponnesos; and he knows Dorians +also, but only as a people inhabiting Crete. (Odyss. XIX. +175.) With Homer, moreover, the Hellenes are not the Greeks in +general but only a people dwelling in the north, in Thessaly. +When these poems were written, Greece was not known as Hellas, +but as Achaia,--the whole country taking its name from the +Achaians, the dominant race in Peloponnesos. Now at the +beginning of the truly historical period, in the eighth +century B. C., all this is changed. The Greeks as a people are +called Hellenes; the Dorians rule in Peloponnesos, while their +lands are tilled by Argive Helots; and the Achaians appear +only as an insignificant people occupying the southern shore +of the Corinthian Gulf. How this change took place we cannot +tell. The explanation of it can never be obtained from +history, though some light may perhaps be thrown upon it by +linguistic archaeology. But at all events it was a great +change, and could not have taken place in a moment. It is fair +to suppose that the Helleno-Dorian conquest must have begun at +least a century before the first Olympiad; for otherwise the +geographical limits of the various Greek races would not have +been so completely established as we find them to have been at +that date. The Greeks, indeed, supposed it to have begun at +least three centuries earlier, but it is impossible to collect +evidence which will either refute or establish that opinion. +For our purposes it is enough to know that the conquest could +not have taken place later than 900 B. C.; and if this be the +case, the MINIMUM DATE for the composition of the Homeric +poems must be the tenth century before Christ; which is, in +fact, the date assigned by Aristotle. Thus far, and no +farther, I believe it possible to go with safety. Whether the +poems were composed in the tenth, eleventh, or twelfth century +cannot be determined. We are justified only in placing them +far enough back to allow the Helleno-Dorian conquest to +intervene between their composition and the beginning of +recorded history. The tenth century B. C. is the latest date +which will account for all the phenomena involved in the case, +and with this result we must be satisfied. Even on this +showing, the Iliad and Odyssey appear as the oldest existing +specimens of Aryan literature, save perhaps the hymns of the +Rig-Veda and the sacred books of the Avesta. + +The apparent difficulty of preserving such long poems for +three or four centuries without the aid of writing may seem at +first sight to justify the hypothesis of Wolf, that they are +mere collections of ancient ballads, like those which make up +the Mahabharata, preserved in the memories of a dozen or +twenty bards, and first arranged under the orders of +Peisistratos. But on a careful examination this hypothesis is +seen to raise more difficulties than it solves. What was there +in the position of Peisistratos, or of Athens itself in the +sixth century B. C., so authoritative as to compel all Greeks +to recognize the recension then and there made of their +revered poet? Besides which the celebrated ordinance of Solon +respecting the rhapsodes at the Panathenaia obliges us to +infer the existence of written manuscripts of Homer previous +to 550 B. C. As Mr. Grote well observes, the interference of +Peisistratos "presupposes a certain foreknown and ancient +aggregate, the main lineaments of which were familiar to the +Grecian public, although many of the rhapsodes in their +practice may have deviated from it both by omission and +interpolation. In correcting the Athenian recitations +conformably with such understood general type, Peisistratos +might hope both to procure respect for Athens and to +constitute a fashion for the rest of Greece. But this step of +'collecting the torn body of sacred Homer' is something +generically different from the composition of a new Iliad out +of pre-existing songs: the former is as easy, suitable, and +promising as the latter is violent and gratuitous."[151] + +[151] Hist. Greece, Vol. II. p. 208. + +As for Wolf's objection, that the Iliad and Odyssey are too +long to have been preserved by memory, it may be met by a +simple denial. It is a strange objection indeed, coming from a +man of Wolf's retentive memory. I do not see how the +acquisition of the two poems can be regarded as such a very +arduous task; and if literature were as scanty now as in Greek +antiquity, there are doubtless many scholars who would long +since have had them at their tongues' end. Sir G. C. Lewis, +with but little conscious effort, managed to carry in his head +a very considerable portion of Greek and Latin classic +literature; and Niebuhr (who once restored from recollection a +book of accounts which had been accidentally destroyed) was in +the habit of referring to book and chapter of an ancient +author without consulting his notes. Nay, there is Professor +Sophocles, of Harvard University, who, if you suddenly stop +and interrogate him in the street, will tell you just how many +times any given Greek word occurs in Thukydides, or in +AEschylos, or in Plato, and will obligingly rehearse for you +the context. If all extant copies of the Homeric poems were to +be gathered together and burnt up to-day, like Don Quixote's +library, or like those Arabic manuscripts of which Cardinal +Ximenes made a bonfire in the streets of Granada, the poems +could very likely be reproduced and orally transmitted for +several generations; and much easier must it have been for the +Greeks to preserve these books, which their imagination +invested with a quasi-sanctity, and which constituted the +greater part of the literary furniture of their minds. In +Xenophon's time there were educated gentlemen at Athens who +could repeat both Iliad and Odyssey verbatim. (Xenoph. +Sympos., III. 5.) Besides this, we know that at Chios there +was a company of bards, known as Homerids, whose business it +was to recite these poems from memory; and from the edicts of +Solon and the Sikyonian Kleisthenes (Herod., V. 67), we may +infer that the case was the same in other parts of Greece. +Passages from the Iliad used to be sung at the Pythian +festivals, to the accompaniment of the harp (Athenaeus, XIV. +638), and in at least two of the Ionic islands of the AEgaean +there were regular competitive exhibitions by trained young +men, at which prizes were given to the best reciter. The +difficulty of preserving the poems, under such circumstances, +becomes very insignificant; and the Wolfian argument quite +vanishes when we reflect that it would have been no easier to +preserve a dozen or twenty short poems than two long ones. +Nay, the coherent, orderly arrangement of the Iliad and +Odyssey would make them even easier to remember than a group +of short rhapsodies not consecutively arranged. + +When we come to interrogate the poems themselves, we find in +them quite convincing evidence that they were originally +composed for the ear alone, and without reference to +manuscript assistance. They abound in catchwords, and in +verbal repetitions. The "Catalogue of Ships," as Mr. Gladstone +has acutely observed, is arranged in well-defined sections, in +such a way that the end of each section suggests the beginning +of the next one. It resembles the versus memoriales found in +old-fashioned grammars. But the most convincing proof of all +is to be found in the changes which Greek pronunciation went +through between the ages of Homer and Peisistratos. "At the +time when these poems were composed, the digamma (or w) was an +effective consonant, and figured as such in the structure of +the verse; at the time when they were committed to writing, it +had ceased to be pronounced, and therefore never found a place +in any of the manuscripts,--insomuch that the Alexandrian +critics, though they knew of its existence in the much later +poems of Alkaios and Sappho, never recognized it in Homer. The +hiatus, and the various perplexities of metre, occasioned by +the loss of the digamma, were corrected by different +grammatical stratagems. But the whole history of this lost +letter is very curious, and is rendered intelligible only by +the supposition that the Iliad and Odyssey belonged for a wide +space of time to the memory, the voice, and the ear +exclusively."[152] + +[152] Grote, Hist. Greece, Vol. II. p. 198. + +Many of these facts are of course fully recognized by the +Wolfians; but the inference drawn from them, that the Homeric +poems began to exist in a piecemeal condition, is, as we have +seen, unnecessary. These poems may indeed be compared, in a +certain sense, with the early sacred and epic literature of +the Jews, Indians, and Teutons. But if we assign a plurality +of composers to the Psalms and Pentateuch, the Mahabharata, +the Vedas, and the Edda, we do so because of internal evidence +furnished by the books themselves, and not because these books +could not have been preserved by oral tradition. Is there, +then, in the Homeric poems any such internal evidence of dual +or plural origin as is furnished by the interlaced Elohistic +and Jehovistic documents of the Pentateuch? A careful +investigation will show that there is not. Any scholar who has +given some attention to the subject can readily distinguish +the Elohistic from the Jehovistic portions of the Pentateuch; +and, save in the case of a few sporadic verses, most Biblical +critics coincide in the separation which they make between the +two. But the attempts which have been made to break up the +Iliad and Odyssey have resulted in no such harmonious +agreement. There are as many systems as there are critics, and +naturally enough. For the Iliad and the Odyssey are as much +alike as two peas, and the resemblance which holds between the +two holds also between the different parts of each poem. From +the appearance of the injured Chryses in the Grecian camp down +to the intervention of Athene on the field of contest at +Ithaka, we find in each book and in each paragraph the same +style, the same peculiarities of expression, the same habits +of thought, the same quite unique manifestations of the +faculty of observation. Now if the style were commonplace, the +observation slovenly, or the thought trivial, as is wont to be +the case in ballad-literature, this argument from similarity +might not carry with it much conviction. But when we reflect +that throughout the whole course of human history no other +works, save the best tragedies of Shakespeare, have ever been +written which for combined keenness of observation, elevation +of thought, and sublimity of style can compare with the +Homeric poems, we must admit that the argument has very great +weight indeed. Let us take, for example, the sixth and +twenty-fourth books of the Iliad. According to the theory of +Lachmann, the most eminent champion of the Wolfian hypothesis, +these are by different authors. Human speech has perhaps never +been brought so near to the limit of its capacity of +expressing deep emotion as in the scene between Priam and +Achilleus in the twenty-fourth book; while the interview +between Hektor and Andromache in the sixth similarly wellnigh +exhausts the power of language. Now, the literary critic has a +right to ask whether it is probable that two such passages, +agreeing perfectly in turn of expression, and alike exhibiting +the same unapproachable degree of excellence, could have been +produced by two different authors. And the physiologist--with +some inward misgivings suggested by Mr. Galton's theory that +the Greeks surpassed us in genius even as we surpass the +negroes--has a right to ask whether it is in the natural +course of things for two such wonderful poets, strangely +agreeing in their minutest psychological characteristics, to +be produced at the same time. And the difficulty thus raised +becomes overwhelming when we reflect that it is the +coexistence of not two only, but at least twenty such geniuses +which the Wolfian hypothesis requires us to account for. That +theory worked very well as long as scholars thoughtlessly +assumed that the Iliad and Odyssey were analogous to ballad +poetry. But, except in the simplicity of the primitive +diction, there is no such analogy. The power and beauty of the +Iliad are never so hopelessly lost as when it is rendered into +the style of a modern ballad. One might as well attempt to +preserve the grandeur of the triumphant close of Milton's +Lycidas by turning it into the light Anacreontics of the ode +to "Eros stung by a Bee." The peculiarity of the Homeric +poetry, which defies translation, is its union of the +simplicity characteristic of an early age with a sustained +elevation of style, which can be explained only as due to +individual genius. + +The same conclusion is forced upon us when we examine the +artistic structure of these poems. With regard to the Odyssey +in particular, Mr. Grote has elaborately shown that its +structure is so thoroughly integral, that no considerable +portion could be subtracted without converting the poem into a +more or less admirable fragment. The Iliad stands in a +somewhat different position. There are unmistakable +peculiarities in its structure, which have led even Mr. Grote, +who utterly rejects the Wolfian hypothesis, to regard it as +made up of two poems; although he inclines to the belief that +the later poem was grafted upon the earlier by its own author, +by way of further elucidation and expansion; just as Goethe, +in his old age, added a new part to "Faust." According to Mr. +Grote, the Iliad, as originally conceived, was properly an +Achilleis; its design being, as indicated in the opening lines +of the poem, to depict the wrath of Achilleus and the +unutterable woes which it entailed upon the Greeks The plot of +this primitive Achilleis is entirely contained in Books I., +VIII., and XI.