OTHERWORKS BYTHESAMEAUTHOR.

THE INDIAN SAINT, OR,BUDDHA AND BUDDHISM.

A SKETCH H ts'roa i canAND CRITI CAL , Publi shed by the Author.

(The edi tion of thi swork was limi ted and all copies have been sold . )

In these sublime hei ghts of Ori ental mysticism, Mr .Mi lls breathesas freely as i f they formed hi s nati v e a i r . He mov es along the dizzymountain-tops w ith the elasti c tread of one who finds himself at homeon thei r loftiest summi ts. The spi ri t of his book i s in admirable harmony w ith the subjects. The sty le i s luci d and singularly attracti v e ini tsmodest beauty.

—Gco. A . R ipley. in N ew York Tr i bune.

This beauti fully written prose-poem.-Mrs. M . E. B., in Uni ty ,

Chicago.

An excellent popular life of Sakya Muni . the Indian sa int. the

founder of Buddhism. Hi s book show s extensiv e research and a mindoi high omen—TheGraphic.N ew York.

This final essay [the closing chapter!str ikesus as something uncommouly good in thought and tans —Boston.Transcript.

PEBBLES, PEARLS, AND GEMS OF THE ORIENT .

Gathered and arranged by CHAS. D. B. MILLS .

Boston, George H. Elli s, 141 Franklin Street, 1882.

Thi s beauti ful v olume reflects credi t alike on editor and publi sher.

It i s a collection of the w i sest, sw eetest , and most trenchant aphor ismsof the East . Than Mr . M i lls, there could be nomore discriminating collector of the w isdom of the Oriental poets, prophets and sages. He has

the true li terary honey-bee ’s cri tical taste. There i s garnered up in thi sv olume no moral poison or li terary chain—Index,Boston.

There i s ev idence on ev ery page that Mr. Mills i s a born lov er of theOri ent mind . He has ranged w i dely through the literature of the East .

He has read the v arious Scriptures, Brahmanic, Buddhist, Confucian,

i rani an. He has read the poets w ith an equal care, those of the Eastand those of Occidental b irth and trai ning w hohav e resung the Easternsongs or been inspi red by Eastern themes. Sententious w i sdom has for

him a remarkable fascinati on There is educat ion inmorals and i nw orship here, and in the percepti on that Christiani ty i s not exhaustiv eor the spiri tual riches of mankind . —R w. John W. Chadw ick, in cumtian Register .

Thi s v olumemay sti ll be ordered ofC. W . BABDEEN , Syracuse, N . Y.

Pri ce post-pa id.

THE TREE

MYTHOLOGY,

GENESIS OF THE NURSERY TALE , SAW S OF FOLK-LORE, ETC.

A STUDY BY

CHARLES DE B . MILLS .

Thus, though tradition may hav e but one root, i t grow s, li ke a

bani an, into a whole ov erarching labyrinth of trees.

"—Carl'y le, as quotedby M ax Manor.

SYRACUSE, N . Y

C . W . BARD E EN , PUBLI SHE R .

1889.

H

FOREW ORD .

The follow ing essay comes a s the fru i t of a love , a

predi lection long fe l t fo r that realm of man ’

s thought

and imaginings w hich finds i ts expression i n w hat is

named Mytho logy . I t introduces us, a s the w riter

bel ieves, to w hat i s one of the most curious, and also

s ignificant chapters in the historyr of the human

mind. Amid al l tha t is fanc ifu l , w himsical, chi ld ish,

or seem ingly idle and w orthless, there i s much, w e

might almost say everything, that i s real , l i v ing,deeply v ital in i ts interest for us al l . This stai rcase

from i ts humble homely beginn ings, starting in the

first dim daw nings of human thought and consc ious

ness, leads to the starry he ights, hints to us the sole

mode of ascen t to infinite and everlast ing . The hi s

tory reveals to us the glory and the shame of the

human m ind, i ts conquest and i ts defeat, tel ls of i ts

grand possibi l ity, and i ts mort i fying , never end ing

fai lure.

I t cannot be said that the theme even i n i ts obvious

and superficial aspects ha s become obsolete, w hen the

bale-fires are st i l l k indled , as in Scotland and N or(i i i)

i v FOREW ORD.

w ay , on each return of the solst ice ; w hen the peasant

as in Germany, st i l l fodders w ind and flame in depre

ca tory offering, and hunts on St. John'

s night the

w i tches from house and stal l ; w hen as in our ow n

country, the superst it ious regard for si gns, omens,

&c . , sti l l holds so strongly even in inte lligen t and

comparatively freed m inds, and survival s almost i h

numerable of old mytho logical bel iefs exerc ise to

this hour pow erful sw ay both over Opinion and

conduc t

Th is essay is tentative ; i t seeks t o ascertain some

thing of the origin, the nature and the grow th of

myth, w hat i t primari ly w as and w hat ha s come of i t .

It hardly more at best than fee ls around almost grop

ing ly , to catch some impression of the objec ts w i th

w h ich this dim realm i s fu l l . A vast deal of explor

at ion is yet to be done ere the problem of the primal

nature, the first origin and meaning of myths shal l

hav e been solved, a comparison unending of the

mythic tales of the advanced races w i th those of the

savage and barbaric , a study in fact of the my tholo

gies of the w hole w orld .

W e may w el l hold a great deal of our h i therto

Opin ions upon this quest ion of the primal nature and

sense of these tales provisional , w hen w e find such

unexpected correspondences in remote quarte rs o f

the globe . Undine and Me lusina,d istant descendants

of the Sanscri t Bheki , of Ushas, Psyche, &c. , a re

FOREW ORD.

found with l itt le variat ion among the Ottow as of

North America, and Pandora’

s box reappears in a

tale Of the Indians of Labrado r . There seem clear

remnants of an early zoolatry in the myths of the

classic races, and i t i s yet early to determine how

far this e lement i s to have accorded recognit ion in

the interpretation Of myths say among the Greeks,that seem to .have had the i r spring in higher, more

spi ri tual sources.

Some universal princ ip les w il l be discovered a s the

myths Of a ll peoples a re studied , some attainment

be made of a sc ience Of symbo ls, far more w orth than

Sw edenbo rg’s doctr ine Of Correspondences, for i t

w i l l be based in carefu l st udy of the un iversal ex

pression of races. Ev ery day ’

s inqu iry reveals ever

more c learly how much al ike man i s the w orld ove r.

He ha s l ike expe r iences, frames the l ike concepts,

speaks in much the same d ialect in the mythologies

in al l ages and cl imes . Mo re deeply, c learly than

eve r befo re, w e a re coming in this age to see the

oneness of Humani ty .

I t i s a w onderfu l fact w e have in this piece Of history

w e cal l Mythology . I t i s on i ts finer, nobler side,

the celebrat ion by the sou l of i ts sense of the mystery ,

the indesc ribable beau ty of natu re and of l ife, the

u ttered song of i ts w onder and i ts love . Seen On

another side, i t show s to us the degradat ion and com

pletest enslavement of the spirit, i ts almost utter

vi FOREW ORD .

stult ificat ion and subjection to nightmare and terror .

The Greek mythology i tsel f reveals to us one beau t i

ful poem. Scarcely less de l ightfu l to the m ind i s

the No rse, the Teuton ic,— and to this by descent and

blood w e feel most near ly re lated Of al l .

The w riter freely acknow ledges hi s indebtedness,

in some po ints very great, to S i r G . W . Cox , ,

Rev . S .

Baring Gou ld , D r. E . B . Tylor, Mr. Robert Brow n,

Prof. Max M ii ller, P rof. De G ubernat i s, and others.

I t i s hoped that this l itt le vo lume may be accepted as

a cont ribut ion sl ight indeed but earnest, to this most

interesting and preg nant study. I t i s of a theme that

must engage and fix the attent ion more and more as

the m ind of man i s Opened, and draw n w ith eve r

inc reasing cur iosi ty a nd instruct ion to read the

record of hi s past , a nd the int imat ions told in proph

ecy of his future.

SYRACUSE, N . Y., D ecember 1 5 , 1 888.

E R R A T A .

On p . 35 , 8th l ine from top, for w inte r read “w riter.

On p . 1 18, rst line a t top, for Dealers of gems read Deal

ers in g ems.

On p . 133, 3d line from top, for“ burned read “ buried.

On p . 168, in foot note,I st line

, after D ionysos, for

read “ is.

"

There a re a few other typog raphical errors of minor im

portance, whi ch the reader’s eye w ill readily co rrect.

CONTENTS.

FOREW ORD,

SOURCE,

MYTHS OF EXPLANATION ,

MYTHS ARISING FROM METAPHOR,

HEROIC LEGENDS,

NURSERY TALES,

PROYERBS, FOLK-LORE, ETc .,

SuRVIVALs AND REMIN ISCENCES,

SHADOW AND SIGN IFICATION,

DIDACTIC, ETH ICAL,

SYMBOLTSM,

SYMBOLISM, continued ,

EXCELSIOR,‘

INDEx ,

SOURCE.

Nothing ha s played a more conspicuous and dec i s

i v e part in the annals of humani ty than this that w e

cal l Myflzology . I t appears in al l the stages Of cu ltu re,but espec ial ly in the ruder and more primeval .

Yet i t i s by no means extinct to -day even in m idst of

the most advanced c ivi l izat ion. I t has aw akened an

unending cur io si ty , propounding, l ike the Sphinx ,quest i ons w hich no man cou ld answ er, and to this.

day presents problems and puzzles that cannot find

solut i on.

The theme has not only a specu lat ive or theoret i c,i t has a near and practical interest for us al l . Myth

ology represents on one side a condit ion in human

thought that can never pass aw ay ; nay, must be more

pronounced and effect ive as the ages rol l on under

another view i t represents a phase w hich, how eve r

belonging to ch i l dhood and therefore temporary ,

st i l l cont inues and exertsmarked influence in society,

and carries inefi'

aceable impress upon us all . There

10 SOURCE OF MYTHS .

are survivals, perpetuat ions everyw here of the long

distant past, more and more Obviou s to us as w e shal l

study the thought, the be l iefs and expression st i l l

current . W e yet l ive in the shadow of this w i de ,

w orld-covering tree. Mythology seem s to carry us

back a s Mr . Grote w el l describes to “ a past that

w as never present . w e cannot find the beginning

of i t. I t i s ear l ier than history, ear l ie r than the first

gl immer of trad ition .

Some Of the w isest of the Greeks have left on record

the i r thoughts and conclusions upon this difficu l t

subj ect,— Sokrates, Plato, Anaxagoras, etc. ,— and to

this day the i r v iew s are deeply interesting. The

Greek m ind w as by far the finest b loom in the an

c ient w or ld, and the mytho logy it grew w a s incom

parably the richest , most e laborately and exqu isi te ly

w rought out, most p regnan t and suggest ive ; w hyshou ld not these people be the ones to give us

the expl ication ? Yet they did not, even the most

penetrating and sagac ious among them, get the key

that unlocked thei r ow n myths, and Sokratescame to

feel that there w as l itt le profit in the study.

The view s of Euhemeros W ho' liv ed at about the

t ime of A lexander, w ho interpre ted mytho logy as

h istory c lothed how ever in the garb Of marve l lo usand fabu lous, have had many fo l low ers and exposi

tors from hi s day to ours, but the number at thepresent t ime is not large . Comparati ve studies begin

SOME POPULAR DEFIN ITIONS. I I

n ing w ith the extension of the science of languagea nd carried to the examinat ion of the mythologi es

among different races, popu lar legends, folk-l ore, etc .,

have shown the inadequacy of the theory, though not

i ts u tter falsity. The so lu t ion i s too cheap , the key

unl ocks few only of the riddles. There is some

measure oftruth here doubtless, and perhaps the di s

c redit and d isrepute brought upon Euhemeros and

Abbé Banier in th is regard may have closed the eyes

to the recogni t ion of the degree Of w orth the i r doc

t rines do real ly possess. This mortal is ever putting

on immortal ity, the common, the seen, subl imating

into wonderfu l and unseen.

“The gods,"

says

Herakleitos,“are immortal men, and men are mor

tal gods.

” “ The gods Of fable,”says Emerson, “

are

the shining moments of great men.

” And there are

many things in the mythic re lat ions in which his

toric has comb ined and interm ingled. But as a keyfOr unl ock ing al l these secrets, Euhemerism i s an

u tter and hope less failure .

I t i s !not uninstruc t ive to look for a moment a t

some Of the definit ions given by writers Of our Ow n

ag e.

“ Myth,

”says Mr. Tylor,

“ is sham history ,

the fictit ious narrative of events that never hap

pened.

” S imrock “ Myth i s the earl iest form in

w hich the mind of heathen peoples recognized the

un iverse and th ings divine.

" Rusk in says, “ A myth,

r Anthmpoloav , p. 887 .

1 2 SOURCE OF MYTHS.

in i ts simplest defin i t ion,i s a story w ith a mean ing

attached to it other than i t seems to have at first,

and the fact that i t has such a mean ing i s general ly

marked by some of i ts c i rcumstances be ing extrac t ;

Bunsen describes i t a s“ Pure popu lar

poetry of the fee l ing for nature . G oldz iher’

s view

i s simi lar As soon as he ( the speaker) perce ives

physical phenomena as events in human l ife he

has at once made a myth ; and every name by w hich

he designates a physica l phenomenon forms a myth.

”

1'

W e define a myth,”says John Fiske, a s in i ts or

igin an explanation by the unc ivi l ized m ind Of some

natu ral phenomenon, not an al legory, not an eso teric

symbo l , but an explanation.

”1

“ Mytho logy,”

says

Prof. Max Mii ller , w hich w as the bane of the ah

cient w orld, i s, in t ruth, a disease of lang uage .

” The

origin of such mytho l ogical phraseology, he declares,“ i s alw ays the same ; i t i s language fo rgett ing her

se lf.” E lsew here he affi rms that i t “ i s in fac t the

dark shadow w hich language throw s on thought,

and w hich can never disappear t i l l language becomes

commensurate w i th thought, w hich i t never w i l l ."

Again Mythology in the highest sense i s the pow er

exerted by language on thought in every possible

Queenof theA i r , p . 2.1Hebrew My thology , p. 39.

1Myths and My th-makers. p . 21. Elsewhere he says (p. Sincethe essential characteri stic of a.myth i s that i t is the attempt to explainsome natura l phenomenon by endow ing w i th human feelings and capacit ies the senseless factors in the phenomenon,

"etc.

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r4 SOURCE OF MYTHS .

expression, “mythic,” he cal ls i t, “ wh ich changes all

beings into persons, and al l relations into act ions.

And this w e find especial ly in the early t ime.

Mr.Tylor wel l says that “ infants take their fi rst

steps in mythology by cont riv ing l i ke Cosette w ith

her doll , ‘se figurer que que lque chose est que l

7 ”

qu’un.

To Casper Hauser, infant as he w as a t

seventeen, the snow w a s a person ; “naughty,

”he

said, “ it bi t his finger.” The myth ic animals,” says

Mr. Ke l ly, w ere for those w ho fi rst gave them the i r

names no mere images or figments of the mind.

They were dow nright real it ies, for they were seen by

men who were qu ick to see, and who had not yet

learned to suspect any col lusion between thei r eyes

and the i r

And throughout al l ou r l ife , i t i s hard to conceive

or apprehend any thing, even real i ty most purely

spi ri tual, except as conc rete and also personal.

Reminiscence of this state of m ind wh ich w as once

so prevai l ing and contro ll ing, w e sti l l bear in such

terms as spontaneously w e emp loy : the bow ling

w ind, the angry flames, the raging flood, the pit i less

storm, laughing waters, etc.f

t ioaum ofPrado-European Tradi tion and Folk-Lore, p. 8.t Inthe large wemay say there i s alw ays il lusion, some refraction in

the ray that meets the eye, some misconception, aw ry or perv erted representation inevery form and type of mythology . It never could arisein a perfectly pure and clear medium.

AN IMAT ION AND PERSONIFICAT ION . IS

To the New Zealander, Maui is the personal hea

v en, or.

personal sun, as indeed Dyaus seems original ly to have been the personal sky to the old

H indus. Of the common names among our ow n

ancestors, Zio, T in, or De i ty, w e may say doubtless

the same . A North American Indian prophetess re

lates how she real ly saw once the Red Indian Zeus.

A t her sol itary fast at w omanhood, she fel l into an

ecstasy o r t rance, and w as conducted up to heaven,

to the open ing of the sky . She saw the figure of a

man standing near her and heard his vo ice ; there

w as a bri l l i ant halo about hi s head, and his breast

w a s covered w i th squares. He said to her, Look at

me ; I am Oshauw aug eechick, the Bright Blue Sky.

”

Such concrete real ist ic presentat ions seem essent ia l

t o the rude m ind, that i t may in fami l iar phrase‘ catch on,

’ or in relation to the Object be able to

grasp it at all .

This an imation and personificat ion continue dow n

late in h isto ry, even among races of the best eu

l ightenment. In the t ime of the chu rch father O ri

g en, the stars w ere be l ieved to be animate and per

sonal be ings. This w as O rigen’s view , and i t Obtained

so late as the sev enteenth centu ry, being firmly he ld

by the great ast ronomer John Kepler. Nay, in our

ow n day, DeMa i stre has stoutly defended it . The

e lectrical pow er of amber w as long ascribed to a

Sp i ri t resi d ing in i t, and the same explanation w as

16 SOURCE or MYTHS.

invoked to account for the contro l of the.

magnet

over i ron. So the Egyptians, accord ing to Herod

otos, be l ieved fire to be a l ive beast . Surv ivals of

this and such l ike bel iefs remain, as w e shal l see, i n

many words and phrases sti l l current in our common

Speech.

Then for another thing, the disposit ion is Univer

sal perhaps in early l ife in the indiv idual and so in

the race, to see th ings in large w ay, t o deal in exag

gerat ion.Childhood afi

'

ects, del ights in such stories .

In everything told, the mythic, the grotesque, the

exaggerated, comes in and m ingles w i th the normal

and the actual. This in part consciously, and in

part unconsciously.

‘

The fondness for enlarging, tendency to overdraw

and overstate, i s most marked w here the religious

sent iment i s involved, and that part Of our natu re i s

called into play w h ich deals with spi ritual, unseen

and transcending. Here the leaps and sports of im

ag ination are most bo ld and vaul t ing , and the re l i

gions has always been the realm in wh ich has ar isen

most conspicuously mythology.

“ Re l igion,"says

Mr. Keary, “ being the greatest concern of man, the

myths w hich al l ied themselves most closely to hi s

rel igious ideas wou ld be those which maintained

longest l i fe and most universal acceptance .

“

Daw nof History , p. 159.

“Di v ini ties form thecore ofallmythology .

Grimm, TeutonicMythology , Stallybrass’s trans., Preface, p. xv i i .

A PRE-SUPERNATURAL PERIOD. I 7

Undoubtedly much of w hat w e see, very much,e special ly among savage races, ha s originated in the

way w hich John Fiske describes, viz . : from the at

tempt Of the unc ivi l ized man to explain w hat he sees

abou t him, and largely by invoking the intervent ion

of personal i t ies for solving w hat he perceived no

account ing for on o ther grounds . With nothing Of

science, no method Of check ing the free, w i ld re ign

Of hi s fancy, i t w as natural , w as inevitable, that these

e xplanat i ons shou ld bear al l the marks of this man ’

s

mental cond ition. They w ould be grotesque as w as

hi s m ind ’s imaginat ion, fanc ifu l and w himsical as w as

the range of his ow n natural thoughts and feel ings.

In themse lves very interest ing, they furn ish an i a

struc tive chapter in the history of the human mind.

They carry us back to a time w hen there w as no

supernatural , s ince there w a s not yet any philoso

phy of nature, nothing that cou ld be termed natural .

The i l lusions of mythology grew w i thal as the

original appe l lat ive sense of w ords descript iv e of oh

j ects in nature w a s lost, and the anthropomorphism

and personificati on became more andmore comple te .

SO in many instances a name merely designat ing

o riginally some inan imate Obj ec t becomes at length

detached in the general m ind from that object, or

o nly faint ly re lated to it, and so stands for some

imagined person, and plays a prominent role in

mythic representat ion. I t has been thus in the ca se

18 SOURCE OF MYTHS.

of Zeus, Phoibos, Herakles, Here, etc . ,in the Greek

w i th Odin, Thor, Freya, Hela, etc . , i n the Norse .

Odin, the w ind, celestial energy, the supreme, w a s

person ified, made the G od in heaven , somet imes

spoken of as the bearded god, the sun . A monarch

rul ing over all , he si ts in hi s heavenly home , Freya

by hi s side, looking dow n on the earth through a

window . The heav en has but one eye , the sun ; so

as he w as considered personal , human, the loss of the

other must be accounted for . The story goes that he

left one eye inpledge as he drank in Mimi r ’s w el l .

The reflect ion Of the sun in the w ate r easi ly sug

g ested such explanation . Hence the tales almost

without number of the one-eyed man, sudden ly ap

pearing, then disappearing in an instant ; somet imes

described a s barefoo t, w i th “ l inen breeches kn i t

t ight even unto the bone," riding on hi s e ight-foo ted

horse S le ipni r, etc.

He imdal l, the w atchman upon the trembl ing

bridge, Bif-rost, the rainbow , i s a very concrete per

sonali ty . He dw el ls in H iminb iorg , the H i l l of

Heaven, needs less sleep than a bird, and has ears so

acute he can hear the grass grow on the meadow s of

earth, and the w ool on the backs ofsheep . H is w ard

er’s horn is so long that i t rests on the root of Ygg

drasi l, he ha s golden teeth, and rides a horse w i th amane of gold.

L i ke desc ript ions w e find in the accounts of the

gods and goddesses of Greek , indeed Ofeverymythol

CONVERSION OF NAMES INTO PERSONS. 79‘

ogy. Pramantha, in the ancient Sanscri t, meaningproperly fire-dri l l, becomes a t length as w e have i t in

the Greek, Prometheus, bringer of the spark from

heaven, and consp i rator against Zeus.In India, a s in the western world,

”says Mr. Cox ,

“ there w as a constant tendency to convert names

into persons, and then to frame for them a myth ical

h istory in acco rdance w ith their meaning.

“

Thus this tree of mytho logy has grow n and spread

unt i l l ike Yggdrasi l, it has covered the earth and.

fi l led the un iverse.

Mythology of theAryan N a tions, p . 421.

MYTHS OF EXPLANATION .

These myths of explanat ion, a s w e may name them

w e may now instance in a few examples. They a re

v ery numerous, have Sprung up in al l quarters of the

globe ; among al l men, savage or civi l ized, they are

e ssent ially of the same type and texture . In due

t ime w e shal l find how thev approach , resemble, and

somet imes appear to blend w i th those that. originate

from the other source, that has ever been fru i tful in

mythologic grow th.

To the early men and w omen a thousand things

w oul d come that demanded some explanat ion, some

intel l igent o r at least p lausible theo ry o r account to

be found of them, so that the mind m ight become

seized, so to speak , of i ts facts, have them in form so i t

should in some sort apprehend them. Nature posesand

presses w ith her riddles, and the thought must construct something to appease the curiosi ty . The same

matters that came in the old days to al l , come in a

sense to al l to-day, and espec ial ly to those races w ho

( 20 )

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2 2 MYTHS OF EXPLANAT ION .

sits in the form of an eagle at the extremity of the

sky . The name for the north wind among the Rom

a ns, Aguz’

lo— same w ord real ly as aouz’

la ,— points to the

fact that a like mytho logical not ion Obtained among

the ancestors of the Romans in a distant t ime. The

w riter recalls that in very early chi ldhood , be con

»ce iv ed and for some t ime thoroughly bel ieved the

t hunder to be the sound of some tremendous w agon

rumbl ing over the roads of c loud. The H indus to

day say w ater-spou ts a re Indra’s elephants drink ing

w ater .

The S ioux give this account of the origin of fire

thei r fi rst ancestor Obtained hi s fire from the sparks

w hich a fr iendly panther struck from the rocks a s he

scampered up a stony This is in al l probab i l

i ty a l ightning myth. The Kaméhada ls say that

w hen the God in heaven has heated up hi s yurt orfhouse,

— a s w hen i t i s summer on earth i t i s w inter in

heaven— he throw s the spare fire-brands out at the

chimney ; hence the l ightning. The vo lcanic erup

t ions they account for in l ike w ay . They a re caused‘by the mountain-spi ri ts w ho w hen they w ish to shut

up at night throw out thei r brands ; these are the

burning lava . These gobl ins also go dow n at n ight

a nd catch w hales, a single one taking from fi v e to

t en of them, one hanging to each finger. They cook

them in the fire of the i r yurts, i . e ., the vo lcanoes, and

Brinton,Myths of the New World .

THE DARKENED FACE OF THE MOON . 2 3

this accounts for the bones of the w hales seen to-day

on the mountains. If inqu i red of how they know

this, they reply that the i r old people always said so

a nd they be l ieve i t themselves. And moreover the

bones a re there to Speak ; how else could they get

there P “ The bricks are al iv e at this day to test ify

it ; therefore denv i t not .

The Shoshone Indian conce ives the domed fi rma

ment to be ice,— i t has the color of i ce,—and from

t ime to t ime, a s he has i t , a monster serpent-g od

c oi ls hi s immense back up against the fi rmament,

a nd w i th hi s scales scratches and w ears Off i ts face.

The ice-dust that fall s w e see in the w inter a s snow ;

in the summer season,melt ing during i ts descent , i t

comes as rain. The O raibi Indian in Arizona, saysthat Mu ingw a the

'

rain-

god that l ives in the w orld

on high, dips a great brush made of the feathers of

the b i rds in heaven in the lakes of the Skies, and

sprink les the earth w i th the w ater. In w inter he

crushes the i ce of these lakes, and scatters it ov er the

e ar th ; this gives us the Snow .

* Among the Khonds

Of O rissa, i t i s P idzu Fenh u, the rain-god, w ho, rest

ing upon the sky , pou rs dow n show ers through his

sieve .Perhaps the story of the daughters of Danaus,

condemned fo rever to draw w ater w i th perforated

vesse ls, i s of l ike origin .

Maj or'

J. W . Pow ell , Mythologic Plt ilOstmhy inPop. ScienceMonthly , Vol.

XV . p. 801

24 MYTHS OF EXPLANATION.

Among‘

the Esquimaux i s a story giv ing the orig in

of the darkened appearances on the moon : “ There

w as a girl at a party, and some one to ld his l ove for

her by shaking her shoulders, after the manner of

the country. She cou ld not see w ho i t w as in the

dark, so she smeared her hands w i th soot, and when

he came back , she blackened hi s cheek with herhaud.

When a l ight w as brought, she saw i t w as herbrother,

and fled. He ran after her , fol lowed her, and as she

came to the end of the earth she sprang out into the

sky . Then she became the sun, and he the moon,and this i s w hy the moon i s alw ays chasing the sun

through the heavens, and w hy the moon is sometimes

dark as he turns hi s blackened cheek to the

The Khasias of the H imalayas account for themoon-spots by saying that the moon falls monthly in

love w ith his mother-in-law , w ho thereupon throws

ashes in his face. The Buddh ists in Ceylon ascribethem to the form of the pious hare that Buddha in

recogni tion of i ts great devotion and sp irit Of selfsacrifice took and planted in the moon, a perpetual

witness to men of i ts unexampled piety . Among theSalish Indians in north-w est America

,i t i s a toad

w h ich i s seen. The l i ttle wo lf w as in l ove w i th the

toad, pursued her, and as a last despera te resort, she

jumped upon the moon, and there she is sti l l . The

Utes say the moon w as made from a frog who sur

Clodd’s Chi ldhood of the World, p . 62 .

ECLIPSES AND EARTHQUAKES . 2 5

rendered himsel f a sacrifice for th is purpose, and the

frog can now be seen riding the moon at night. In

some parts of Europe Isaac can be seen in the moon,carry ing up the bundles of w ood to Mount Moriah ;also Ca in bringing a load of thorns for his Offering

to Jehovah. The Sw edish peasants re late to th is day

that i t i s Jack and Gil l w e see there, two chi ld renthat the moon once k idnapped and took up to herse lf.* And

'

final ly in the Jew ish Talmud i t is re lated

that in Satan’

s fall from heaven, he spat in his hatred

against G od, and hi s spittle stained themoon. Hencethe spots.

The A lgonqu ins informed Father Le j eune in the

seventeenth century, that an ec l ipse of the moon w as

caused by her tak ing her son in her arms. So thesun w as eclipsed by the occasional taking of the same

son into his arms. That sun or moon w as being

devoured bv a monster, in the phenomenon of eclipse,has been widely bel ieved over the globe. W e find

reminiscence of this in the mythology of the anc ient

H indus, and the Romans he ld the same. They we re

at pains by all means in thei r pow er, - throwing of

fire-brands into the air, clanging ofbrazen pots and

pans, etc., to assist the strugg l ing moon —.meeur

rere laborzmtz'

lame.

Various explanat ions are given of the earthquake,

al l however showing the same stage ofmental cond i

Tylor , Primi ti v e Culture, I . 30. Fi ske, My ths. p. 161.

2 6 MYTHS or EXPLANAT ION .

tion. The Caribs said it w as thei r mother earth

dancing and signi fying to them to be merry and

dance also. The Tongans of Po lynesia say that i t i s

Maui, the great god w ho supports the earth on hi s

prostrate body, attempting to turn over, and so gain

an easier posi t ion. The natives of Celebes, that the

w orld~supporting hog occasional ly rubs h imse l f

against a tree, and thus produces an earthquake . The

Chibchas, that i t is the i r g od Chibchacum, shift ing

the earth at times from s hou lder to shou lder. And

the natives of Kamscha tka have a story that Tu i l, the

earthquake-god, sledges below ground, and w hen hi s

dog shakes Ofl'

fleas or snow, there fo l low s an earth

quake . Such w ords a s rainbow , thunderbolt, etc .,

te l l us of the t imes w hen among our ow n ancestors

there w ere bel iefs very much such a s obtain among

rude races to-day in regard to these phenomena .

The North Amer ican Indians cal l the Milky Waythe Path of Spirits,” and the “ Road of Sou ls.

”

Upon this they trave l to the land of the unseen, and

the brighter stars Show us the camp fi res they have

kindled on the w ay . The L i thuan ian myth de

scribed i t also as the “ Road of the Birds,”conce iving

that the souls of the good , fl i tt ing aw ay l ike b irds to

the end of it, dw el l in heaven in peace. With theS iamese i t i s the “ Road of the W hi te

.

Elephant.”

And the Greeks explain the appearance presented

by that band in the heavens, by the story that Here,

THE MILKY WAY. 2 7

the bright upper .air or the clear ether, once nurseda t her breast Herak les, but that, ofl

'

ended w ith hi s be

havior she threw h im from her, and the mi lk flowedout on the sky . In Frisia, it i s said , the way i s sti l l

c al led the cow'

s path, and the mi lky appearance i s

supposed accounted“ for by the dropp ing of her mi lk

by the red cow of evening as she passes in the night

over the path of sky . The German proverb hath

it, Even red cows give w hi te m il k .

”

Among the Hottentots the fo l l ow ing story i s told

in explanat ion of a feature that had struck them in

the appearance of the hare The moon sent an i h

sect to men saying, G o thou to men, and tel l them,

a s I die, and dying l ive, so ye shal l also die, and dy

i ng l ive.

’

The insec t started with the message,but whi lst on his way w a s overtaken by the hare, w ho

a sked, ‘ On w hat errand art thou bound ? ’ The i a

Sect answ ered, ‘ I am sent by the moon to tel l them

that as she dies, and dying l ives, they also shal l die

a nd dying l ive.

’ The hare said, As thou art an

aw kward runner, let me go, ( and take the message

Wi th these w ords he ran off, and when he reached

men, he said, ‘ I am sent by the moon to tel l you, as I

d ie, and dying perish, i n the same manner ye a lso

die and come whol ly to an end.

’ Then the hare re

turned to the moon and told her what he had said to

men. The moon reproached him angri ly, saying,Darest thou tel l the people a thing wh ich I have not

2 8 MYTHS OF EXPLANAT ION .

said ? ’ With these w ords she took up a p iece of

wood and struck him on the nose. S ince that day

the hare ’

s no se i s sl i t .”

One version i s that the moon took up a hatchet to

spl it his head. Missing that, the hatchet fel l upon the

upper l ip and cut a deep gash in i t . Hence i t i s that

The story goes on to say that7

w e see the ‘ Hare-l ip .

the hare maddened at such treatment , flew at the

moon and scratched her face, and the dark spo ts

w hich w e see now on the moon a re the marks, the

scars left from that sc ratching .

Among the Dog-R ib Indians the bl indness of

the mo le is accounted for in this wise . An Indian

chased a squ irrel up a tree unt i l he reached the sky .

He set a snare for him and came dow n, but foundnext day that the sun w as caught in the snare, and

this brought on night . He saw the injury he had

done and w as anx ious to repai r i t . He sent up great

numbe rs of animals i n the hope that they m ight cut

the noose and re lease the sun, but the in tense heat

burned them al l to ashes. A t length the slow mo le

succeeded ; he burrow ed under the road in the sky

t i l l he reached the,

place of the sun,gnaw ed in tw ain

the cords, and released the capt ive . But the sun’

s

flash put hi s eyes out , and this i s the reason w hy the

mo le is bl ind. The tale addsthe effect has ever since

been apparent also on hi s nose and teeth ; they a re

brow n as if burnt . From that time on , how ever, the

gait of the sun has been more del iberate and slow.

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30 MYTHS or EXPLANAT ION .

them to die. This i s the explanation they give of

the ruddy and crimson hue of the clouds in the

eastern sky . The legend tel ls of him other things

w hich describe hi s Ofli ce He brought wi th him

bui lders, painters, astronomers, and art ists in many

other crafts.

” “ He i s the helper of t ravel lers, the

maker of the calendar, the source of astrology, the

beginner of history, the bringer of wealth and hap

piness. He is the patron of the craftsman, whom he

l ights to his labor.” And his funeral pi le is on the

top of Orizaba, w here, overcome at length by hi s

enemies, he lay dow n to die . Wrapped in the flames,

hi s body rose up to heaven. W e have the l ike in the

Greek mythology in the tale of Herak les.

Quaintly the Indians in the neighborhood of

Mount Shasta explain the mixed na ture Of man,

describing his origin from the union of a goddess

w i th a grizzly bear. The G reat Spi ri t made thismountain, Shasta, first of al l . He bored a hole in the

sky , using a large stone as an auger, pushed dow n

snow and i ce unt i l they made heap high enough for

him, then he descended, stepping from cloud to cloud ,dow n to the icy pi le, and then to the earth. He

planted the first trees, mak ing a hole w ith his fingerin the soi l for them to stand in. Mount Shasta hehollowed out and chose it as a W igw am for himself.

The daughter of the Great Spiri t d isobeyed his in

j unction on one rough day in look ing out over the

THE ORIGIN OF MAN . 3 1

top, and w as seized by the w ind and dropped down

upon the earth at a distance from her home . Taken

up by a patriarchal grizzly, she w as carried to his

house, carefu l ly nursed and tended there, and

fina lly'

united in marriage to hi s son .

“ The i r Off

spring w as ne i ther grizzly nor Great Spiri t, butman.

These grizzl ies did not go on al l fours as the i r

descendants do to-day. They w alked on the i r hind

legs l ike men, talked, carried clubs, using thei r fo re

legs l ike arms. Having displeased the Great Spi ri t

by contam inat ing hi s race, they w ere condemned to

go on al l fou rs, and suffer the loss of speech. Here

then w e have a bit ofDarw in ism coupled w ith some

thing Oi an earl ier doctrine, from the Red men Of

the S ierras.

Among the I roquois i s this myth. A party of

hunters were once in pursu i t of a bear, w hen they

were attacked by a monstrous stone giant, and al l

but three destroyed . The three together w i th the

bear w ere carried by invisible spiri ts up into the sky ,

w here the bear can st i l l be seen, pursued by the fi rst

hunter w i th hi s how ,the second w i th the kett le, and

the thi rd w ho farther behind i s gathering st icks.

Only in the Autumn do the arrows of the hunter

pierce the hear,when his o’rzppz

'

ug blood finger theAutumu

3 2 MYTHS OF EXPLANATION .

Among the Norsemen i s a tale of Frodi and hi s

quern, to explain the saltness of the sea . Frodi had

a w onderful m i l l w hi ch ground out peace and plenty,

and abundance of gold, so that i t lay strew n l ike

pebbles everyw here . Fu l l of avar ice w as Frodi , and

he compel led hi s maid- servants to grind night and

day, unt i l out of al l patience and de sperate, they

began to grind out a d i fferent product ,— hatred and

w a r. A mighty sea - rover came. w ho slew Frodi ,

seized the mil l and the servants, put ou t to sea , and

bade them grind out salt. They ground the ship fu l l

and sank it, and the sea ful l . The quern w as

lost, but the sea remains sal t to this hour . Accord

ing to one version , the quern i s st i l l grinding and

keeps the sea salt, and the place w here the ship sank ,

i s marked by the maelstrom .

By a prett ier myth the music of the ocean i s ao

counted for in the Finnish epic . W a inamoinen

caught a pike that w as sw imming below a w aterfal l

and constructed a harp of i ts bones, as Hermes made

hi s lyre of the tortoise shel l . Unfortunately he

dropped this instrument into the sea and lost i t ; i t

came into the possession Of the sea gods, and this ao

counts for the music of the ocean upon the beach.

Somew hat so w e have i t that O rpheus and hi s lyre

w ere throw n upon the shore at Lesbos, impart ing

thei r musical qual i t ies to the Lesbians.

The Austral ians bel ieve the seven sister Pleiades a

VARIOUS NATURAL PHENOMENA . 33

g roup of girls playing to a corroboree, and the starsin O rion’s bel t y oung men dancing a corroboree.

The Esquimaux cal l these stars the Lost Ones, and

they describe how they w ere seal-hunters andmissed

thei r way home ; indeed al l the stars they th ink in

Old times were men and an imals, afterw ard taken up

into the sky .

* L ike bel iefs w e probably carry in

remin iscence in the names by w hich w e st i l l designate the constel lations. Fables abound describ ing

the t ransformation of certain pe rsons into stone, based

a pparent ly upon the fancied resemblance of certa in

rocks and “standing stones to the human figure.

Thus in the Pe rseus myth, the Gorgon’

s head i s sai d

to have turned al l w ho looked upon i t into stone in

the Scand inavian myths giants and dwarfs were trans

muted by the rising sun into stone ; and l ike things

a re told in Quiche legend of ancient animals pet

r ified. O f the same o rigin presumably is the legend

in Hebrew of Lot ’s w i fe converted into a p il lar of

sal t.

Meteorites and stone ce l ts found in various places

a re explained as thunder-stones and thunder-axes,thought to be dropped dow n w i th the l ightning.

This i s st i l l bel ieved in regard to the“thunder-axes”

in the west of England, in Bri ttany and the Shetland

Isles. In Japan the stone arrow -heads are thought

to be rained dow n from heaven, or dropped by flying

Tylor.Prim. Culture, I . 268.

34 MYTHS OF EXPLANATION .

spiri ts who shoot them, whi le in Europe they are elf

bolts, shot by fairies or magic ians.

The rainbow in N orse mythology i s described as

B if- rost, the t rembling bridge, t imbe red of three

hues,’

w hereon passed the heroes to the Skies ; to the

Greek it w as the personal I ris, or the road or bridge

upon w hich that messenger w i th flashing feet passed ,

bearing commun ication from the gods to men. In

the German fo lk- lore to-day it i s the bridge w hereon

the sou ls of the just are led by the i r guardian spiri ts

to paradise. Among the Shoshones, as w e saw , i t i s

conce ived a monstrous serpent ; among the Finns,

the bow of Thiermes the Thunderer, w herew i th he

shoots and slays the sorcerers ; among the Esthoni

ans, i t i s the sickle of one of the i r de i t ies, and the

Kamchadals say i t i s the hem of Bi lluka i’

s garment.

In the Norse mytho logy again i t i s the necklace or

girdle w orn by the g oddess Freya.

Such conce its and sto ries are to be found all over

the w orld, and espec ial ly among rude and barbarous

or sem i-civi l ized races. They appear to have been

framed and accepted in good faith, sincerely bel ieved

in by those among whom they w ere told , as relat ions

of actual fact. I t seems hard to persuade one’

s se lf

that the Finn cosmogoni sts cou ld actual ly have

thought that the w orld w as one huge egg , the sky the

shel l, and the yolk the earth, or that the H indus ever

real ly supposed that the w orld stood on a turtle ’

s

FINNISH AND NORSE COSMOGONY. 3 5

back, or the Norsemen that the sky w as the Sku l l Of'

the giant Ymer, the earth hi s flesh and the rocks his

bones.

* Of course it is impossible to determine howfar these relat ions w ere taken a s verit ies, but doubt

less every one of us can recal l in early chi ldhood

l ike dreams of fancy w hich seemed real tru th.

M ention ha s already been made'

of the ea rlv

chi ld be l ief of the w inter in regard to the thunder ;another fancy equal ly gratu i tous and more ab su rd ,he remembers for a w hi le to have he ld as fact

,

that w e w ere al l l iving in some huge body, that , l ike

a human be ing, bore, nourished us, and carried us

about. In the so i l Of such think ing have grow n up

these myths .

“ These ‘natural phi losophers,

’

says .

Mr. Ke l ly, Speaking of the early Aryans, had in fu l l

*Ymer seems, how ev er , originally to hav e meant sea,—the word being ’

akin to the Latinmare—and the whole thing may hav e been at the beginning rather a uplayful conceit, than a serious beli ef. the story tellinghow all came from one matter, or the cosmos fromchaos. So w i th reference to the turtle. there is probab i lity in the v iew that the name of thisanimal w as first gi v en as a symbol of the w orld, the upper shell representing the sky , the tortoi se shell, the image of the dappled concav eof the cloudy sky .” saysRuskin.—the under Shell the earth, and the body '

betw een the two the atmosphere which connects them. After a time i tcame to be tabled that the w orld i tself rests on the turt le’s back. Or,

possibly a more subtle conception sti ll lay at the foundation of thi s represcutation. Perhaps the Hindus, who w ere a v ery thoughtful and poeticalpeople, designed to signi fy the utter futili ty of attempting to name thebasi s upon whi ch the w orld reposes. The Finnish conception of the egg

w i thal seems to bear a near relation to the Egyptian idea expressed inthei r Orphicmyth of the cosmic egg, fromw hich by i ts breaking heav enand earth w ere formed, the upper

.

half becoming heav en, and the low erhalf earth. See Cooper, SerpentMy ths,p. 17, Note.

136 MYTHS OF EXPLANAT ION .

perfect ion the facul ty that i s g iven to chi ldhood , o f

mak ing ev erthing out of anything, and of bel ieving

with a large and impl ici t fai th in i ts ow n creations.

Of cou rse, when the fancy w as once set l oose upon

these w eird and extravagant stories, there w as no

l imi t to thei r possible enlargement and transforma

tion. They w ou ld be embe l l ished, changed, turned ,without end. This is abundant ly i l lustrated in the

myths, say among the Greeks, and e special ly w e

see i t in the nursery tales. Here the variations and

refract ions are innumerable . The l ight fleecy clouds

were conce ived as mermaids, or as sw an-maidens,

a nd they become the V a lkyr iurs ( Choosers) of

the Norse mythology. They hover over battle

fields, choosing the sou ls Of heroes they w i l l

bear to Valhal la. These again became in part

the o riginal of the conception of ange ls as p ic tured

to us, w omen in flow ing w hi te robes, w i th large w ings,com ing to convey the dying to glory. And various

stories a re to ld of the sw an-maidens, somet imes

secu red by men for wives, in case the i r captors w ere

a ble to take them at a t ime w hen they had la id off

the ir swan-dress. But i t alw ays behooved the bus

band to maintain strict w atch over that d ress, keep

ing i t in concealment, for i f the w i fe should Chancet o g et eye on i t again, she w ould fly into i t and soar

a w ay in an instant, leaving husband a nd chi ldren,nev er to return .

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A38 MYTHS OF EXPLANATION .

may be classed under this head, i s the confusi on, the

~deception,w emight say , that comes from the same, or

even a l ike name, to describe tw o and these qui te differ

ent objects ; Homonymy, as phi l ologists term i t. W e

see the germ of such mytho logy in our ow n languag e ,

i n the confusion introduced in the mind by mispro

nunc iat ion of certain w ords. Thus i t i s not unfre

q uently the case that one w i l l hear eng ine pronounced

z’

nj un, and present ly this piece Of mechanism w i l l

come to be regarded as i n some sor t a person, or at

least as tak ing i ts name from some supposed resem

blance to an American Indian. S cions w ill be pro

nounced science,aspa ragus, spa r row

-

g rass, etc. Sw e et

heart, according to Professor Max M il ller, w as or igi

nal ly sw eet-ard, the second syl lable the same a s w e

have in drunkard, blinkard, e tc . , and contracte d

from the German hur t,Gothic ha ro’u, meaning strong.

The l i teral sense of sw ee t-heart therefo re i s a very

sw eet person“

; but in the fo rm the w ord has taken ,

w e have indicated a bit of mytho logy .

Among the American Indians the term Michabo ,l i teral ly the Great Whi te One, means also i n some

c onnections the Great Hare, and so manifo ld tales

have sprung up in the attempt to explain w hy thi s

a ppel lat ion should have been used for the supreme .

So a l ike i l lusion in Greece w a s due to the impression

that Zeus Lyka ios, l i terally the ‘ L ight One,’

w as Zeus

Lupine, from the resemblance ofLuhaz'

os toLuhos. A s

INDUCTIONS FROM FALSE ETYMOLOGY. 39

Phoibos Lykegenes, l iterally offspring of l ight, w as

supposed wolf-born, simply from the mistake madein interpret ing the name. A horrid tale sprang up

about a certa in Lykaon, King of Arkad ia, invit ing

Zeus to d inner and serving up for him a dish of

human flesh, i . e . , his ow n offspring, the frui ts of the

e arth, and the terrible punishment that he suffered at

the hand Of the god in consequence . SO there arose

a b it of mytho l ogy, i t is said,abou t the conste l lat i on

w e cal l the Great Bear, from the confounding of the

name Of the constel lat ionArhtos, in the Greek, or R ik

sha in Sanscrit, viz . , the Bright One, the Shiner, w i th

the name applied to the bear, rz'

hsha also, so cal led

perhaps from hi s shin ing or fuscous coat . In using

the w o rd Arc tic, Antarctic, etc . , w e are unconsciously

keeping up a rem in iscence of that early i l lusion that

took place probably before the Aryan separation .

There a re modern examples Of the same m isunder

ing and i l lusion . One st rik ing examp le i s the Engl ish prove rb, “ To know a haw k from a handsaw ,

”

w hich origina l ly w as to know a haw k from a hern

saw ,a k ind of heron .

* In Germany the word usu

al ly employed for delug e i s Sflndfluth, w hich i s pop

ula rly supposed to be l i terally sin-flood, w hereas the

original term i s sz'

nfluot, the great flood . Such ln

stances abound everywhere ; they are found in the

O ld Testament, as for example in the interpretat ion

Mii ller.Science ofLanguage, 2d Ser ies, 5 52.

MYTHS OF EXPLANAT ION.

g iven the termMoses,‘the draw n out,

’

on the suppo

sitiou that i t w as a Hebrew w ord instead of anEgyp

t ian.I t seems plainly Egyptian, the term there mesu

signifying chi ld or boy .

*

In the days of S i r Francis D rake i t w as popu larly

supposed that the w orld w asmade up of two paral le l

planes, the one lying at some distance from the other.

I t w as also common ly said that S i r Franc is had

shot the Gulf,"the mean ing be ing that his sh ip had

turned over the edge of one plane, the upper, and

passed into the w aters of the other . “There i s,

says Mr. Davis G i lbert, “ an o ld picture of D rake at

Oxford,represent ing him ho lding a pisto l in one hand,

which in former years the man w ho acted as showman

to strangers w as w ont to say ( st i l l improving upon

the story) , w as the very p isto l w i thwhich S i r Francis

shot the gulf.”f

Mythology in this kind does often, but not always

involve the person ification w e have spoken of. In

deed ev erthing may become mythol ogy ; there i s no

language safe from this possible refract ion and the

various i l lusions i t impl ies and entai ls.

See Gesenius’ M ummsub w oe.

ones’ Oredutmes Past and Present, p. 4.Somewhat simi larly the story of Dick W hi ttington and hisCat, fami liar

to the childhood ofus all. i s said to hav e orig ina ted. In the fourteenthand beginning of the fifteenth centuri es, trading or buying and selling ata profi t, w as known to the more educated classes inEngland under theFrench name acha t. Thi s as pronounced.w as soon probably confoundedw ith the term a cat. Di ck Whittington was a successful tradesmen. ac

quired his wealth by aoha t, and so erewhi le the tale sprang up of hi s

great fortune acquired through the wonderful cat. Thi s, as accountingfor the story, has been suggested , and the explanation seems not improbable.

III.

MYTHS ARISING FROM METAPHOR .

But a w i der, and fa r more interest ing, instruct i ve

source of mythology, or rather occasion perhaps, i s

found in that o ther disposi t ion of the human mind ,w hich incl ines to read the w orld in symbol , and de

scribe by trope or metaphor . I t may be , i t i s, in many

cases, difficult or impossible to draw the l ine and de

termine confidently w hich i s of the one and w hich

of the o ther, w hether the relat ion i s the statement of

w hat w a s supposed a l i tera l fact, or i s the language

original ly of imagery. W e may never be able to

determine this, as i t l ies qu i te out of our power to

throw ourse lves even into the condit ion of our ow n

chi ldhood, much more that of humani ty.

But of some w e can certainly say that thev belong

to symbol ism. There w ere poets in the olden t ime ,

and the oldest . There i s more of th is e lement than

w e should naturally suppose, in rude races. School

craft says of the savages of North America, There

i s always something actual or physical to ground an

Indian fancy on .

”And of the rude K irgis, the Rus

(41)

4 2 MYTHS ARISING FROM METAPHOR.

sians in Siberia l istening amazed to their endless

poet ic improvisation, said, “Whatever these peop le

see, gives b irth to fancies.

" It attaches more or less

to all people in l ike condi tion, and the same goes on

in h igher grow th and highest. For the poet is the

maker, he stands for the loftiest type, or percept ive

and creat ive power. Of the best c ivi l izat ion he i s

the best frui t. And for ages to come i t shal l be so .

Nothing so marks a man, says Emerson, “as

imaginat ive expression. W e inst inctively del ight

in a fine image or simi l i tude. Here l ies the charm of

speech, the pow er in al l style or discou rse.

“The

creation of every word, says Max Mii ller,—he i s

speak ing of the G reeks, w as or ig ina lly a poem,

embodying a bold metaphor or a bright concept ion.

"

Language carries us more and more to this a s w e

penetrate to the fi rst meanings. Day, sun, star,moon, earth, man, parent, house, daughter, etc., each

had an appellative or desc riptive sense, as day, the

bright or shining one ; sun, the begetter ; moon the

measurer or meter of time, etc. And in instances,

that sense i s highly p icturesque and poetic. Therew as constantly impersonation, and d ist inct ion of sexin everything. In some ancient languages, as in

Hebrew and Sanscrit for example, w e see to-day that

there is no neuter gender, al l nouns are mascul ine or

feminine.

There are cases that seem very plainly those of

SYMBOLISM AMONG SAVAGE RACES. 4 3

symbol ism in savage races ; everywhere w ith those

of higher cu lture they come more and more abun

dant . The Aztecs painted the earth as a w oman w ith

countless breasts. So the Greeks represented D iana

of Ephesus, and the Egyptians thei r Isis, a s having

many breasts. W e st i l l speak ofnature as ourmother,the universal mother. Thei r fi re burns forever,

”

w as the Algonquin figure of speech, to express the

immortal i ty of the i r gods.

“ The god of fire,”say

the Aztecs, w hich is in the centre of the court

with fou r w alls, and w hich i s covered w i th gleaming

feathers l ike unto w ings “ dark sayings of the

priests,”says Mr. B rinton, referring to the gl itter

ing l ightning fi re borne from the four quarters of the

earth.

The Qu i che legends tel l of the ‘ four men w ho

w ere first created by the Heart of Heaven, Hurakan,the air in motion. They w ere infini tely keen of eye

and sw i ft of foot,“ they measured and saw al l that

exists at the four co rners and the four angles of the

sky and the earth,”but they did not fulfi l the design

of the i r maker “ to bring forth and produce when

the season of harvest w as near,”unti l he blew into

thei r eyes a cloud,“unti l the i r faces w ere obscured

as w hen one breathes on a m i rror.”

them of w ives the fou r mothers of our species,whose names were Fal l ing Water, Beautiful W ater,Water of Serpents and Water of Bi rds.

’

Then he gave

MYTHS AR I SING FROM METAPHOR .

M ichabo,or Manibozho, the Great Whi te One, i s

grandson of the moon, his father i s the West W ind ,

and his mother, a maiden, dies in giving him b irth a t

the moment of conception. For the moon i s the

goddess of the night ; the Dawn i s her daughter w ho

brings forth the morning and perishes herself in the

act, and the West, the Spi rit of darkness as the East

i s of l ight, precedes and a s i t were, bege ts the latter,

as the evening does the morning.

”

Reference has al ready been made in a former chap

ter to Quetza lcohuatl, the great god of the Toltecs .

He w as the son of Camaxtl i, the sun ( sun of yes

terday ) . H i s mother, a virgin, died at hi s b irth. In

h is chi ldhood he w as cared for by the virgin priest

esses, w ho kept up the sacred fire, emblem of the sun .

He fought the enemies that had risen ag ainst hi s

father, and attacked the temple of the C l oud

Snakes’ mountain where they had bur ied him, and

overcame them. He w as tai l , of w hi te complexi on,pleasant to look upon, w i th fai r hair and bushy

beard, dressed in long flow ing robes.f

He w as the signal benefactor ; the beautifu l landof the Toltecs teemed with fru i t and flow ers

,and hi s

re ign w as thei r Golden Ag e . He w as the founder of

Brinton, M yths of theN cw World, pp. 83, 180.180 theMandans speak of the ir first ancestor as a son of the West,

and whose garb w as always of four mi lk-white wolf skins." Brinton ,

My ths, p . 200.

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46 MYTHS ARISING FROM METAPHOR .

cloud he flashes hi s fiery sw ord and it l ightens.

The N ew Zealanders te l l of Mau i that he catches and

imprisons al l the winds save one, the w i ld West-w ind ;

the others he shuts up in a cavern and rol ls a stone

against the mouth to hold them ; thi s he can on ly

run down sometimes and drive temporari ly into the

cavern . This states in plain language of figu re that

while al l the o ther w inds are held under restraint , the

w i l d West-w ind i s the prevai l ing and strong one .

Maui fished up the land (N ew Zealand ) from the

ocean w i th an enchanted hook . That hook w as

made from the j aw -bone of hi s ow n son, the morn ing

w hom he had slain and w hose eye he had taken and

hung up for the mo rning star ) , and w as smeared w i th

hi s ow n blood . This blood-stained j aw -bone in the

savage fancy i s figu re of the ruddy daw n . The G o ld

Coast negro describes the Heaven a s open ing the

great gate in the morning for the sun.

In A lgonqu in tale the hunter Oj ibw a sees and

w ounds the beaut ifu l red sw an. He w as just abou t

to skin a bear that he had ki l led, w hen hi s attent ion

w as arrested by a phenomenon of ruddy or crimson

appearance that tinged al l the ai r around . Coming

near he saw on the bank of a lake that i t w as a beaut i

ful red sw an, Whose plumage gl ittered in the sun.

He tries al l hi s arrow s upon her long in vain, but

final ly the last of hi s three magic arrow s that had

been hi s father’s, hit the bird. She flapped her w ings

THE RED SW AN OF THE ALGONQUINS. 47

and follow ed the '

sinking sun. He pursues but cannot

find her. He learns that many had seen her pass, but

none w ho had fol low ed had ever returned. Her

father,he finds, w as an old magician w ho had lost his

scalp . Oj ibw a recovers this and places i t on hi s

head ; the old man rejuvenated has al l the freshness

and splendor again of youth. He cal ls f orth the

beau t iful maiden, w ho now i s no longer his daughter,but hi s sister, and bestow s her upon Oj ibw a a s hi s

bride .

Afterw ards upon a time Oj ibw a j ourneyed aw ay, and

visi ted the land of spir i ts ; he saw the bright w estern

region w here dw e l l the good, and the dark and

drear abode of the w icked. Whi le thus from home

he w as informed that hi s brethren w ere contending

for the possession of his w i fe. He w andered long,

endured many hardships, but final ly returned to hi s

home , and w i th his magic arrow s slew al l the w icked

sui tors. H is explo i ts parallel those of the Greek

Odysseu s. I t i s a myth of the sun-set, and the t e

covered, w edded daw n . Longfe l low has fel t the

Spi rit and expressed it w el l in one of hi s Indian

poems. This symbolism, rising not seldom to great

est beauty, i s present among al l races, even the rudest.

But richer, more varied and suggest ive, do w e find

in the eastern w orld, and especially among the

Greeks, that race who w ere the most generously

4 8 MYTHS AR ISING FROM METAPHOR .

gifted, most clear-see ing, qu ick -w i tt'

ed , impressible ,

and Spontaneously responsive, Of al l the peoples of

antiqu ity.Nowhere else do w e find such a bloom

as this. There i s much also in the H indu and Norse

mytho logy that fal ls litt le behind the Greek .

Odin , the Norsemen said , w andered over the earth

in a blue c loak , i . e . the sky .

“ Odin and Frigg,”says

the Edda, “ divide the Slain,— the Sky

-god rece ives

the breath, the earth-goddess the body . N ight and

Day each a re drivers, mounted on the i r car, with

sw i ft steed attached. N ight drives fi rst, her steed

named Dew -ha i r ; and the dew in the morning i s the

Shin ing foam dropped from hi s bit as hi s journey i s

done . Day drives Shining-hai r, and the l ight of hi s

mane causes earth and Sky to gl isten.

The sun’

s l ife, said the Greeks, o r as the myth

stated it, the l ife of Me leag ros, depends upon the

durat ion of a burn ing brand .

— Ask1epia s has heal th

as his spotless br ide , and Panake ia , A l l-Heal , w as

his daughter.— Prometheus c reates man by mak

ing a c lay image, and infusing into i t a spark of

fire w hich he had brought from heaven With

S imi lar purport the Babylon ian legend relates that

Be lus, the supreme god, cut Off his ow n head, that the

blood flow ing from i t m ight be mixed w i th the dust

*Ancient traditi ons among the old Slav onians Spoke of the soul as aspark ofheav enly fire, kindled by the thunder-god .

THE ORIG IN OF MAN . 49

o ut of w hi ch man w as to be made . In other w ords

man i s of divine blood and birth ; w e also a re hi s Off

Spring. In the Egyptian ri tual i t i s dec lared tha t thesunmu t i lated himself, and from the stream Ofhi s b lood

c reated al l be ings. The same thought i s declare d in

the my tho logy of the Pimas, Mexico . The earth

they say , w as made by Chiow otmahke, i . e ., ea rth

prophet . In the beginning it appeared but as the

spider ’s w eb Stretching across the nothingness that

w as . Earth-prophet flew over a ll lands, ti l l he found

the place best fitted for the mak ing Of man. Then“the Creator took c lay in hi s hand, and mixing it

w i th the sw eat of his ow n body, kneaded the w hole

into a lump . Then he blew upon the lump ti l l i t w a s

fi l led w i th l i fe, and began to move ; and i t became

man and

In the Norse legend it i s said that Freyr,—w ho i s

here the ve rnal sun, o r Spring,— w ooed Gerda, name

that signifies earth. Looking one day from the

seat of Odin, w hich i s cal led a i r - throne, out into

Giant land far in the nor th, he saw a l ight flashing

forth, a s the aurora l ights upthe w intry Sky . He saw

that a maiden w ondrously beautifu l, had just opened

her father ’s door, and this w as her beau ty w hich

shone ou t over the snow . Freyr determined to send

to the fai r one and w oo her to be hi s wife . He dis

patched Ski rn i r to carry his sui t, but for al l Ski rn i r’

s

H . H . Bancroft, W orks, III. p. 78.

50 MYTHS ARISING FROM METAPHOR.

pleading she would not l isten. Sk irn i r had‘

been

furnished w ith Freyr 'smagic sword ( the sun'

s rays) ;

he drew this and threatened to take the l ife of Gerda,unless she granted the request . Gerda yielded and

consented to meet Sk irnir n ine nights thereafter in

the wood of Barri . In the n ine nights w e have typi

fied here, as appears, the nine w inter months of the

northern year ; the name Barri signifies the green

and as Skirnir meets Gerda fi rst in the budding

woods, the marriage of the sun and earth, the fruit

ful spring-t ime, has come.

This magic sword plays conspicuous part in many

myths. I t i s the same w i th the unfai l ing arrow of

Phoibos Apol lon ; of Te l l , the infal l ible archer ;sword of Perseus and S igurd ; the stou t blade Du

randal of mediaeval romance ; the brand Excal ibur,wh ich King Arthur aIOne of al l the barons unfixed

from the m iraculous stone. In l ike conception it i s

said of Hymir, the great giant in NOrse, his grey

beard ful l Of hoar frost,” that he spl its pil lars w ith

the very glance of his eye.

” Bohemian and S l ovak

stories tel l of a giant named Sw ift-eye, w hose ardentglances set on fire whatever thev al ight upon, and

generally be is obliged to wear bandages over his

eyes, lest their ray dest roy al l things ; the Servianstel l of the mysterious V i i beneath whose glance menand whole ci ties are consumed to ashes,— personifi

cat ion here of the l ightn ing. Roland’s blade had

THE MAGIC SW ORD. 5 1

such marvel lous vi rtue that i ts owner cou ld cleavethe Pyrenees in tw ain at a single blow.

Odin has for his bride the beau tiful Freya. He

sets out on hi s w anderings ; she Sheds gold-gleaming

tearS,— the bright g learns seen shooting upacross the

morning sky . The chi ld born of th is pair i sHnossa,

the jew e l, —the w orld beaming, radiant, with beauty.

Equal ly clear poetic sense w e find in the tales of“

Pan, lover Of Syrinx ; Selene kissing Endymion intosleep ; Orpheus recovering hi s l ost Spouse Eurydike

( the daw n) , and l osing her in an instant by an incau

t ious glance of the eye upon her ; Pan w ooing P itys,and Bo reas jealous of Pan, casting Pitys dow n from

a rock ; Apo l lon loving and embracing Daphne,.

w ho fl ies from hi s arms and i s changed into a laurel

t ree . Pan, the gentle breeze,— the puri fying or sweep

ing w ind, as its etymology indicates—plays upon

the reeds by the river ’s bank, and this possibly at

some t ime gave the suggest ion that ripened into the

shepherd ’s pipe ; hence as the poet puts i t, Syrinx

w as t ransmuted to a reed . O r, again, Pan wooed

P i tys, the pine-tree, but Boreas, the north w ind, in a

fi t of j ealousy hurled Pitys dow n from a rock .

Daphne, the daw n, trembl ing and fleeing from the

rising sun, w as changed to a laurel tree . Here is

mythology that comes from Homonymy, for in the

Greek the name for laurel, Daphne, i s the same as

5 2 MYTHS ARISING FROM METAPHOR.

that Of this nymph, and hence the fable came to be

that Daphne w as transmuted to a laurel t ree.