-XXII.; and, in Mr. Grote's opinion, the +remaining books injure the symmetry of this plot by +unnecessarily prolonging the duration of the Wrath, while the +embassy to Achilleus, in the ninth book, unduly anticipates +the conduct of Agamemnon in the nineteenth, and is therefore, +as a piece of bungling work, to be referred to the hands of an +inferior interpolator. Mr. Grote thinks it probable that these +books, with the exception of the ninth, were subsequently +added by the poet, with a view to enlarging the original +Achilleis into a real Iliad, describing the war of the Greeks +against Troy. With reference to this hypothesis, I gladly +admit that Mr. Grote is, of all men now living, the one best +entitled to a reverential hearing on almost any point +connected with Greek antiquity. Nevertheless it seems to me +that his theory rests solely upon imagined difficulties which +have no real existence. I doubt if any scholar, reading the +Iliad ever so much, would ever be struck by these alleged +inconsistencies of structure, unless they were suggested by +some a priori theory. And I fear that the Wolfian theory, in +spite of Mr. Grote's emphatic rejection of it, is responsible +for some of these over-refined criticisms. Even as it stands, +the Iliad is not an account of the war against Troy. It begins +in the tenth year of the siege, and it does not continue to +the capture of the city. It is simply occupied with an episode +in the war,--with the wrath of Achilleus and its consequences, +according to the plan marked out in the opening lines. The +supposed additions, therefore, though they may have given to +the poem a somewhat wider scope, have not at any rate changed +its primitive character of an Achilleis. To my mind they seem +even called for by the original conception of the consequences +of the wrath. To have inserted the battle at the ships, in +which Sarpedon breaks down the wall of the Greeks, immediately +after the occurrences of the first book, would have been too +abrupt altogether. Zeus, after his reluctant promise to +Thetis, must not be expected so suddenly to exhibit such fell +determination. And after the long series of books describing +the valorous deeds of Aias, Diomedes, Agamemnon, Odysseus, and +Menelaos, the powerful intervention of Achilleus appears in +far grander proportions than would otherwise be possible. As +for the embassy to Achilleus, in the ninth book, I am unable +to see how the final reconciliation with Agamemnon would be +complete without it. As Mr. Gladstone well observes, what +Achilleus wants is not restitution, but apology; and Agamemnon +offers no apology until the nineteenth book. In his answer to +the ambassadors, Achilleus scornfully rejects the proposals +which imply that the mere return of Briseis will satisfy his +righteous resentment, unless it be accompanied with that +public humiliation to which circumstances have not yet +compelled the leader of the Greeks to subject himself. +Achilleus is not to be bought or cajoled. Even the extreme +distress of the Greeks in the thirteenth book does not prevail +upon him; nor is there anything in the poem to show that he +ever would have laid aside his wrath, had not the death of +Patroklos supplied him with a new and wholly unforeseen +motive. It seems to me that his entrance into the battle after +the death of his friend would lose half its poetic effect, +were it not preceded by some such scene as that in the ninth +book, in which he is represented as deaf to all ordinary +inducements. As for the two concluding books, which Mr. Grote +is inclined to regard as a subsequent addition, not +necessitated by the plan of the poem, I am at a loss to see +how the poem can be considered complete without them. To leave +the bodies of Patroklos and Hektor unburied would be in the +highest degree shocking to Greek religious feelings. +Remembering the sentence incurred, in far less superstitious +times, by the generals at Arginusai, it is impossible to +believe that any conclusion which left Patroklos's manes +unpropitiated, and the mutilated corpse of Hektor unransomed, +could have satisfied either the poet or his hearers. For +further particulars I must refer the reader to the excellent +criticisms of Mr. Gladstone, and also to the article on "Greek +History and Legend" in the second volume of Mr. Mill's +"Dissertations and Discussions." A careful study of the +arguments of these writers, and, above all, a thorough and +independent examination of the Iliad itself, will, I believe, +convince the student that this great poem is from beginning to +end the consistent production of a single author. + +The arguments of those who would attribute the Iliad and +Odyssey, taken as wholes, to two different authors, rest +chiefly upon some apparent discrepancies in the mythology of +the two poems; but many of these difficulties have been +completely solved by the recent progress of the science of +comparative mythology. Thus, for example, the fact that, in +the Iliad, Hephaistos is called the husband of Charis, while +in the Odyssey he is called the husband of Aphrodite, has been +cited even by Mr. Grote as evidence that the two poems are not +by the same author. It seems to me that one such discrepancy, +in the midst of complete general agreement, would be much +better explained as Cervantes explained his own inconsistency +with reference to the stealing of Sancho's mule, in the +twenty-second chapter of "Don Quixote." But there is no +discrepancy. Aphrodite, though originally the moon-goddess, +like the German Horsel, had before Homer's time acquired many +of the attributes of the dawn-goddess Athene, while her lunar +characteristics had been to a great extent transferred to +Artemis and Persephone. In her renovated character, as goddess +of the dawn, Aphrodite became identified with Charis, who +appears in the Rig-Veda as dawn-goddess. In the post-Homeric +mythology, the two were again separated, and Charis, becoming +divided in personality, appears as the Charites, or Graces, +who were supposed to be constant attendants of Aphrodite. But +in the Homeric poems the two are still identical, and either +Charis or Aphrodite may be called the wife of the fire-god, +without inconsistency. + +Thus to sum up, I believe that Mr. Gladstone is quite right in +maintaining that both the Iliad and Odyssey are, from +beginning to end, with the exception of a few insignificant +interpolations, the work of a single author, whom we have no +ground for calling by any other name than that of Homer. I +believe, moreover, that this author lived before the beginning +of authentic history, and that we can determine neither his +age nor his country with precision. We can only decide that he +was a Greek who lived at some time previous to the year 900 +B.C. + +Here, however, I must begin to part company with Mr. +Gladstone, and shall henceforth unfortunately have frequent +occasion to differ from him on points of fundamental +importance. For Mr. Gladstone not only regards the Homeric age +as strictly within the limits of authentic history, but he +even goes much further than this. He would not only fix the +date of Homer positively in the twelfth century B. C., but he +regards the Trojan war as a purely historical event, of which +Homer is the authentic historian and the probable eye-witness. +Nay, he even takes the word of the poet as proof conclusive of +the historical character of events happening several +generations before the Troika, according to the legendary +chronology. He not only regards Agamemnon, Achilleus, and +Paris as actual personages, but he ascribes the same reality +to characters like Danaos, Kadmos, and Perseus, and talks of +the Pelopid and Aiolid dynasties, and the empire of Minos, +with as much confidence as if he were dealing with Karlings or +Capetians, or with the epoch of the Crusades. + +It is disheartening, at the present day, and after so much has +been finally settled by writers like Grote, Mommsen, and Sir +G. C. Lewis, to come upon such views in the work of a man of +scholarship and intelligence. One begins to wonder how many +more times it will be necessary to prove that dates and events +are of no historical value, unless attested by nearly +contemporary evidence. Pausanias and Plutarch were able men no +doubt, and Thukydides was a profound historian; but what these +writers thought of the Herakleid invasion, the age of Homer, +and the war of Troy, can have no great weight with the +critical historian, since even in the time of Thukydides these +events were as completely obscured by lapse of time as they +are now. There is no literary Greek history before the age of +Hekataios and Herodotos, three centuries subsequent to the +first recorded Olympiad. A portion of this period is +satisfactorily covered by inscriptions, but even these fail us +before we get within a century of this earliest ascertainable +date. Even the career of the lawgiver Lykourgos, which seems +to belong to the commencement of the eighth century B. C., +presents us, from lack of anything like contemporary records, +with many insoluble problems. The Helleno-Dorian conquest, as +we have seen, must have occurred at some time or other; but it +evidently did not occur within two centuries of the earliest +known inscription, and it is therefore folly to imagine that +we can determine its date or ascertain the circumstances which +attended it. Anterior to this event there is but one fact in +Greek antiquity directly known to us,--the existence of the +Homeric poems. The belief that there was a Trojan war rests +exclusively upon the contents of those poems: there is no +other independent testimony to it whatever. But the Homeric +poems are of no value as testimony to the truth of the +statements contained in them, unless it can be proved that +their author was either contemporary with the Troika, or else +derived his information from contemporary witnesses. This can +never be proved. To assume, as Mr. Gladstone does, that Homer +lived within fifty years after the Troika, is to make a purely +gratuitous assumption. For aught the wisest historian can +tell, the interval may have been five hundred years, or a +thousand. Indeed the Iliad itself expressly declares that it +is dealing with an ancient state of things which no longer +exists. It is difficult to see what else can be meant by the +statement that the heroes of the Troika belong to an order of +men no longer seen upon the earth. (Iliad, V. 304.) Most +assuredly Achilleus the son of Thetis, and Sarpedon the son of +Zeus, and Helena the daughter of Zeus, are no ordinary +mortals, such as might have been seen and conversed with by +the poet's grandfather. They belong to an inferior order of +gods, according to the peculiar anthropomorphism of the +Greeks, in which deity and humanity are so closely mingled +that it is difficult to tell where the one begins and the +other ends. Diomedes, single-handed, vanquishes not only the +gentle Aphrodite, but even the god of battles himself, the +terrible Ares. Nestor quaffs lightly from a goblet which, we +are told, not two men among the poet's contemporaries could by +their united exertions raise and place upon a table. Aias and +Hektor and Aineias hurl enormous masses of rock as easily as +an ordinary man would throw a pebble. All this shows that the +poet, in his naive way, conceiving of these heroes as +personages of a remote past, was endeavouring as far as +possible to ascribe to them the attributes of superior beings. +If all that were divine, marvellous, or superhuman were to be +left out of the poems, the supposed historical residue would +hardly be worth the trouble of saving. As Mr. Cox well +observes, "It is of the very essence of the narrative that +Paris, who has deserted Oinone, the child of the stream +Kebren, and before whom Here, Athene, and Aphrodite had +appeared as claimants for the golden apple, steals from Sparta +the beautiful sister of the Dioskouroi; that the chiefs are +summoned together for no other purpose than to avenge her woes +and wrongs; that Achilleus, the son of the sea-nymph Thetis, +the wielder of invincible weapons and the lord of undying +horses, goes to fight in a quarrel which is not his own; that +his wrath is roused because he is robbed of the maiden +Briseis, and that henceforth he takes no part in the strife +until his friend Patroklos has been slain; that then he puts +on the new armour which Thetis brings to him from the anvil of +Hephaistos, and goes forth to win the victory. The details are +throughout of the same nature. Achilleus sees and converses +with Athene; Aphrodite is wounded by Diomedes, and Sleep and +Death bear away the lifeless Sarpedon on their noiseless wings +to the far-off land of light." In view of all this it is +evident that Homer was not describing, like a salaried +historiographer, the state of things which existed in the time +of his father or grandfather. To his mind the occurrences +which he described were those of a remote, a wonderful, a +semi-divine past. + +This conclusion, which I have thus far supported merely by +reference to the Iliad itself, becomes irresistible as soon as +we take into account the results obtained during the past +thirty years by the science of comparative mythology. As long +as our view was restricted to Greece, it was perhaps excusable +that Achilleus and Paris should be taken for exaggerated +copies of actual persons. Since the day when Grimm laid the +foundations of the science of mythology, all this has been +changed. It is now held that Achilleus and Paris and Helena +are to be found, not only in the Iliad, but also in the +Rig-Veda, and therefore, as mythical conceptions, date, not +from Homer, but from a period preceding the dispersion of the +Aryan nations. The tale of the Wrath of Achilleus, far from +originating with Homer, far from being recorded by the author +of the Iliad as by an eyewitness, must have been known in its +essential features in Aryana-vaedjo, at that remote epoch when +the Indian, the Greek, and the Teuton were as yet one and the +same. For the story has been retained by the three races +alike, in all its principal features; though the Veda has left +it in the sky where it originally belonged, while the Iliad +and the Nibelungenlied have brought it down to earth, the one +locating it in Asia Minor, and the other in Northwestern +Europe.[153] + +[153] For the precise extent to which I would indorse the +theory that the Iliad-myth is an account of the victory of +light over darkness, let me refer to what I have said above on +p. 134. I do not suppose that the struggle between light and +darkness was Homer's subject in the Iliad any more than it was +Shakespeare's subject in "Hamlet." Homer's subject was the +wrath of the Greek hero, as Shakespeare's subject was the +vengeance of the Danish prince. Nevertheless, the story of +Hamlet, when traced back to its Norse original, is +unmistakably the story of the quarrel between summer and +winter; and the moody prince is as much a solar hero as Odin +himself. See Simrock, Die Quellen des Shakespeare, I. 127-133. +Of course Shakespeare knew nothing of this, as Homer knew +nothing of the origin of his Achilleus. The two stories, +therefore, are not to be taken as sun-myths in their present +form. They are the offspring of other stories which were +sun-myths; they are stories which conform to the sun-myth type +after the manner above illustrated in the paper on Light and +Darkness. [Hence there is nothing unintelligible in the +inconsistency--which seems to puzzle Max Muller (Science of +Language, 6th ed. Vol. II. p. 516, note 20)--of investing +Paris with many of the characteristics of the children of +light. Supposing, as we must, that the primitive sense of the +Iliad-myth had as entirely disappeared in the Homeric age, as +the primitive sense of the Hamlet-myth had disappeared in the +times of Elizabeth, the fit ground for wonder is that such +inconsistencies are not more numerous.] The physical theory of +myths will be properly presented and comprehended, only when +it is understood that we accept the physical derivation of +such stories as the Iliad-myth in much the same way that we +are bound to accept the physical etymologies of such words as +soul, consider, truth, convince, deliberate, and the like. The +late Dr. Gibbs of Yale College, in his "Philological +Studies,"--a little book which I used to read with delight +when a boy,--describes such etymologies as "faded metaphors." +In similar wise, while refraining from characterizing the +Iliad or the tragedy of Hamlet--any more than I would +characterize Le Juif Errant by Sue, or La Maison Forestiere by +Erckmann-Chatrian--as nature-myths, I would at the same time +consider these poems well described as embodying "faded +nature-myths." + +In the Rig-Veda the Panis are the genii of night and winter, +corresponding to the Nibelungs, or "Children of the Mist," in +the Teutonic legend, and to the children of Nephele (cloud) in +the Greek myth of the Golden Fleece. The Panis steal the +cattle of the Sun (Indra, Helios, Herakles), and carry them by +an unknown route to a dark cave eastward. Sarama, the creeping +Dawn, is sent by Indra to find and recover them. The Panis +then tamper with Sarama, and try their best to induce her to +betray her solar lord. For a while she is prevailed upon to +dally with them; yet she ultimately returns to give Indra the +information needful in order that he might conquer the Panis, +just as Helena, in the slightly altered version, ultimately +returns to her western home, carrying with her the treasures +(ktemata, Iliad, II. 285) of which Paris had robbed Menelaos. +But, before the bright Indra and his solar heroes can +reconquer their treasures they must take captive the offspring +of Brisaya, the violet light of morning. Thus Achilleus, +answering to the solar champion Aharyu, takes captive the +daughter of Brises. But as the sun must always be parted from +the morning-light, to return to it again just before setting, +so Achilleus loses Briseis, and regains her only just before +his final struggle. In similar wise Herakles is parted from +Iole ("the violet one"), and Sigurd from Brynhild. In sullen +wrath the hero retires from the conflict, and his Myrmidons +are no longer seen on the battle-field, as the sun hides +behind the dark cloud and his rays no longer appear about him. +Yet toward the evening, as Briseis returns, he appears in his +might, clothed in the dazzling armour wrought for him by the +fire-god Hephaistos, and with his invincible spear slays the +great storm-cloud, which during his absence had wellnigh +prevailed over the champions of the daylight. But his triumph +is short-lived; for having trampled on the clouds that had +opposed him, while yet crimsoned with the fierce carnage, the +sharp arrow of the night-demon Paris slays him at the Western +Gates. We have not space to go into further details. In Mr. +Cox's "Mythology of the Aryan Nations," and "Tales of Ancient +Greece," the reader will find the entire contents of the Iliad +and Odyssey thus minutely illustrated by comparison with the +Veda, the Edda, and the Lay of the Nibelungs. + +Ancient as the Homeric poems undoubtedly are, they are modern +in comparison with the tale of Achilleus and Helena, as here +unfolded. The date of the entrance of the Greeks into Europe +will perhaps never be determined; but I do not see how any +competent scholar can well place it at less than eight hundred +or a thousand years before the time of Homer. Between the two +epochs the Greek, Latin, Umbrian, and Keltic lauguages had +time to acquire distinct individualities. Far earlier, +therefore, than the Homeric "juventus mundi" was that "youth +of the world," in which the Aryan forefathers, knowing no +abstract terms, and possessing no philosophy but fetichism, +deliberately spoke of the Sun, and the Dawn, and the Clouds, +as persons or as animals. The Veda, though composed much later +than this,--perhaps as late as the Iliad,--nevertheless +preserves the record of the mental life of this period. The +Vedic poet is still dimly aware that Sarama is the fickle +twilight, and the Panis the night-demons who strive to coax +her from her allegiance to the day-god. He keeps the scene of +action in the sky. But the Homeric Greek had long since +forgotten that Helena and Paris were anything more than +semi-divine mortals, the daughter of Zeus and the son of the +Zeus-descended Priam. The Hindu understood that Dyaus ("the +bright one") meant the sky, and Sarama ("the creeping one") +the dawn, and spoke significantly when he called the latter +the daughter of the former. But the Greek could not know that +Zeus was derived from a root div, "to shine," or that Helena +belonged to a root sar, "to creep." Phonetic change thus +helped him to rise from fetichism to polytheism. His +nature-gods became thoroughly anthropomorphic; and he probably +no more remembered that Achilleus originally signified the +sun, than we remember that the word God, which we use to +denote the most vast of conceptions, originally meant simply +the Storm-wind. Indeed, when the fetichistic tendency led the +Greek again to personify the powers of nature, he had recourse +to new names formed from his own language. Thus, beside Apollo +we have Helios; Selene beside Artemis and Persephone; Eos +beside Athene; Gaia beside Demeter. As a further consequence +of this decomposition and new development of the old Aryan +mythology, we find, as might be expected, that the Homeric +poems are not always consistent in their use of their mythic +materials. Thus, Paris, the night-demon, is--to Max Muller's +perplexity--invested with many of the attributes of the +bright solar heroes. "Like Perseus, Oidipous, Romulus, and +Cyrus, he is doomed to bring ruin on his parents; like them he +is exposed in his infancy on the hillside, and rescued by a +shepherd." All the solar heroes begin life in this way. +Whether, like Apollo, born of the dark night (Leto), or like +Oidipous, of the violet dawn (Iokaste), they are alike +destined to bring destruction on their parents, as the night +and the dawn are both destroyed by the sun. The exposure of +the child in infancy represents the long rays of the +morning-sun resting on the hillside. Then Paris forsakes +Oinone ("the wine-coloured one"), but meets her again at the +gloaming when she lays herself by his side amid the crimson +flames of the funeral pyre. Sarpedon also, a solar hero, is +made to fight on the side of the Niblungs or Trojans, attended +by his friend Glaukos ("the brilliant one"). They command the +Lykians, or "children of light"; and with them comes also +Memnon, son of the Dawn, from the fiery land of the Aithiopes, +the favourite haunt of Zeus and the gods of Olympos. + +The Iliad-myth must therefore have been current many ages +before the Greeks inhabited Greece, long before there was any +Ilion to be conquered. Nevertheless, this does not forbid the +supposition that the legend, as we have it, may have been +formed by the crystallization of mythical conceptions about a +nucleus of genuine tradition. In this view I am upheld by a +most sagacious and accurate scholar, Mr. E. A. Freeman, who +finds in Carlovingian romance an excellent illustration of the +problem before us. + +The Charlemagne of romance is a mythical personage. He is +supposed to have been a Frenchman, at a time when neither the +French nation nor the French language can properly be said to +have existed; and he is represented as a doughty crusader, +although crusading was not thought of until long after the +Karolingian era. The legendary deeds of Charlemagne are not +conformed to the ordinary rules of geography and chronology. +He is a myth, and, what is more, he is a solar myth,--an +avatar, or at least a representative, of Odin in his solar +capacity. If in his case legend were not controlled and +rectified by history, he would be for us as unreal as +Agamemnon. + +History, however, tells us that there was an Emperor Karl, +German in race, name, and language, who was one of the two or +three greatest men of action that the world has ever seen, and +who in the ninth century ruled over all Western Europe. To the +historic Karl corresponds in many particulars the mythical +Charlemagne. The legend has preserved the fact, which without +the information supplied by history we might perhaps set down +as a fiction, that there was a time when Germany, Gaul, Italy, +and part of Spain formed a single empire. And, as Mr. Freeman +has well observed, the mythical crusades of Charlemagne are +good evidence that there were crusades, although the real Karl +had nothing whatever to do with one. + +Now the case of Agamemnon may be much like that of +Charlemagne, except that we no longer have history to help us +in rectifying the legend. The Iliad preserves the tradition of +a time when a large portion of the islands and mainland of +Greece were at least partially subject to a common suzerain; +and, as Mr. Freeman has again shrewdly suggested, the +assignment of a place like Mykenai, instead of Athens or +Sparta or Argos, as the seat of the suzerainty, is strong +evidence of the trustworthiness of the tradition. It appears +to show that the legend was constrained by some remembered +fact, instead of being guided by general probability. +Charlemagne's seat of government has been transferred in +romance from Aachen to Paris; had it really been at Paris, +says Mr. Freeman, no one would have thought of transferring it +to Aachen. Moreover, the story of Agamemnon, though +uncontrolled by historic records, is here at least supported +by archaeologic remains, which prove Mykenai to have been at +some time or other a place of great consequence. Then, as to +the Trojan war, we know that the Greeks several times crossed +the AEgaean and colonized a large part of the seacoast of Asia +Minor. In order to do this it was necessary to oust from their +homes many warlike communities of Lydians and Bithynians, and +we may be sure that this was not done without prolonged +fighting. There may very probably have been now and then a +levy en masse in prehistoric Greece, as there was in mediaeval +Europe; and whether the great suzerain at Mykenai ever +attended one or not, legend would be sure to send him on such +an expedition, as it afterwards sent Charlemagne on a crusade. + +It is therefore quite possible that Agamemnon and Menelaos may +represent dimly remembered sovereigns or heroes, with their +characters and actions distorted to suit the exigencies of a +narrative founded upon a solar myth. The character of the +Nibelungenlied here well illustrates that of the Iliad. +Siegfried and Brunhild, Hagen and Gunther, seem to be mere +personifications of physical phenomena; but Etzel and Dietrich +are none other than Attila and Theodoric surrounded with +mythical attributes; and even the conception of Brunhild has +been supposed to contain elements derived from the traditional +recollection of the historical Brunehault. When, therefore, +Achilleus is said, like a true sun-god, to have died by a +wound from a sharp instrument in the only vulnerable part of +his body, we may reply that the legendary Charlemagne conducts +himself in many respects like a solar deity. If Odysseus +detained by Kalypso represents the sun ensnared and held +captive by the pale goddess of night, the legend of Frederic +Barbarossa asleep in a Thuringian mountain embodies a portion +of a kindred conception. We know that Charlemagne and Frederic +have been substituted for Odin; we may suspect that with the +mythical impersonations of Achilleus and Odysseus some +traditional figures may be blended. We should remember that in +early times the solar-myth was a sort of type after which all +wonderful stories would be patterned, and that to such a type +tradition also would be made to conform. + +In suggesting this view, we are not opening the door to +Euhemerism. If there is any one conclusion concerning the +Homeric poems which the labours of a whole generation of +scholars may be said to have satisfactorily established, it is +this, that no trustworthy history can be obtained from either +the Iliad or the Odyssey merely by sifting out the mythical +element. Even if the poems contain the faint reminiscence of +an actual event, that event is inextricably wrapped up in +mythical phraseology, so that by no cunning of the scholar can +it be construed into history. In view of this it is quite +useless for Mr. Gladstone to attempt to base historical +conclusions upon the fact that Helena is always called "Argive +Helen," or to draw ethnological inferences from the +circumstances that Menelaos, Achilleus, and the rest of the +Greek heroes, have yellow hair, while the Trojans are never so +described. The Argos of the myth is not the city of +Peloponnesos, though doubtless so construed even in Homer's +time. It is "the bright land" where Zeus resides, and the +epithet is applied to his wife Here and his daughter Helena, +as well as to the dog of Odysseus, who reappears with +Sarameyas in the Veda. As for yellow hair, there is no +evidence that Greeks have ever commonly possessed it; but no +other colour would do for a solar hero, and it accordingly +characterizes the entire company of them, wherever found, +while for the Trojans, or children of night, it is not +required. + +A wider acquaintance with the results which have been obtained +during the past thirty years by the comparative study of +languages and mythologies would have led Mr. Gladstone to +reconsider many of his views concerning the Homeric poems, and +might perhaps have led him to cut out half or two thirds of +his book as hopelessly antiquated. The chapter on the +divinities of Olympos would certainly have had to be +rewritten, and the ridiculous theory of a primeval revelation +abandoned. One can hardly