“

This last tale Shows how fru i tfu l w as the imagina

t ion, and how l ikely the fancy w as to run riot , and

spin all sorts of fables, w hen i t w as once set l oose in

this realm. The field of Greek mythology and

Roman too, seems a labyrinth, a confused jungle.

I t i s qu i te impossible at this l ate day, t o unfold and

explain all the strang e and w anton concei ts, the

qu i rks of fancy, the ficti ons and fabrications and

strange distortions of busy imaginat ion. And many

of them appear utterly i rreso lvable. But w e have

certainly found the spec tra Of a number of these di s

tant stars, and discover that the same e lements enter

into them with which w e a re fami l iar in our world of

e very day fact.

Thor once visited Jdtunheim, the home of the

giants,“

and w as invited there to take Share i n the

games going on. A drink ing-horn w as handed him,

w hich he noticed w as rather long, tapering at the

smal l end a good way, but he thought he cou ld easi ly

exhaust it. Try hi s best, he could only lower thel iqui d a l ittle ; he w as baffled, disappointed . But

this he found w as the sea , and at utmost i t cou ld only

be made to ebb sl ight ly. He w as invited to l ift a cat

that he saw before him. By dint of hardest effort he

SeeMaxMuller, Chips, II . 162.

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MYTHS ARISING FROM METAPHOR .

smart, he seizes Lichas, the i l l-fated bearer of the

garment, and dashes him into the sea . He crosses

over to Trachys, goes to Mount O i ta, w here hi s pi le

i s raised, the robe w hich c l ings all the more closely ,

the more he tries to tear i t ofi'

, takes fi re and con

sumes him. Through the c rimson clouds and vapors

the dying hero i s seen struggling w i th the i rritating,

e ating, burning garment, unt i l at last he expires in

the flameS, Io le, perhaps the vio let-colored evening

vc louds, be ing hi s last be loved,”Says Professor

Mil ller. He rises to the seats of the immortals, him'Sel f an immo rtal now , and Hebe, the goddess of

y outh, becomes hi s bride .

In the Veda the mo thers ‘

w eave a coat for the i r

b right sons ’ ; Penelope pl ies at her loom upon the

w eb that i s never fin ished, the clouds ; and in the

Finnish poet ry “the fai r vi rgins of the ai r, the rich

and gorgeous sun, the gentle beam ing moon,

” “w ove

w i th the go lden shutt le and the Si lver comb .

" This,the c louds, w as the garment that envelops the dying

hero. The death w as l ike the departure of Quetzal

cohuatl on Mount O rizaba, l ike that of the he ro inBeow u l f, w ho, as the historians say , burnt by the sea

s hore , w ana’to zooloum,

”— curled to the c louds. He

w ho from a mountain summit,”says Mr . Cox ,

“l ooks

dow n in soli tude on the long Shadow s a s they creep

over the earth, w hi le the sun sinks dow n into the

purple mists which deaden and surround hi s splen

THE TENDON OF ACHILLEUS. SS

dors, cannot Shake Offthe fee l ing that he i s l ook ingon the consc ious struggle of depart ing l ife.

"

Achi lleus w as invulnerable in all parts save the

hee l. Th is hero seems indubitably to have been the

solar dei ty, and as in the case of Baldur, S iegfr ied,Rustem, etc., could be w ounded only in one pla ce.

The heel here i s symbo l ic, indicating that he is v ulnerable only from behind.

* So Ba ldur fal ls struck

by a dart from hi s bl ind bro ther Hddr the darkness) .

S iegfried i s wounded by Hagene ( the thorn) in the

spo t between his shou lders w here the broad l inden

leaf had stuck when he w as bathing himsel f in the

d ragon'

s blood, by which he w as made in all other

points invulnerable.

The G reek explanation corresponding to the

N orse, i s that Thetis w hen she plunged her infant in

the bath of fire, left one po int, that at wh ich she he ld

him by the hee l, untouched by theJflame, and there

fore he w as vu lnerable here . That this Thet is the

mother w as a lso a sea -nymph i s significant , for from

the midst of the sea rises the new -born sun. The

death of the sun is also connected w i th the water in

So in the Algonquin myth of the Summer-maker who had brokenthrough the sky into the heav en-land beyond, and brought down to earththe w armw inds, the bi rds and the summer, it is sai d that. pursued by thedwellers in heav en, he w as at last w ounded by their arrows in his onevulnerable spot, v iz., in the ti p of the ta i l. The shining Mani tu and

Kwasind also could be wounded only in one place, in the scalp or thecrown of the head.

56 MYTHS ARISING FROM METAPHOR.

innumerable myths. In the Northern Lay, S iegfried

is shot through the back , as he Stoops dow n to drink

at the spring whi ther Hagen has led him .

Athene, the Greeks said, sprang fu l l-grow n from

the forehead Of Zeus, w hich had been cleft by He

phaistos. The daw n bu rsts from the forehead of the

Sky . And Hephais‘tos i s here a name for the young

sun w hich, r ising every morning, c leaves that fore

head . Eu rope ( the w i de-faced)— the dawn —i s taken

and borne aw ay by the w hi te bu l l , the Spot less cloud

or more properly perhaps, the S i lver l ight,* and car

ried to a new home in Crete, the Weste rn land .

Pho ibos Apollon, bathed at hi s birth by the god

desses in pure w ater, w rapped in a gl i sten ing robe,

fine and neatly w rought, and his l ips touched w i th

the drink and food Of the gods, armed now w i th such

strength that the sw addl ing bands fe l l Ofl"

him l ike

flax , and go ing forth Ov er the w o rld to teach to men

the counse ls of Zeus,— carr ies no doubtfu l mean ing

the m ind . In the w ork he executes, he rem inds

strongly of w hat the To ltecs say of the i r god Quetz

a lcohua tl . For thi s one w as a messenger of l ight

and w isdom.

“ He i s the helper of trave l lers, the

maker Of the calendar, the beginner of h istory,”etc

Perseus, chi ld of the golden show er, son of Zeus

Vrishan,man, bull, stalli on, is in the Veda a frequent appellation of

the sun, and Sv eta , white, i s appli ed to the same dei ty.

MaxMhlier, Chips, I I. 102.

THE STORY OF PERSEUS. 57

and Danae, w as fated to slay his ow n grandsire.

And so the poet makes Akri sios set forth for Lar

issa, Perseus fo l lowing not as a foe, but as a friend.

In the games there he inadvertently k i l ls Akrisios

by a quo i t. He i s thus l ike O idipous, Romulus, Cyrus, and other fated ch i ldren, doomed from birth to

slay their parents or grandsi res. He must needs

j ourney at length to the land of the G ra ia i , the dim

twi l ight, and then pass to the cave of the Gorgons,the night demons. He i s also to be the del iverer of

Andromeda, exposed to the sea -dragon. This seems

t o be a myth of the storm-c loud, seeking to devour

the dawn and blo t out i ts tender l ight. The monster

i s destroyed and the mai den rescued by the brigh t

solar hero .

There are numerous paral lels and analogues to th isin the Greek mytho logy and the mediaeval legends.

And how tenacious the bel ief holds when the my

thology has grown up on one of these tales, i s i l lus

trated in the fact that the scene of this confl ict being

laid near JOppa, vest iges Of the chains that bound

Andromeda were l ong exhibi ted in front of the town,and the bones of the monster w ere carried to Romeby Marcus Scaurus from Joppa. Josephus pretends

to have seen the chains on the rock, and in St.

Jerome ’s t ime the bones w ere st i l l shown near Joppa .

Hermes i s described a s acqui r ing the strength of a

giant wh i le yet a babe in the cradle. He w as an

58 MYTHS AR I SING FROM METAPHOR .

adroit thief, w ould Steal the cattle of Apol lon, the

clouds, and drive them hel ter-Skel ter, then of a sud

den Sl ipp ing through a key -hole, Shrink back w i th a

mock ing laugh into his cradle. He plays hi s lyre ,

charms and forces a laugh from the very face of

Apollon, w hi le the god i s threatening him w i th

severest penalt ies for the theft . He i s a shrew d,

mock ing imp, the cunning devi l that w i l l by force o f

cheek and lying, bring himself off safe , am i d w hat

ever c learest exposu re . This i s a myth of the w ind

god, the morn ing breeze, describ ing the pranks i t

plays in the ai r and among the c louds, anon Shrink

i ng back as through a key -hole to i ts qu iet cradle .

I t furnishes the o riginal for the tale of the Master

Thief. He i s the Devi l in the No rse tale, and the

A rabian Efreet set loose by the fisherman from hi s

glass bottle .

The Achaian fleet w a s deta ined in Au l is, and cou l d

not proceed unti l Iphig ene ia had been Offered a s a

vic t im to the offended A rtem is, i . e . the goddess Of

the moon or n ight . The journey for the abduc ted

He len, the daw n or l ight, cannot begibunt i l the tw il ight haS complete ly faded aw ay . Melampous had

his ears cleansed by serpents,—the serpen t i s often a

symbol of l ife and qu ickening regenerating effec t,and rece ived a new pow er of hearing, SO that he heard

w o rms in t imber as they conversed, and understood

the voices and the songs Of bi rds. And so the Per

BRYNH ILD AND SIGURD. s9

s ians relate of King Solomon, that he w as taught byS imorg ( that most w ise fow l on the summi t Of Mount

Kaf, never seen by morta l, never caught in any to i l)the language of b i rds

,so that he heard secrets when

ever he w ent into hi s gardens.*

In the No rse tale the Valkyrie Brynhi ld, the auror a ldaw n

, or perhaps more properly the fresh l ife of the

w orld that comes in the Spring, w as sto len by the

dragon Fafn i r, and Shu t upin a ca stle on the Glisten

ing Heath,1' unt i l at length S igurd, riding on hi s death

less horse, and w ie lding hi s resistless sw ord Gram ,

forces hi s w ay into the cast le, slays Fafn ir, and de

*Li ke thi ng is sai d of Sigur d in the Volsung tale. He had slain the

serpent Fafnir , and , roasting the heart, touched some drops of i ts bloodto his lips ; he immediately understands the v oices of birds and gains a llw i sdom. So in the story of Ceridw en, three drOps of the bree spirtedout of the boiling Cauldron upon the finger of the li ttle dw arf boy Gw ion.

He rai sed i t to hi s li ps, w hen 10, he had at once the gi ft of all v i si on, andsaw the whole of futuri ty .

!In li kemanner the heroine in the Hindu tale i s descr i bed as lying ina pa lace of glass, surrounded by sev en hedges of Spears. Glass i s a symboli c termmuch used. It seems to refer to the gli stening ice mountains,and the spiculae and icicles, formed in the absence of the sun, 1. e . dur ingthe death or sleep of the earth . The storiesof glassmountains ascendedby knights,” saysMr . Keary , are probably allegoriesof death .

” In the

Kelti c Isle of the Blessed, according to anancient poem, is a palace all ofglass, floating in air and recei v ing w i thin i ts transparent w alls the soulsof the blessed. In the Teutoni c mythology, Holda , goddess of the nighto r under-world , si ts in a mountain of crysta l. In the conception of the

Slav es, the para di se for souls has in i t an immense apple orchard, (gardenof the Hesperi des w i th i ts golden apples? ) in the midst of whi ch ri ses a.

glass rock crowned w i th a golden palace. This rockmust be climbed bythe dead to reach thei r heav en. The Li thuani ans w ere wont to burn thec law s ofw ild beasts w i th the dead to enable themto perform this feat.

6o MYTHS ARISING FROM METAPHOR .

l ivers the Valkyrie . This i s man ifest ly a solarmyth,describing the awakening and rescue of the S leeping

Beauty, the earth, from the prison of w inter by the

k iss of the sun .

Of l ike purpo rt i s the legend of Ceres and Proser

pina, Demeter a nd Persephone —Pe rsephone w an

dering careless w i th her maidens in the Nysian plain,

and plucking flow ers of Spring, crocuses and roses

and fai r violets, and now St retching fo rth her hand to

take a narc issus w hich she saw gleaming, a hundred

flow ers upon a single stem, w hen in a momen t Hades,regent of Hel l, rises in hi s black golden chariot, and

carries her off to the abode of the departed. Deme

ter, the mother, goes over al l lands, mourn ing w i th

l ighted torch, seek ing in vain her lost daughter . At

length, by the hand of Hermes, Pe rsephone i s re

covered from the kingdom of Hades, and restored for

a t ime to the arms of the joying mother.

Perseus armed w i th hi s cap of invisib i l ity, and

w inged sandals,— he had previously passed the land

of the G ra ia i ( the gray tw i l ight or gloam ing) ,attacks and slays the Gorgon . This creature is

represented in the earl ier art a s having a round face,w hich bears a hideous grin from ea r to ea r, broad

cheeks, low forehead, covered w i th a few curl ing and

flattened locks. The face is the fu l l moon, and the

god of day extinguishes that banefu l ogress w ith hi s

sw ord,— the Sinister and fatal influence of the moon

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62 MYTHS ARISING FROM METAPHOR .

into the new Or horned moon,— th is animal being a

wel l know n symbo l Of the new moon,— and placed in

charge of Argos Panoptes, the being w i th a thousand

eyes, i . e . , the starry n ight . In the Arabian N ights

the Starry fi rmament or Sky i s symbol ized as the

sparkl ing val ley of diamonds.

Midas is described a s turning everything he

touched to go ld ; the sun’

s rays gi ld w i th the i r touch

all nature . The Argonauts sai led in quest of the

Golden Fleece,* viz , the bright clouds or the day

sto len aw ay by Phrv xos and Hel le, w ho themselves

a re N iblungs, or chi ldren of the m ist , Nephele . So

probably the tale Of Ix ion, fastened to the blaz ingw heel , and having a treasure into w hich no one cou ld

look and l ive, is an al legory of the Sun, w hi ch to ld

how from the jealousy OfHere , the bright upper a i r orthe ether, that he had the audac i ty to attempt to em

brace , he w as condemned to be fixed to an ever-re

vo lving fiery w hee l .

S isyphos roll ing up the stone that must forever

descend as soon a s i t has reached the summ i t, seems

to have been the sun. The Da idalean labyrinth of

w hich Minotauros w a s guardian,

“the mazes of the

Star-clothed heavens,”says Cox . SO again,

Phoibos

sA reflection of thi s of the Golden Fleece w e hav e probably in the saying current in folk- lore in Suabi a, that i f on a gi v en nati v i ty the cloudsare decoy in the heav ens, then good fortune is portended for the newcomer . See Wutthe,Deutsche Volksabergwube, p. 80.

HERO AND LEANDER . 63

dest roying Echidna, the serpent of darkness, i s pa r

alleled by the account among the anc ient H indus of

Tri ta or Indra throttl ingAhi, the serpent ; among the

Persians, Thraetona conquering Azb i Dahaka ; among

the Norsemen, S igurd Slaying Fafn ir. What an im

pressive allegory of human l ife w i th the power of

supreme, i rreversib le fate presid ing over i ts every

moment from i ts inception to i ts end, in the figu re

of the Mo i rai in the Greek , and the Norns in the

Teutonic mythology. The names of these w e i rd

S isters in the No rse signi fy the three categories of

t ime. Even the gods in the heavens, said Buddha,

are subjec t to this supreme law of being.

The tale of Hero and Leander i s very beaut ifu l ;i t seems to tel l the love and devotion of the sunto

the daw n. N ightly must he plunge through the

waters to reach the beaut ifu l morning ; he mu st

cross the Hellespontos, the track of Hel le . He i s

overcome, dies one night in the fur ious storm, and

through grief for her lost love, Hero casts herse lf

into the w aters. So did Kepha los plunge from the

Leukadian clifi"after the death of Prokr is. The ob

scure re lat ions in regard to the Gorgons and G ra ia i

may have Significance, i f the suggestion of Mr. Ty lo r

Shal l be found to have just ification, viz . that the

Parcae are of common nature with these sister t riads.

Of the three Gorgons, one alone w as mortal , her l ife

these immortal sisters cou ld not save ; for past o r

64 Min us ARISING ruou ME’

PAI'HOR.

future, deathless as they are in themselves, cannot

save the ever dying present . The Gra ia i had between

them but one eye, wh ich they passed upon occasion

from one to ano ther . W as i t the eye of day, the sun,

which past makes over to present, and present to

future ?

Even the tales that seem pueri le, si l ly, o r absurd,

or posi tively savage and revolt ing, have a meaningand some rational sense, when once the key is found

that w ill open the i r secret. Oidipous w as said to

have married his mother. The mo ra l sense of the

Greeks fel t shocked and revolted by this story. But

the name w e find w as a solar designa tion, it meant

the sun. l-l e sprang from the dawn, his mother, and

at (be close of l ife he w as reuni ted to her, or as the

poet put i t, he w as married to hismother. The same

thing i s to ld in the old Hindu mythol ogy. Indra,the sun, born of Dahana, is in the evening twi l ight

married to her. A l ike rational idea w e can fi nd

beneath the other re lat ions, as fo r example, those of

Tantalos roasting his ow n son, or Lykaon placing ameal of human flesh before Zeus, - in bo th cases the

sun, which in a time of drought offers to Zeus theflesh of his ofi

'

spring.

‘r Kronos devou rs hisow n chil

‘ i'i sa Tylor, Mirna/M mCull/w e. I . u. 818.

( this, however, is not to say that the phraseology of these talesmaynot hav e w rung from conditions of li fe fa r more sav age and grossly

brutal tha nany that we know as belonging to the (i i-w its. The argnmertt

ofw riters like Mr. Ami few M ug, that in t he classic mythologies we hav e

KRONOS ouna rxos. 65

d ren and casts them up aga in ; T ime consumes,

devours a ll, yet reproduces all .’

Tis perpetual dest ruc tion and renew al .

Doubt less a l ike significant mean ing w as in the

story of the mut i lated Ouranos, w hose blood, fal l ingupon the sea, produced the beau t ifu l Aphrodite, ch i ld

of the foam , benea th w hose feet the grass sprung upa s she w alked, at w hose side w ent Eros, Love , afterw hom H imeros, Longing, perpetual ly fol low ed ,

on ly w e do not at this d istance see clearly how to

evo lve i t.

The Greek my thology i s a fo rest of such tales, some

of them so much ampl ified, metamorphosed , or re

fracted and travestied, as now to perm i t no recov ery

o f the i r p rope r meaning ; o the rs, bizarre, outré, a nd

g ro tesque , a s they often are, that are sti ll capable of

be ing penetrated and part ly unde rstood. One of the

the surv i va ls, at least the reminiscences, ofmuch tha t belonged to the barbaric. and in many respects rev olting ly brutal life of the ancestors of

those people‘ has much tome, and must be recei ved as gi v ing a pa rt ofthe explanati on of our ri ddle . There is much in Homer that seemsclearly to po int in tha t di recti on. as for instance , in his account of the

methods of wa rfare among the Greeks. Language is ful l of these remin

iscence s. foss il remains and li v ing remains a lso of a far distant past .

Our own tongue, al l the tongues ofmodernEurope, abound w i th analogousexpress ions coming down trom v ery rude ag es . This, howe v er, by nomeans inv olv es any thing inconsi stent w i th the attainment of a true

poeti c concepti on. and the appropriation of thosemate rials for re presenta t ion of a genuine symbolism. among the Greeks not only . but many

races far low er than they upon the plane of development. Indi cations ofthis we shall find farther on even among the Finns. Tartars. and l taoris.

66 MYTHS AR ISING FROM METAPHOR.

most interest ing features of these studies is in not ing

what marvel lous fertil i ty there has been i n the human

mind , how variously i t ha s conce ived in i ts thought s

upon these pow ers and spec tacles in natu re that have

arrested i ts attent ion, and chal lenged some descrip

tion or attempted explanat ion.

O rion, the m ighty hunter, pursues in the under

w orld the phantom animals of the ‘ lone he ights and

w indy hal ls of heaven,

“ armed w i th mighty c lub, a

glow ing torch-mace soon to burn w i th the augmented

Splendors of the daw n ing

The eyes of the dead Argos w ere placed by Here in

the peacock '

s tai l ; this seems a figu re again of the

sky . So among the Mexicans, the American t iger

or the oce lot , dotted over w i th spots, i s appro

priately taken a s symbo l of the sky . The t iger, as

the i r mythology put i t, dest royed the subj ects of

Quetzalcohua tl, i . e ., the night ext inguished the rays

of the sun .f

O rion '

s bel t has been conceived as Frigga 's or

Mary’s spindle, or Jacob ’s stafi'

; among the N ew

Zealanders, the elbow of Mau i . The account al readyment ioned, given by the Iroquo is to explain the

t ints of the autumn fol iage from the dripp ing blood

of the w ounded bear, i s very l ikely one of these

pictures of the imaginati on, and therefore comes

*Brown, GreatDi onysiakM yth, I I, p. 275 .fBrinton,AmericanHero My ths, p . 119 .

TW ILIGHT AND THE DAW N . 6T

p roperly under the head of metaphor . The same

th ing may he true of the Indian’s (A lgonqu in’

s)descript ion of the great Lakes as Michabo ’s Bea ver

dams. W e saw in the myth of the Red Sw an thatthe old Magician had lost hi s scalp ; this w as t e

covered by Oj ibw a and resto red to h im,he stood

renew ed and radiant in al l the freshness of youth .

Reference is made thus to the Sun, father of the Red

Sw an, disc row ned at night, rec row ned and rehab i l i

tated in the morning.

Among the Minussinian Tartars, Katai Khan, w ho

l ived on the coast of the Whi te Sea , had tw o dau gh

ters, Kara Kuruptj u (black thimble) and Kesel

Dj ibak ( red si lk) ,— the evening tw i l ight and the

morning daw n . One w as in league w i th the pow ers

of darkness, and she marries the son of the evi l

hearted sw an w omen, Dj ida r Mos ( bronzen) the

thunder-cloud . The other w as beauti fu l and good,

and oftt imes she r iseth “ in a dress of snow y sw an,”

and w i th the Kuda i ’s daughtersSporteth Kesel Dj i bak ,

Sw imming on the golden lake.

"

The seven Kudai , gods of the Tartars, says

Baring Gould , “are the planets. The Norsemen

said in the i r characterizat i on of Hel, the death g od

dess, dw el l ing in her high and strong-barred house,

and ho ld ing w i th sternest gripe in her w orlds the

sou ls of the dead Hunger i s her dish , Famine i s

her kn ife, Care i s her bed, and Misery her

-68 MYTHS ARISING FROM METAPHOR.

The rude races are by no means destitute of imag

inat ion ; i t is sometimes w i th them as vigorous, as

apt and strik ing as w ith those of highest cul ture .

There are conceptions among Finns and Maoris as

fine as w e see wi th Greeks and H indus.

The very thick of mythology is reached w hen the

original appellative sen se of the words that have

been given as names i s lost and these names a re

conce ived purely as pe rsonal designat ions. When

the last faint consciousness of this descript ion as im

age ry i s gone, when the memory of the fict ion pure

and simple in many cases that lay at the bottom of

certain tales, is ent i rely forgotten. For example,

w hen the Greeks, forgett ing the meaning of the i r

w ord for the supreme,— the resplendence, the sky ,

came to conceive of h im w ho l ly as a monarch, king

of al l the gods, and si tt ing on mount O lympos ; or

w hen they came to bel ieve that Daphne w a s t rans

mi tted into the laurel t ree , be l ieved and taught this,and let loose the re ins of w i ld fancy upon i t, increas

ing all the t ime the obscuration, then the p rocess of

decay, and w e may add of i l lusion and demoral ization,

had w el l set in. The beginning w a s made that led to

unending stult ifica tion a nd bew i tchment.

Any thing may become the occasion of mytho logy,any figu rative or me taphorical expression taken in

the le tter, wil l prove that stumbl ing block . Therei s an Arabic proverb that every man’

s fate is w ritten

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7 0 MYTHS ARISING FROM METAPHOR.

dwe l l at the very gates of the realm of myth. Ex

pressions l ike these w e not seldom meet — Day has

oped the eyes ofni ght‘ Jocund morn stands t ip-toe

o n the misty mountain tops.

’ Byron says

Mont Blanc i s the monarch of mounta ins,They crowned him long ago,

On a throne ofrocks in a robe of cloud,W i th a diadem of snow ;

Around hi s w a ist are forests braced,The av alanche in his hand .

An Indian poet sings

Seemed as themountain in a lov ing graspRaised hi gh his peaks the Sky’s fair zone to clasp .

And Bryant speak ing of the hurricane

And hi s huge and w ri thing arms w ere bentTo grasp the zone of the firmament.”

Such expressions might i n cer tain stages of the

human m ind g ive rise to mythology.

And especial ly i s the mischief sure and radical

w hen the most purely abstract concept ions, or phe

nomena strictly physical , are so c lo thed in person

al ity that they seem, a re taken, as veritable persons.

In this w ay sprang up the gods of the pantheon, a

numerous fami ly, of mult ipl ied and very various

progeny, and w ith such persistence, such tenaci ty

of l ife as no other race that ever appeared on the

planet has possessed.

Dark superstitions have taken root and grown up,

many that have rested l ike a withering bl ight and

BLIGHTING SHADOW S OF MYTHOLOGY. 71

n ightmare upon the human m ind. The z'

mubz'

and

succubz‘

of the m iddle ages, the vampires of the S lav ons

to-day that l ike huge bats come and si t upon the

unconsc i ous sleeper and suck hi s blood and l ifea w ay, a re notmore dreadfu l than these horrid spect res

that have so haunted ; indeed they are of that same

brood. The disposi t ion has ever appeared to dw el l

in the sin ister, to w orship the sombre, the gloomy,the harm- inflicting pow ers, or in other cases to offer

a t the shr ine of the foulest sensual ism. And the

grossest of paganisms have sprung up and luxuriated

on this pro l ific soil.

There i s less of th is e lement, part icularly of the

first ment ioned type, in the Greek than in most other

mythologies,— i t i s said to be doubtfu l that the god

Thanatos w a s eve r represented in Greek art , and

Herakles, as w e saw , i s depicted a s having struggled

Victo ri ously w i th death itself, —yet i t i s by no means

absent there. The early Aryans also , w ere in the

main, w o rshippers of l ight, and the sinister aspec ts,

the dark pow ers, come l i tt le to the foreground . But

w i th many races, w i th al l savages and barbarians,

this side i s not only represented, i t i s predominant .

And i t opens the w ay to al l types and forms of supe r

stit ions and degrading w i tcheries. These abundant ly

appear in the rel igions of the red races in America,

the Maoris, &c . Nay, other fai ths, and those occupy

ing prominent place in the history of c ivi lizat ion

72 MYTHS ARISING FROM METAPHOR .

and re l igions, Hebrew and Christ ian, have not been ,

a re not, free from this dark and bl ight ing shadow .

The sinister and malevolent pow ers or forces per

sonified have unequivocal posi tion in the bel iefs of

Christendom. I t i s the mytho logy which i s not

purged out,and st i l l rears i ts structu res of terror to

paralyze and enslave the sou l. The myth-mak ing

facu lty has been busv , fi l l ing the realm of the unseen

w ith spectres, peopl ing the universe w i th person

a lit ies, many of them a s tru ly Gorgons, Ogres,demons, as any that w ere ever conce ived in the past,or ru le to-day in the South Seas. The dread-ful

pow er of these n ightmares, grim ghosts of the im

ag inat ion, to st ifle and thro ttle the best l ife of the

sou l , cannot be exaggerated .

IV .

HEROIC LEGENDS.

It w ou l d be very interest ing to trace the stories,myths, in thei r transformations and the ir various ad

ventures a s they g o dow n in history and spread over

the w orld . Something of this has already been seen

in the last chapter, but there i s much more than cou l d

there be t ouched upon . They are very tenacious of

l ife, and they survive long, turn ing up in shapes and

places w here w e least expec t them. The human

m ind tends ever to local ize and individual ize ; i t

l ikes the concrete, the tangible and determinate, and

hence almost al l the sto ries, many of them at least,have been attached to some historic person, been

made to do duty in some spec ific history. Herakles

must bel ong to the royal fami ly of Argos, must beleader of the Herakleida i , go through tw elve morta l

labors, &c . There may have been an Endymion King

of E l is, and there must in al l p robabil ity have been

an Achi lleus, a great mi l itary Chieftain among theGreeks .

The story of S igurd, Brynhi ld, and the N iflungs, i sh istoricised in the N ibelungen Lay ; personages

(73)

74 HEROIC LEGENDS .

know n to history have been w oven into the narrative .

The story of Hamlet i s founded in a myth from the

Norse, and the l ike fact ho lds in al l p robabi l i ty with

the I l iad of Homer, in i ts relation to o ld Greek or

Aryan mytho logy. Language ha s been aptly cal led

by R ichter, A dictionary of faded metaphors.

” So,as John Fiske fel ic i tously expresses i t, these poems

may be characterized a s embodying ‘ faded natu re

The disgu ises, metamorphoses and inver

sions are, have been, so deep , that the real germ and

kerne l at bottom long since ceased to be suspected .

The gods of anc ient mythology, says Prof. Max

M ii ller,“w ere changed into the demigods and heroes

of anc ient epic poetry ; and these dem igods ag ain

became at a later age the principal characters of our

nursery tales.

’ Again The divine myth becomes

an heroic legend , and the heroic legend fades aw ay

into a nursery tale . Our nursery tales have been

w el l cal led the modernpatoz'

s of the anc ient sacred

mytho logy of the Aryan race .

”

In the old Vedic mytho logy w e find the Ribhus,the w inds or the summer breezes, are de ified, and

as they w aft the smoke of the sac rifices to heaven,they a re addressed as assisting at the sac red offerings,but in a later age, w hen the i r real signification w as

lost, they w ere anthropomorphized into a sac red

caste of priests. Wunsch (W ish or Will ) figures in

Chips, I I, 247, 263

H ISTORIC INTERMINGLED W ITH MYTHIC . 75

the mythology of Northern Europe, and to i t the

poets of the th i rteenth century assign hands, eyes,knowledge, blood, passions, &c. In olden t imes men

must have said as they stood w i tnessing in any one

g reat pow er, or great courag e and performance,He i s a Sampson,

’

He is a Hercu les or of a beau t i

ful radiant maiden, She is fair as the dawn,’

and thus

e rew hi le the myth became attached to and inex t ri

cably inte rw oven and mingled w i th a person .

There a re re lations of this qual i ty doubtless in the

old Greek and Romanmytho logy, and i t became long

ago qu i te impossible accurately to disc riminate and

separate aw ay the fict ion from the fact. There a re

g rains of history pretty surely or quite probably

imbedded in the legends of Herak les, Meleag ros,

Endym ion, &c ., but w e have no solvent w hereby to

detect them. So in this remote past, w e hav e to tread

to an extent on ambiguous ground. Among the

savage or semi-barbarous races, w e find i t impossib le

to determ ine w hether historic elements may not be

present in the i r myths, as for example the Toltec tale

of Quetzalcohua tl . I t i s easy to see that there must

hav e been various reciprocity of influence, the tw o

s ides act ing and reacting on each other ; what w as

told and t ru ly of some person, w ould be transferred

a nd attached to some god or goddess ; and, v ice v en d,

w hat w as conceived of a god, wou ld be brought t o

earth and attributed to a person. Hence there w oul d

76 HEROIC LEGENDS .

be noend of inversions, t ransmutat ions, andwh imsical

or grotesque concei ts.

But coming to more recent t imes, w here our per

specti v e i s nearer, w e find that the heroic legends

are in a large degree, perhaps in many cases wholly,fict it ious and groundless a s histo ry ; they have been

drawn from the myths, and in them alone have the i r

l i fe . Some of them have a kernel apparently, others

not even that, of historic t ruth deep‘

w i thin the

various husks and w rappages. England ’s pat ron

Saint George may have been a Christ ian martyr w ho

suffered nobly in Asia Minor near the beginning of

the fourth century, but Saint George and the D ragon

are a myth borrow ed from the tales of Orient and

Occident. W e have one prototype in the myth of

Apoll on and the Python, or perhaps mo re origina l

sti l l in tale of Indra and Ahi in anc ient H indu.