preserve one's gravity when Mr. +Gladstone derives Apollo from the Hebrew Messiah, and Athene +from the Logos. To accredit Homer with an acquaintance with +the doctrine of the Logos, which did not exist until the time +of Philo, and did not receive its authorized Christian form +until the middle of the second century after Christ, is +certainly a strange proceeding. We shall next perhaps be +invited to believe that the authors of the Volsunga Saga +obtained the conception of Sigurd from the "Thirty-Nine +Articles." It is true that these deities, Athene and Apollo, +are wiser, purer, and more dignified, on the whole, than any +of the other divinities of the Homeric Olympos. They alone, as +Mr. Gladstone truly observes, are never deceived or +frustrated. For all Hellas, Apollo was the interpreter of +futurity, and in the maid Athene we have perhaps the highest +conception of deity to which the Greek mind had attained in +the early times. In the Veda, Athene is nothing but the dawn; +but in the Greek mythology, while the merely sensuous glories +of daybreak are assigned to Eos, Athene becomes the +impersonation of the illuminating and knowledge-giving light +of the sky. As the dawn, she is daughter of Zeus, the sky, and +in mythic language springs from his forehead; but, according +to the Greek conception, this imagery signifies that she +shares, more than any other deity, in the boundless wisdom of +Zeus. The knowledge of Apollo, on the other hand, is the +peculiar privilege of the sun, who, from his lofty position, +sees everything that takes place upon the earth. Even the +secondary divinity Helios possesses this prerogative to a +certain extent. + +Next to a Hebrew, Mr. Gladstone prefers a Phoenician ancestry +for the Greek divinities. But the same lack of acquaintance +with the old Aryan mythology vitiates all his conclusions. No +doubt the Greek mythology is in some particulars tinged with +Phoenician conceptions. Aphrodite was originally a purely +Greek divinity, but in course of time she acquired some of the +attributes of the Semitic Astarte, and was hardly improved by +the change. Adonis is simply a Semitic divinity, imported into +Greece. But the same cannot be proved of Poseidon;[154] far +less of Hermes, who is identical with the Vedic Sarameyas, the +rising wind, the son of Sarama the dawn, the lying, tricksome +wind-god, who invented music, and conducts the souls of dead +men to the house of Hades, even as his counterpart the Norse +Odin rushes over the tree-tops leading the host of the +departed. When one sees Iris, the messenger of Zeus, referred +to a Hebrew original, because of Jehovah's promise to Noah, +one is at a loss to understand the relationship between the +two conceptions. Nothing could be more natural to the Greeks +than to call the rainbow the messenger of the sky-god to +earth-dwelling men; to call it a token set in the sky by +Jehovah, as the Hebrews did, was a very different thing. We +may admit the very close resemblance between the myth of +Bellerophon and Anteia, and that of Joseph and Zuleikha; but +the fact that the Greek story is explicable from Aryan +antecedents, while the Hebrew story is isolated, might perhaps +suggest the inference that the Hebrews were the borrowers, as +they undoubtedly were in the case of the myth of Eden. Lastly, +to conclude that Helios is an Eastern deity, because he reigns +in the East over Thrinakia, is wholly unwarranted. Is not +Helios pure Greek for the sun? and where should his sacred +island be placed, if not in the East? As for his oxen, which +wrought such dire destruction to the comrades of Odysseus, and +which seem to Mr. Gladstone so anomalous, they are those very +same unhappy cattle, the clouds, which were stolen by the +storm-demon Cacus and the wind-deity Hermes, and which +furnished endless material for legends to the poets of the +Veda. + +[154] I have no opinion as to the nationality of the +Earth-shaker, and, regarding the etymology of his name, I +believe we can hardly do better than acknowledge, with Mr. +Cox, that it is unknown. It may well be doubted, however, +whether much good is likely to come of comparisons between +Poseidon, Dagon, Oannes, and Noah, or of distinctions between +the children of Shem and the children of Ham. See Brown's +Poseidon; a Link between Semite, Hamite, and Aryan, London, +1872,--a book which is open to several of the criticisms here +directed against Mr. Gladstone's manner of theorizing. + +But the whole subject of comparative mythology seems to be +terra incognita to Mr. Gladstone. He pursues the even tenour +of his way in utter disregard of Grimm, and Kuhn, and Breal, +and Dasent, and Burnouf. He takes no note of the Rig-Veda, nor +does he seem to realize that there was ever a time when the +ancestors of the Greeks and Hindus worshipped the same gods. +Two or three times he cites Max Muller, but makes no use of +the copious data which might be gathered from him. The only +work which seems really to have attracted his attention is M. +Jacolliot's very discreditable performance called "The Bible +in India." Mr. Gladstone does not, indeed, unreservedly +approve of this book; but neither does he appear to suspect +that it is a disgraceful piece of charlatanry, written by a +man ignorant of the very rudiments of the subject which he +professes to handle. + +Mr. Gladstone is equally out of his depth when he comes to +treat purely philological questions. Of the science of +philology, as based upon established laws of phonetic change, +he seems to have no knowledge whatever. He seems to think that +two words are sufficiently proved to be connected when they +are seen to resemble each other in spelling or in sound. Thus +he quotes approvingly a derivation of the name Themis from an +assumed verb them, "to speak," whereas it is notoriously +derived from tiqhmi, as statute comes ultimately from stare. +His reference of hieros, "a priest," and geron, "an old man," +to the same root, is utterly baseless; the one is the Sanskrit +ishiras, "a powerful man," the other is the Sanskrit jaran, +"an old man." The lists of words on pages 96-100 are +disfigured by many such errors; and indeed the whole purpose +for which they are given shows how sadly Mr. Gladstone's +philology is in arrears. The theory of Niebuhr--that the words +common to Greek and Latin, mostly descriptive of peaceful +occupations, are Pelasgian--was serviceable enough in its day, +but is now rendered wholly antiquated by the discovery that +such words are Aryan, in the widest sense. The Pelasgian +theory works very smoothly so long as we only compare the +Greek with the Latin words,--as, for instance, sugon with +jugum; but when we add the English yoke and the Sanskrit +yugam, it is evident that we have got far out of the range of +the Pelasgoi. But what shall we say when we find Mr. Gladstone +citing the Latin thalamus in support of this antiquated +theory? Doubtless the word thalamus is, or should be, +significative of peaceful occupations; but it is not a Latin +word at all, except by adoption. One might as well cite the +word ensemble to prove the original identity or kinship +between English and French. + +When Mr. Gladstone, leaving the dangerous ground of pure and +applied philology, confines himself to illustrating the +contents of the Homeric poems, he is always excellent. His +chapter on the "Outer Geography" of the Odyssey is exceedingly +interesting; showing as it does how much may be obtained from +the patient and attentive study of even a single author. Mr. +Gladstone's knowledge of the SURFACE of the Iliad and Odyssey, +so to speak, is extensive and accurate. It is when he attempts +to penetrate beneath the surface and survey the treasures +hidden in the bowels of the earth, that he shows himself +unprovided with the talisman of the wise dervise, which alone +can unlock those mysteries. But modern philology is an +exacting science: to approach its higher problems requires an +amount of preparation sufficient to terrify at the outset all +but the boldest; and a man who has had to regulate taxation, +and make out financial statements, and lead a political party +in a great nation, may well be excused for ignorance of +philology. It is difficult enough for those who have little +else to do but to pore over treatises on phonetics, and thumb +their lexicons, to keep fully abreast with the latest views in +linguistics. In matters of detail one can hardly ever broach a +new hypothesis without misgivings lest somebody, in some +weekly journal published in Germany, may just have anticipated +and refuted it. Yet while Mr. Gladstone may be excused for +being unsound in philology, it is far less excusable that he +should sit down to write a book about Homer, abounding in +philological statements, without the slightest knowledge of +what has been achieved in that science for several years past. +In spite of all drawbacks, however, his book shows an abiding +taste for scholarly pursuits, and therefore deserves a certain +kind of praise. I hope,--though just now the idea savours of +the ludicrous,--that the day may some time arrive when OUR +Congressmen and Secretaries of the Treasury will spend their +vacations in writing books about Greek antiquities, or in +illustrating the meaning of Homeric phrases. + +July, 1870. + + + +VII. THE PRIMEVAL GHOST-WORLD. + +NO earnest student of human culture can as yet have forgotten +or wholly outlived the feeling of delight awakened by the +first perusal of Max Muller's brilliant "Essay on Comparative +Mythology,"--a work in which the scientific principles of +myth-interpretation, though not newly announced, were at least +brought home to the reader with such an amount of fresh and +striking concrete illustration as they had not before +received. Yet it must have occurred to more than one reader +that, while the analyses of myths contained in this noble +essay are in the main sound in principle and correct in +detail, nevertheless the author's theory of the genesis of +myth is expressed, and most likely conceived, in a way that is +very suggestive of carelessness and fallacy. There are obvious +reasons for doubting whether the existence of mythology can be +due to any "disease," abnormity, or hypertrophy of metaphor in +language; and the criticism at once arises, that with the +myth-makers it was not so much the character of the expression +which originated the thought, as it was the thought which gave +character to the expression. It is not that the early Aryans +were myth-makers because their language abounded in metaphor; +it is that the Aryan mother-tongue abounded in metaphor +because the men and women who spoke it were myth-makers. And +they were myth-makers because they had nothing but the +phenomena of human will and effort with which to compare +objective phenomena. Therefore it was that they spoke of the +sun as an unwearied voyager or a matchless archer, and +classified inanimate no less than animate objects as masculine +and feminine. Max Muller's way of stating his theory, both in +this Essay and in his later Lectures, affords one among +several instances of the curious manner in which he combines a +marvellous penetration into the significance of details with a +certain looseness of general conception.[155] The principles +of philological interpretation are an indispensable aid to us +in detecting the hidden meaning of many a legend in which the +powers of nature are represented in the guise of living and +thinking persons; but before we can get at the secret of the +myth-making tendency itself, we must leave philology and enter +upon a psychological study. We must inquire into the +characteristics of that primitive style of thinking to which +it seemed quite natural that the sun should be an unerring +archer, and the thunder-cloud a black demon or gigantic robber +finding his richly merited doom at the hands of the indignant +Lord of Light. + +[155] "The expression that the Erinys, Saranyu, the Dawn, +finds out the criminal, was originally quite free from +mythology; IT MEANT NO MORE THAN THAT CRIME WOULD BE BROUGHT +TO LIGHT SOME DAY OR OTHER. It became mythological, however, +as soon as the etymological meaning of Erinys was forgotten, +and as soon as the Dawn, a portion of time, assumed the rank +of a personal being."--Science of Language, 6th edition, II. +615. This paragraph, in which the italicizing is mine, +contains Max Muller's theory in a nutshell. It seems to me +wholly at variance with the facts of history. The facts +concerning primitive culture which are to be cited in this +paper will show that the case is just the other way. Instead +of the expression "Erinys finds the criminal" being originally +a metaphor, it was originally a literal statement of what was +believed to be fact. The Dawn (not "a portion of time,"(!) but +the rosy flush of the morning sky) was originally regarded as +a real person. Primitive men, strictly speaking, do not talk +in metaphors; they believe in the literal truth of their +similes and personifications, from which, by survival in +culture, our poetic metaphors are lineally descended. Homer's +allusion to a rolling stone as essumenos or "yearning" (to +keep on rolling), is to us a mere figurative expression; but +to the savage it is the description of a fact. + +Among recent treatises which have dealt with this interesting +problem, we shall find it advantageous to give especial +attention to Mr. Tylor's "Primitive Culture,"[156] one of the +few erudite works which are at once truly great and thoroughly +entertaining. The learning displayed in it would do credit to +a German specialist, both for extent and for minuteness, while +the orderly arrangement of the arguments and the elegant +lucidity of the style are such as we are accustomed to expect +from French essay-writers. And what is still more admirable is +the way in which the enthusiasm characteristic of a genial and +original speculator is tempered by the patience and caution of +a cool-headed critic. Patience and caution are nowhere more +needed than in writers who deal with mythology and with +primitive religious ideas; but these qualities are too seldom +found in combination with the speculative boldness which is +required when fresh theories are to be framed or new paths of +investigation opened. The state of mind in which the +explaining powers of a favourite theory are fondly +contemplated is, to some extent, antagonistic to the state of +mind in which facts are seen, with the eye of impartial +criticism, in all their obstinate and uncompromising reality. +To