Analogues and equ ivalents w e have in Herakles andthe Hydra, Perseus and the sea-monster, S igurd and

Fafnir, Beowu lf and Grende l . All th is i s descript ive of the del iverance of the earth from the fangs of

a monster, e i ther the storm-cloud,— in the case Of

Herakles the throttl ing serpents of night,— or the icy

prison of cold, of w inter.

What causes surprise i s‘

the universal ity of th is

speech. I t i s everywhere, certainly wherever any of

the Aryan race are found . Nay, there a re traces of

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78 HEROIC LEGENDS .

by the tyrant, and should be accompanied by ten

peerless virgins, each of them besides he rself to have

a thousand damse ls under her. The condit ion w as

accepted, the galleys and virgins obtained, and for

three years these damse ls traversed the seas. The

wind once blew the i r ships up the Rhine to Co logne,

to Basle, w hence they c rossed the A lps on foo t, de

scended into Italy, and visi ted the tombs of the

apost les at Rome. On the i r return they encountered

the Huns at Cologne , and were all , the e leven

thousand, ru thlessly sl ain . This the chron ic ler S ige

bert of G emb lours, close of the e leventh century,

pu ts at

Early in the tw el fth century, in digging to relay

the w al ls of the c i ty, an old Roman cemetery w a s

struck upon, and the abundance of bones discovered

here furnished, after various diffi cul t ies and the

c learing of them upby Spec ial revelat ion, for there

w ere found heaps and heaps of bones, not w omen ’

s

only, but men'

s and ch i ldren’s as w e l l , and so a fear

ful scandal at one t ime w as imminent,— the authent ic

rel ics of the martyrdom.

In Thin is in Anc ient Egypt, the tomb of Osi r is w as

show n ; w ho could doubt that the god had ac tual ly

been slain and w as buried, since here w ere palpably

hi s bones ? The teeth of the Kalydonian boar w ere

*Barin'g Gould, CuriousMyths, 2d Series, p. 58.

SAINT URSULA. 79

carried by Augustus Cae sar to Rome, and Pausan ias

had been privi l iged to see the hide of the anima l in

a temple at Tegea. W ho shou ld any more doubt the

story of the terrible confl ict of Herak les with the

savage beast, and hi s victory too , since here were the

proofs laid indisputably before the eye ? And these

bones plainly exhibi ted to al l in the cists reaching al l

round the Spacious church of the saint,— they stand

as w itnesses unimpea‘

chable of the visit here, and the

slaughter by the murderous Huns, of these more than

myriad v irgins .

But cu riously enough w e find i t al l , so far as the

pretended piece ofhistory i s concerned, a fabricat ion ;the saint never existed , and the entire story has

grow n out of a myth of the anc ient Germans in regard

to the i r moon-goddess, Ho lda or Horse l. Journey

ing from cloud -land and n ight ,— and England w as

deemed that c loud- land and region of phantoms

by the Germans, as i t i s bel ieved the land of sou lsby

the peasant ry to this day,— attended by her thousands

of compan ions, the pure stars, she suffered martyr

dom ; herself and her attendants are extinguished in

the l ight of the risen day.

Various other tales have arisen from this myth, o r

stand as i ts counterparts. The story of Tannhiiuser,

a renowned knight and troubadour in the thi rteenth

century, i s one . Once on his w ay to Wartberg in

the twil ight of evening he passed the Horselberg , or

80 HEROIC LEGENDS .

mountain of Venus, and w as al lured by the appari

t ion of a female of su rpassing beauty, none other,

he presently saw , than the goddess hersel f. He

followed her beckon ing him forw ard int o the cavern

called the cave of Venus, and the re spent seven years

in j unket ing and revel ry at her court,'

obli v ious of al l

beside . S imi lar stories are diffused w i dely through

Europe ; there are several Venu sbergs in Germany,one in Italy, and in Scotch, Norse, &c . , are tales of

heroes w ho had l ike experiences w i th Tannhauser 's.

Thomas the Rhymer, or Thomas of Ercildoune,Horsel

’

s hi l l or mount, —w a s enchanted by a strange

lady of elfin race beneath Bi lden tree, and remained

w ith her in the underground land for seven years.

The myth, or iginal ly of solar charac ter,— compare

the sto ry of Odysseus in the cave of Kalypso, night ,

(Greek K a luptfi, to cover — then in the case ofHor

sel, lunar, ha s undergone great change in Christ ian

hands to come to bear the form that w e have in the

story of Tannhauser. For there i s a long re lat ion of

his satiety and home-sickness in the cave, hi s return

to the fresh earth and l ight of day, his j ourney to

Rome for absolut ion, and i ts refu sal by Pope Urban,

the m i racu lous budding in hi s hands, of the pastoral

staffw i thin three days, and the attempt on hi s part in

vain to overtake and recover the disheartened w an

derer, w ho retu rned to the cave that seemed his sole

refuge.

TANNHAUSER . 3 1

In the Pied P iper of Hameln, w e have another ex

ample of the hero ic legend spring ing up from an old

myth . The piping of this noted character w as tragic

for the tow n of Hameln, for the number of l i ttle

chi ldren tha t w ere draw n by him into the side of the

mountain, w as just one hundred and thi rty, and the

t ime laid dow n in the year 1 2 84 . For long per iod

the calam i ty marked the great epoch i n the hist ory

of the town, publ ic documents w ere dated from i t,and no mu sic w a s permi tted even on w edd ing

o ccasions to be played in the streets along w hich the

piper had passed. S imi lar things are rela ted of otherplaces, of Brandenberg, Lorch, the Hartz mountains,&c . And singularly enough a l ike story i s tol d in

A'byssin ia .

The w h ist l ing of ghosts is w idely bel ieved in

among the peasantry i n England , andmarvelous ta les

a re to ld of the “ Seven Whist lers,"

and Gabriel ’s

Hounds,"mysterious specter~dog s that w i th fiendish

ye l ls haunt the midnight ai r . Among the col l iers of

Le icestershi re, no moni t ion i s so qu ickly and im

pl ic it ly heeded as the w arn ing voice of the Seven

Whistle rs, bi rds declaring some impending danger.

The same be l ief prevai ls in some part of our ow n

c ountry, at least i t i s found in the Blue R idge region

in V i rgin ia. Once in the l i fe of every man the Seven

Whistlers ’ call i s heard. They are birds upon w hom

no mortal eye has ever re sted ; they visi t genera l ly

82 HERO IC LEGENDS.

in the gloaming, and the w ei rd w histle and rush of

thei r w ings alw ays brings portent of somethingmomentous soon to come.

*

In England, in the ru ral districts, angels are thought.

to p ipe or to sing to those abou t to die in Germany

th is singing i s att ribu ted to the e lves, and l itt le chi l

dren if they l isten to i t a re caught up by Frau Hol le

and taken to w ander in the forests. W e have remiu

iscence of this old be l ie f in the hymno logy ; angels

are described as cal l ing to the sou l and bidding i t

away.

In th is tale of the Piper , i s histo ricised the myth of

the wind, or the w indo

god Odin, coursing through

the air, sw eeping ov er the tree tops or past the w in

dows, w ith his cavalcade of ghosts. And in the p i

p ing is hinted the music not se ldom heard in the

breeze. This w as thought to be ominous, signifying

the cal l of souls to the i r home . The tale of the Jew

in the Thorn-bush i s one variant. In the story of the

P iper, in i ts present form, i s preserved qu i te possibly

some dim remembrance of a pest i lence or epidemi c

The Gabriel hounds, as they canthem inD urham and some partsofYorkshire , are descri bed asmonstroushuman-headed dogs, who trav ersethe air and are often heard though seldom seen. Sometimes they appearto hang ov er a house, and then death and calami ty are sure to v i si t it."

Henderson, Folk-Loreof the NorthernCmmticaof England , do"p . 129.

In Dev onshire, Mr . Henderson tells us , the pack is called theWi sht hounds,"the name deri v ed from W odin

's name Wunsch, cor

rupted into Wi sht."

THE PIED PIPER or HAMELN . 83

that w as especial ly fatal among chi ldren. In the

part w hich desc ribes the Piper as having piped the

rats from the tow n and drow ned them in the river

Weser, w e probably have a statement of the same

fac t, under a different version, w hich the closing part

of the story relates. Perhaps the union of the tw o

came, a s Mr . Keary suggests, from the meet ing of the

tw o peoples, S lavonic a nd German, and the jo in ing

together of the i r legends, giving us the tw o rol led

up into one. At any rate the mouse seems to ha ve

been symbol i c, sign ifying the sou l .* A l ittle red

mouse , i t i s related, i s somet imes seen to issue from

the mouth of the sleeper ; i t indicates the departu re“

of the sou l . In German superst i tion i t i s bel iev ed

that w hen the head of a house dies, even the m ice in

the house abandon i t. The riv er, ( the Weser) , and

the mountain, a re both symbols of death, and so bo th

statements are probably simply variants of one and

the same thing.

Wil l iam Tel l , a s w e now know , i s another myth

tarnslated into heroic history . H i s infal l ible arrow ,

l ike the shaft of Pho ibos Apol lo, i s the solar ray that

never m isses i tsmark . And his unrivalled pow er and

Sk i l l as an oarsman, trav ersing the seas of n ight, and

bringing to the land upon w hich he leaps w i th re

gained l iberty, i s no less sign ificant as indicating his

t 'I‘

he mouse among theRussians i sa w ell knownfigurefor the soul, saysMr. Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, 109 .

8 4 HEROIC LEGENDS .

solar character. There have been almost a s many

Tel ls as peoples to record the course and conquests of

t he sun. W e have him in ourW i l l iam of Cloudeslee ;

the Danes in Pa lna toki ; the Norw egians, Russians,Icelanders, Finns, Turks, &c .,

al l te l l the same story,

w i th some change of“

c i rcumstance and name . In

modified form i t i s in the Greek , in the legend of

Lykian Sarpedon ; i t w a s in Persia, and rather pro

bably w as know n in India. Max Mii ller says of

Wil l iam Tel l , the good archer, w hose my tho logical

character i s establ ished beyond contradict ion ,

” that

he i s “the last reflect ion of the sun-

god, w hether w e

c al l him Indra, or Apol lo, or U lysses.

In King Arthur also w e have another instance of

this. I t i s difficul t , may be impossible, to determine

how far there may be historic kernel in this legend .

~

Possibly there is some basis in the actual occurrences

of early times in B ri tain , for w hat i s said of this hero

and hi s court . But as Mr . Baring Gou ld w e l l re

marks, “ The Arthur of romance i s actually a demigod,

b el ieved in l ong before the bi rth of the historic

Arthur. The Round Table, the Queen,Lance lot,

& c . ,reproduce to us elements that w e find in far earl ier

t ime, that are mythi c . In Arthu r w e have S igu rd,Perseus, Phoibos Apo l lo ; in fact every one of the

b right solar heroes ce lebrated in O riental or Ocoi

d ental myth, reappears in him .

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86 HEROIC LEGENDS .

is one of the fata l Chi ldren born to be k ings, con

spired against, betrayed, but dest ined to destroy the i r

enemies and come at length to thei r rightful estate .

The plot to put him to death i s defeated by means as

mi racu lous as in the cases of Cyrus and Romu lus.

From a scul l ion-boy in Earl Godric'

s k i tchen, he be

c omes the husband of G oldborough, daughter of

fEthelw a ld,— w ho had been conspired against and

preserved in l ike supernatural manne r,— and goes

over to Denmark w here he dispossesses the usurper,and recovers the throne of hi s father, King Birkabey n .

In an early French poem deal ing with the same

theme, the name of the hero ine how ever be ing differ

e nt, the hero is Hav elok Curan, the same w i th the

Danish hero w hom the Angles cal l An laf—cw iran.

The variants Anlaf, Anelaph and Hanelocke a re in

Latinized form Amletfius, and w e a re thus brought to

our fami l iar name Hamlet .

There a re other features in the story that savo r

strongly ofthe mythic . Hamlet’s father w a s poisoned

w hi le sleeping in hi s o rchard on an afternoon Ham

let came to his death in the same manne r. I t w as

given out of the father , in o rder to cover the uncle '

s

gu i lt, that he had been stung by a serpent. These bothare features fami l iar in so many mythical stories,the sleep of Endymion, the serpent in the tale of

Eurydike andmany o thers, the poison, sometimes the

thorn, that slew such numberless beaut ifu l maidens,

HAMLET . 87

810. Orendil, the father, w ho reappears in Hj arrandi ,Horant, of the Gudrun Lay, i s a marve lous singe r,able to charm al l men w i th hi s sw eet sounds. The

inc idents in his l ife as those of hi s father Oygel, a re

a s c learly of mythi c type as those of Tel l or the

Achaian heroes on thei r w ay to I l ion . He becomes

possessed of a grey coat, recovered from the body of

a w hale, w hich no one e lse can put on, but w hich fi ts

him perfec tly and makes him invu lnerable . Th is

coat is l ike and the equ ivalent of the sw ord w hich

only one man in a ll the w orld can draw from i ts

fastening ; l ike the scabbard of Arthur ’s Excal ibu r

which make i ts possessor invu lnerable . That grey

coat becomes at length the ho ly coat of Treves, w here

Orendi l’

s father had been king.

*

The story of Ham let, a s Mr. Fiske fitting ly says,

i s unmistakably that of the quarrel of summer and

w inter . ’ The prince i s moody l ike Achi lleus, and

both of them are as veri tably personat ions of the sun

g od, as w as Odin or Indra. But, a s in the case of

Achi lleus presented in the I l iad, the character had

long been supposed to be historic ; al l the c i rcum

stances of veritable history had been w oven abou t

the name, ages and centuries ere the play of the great

dramat ist w as w ri tten. Doubtless Shakspeare be

l iev ed himself, as many long t ime before had sup

posed they w ere , deal ing w i th the l i fe and deeds of

‘Cox,M ythology a/ndFolk-Lore. pp. 304-309.

88 HEROIC LEGENDS.

a flesh and bl ood hero, genu ine pr ince of Denmark .

And under the touch of this master ’s magic wand,ev erything herein seems very concrete and real.

The prototype of Lear and Corde l ia appears in the

old H indu epic, the Mahabharata ; and here the con

ception w as original ly mythi c, describing the devo

t ion of the young dawn or sun to the o ld father. In

this epic the youngest son, ‘Puru, for hi s se lf-surren

der in taking on the old age, out of regard to hi s

father, for the latter ’s del iverance, is final ly made

heir of the k ingdom. The two e lder, having each

refused when besought to do this, are expel led from

i t. The variation from this as to ld in the tale of

Lear, i s no wider than easi ly occurs in the devel op

ment of the same myths by peoples d istant from each

other.

The tale of Romeo and Ju l iet, w e have in an O ri

ental form in the Tu t i-Nameh, Persian ; and this

seems plainly to come from a primeval nature-myth.

The beau t iful gi rl and the l over, separated by wha t

ever hard fate here, are uni ted in death : the eveningaurora and the sun expire together, and are one in

the world of the shades. The same th ing i s enacted

in the loves and tragic end of Pyramos and Thysbe.

The story of Portia also appears to have l ike origin.

Her transformation i s represented in the Gael ic

story of the Chest, where the maiden disgu ises her

sel f as a gi ll ie, in order to search for her l ost lover.

RECOVERY OF THE LOST MAIDEN . 89

The surrendered or lost ring i s a feature that appea rs

in very many myths. The legend Of Lady Godiv a,and her ride naked through the streets of Covent ry,— la id in the e leventh century,— w e find in one of the

Calmuc and Mongo l tales, these confessedly of H indu

origin, and the story throughout plainly myth ic .

The lady i s the king ’

s daughter, L ight of the Sun i s

her name, upon w hom no one must l ook, w alking

out as she does on a certain day in the month. The

Vedic poe ts frequent ly represent the Daw n as ap

pearing nude, unve i led, as she ascends the skies.

The Wooden Horse, w hich w a s so dire a calam i ty

to the Troj ans, and has so exerc ised the imagination

of every schoo l boy in Greek since,finds i ts inte r

pretat ion in mytho logy. I t forms, a s Max Milller

says, an essent ial part of a mytho logica l cyc le,”and

fits in w e l l w i th o ther features of the story . I t, or i ts

equ ivalent, is very frequent ly employed to hint the

concealment or d isgu ise, somet imes in w ood, then

again in the sk in Of some animal, under w hich the

w arrior entered the domain of his enem ies, and rose

up and vanqu ished them.

The w ho le narrative of the Trojan conflict,— what

ever Of historical incident may in time have come to

interm ingle there,— i s essent ial ly mythic, and i s tol d

in not w ide ly differing form in all the great ep ics Of

the world. S igurd through nameless peri l must rescue

the imprisoned Brynhi ld ; Rama must storm Ravana’

s

90 HEROIC LEGENDS.

cast le and recover the sto len S i ta ; W a inamoinen

must v isi t Pot la and Obtain the myst ic sampo ;

and wi th all this ho ld the numberless tales of S leeping Beauties,

" Snow -w hi te Maidens,”&c., that are

to be rescued by some hero from the pow er of the

monster w ho keeps them imprisoned . Blue Beard

gives us in part one of the variants.

L i ke things lie to be said Of Oberon and his horn,

of Ro land and hi s Blade, Horant and hi s Song, 810.

Analagous cases to these a re, besides the R ibhus a l

ready ment ioned, Orpheu s in the Greek ( same w ord

a sR ibhu probably ) ,Gandharvas and Gunadhya in the

H indu , the sons ofKalew in the Esthon ian or Finnishmytho logy. In each Of these instances w e have the

mythhistoricised . S im i lar c reat ions have come in the

cases of Charlemagne, Frederick Barbarossa, OlgerDansk in Denmark , O laf R edbeard in Sw eden, &c.

The imaginat ion ha s been busy here, and the story

i n every case, as appears, has been bu i l t up from a

solar myth.

Char lemagne sleeps in the Untersberg, near Salz

burg, w aiting ti l l the t imes of Ant i-Christ are fu lfi lled, w hen he w i l l appear a s a del iverer and avenger.

Frederick reposes in a lofty mountain in Thuringia,and hi s knights around him, six of them, he too wait

ing for the hour to strike when he w i l l come to

release Germany from bondage , a nd place i t first

among the nations of Europe. A l ready his red beard

FREDERICK BARBAROSSA . 9 1

has grown through the slab of the stone table on

which his head is recl ining. Once a shepherd pene

trated into the heart of the mounta in by a cave, and

d iscovered the emperor there. Frederick aw oke

from his slumbers and asked, “ Do the ravens st i l l

fly over the mountains ? “S i re, they do “ Then

w e mu st sleep another hundred years. But when

his beard has w ound i tsel f thrice around the tab le,he wil l come forth to de l iver Germany. Many sim i

lar stories a re told in other parts of Europe. In

France, even Napoleon Bonaparte is bel ieved by some

Of the peasantry to be sleeping in l ike manner, wa i t

ing for the hour for hi s reappearance. And among

us, the story of R ip Van Wink le gives a versi on

where the scene i s laid in the sol itudes Of the Ca ts

kil ls.

The number seven has prominent place in these

relat ions. There w ere seven S leepers at Ephesus ;Barbarossa changes hi s posi tion once in seven years ;

and Charlemagne starts in his chair, Olger Dansk

stamps his i ron mace on the floo r, and O laf Red

beard i h Sweden, uncloses hi s eyes once in seven

years. Th is seems orig inal ly to refer to the term Of

the w inter, and the awakening in spring, as the earth

l ies at rest during the seven winter months.

Lohengrin is one of those heroes, half unearthly,who come, men know not whence, and are first seen

s leeping in a boat upon a river. Lohengrin w as son

9z HEROIC LEGENDS .

of Percival , and he heard once peal of the bel l far

aw ay, untouched by human hands, in the temple of

the Grai l at Montsalv a tch . That peal w as Signal

that help w as needed. He arose and w as starting,

not knowing w h ither he shou ld go . Foot i n sti rrup,ready to mount hi s ho rse, he saw a sw an on the

river, draw ing a ship along . Take back the horse to

i ts stable,”said he, “ I w i l l go with the b ird , whither

i t shal l lead.

" Five days he w as on the w ater, drawn

in hi s boat not only, but supplied w i th nourishment

by the faithfu l b ird. At the end of this t ime, they

came where the l ists were Opened by Frederick Von

Telramund, a brave kn ight, w ho wou l d fight against

any champion she might bring forw ard , for pos

session of Elsa of Brabant,w ho had refused his su i t.Lohengrin undertook the defense of the Lady, fought,prevai led, slew Frederick, and in return w as offered

her hand and the duchy. He accepted i t on one con

d ition : She must never a sk his race . Happ ily they

l ived together for a t ime, but one night , p iqued w ith

curiosity and stung w i th insinuat ions and reproaches

she had heard, she did put the fatal quest ion.

Lohengrin sorrowfu l ly cal led hi s ch i ldren to

gether, kissed them, and said : “ Here a re my horn

and my sw ord , keep them, careful ly ; and here, myw ife, i s the ring my mother gave me ; never part

w i th it.” At break of day, the sw an reappeared

draw ing the boat, Lohengrin reentered and disap

peared, nevermore to return.

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NURSERY TALES.

Nursery Tales come, most of them certainly, from

the same source . Max Mil ller cal ls them, as w e saw ,

the modernpa toz‘

s Of the ancient sacred mythology .

”

They are the Prakrit in relat i on to the high Sanscrit ,a descendant , and of now inferi or caste, from the

anc ient speech Of the gods. R ightly interpreted,they conduct us to the same fountain-head, and are

Of exceeding interest, as show ing w hat changes ages,the repeat ing from l ip to l ip through unnumbered

generat ions, have w rought, and also w hat fadeless

rem in iscences they carry Of the origina l thought .

The gods and heroes of myth and legend become at

leng th fai ries and imps, or elves and ogres.

These tales have been industri ously gathered inour t ime ; the brothers Grimm have done unrivaled

w ork in Germany, picking up the sto ries in the

Spinn ing rooms of the peasantry ; Campbe l l in the

rude cotters’ huts in the Scotch H ighlands ; Asb

j ornsen and Moe in Norw ay ; Afzelius in Sw eden ;(94)

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD . 95

Ralston in Ru ssi a, and so on. L ike w ork has be en

done in India. Something has been accompl isheda lso in the same d irect ion among the ruder races,

Tartars, Zu lus, Kafi rs, American Indians, &c. A l lhave, though they may not possess a l i teratu re,household stories.

W e have a new province Of know ledge opened,which is fu l l Of invitation and enrichment for the

mind. Curious enough reminiscence s or su rvivals

are turning up, com ing in phrases, saw s, &c . , cur

rent in our common speech.

Saint George, S layer of the D ragon, himself, as

w e have seen, a reflection of Indra or Apo l lon, be

comes ih the nursery ,Jack the Giant K i l ler, and Jack

climbing the Bean-S talk ( the tree Yggdrasi l to the

Ogre ’s Cast le, w hence he Obtained the great w eal th.

Brynhi ld , after being w ounded w ith a thorn by Od in,w as doomed to a magic sleep, from w hich she w as

brought back to new l ife by S igurd. SO L i tt le Red

R id ing Hood, w i th her scarlet robe— the twil ight

w a s devoured by the w o lf, but de l ivered by the hunt

er, w ho ripped open the beast, from w hose maw she

came forth bright and unharmed .

Of simi lar purport i s the story ofTom Thumb, w ho

w as sw al low ed by the cow, and came ou t unhurt of

Sakti dev a in the H indu, w ho w as sw al lowed by the

fish, but l iberated by the serv ants of the king w ho

cut the monster Open“ And going into Hebrew , w e

96 NURSERY TALES .

find the story of Jonah sw allow ed by the w hale, and

erew hi le throw n out sound and w ho le upon the dry

land . The tale of the Wolf and Seven Kids in G er

manfo lk - lore, i s Of the same mean ing. L ike stories

a re to ld among the Zu lu s and the Basu tos in South

Afr ica, and in Nor th America among the A lgonqu ins

and the Greenlanders ; in Asia, too , among the

Karens.

The Karens say that Tw a W ya , go ing to the Sun

that he m ight make him grow , w as so increased by

the Sun that hi s head touched the Sky . He w ent

forth on var ious ad v entures over the earth, and w as

after a time sw al low ed by a snake ; the rept i le be ing

cut Open, Tw a W ya came back to l ife. The Basu tos

tel l that L i taolane thei r hero w a s sw al low ed by a

monster, but that he cut hi s w ay out, and set free al l

the inhabitants of the w orld . The Zu lus say the maw

of the monster that devoured the Princess, and men ,

dogs, &c ., has forests, rivers, hi l ls, cattle, and peop le

l iving there, and w hen at length he is cut open, out

come they al l ; the cock appears first, and he cries

out in hi s rapture of j oy , Kukuluku,— I see the

w orld . In the A lgonqu in, Manabozho angl ing for

the King of Fishes, w as sw al lowed up, canoe and al l ;

he belabored the monster w i th hi s w a r -c lub, unt i l he

w ou ld fain have cast him out again, but Manabozho

set his canoe across the fish'

s throat inside and di s

patched him ; the fish drifted ashore and the gu l ls

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98 NURSERY TALES.

in dark prisons, and were inevitably del ivered by a

young bright hero, can all be traced back to mytholo

g ical t raditions, abou t the Spring be ing released from

the bonds Of w inter, the Sun be ing rescued from the

darkness Of the night, the Daw n being brought from

the far West, the Waters be ing set free from the prison

of the clouds.

C inderel la, i . e., C inde r-lass, and her S l ipper, seems

originally a myth of the dawn ; the present ing Of

the fai r maiden to the prince Of day, and loss of her

by the prince when he w ou ld pursue her, reproducing

here the story of Eurydike and O rpheus, Of Ushas

and Indra, &c. The same w e have in the Hindu tale

of Urv asi and Purura v as, so charmingly told by

Kal idasa, and rendered fitt ing ly into our ow n tongue

by the late D r. H . H . Wilson.

C inderel la appears in the Greek , in the story Of

Rhodop is, and her sandal conveyed by the eagle to

Psammetichus. Similar pu rport l ies in the tale of

Boots and the Princess. The Oldest form of the

myth, perhaps, i s in the story of Apa la, the w ater

maiden, and Indra. Apala draw s Soma or ambrosia,w hich she presents to Indra ; he frees her from her

ugly and deformed appearance, and she shines a

p rincess.

In the Norse tale of Bushy Bride, w e have c lear

traces st i l l Of the original myth, the meaning almost

throughou t transparent. Whi le the hero lay i n a pi t.

C INDERELLA, BUSHY BRIDE, ETC. 99’

fu ll of snakes ( symbol of the darkness) , a lovely lady

came into the palace-k itchen and asked for a brush .

“Then she bru shed her hai r, and as she brushed, dow n

dropped gold .— Bushy Bride brushed her hair, and

the gold w a s the t inge Of day upon the morning sky .

- The Story says she had a l i ttle dog Flo— H induSa rameya, dog of the morning, Greek Hermes, the

morning breeze ; him she sent out to descry the day .

Run out! l itt le Flo, and see i f i t w il l soon be day .

”

This she did three t imes, and the thi rd t ime that she

sent the dog , i t w as just about the time the daw n

begins to peep .

In the story Of Jack the Giant Ki l ler, w e have

plain ly a transmuted myth of the morn ing . Jack

had an enchant ing harp, bags of go ld and diamonds,and a red hen w hi ch dai ly laid a golden egg . The

harp ,”says Mr. Baring Gou ld,

“ i s the w ind, the bags.

a re the clouds dropping the Sparkling rain, and the

golden egg laid every morning i s the dawn-produced

sun .

” By a simi lar figure in the Arabian tale , o r

rather the Indian, the roc’

s egg i s the sun, the roc

here how ever being the rushing storm-cloud.

Jack and Gil l represent to us a very old story, and

probably in a modified and somewhat degenerated

form,i t ha s become that Of the Man in the Moon .

In the old N orse myth Mani, the moon, sto le tw o

chi l dren from thei r parents and carried them t o

h eaven . Hj uki and Bi l w ere thei r names. They

IOO NURSERY TALES .

w ere carrying w ater that they had just draw n from a

w e l l, in a bucket suspended by a po le from the i r

shou lders. Chi ld ren,pole, and bucket tog ether, w ere

transferred to the moon, and there they may be seen

to this day. Thus w ere the moon-spots explained ,

and such account i s g iven to-day by the Sw edish

peasan ts.

The names w ere o riginally personifications Ofw axing and w aning. They became eventual ly Jack

and Gil l , and the fall of one, then of the other, or

the van ishing of the moon-spots successively, inv olv

i ng the spil l ing Of the pai l Of w ater, w as invoked to

explain the inc reased rain-fal l in the w aning phases

of the moon.

Our legend of Herne the Hunter, or the Wild

Huntsman, extensively held in Germany and France ,

t akes i ts source in the myth of Odin the Wind-god.

A spec tral hunter, he appears by n ight, the tramp of

hi s horses’ feet, the baying Of the dogs, and his hol loa,

’

‘

b eing distinctly audible to the peasan ts. L ike Odin,

he i s Hackelbarend, c loak -bearing. The tw o dogs

reproduce the tw o hounds of H indu mythol ogy,

‘hounds Of Yama,— w here thev w ere, a s in the Huntsman, the w ind . In the m iddle ages, this legend i s

the story Of the Phantom Army . Hosts w ere seen

!encountering hosts in m id-ai r, the tramp, the c langor,-

.the heavy discharges of art i l lery w ere d ist inc tly

heard, and show ers Of blood afte rw ards fal l ing on

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102 NURSERY TALES.

Ow ner 's in the least suspect ing at the t ime w hat i s

being done . Final ly, he crow ns his feats by practi s

ing upon the sharpers themse lves; he over- reaches

the c lan of thieves at w hose instance he had unde r

taken hi s explo i ts upon the farmer . Pau l Pry and

Peeping Tom of Coven t ry give us refl ect ion Of the

same god Hermes, capric ious, m ischievous and sub

tle, prying into al l secret p laces, enter ing by key

ho les and sl inking back through the same, steal ing

Apol lo’s cattle, and then in coolest manner denying

the theft, as i f i t w ere absu rd and crue l to suspect i t

o f one so smal l, yet w i th a rogu ish tw inkle in the

eye, and compel l ing a laugh even from the enraged

god h imself.

In other tales, as of Blue Beard for example, w e

have w i th whatever of historic w oof, the w arp from

mythic sources. Blue Beard , as Mr . Tylor informs

u s, w as a historic person. H is name w a s Gil les de

Retz ; he w as S ieur de Laval , Marshal Of France, andn icknamed Ba rbe-Blew , as he had a beard of blue

black shade. He w as convicted of having murdered

many infants,— a practice he had long pursued nu

detected , that he might renew his strength by bath

ing in the i r blood,— and finally burned at the stake

in Nantes, in 1440 . H i s character of w ife-murderer,how ever, carries back to a tale Of a certain Coun t ofPoher, w ho w as, if he l ived at al l , a thousand years

e arl ier. This count had mu rdered many w i ves, but

BLUE BEARD. 1 03

at last after he had ki l led the beautiful Trifine, retr ibution overtook him. The forbidden chamber into

wh ich none might look and l ive, 18 mythic. It is the

treasure house of Ix ion, which none might enter

without being dest royed l ike Hesioneus, or betrayed

by marks of gold or blood ; it belongs w ith the

l ightning caverns of many a legend, rich in go l d ,diamonds, &c ., w hence few that went in ever escaped,none without disaster. Blue-Beard andhisprototpy eCount savor strongly of the devou ring night monste rsof mythology.

The Babes in the Wood are Of mythic origin.

They carry remote ly to the Asvins, the Twins in theH indu mytho logy, represented there a s two horses.