be able to preserve the balance between the two opposing +tendencies is to give evidence of the most consummate +scientific training. It is from the want of such a balance +that the recent great work of Mr. Cox is at times so +unsatisfactory. It may, I fear, seem ill-natured to say so, +but the eagerness with which Mr. Cox waylays every available +illustration of the physical theory of the origin of myths has +now and then the curious effect of weakening the reader's +conviction of the soundness of the theory. For my own part, +though by no means inclined to waver in adherence to a +doctrine once adopted on good grounds, I never felt so much +like rebelling against the mythologic supremacy of the Sun and +the Dawn as when reading Mr. Cox's volumes. That Mr. Tylor, +while defending the same fundamental theory, awakens no such +rebellious feelings, is due to his clear perception and +realization of the fact that it is impossible to generalize in +a single formula such many-sided correspondences as those +which primitive poetry end philosophy have discerned between +the life of man and the life of outward nature. Whoso goes +roaming up and down the elf-land of popular fancies, with sole +intent to resolve each episode of myth into some answering +physical event, his only criterion being outward resemblance, +cannot be trusted in his conclusions, since wherever he turns +for evidence he is sure to find something that can be made to +serve as such. As Mr. Tylor observes, no household legend or +nursery rhyme is safe from his hermeneutics. "Should he, for +instance, demand as his property the nursery 'Song of +Sixpence,' his claim would be easily established,--obviously +the four-and-twenty blackbirds are the four-and-twenty hours, +and the pie that holds them is the underlying earth covered +with the overarching sky,--how true a touch of nature it is +that when the pie is opened, that is, when day breaks, the +birds begin to sing; the King is the Sun, and his counting out +his money is pouring out the sunshine, the golden shower of +Danae; the Queen is the Moon, and her transparent honey the +moonlight; the Maid is the 'rosy-fingered' Dawn, who rises +before the Sun, her master, and hangs out the clouds, his +clothes, across the sky; the particular blackbird, who so +tragically ends the tale by snipping off her nose, is the hour +of sunrise." In all this interpretation there is no a priori +improbability, save, perhaps, in its unbroken symmetry and +completeness. That some points, at least, of the story are +thus derived from antique interpretations of physical events, +is in harmony with all that we know concerning nursery rhymes. +In short, "the time-honoured rhyme really wants but one thing +to prove it a sun-myth, that one thing being a proof by some +argument more valid than analogy." The character of the +argument which is lacking may be illustrated by a reference to +the rhyme about Jack and Jill, explained some time since in +the paper on "The Origins of FolkLore." If the argument be +thought valid which shows these ill-fated children to be the +spots on the moon, it is because the proof consists, not in +the analogy, which is in this case not especially obvious, but +in the fact that in the Edda, and among ignorant Swedish +peasants of our own day, the story of Jack and Jill is +actually given as an explanation of the moon-spots. To the +neglect of this distinction between what is plausible and what +is supported by direct evidence, is due much of the crude +speculation which encumbers the study of myths. + +[156] Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of +Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom By Edward B. +Tylor. 2 vols. 8vo. London. 1871. + +It is when Mr. Tylor merges the study of mythology into the +wider inquiry into the characteristic features of the mode of +thinking in which myths originated, that we can best +appreciate the practical value of that union of speculative +boldness and critical sobriety which everywhere distinguishes +him. It is pleasant to meet with a writer who can treat of +primitive religious ideas without losing his head over +allegory and symbolism, and who duly realizes the fact that a +savage is not a rabbinical commentator, or a cabalist, or a +Rosicrucian, but a plain man who draws conclusions like +ourselves, though with feeble intelligence and scanty +knowledge. The mystic allegory with which such modern writers +as Lord Bacon have invested the myths of antiquity is no part +of their original clothing, but is rather the late product of +a style of reasoning from analogy quite similar to that which +we shall perceive to have guided the myth-makers in their +primitive constructions. The myths and customs and beliefs +which, in an advanced stage of culture, seem meaningless save +when characterized by some quaintly wrought device of symbolic +explanation, did not seem meaningless in the lower culture +which gave birth to them. Myths, like words, survive their +primitive meanings. In the early stage the myth is part and +parcel of the current mode of philosophizing; the explanation +which it offers is, for the time, the natural one, the one +which would most readily occur to any one thinking on the +theme with which the myth is concerned. But by and by the mode +of philosophizing has changed; explanations which formerly +seemed quite obvious no longer occur to any one, but the myth +has acquired an independent substantive existence, and +continues to be handed down from parents to children as +something true, though no one can tell why it is true: Lastly, +the myth itself gradually fades from remembrance, often +leaving behind it some utterly unintelligible custom or +seemingly absurd superstitious notion. For example,--to recur +to an illustration already cited in a previous paper,--it is +still believed here and there by some venerable granny that it +is wicked to kill robins; but he who should attribute the +belief to the old granny's refined sympathy with all sentient +existence, would be making one of the blunders which are +always committed by those who reason a priori about historical +matters without following the historical method. At an earlier +date the superstition existed in the shape of a belief that +the killing of a robin portends some calamity; in a still +earlier form the calamity is specified as death; and again, +still earlier, as death by lightning. Another step backward +reveals that the dread sanctity of the robin is owing to the +fact that he is the bird of Thor, the lightning god; and +finally we reach that primitive stage of philosophizing in +which the lightning is explained as a red bird dropping from +its beak a worm which cleaveth the rocks. Again, the belief +that some harm is sure to come to him who saves the life of a +drowning man, is unintelligible until it is regarded as a case +of survival in culture. In the older form of the superstition +it is held that the rescuer will sooner or later be drowned +himself; and thus we pass to the fetichistic interpretation of +drowning as the seizing of the unfortunate person by the +water-spirit or nixy, who is naturally angry at being deprived +of his victim, and henceforth bears a special grudge against +the bold mortal who has thus dared to frustrate him. + +The interpretation of the lightning as a red bird, and of +drowning as the work of a smiling but treacherous fiend, are +parts of that primitive philosophy of nature in which all +forces objectively existing are conceived as identical with +the force subjectively known as volition. It is this +philosophy, currently known as fetichism, but treated by Mr. +Tylor under the somewhat more comprehensive name of "animism," +which we must now consider in a few of its most conspicuous +exemplifications. When we have properly characterized some of +the processes which the untrained mind habitually goes +through, we shall have incidentally arrived at a fair solution +of the genesis of mythology. + +Let us first note the ease with which the barbaric or +uncultivated mind reaches all manner of apparently fanciful +conclusions through reckless reasoning from analogy. It is +through the operation of certain laws of ideal association +that all human thinking, that of the highest as well as that +of the lowest minds, is conducted: the discovery of the law +of gravitation, as well as the invention of such a +superstition as the Hand of Glory, is at bottom but a case of +association of ideas. The difference between the scientific +and the mythologic inference consists solely in the number of +checks which in the former case combine to prevent any other +than the true conclusion from being framed into a proposition +to which the mind assents. Countless accumulated experiences +have taught the modern that there are many associations of +ideas which do not correspond to any actual connection of +cause and effect in the world of phenomena; and he has learned +accordingly to apply to his newly framed notions the rigid +test of verification. Besides which the same accumulation of +experiences has built up an organized structure of ideal +associations into which only the less extravagant newly framed +notions have any chance of fitting. The primitive man, or the +modern savage who is to some extent his counterpart, must +reason without the aid of these multifarious checks. That +immense mass of associations which answer to what are called +physical laws, and which in the mind of the civilized modern +have become almost organic, have not been formed in the mind +of the savage; nor has he learned the necessity of +experimentally testing any of his newly framed notions, save +perhaps a few of the commonest. Consequently there is nothing +but superficial analogy to guide the course of his thought +hither or thither, and the conclusions at which he arrives +will be determined by associations of ideas occurring +apparently at haphazard. Hence the quaint or grotesque fancies +with which European and barbaric folk-lore is filled, in the +framing of which the myth-maker was but reasoning according to +the best methods at his command. To this simplest class, in +which the association of ideas is determined by mere analogy, +belong such cases as that of the Zulu, who chews a piece of +wood in order to soften the heart of the man with whom he is +about to trade for cows, or the Hessian lad who "thinks he may +escape the conscription by carrying a baby-girl's cap in his +pocket,--a symbolic way of repudiating manhood."[157] A +similar style of thinking underlies the mediaeval +necromancer's practice of making a waxen image of his enemy +and shooting at it with arrows, in order to bring about the +enemy's death; as also the case of the magic rod, mentioned in +a previous paper, by means of which a sound thrashing can be +administered to an absent foe through the medium of an old +coat which is imagined to cover him. The principle involved +here is one which is doubtless familiar to most children, and +is closely akin to that which Irving so amusingly illustrates +in his doughty general who struts through a field of cabbages +or corn-stalks, smiting them to earth with his cane, and +imagining himself a hero of chivalry conquering single-handed +a host of caitiff ruffians. Of like origin are the fancies +that the breaking of a mirror heralds a death in the family,-- +probably because of the destruction of the reflected human +image; that the "hair of the dog that bit you" will prevent +hydrophobia if laid upon the wound; or that the tears shed by +human victims, sacrificed to mother earth, will bring down +showers upon the land. Mr. Tylor cites Lord Chesterfield's +remark, "that the king had been ill, and that people generally +expected the illness to be fatal, because the oldest lion in +the Tower, about the king's age, had just died. 'So wild and +capricious is the human mind,' " observes the elegant +letter-writer. But indeed, as Mr. Tylor justly remarks, "the +thought was neither wild nor capricious; it was simply such an +argument from analogy as the educated world has at length +painfully learned to be worthless, but which, it is not too +much to declare, would to this day carry considerable weight +to the minds of four fifths of the human race." Upon such +symbolism are based most of the practices of divination and +the great pseudo-science of astrology. "It is an old story, +that when two brothers were once taken ill together, +Hippokrates, the physician, concluded from the coincidence +that they were twins, but Poseidonios, the astrologer, +considered rather that they were born under the same +constellation; we may add that either argument would be +thought reasonable by a savage." So when a Maori fortress is +attacked, the besiegers and besieged look to see if Venus is +near the moon. The moon represents the fortress; and if it +appears below the companion planet, the besiegers will carry +the day, otherwise they will be repulsed. Equally primitive +and childlike was Rousseau's train of thought on the memorable +day at Les Charmettes when, being distressed with doubts as to +the safety of his soul, he sought to determine the point by +throwing a stone at a tree. "Hit, sign of salvation; miss, +sign of damnation!" The tree being a large one and very near +at hand, the result of the experiment was reassuring, and the +young philosopher walked away without further misgivings +concerning this momentous question.[158] + +[157] Tylor, op. cit. I. 107. + +[158] Rousseau, Confessions, I. vi. For further illustration, +see especially the note on the "doctrine of signatures," +supra, p. 55. + +When the savage, whose highest intellectual efforts result +only in speculations of this childlike character, is +confronted with the phenomena of dreams, it is easy to see +what he will make of them. His practical knowledge of +psychology is too limited to admit of his distinguishing +between the solidity of waking experience and what we may call +the unsubstantialness of the dream. He may, indeed, have +learned that the dream is not to be relied on for telling the +truth; the Zulu, for example, has even reached the perverse +triumph of critical logic achieved by our own Aryan ancestors +in the saying that "dreams go by contraries." But the Zulu has +not learned, nor had the primeval Aryan learned, to disregard +the utterances of the dream as being purely subjective +phenomena. To the mind as yet untouched by modern culture, the +visions seen and the voices heard in sleep possess as much +objective reality as the gestures and shouts of waking hours. +When the savage relates his dream, he tells how he SAW certain +dogs, dead warriors, or demons last night, the implication +being that the things seen were objects external to himself. +As Mr. Spencer observes, "his rude language fails to state the +difference between seeing and dreaming that he saw, doing and +dreaming that he did. From this inadequacy of his language it +not only results that he cannot truly represent this +difference to others, but also that he cannot truly represent +it to himself. Hence in the absence of an alternative +interpretation, his belief, and that of those to whom he tells +his adventures, is that his OTHER SELF has been away and came +back when he awoke. And this belief, which we find among +various existing savage tribes, we equally find in the +traditions of the early civilized races."