They are daw n and gloam ing, or day and night

Twin sisters are they,”says the Veda, “ one black ,

the other wh ite.

”As horses they appear in the Norse

tale of Dapplegr im. The German tale of the Tw o

Brothers i s i n much, based upon the same elements a s

this of the Babes. The meaning i s al l transparent

enough,—the j ourney in the forest, the coming of the

younger brother to the tow n w here al l are in grief

because the k ing 's daughter on the morrow i s t o

be g iven over to be devoured by a dragon, the recov

ery by the warrior Of a sw ord that w asburied beneath

a great stone, the slaying of the dragon, and union in

marriage on the mountain top with the princess. It

repeats the Old, Old sto ry that w e have heard so oft

104 NURSERY TALES .

in so many myths, tales of w hich as Mr Cox ha s

w el l said, Mank ind w i l l never grow w eary .

Sw eet Briar Rose (D ornroscizm ) pricks her finge r

w i th a spindle—the sleep-thorn,— fal ls into a sleepof a hundred years, and i s roused by the k iss of the

pure knight . Snow -Whi te and Rosy-Red te l l the i r

Ow n story. L ike the mother of the sun-chi l d in the

M oi ra/zen of the A lmond Tree, “w ho is as white as

snow and red as blood,”the mother of L i tt le Snow

Whi te must die as soon a s her eyes have rested on

her babe.

*

There are many forms in w hich the marriage of

the daw n w ith the companion i t has not seen and

may not see, i s told. One consp icuous example w e

have in Beauty and the Beast, whi ch again i s the

tale of Psyche and Eros. The same also in the

Gae l ic tale of the Daughter of the Sk ies ; i t i s found

also in H indu folk-lore. Boots, robbed Of the eu

chant ing princess Of w hom he is in search, himse l f

the brother of Cinderel la, and w ho i s shifty and

effective in deal ing with the Tro lls, always outw i tt ing

these giants of darkness, i s counterpart and repre

sentati v e of Odysseus, and later of Jack the Giant

K il ler.

n In the Volsung-Saga the mother of Volsung,—who for six w intershad carri ed him, and was deli v ered at last through her own order byCmsarian operation,—di ed as soon as he came to birth. Nev ertheless, i t

is sai d, the chi ld kissed hismother or ev er she di ed.” In the Toltecmyth , themother of Qnetzalcohnatl di ed themoment her son w as born.

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I O6 NURSERY TALES .

tale Of C inderel la, the dress contained in the nut,

w hich, w hen Opened, glow ed w i th the splendor Of

stars and sun . In the aureole about the head of

Christian saints, w e see the go lden glo ry w hich sur

rounded the head Of Phoibos or Asklepios. The

magnificent daw n i s again, in the fai ry tale, the prince’

s

bal l room . In the maypole i s representative and re

min i scence of the siauros, crossOf Osi ris, the trident

of Pose idon, the rod of w eal th and happiness of

Apol lon given to Hermes, or back Of al l p robably the

phal l ic emblem .

The disguises and metamorphoses are innumerable,the Proteus has changed form w i thout end, yet in

many cases i t is qu i te possible to trace back to the

original . Doubtless the bel ief un iversal once, and

hel d uni formally by al l savage races to -day, in the

near affin i ty, almost ident ity, Of the animal creation

w i th humanity, so that there may be, there are, per

petual metamorphoses and t ransmu tations of beasts

into men and men into beasts, ha s had much to do

w i th introducing so constantly the presence of ani

mals as leading actors in al l the tales and fables. L ikething may be said Of plants, trees, &c. , w hich w e very

frequently find, for they also w ere be l ieved to be in

telligent and rational .

In Grimm '

s tales very many have the i r interpreta

t ions from mythic sources. The w orld, i t i s said, i s

THE W ITCI-IEs’ SABBATH . 10 7

w el l agreed that Scheherazade abundantly earned her

l ife by her admi rable stories told on the thousand

and one nights in the Cal iph ’s court.—And they, bythe by, are to be Unlocked in instances certainly not

a few , by the key of mythology.—The authors of these

capital ly told tales, distant and unknow n as they

are, richly deserve the gratefu l remembrance of a ll

that have come after them.

In the account Of the Witches’ Sabbath,the Ol d

beldames riding on broomsticks through the a i r,

speeding on for the Brocken, scene of thei r revel s,w e have the story Of the Sw an-maidens, hastening to

j o in the fl ight Of Odin . O ld Mother Goose i s a

modern form of a middle-age w i tch, in this case

good-natu red, kindly, purged of the sinister and

mal ign elements thatmakeWitches and Ogres Obj ectsOf terror. Ro land to the dark Tow er came, gives

us O rpheu s descending to Hades, Perseus entering

the den Of the Gorgons, Wa inamoinen going dow n t o

Manala, Tuoni’s dw el l ing. TheWishing -Cap gained

by Fortunatus, i s thepetasos or w inged cap of Hermes,the giver of al l good. The grey or gleaming robe of

t endil, w hich again represents the garment be

stow ed upon Mede ia by He l ios, and the scabbard of

Excal ibur, each having the property of mak ing its

owner invulnerable, comes dow n in survival , as al

ready h inted, as the holy coat Of Treves.

Odin, if by one transformation he has given name

to our supreme dei ty, is under another relat ion an

108 NURSERY TALES.

Abgott, ex-god

,degraded from his throne in the Old

mythology ; the name in Christendom stands for a

dreaded sprite. The nymphs of the waters and the

trees Of the Olden t ime, a re the fays, fairies, elves, or

the imps and ogres of the fo lk-lore of to-day. The

Lore ley that drow ns the unhappy boatman in the

rapids, i s the r iver-demon of old. The heal ing w ater

spi ri ts ofwel ls have only taken saints’ names, and the

old observance Of ri tes at thei r sacred w aters i s st i l l

maintained in France, in I reland, and in Scotland .

SO Puck , Bugaboo, Bugbear, Hobgobl in, Ogre,* &c. ,

stand ing for l itt le now in the general bel ief, names

bandied in Sport, were grave , yes, solemn real i t ies

Once, and reveal the i r ancestry qu ick ly to the discern

ing eye.

There may have b een things w ritten formere sport

W i thout a im, purport, or purpose, done in the wild

random play Of the imagination .

‘ The Song of S ix

The Cow jumping over the Moon,’

&c. ,

may, for aught I know , be such or again, there may

pence,

‘Ogre, in the Edda Oegir , w as originally name for god of the sea.

Akin to thi s is probably the Greek Okeamos, our ocean, and perhapsa aes. The word seems to come of a root w ide spread in the Aryandialects. to whi ch belong our w ords awe, anx-tous, choke, Latin anaui sGreek amoeba (anyone inK um ngcha. quinsy) Sanscri tAhi , old Hi gh German aki , ski , fear, dread . The hemlet w orn by Hrei dmar , and also byFafnir , is called Oegi shi alm, nemlet of dread. Consi dering the etymologytherefore, the fact of the name’s standi ng for a dreaded, horrible spriteseems not unnatural.

Equally interesting results w e should find in the endeav or to trace theterms Puck, &c ., back to thei r original , or at least earlier meaning.

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PROVERBS,FOLK-LORE

,ETC.

A Proverb , i t ha s been said, i s o ften a chip of

mytho logy, and some of our fami l iar saw s and sen

tent ions sayings carry clear rem in iscences Of w hat

w ere once spoken a s solemn and stately myths.

The mythic expressions, and to some exten t the ideas,the bel iefs, thus have an immortal i ty, and g o dow n

age after ag e in the en larging c iv i l izat ions that leave

behind so much in the faded, effete past . There i s

great tenac i ty of l ife in w hat becomes couched in a

proverb . Our speech i s fu l l to the brim w i th these

remin iscences ; w e a re using them Often qu i te un

consc iously.

When you dance, you must remember to pay the

piper,’ takes origin doubtless from the story of the

Pied Piper of Hameln, or some equ ivalent , and this

i s a legend descending from the myth Of Odin, the

piping w ind .

‘TO go to the bottom OfDavy’

s Locker,'

i s to go to the bottom Of the sea , for the w ater-impthat

ruled there w as a dew , or as w e have i t in our speech

(110)

THE W ATER SPRITE. I l l

D a vy . The O ld N ick comes from Nixy , also name

for water- imp, the a lcor of Beowulf, the nix or ni xy

of German fai ry tales.

* In the bel ief Of German

peasants the N ix ies inhabit lakes and rivers, a nd

w hen any person i s shortly to be drow ned , they may

be seen danc ing on the surface of the w ater. And

hence doubtless has come the superst it ion that harm

w i l l fal l to him that saves the l ife of a drow ning

man, since i t w as bel ieved the n ixies w i l l be Ofl'

ended

w i th such interfe rence w i th thei r purposes w hen

they reso lve to take a victim .

Bohemi an fishermen w i l l not now , or so recently

as I S64 w ou ld not , rescue a drow ning man, from fear

that the w ater-demon w ou ld in retal iation drow n

them . A Sim i lar superst it ion obtains among the

S lav ons; i t is TOpi elic, the ducker, they say , by

W hom men a re alw ays drow ned . In G ermany tod ay

w hen one i s drow ned , the people say ,“ The R iver

spi rit c la ims h i s year ly sacr ifice , or“ The N ix has

taken L ike be l ief prevails among the Shet

landers, with Engl ish and French sailors, &c . In

deed this persuasion of a presid ing spiri t or demon

in the w ater, and fear Of Offending him, or neglecting

to placate his i l l-wi ll , is one w idely spread over the

The w ord according toMr . Cox i s from a root that w e hav e in theGreek toSWIM

AryanMythology. p. 567, Note.

f Gr imm, Dw stcheMy thologie, p . 462.

I I Z PROVERBS,FOLK-LORE, ETC .

w or ld, and found almost al ike in savage or barbaric,

and civi l ized stages of cu l ture .

In N ew Zealand they conceive ofhuge supernatu ral

rept ile monsters that inhabit r iver-bends, and those

w ho a re drow ned a re thought to be pu l led dow n by

them ; in Kamchatka a l i ke superst i t ion. The custom

among the Greeks and Romans Of mak ing an offer

i ng to Posei don or Neptune, for instance, w hen a

general w as abou t to embark on a dangerous expe

dition, i s w el l know n the same in sub stance obtains

in Guinea to -day, and w i th North Ame rican Indians,throw ing i n an Oblation Of tobacco a s the canoe i s to

pass a dangerous eddy ; the same in Europe in the

l ingering bel ief in the guardian spir i ts Of w e l ls and

fountains, and the offerings, e. g . , by the Corn ish

people in the old holy w el ls, Of p ins, nai ls, rags, &c. ,

that they may g et heal ing from these w aters for di s

eases, and omens on heal th and marriage.

W e speak Of ‘ a noise loud enough to w ake the

seven sleepers. Originally the myth that w as told

related to the deep w in ter sleep of nature, or the

earth. But in the Chri st ian ized fo rm i t w a s framed

of sev eny ouths, w ho flee ing from persecut ion in the

t ime of the Empero r Dec ius, entered a cave, w hosemouth w as present ly thereafter c losed w i th a w al l , so

that there w as no means Of escape. The re they slept

for tw o hundred and tw enty-nine years, to the t ime

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I I4 PROVERBS, FOLK ‘ LORE, ETC.

nection of the picture w i th the person is widely be

liev ed in. A savage wil l not al low hi s l ikeness to be

taken, lest an enemy may injure him through con

j uring w i th i t. In Russia, at thepresent day, there i s

Object ion fel t to having the si lhouette taken, lest cal

am i ty, death, shou ld come to the person so Cop ied,

befo re the year i s out. The superst i t ion in regard to

images as w el l as names i s very general . Perhaps

the dread and Shrink ing Of the Jew from repeat ing

the sacred name of hi s supreme dei ty , the Jehovah,had i ts origin in a l ike feel ing w i th that Of the savage,

just referred to.

In Shetland i t i s almost impossible to induce a

widow, freely as she w i l l talk abou t him, to Speak the

name Of her deceased husband, how ever long he may

have been dead, and this comes from the same super

st it ious fear that w e find in the rude races. The cur

rent max im in regard to speaking of the dead , “D e

mor tuz'

s ni lm'

st'

bonum, had at one t ime, a s John Fiskesuggests, “ most l ikely a fet ichistic flavor.

A North American Indian, eager to k il l a bear tomorrow, w i l l frame a rude image, an effigy, set i t upand shoot at it. If he hi ts i t, especial ly r iddles i t w i th

hi s arrow s or bal ls, he makes sure of success in thehunt . In Borneo the practice sti l l exists, fami l iar inEuropean history, of construct ing a w ax image of the

one w ho i s to be bew itched, that as the w ax i s mel ted

hi s body also may w aste aw ay .

BURN ING IN EFFIGY . 1 15 .

An anc ient Ge rman pract ice is know n as“ear th

cutti ng ,

"Erdscludtr. A piece of ea rth or turf that had

been pressed by the foot of the obnoxious person,

w a s cut and hung up in the chimney, that as this

print dri ed and c racked in the hea t and smoke, he

al so might peri sh. There are people to-day in Eng

land, and on the cont inent many, w ho thorougtbe l ieving that some one

’

s i ll -w i shing has k i l led the i r

cow , or done them o ther injury, w i l l take a heart of

some an imal , pierce i t all ov er w ith pins and suspend

i t in the chimney, that the heart of the ne ighbor m ay

in l ike manner he pierced, shrunk-

en, and destroyed.

The last rel ic of this Old savag e pra cti ce , probably i s

hanging or bu rn ing in effigy ,— th is now apparen tly

a remin iscence rather than a surv iv al . And some

dim impression Of the Old bel ief in rega rd to the

p i cture , i s, I judge, to be seen in this expression, a

coarse and vulgar phra se now , but not seldom heard

among boys, Blast hi s pic ture!" The fee l ing, per

haps un iv ersal , present even in the minds of the m ost

in te l l igen t, that the fal l ing of the po rtrai t of a fr iend

fr om i ts p lace on the w a l l , bodes some i ll, attests how

tenac ious th is once pow erfu l ly dominan t bel ief.

A sim i lar superst it ion ex ists w i th reference to

some connec tion of a c l ipping Of the hai r or

nai ls w i th the person from w hom i t may have

been taken. The Parsi s have an e labora te ri tua l prb

scribing the method for bu ry ing thei r cu t hai r and

r r6 PROVERBS,FOLK -LORE, ETC .

nai ls, lest demons and sorcerors should w o rk injury

upon them through these. A l ike bel ief obtained in

Rome, as i s seen in the injunction l aid upon the

Flamen Diali s in regard to the burying re l igiously un

der a lucky tree, ofal l the paring sofnai lsand cl ipp ings

of hai r. The same bel ief prevai ls to some extent in

England , in Italy, in Germany, and as w e m ight easi ly

expect, i t bears fu l l sw ay in Austral ia . An I tal ian

w i l l never trust a lock of hi s hair in the hands of

anyone, lest through this in spite ofh imse l f, bew i tch

ment may be infl icted upon him. The Tasman ian,

w ho w ished to harm or bew i tch anyone, w ou ld pro

cure something that had be longed to him , pa rticu

larly a look of hi s hair, envelope i t in fat, and put in

the fi re, that as the fat me l ted the man himself shou ld

w aste aw ay .

* And I w el l recal l that i nmy ow h chi ld

hood, I w as stric tly enjo ined never to leave any c l ip

pings of hair above ground ; nei ther w ere they to be

burned, they must be carefu l ly buried . So the sup

ersti t ion su rv ived to my time, but doubtless the

reason of i t then nobody knew .

Indeed the bel ief in a strange magica l sympathy,c losely related to w hat w e have had above, i s very

w ide - spread , and appears i n many w ays. The rub

bing of a knife-blade w i th w hich a w ound ha s been

infl icted,w i th fat, that as this dries the w ound i tsel f

See Dyer'sEnglish Folk-Lore, p . 276 ; and Ti to V ignoli ’s M y th and

S cience.p. 43 .

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1 18 PROVERBS,FOLK ' LORE

,ETC .

folk- lore of to-day. Dealers of gems w i l l state that

the sale of certain stones i s much affected by the

c urrent bel iefs in regard to the i r magical qualti ties.

The Opal deemed “un lucky, finds ve ry sl ow sale ,

w hi le the moonstone a s one of the “lucky,” is sought .

Another form i s the superst i t ion abou t the c lothes

o f a man w ho has died. Whoever rece ives and w ears

them, wil l find they do no service, but w i l l decay

and go to p ieces, as the body of the i r former ow ner

w astes. Hence in Essex ( England) , goes the saying

t hat “the c lo thes of the dead alw ays w ear ful l of

holes. In Denmark a corpse i s not al low ed to be

buried in any art icle of apparel that has belonged to

a person st i l l l iving, since a s the c lothes shou ld go

to decay in the grave, the ow ner from w hom they had

been received w ou ld certainly w aste aw ay and die .

The Tyro lese hunter w ears tufts of eagle ’

s dow n in

hi s hat, that he may obtain the vision and the cour

a ge of the eagle . The Basuto chi ld in South Africa

w ears the kite ’

s foot for sw iftness, the l ion’

s c law for

strength and safety, and an i ron ring to impart an

i ron power of resistance . The Dakota Indian eats

t he l iver of a dog to gain his sagac i ty and courage .

A Chinaman not l ong since w a s found to have eaten

the heart of an enemy he had slain, so as to secure

h i s bravery. A l ike superst it ion obtained among the

R omans, as i s seen from a charm described by Pl iny,that w as used by magicians for imparting inv inci

SACREDNESS or THE ROBIN . r i g

b i lity—head and tai l of a dragon, marrow of a l ion,

c law s of a dog, sinew s of a deer, 8te . Probab ly

enough our fami l iar proverbial phrase of ‘ pa rt

strengthening part,’ repeated jocosely now often at

the table, may have its origin from such an old savage

bel ief.

I t i s a common phrase that ’

ti s w icked,—special ly

w icked— to k i l l a rob in,’ but few are aware that th is

c arries a reminiscence of the w orship of Thor, god of

the thunderbolt and the l ightn ing. The rob in

probably because of its red breast, w as selected as

sacred to that d ivini ty, and indeed the l ightning

i tself w as figured as a bi rd, dropping a worm from

i ts beak, whereby rocks w ere riven and treasures

d isclosed . The wren is also one of the birds repre

senting the storm-cloud, and in some parts of France

i t i s bel ieved that robbing a w ren'

s nest wi l l bring

upon the offender the fate of being struck by l ight

n ing. The same w as also bel ieved in Teutonic coun

tries in regard to the robin.

The saw that a wi tch w i l l not sink in water,’

car

ries to the t ime whenordeals w ere made by fire and

by w ater, a judicial ri te found in the old Hindu lawbook of Mann, and obtaining in England as late as

the beginning of the thi rteenth century, as a legal

means of trying those accused of murder or robbery.

It w as fu l ly bel ieved that the sacred element wou ld

l 2 0 PROVERBS, FOLK-LORE, ETC .

rej ect the gu i l ty, permi tting the innocent alone to be

received in i ts bosom. To this day the be l ief pre

vai ls in some communi t ies both in the o ld w orld and

in the new , and instances do not se ldom occur in our

ow n t ime of ordeals by this absurd and c ruel method .

May this bit choke me i f I lie , IS a reminiscence

of an ordeal very ancient, and st i l l pract ised in India.

There al l of a household on w hich susp icion rests arerequi red to sw allow a mou thful of rice . The gu i l ty,through his fear to sw al low the rice, i s to be detected .

The same obtained in England and e lsew here in. the

use of the trial sl ice of consecrated bread or cheese .

The morsel, i t w as held , w ou ld st ick in the throat of

the real thief, and so he w ould be exposed.

W e speak of night-mare,’ i . e. , the n ight mam or

sprite, bearing thus unconsc iously in our speech re

membrance of the bel ief in an imp w hich w as sup

posed to come and si t upon the chest of the sleeper

and obst ruct respiration. Indeed the S lav ons to-day

bel ieve in vampires, conce ived as horrid n ightmares,demon-souls, that are resident in corpses, and come

by n ight and suck the blood of certain persons. In

this w ay they account for the condit ion of those w ho

a re pale, bloodless, and steadily w ast ing aw ay .

‘ Tel l ing the bees,’st i l l prevai ls in England and

Germany, and I have heard of i t in more than one

instance as practised in this country. The bees in

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[ 2 2 PROVERBS, FOLK-LORE, ETC.

young men to pick up. The youth thus gets a mer

maid for a w ife, but he can keep her onl y on difii cult

conditions,— the red cap must be he l d concealed

from her eye. I f she perchance sees that , she dons

it, and i s off in an instant. So generally the w ife w as

lost and the chi l dren left motherless.

In Scandinavia the Tro l ls w ere figu red as going

about in po inted red caps,w hich made thei r w earers

invisible, a s i n Germany the Dw arfs w ere invisible

w i th the Tam kappe, i . e . , cap of darkness on The

Faroese say that female seals are some times secured

for w ives, as, coming to the shore they lay off thei r

seal-skins and appear a s w omen. Bu t the w i fe in

stantly vanishes aw ay in the sea again, i f by chance

she espies the carefu l ly hidden seal-sk in.

These tales are all distant descendants, from the

myths of sw an-maidens, -the fleecy clouds, —with

thei r coats of feather or dow n sometimes laid

aside as they go to bathe in the blue lake. Myths

very w ide-spread, for the Turanians have them as

w el l as Aryans. The numerous stor ies of w ater-faysin modern Europe, —as Me lusina in French, Undinein German,&c.,

-are of the same origin. And al l a re

close ly re lated to this very prevai l ing be l ief in the

ready metamorphosis of animal into human, and v ice

ven d, to w hich w e have al ready referred .

‘Thls Tamkappe isthe helmet orHades of the classi cmythology. whichmade i ts wearer inv isible.

w ow I’LAKEI Mi FzA'

rnar e. 12 3

In Sco tland, when the fi rst (lakes of snow fal l, theysay,

"l'

he ni en o i.

the East are pyking their geese, andsend the i r lea thers here awa

'

, there In G er

many, lfm n l i nlle ismaking her bed, and the feathers

o f i t ily .

’( lr again,—this in Prussia, The angels

sha ke the i r l ittle heds, the [lakes are the dow n feathers,l int nanny d roppast and get do w n to o ur earth.

’

The

c ompa riso n o f w o w -linkers to l'

ea thern is an anciento ne , a nd in fo und in G reek histo ry . l i e rodoto e says

the Scythia nsdee la red the reg ions no rth o fthem inac

e eenlhle, he ennne they were fil led w ith feathers. The

w r i le r reca lls tha t in the early nehoo l-hoy dayn, he

line hea rd the indn fihl l ll t as the flakes ca lm: thick a nd

th at , ( l id Mo lher Reese is picking her geese.

( Jnr io nnly this o ld piece o f mytho logy la r-traveled ,

a nd w i th no a id from the pr inte r, i i ii i i come down

into the nehoo l-roonrrs o f o ur l ime.

i n the phrase ,"l

'

he Mi lky Way,’

w e carry remin

iee ene e , q ui te l ike ly o f w ha t is reco rded in G reek

mytho log y of the infa nt l le raklen, unckled by l lerc ,but fo r nu o li

’

enue rece i v ed h o ur the chi ld, thro w n byhe r hack to Athene . Another explanation in that

l ’hne lho n, d ri v ing his luthe r'

fl rui n-cha r io t w hich he

w as ll nnhle to guide , hnrnt a broad ni reak in the li ky ,

nnd Ihni inw ha t we ca l l the Mi lky Way. i t appea r!

tha t. in Fried a this w ay is named li’

ll /l -fil lf, cow'

s path .

i t in ann ul led heonnne it is supposed the red 0e of

e vening passes by nlg ln, alo ng the way, and scatters

1 2 4 PROVERBS, FOLK-LORE, ETC.

her mi lk over i t. De Gubernat is conj ectu res that per

haps the fami l ia r German proverb,“ Even red cow s

yield w hi te mi lk ,"had i ts origin from this.

You got out of bed w rong foo t first th is morning,’

— an expression often used by nurses to chi ldren that

are out of humor and pett ish general ly, —carries to

the old superst it ion he ld almost a ll over the globe,

among c ivil ized as among savage, that the left i s of

sinister omen, w hi le the right is of auspic ious token .

In German folk - lore i t i s dec lared that to get ou t of

bed left foot first w i l l bring a bad day, a nd the negro

ofO ld Calabar reads impending i l l in the cry of the

great kingfisher, i f i t i s heard on the left , w hi le on the

r ight i t predicts to him good fo rtune .

The phrase ‘ Moon made of green cheese,’

ha s i ts

source in an o ld fable of the w olf a nd the fox , pre

serv ed to- day in one'

of the tales of the Sco tch H ighlands.

‘ To sow the w i l d oats,'— Lok i , the m ischief

maker, i s proverbial ly said in Jutland to-day to sow

hi s oats Hai r of the dog that bit you ,

'— the S cand inav ian Edda hath i t, Dogs hair heals dog ’

s bite ;To be ready to jump out of one

’

s sk in,

’ —carrying

back to the doctr ine of change l ings, and th is con

nec ted w i th that of w erew o l v es To hau l ove r the

coals ‘To raise the w ind To find a mare’s nest‘ De v i l a bit ’, i . e. , nothing at al l , ( the term z

‘z'

uv el is

used in the sense of not/zz'

ng in the N ibe lungen L ied) ,&c . ,

— the instances are almost w i thou t number,— these

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1 2 6 PROVERBS, FOLK -LORE,ETC .

Freya, and afterw ards made sacred to the V i rgin

Mary.

speak of epz’

lepyy ,— se izure by a demon ,— ca ta

hwy ,genius ( the —theg enz’

us ofShakespeare,ofNew ton , &c . ,

- spi r i ts oi hartshorn or of ni t re, luna r

caust ic . mercury , luna cy , &c., l i tt le consc ious that i n

such w ords w e are borne back to the myth-frami’

ng

and myth-believing times.

SURV IVALS AND REMIN lSCENCES .

These saw s, phrases, &c . , indicate not onlv w hat

has been bel ief once, but also w hat i s largely be l ief

now , exercising pow erfu l sw ay over the gene ral

m ind, and determin ing i n impor tant degree the con

duct of people. There i s w onderfu l tenacity of l ife

in old impressions and Opinions, especial ly w hen in

vested w i th the sancti ty of re l igious sentiment .

Hence they go dow n through long reaches of c iv i l

i zation and ad v ancing inte l l igence, the mind here

being under spel l, unable to r id i tselfof i ts outgrown

and dead past. Carlyle somew here speaks of the

fac t that seems to ho ld un iversal, that w here the

brains a re out, the creature must die ; but adduces one

example w here the ru le does not operate, some cer

tain absurdi ty or lie that w i l l l ive after the brains a re

gone. W e have an instance here. Indeed it would

be hard to convince many to-day that there i s no t a

so l id ground of truth in the mu lt itude of mytholog i

cal saw s and proverbs that g o current in society. To

a few of these that come in connection w i th this large

theme of folk- l ore, &c ., w e w i l l here refer.(127)

1 2 8 SURVIVALS AND REMIN ISCENCES.

There i s sti l l a general be l ief among ourselves in

the sin ister qual ity of certain number: and days. I t is

considered om inous or fatefu l to si t at a table where

the number is thi rteen of i l l fo rtune to start upon

a j ourney or begin any w o rk on Fr iday,— a superst i

t ion that the proprie to rs of Rai l roads and S team

ships find, to the i r cost . has yet a strong hold on the

public mind. The be l ief that May is an unlucky

month for marriages, prevai ls in England,— a bel ief

that has i ts origin from a t ime as far back as the

per iod of the Romans. Fo r Ovid ment ions that in

that month occur the funera l ri tes of'

the Lemural ia ;hence he says, i t w as unfitt ing that any w oman, w idow

or virgin, shou ld marry in that time.

There i s an old saw thatIf youmarry in Lent ,

You w i ll liv e to repent. ’

In the North of England, i t i s ominous of i l l luck

that a couple be marr ied w hi le there i s an openg rav e

in the church-yard . I t a lso bodes m isfortune to be

married in g reen. In the Scotch H ighlands the ut

most care is used that a dog do not pass between the

couple about to be married, and the bridegroom ’

s left

snoe must be left w i thout buck le or latchet, to prevent

the secret influence of w i tches. In Russia, the passing of a ba re betw een the w hee ls of a vehicle that

This supersti tion comes probably from the Norsemythology. thi rteen being the number of gods that sat at table in Valhalla.one ofwhom,

Baldur,must die w ithin the tw elv emonth.

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1 30 SURVIVALS AND REMIN ISCENCES.

Angels, among the Wesleyans in England, a s a l

ready stated , a re be l ieved topipe to the chi ldren that

a re abou t to die,— ano ther rem iniscence of the super

sti t ion in regard to the w ind. One of them to ld

Baring Gou ld upon a time, that he w a s sure his l i t tle

servant girl w as soon to di e, for he had heard

the night before, in an adjoin ing room, an angel

piping for her. The music w as inexpressibly sw eet

l ike the w arbl ing of a lute .

‘And w hen t'

a ing els

gang that road ,’

said the Yorkshi re man,‘ they ’re

boun to take bai rns ’ souls w i’ A l ike bel ief

prevai ls among the No rthern races— ia Norw ay,Sweden, &c . ,

— ia regard to the songs of the e lf

maidens.

It i s a w ide ly current belief, found generally in our

ow n country and in Europe, that the bow li ng of a

day under the W indow foretokens a death in the fami ly.

A c lear trace here of the old mythological concept ion of the w ind-god, w ho w as l ikened to a dog, and in

w hose hoarse b last w as heard the how l of the hound.

Odin w as a psychopomp. I t i s plainly a survival

from this very anc ient bel ief, that w e find in India

and Persia to-day, the bringing of a dog to the bed

side of one that i s dying, that the sou l may have i ts

needed escort. Nay, w e discov er the same nearer

home . Al l over Armor ica, says Grimm,

“ people

bel ieve that sou ls at the moment of parting, repai r to

the parson of Braspar, w hose dog esco rts them to

Bri tain.

”

EGRESS OE THE SOUL THROUGH THE W INDOW . 1 3 17

In po rt ions of No rthern Europe at this day it is the

custom w hen Odin rides by w i th his furious host, i .

w hen the w ind blow s, espec ially at night , to Open the

w indow s of al l the sicko rooms, that the sou l of the

sufi'

erer may , i f i t w i l l , jo in the mystic cavalcade . In

forme r days men hovering ov er thei r w inter fi res a t

n ight , and hearing the w ind bay and how l, w ere w ont

to tel l the l isten ing g roup of Odin hasten ing w i th

hi s troop to some distant battle-field, to choose from

among the fallen those w ho shou ld accompany h im

to Valhal la .

Of the same bel ief Comes the usage perhaps univer

sa l w i th ourselves, certainly v ery common in Europe,of open ing the w indow or the door, as a dying pe r

son i s breath ing hi s last . The sou l must have oppor

tuni ty of egress that i t may joi n and trave l w i th the

w ind “ Often, says Mr. Gou ld,“ have I had i t re

ported to me that the person in extremz'

s cou ld not d ie,

that he struggled to die, but w as unable t i l l the case'

ment w a s throw n Open, and then at once hi s sp i rit

Of sim i lar natu re and probably of l ike

origin ,i s the be l ief in regard to the cross-beam of a

house, obstructing the departure of the sou l of the

There i s a v ery pretty applicati on of this idea in a poem enti tledAn Ode to a W all-Flow er,

"by Henrick Arnold Wergeland, quoted by aw ri ter in the N otes and Quer ies.

But when they Open the w indow for me,My eyes

’ last look sha ll rest upon thee,And I shall kiss thee as I pass by.

Before I fly.

"

1 3 2 SURVIVALS AND REMIN ISCENCES.

o ne lying under it, and causing very painful and

slow death. Instances a re given in Engl ish folk-lo re-o f persons w ho lying unde r the cross-beam w ere

subj ected to many hours of suffer ing in thei r de-

par ture,— under hard dying as i t w as called, —be ing

instantly rel ieved when removed from under the

"beam.

Bale fires commemo rat ing the bale o r a’eatfi of

Baldur, are st i l l k indled in Norway, Sweden, and

a lso in Scotland,— some parts of i t,— be ing lighted

each year on the day w hen the sun passes the highest

po int in the ecl ipt ic .

A very Old and l ong cont inued custom has been

the burial w ith the man of w hat w as thought to be

essent ial or valuable to him in the other W orld , as

w eapons, implements, slaves, w ives, and horse for

him to ride. W e find i t among the rudest races, and

i t came dow n in the Greek and Western civil izations.

Troj an captives, horses, and hounds w ere sac rificed

at the burning of Pa troklos ; for Baldur ’s service

w ere burnt hi s dw arf foot-page, hi s horse and hi s

saddle ; King Harold w ho w as slain i n the battle of

Bra v alla, had his w a r-chariot w ith the corpse upon‘ i t, driven into the mound ; h i s horse w as ki l led beside

i t, and King H ring gav e hi s ow n saddle, w hich w a s

d eposi ted there also , that the dead man might e i ther

r ide or drive to Valhalla, a s he shou ld choose . Such

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134 SURVIVALS AN D REMINISCENCE S .

t o mend the torn clothes, a hai r brush and soap, bread

brandy, and a coin if i t i s a chi ld , a toy .

*

It is said to be the custom always at an I rish w ake

to put a coin in the hand of the co rpse, to enable the

departed thus to meet the expense of the ferriage .

Baring Gould sta tes that i n C leve land , in England ,only two years before the t ime of hi s w ri ting, as he

w as credibly informed, a man w as bur ied beside

W hose remains w ere p laced a candle, a penny, and a

b ott le of w ine, the explanat ion given ou r author by

one w ho w as present be ing that “ the candle w as to

l ight him on his w ay , the penny to pay the ferry, and

the wine to nourish him as he w ent to the new Jer

usalem.

’ I am also advised from t rustw o rthy sources

that in some of our Ame rican ci ties cer ta inly at He

brew burial s, towel and soap a re depos i ted w i th the

dead, for service required as the sou l c rosses the

river Jordan.

The Maoris conceive that the souls of the dying

speed aw ay from the w esternmost coast of N ew Zea

land. So in Brittany to-day , near w here Cape Raz

stands out in the ocean i s popularly be l ieved to be

the launching place of sou ls. The bay is cal led the“ Baz

’

e a’es Amer,

" Bay of Souls. A headland i s near

Among the Russian peasants i t i s still customary to throw small

capper or si lv er coins into the grav e at a funeral, and a corpse is sometimes prov i ded w i th a pai r of boots also for the journey . Ralston’s Russ i an Tales.&c., p. 108 .

“ THE BAY OF SOULS." 1 3 5

this bay where were gathered the sp irits about to set

fo rth for the i r new home beyond the sea. The bare

deso late valleys of this cape,”says Mr. G ould, op

pose the island oi Seia t, w i th i ts tarn of Kleden ,

a round w h ich dance nightly the skeletons of drow ne dmariners, the abyss of Plogofi

'

, and the wi ld moo rs

studded w ith D ru id monuments,make i t a scene mos t

sui table for the assembly of the souls previous to

the i r ghastly voyage.

”

Procopius, stat ing the be l ief in his t ime sixth

c en tury) , says that on the sho re dw el l a few fisher

men, to w hom i s granted the singu lar Office of ferry

ing the sou ls of the dead over to the land beyond .

For this service, they a re exempted from paymen t

of tax es. In the dead of the night are they sum

moued, one after another in rotat ion by a knock at the

doo r of the cottage, and a cal l in a low mufiled voice .

The ferryman hastens to the beach, and there sees

lying a strange skifi'

, not his ow n, and w i th no thing

in i t. He takes the c ar and sets forth, the boat i s ful l ,and i ts depression to the w ater’s edge shows him the

w e ight of the l oad he i s carry ing. No form i s seen ,

but a vo ice i s heard inqu i ring after the name and coun

try of each. The boat gl ides through the w ave, and

the j ourney to Brittin Great Britain) is accompl ished

in an hour, w hereas w i th the ferryman’s ow n craft i t

w ou ld have taken tw enty-four. Arrived at the

st range shore, his bark i s unloaded as quickly as i t

136 SURVIVALS AND REMINISCENCES.

had been fi l led , and returning back to Brittany, i t i s

so l ight that i t scarce ly touches the w ater.

I t i s an old bel ief, this of the p romontory and the

bay, w hi ther the souls reso rt . I t i s grounded in an

ancient Celt ic myth, and i s held fast i n the Breton

folk- lore to-day . I t may have w ider difi'

usion on the

cont inent than simply ove r this province of Bre

tagne.

All over the w orld , w i th savage and barbar ic peo

ple'

s, the bel ief prevai ls that a cure of malad ies may

be effected by the sorcerer or the medic ine ~man

sucking ou t the evi l, and this i s pretendedly exhibited

in a stick or stone, sometimes a ball of hair, or grains

of corn, or a lizard ev en, produced from the sorcere r ’s

month. In the North of I re land , the w izards st i l l

extract elf-bo lts, - that i s, stone arrow heads,— from

the bodies of bew itched cattle . S i r John Lubbock

suggests that this old method of cure may l inge r in

surv i v al among ourselv es in the universal nurse ry

remedy of Kiss i t and make i t w el l . ’

The tal isman ic virtues ascr ibed to the w z'

tc/z-iza zel

a re w el l know n. The forked st ick i s thought to

have miraculous pow er for po int ing ou t the presence

of w ater beneath the surface . L ike efli cacy i s sup

posed to reside in the ash, mistletoe bong/z, &c. In

Selborne stood for long time a row of po llard-ashes

that became very celebrated for the cures they had

performed . Young chi ldren w ere thrust naked

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1 38 SURV IVALS AND REMINISCENCES.

l ike a bramble, w hich arches over and has roo t at

bo th ends, is po tent to cure a ch i l d of hooping cough,

i f he i s draw n a certain number of t imes through i t .

In Germany, a chi ld that w i l l not learn to w alk is

treated in the same manner, made to craw l under

blackberry vines that form an arch. A survival here

of the old superst i t ion in regard to the shoe or r ing,

jo ined probably w i th a very anc ient veneration be

stow ed upon the w ood of certain t rees . W e al l draw

at w ish-bones, recogn iz ing, though now mainly in

sport, the long prevalent fai th in the pow e r of th is

bone— forked in i ts shape and therefo re tal ismanic ,

from conceived resemblance to the l ightning,— repre

sentat i v e of the Wi sh-

god, to confer upon one w hat

ever he may w ish. The l ittle blue flow er Forget-me

not,” grow ing upon a fo rked stem, te l ls in i ts name ,

i ts relation to mytho logy.

The w eather-cock upon the church spire, accord

i ng to Grimm, may carry mytho logical rem in iscence ;and the same may probably be said of to ll ing the be l l

a t t ime of bu rial , and the pract ice of throw ing c lods

upon the coffin , before the fr iends depart .*

The cock , the b i rd of the sun, the fow l of Sw antew it , Slav i c god of

l ight . was worshipped by the Pomeranians, saysWutike, a fter thei r conv ersion to Christiani ty . Hence the gi lded cock on the steeple . The ‘passing bell ’ ev en now in some parts of England, i s thought to be potent todriv e aw ay the ev i l spi r its thatmay beset, and expedi te the soul’s journey to i ts home . See Henderson, Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties, &c.,

pp . 62, 63 . The supersti ti on i s grounded in the same beli ef as that whi chprompts the burning of candles about the corpse in the fami l ies of Catho

THE DOVE ON THE TOMBSTONE. 1 39

The three strokes of the hammer deal t in the cere

mony of lay ing the corner stone, l ikewise the three

strokes of the auctionee r as he knocks ofi'

an artic le

on the sale to the final bidder,— these perpetua te

Thor’s strik ing dow n of hi s hammer in symbo l of

possession . The sun andmoon figured by discs w i th

human faces, seen for instance on the pages of ou r

almanacs, come doubtless from the foretime w orsh ip

of these bodies a s personal de i t ies, the same represen

tat ion of the same thing i n fu l l survival being found

in Pe ru . The pharmaceut ical sign R,— ah altere d

form ofH—seen in our physic ians’ prescripti ons, sur

vives st i l l to tel l of the ast rological bel ief in the

planetary influence of Jupi ter, and repeats the inv o

cat ion for the blessing of his benign power on the

patient . The fam i l iar dove on the tombstone carr ie s

to the old concept ion among our Teutonic ancesto rs

of the sou l as a bi rd, that at death flew aw ay out o f

the dying person’s mouth

.

The pine cone seen on

the Cashmere shaw ls comes through the Arabs, w ho

li es. Indeed the burning of candles in the churches comes presumablyoi the same origin. And the use of w ax candles has arisen from an old

myth about thebee. Bees, says the legend, draw their origin from Paradise . As they left i t on account of man'

s transgression, God gav ethem his b lessing . Therefore mass cannot be sung w ithout w ax .

Grimm, Teuton.Mythol..905 . The sound of the first three clods on thecoffin gi v es omens in regard to future v i sitations of death. Probablyenough this practicemay also be connected w i th a belief in regard to thenascent life of the departed, as the Germans preparing their seed-comfor germination, mix w ith i t three sorts of earth. See Grimm, l. c. 644

and 1187 .

140 SURVIVALS AND REMIN ISCENCES .

employed it as an o rnament i n arch i tecture, from

mythological sources. I t w as a symbo l in the Dionysiak mysteries.

The pract ice of or ienta tion in bur ia l stil l obtains,

though few probably a re now aw are o f the fact. In

al l the rural cemeteries w i th w hich I am acquainted,

the graves are laid in one direct ion , due east and w est ,

or as nearly so a s may be. The custom prevai led

w idely in Eu rope through the m iddle ages, and i t is

st i l l know n there. The anc ient G reek s bur ied in

the same w ay , somet imes w i th the head tow ards the

w est , somet imes the reverse . Savage races in the

present do the same, —Austral ians, Fij ians, Indian

tribes, the A inos i n Japan, &c . Mo re common ly

w i th us the head i s laid tow ard the w est, face looking

tow ard the east .

The pract ice w a s grounded in the thought of the

soul ’s finding i ts new l ife i n the east. Yet probably

of those w ho bu ry, hardly one in ten thousand may

have asked, or i f asking, been able to answ er,— w hy

al l i n this direct ion ? Thus unconsc iously to this

hour, w e are cont inuing in this simple and l i ttleno ted observance, a w orship very ancient in the

histo ry of humani ty, and of w ide, almost un iversal

difi'

usion.

Our pagan ancestors had the custom of devoting

meats to the i r de i ties, and this chiefly at Yu le t ide .

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14 2 SURV IVALS AND REMINI SCENCES.

sect i on, stand ing em inent fo r piety and high re l ig i ous

cha rac ter , rece ivi ng d i st inct commun ica tion from

t ime to t ime through apparit ional v i si ons info rm ing

him of the leng th of l ife be fo re him, and qui te like ly

the pa rti cular ci rcumstance s that shou ld att end upon

hi s dea th. A l i ke account w a s g iv en , and I be liev e

publ i shed, from the pen of a nea r rela t i v e ,— a bro the r

I think,— touch ing McDow all, w i de ly know n a g en

c ratio n a nd mo re ag o , fo r his prom inence in behalf

of Mo ra l Reform .

Tha t an apple tree shou ld hav e blo ssoms upon i t a t

the same t ime i t ha s r i pe fru i t, i s cons ide red i n North

amptonshi re a su re Omen of dea th. The same si gn

i s -so rega rded i n thi s country . The ra v en i s w ide

ly repu ted a bird of i ll -omen . In Denmark the

pea santry be l iev e the appearance of a rav en i n a v i l

lag e, to po rtend su re ly the dea th of the pari sh pr iest,

o r the burn ing of the church w i th in that yea r . The re

a re many omens of s in i ster cha ra c te r, pa rt icu larly as

foreshadow i ng the approach of dea th, too numerous to

ment ion he re,— as the fi rs t note of the cuckoo hea rd

by an inv al id, g ree n broom pi cked w hen in bloom,

v ew acc i dently brought into the hou se at Chri stmas

among the ev erg reens, the o ld hou se c loc k depa rt ingfrom i ts usual prec ision , and stri k ing an extra num

ber , &c . , &c.

The Russ ia n peasan t thi nki ng the soul s of hi s fo re

fa the rs creep i a and ou t behi nd the sai nts ’ pictures

D ISEASES CAUSED BY SPIRITS . 1 4 3

on his icon-shel f, puts there c rumbs of cake for them

to eat . In the cemetery of P ére La C/za ise in France,

they st i l l place cakes and sw eetmeats on the grav es

at the t ime of the festival of A l l Sou ls, and in Bri t

tany the peasan ts on that n ight a s they retire, leav e

the fi re bu rning and fragments of the supper on the

table, that the sou ls of the dead, coming in the nigh t,may also partake and be refreshed .

Great d read i s fel t in regard to the spirits of the

departed, as i t is supposed they may have unto ld

pow er fo r injury. This obtains especial ly among

savage and barbaric races ; i t survives w i th the c iv i l

ized. W e have seen w hat the fee l ing of the S la v ons

w i th reference to the vampire that w a s supposed to

inhab it a certain dead body, and make excursions by

night to the l iving, sucking the i r blood and l ife aw ay.

The w atcher beside a corpse in Russia i s armed w i th

charms t o pro tect against at tack from it at m idn ight.

D iseases a re accounted for on the ground that they

a re attack of spiri ts upon the l iving,— this view i s

fami l iar both in the O ld'

Testament and the New ,

and these Sp iri ts are frequently human souls. In

N ew Zealand every ai lment know n to flesh is caused

by a spi ri t, more generally that of an infant, or some

one undeveloped, that enters the body of some re l a

t ive and feeds upon i t . In Spain tod ay the priests

practise exorc ism to expel epilepsy from the mouths

and feet of thei r patients. So the exorc ist i n N ew

144 SURVIVALS AND REMIN ISCENCES.

Zealand , finding by his magic devices whence the

troubl ing spi ri t came, w i l l manage by a charm to ge t

i t mounted upon a flax -stalk and posted 06 home .

It i s authent ically stated by a p rominent physic ian

in the city of Chicago, that the body of a w oman there

w ho had died of consumption, w as actual ly taken

out of the grave, and the lungs removed and burned,

because i t w as bel ieved she w as draw ing after her in

the grave some of her su rviving relat ives.*

The pract ice of w atching beside the corpse during

the nights intervening betw een the death and the

bur ial ,— a custom w ell know n among ourse lves,

comes ofa mythological su rvival . I t is related to the

superstit ion from w hich the burn ing of candles abou t

a corpse, al ready referred to , o riginated.

Very interest ing resu lts w e should fi nd in t rac ing

to thei r sources other customs, quaint and whimsical,triv ial in seem ing, yet standing for matters of gravest

real ity once, and largely he ld so now : such as binding

a piece Of red flannel upon the throat fo r example, to

cure i rritation or inflammation there,— the color must

be red, no other w i l l answ er ; or w inding a stocking

about the neck for the same pu rpose,— the garment

must be taken fresh from the foot, this i s one abso

lutely indispensable condition putt ing on new

c lothes— some art icle of appare l at least new ,— ou

Easter day, held an imperativ e obl igation i n the north

Conway.Demonology , I. p. 52.

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146 SURV IVALS AND REMIN ISCENCES.

the sign ificance of the incident a s an om en, w as mat

ter of bel ief at least as far back as his t ime .

That the ca t w i 11, i f perm i tted, suck the sleeping

infant ’s breath, and thereby cause i ts death, i s a piece

of fo lk- lore w idely diffused, and w el l rem embered by

the w ri ter as cur ren t in the t ime of h i s chi ldhood .

I t rece ived most careful heed from mo thers and

nu rses. I t i s one of the mythic fict ions, related

doubtless to the old and general supe rst ition in re

gard to the cat a s one form that the w i tch i s w ont to

assume. Among the anc ients i t w as said that a s

w i tches, cats come and suck the blood of chi ldren .

The appearance of a black ca t on the cradle of a chi ld,or upon the bed of a sick man, i s thought in G er

many and e lsew here in Eu rope, a premon i t ion of

death. If it i s seen upon a grav e i t tel ls that the sou l

of the departed has passed under the dev i l ’s pow er .

In Shakspeare’

s Macbeth, w hen the w i tches are to

prepare the ir ev i l enchantments, the fi rst w i tch com

mences w i th repeating the w ords,Thrice the br inded cat hath mew ed.

l t i l lustrates the pow er of su rvivals, that this old

and u tterly gratu i tous superst ition shou ld have come

dow n sending i ts shadow into the nu rseries of our

chfldhood.

The bel ief in regard to the herpet ic disease cal led

the S izing les ( from Latin cingulunz, a girdle) , that if the

e rupt ion passes qu i te round the body o f the chi ld, i t

THE RAINBOW POT OF GOLD . [ 47

wil l su re ly cau se'

his death, is also Ofmythologic o ri

g in. I recal l this also i a my early chi ldhood, very d i s

t inc tly remembering the dread apprehension w i th

w hich anxious mothers w atched and aw aited the is

sue, w hen thismalady had entered the househo ld . The

disease w a s original ly attr ibuted by a not unnatu ral

c reat ion of the fancy , to the presence ofa k ind ofco i l

ing snake, and i t w as supposed that i fthe repti le w ound

qu i te rou nd the body so that the head and the tai l

shou ld meet , the patient must d ie . The same super

st i t ion ha s been Observed in Cornw al l .

Chi ld ren bel iev e at this day that a go lden cup o r a

bag of go ld l ies at the end of the rainbow . The

story comes from the anc ient sun-myth so w ide ly

diffused, of the go lden orb sink ing into the w aters of

ocean or stream or lake . In one t ransformat ion i t

w as the legend of a go lden treasure bur ied in the

Rhine, a s w e have i t in the N ibelungen Lay ; thenfinal ly, changed as i t i s in the nu rsery tale, w e see

the Old my th again .

The i r name is legion. To enumerate them al l

w ou ld be impossible. In Brandenburg omens a re

taken from pig’

s spleen, as they w ere by diviners in

the t ime o f Augustu s, from the l ivers of the vict im s.

In Carinthia the peasant fodders the flame, offer ing

lard or dripping to i t, that i t may take that and spare

hi s house ; fodders the w ind, sett ing out a bow l of

various meats near by that i t may eat and be ap

148 SURVIVALS AND REMINISCENCES .

peased. In Sw abia, Tyrol , and the uppe r Palatinate,

w hen the storm rages, they throw a handful of meal

i n the face of the gale, bidding i t ea t, and cease to

blow so hard . In Franconia, a baker before com

m i tt ing his biscui ts to the oven, w i ll throw half a

dozen of them into the fire, w ith the exclamation,

There poor devi l , those are fo r you. Quest ioned,

he w il l admi t the fear that but fo r thi s hi s biscu i ts

w i l l be burned in the oven . The Brandenburg peas

ant pours out a pai l of w ater by the door , soon as

the coffin has been borne out , to prev ent the w alk

ing'

of the ghost . In Lancashi re, the good hou se

w i fe to dr ive the w i tch out of the c ream , puts a hot

i ron into i t dur ing the process of chu rning .

*

The bel ief i n amulets, charms,omens, &c 15 so

w ide ly extended, w e may say i t i s substantial ly un i

versal . Innumerable a re the saw s cu rren t in Eu rope

and in our ow n country also , touching signs and

presages, repeated on the l ips of the people, some of

them now Sport ive ly, yet most he ld in deep serious

ness, and every one, ev en the most tr ivial , fel t to

have some background of truth, and accorded for

the most part a certain respect and recogni t ion in

conduct . O v er mu lt i tudes throughout Chr i stendomthey carry potent enslaving sw ay. And few among

the inte l ligent dare qu ite disregard them. The

ghost or shadow of thei r imp ression l inge rs w i th al l .

Tylor, P rim. Cult , 1. 112 ; 11. 24, 869 ; Dyer , Domesti c Folk-Lore. 170.

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I SO SURV IVALS AND REMIN ISCENCES.

savage and barbaric rel igions are charg ed to the brim

w ith i t ; they become not seldom one great mass of

incantation and sorcery. I t survives, cont inues w i th

w onderful tenac i ty of l ife up into higher and the high

est stages of c iv i l izat ion .

Looking into the history of the Heb rew s, w e find

much of this be l ief in spe l ls, the magic transfer of

maladies, sins, &c . , from the i r p roper subjec t to a n

othe r. The brazen serpent set up in the w i lderness,

i s one example ; the scape-

g oat w hich rece ived and

carried the sins of the people into the desert , i s

ano ther. And w hat i s the be l ief now a nd fo r long

W ide ly current through Christendom i n the magic

virtue of Jesus ’ blood to take aw ay al l si n, to ex t in

gu ish both the gu i l t and i ts consequences, but the

be l ief in one omn ipo ten t charm ,—a spel l pow erful a s

that w hich carr ies off w arts or ague or a fev er in the

blood , transferr ing them w ho l ly to some o ther, only

ope rating here upon a far deeper, and infin i te ly more

intractable disease ? L ike one great O losaon i an that

cures everything, i t i s effect ive to c leanse a ll stains,all penal ty aw ay, and re l ieve the offender of ev ery

burden of his transgression. My s ins,— he bore

them al l upon the t ree,’

i s the so frequent , constant

dec larat ion. What i s i t but the extension of the

w orship of the Jew s of the i r sin-offerings and charms

of subst itut ion, to the bel iefs and w orships of Chr is

tendom ? Thus i s this great transac t ion on Cal v ary,

w hich justly seen, i s of subl ime significance in human

MAGICAL SPELLS. 1 5 :

history, made a comprehensive juggle, one mons ter

incantation.

A correspondent of the N otes and Quer ies tel ls us,that he found upon the road one day a piece of paper

bearing this inscription, Jesus Christ, that d iedupon the cross, put my w arts aw ay .

Upon inqu i ryhe found that i t had been given by an old I rish ser

v ant in the fam i ly, to a young girl w ho w as af

flicted w i th w arts. He had passed hi s hand over

the w arts, made the sign of the cross ove r them, a nd

offered an inv ocat ion . As the paper , w hich w as to be

dropped by the roadside , shou ld w aste, so w ou ld the

w arts d isappear ; and this w a s actual ly tak ing place .

W e have a new e lement introduced here in regard to

the per ish ing of the paper, imported from an o ld

pagan superst i tion al ready no ted . But this of the

virtue ofJesus’ blood, i s bu t an ex tension of the pre

vai l ing doc trine. And w ho shal l say that it w as

e i ther i l logical or unnatu ral

A l ike ido latry obtains in respect to be l ief of

the Bible , reading i ts texts a nd chapters, obser

vance of the forms presc ribed for w orship, the

posi t ive o rdinances, &c . Indeed the rel igious fai th

of the w o rld in i ts fundamental e lements i s

touched and co lored large ly w i th mytho logy ;

concept ion of God as personal , indiv idual ized De i ty

dw e l l ing i n a place ; heaven a local i ty, fixed, defini te,

of a s de term inate a character in this regard as Lon

1 5 2 SURV IVALS AND REMIN ISCENCES .

don ; the spiritual w orld inhabited by ange ls, arch

angels, and spiri ts from earth, having i ts c i ty and

royal court , w here in stand the bands of playe rs upon

the i r harps for the de lectation of the sovere ign ea r

forever, and hosts of m in istrants gi rt and ready to

execu te on the instant the behests of the royal mon

arch seated i a the m idst on hi s throne ofan infini tely

more than O riental splendor. And the character

ascr ibed on one Side of his nature to the Supreme, a

relent less, pi ti less r igo r, an implacab i l ity and v in

dict i v eness, refusing to look or hear for an instant

except first there be offer ing of blood ,— w hat shal l

w e say of this, m ingl ing w i th the c ivi l ization, the eu

l ightenment of our nineteenth century ?

These are al l cases of survival , and they show

how tenac iou s, how unendingly persistent, the old

mythic conceptions in the mind . In fac t the presen t

i s penetrated through and through, and w ritten over

w i th the past . Barbarism ex tends into c ivi l izat ion,

and there i s no department of man ’

s l ife anyw here,that i s not co lored and mo lded , dom inated large ly

from barbaric time . Our Speech bears the marks of

the first rude articulations of savages ; our inst i tu

t ions, customs, a re inscribed w i th '

the impress of

tho se t imes ; our faith, our w orshi p, our re l igious

ideas and doctr ines, carry the imprint of the bel iefs

of rude low races in the i r every feature . There i ssu rvival and also revival of the old in the varied

stages of c ivil ization.

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1 54. SURVIVALS AND REM INISCENCES.

himself ; he is not yet-c ivi lized. He has assayed and

struggled to outgrow the

Clouds of doubt and creeds of fear,”

but he ha s not yet put them under hi s feet . W e have

never any of us escaped or surmounted ful ly the old

and inheri ted, ingrained dreams and i l lusions and

nightmares of mythology. This tree wi l l cast i ts

shade and send i ts breath over society for ages to

come .

There i s however, as w e view from one side these

thi ngs w e have seen, a ground, a ra ise” d’

éz‘re for them.

They have some explanation and part ial just ificati on .

When w e recal l the extreme uncerta inties that hang,as appears, over al l our l ife, the power of acc idents

for affect ing destiny, so much that seems in keeping

of the casual and fortui tous ; w hen w e are brought

conscious, as ever and anon w e a re, of the immense

destruct ive force that l ies in the hands of the e lements,the cyc lones, floods, earthquakes, that, let l oose from

time to time, devour ent ire populat i ons in an hou r ;when w e learn by the i l lum inati ons of science, something of the amaz ing reproductive energy of the

mi croscopic germs and spores that carry fevers,typho id, ye l low , and other, diphtheria, malaria, con

sumption, cholera, there is nothing to my know l

edge in pure chemistry, w h ich resembles the pow er of

se lf-mult ipl ication possessed by the matter which

produces epidemic d iseases, says Tyndal l -w e are

THE CHILD STAGE or HUMANITY . 15 5

almost made to fee l the dread real ity of that w orld b e

fore w hich the prim i t iveman trembled,* the presence

of the ho rr id monsters that everyw here beset , or the

one sin ister omnipotent spiri t that overshadow ed,and to regard the charms and incantat ions to w ard

off, the invoca ti ons and sacrifices to appease, to pro

pi t ia te and placate the enemiesmany or one, how eve r

gratu i tous and id le, y et not unnatural .

They a re al l exceedingly interest ing and instruo

t ive w i thal , as be longing to the natural history of the

mind . Even the monstrous errors and i l lusions tha t

have been glanced at in re l igion, a re to be regarded

with consi deration, w i th a compassionate and pitying

tenderness. They appertai n to the chi ld stage, they

are inevi table to that, yet they must surely fade aw ay

and disappear in the grow th of advanc ing humani ty. .

The mere thinking of a thing, especi ally i f i t is an object of dread ,

seems sometimes to br ing i t on. Particularly i s this the case in referenceto certain physical ai lments. Fear inv i tes attack, and is v ery li kely

to insure i t. Hence might hav e originated the Supersti tion in regard tothe approach of an enemy when themind suffered i tself to think abouthim. A reminiscence of that w e havedoubtless in the prov erb, The

dev i l nev er so near ,"&c. There is a subtle and sti ll unexplained connection betw een the remembrance of some absent and supposed to be fardistant person, coming suddenly and freshly to themind,and the v i cini tyor unexpected appearance of that person before us. The beli efs thathav e grown upabout thi s piece of experience, hav e qui te ready explanation inwhat w e sti ll see, and find considerably beyond our science as yet .

VI I I .

SHADOW AND SIGNIFICAT ION .

R eference has already been made br iefly to tw o or

three of the symbo l ic terms employed very fre

quen tly in the o ld myths. Those terms are very

various, and seem many of them to defy al l attempts

at rationa l explanat ion . In other instances, and these

w e may also name many, there appears, as w e look

carefu l ly and w i th some thoroughness of compar ison

in the expression of different peop les, a beau t ifu l

fi tness i n the select ion of designations that at first

blush seemed purely fanc ifu l or arb i trary .

“ There

i s in almost al l real ly anc ient myths,”

says Mr.

Brow n,

“ a profound appropriateness of simi le, based,among other things, upon most carefu l observat ion

of natu re . Ruskin also speaks of “an instinct ive

t ruth in anc ien t symbol ism,

”and of mythic expres

sions of natural phenomena w hich i t i s an u tmost

triumph of recent sc ience to have revealed.

”

The izouse of glass, crysta l palace, or seven [ wag es of

spea rs, or w a ll brist l ing w i th spikes— al l used so

frequently w here men t ion i s made of the sleeping

ma idens that l ie imprisoned,— w e have seen to have(156)

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1 58 SHADOW AND SIGNIFICATION .

door by the demon, w hich afterw ards pierces the

hand of the beau t ifu l maiden, Su rya Bai , as she

opened the door of her dw el l ing in the morn ing, and

this c law caused her death.

O ther terms of l ike import are the serpent by w hich

Enrv dike w a s stung, the a rrow or thorn that slew

Isfendiyar, &c . In the myth of Persephone, the same

offi ce i s done by the na rcissus, w hich seems to have

been chosen on account of i ts benumb ing qual i t ies ;

i t produces na rke, lethargy .

In the tale of the Piper of Hame ln, i t i s said that

al l the rats or mice w ere piped aw ay, and plunged

into the river Weser w here they w ere drow ned.

Perhaps this i s a vague reminiscence of some great

pesti lence w hich sw ept off the chi ldren of the tow n .

Certain i t i s that in S lavonic legends, and also G er

man, the sou l i s represented under the figu re of a

mouse. There are many stories i l lustrating this.

One i s of a servant girl in Saalfeld , in Thuring ia,w ho at a party once fel l asleep, w hi le her companions

w ere shel l ing nuts. A l i tt le red mouse w as seen to

issue from her mouth and run out at the window .

Efforts w ere made to w ake the sleeper, but w i thou t

success, and in the course of the evening she w as t e

moved to another place. Soon the mouse returned,rushed hi ther and thi ther looking for the gi rl , but

not finding her disappeared . A t the same moment

the gi rl d ied.

THE BEETLE ; THE BUTTERFLY . 1 59

Another story i s of a mi l le r, w ho w as cutting fire

wood in the Black Forest . He fel l asleep in the

m i dst of his w ork,and his man saw a mouse creep

out of him and run aw ay . Carefu l prolonged search

w a s made, but the mouse cou ld not be found, and the

m i l ler never aw oke . Saint Gertrude, w ho w a s

Holda, w a s represented under the figure of a mouse,

and she led an army ofm ice, i . e ., sou ls. And the

legend of the Mouse Tow er in the Rhine, and the

w icked B ishop Hatto, w ho i n the tenth centu ry w a s

eaten up by the rats, i . e ., the sou ls of those w hom he

had w antonly murdered , has here i ts significance .

Perhaps the mouse w a s se lected a s symbo l of the

sou l, as has been suggested , from the fact that i t h i

bernates, and thus from the cont inued l ife, hin ts

immortal i ty . So the Egyptian use the beetle; sca ra

oaeus, un i form ly a s symbol of the sou l , or the after

l ife, apparently from the fact that i t bur ies its eggs

i n a bal l of clay in the sand . These in due course of

t ime become chrysal ises and w inged beetles, and thu s,

as the people thought, the sca raba eus stood a s fi t

emblem of the renew ed l ife . The butterfly is a fam i l

iar type of the sou l , and the Danes sti l l recognize a

man a s a w erewolf by hi s eyebrows meet ing, as he

in this resembles a butterfly, and seems ready to fly

OE and enter some other body.