[159] + +[159] Spencer, Recent Discussions in Science, etc., p. 36, +"The Origin of Animal Worship." + +Let us consider, for a moment, this assumption of the OTHER +SELF, for upon this is based the great mass of crude inference +which constitutes the primitive man's philosophy of nature. +The hypothesis of the OTHER SELF, which serves to account for +the savage's wanderings during sleep in strange lands and +among strange people, serves also to account for the presence +in his dreams of parents, comrades, or enemies, known to be +dead and buried. The other self of the dreamer meets and +converses with the other selves of his dead brethren, joins +with them in the hunt, or sits down with them to the wild +cannibal banquet. Thus arises the belief in an ever-present +world of souls or ghosts, a belief which the entire experience +of uncivilized man goes to strengthen and expand. The +existence of some tribe or tribes of savages wholly destitute +of religious belief has often been hastily asserted and as +often called in question. But there is no question that, while +many savages are unable to frame a conception so general as +that of godhood, on the other hand no tribe has ever been +found so low in the scale of intelligence as not to have +framed the conception of ghosts or spiritual personalities, +capable of being angered, propitiated, or conjured with. +Indeed it is not improbable a priori that the original +inference involved in the notion of the other self may be +sufficiently simple and obvious to fall within the capacity of +animals even less intelligent than uncivilized man. An +authentic case is on record of a Skye terrier who, being +accustomed to obtain favours from his master by sitting on his +haunches, will also sit before his pet india-rubber ball +placed on the chimney-piece, evidently beseeching it to jump +down and play with him.[160] Such a fact as this is quite in +harmony with Auguste Comte's suggestion that such intelligent +animals as dogs, apes, and elephants may be capable of forming +a few fetichistic notions. The behaviour of the terrier here +rests upon the assumption that the ball is open to the same +sort of entreaty which prevails with the master; which +implies, not that the wistful brute accredits the ball with a +soul, but that in his mind the distinction between life and +inanimate existence has never been thoroughly established. +Just this confusion between things living and things not +living is present throughout the whole philosophy of +fetichism; and the confusion between things seen and things +dreamed, which suggests the notion of another self, belongs to +this same twilight stage of intelligence in which primeval man +has not yet clearly demonstrated his immeasurable superiority +to the brutes.[161] + +[160] See Nature, Vol. VI. p. 262, August 1, 1872. The +circumstances narrated are such as to exclude the supposition +that the sitting up is intended to attract the master's +attention. The dog has frequently been seen trying to soften +the heart of the ball, while observed unawares by his master. + +[161] "We would, however, commend to Mr. Fiske's attention Mr. +Mark Twain's dog, who 'couldn't be depended on for a special +providence,' as being nearer to the actual dog of every-day +life than is the Skye terrier mentioned by a certain +correspondent of Nature, to whose letter Mr. Fiske refers. The +terrier is held to have had 'a few fetichistic notions,' +because he was found standing up on his hind legs in front of +a mantel-piece, upon which lay an india-rubber ball with which +he wished to play, but which he could not reach, and which, +says the letter-writer, he was evidently beseeching to come +down and play with him. We consider it more reasonable to +suppose that a dog who had been drilled into a belief that +standing upon his hind legs was very pleasing to his master, +and who, therefore, had accustomed himself to stand on his +hind legs whenever he desired anything, and whose usual way of +getting what he desired was to induce somebody to get it for +him, may have stood up in front of the mantel-piece rather +from force of habit and eagerness of desire than because he +had any fetichistic notions, or expected the india-rubber ball +to listen to his supplications. We admit, however, to avoid +polemical controversy, that in matter of religion the dog is +capable of anything." The Nation, Vol. XV. p. 284, October 1, +1872. To be sure, I do not know for certain what was going on +in the dog's mind; and so, letting both explanations stand, I +will only add another fact of similar import. "The tendency in +savages to imagine that natural objects and agencies are +animated by spiritual or living essences is perhaps +illustrated by a little fact which I once noticed: my dog, a +full-grown and very sensible animal, was lying on the lawn +during a hot and still day; but at a little distance a slight +breeze occasionally moved an open parasol, which would have +been wholly disregarded by the dog, had any one stood near it. +As it was, every time that the parasol slightly moved, the dog +growled fiercely and barked. He must, I think, have reasoned +to himself, in a rapid and unconscious manner, that movement +without any apparent cause indicated the presence of some +strange living agent, and no stranger had a right to be on his +territory." Darwin, Descent of Man, Vol. 1. p. 64. Without +insisting upon all the details of this explanation, one may +readily grant, I think, that in the dog, as in the savage, +there is an undisturbed association between motion and a +living motor agency; and that out of a multitude of just such +associations common to both, the savage, with his greater +generalizing power, frames a truly fetichistic conception. + +The conception of a soul or other self, capable of going away +from the body and returning to it, receives decisive +confirmation from the phenomena of fainting, trance, +catalepsy, and ecstasy,[162] which occur less rarely among +savages, owing to their irregular mode of life, than among +civilized men. "Further verification," observes Mr. Spencer, +"is afforded by every epileptic subject, into whose body, +during the absence of the other self, some enemy has entered; +for how else does it happen that the other self on returning +denies all knowledge of what his body has been doing? And this +supposition, that the body has been 'possessed' by some other +being, is confirmed by the phenomena of somnambulism and +insanity." Still further, as Mr. Spencer points out, when we +recollect that savages are very generally unwilling to have +their portraits taken, lest a portion of themselves should get +carried off and be exposed to foul play,[163] we must readily +admit that the weird reflection of the person and imitation of +the gestures in rivers or still woodland pools will go far to +intensify the belief in the other self. Less frequent but +uniform confirmation is to be found in echoes, which in Europe +within two centuries have been commonly interpreted as the +voices of mocking fiends or wood-nymphs, and which the savage +might well regard as the utterances of his other self. + +[162] Note the fetichism wrapped up in the etymologies of +these Greek words. Catalepsy, katalhyis, a seizing of the body +by some spirit or demon, who holds it rigid. Ecstasy, +ekstasis, a displacement or removal of the soul from the body, +into which the demon enters and causes strange laughing, +crying, or contortions. It is not metaphor, but the literal +belief ill a ghost-world, which has given rise to such words +as these, and to such expressions as "a man beside himself or +transported." + +[163] Something akin to the savage's belief in the animation +of pictures may be seen in young children. I have often been +asked by my three-year-old boy, whether the dog in a certain +picture would bite him if he were to go near it; and I can +remember that, in my own childhood, when reading a book about +insects, which had the formidable likeness of a spider stamped +on the centre of the cover, I was always uneasy lest my finger +should come in contact with the dreaded thing as I held the +book. + +With the savage's unwillingness to have his portrait taken, +lest it fall into the hands of some enemy who may injure him +by conjuring with it, may be compared the reluctance which he +often shows toward telling his name, or mentioning the name of +his friend, or king, or tutelar ghost-deity. In fetichistic +thought, the name is an entity mysteriously associated with +its owner, and it is not well to run the risk of its getting +into hostile hands. Along with this caution goes the similarly +originated fear that the person whose name is spoken may +resent such meddling with his personality. For the latter +reason the Dayak will not allude by name to the small pox, but +will call it "the chief" or "jungle-leaves"; the Laplander +speaks of the bear as the "old man with the fur coat"; in +Annam the tiger is called "grandfather" or "Lord"; while in +more civilized communities such sayings are current as "talk +of the Devil, and he will appear," with which we may also +compare such expressions as "Eumenides" or "gracious ones" for +the Furies, and other like euphemisms. Indeed, the maxim nil +mortuis nisi bonum had most likely at one time a fetichistic +flavour. + +In various islands of the Pacific, for both the reasons above +specified, the name of the reigning chief is so rigorously +"tabu," that common words and even syllables resembling that +name in sound must be omitted from the language. In New +Zealand, where a chiefs name was Maripi, or "knife," it became +necessary to call knives nekra; and in Tahiti, fetu, "star," +had to be changed into fetia, and tui, "to strike," became +tiai, etc., because the king's name was Tu. Curious freaks are +played with the languages of these islands by this +ever-recurring necessity. Among the Kafirs the women have come +to speak a different dialect from the men, because words +resembling the names of their lords or male relatives are in +like manner "tabu." The student of human culture will trace +among such primeval notions the origin of the Jew's +unwillingness to pronounce the name of Jehovah; and hence we +may perhaps have before us the ultimate source of the horror +with which the Hebraizing Puritan regards such forms of light +swearing--"Mon Dieu," etc.--as are still tolerated on the +continent of Europe, but have disappeared from good society in +Puritanic England and America. The reader interested in this +group of ideas and customs may consult Tylor, Early History of +Mankind, pp. 142, 363; Max Muller, Science of Language, 6th +edition, Vol. II. p. 37; Mackay, Religious Development of the +Greeks and Hebrews, Vol. I. p. 146. + +Chamisso's well-known tale of Peter Schlemihl belongs to a +widely diffused family of legends, which show that a man's +shadow has been generally regarded not only as an entity, but +as a sort of spiritual attendant of the body, which under +certain circumstances it may permanently forsake. It is in +strict accordance with this idea that not only in the classic +languages, but in various barbaric tongues, the word for +"shadow" expresses also the soul or other self. Tasmanians, +Algonquins, Central-Americans, Abipones, Basutos, and Zulus +are cited by Mr. Tylor as thus implicitly asserting the +identity of the shadow with the ghost or phantasm seen in +dreams; the Basutos going so far as to think "that if a man +walks on the river-bank, a crocodile may seize his shadow in +the water and draw him in." Among the Algonquins a sick person +is supposed to have his shadow or other self temporarily +detached from his body, and the convalescent is at times +"reproached for exposing himself before his shadow was safely +settled down in him." If the sick man has been plunged into +stupor, it is because his other self has travelled away as far +as the brink of the river of death, but not being allowed to +cross has come back and re-entered him. And acting upon a +similar notion the ailing Fiji will sometimes lie down and +raise a hue and cry for his soul to be brought back. Thus, +continues Mr. Tylor, "in various countries the bringing back +of lost souls becomes a regular part of the sorcerer's or +priest's profession."[164] On Aryan soil we find the notion of +a temporary departure of the soul surviving to a late date in +the theory that the witch may attend the infernal Sabbath +while her earthly tabernacle is quietly sleeping at home. The +primeval conception reappears, clothed in bitterest sarcasm, +in Dante's reference to his living contemporaries whose souls +he met with in the vaults of hell, while their bodies were +still walking about on the earth, inhabited by devils. + +[164] Tylor, Primitive Culture, I. 394. "The Zulus hold that a +dead body can cast no shadow, because that appurtenance +departed from it at the close of life." Hardwick, Traditions, +Superstitions, and Folk-Lore, p. 123. + +The theory which identifies the soul with the shadow, and +supposes the shadow to depart with the sickness and death of +the body, would seem liable to be attended with some +difficulties in the way of verification, even to the dim +intelligence of the savage. But the propriety of identifying +soul and breath is borne out by all primeval experience. The +breath, which really quits the body at its decease, has +furnished the chief name for the soul, not only to the Hebrew, +the Sanskrit, and the classic tongues; not only to German and +English, where geist, and ghost, according to Max Muller, have +the meaning of "breath," and are akin to such words as gas, +gust, and geyser; but also to numerous barbaric languages. +Among the natives of Nicaragua and California, in Java and in +West Australia, the soul is described as the air or breeze +which passes in and out through the nostrils and mouth; and +the Greenlanders, according to Cranz, reckon two separate +souls, the breath and the shadow. "Among the Seminoles of +Florida, when a woman died in childbirth, the infant was held +over her face to receive her parting spirit, and thus acquire +strength and knowledge for its future use..... Their state of +mind is kept up to this day among Tyrolese peasants, who can +still fancy a good man's soul to issue from his mouth at death +like a little white cloud."[165] It is kept up, too, in +Lancashire, where a well-known witch died a few years since; +"but before she could 'shuffle off this mortal coil' she must +needs TRANSFER HER FAMILIAR SPIRIT to some trusty successor. +An intimate acquaintance from a neighbouring township was +consequently sent for in all haste, and on her arrival was +immediately closeted with her dying friend. What passed +between them has never fully transpired, but it is confidently +affirmed that at the close of the interview this associate +RECEIVED THE WITCH'S LAST BREATH INTO HER MOUTH AND WITH IT +HER FAMILIAR SPIRIT. The dreaded woman thus ceased to exist, +but her powers for good or evil were transferred to her +companion; and on passing along the road from Burnley to +Blackburn we can point out a farmhouse at no great distance +with whose thrifty matron no neighbouring farmer will yet dare +to quarrel."[166] + +[165] Tylor, op. cit. I. 391. + +[166] Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore, 1867, p. +210. + +Of the theory of embodiment there will be occasion to speak +further on. At present let us not pass over the fact that the +other self is not only conceived as shadow or breath, which +can at times quit the body during life, but is also supposed +to become temporarily embodied in the visible form of some +bird or beast. In discussing elsewhere the myth of Bishop +Hatto, we saw that the soul is sometimes represented in the +form of a rat or mouse; and in treating of werewolves we +noticed the belief that the spirits of dead ancestors, borne +along in the night-wind, have taken on the semblance of +howling dogs or wolves. "Consistent with these quaint ideas +are ceremonies in vogue in China of bringing home in a cock +(live or artificial) the spirit of a man deceased in a distant +place, and of enticing into a sick man's coat the departing +spirit which has already left his body and so conveying it +back."[167] In Castren's great work on Finnish mythology, we +find the story of the giant who could not be killed because he +kept his soul hidden in a twelve-headed snake which he carried +in a bag as he rode on horseback; only when the secret was +discovered and the snake carefully killed, did the giant yield +up his life. In this Finnish legend we have one of the +thousand phases of the story of the "Giant who had no Heart in +his Body," but whose heart was concealed, for safe keeping, in +a duck's egg, or in a pigeon, carefully disposed in some +belfry at the world's end a million miles away, or encased in +a wellnigh infinite series of Chinese boxes.[168] Since, in +spite of all these precautions, the poor giant's heart +invariably came to grief, we need not wonder at the Karen +superstition that the soul is in danger when it quits the body +on its excursions, as exemplified in countless Indo-European +stories of the accidental killing of the weird mouse or pigeon +which embodies the wandering spirit. Conversely it is held +that the detachment of the other self is fraught with danger +to the self which remains. In the philosophy of "wraiths" and +"fetches," the appearance of a double, like that which +troubled Mistress Affery in her waking dreams of Mr. +Flintwinch, has been from time out of mind a signal of alarm. +"In New Zealand it is ominous to see the figure of an absent +person, for if it be shadowy and the face not visible, his +death may erelong be expected, but if the face be seen he is +dead already. A party of Maoris (one of whom told the story) +were seated round a fire in the open air, when there appeared, +seen only by two of them, the figure of a relative, left ill +at home; they exclaimed, the figure vanished, and on the +return of the party it appeared that the sick man had died +about the time of the vision."[169] The belief in wraiths has +survived into modern times, and now and then appears in the +records of that remnant of primeval philosophy known as +"spiritualism," as, for example, in the case of the lady who +"thought she saw her own father look in at the church-window +at the moment he was dying in his own house." + +[167] Tylor, op. cit. II. 139. + +[168] In Russia the souls of the dead are supposed to be +embodied in pigeons or crows. "Thus when the Deacon Theodore +and his three schismatic brethren were burnt in 1681, the +souls of the martyrs, as the 'Old Believers' affirm, appeared +in the air as pigeons. In Volhynia dead children are supposed +to come back in the spring to their native village under the +semblance of swallows and other small birds, and to seek by +soft twittering or song to console their sorrowing parents." +Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, p. 118. + +[169] Tylor, op. cit. I. 404. + +The belief in the "death-fetch," like the doctrine which +identifies soul with shadow, is instructive as showing that in +barbaric thought the other self is supposed to resemble the +material self with which it has customarily been associated. +In various savage superstitions the minute resemblance of soul +to body is forcibly stated. The Australian, for instance, not +content with slaying his enemy, cuts off the right thumb of +the corpse, so that the departed soul may be incapacitated +from throwing a spear. Even the half-civilized Chinese prefer +crucifixion to decapitation, that their souls may not wander +headless about the spirit-world.[170] Thus we see how far +removed from the Christian doctrine of souls is the primeval +theory of the soul or other self that figures in dreamland. So +grossly materialistic is the primitive conception that the +savage who cherishes it will bore holes in the coffin of his +dead friend, so that the soul may again have a chance, if it +likes, to revisit the body. To this day, among the peasants in +some parts of Northern Europe, when Odin, the spectral hunter, +rides by attended by his furious host, the windows in every +sick-room are opened, in order that the soul, if it chooses to +depart, may not be hindered from joining in the headlong +chase. And so, adds Mr. Tylor, after the Indians of North +America had spent a riotous night in singeing an unfortunate +captive to death with firebrands, they would howl like the +fiends they were, and beat the air with brushwood, to drive +away the distressed and revengeful ghost. "With a kindlier +feeling, the Congo negroes abstained for a whole year after a +death from sweeping the house, lest the dust should injure the +delicate substance of the ghost"; and even now, "it remains a +German peasant saying that it is wrong to slam a door, lest +one should pinch a soul in it."[172] Dante's experience with +the ghosts in hell and purgatory, who were astonished at his +weighing down the boat in which they were carried, is belied +by the sweet German notion "that the dead mother's coming back +in the night to suckle the baby she has left on earth may be +known by the hollow pressed down in the bed where she lay." +Almost universally ghosts, however impervious to thrust of +sword or shot of pistol, can eat and drink like Squire +Westerns. And lastly, we have the grotesque conception of +souls sufficiently material to be killed over again, as in the +case of the negro widows who, wishing to marry a second time, +will go and duck themselves in the pond, in order to drown the +souls of their departed husbands, which are supposed to cling +about their necks; while, according to the Fiji theory, the +ghost of every dead warrior must go through a terrible fight +with Samu and his brethren, in which, if he succeeds, he will +enter Paradise, but if he fails he will be killed over again +and finally eaten by the dreaded Samu and his unearthly +company. + +[171] Tylor, op. cit. I. 407. + +[172] Tylor, op. cit. I. 410. In the next stage of survival +this belief will take the shape that it is wrong to slam a +door, no reason being assigned; and in the succeeding stage, +when the child asks why it is naughty to slam a door, he will +be told, because it is an evidence of bad temper. Thus do +old-world fancies disappear before the inroads of the +practical sense. + +From the conception of souls embodied in beast-forms, as above +illustrated, it is not a wide step to the conception of +beast-souls which, like human souls, survive the death of the +tangible body. The wide-spread superstitions concerning +werewolves and swan-maidens, and the hardly less general +belief in metempsychosis, show that primitive culture has not +arrived at the distinction attained by modern philosophy +between the immortal man and the soulless brute. Still more +direct evidence is furnished by sundry savage customs. The +Kafir who has killed an elephant will cry that he did n't mean +to do it, and, lest the elephant's soul should still seek +vengeance, he will cut off and bury the trunk, so that the +mighty beast may go crippled to the spirit-land. In like +manner, the Samoyeds, after shooting a bear, will gather about +the body offering excuses and laying the blame on the +Russians; and the American redskin will even put the pipe of +peace into the dead animal's mouth, and beseech him to forgive +the deed. In Assam it is believed that the ghosts of slain +animals will become in the next world the property of the +hunter who kills them; and the Kamtchadales expressly declare +that all animals, even flies and bugs, will live after +death,--a belief, which, in our own day, has been indorsed on +philosophical grounds by an eminent living naturalist.[173] +The Greenlanders, too, give evidence of the same belief by +supposing that when after an exhausting fever the patient +comes up in unprecedented health and vigour, it is because he +has lost his former soul and had it replaced by that of a +young child or a reindeer. In a recent work in which the +crudest fancies of primeval savagery are thinly disguised in a +jargon learned from the superficial reading of modern books of +science, M. Figuier maintains that human souls are for the +most part the surviving souls of deceased animals; in general, +the souls of precocious musical children like Mozart come from +nightingales, while the souls of great architects have passed +into them from beavers, etc., etc.[174] + +[173] Agassiz, Essay on Classification, pp. 97-99. + +[174] Figuier, The To-morrow of Death, p. 247. + +The practice of begging pardon of the animal one has just +slain is in some parts of the world extended to the case of +plants. When the Talein offers a prayer to the tree which he +is about to cut down, it is obviously because he regards the +tree as endowed with a soul or ghost which in the next life +may need to be propitiated. And the doctrine of transmigration +distinctly includes plants along with animals among the future +existences into which the human soul may pass. + +As plants, like animals, manifest phenomena of life, though to +a much less conspicuous degree, it is not incomprehensible +that the savage should attribute souls to them. But the +primitive process of anthropomorphisation does not end here. +Not only the horse and dog, the bamboo, and the oak-tree, but +even lifeless objects, such as the hatchet, or bow and arrows, +or food and drink of the dead man, possess other selves which +pass into the world of ghosts. Fijis and other contemporary +savages, when questioned, expressly declare that this is their +belief. "If an axe or a chisel is worn out or broken up, away +flies its soul for the service of the gods." The Algonquins +told Charlevoix that since hatchets and kettles have shadows, +no less than men and women, it follows, of course, that these +shadows (or souls) must pass along with human shadows (or +souls) into the spirit-land. In this we see how simple and +consistent is the logic which guides the savage, and how +inevitable is the genesis of the great mass of beliefs, to our +minds so arbitrary and grotesque, which prevail throughout the +barbaric world. However absurd the belief that pots and +kettles have souls may seem to us, it is nevertheless the only +belief which can be held consistently by the savage to whom +pots and kettles, no less than human friends or enemies, may +appear in his dreams; who sees them followed by shadows as +they are moved about; who hears their voices, dull or ringing, +when they are struck; and who watches their doubles +fantastically dancing in the water as they are carried across +the stream.[175] To minds, even in civilized countries, which +are unused to the severe training of science, no stronger +evidence can be alleged than what is called "the evidence of +the senses"; for it is only long familiarity with science +which teaches us that the evidence of the senses is +trustworthy only in so far as it is correctly interpreted by +reason. For the truth of his belief in the ghosts of men and +beasts, trees and axes, the savage has undeniably the evidence +of his senses which have so often seen, heard, and handled +these other selves. + +[175] Here, as usually, the doctrine of metempsychosis comes +in to complete the proof. "Mr. Darwin saw two Malay women in +Keeling Island, who had a wooden spoon dressed in clothes like +a doll; this spoon had been carried to the grave of a dead +man, and becoming inspired at full moon, in fact lunatic, it +danced about convulsively like a table or a hat at a modern +spirit-seance." Tylor, op. cit. II. 139. + +The funeral ceremonies of uncultured races freshly illustrate +this crude philosophy, and receive fresh illustration from it. +On the primitive belief in the ghostly survival of persons and +objects rests the almost universal custom of sacrificing the +wives, servants, horses, and dogs of the departed chief of the +tribe, as well as of presenting at his shrine sacred offerings +of food, ornaments, weapons, and money. Among the Kayans the +slaves who are killed at their master's tomb are enjoined to +take great care of their master's ghost, to wash and shampoo +it, and to nurse it when sick. Other savages think that "all +whom they kill in this world shall attend them as slaves after +death," and for this reason the thrifty Dayaks of Borneo until +lately would not allow their young men to marry until they had +acquired some post mortem property by procuring at least one +human head. It is hardly necessary to do more than allude to +the Fiji custom of strangling all the wives of the deceased at +his funeral, or to the equally well-known Hindu rite of +suttee. Though, as Wilson has shown, the latter rite is not +supported by any genuine Vedic authority, but only by a +shameless Brahmanic corruption of the sacred text, Mr. Tylor +is nevertheless quite right in arguing that unless the +horrible custom had received the sanction of a public opinion +bequeathed from pre-Vedic times, the Brahmans would have had +no motive for fraudulently reviving it; and this opinion is +virtually established by the fact of the prevalence of widow +sacrifice among Gauls, Scandinavians, Slaves, and other +European Aryans.