Danae w as imprisoned by her father Akri sios in a

brazen dung eon, i . e. , the prison-house of the night, and

160 SHADOW AND SIGN IFICATION .

the same signification seems to be carried by the great

I ron S tove w hich stood in a wood w herein the king '

s

son w as incarcerated, in the German tale told by

Gr imm . Phoibos Apol lon w as born in Delos, the

brigbt land. He w as bathed by the nymphs in pure

w ater, and w rapped in a spotless, a w hi te and gl isten

ing robe, the same as Cyrus andArthur a re said to have

been wrapped in, w hen carried aw ay from the house

in w hich they w ere born. In the same robe Thet is,rising from the sea after hi s death, w rapped her son

Achi l les s. This robe i s plainly the beaming sky , or

the fai r shining heaven . Herak les is sai d to have beenclothed at one t ime in a lion'

s s/ein,"perhaps,

"says

Mr. Cox , the raiment of taw ny cloud w hich the sun

seems to trai l behind him as he fights hi s w ay

through the vapors.

”

The mystic O rphik dress of the votary ofD ionysosw as the al l-varieg ated s/ein of a w i ld faw n,

“ a rep t e

sentat ion, says the author of an O rphik hymn, of

the w ondrously w rought stars ofthe vau l t of heaven .

"

Over this must a golden bel t be throw n,type of the

Homeric Ocean-circle, i l lumed from the rising sun.

D ionysos himselfw asN ebr ia’opeplos, clad in the spotted

faw n-skin, as Herak les w a s Astroe/zi lbn, cl othed in

robe of stars.

Both Apo l lon and Artem is a re said to have been

born in Ortyg ia , the qua i l-land. Is there reference

here to the co lor, and so the signification might be

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rm : GOLDEN SANDALS . 1 63

ish i t thri ce,and then sink into the lake, w here i t w as

seen no more.

w hich Perseus w as a rmed in hi s fig ht w i th the

Go rgons, ha s play ed g rea t pa rt i n the mythologi es .

It comes dow n in the Ta rnl'appe—cap of darkness ,

or the J’

eo’

elbappe of the Teuton ic leg ends, and w i l l

be remembered w e l l in the N ibe lungen Lay , as t he

posses si on w hich di d such indispensable se rv ice to

S iegfr ied .

’ The med a l : of P erseus, or w i ngs of lig ht ,

go lden sandals, w hich bore him along‘a s sw ift as a

dream,

’

a lso ha v e had a like w ide fortune. Theyappa r as Fortnnatus

’

ha t, or the w i shi ng-cap, w hi ch

anni hi lated space , enabli ng one w ho w ished to be

anyw here, insta ntly to be there ; the Oski, or W i sh

god of the N o rthern mythology ; the w i sh-rod or sta ff

of the fo lk-lore ; perhaps also the arr ow of Aba r i s ;

and final ly the Oskap ste i u. or w i sh—stone w hi ch the

Iri sh at this day w il l te l l you i s in Blarney . W e ha ve

$Thi i we fia d am mthe 0u l isi tale d h d them km Jack

M n mfzflh g w fl fi dn b m “sufl a eoat as m ne ver seeu in the

W ess try hd a-e. B m m de uut ut a shag y bafi

’smdej rm

m m t me h i r u .

” He had also a z a w e lum blaekmomm mw t theee hem whully h v h d hle. Re ba t Tu i-eonfllm l ’engzr

m m m w n ‘l afl. Pengersv i d’s h gger, w lneh was of fim

Easi er b lack

hide.

” He d on wa s fm d ahk to bend the lmg znd stmng huw .wmfi m w w mb me grw g aut w as eqn l to.

‘

It ah o reminds

a m m u n m e u m a m fin m m’m m

164 SHADOW AND SIGNIFICAT ION .

al ready seen the same in the seven- league boots'

of

the fables.

The mag ic ring i s a symbo l of perpetu al recurrence

in all the mythologies, a ll certainly of the Aryan

w orld . It carries back original ly p robably to a

figure employed in the phal l ic w orsh ip , int imat ing

the unending fecundity of nature, and i t i s presen t

under many and very various forms. In the Yon i of

the H indus, also in the Lotos of H indu and Egy pt ian

mythology, in the can of the m i lkw ornan in H indu

fo lk -lore ; in the ark , ln the ship Argo,and ship of

A thene, in the cestus probably of Aphrodite , the

necklace of Harmon ia, in the Br is inga-men, or

Freya ’s necklace of Northern mytho logy , the horn

of Oberon, Huon, &c . , horn of plenty, the caldron of

Ceridw en, the round Table of A rthu r, the San G real,

and final ly the shoe, type of good fortune, shoe

thrown after a new ly married couple , in Scotland

after the sai lor depar t ing on hi s v oyage, and the

horse-shoe nai led over innumerable doors. Theseare a par t only of the mu lt ipl ied forms of the symbo l

employed in anc ient t imes and modern, to represent

or shadow in image the fru i tfu lness of the great

mother. When the Aes i r w ere captured and bound

by the Sons of Re i dmar, they cou ld not g et re leased

except on promise to fi l l the otter 's sk in w i th go ld,and to cover i t so that not one w hi te hair should beseen . This w as done only w hen Odin laid the r ing

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166 SHADOW AND SIGNIFICAT ION .

power in nature . Especial ly the Sun as father of

al l, as w e find in Egyptian and Assyrian representa

t ions. In the sez'

stron of the Egyptian pr iests, the tw o

figures, this and the one just named above, are com

b ined, and the same w e see in the stauros enclosed in

a ring, i . e. , a c ross of four spokes in a ring, w hich

w as w orn a s an amu let, and ' thi s also had a significant

symbol ism .

I t seems to be present in various fo rms, such as

the rod of Hermes, the t rident of Pose i don, the ham

mer of Thor, and the divining rod. In modified form

i t became the serpent, symbo l of l ife and heal ing,and as such is presented by the si de ofAsklepios, the

great hea ler . W e find i t also i n the Brazen Serpent ,w hich w a s such an obj ect of regard, ofw orship among

the Israel i tes. W e see i t to-day on the barber ’s pole,the ribbon painted spi ral ly around it representing

originally the serpent,— symbol as i t w a s formerly of

the healer .

In the O ld Testament narration of the temptation

and the fall, the serpent and the tree of know ledge ,

being different forms of the same symbo l,— come

before us. But here the serpent i s held under repro

bation, he i s accused as bringing the fi rst sin, and

thus i s clearly indicated the coming in of a new and

w orthier faith that had subjected and kept in subor

dination the old phall ic w orship , whi le i t d id not.

THE CROSS or osmts. 1 67

and this i s almost un iversal ly the case in such a

change ,— extingu ish it.

Doubtess c ircumcision in relat ion as i t stood to

the male symbo l , had a myst ic, a spiritual signi fi

cance, imaging perhaps the cutt ing off, denial of the

lusts of the flesh, renunc iation of sense. The G e

raira i and Vestal V i rgins came as the successors by a

spiri tual t ransforma t ion of the H ierodouloi and the i r

equ ivalents in Greek and o ther temples. Thus al so

the cross, the stake o r cross of Osi ris, became at

length the symbol no longer of sensua lity ,— probab lyit w a s alw ays regarded as having a

.

talismanic pow e r,and as a sacred sign i t is exceeding ly old in the hi s

tory of human ity, -but of denial and self-sacrifice .

O ther te rms a re qui te obscure, and one cannot ea s

i ly feel sure that he has found the proper meaning.

In the myth of Persephone, the maiden has unw i t

t ingly in the under-w orld eaten thepomeg rana te seed,

and therefo re though she may return to earth, she

may no t stay there, but must after a time come back

to the realm of Hades. Does the pomegranate seed

hint he re the fate of mortal ity, the term standing a s

Nork thinks as symbol of generat ion ? I f so, w e

have the thought so prevai l ing i n the Orient, espe

cially among H indus, expressed by Buddha,‘ A l l

that i s born must die The very first night on

He finds a natural symbolism in the frui t, as it contains in i tself atonce both seed and receptacle. It w as employed.he says as type of procreation and conception.

—Real Wérterbuch, s. v . Apfel.

168 SHADOW AND SIGN IFICAT ION .

which the man of valor took up his abode in the

w omb,’

says the H i topadesa ,‘ thenceforw ard he ap

proaches death, day by day . Some such concepti on

seems to be represented in this unique symbol .

The sisters ofMeleag ros w ere converted at his death

into g uz’

nea -izem ,and mourn, w eep now for the slain

brother. These hens probably refer to the fleecy

c louds at sunset, the mottled or variegated appear

ance being symbol ized i n the bi rd .

There i s no end to the symbol ism that has been de

vised . Of i tse lf i t w ould make a theme for almost

l imi tless study, as exhibi ted in myth, tale, painting,

sculpture, &c . The Nursery Tales themselves fur

n ish a field very fru i tful and almost unexp lored in

this regard .

With the Egyptians, the sun a s the generat ive

pow er of the w orld w as represented i n the form of a

w inged P fiallos, placed before the horizon .

* The sun

i s an archer ; a conquering, to i l ing hero ; a Fish

King,— in reference to hi s go ing dow n into the

w ater fi a Frog Prince ; in one of the tales the Apple

in the Greek also D ionysos inPause.w inged , the sun ri sing on thegolden pinions.’ The same em bolism we note in Assyr ia and Kaldea,the w i nged solar circle. From the Assyrians the type w as borrow ed bythe Persians, and i thas had w i de spread as we see on Roman tombs,—ahuman head w i th two serpents near i t, these representing the w ings,and on tomb-stones in our own time,—the w inged cherub.1' In the Babylonian religion represented halt lish , halt man, to signi

i y the fact that half his time was spent abov e ground.and half in thesea .

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170 SHADOW AND SIGNIFICAT ION .

stupenddus mazes in which the m ind to this hou r i s

l ost. The Leopa rd also seems to symbol ize the starry

n ight . So in the H indu, one of the tw o dogs of

Yama, god of the under-w orld, i s Ceréera , the spotted ,

the o ther be ing Sy ama , the black . In Heraldry the

Leopard i s image of the n ight . He i s the deadly foe

of the L ion, type of the Sun, and a s hi s antagonist

hastens into the Den of the Tw o Ent rances, in the

dark passages,’

a s descr ibed by Homer, he fal ls

upon him,does him to death, though the slain beast

i s soon to be reborn and appear victo r at the Eastern

Gate .

The earth in H indu tales i s hinted in the figure

of a mi lk-w oma n and her ca n,as in the Greek and

some mytho logies of sa'v age races, she i s pictured a

mo the r w i th many breasts. Hekate, w i th keenness

of vision almost l ike that of the sun, and hearing

acute l ike He imdal l ’s on the B r idge that leads to

Valhalla, assumes successively three heads or faces,— though w i th w hat seem to us arbi trary figures, the

horse, the snake, and the dog ,— the three phases of

the moon . Argos w i th his hundred eyes, Briareus

w i th hi s many arms, had a c lear mean ing for the

m ind , as indeed the figures among the H indus,manyhanded and t riple -faced, part fish, o r boar, or eagle,have or had once some apt expressiv eness in symbo l .

So the anima l heads of Egyptian gods and goddesses,Anubis, guardian of the dead, j ackal -headed ; Har, or

THE Tw o FACE S or JANUS. 1 7 1

Horus, the youthfu l sun, hawk -headed ; Hathar, the

cosmog oni c Venus, cow -headed ; Teti, Thoth, thought ,ibis-headed ; and Hapi , or Apis, the sacred bul l — a ll

signified something intel l igible and once carried a

strik ing fo rce to the w orshiper . Let one w a lk

through the gal ler ies of the Egyptian Antiqu i t ies i n

the Louvre, marking w el l the expressi on w ritten i n

the statues, ste les, rel iefs, &c., and he w i l l feel fresh ly

and probably as never before , that the thought, the

w orship of that w onderful people w as saturated i n

symbo l ism. The leonto-kephal ic I sis, Sekhet, &c . ,

accord ing to M . Paul Purret, represent the pow er of

the solar beams. The Uraeus, the avenging Cerbere i i

scourging the condemned w i th w hips of l iving

snakes, the Kunephaloi , dog -headed monkeys,*

guarding at the pylon, entrance to hel l ,— w e can see

to have had an aptness of figurat ive meaning for the

m ind .

In the G reek and the H indu mythologies are

androgynous representat ions of dei ty . They tel l in

symbol ic expression that G od w as conceived as

sexless, or of both sexes, the perfec tion of the crea

t ion represented complete in him, or dual nature

typified . Our father and ourmother too.

”The two

faces of Janus, the bearded and the beardless, repre

The emblematic monkeys of Truth and Justice,"says Mr. 000per .

Amonkey the emblem of justi ce because all hi s extremities are hands ,and all equal." S erpmtMy thsofAnci entEgypt, pp. 14 and 77.

1 72 SHADOW AND SIGNIFICATION .

sented him in his tw o aspects, the 7 m m: P ataleins,

and the y anus Clusins, Opener, and Shutter. In the

morning and in the evening also he i s with smooth

beardless face, but in the middle of the day he is w i th

large beard and hai ry face. So does D r . Goldz iher

interpret the symbol ic figure . So in the Semi t ic:

The four faced Karthag i nian Baal,’

the solar time

k ing, says Mr. Brow n,“ in hi s four changing

S.

Nature, the poet of our century characterizes

a s‘ l iving garment of G od .

’

An old Greek writer

desc r ibes i t as v ei l, w hereon w ere w rought figures

majest ic , beaut ifu l , the l iv ing unive rse, earth and

the heavens.

‘ Zas, i . e . Zeus,’

says Pherekydes of

Skyros, ‘ makes a ve i l large and beaut i ful , and

w orks on i t Earth and Og énos, i . e ., Okeanos.

’

Ogén includes here the Oversea, and w e have

again in this the starry j qflos. The ve i l, says

Pherekydes, Zas hangs on a w inged oak,’— our old

tree Yggdrasi l again .

* Is not this a s good and per

haps a s perspicuous, as the doctr ine in the Kan tian

phi l osophy of al l-conditioning T ime ( or else Space)in the perceptions and processes of the mind ?

So aga in it was an oak to which the Golden Fleece wasnailed in thegrov e ofAres. An illustrati on w e find of the transformationmade as themyth passes into the heroic legend, and the secret unconscious fideli tyw i thal to the old, in the declarati on of Sir Tristramto Isolt.that the carcanethe had won at the last tournament w as

Grown on a magic oak-tree inmi d heaven.

’

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174 SHADOW AND SIGN IFICAT ION

w i th the sw eet song of W a inamo inen, but the fai r

v irgins of the ai r, sun and moon, these also halted

and hearkened , as they w ove w ith the g o lden shutt le

and the s i lver comb . But presently, t ransported w i th

this vo ice, they forgot all , the comb and the shutt le

fe l l from the i r hand , and the threads of the i r tissue

were broken. And Homer says of the nymph

Kalypso, that ‘she w as singing w i th in in a sw eet

vo ice as she fared to and fro before the loom and

w ove w i th a shu tt le of go ld .

’

So Kirke w as heard

by Odysseus, ‘singing i n a sw eet voice , as she fared

to and fro before the g reat w eb imperi shable,fine of w oof and fu l l of grace a nd splendor . ’

One of the H indu tales desc ribes Tara Bai , the star

maiden, or the Splendo rs of the night -sky . She w as

tal l and of commanding aspect . Her b lack hair w as

bound by long strings of pearls, her d re ss w as of fine

spun go ld, and round her w aist w a s c lasped a zone of

restless, throbbing, l ight-giving d iamonds. Her

neck and arms w ere cov ered w i th a profusion of

costly j ew els, but b righter than al l shone her bright

eyes, w hich looked fu l l of gentle majesty.

“

* A remarkable amulet instanced by Mr . Brown , copied in Caylus’Collection ofAntiqui ties , i llustrates w ell the occult but significant symholi sm in many of the representations in anci ent art . It belongs, i t i sstated , to the Greek-Egyptian period. It seems to represent the deathor suspended li fe, and resurrection and triumph of the sun. In the cen

tre of a ci rcle a closed human eye , around i t v arious representations,mainly figures of animals, all turned tow ards i t: On the right or easternside a cock, a serpent and a goose ; on the north a lizard and a thunder

THE SONGS FOUND BY THE W AY SIDE . 1 75

There i s imagination in the rudest races, not a co n

cept ion in the my ths of any , how w i ld , grotesque,and gratu i tous soever i t may appear , w hich had not

some ground in tru th, or a lively st imu lating fancy.

These poets cou ld dec lare, a s did the author of the

Kalev ala ofhis epic These songs w ere found by the

w ay-side, and gathered in the depths of the copses ;

blow n from the branches of the forest , and cu l led

among the p lumes of the pine- trees. These l ayscame to me as I fo l low ed the flocks, —in a land of

meadow s honey sw eet and of go lden hi l ls. The co ld

bolt ; on the w est a scorpion and a phallos ; and on the south a lion and'adog. The meaning , asMr . Brown gi v es i t, as follow s : the closed ey e represents the Sun of the underw orld ; the lion placed in the low er par t ofthe design, indicates that the flaming sun of day has sunk beneath the

hor izon,

”— “ the Lion, type of the diurnal Sun.

” The raging dog -star,

hi s ally , stands besi de him. The scorpion i s the darkness that attacks

and~stings the light to death,—such i s the significance of that figure w i th

the Egyptians,—but the w inged phallos seen below the hori zon, indicatesthat the secret, generati v e pow er of the sun sti ll rema ins . The L iza rd,the moisture and the dews of the night ; the thunderbolt, his slay ing byApollon Sauroktonos. To the east i s the cock, solar bi rd of day , and

di rectly east of h im the serpent, serpent of light in Egypti an symbol i sm,

and the creeping daw n beam in Greek,—compare Sarpedon, li terally the

creeper, ‘ the creeping light of early morning, ‘—whi le abov e the goosev olant, flying from east to w est, represents the soul of the Osiri an, saidby theEgyptian to cackle like a goose,’ flying tow ard the sun-

godUa sar .

Osiri s.

An ingenious interpretation, seeming v erisimi lar , and making the

dev ice apt and strik ing . It i s in harmony w i th the li ttlew e know of thi s

occult realm. The rev ersed torch, so fami li ar among ourselv es, and

w i thal v ery expressi v e, der iv es, as appears, frommythology ; representedw i th the sable figure of night , i t typifies the descent of the sun to the

under-world

176 SHADOW AND SIGN IFICAT ION .

has spoken to me, and the rain ha s to ld me her runes ;

the w inds of heaven, the waves of sea, have spoken

and sung to me ; the w i ld beasts have taught me, the

Nature1

music of many w aters has been my maste r.’

had spoken to not unw i l l ing or unreceptiye mi nds,

and in instances the tongue w as able to report w hat

the ear had heard , and the penet rat ing ey e had seen .

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178 DIDACTIC , ETHICAL .

Apologue, parable, a proverb w i th the color and

flavor of a fine image,— these have alw ays been the

forms of speech most accepted and l ast ing w i th the

mul t i tudes of mank ind. W e find frequently wi th

barbarous races such things done as neatly and aptly

as w i th any . For an instance, the Zu lus say that the

hyrax, on the day w hen tai ls w ere gi v en out, instead

of going, sent for hi s, as the day happened to be

rainy, and he w ould not encounter the w et. The

consequence w as, he never got any tai l . It i s told in

our old Engl ish prove rb : I f you w ish a thing done,

go ; i f not, send.

There are expressions, a single phrase only a t t imes,

in some instances almost but a w ord, w hich w ri te

themselves indel ibly upon the memory ; they give

with such fel ic i ty a nd force the fact. Carlyle says,“ Trifles are the hinges of dest iny.

"The Arabians

said, The Dest in ies ride the ir horses by night,” in

dicating the inexorableness and sw ift march of fate.

The Greeks : “The feet of the avenging dei ties areshod w i th w ool. There a re phrases used on ’

change,and current in ‘

slang ’

speech, t ropical , figurativethrough and through, that are infin i te ly expressive.

W e could not w el l spare them from the vocabu lary.

W as i t the Algonqu in w ho sai d of the Great Spi ri t,“Whose W igw am i s the sky ,

"and of the gods to

express thei r immortal ity, dec lared, Thei r fires do

always burn There i s an Indian proverb which it

THE HEARING OF HEIMDALL. 1 79

i s said the French stole and appropriated,— fe lt

doubtless so good, the pale face COuld not improve

upon i t “ Let not the grass grow on the path of

friendshi p . A w r i ter in the Century magaz ine n ot

l ong since described Herbert Spencer a s“ a sort of

inte llectual c learing-house , on a scale befitt ing the

n ineteenth century ; a bi t of characterization w e

shal l no t so qu ickly forg et . Characterizations by a

great orato r, a sWendel l Phi l l ips for example in some

of hi s masterly ‘ phi l ipp ics,’

a re so terse and te l l ing,

they can never fade from the remembrance .

The No rsemen sai d of He imdal l , the w atchman

upon the w al ls of Valhalla, tha t he had ears so acu te

he heard the grass grow upon the meadow s of earth,

and the w oo l upon the backs of sheep . L ike thing s

a re to ld of Pythagoras and of Zo roaster . In a G e r

man tale , the story of the S ix Servants, i t is said of

one of them that hi s eyes w e re so pierc ing that they

w ou ld sp l i t in tw ain w hatever they looked upon he

w a s obliged the refore to keep a bandage over them

the vision of ano ther w a s so far- reaching, he saw at a

glance al l round the w orld ; and the third cou ld

hear every thing, even the grow ing of the grass. The

original for this picture i t w ou ld not be hard to

guess.

The Russian tales te l l of a giant named Sw ift-eye

W hose glances set on fi re w hatever they look upon,

insomuch that he i s compel led ordinari ly to w ear

1 80 DIDACT IC, ETHICAL .

bandages over hi s eyes. One variant describes him

a s having huge overhanging eye-b row s, and im

mensely long eye-lashes, completely intercept ing,

covering his vision. When he w ishes to look out

upon any thing, pow erfu l ass istants are requ i red to

l ift up the brow s and lashes w i th great iron pitch

forks. In Servia the glances of the V i i reduce

w ho le cit ies to ashes. Ord inari ly, how ever, hi s eyes

a re covered by the c losely adher ing l ids. But w hen

these l ids a re raised by the forks, then his stare

i s fatal as w as that of Medusa. Thus did theseS lavon ic tr ibes personify the dread l ightn ing, and

explain hi s fe l l dest ruct i v e pow er by the unsheathing

of the basi l isk eyes.

In Atlas w i th hi s broad shoulders supporting the

w orld, w e have hint of the greatness, the service of the

large sou l, the one w ho can bear al l and do al l , w ho

supports, sustains us al l by hi s exhaust less endurance

and hope . Says our poetSuns set, but set not hi shopeStars rose, his fai th w as earli er upAnd matched his sufierance sublimeThe taci turni ty of time .

"

Somew hat the same idea doubtless w e have symbo l

ized in Odysseus, the much enduring, ever pe rsist ing,

the m ind of unl imi ted resources, equa l to anything.

Orig inal ly undoubtedly the sun-

g od, Odysseus stands,a s the mv th has come dow n to us, for much mo re

than a ny thing i n the sun . He typifies a hero of

performance, of endless tact, w isdom, ski l l, the

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r82 DIDACT IC,ETHICAL .

the avenging de ities, w ho bring evi l deeds to l ight,and mete sw i ft inevitable retribut ion to the crimes of

men. L ike Ate, w hose wrath may neve r slumber, so

long as the murderer remains unpun i shed . Thus

doth the m ind ascend perpetual ly from low er to

higher, and physical myths, in some cases coarse and

even gross, are subl imated, andmade the medium for

inculcating the noblest and most vital lessons. The

forces personified become w hips and scou rges of

G od, follow and overtake the w rong doer, wi th the

re lentless persistency and severi ty of the aw fu l

hounds ofYama.

In the tale of P rometheus and the vu l ture or eagle

preying w i thout ceasing on his l iver , w hich how

ever, he ld i ts ow n, grow ing by n ight as much a s

covered the loss i t had suffered by day , i s there not

fi t symbol iz ing of the m ind, haunted w i th the d ivine

unrest, preyed upon by the devouring thought , con

sumed and spent day by day, yet perpe tual ly recov

ing i tse lf, and returning fresh to i ts battle every

morn ing

The myth of Tantalos, original ly physical, has, as

i t comes to u s, a moral significance . Not more

vividly could be described the baffling, the mockery

and disappointment of a mortal w hose l ife i s an

offense to the gods ; w ho is in the midst of abnud

ance, yet cannot partake ; w ho i s hedged , cramped,thw arted, at all moments w hen he seems on the

HERAKLEs’ CROW N ING CONQUEST . 18 3

threshold of success. Hence our w ord

ve ry expressive i ts meaning, and know n to the

experience of al l .

Herak les brought up Kerberos from Hades, and

restored Alkest is. Is there not here a hint of w ha t

the Greek m ind saw , that to the brave, heroic sou l ,

to great da ring and do ing, all things shal l yield ,

death i tsel f shall be overcome , the conquest at length

be w rought over hel l and grave, over al l-devour ing

T ime even ? Greek , i f any in the anc ient w orl d ,saw to this end. He must reign unt i l he hath pu t

a ll ‘ things under his feet . ’ And ‘the last enemy ,

death, sha l l be destroyed .

’— A l ike force of meaning

may doubtless be seen in Pandora ’s box , Ka lypso’

s

spel l , K i rke'

s draught, &c .

The tale of the exposed and rescued maiden is to l d

in so many forms from the story of Herakles and

Hesione, Perseus and Andromeda, to the count le ss

legends of later t ime . W e see something at least of

this same influence, refining and elevating, in the

sto ry of Maiden Merg rete . Saint Margaret w as the

daughter of a priest at Ant ioch. Cast into a dungeon,

she w as beset by Satan, w ho in the form of a dragon,

sw allow ed her al ive. But she came off victo riou s ;i t w as the conquest of the soul , everyw here superio r

to the beast force. She w as del ivered by the inv o l

unta ry act of the dragon ; he burst asunder, and she

came forth unharmed.

184 DIDACTIC, ETHICAL.

MaidenMergrete upon the dragonstood ;Blythe was her heart, and joyful was her mood ."

In Other mythologies than the classic also do w e

find the nobler sense . The Churning of the Ocean

by the gods, in H indu, whereby the Amrz'

t, drink of

Immortal i ty, w as found, conveyed a highmoral mean

ing . The Norse story of the No rns or Fates,— the

same office they bear as the Greek Moira i,—tel ls a

great deal . There a re three of them, Vurdh, Ver

dhandi and Sku ld, —Past, Present, and To-be. They

guard the place in the heavens w here the gods ho ld

the i r meetings, beneath the shadow of the t ree

Yggdrasi l, and they w ater the roots o f the tree from

the w el l of Vurdh. When the second He igi w as

born, the Norns came and fixed hi s lot, and thei r

decree w as in al l cases i rrevocable .

‘ L i fe, death,w eal th, w isdom

,works, are measured for one w hi le

on his mother’

s bosom,

’

says a H indu apothegm.

’

Every man’

s fate hath God w ri tten on his forehead,says another.

These a re the Wei rd S isters whom Macbeth saw ,

and i n the legend of King Arthur w e find them againin the three sisters w ho meet three knights by the

founta in. The first has on her head a ga rland of

gold, beneath w hich the hai r show s w hi te, for she is

three'

score or more years old ; the second is thi rty,she also garlanded, and more richly in gold ; the

thi rd a maiden of fifteen only , her head c row ned with

a Chaplet of flowers. Once more, at the end of the

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186 DIDACTIC, ETHICAL.

The star-Spangledpeplos or robe of Harmonia, i . e .,

the lum inous, gl istening vau l t of heaven, i s said by

one of the G reeks to hang on a w inged oak— the

w orld-tree Yggdrasi l . Ai etes nai led the Go lden

Fleece that had been borne to his home bv Phr ixos,

to an oak in the grove of A res. There the dragon

guarded it, and thence Jason, subdu ing the monster,must recover i t .

Odin i s sacrificed and hung on this tree, offering,

as he says, himself to himse l f :I know that I hungOn a w ind-rocked tree.N ine whole nights,W i th a spear w ounded ,And to Odin offered,Myself tomyself,On that tree,Of whi ch no one knowsFrom wha t root i t springs

Even l ife i tse lf must die, a sac rifice to l ife. There i s

no force or power w e know that does not yie ld, on

occasion, to a higher. There must be death,that

from i ts bosom may spring the new l i fe. Fate, the

o ld Greeks said , w as higher than Zeus, and even the

supreme had to bow befo re i ts decree .

Man w as framed from the sacred ask. O f thisw orld-tree, De Rongement says that i t i s one of the

most magnificent emblems invented by the human

m ind .

"

The story of the eye exac ted from W uotan (Od in) ,so that he has but one, by Mimi r hold ing the o ther as

THE MUTE TONGUES PUBLISH THE CRIME. 18 7

a pledge, e re he w i l l give him a draught from the

water w hich imparts w isdom, seems to couch a deep

sense . An eye for an eye , you can have nothing

unless you give something. O riginal ly perhaps

purely physical ,— the reflect ion of the sun, or his ey e

left in the we l l,— the story long since began to have

a larger, more home-coming significance.

The gods in the Norse heaven cou ld not bind the

Fenr i s w olf. S tee l he snapped, the w eight ofmoun

tains w as nothing beneath the pow er of hi s hee l .

But finally a l imp hand they put upon him, and thi s

held . The more he struggled in resistance, the

stronger and closer i t drew . So doth fa te, unfel t ,unsuspected, unt i l w e resist and attempt to break

aw ay, ho ld us in t ightening, invincible grasp .

After the ki l ling of S iegfr ied, and as the bur ial i s

to take place, Gunnar sw ears that Ize i s innocent, —he

and a ll hi s men in this regard, —but 10,what refutation

i s giv en to his ly ing w ords, w hen as Hagen passes

before the dead body, these w ounds &leea’ afresfz/ In

the Kalevala w e a re told that w hen Leminka inen i s

slain in an expedition undertaken against the people

of Pohjo la, the black w aters of the river of forge tful

ness bearing him dow n, his comb, that had been left

w ith hi s mo the r, herm out

Mr . Hendersonsays that the custom of touch ing the corpse by thosewho come to look at i t, i s sti ll kept up among the poor at Durham, and he

i s doubtless correct inhis v iew that i t sprang from the belief once univ ersal among the Northern nations that a corpse would bleed at the

188 D IDACTIC , ETHICAL .

The Bohemians be l ieve that holy sparrowhaw ks

will al ight upon the boughs of the oak that Springs

from the grave of a murdered man, and publish the

crime . In Sw edish and Scotch fo lk-songs i t is to ld

that a maiden w as drow ned by an enemy . From her

breast-bone a musician made a harp , from her golden

hai r the strings of his lyre, and the fi rst stroke of this

harp Slew the mu rderess. L ike i s to l d i n one of the

K z’

ndermd'

reizen of the Slain brother from a bone of

w hom w as made a Shepherd 's w hist le : every t ime

that w histle i s blow n, i t publ ishes the c rime .

The Eastern l i teratu res are ful l of this. Nature i srighteous and testifies her sympathy w i th the wronged .

In the Ramayana, S i ta i s abducted by Ravana, borneaw ay in hi s talons through the ai r for Lanka ’s Isle

(Ceylon) , there to be held his vassal , slave. She

shrieks and screams for de l iverance , but no human

ear i s there to hear. The poet fine ly tel l s how al l

nature sympathiz es w i th this out raged lady, as she

i s carried crying for help far aw ay ove r forest, stream,

hi l l and dale. As he moves, the breeze i s st i l l w i th

dread, tree shadow s thicken the tw igs st iffen, and

beasts and birds stand mu te, and the w aves of the

river t remble w i th terror .