[176] Though under English rule the rite has +been forcibly suppressed, yet the archaic sentiments which so +long maintained it are not yet extinct. Within the present +year there has appeared in the newspapers a not improbable +story of a beautiful and accomplished Hindu lady who, having +become the wife of a wealthy Englishman, and after living +several years in England amid the influences of modern +society, nevertheless went off and privately burned herself to +death soon after her husband's decease. + +[176] Tylor, op. cit. I. 414-422. + +The reader who thinks it far-fetched to interpret funeral +offerings of food, weapons, ornaments, or money, on the theory +of object-souls, will probably suggest that such offerings may +be mere memorials of affection or esteem for the dead man. +Such, indeed, they have come to be in many countries after +surviving the phase of culture in which they originated; but +there is ample evidence to show that at the outset they were +presented in the belief that their ghosts would be eaten or +otherwise employed by the ghost of the dead man. The stout +club which is buried with the dead Fiji sends its soul along +with him that he may be able to defend himself against the +hostile ghosts which will lie in ambush for him on the road to +Mbulu, seeking to kill and eat him. Sometimes the club is +afterwards removed from the grave as of no further use, since +its ghost is all that the dead man needs. In like manner, "as +the Greeks gave the dead man the obolus for Charon's toll, and +the old Prussians furnished him with spending money, to buy +refreshment on his weary journey, so to this day German +peasants bury a corpse with money in his mouth or hand," and +this is also said to be one of the regular ceremonies of an +Irish wake. Of similar purport were the funeral feasts and +oblations of food in Greece and Italy, the "rice-cakes made +with ghee" destined for the Hindu sojourning in Yama's +kingdom, and the meat and gruel offered by the Chinaman to the +manes of his ancestors. "Many travellers have described the +imagination with which the Chinese make such offerings. It is +that the spirits of the dead consume the impalpable essence of +the food, leaving behind its coarse material substance, +wherefore the dutiful sacrificers, having set out sumptuous +feasts for ancestral souls, allow them a proper time to +satisfy their appetite, and then fall to themselves."[177] So +in the Homeric sacrifice to the gods, after the deity has +smelled the sweet savour and consumed the curling steam that +rises ghost-like from the roasting viands, the assembled +warriors devour the remains."[178] + +[177] Tylor, op. cit. I. 435, 446; II. 30, 36. + +[178] According to the Karens, blindness occurs when the SOUL +OF THE EYE is eaten by demons. Id., II. 353. + +Thus far the course of fetichistic thought which we have +traced out, with Mr. Tylor's aid, is such as is not always +obvious to the modern inquirer without considerable concrete +illustration. The remainder of the process, resulting in that +systematic and complete anthropomorphisation of nature which +has given rise to mythology, may be more succinctly described. +Gathering together the conclusions already obtained, we find +that daily or frequent experience of the phenomena of shadows +and dreams has combined with less frequent experience of the +phenomena of trance, ecstasy, and insanity, to generate in the +mind of uncultured man the notion of a twofold existence +appertaining alike to all animate or inanimate objects: as +all alike possess material bodies, so all alike possess ghosts +or souls. Now when the theory of object-souls is expanded into +a general doctrine of spirits, the philosophic scheme of +animism is completed. Once habituated to the conception of +souls of knives and tobacco-pipes passing to the land of +ghosts, the savage cannot avoid carrying the interpretation +still further, so that wind and water, fire and storm, are +accredited with indwelling spirits akin by nature to the soul +which inhabits the human frame. That the mighty spirit or +demon by whose impelling will the trees are rooted up and tile +storm-clouds driven across the sky should resemble a freed +human soul, is a natural inference, since uncultured man has +not attained to the conception of physical force acting in +accordance with uniform methods, and hence all events are to +his mind the manifestations of capricious volition. If the +fire burns down his hut, it is because the fire is a person +with a soul, and is angry with him, and needs to be coaxed +into a kindlier mood by means of prayer or sacrifice. Thus the +savage has a priori no alternative but to regard fire-soul as +something akin to human-soul; and in point of fact we find +that savage philosophy makes no distinction between the human +ghost and the elemental demon or deity. This is sufficiently +proved by the universal prevalence of the worship of +ancestors. The essential principle of manes-worship is that +the tribal chief or patriarch, who has governed the community +during life, continues also to govern it after death, +assisting it in its warfare with hostile tribes, rewarding +brave warriors, and punishing traitors and cowards. Thus from +the conception of the living king we pass to the notion of +what Mr. Spencer calls "the god-king," and thence to the +rudimentary notion of deity. Among such higher savages as the +Zulus, the doctrine of divine ancestors has been developed to +the extent of recognizing a first ancestor, the Great Father, +Unkulunkulu, who made the world. But in the stratum of savage +thought in which barbaric or Aryan folk-lore is for the most +part based, we find no such exalted speculation. The ancestors +of the rude Veddas and of the Guinea negroes, the Hindu pitris +(patres, "fathers"), and the Roman manes have become elemental +deities which send rain or sunshine, health or sickness, +plenty or famine, arid to which their living offspring appeal +for guidance amid the vicissitudes of life.[179] The theory of +embodiment, already alluded to, shows how thoroughly the +demons which cause disease are identified with human and +object souls. In Australasia it is a dead man's ghost which +creeps up into the liver of the impious wretch who has +ventured to pronounce his name; while conversely in the +well-known European theory of demoniacal possession, it is a +fairy from elf-land, or an imp from hell, which has entered +the body of the sufferer. In the close kinship, moreover, +between disease-possession and oracle-possession, where the +body of tile Pythia, or the medicine-man, is placed under the +direct control of some great deity,[180] we may see how by +insensible transitions the conception of the human ghost +passes into the conception of the spiritual numen, or +divinity. + +[179] The following citation is interesting as an illustration +of the directness of descent from heathen manes-worship to +Christian saint-worship: "It is well known that Romulus, +mindful of his own adventurous infancy, became after death a +Roman deity, propitious to the health and safety of young +children, so that nurses and mothers would carry sickly +infants to present them in his little round temple at the foot +of the Palatine. In after ages the temple was replaced by the +church of St. Theodorus, and there Dr. Conyers Middleton, who +drew public attention to its curious history, used to look in +and see ten or a dozen women, each with a sick child in her +lap, sitting in silent reverence before the altar of the +saint. The ceremony of blessing children, especially after +vaccination, may still be seen there on Thursday mornings." +Op. cit. II. 111. + +[180] Want of space prevents me from remarking at length upon +Mr. Tylor's admirable treatment of the phenomena of oracular +inspiration. Attention should be called, however, to the +brilliant explanation of the importance accorded by all +religions to the rite of fasting. Prolonged abstinence from +food tends to bring on a mental state which is favourable to +visions. The savage priest or medicine-man qualifies himself +for the performance of his duties by fasting, and where this +is not sufficient, often uses intoxicating drugs; whence the +sacredness of the hasheesh, as also of the Vedic soma-juice. +The practice of fasting among civilized peoples is an instance +of survival. + +To pursue this line of inquiry through the countless nymphs +and dryads and nixies of the higher nature-worship up to the +Olympian divinities of classic polytheism, would be to enter +upon the history of religious belief, and in so doing to lose +sight of our present purpose, which has merely been to show by +what mental process the myth-maker can speak of natural +objects in language which implies that they are animated +persons. Brief as our account of this process has been, I +believe that enough has been said, not only to reveal the +inadequacy of purely philological solutions (like those +contained in Max Muller's famous Essay) to explain the growth +of myths, but also to exhibit the vast importance for this +purpose of the kind of psychological inquiry into the mental +habits of savages which Mr. Tylor has so ably conducted. +Indeed, however lacking we may still be in points of detail, I +think we have already reached a very satisfactory explanation +of the genesis of mythology. Since the essential +characteristic of a myth is that it is an attempt to explain +some natural phenomenon by endowing with human feelings and +capacities the senseless factors in the phenomenon, and since +it has here been shown how uncultured man, by the best use he +can make of his rude common sense, must inevitably come, and +has invariably come, to regard all objects as endowed with +souls, and all nature as peopled with supra-human entities +shaped after the general pattern of the human soul, I am +inclined to suspect that we have got very near to the root of +the whole matter. We can certainly find no difficulty in +seeing why a water-spout should be described in the "Arabian +Nights" as a living demon: "The sea became troubled before +them, and there arose from it a black pillar, ascending +towards the sky, and approaching the meadow,.... and behold it +was a Jinni, of gigantic stature." We can see why the Moslem +camel-driver should find it most natural to regard the +whirling simoom as a malignant Jinni; we may understand how it +is that the Persian sees in bodily shape the scarlet fever as +"a blushing maid with locks of flame and cheeks all rosy red"; +and we need not consider it strange that the primeval Aryan +should have regarded the sun as a voyager, a climber, or an +archer, and the clouds as cows driven by the wind-god Hermes +to their milking. The identification of William Tell with the +sun becomes thoroughly intelligible; nor can we be longer +surprised at the conception of the howling night-wind as a +ravenous wolf. When pots and kettles are thought to have souls +that live hereafter, there is no difficulty in understanding +how the blue sky can have been regarded as the sire of gods +and men. And thus, as the elves and bogarts of popular lore +are in many cases descended from ancient divinities of Olympos +and Valhalla, so these in turn must acknowledge their +ancestors in the shadowy denizens of the primeval ghost-world. + +August, 1872. + +NOTE. + +THE following are some of the modern works most likely to be +of use to the reader who is interested in the legend of +William Tell. + +HISELY, J. J. Dissertatio historiea inauguralis de Oulielmo +Tellio, etc. Groningae, 1824. + +IDELER, J. L. Die Sage von dem Schuss des Tell. Berlin, 1836. + +HAUSSER, L. Die Sage von Tell aufs Neue kritisch untersucht. +Heidelberg, 1840. + +HISELY, J. J. Recherches critiques sur l'histoire de Guillaume +Tell. Lausanne, 1843. + +LIEBENAU, H. Die Tell-Sage zu dem Jahre 1230 historisoh nach +neuesten Quellen. Aarau, 1864. + +VISCHER, W. Die Sage von der Befreinng der Waldstatte, etc. +Nebst einer Beilage: das alteste Tellensehauspiel. Leipzig, +1867. + +BORDIER, H. L. Le Grutli et Guillaume Tell, ou defense de la +tradition vulgaire sur les origines de la confederation +suisse. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + +The same. La querelle sur les traditions concernant l'origine +de la confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + +RILLIET, A. Les origines de la confederation suisse: histoire +et legende. 2eS ed., revue et corrigee. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + +The same. Lettre a M. Henri Bordier a propos de sa defense de +la tradition vulgaire sur les origines de la confederation +suisse. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + +HUNGERBUHLER, H. Etude critique sur les traditions relatives +aux origines de la confederation suisse. Geneve et Bale, 1869. + +MEYER, KARL. Die Tellsage. [In Bartsch, Germanistische +Studien, I. 159-170. Wien, 1872. + +See also the articles by M. Scherer, in Le Temps, 18 Feb., +1868; by M. Reuss, in the Revue critique d'histoire, 1868; by +M. de Wiss, in the Journal de Geneve, 7 July, 1868; also Revue +critique, 17 July, 1869; Journal de Geneve, 24 Oct., 1868; +Gazette de Lausanne, feuilleton litteraire, 2-5 Nov., 1868, +"Les origines de la confederation suisse," par M. Secretan; +Edinburgh Review, Jan., 1869, "The Legend of Tell and Rutli." + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Myths and Myth-Makers, by Fiske + diff --git a/old/old/mythm10.zip b/old/old/mythm10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c784ff2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/mythm10.zip |