" Afterw ards Rama descr ibing to his recovered bride his pain at be ing separated

touch of a murderer. It appears that this w as one of the tests used todetermine gui lt in the Courts ofJastice. and that the bleeding of a corpsew as urged as ev idence in the high Court of Judiciary at Edinburgh so

lately as 1668. Henderson.Noteson the Folk-Loreof theNorthern Counties ,&c., p . 57.

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190 D IDACTIC, ETHICAL .

men in the i r my th of Baldur. Baldur stands origin

al ly for the sun, the sun in his gentle, benign aspect .

He i s the best beloved among the god s, be loved also

by all things on earth, l iving and inanimate . But

Baldur dies, struck by a dart from the hand Of hi s

bl ind brother HOdr ( the darkness) , and the shad

dow Of death appears for the fi rst t ime in the homes

Of Asgard . He ha s to g o to Helhe im, the dark

abode of the goddess He l, w ho re ign s there. Odin

Sends h is messenger Hermodr, to pray the goddess to

le t Baldur re turn once more to the ear th. N ine days

and nine nights he rode through dark glens,

envi roned in impenetrable n ight, passed GjOll’

S bridge,

( GjOll, the S tygian r iver ) , found Hel , a nd besought

her that she w ou ld perm i t Baldur to c ome back . Hel

consented on one condit ion, name ly , that he Should

prove that Baldur w a s so loved a s He rmOdr to ld .

“ I f

al l things,both l iving and l i fe less w eep for him,

then shal l he return . But i f one thing speak against

h im, o r refuse to w eep , he shall be kept in Helhe im.

Hermodr del ivered his answ e r ; the gods send off

messengers every w here to proc laim the decree, and

to pray that Baldur through the atte sted sorrow of

all things, b e del ivered from Helhe im . A l l things

w ept, “ bo th men and every o ther l iv ing thing,and

earths, stones, t rees a nd metals, j ust as thou hast no

doubt seen these things w eep w hen thev w ere brought

from a cold‘

place to a hot one .

’

But w hen all seemed

BALDUR ’S RETURN AND REIGN . i gr

to have been done that Hel requ i red, there w as found

an old hag named Thokk ( Dokkhr, dark ) , si tt ing in

a cavern. She w as begged to weep that Baldu r

m ight be del ivered . But She repliedThokk w i ll w a i lW i th dry eyes

Baldur’s bale fire.

Naught quick or deadFor carl

’s son care I

Let Hel hav e her own.

"

And Baldur must remain i n He lheim.

But, adds the myth, a day w i l l come, the Tw ilig ht

of the G ods, w hen in one final internecine confl ict

w i th the evi l pow ers, the gods themselves shall be

destroyed , and they shal l conquer too . A new earth

shal l emerge from the al l -engulfing deluge, Baldur

l iberated w i l l come from Death'

s home, and G od of

Peace, re ign benign, supreme over this regenerate

w orld . SO does the inex tinguishable fai th of the

human soul i n the final tr iumph of good over evi l ,l i fe over death, and al l calam i ty, sorrow , and suffering,assert itsel f. The myth sombre, shadowed, yet i s

subl ime in i ts hope, i ts augury of the final end.

The pow er of music, or in general , the pow e r of

spiri tual over physical or material , i s w el l told in

the many stories Of the effect of the lyre, &c . Ex

amples are i n Amphion, Orpheus, the Ribhus among

the old H indus ; i n modern t imes Oberon, the E l v es,and the innumerable tales of harpers in the fo lk

l ore.

192 DIDACT IC , ETHICAL.

The w ind i s somet imes music, w hich l ike the fine

strains Of an instrument, sets everything in mot ion

and responsive . This the original mean ing of the

myths,— the poet w ou ld have seen new truth in hi s

concept ion had be know n w hat modern sc ience te l ls

us Of singing flames, or the response in song of the

gas j et to the tun ing-fork , or Of the w indow -pane to

the no tes Of the organ,— the mind refines and ether

ea lizes unt i l the sto ries tel l Of the pow er of musi c,

of serene truth and beauty to l ift and enchant the

spi ri t . At the transporting tones of O rpheus' lyre

the ship Argo mo v ed into the w ater, the t rees and

rock s w ere st i rred , and the beasts of the forest w ere

assembled to l isten. Nay, says the anc ient poet ry,at the music Of this “ gol den shel l the w heel of Ix ion

stopped, Tanta los forgo t the thi rst that tormented

him, and the vu l ture ceased to'

prey on the vitals of

Ti tyos. Amphion w i th hi s lyre bu i l t the w alls of

Thebes ; the very Stones took themse lves up and

moved forw ard to thei r appo inted places in Obedience

to the tones Of his instrument.

W e have the Sz'

oyllz'

ne Books story in the Sanscrit,this also o riginal ly a tale of the w ind . A ce lebrated

poet w rites w i th his ow n blood, a mighty book of tales

in the forest . I t contains seven hundred thousand

sloka s or verses. The poet Od'

e rs the book to the

king, Satav ahana , but he Objects pretendedly on ac

count of the dialect in w hich i t i s w ri tten . G unadhya

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194. DIDACT IC, ETHICAL.

to l isten to hi s sweet voice, and to taste the music of

his strains. The wolf deserted the sw amp, the bear

forsook the fo rest lai r ; they ascended the hedge and

the hedge gave w ay . Then they cl imbed the pine

and sat on the boughs, hearkening w hi lst Waina

mo inen intoned hi s j oy . The old black ' bearded

monarch of the forest, and al l the hosts of Tap io,hastened to l isten. H i s w ife, the brave l ady ofTapiola ,

put on her socks of blue and her laces of red, and

ascended a ho l low trunk to l isten to the god. The

eagles came down from the cloud , the falcon dropped

through the air, the mew fli tted from the shore, the

sw an forsook the l impid w aves, the sw ift lark, the

l ight sw al low , the gracefu l finches, perched on the

shoulders Of the god . The fai r vi rgins Of the ai r, the

rich and gorgeous sun , the gentle beaming moon,

halted, the one on the lum inous vau l t of heaven, the

other leaning over the edge of a cloud . There they

wove w i th the golden shuttle and the si lve r comb.

They heard the unknow n voice, the sw eet song of

the hero , and the si lver comb fell, the . go lden shut t le

dropped, and the threads of thei r t issue w ere broken.

Then came the salmon and the t rout, the pike and

the porpoise, fish great a nd smal l tow ards the Shore

l istening to the sweet strains Of the charmer .”

Tears of bliss burst from the eyes of the god as

he i s playing, they fal l on his breast, from breast to

*K alevala, Rune XXII, giv en by Baring Gould. Curious M yth-s.&c.,

Second Series, 177-179.

FREYR ’S CLOUD-SHIP . 195

knees, then from the knees to his feet ; they w et fi v e

mantles and e ight cloaks. His tears transmute to

pearls of the sea .

In the story of the Jew in the Thorn-bush, theJew , who here stands a s representat ive or successor

Of Phoibos, in the old Greek myth of Hermes and

the cattle , i s compe l led to dance in the bush un t i l

hi s c lothes are al l torn to shreds. The servant i s

arrested, t ried and condemned to be executed,bu t, a s

he stands under the gal low s, he makes one final

request tObe allow ed to play a single tune w i th hi s

fiddle that had show n such marvelous properties. It

w a s granted, and lo, judge, hangman, accuser, spec

ta tors and al l, j oin, fo rgett ing everything else, i n the

magic dance .

This lad comes near to the req ui rement OfThoreau .

Some one w a s commending to him [Eschylos and

Pindar, w hom he also adm i red. But E schy los and

the Greeks,’

he said, in describing Apol lo and

O rpheus, had given no song, or no good one.

’ They

ought not to have moved t rees, but to have chanted

to the gods such a hymn as w ou ld have sung al l the i r

Old ideas out of the i r heads, and new ones in.

"

The re is perhaps a l ike w ealth Of meaning and

fe l ic ity of expression in the No rse tale Of

The sun-god Freyr had a cloud-ship called Sk id

bladni r, and she is thus described in the prose Edda.

She i s so great that al l the Aesi r with their weapons

196 DIDACT IC , ETHICAL .

and w ar gear may find room on board her ; but w hen

there i s no need of faring on the sea in her, she i s

made w i th so much c raft that Freyr may fo ld her

toge ther l ike a Cloth, and keep her in hi s bag.

”

In the l ight of modern sc ience w e can read in th is

desc ription, evolution, the w orld w i th al l i ts teem ing

l ife unfolded from the atoms, and reso lved again ; the

cosmi c vapor passing through the systo le diasto le Of

endless change, the Proteus of Shapes. And w hen

w e learn in Tyndal l that the skv -mat ter in atmos

pher ic space beyond the he ight of the Matter-ho rn or

Mont Blanc, al l swept up and gathered in one recep

tac le , wou ld not fi l l a gent leman ’

s portmanteau, pos

sibly only hi s snuff-box , our myth borrow s new

significance . The fact establ ished by New ton fur

nishes another and perhaps equal ly good i llust ration,

viz., that the expansive force Of atmospheric air i s

such that a spherical inch of i t removed mi les

from earth, w ou ld become a Sphere more than fi ll ing

the o rbit of Saturn. O r this from Faraday — that a

single grain of w ater has an amount of e lectric i ty

w hi ch, l iberated under due condi tions, w ould equal

that of a pow erful thunder storm .

*

Truly sc ience i l lustrates and also outg oes the

fanc ies Of the myth-makers. Fac t i s greater, mo re

startl ing than the utmost d reams Of the imagination.

See Tyndall, L ight and Electri ci ty , 154, 15 5 .

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198 D IDACT IC,ETH ICAL.

thought w as intermeddled with fire, w hich smote him

so sore in the visage that him thought i t al l to brent

his visage, and therew i th he fel l to the ground and

had no pow er to arise.

"

The Grail w as food, drink, in fu l l supply, and to

each j ust w hat he most desi red ; i t w as source of

pe rpetual youth ; those under i ts ben ignant influence

cou ld never grow Old . For the ent i re day on w hich

any Of i ts guardians had sight Of this vision, they

w ere exempt from possibi l i ty of be ing w ounded or

in any w ay harmed, and for e ight day s thereafte r,

though they m ight be w ounded , they cou ld not suffe r

death. This tal isman ic vase had virtue to heal a ll

mortal i l ls, w ou ld stanch the flow of blood , and

restore the dead. When the kn ights w e re seated w i th

King Arthur at table one n ight at Camelo t, and the

beam more clear by seven t imes than e v er they saw

day,"shone into the room , the legend says, “ Every

knight began to beho ld other, and e i ther saw othe r

by the i r seem ing fairer than ever they saw

But every knight,” i t says in ano ther p lace, “ beheld

hi s fel low '

s face a s in a glo ry.

”

The horn of Amalthei a the same ; i t w as filled by order of Zeus w i th

whatev er heart couldw ish i t i s expressly sa id that it ga v e in abundanceall manner ofmeat and drink that one could desire .

1' In the legend of Kri shna taking on incarnation and born of Dev aki

in the dungeon in which the tyrant Kama had imprisoned her, i t i s sai dthat for a moment , a moment only , the v ei l is li fted from the eyes of hi s

parents, and they behold in him the dei ty then i t falls and they see onlythe earth-born chi ld .

THE W ORD MADE FLESH. 9 9

This is an old, a very Old symbol . W e find i t

doubtless in the horn OfAmaltheia j ust ment ioned , i n

the divining cup Of Joseph, the Signet or the ring of

KingSo lomon , the cupOfJemschid, the quernOfFrod i ,&c . In the Christ ian ized form,

i t represents the

founta in of al l w isdom , greatness, possession and

pow er . I t i s the magic staff w hich preserves the

vision and st rength everyw here ; the w el l Of you th ;the tal isman of pe rpetual accomplishment, j oy and

victory. We l l m ight Sakyamuni si t long and w a i t

patient under the tree at Bodhimanda for the Bud

dhahood, for S ight and pow er and repose, the tru e

N i r v a na w e l l the Kn ights at the Table set out each

on lone w ays for the ho ly, cease less quest . The

Grai l has therefo re in the high sense, unendingmeaning, and i t has furnished through all the ages

theme for loft iest poe try and prophecy.

The legend of King Arthur also has undergone

l ike change . In the o riginal form a myth of the sun ,

story of the to i ls, achiev ements and sufferings Of tha t

monarch, the Herakles of the Greeks, i t has become

the story of a brave, persistent hero, a royal knight,

w ho l ives and ru les on earth to avenge al l w rong,

and estab l ish the right , a nd w ho i s finally by the

w eakness and falseness of friends, and the unti ring

machinations Of foes, forced to succumb and pa ss

on to Avi l ion,that he may be healed of hi s grievous

wound, and at length re turn to rule again w i th mo re

than prist ine Splendor and pow er . Tennyson has

zoo DIDACT IC,ETH ICAL.

show n w hat sublim i ty of w orth may be found in this

character, w hen the w ord i s made flesh, transformed

into person, and c lo thed w i th these earth-w orn yet

sky-w oven garments.

The brand Excal ibur must be returned to the lake

from w hose bosom i t came, for the sun’s ray sinks at

n ight,

into the depths of the ocean w hence at morn i t

emerged . The dusky barge , dark from stem to

stern,

’ into w hichArthur i s rece ived, ha s i n i t the three

hooded queens,— a re they not the Norns, the Fatal

S isters ? He sets forth for the I sle of Avi l ion,— isle

of apples,—the home of the Blest, the abode of dcl iv

erance, frui tion, and peace . Of this conception Of

the Western Isle, w hi ther the sou ls Of the departing

are borne, a conception w ide spread and glow ingly

described among the w estern races, Ce l ts and Ten

tons, w e may have more to say farther on.

The Greek tragedians make effec t ive use of the Old

myths and legendary re lat ions. The fate of Iphige

ne ia broods l ike an av enging Nemesis over the house

Agamemnon, bringing there unutterable w oes and

sorrow s, only to be ended w hen there has been fu l l

expiation. I t began apparently from a very simple

nature-myth that to ld how the gloam ing must die,

ere the daw n cou ld be brought back . The subse

quent form and cast Of the story w a s w rought by the

moral sentiment conj oined in action with an ever

ferti le imagination .

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2 0 2 D IDACT IC,ETHICAL .

The tale of the S i rens, the fortunes o f Odysseus and

Orpheus w i th them, tel ls st rik ing ly a profound

t ruth. Lord Bacon states it,* and i t has been ren

dered into verse in our ow n language by Archbishop

Trench in a poem of great beau ty and force .1'

The sto ry Of Odysseus and hi s companions in the

w ho le , the i r adventures w i th the Lotos-eaters, the

La i strygon ians, Kirke, Kalypso , the w reck upon the

Ithakan coast, confl ic t w i th the su i tors, &c . , i s a

w onderfu l p roduct Of the imaginati on . W e marve l

at the ferti l i ty and ski l l , apt fe l ic i ty in depic ting the

scenes of human l ife show n by thi s early poet . A

more viv id and impressive picture of the experiences

of man ’

s ex istence here, i ts exposu res, perils, m i s

fortunes, and the dear-bought final v ictory, has never

y et been draw n . How true and graphic the descript ion of the l ife w i th the Lotos-eaterS , —the sensual ity

sign ificantly hinted , and the utter obl iv ion Of al l e lse ,of w i fe, home, chi ldren, induced by these intoxica

t ions Of the passions ! Every featu re of the Ody sseyw i l l w el l repay the mo st carefu l study , and w i l l

aw aken fresh interest, not on ly by i ts hints of

the old mytho logy, but by the vi vid a nd str ik ing

lessons i t conveys upon the career and fo rtunes of

mortal men on this earth.

Orpheus, Iaudes Deorum cantans et reboans, Sirenum v oces con.

fudit et summov it ; medi tationes enim rerumdiv inarum v oluptates sensas

non tantuln potestate, sed etiamsuav itate superant .”

1See Trench’sPoemsfromEacternSources.

THE PEST-MAIDEN . 2 03

The sto ry Of the Sph inx too,a purely physical my th

a s w e find o riginal ly, brings before us a great vi tal

fact i n human l ife . The same i s t rue Of Apol l on

tending the flocks Of Admetos, Of Herakles bound tothe w i l l Of Eurystheus ; w e see the counterpart Of i t

al l eve ry day about us.

Final ly, pe rhaps the re i s not a more graphic i l lu s

trat ion o f the presence and pow er Of this moral e le

ment, than is seen in the S l avon ic tale Of the Pest

maiden . This tale, by the by, is not found among theS lav ons alone ; Grimm has show n that i t i s cu rrent

in Po l ish L i thuan ia a nd in Brit tany. In the Breton

lay it i s a w oman robed in w hi te, si tt ing w i th staff i n

hand by the fo rd of a river, w ishing to be carrie d

o ver. A m i l ler bears her across the river upon h i s

ho rse . The poor w idow and her son alone a re

spared .

A Russian w as si tt ing under a larch tree . The

sun’

s heat w a s l ike the glow of fire . He espies some

thing approaching in the distance, looks again,— i t i s

the Pest-maiden . C lad in a l inen Shroud only, the

tow ering fo rm advances. He w ou ld fly in terror, bu t

the dreadfu l figure se ized him w i th her long out

stretched hand .

“ Know est thou the Pest ? she

said ; “ I am she. Take me upon thy shou lders, and

bear me through al l Russia, passing by no hamlet o r

c i ty, for I must v isi t them al l . Fear thou nothing,

for thou unharmed and sound shalt be among the

2 04 DIDACT IC,ETH ICAL .

dying. W i th her long hands she c lasped in fi rm

ho ld upon the poor old man . He strode forw ard, saw

the form over him,but fel t no burden. First he bo re

her to the C i ties ; j oyous dance and song they found

there . Yet instantly she w aved her l inen shroud ,

that moment the j oy and mi rth fled . Wherev er he

looks he sees mourn ing, the be l ls to l l , graves open,

but the earth w as insuffi c ient to rece ive the dead.

They l ie in heaps w here they fe l l , naked, unburied .

On he goes and w herever he passes by a vi l lage , the

houses become deso late, the faces b lanch, and the

shr ieks andmoans of the dy ing fi l l the air. But high

up the hi l l stood his ow n hamlet. There w ere his

w ife , tender chi ldren , aged parents. H i s heart bleeds

a s they draw near this vi llage . With pow e rful hand

he grasps the maiden that she may not escape , and

leaps w i th that he may subme rge her i n the flood.

He sank : she rose again, yet quai l ing before this

noble hero-valor, She fled far aw ay into the w ood

and the

Hanusch , D ie W isesnschaf t des S law ischenMuthus, &c. , 322, 328.

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zo6 SYMBOLISM.

Sou th Africa, has l i terally to run for i t s l i fe, once in

every one or tw o days upon an average , and that she

starts or fal ls prone on the influence of a false alarm

many times in a day .

’ So i t i s w i th the savage ; he

i s always suspic ious, alw ays in danger, alw ays on the

w atch. He can depend on no one, and no one can

depend on The same feel ing must neces

sari ly prevai l w i th him in his re lat ion to the gods.

H is de i ty i s much Of the t ime angry, an enemy, in

defini tely greater, mo re form idable than any man .

I t i s so w i th ourselves, in propo rtion as w e a re un

enl ightened or uninte l l igent . Nature i s fate, and w eseem beset by inimical forces. W e a re ground up

and destroyed by the movement Of this huge machine,

or by the interposi tion of a capric ious and vengefu l

w i l l in Dei ty. As w e become informed , inte l l igent,the aspects change, w e see i t no t sin ister but benign,

w e pass from darknesss to l ight, from a horrible

subjection and Slavery, to l iberty. W e look nature

in the face, accost her, g et responses, draw service,or learn more and more to fee l sense Of al l iance,

friendship, protection in this presence . And the

more the eye i s i l lumined, and the soul comes into

harmonious relations w i th the w o rld , the higher the

freedom and the j oy . Charles ‘Kingsley once said in

substance, marking the dist inct ion betw een anc ient

and modern art, that in the former man w as depicted

Lubbock's Prehistoric Times, p. 583.

FROM BONDAGE TO FREEDOM. 2 0 7

as the v ictim of circumstances, the subject and sport of

fate ; in the latter he comes to stand more and mo re

v ictor ov er ci rcumsta nces ; he subdues, or rises superio r

to fate . This characterizat ion w i l l ho ld as applie d

to the course of re l igion, and to the very history of

civi l ization i tse l f.

W e see the fact referred to above, in the re l igion s

of rude races, i n w hich the un iverse i s peopled w i th

personal i t ies, many of them huge, grotesque, most of

sinister qual i ty, enem ies to be dreaded, not fr iend ly

sou ls to be honored and lov ed, The doctr ine o f

immortal i ty, i t has been said , w i l l be taken by a coarse

race coarsely ; so the fi lling of the w or ld, earth, sky ,

ai r, w i th imagined pe rsons, w i ll , in the m ind of the

savage, fi ll i t i n the main w i th ogres and demons.

Hence the extent to w hich the expiatory and depre

catory prevai ls in the w orshi ps Of the primi t iv e and

the barbaric races. “ Come now , says one of the

Oldest hymns of the w orld, and from one of the

then most enl ightened pe0p1es,— they w ere ou r ow n

Aryan ancestors— “be g ood, and eat Of this sacrifice .

I t i s easy to see that the mytho logies w ith such

w ou ld be gross, ful l of terro r, and enslaving. The

more gods, the mo re trembl ing and dread . Even the

more ben ign and kindly pow e rs are on the plane

of the sensuous and carnal , and al l the i r benigni ty

and favors a re but earthly, mainly animal del ights.

With advancing cul ture come more po ise and Cheer,less terro r, mo re Of vision and trust . H igher place

2 08 SYMBOLISM.

i s gained by character, the w orld i s in sympathy

w i th manl iness and ex cel lence, this i s at home

throughout the un ive rse, all the stones of the fiel d

fe l t to be in league w i th i t . Nature chang es in her

aspect from frow ning, angry and ma leficent, to geni a l

and beneficent ; man sees her through far k indlier

medium a s he gains know ledge and i s able to tu rn her

forces from the tyrannous dom inat ion and destruc t

i v eness he has experienced, to compan ionship and

service. The sources Of hi s so rrow even are sw eet

ened , and the mind rests in trust and lov e .

Espec ial ly w as this the case w ith the Aryan race,a s they w ere before the separation.

“ But all the

gloomier be ings,”says an eminent Oriental scholar,*

came but l itt le into prominence . Our Aryan forefathers, l ike the gods w hom they w orshipped , w ere

chi l dren Of the l ight, and in i t they love to dw el l .”

They saw nature under the sunn ier aspects, a nd the

pow ers Of sinister omen a re assig ned to the back

ground, w hen permi tted to appear at all . Indra

smi tes dow n Ahi , the l ight i s stronger than the dark

ness, the good than the evi l . This Obtains even inthe Zoroastrian rel igion, w here Ahriman comes into

unw onted prominence . The issue i s not doubtfu l

here, the final tr iumph shal l be w i th O rmuzd . The

horizon i s l ighted inv ar iably w i th cheer and hope .

Such w a s the case espec ial ly w i th the Greeks, those

Chi ldren Of buoyant, bounding l ife .

Prof. A. S. W i lkins.

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2 10 SYMBOLISM.

thei r S tyx and Kerberos, w orld of shades and spectres

d i re . Among the more no rthern races, dwel l ing in

lands where there seems a harder battle waging

betw een darkness and l ight, the ben ign and the

destructive in nature, there i s perhaps more promi

nence given to the harsh and adve rse ; a t any rate, the

picture draw n bears sterne r features. The Giants

and Tro l ls a re great pow ers ; S igmund i s la id low

by the spear of Odin, and Baldur d ies by a dart from

the hand of his bl ind b ro the r Hodr ; the Twilight of

the Gods even must come , i t i s w ritten in fate.

Such impressions a re very tenacious, they wi l l hold

l ong and crop out, l ike the w i ld grasses on the prai rie,even after there has been long seeding with the tamer

grasses. What conceptions w e st i ll find current in

Europe and America, i t has already been briefly int i

mated . They obtain no t on ly w i th the lower and

more ignorant, natu ral ly more superst i t ious classes,they are to be found i n greater or less degree w ith

al l ; churches, the most enl ightened Protestant com

muni ties, bear these marks of the rude and barbaric

t ime. The fear and the w o rship of the sinister, bel ief'

in Ahriman, Sp irit of pu re mal ign i ty and w antonper

petual mischief, trust in charms, tal ismans, mi racu

l ous vi rtue in book , sac rific ial blood, observed rite

and formula of salvat ion, prevai l in the creeds and

rel igions al l abroad. I t is no exaggerat ion to say

that the heavy n ight st i l l hangs dark . In these clos

THE EVER PRESENT PERIL . 2 1 1=

ing years of the nineteenth century, w e are stil l unde r “

the shadow of supersti t ions and ghast ly dreams, that

have descended to us from an age far less intel l igen t,more benighted and barbaric than our ow n .

Such the consequence of permi tt ing, as Ma x

Mii ller happi ly phrases i t, the nomz‘

m to become

numz’

na , a nd w i thal mak ing the numz’

na as w i l l

inevitably be mo re and more the case, to stand

for the w e i rd, the ghast ly, the terrible . A con

cept , dim and part ial at best, in the rude m ind

necessari ly gross and sensuous, i s taken a s real ity of

t ruth, measure and compass of the truth ; a figure of

speech he ld a l i te ral fac t of the actual ; the ve ryr

necessi t ies of language, the l ine of l im i t to thought ,a hamper somew hat real ly at the best , —made a trap,a stumbl ing-block over w hich the m ind fal ls under

anthropomorphism,and a crass bew i tching idolat ry

There i s a danger here, ever-besett ing, against

w hich the guard cannot be too vigi lant and perpetual . .

Taken l iteral ly, an image, t rope , symbol , may be

among the w orst , most harmfu l of all things, an

ever-thro t tl ing snare ; taken truly, in i ts character a s‘

p icture in part, or int imation, i t w i l l be among the

best , most exhi larat ing and helpfu l . Whenever w e

deem that speech, or thought even, can measure or'

be commensurate w i th truth and fac t, that i t can at

u tmost be mo re than shadow or hint, w e fall into

decept ion and paganism. And w henever w e conv

2 1 2 SYMBOLISM.

found or identi fy the sensuous conception w i th

Sp ir i tual idea , the w ork of the fatal Ki rke-draught i s

w e l l on. The w orst of incantat ions a re then not

possible only, they a re sure to m ind . A l l h istory

t estifies to the subtle and ever p resent peri l that lurks

here ; the annals of man are the reco rds of successive

lapses and ral l ies for recovery.

’Ti s the most diffi cult of tasks to keepHeights which the soul i s competent to galm.

’

But fraught w i th danger a s i s this e lement , it i s a

rn ecessi ty to w hich w e are shut up ; it i s inevi table,

It may be our bane , may be our boon ; one o r other

i t surely w i l l . Fo r our fate here is ou r freedom, or

may be ; through this prison-house and schoo l our

l iberty ; our bond is our pin ion w hereby w e rise and

soar on to farthest he ights . There i s no such vehic le

for service as symbo l ism ; nay i t i s the only one

t hrough w hich may be commun icated hint of the

t ranscendent and unseen .

And w ould the w i seman procla im the di v ine,He must the high thought inpictures define .

’

W e know the invisible and spiritual on ly in form,or

u nder type ; unseen but in some determ inate expres-

sion . Our ideals w e hav e to put i n the concrete .

H ence w hen w e speak, yes, think of Heaven, w e

l ocal ize ; w hen w e speak or at tempt to think of G od,

w e cl othe in the mold of personal i ty ; nay , w e a re

fortunate i f w e do not fix in form and place .

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2 14 SYMBOLISM.

and maidens dance hand in hand on the dew y grass,

g reen trees are laden w i th apples, and beh ind the

w oods the golden sun d ips and r ises. A mu rmuring

ri l l flow s from a spring in the m idst of the island,

a nd there in drink the Sp irits and obtain l ife w ith the

draught. There a ll i s plenty, and the go lden age

ever lasts ; cow s give the i r m i lk in such abundance

t hat they fi l l large ponds at a m i lk ing. There , too, i s

a palace al l of glass, floating in air, and receiving

w i thin i ts transparent w al ls the sou ls of the blessed .

Very l ike representat ions w e have in the N ew

Testament, a nd hear in churches i n regard to the

N ew Jerusalem, home of the redeemed , and the

land beyond the river, w here a re j oy and ecstat ic

del ights in companionship , thanksg iv ing and praise

forever.There i s a land of pure delight.Where saints immortal reign ;Eternal day excludes the night,And pleasures bani sh pa in.

There ev erlasting spring abi des.And nev er fa i ling flow ers ;Death like a narrow sea di v idesThat heav enly land from ours.

Sw eet fields beyond the sw elling flood.Stand dressed in li v ing green

So to the Jew s fair Canaan stoodW hi le Jordan rolled betw een.

”

These and other sim i lar concept ions current w ide ly

among ourselves, have as much and a s l it t le val idity

a s those found among the peoples referred to, they

SENSUOUS CONCEPT or SUPERSENSUOUS. 2 15

a re as much, not more to be accepted to trust. Theya re fru its of the imagination attempting to deal w iththe real i t ies invisible.

Good, rece ived for what they are, picture part ial ,d im, and somew hat sensuous, yet such as language

has been able to paint , adumbrat ing remotely and

very faint ly that w hich has no descript ion, no sta te

ment ; taken as bibl ical u tterance of fact, very il l .

Good, considered a s shadow ; bad, w orthless, a nd

w o rse, as substance .

Loskiel, the Moravian m issionary, tel ls us, that the

nat ive preachers among the I roquois and A lgon

qu ins, inform ing the i r fe l low Indians of Heaven that

i t w as the dw e l l ing of G od, confessed that they had

never yet reached that abode, but had how ever come

near enough to hear the cocks crow , and see the

smoke of the chimneys in heaven. The conception if

a ny less c rude, is not less determinate and real ist ic

among ourse lves. To most,— indeed , to so nearly al l

that those not included w ould be but the few of a

rare except ion,— to take aw ay the i dea of personal,

ind ividual ized dei ty, w ou ld be to bereave the i r minds

of God, to make them orphan. In l ike manner

fixed, de terminate, the thought w ithin them of

Heaven and i ts mani fold glories.

So tenac ious is the mind of the palpable, the oh

j ect i v e and the concrete . An arrest and a bl ight

does misapprehension of symboliczand ifigurativ e, or

2 16 SYMBOLISM .

fai lure to transcend the trammel and l im i tations of

form,infl ict on the soul, to be marked al l the way

from the beginning of anthropomorphism, to the

coarsest ido latry and paganism. T ransparent, the

svmbol reveal s the universe ; opake, or hel d wrongly

to the ax is of vision, it blots out the sun, and distorts,

tw ists into perversion the form and featu re of the

nearest and plainest.

Again,there is beauty and a gen i al qu i ckening

force i n sim il i tude and metaphor . “ W e l i ke,"says

Archbishop Trench, -he i s speak ing of the sati sfac

t ion in rhyme and al l iterati on, W e l ike w hat i s

l ike .

” Natu re i s one in the midst of this unending

mu l tipl ic i ty. What a charm there i s in find ing the

uni ty ! Every new discovery here brings a fresh

surprise. Low er, w e find, hints higher, physical

types and i l lust rates spi ritual . Al l things a re made

on one fundamenta l pattern. Unl ike but l ike, di f

ferent but one .

Fel ici ty in the use of this language marks the

poet . W e del ight in a metaphor or a figure, for i t ia

t imates w hat speech canno t tel l, and disc loses the

u tmost that speech can tel l. I t rev eal s and exhausts

the possib i l i ties of description . The g od w ho ow nsthe oracle of the Delphian Apoll o, says Heraklei tos,ne ither reveals nor conceals, but — signifies

in Sign or symbo l .”

An i l lustration, an apt, tel l ing symbo l fastens a

thing in the mind so i t i s permanent there and un

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2 18 SYMBOLISM .

breathed upon, and, w hen the moisture has had t ime

to disappear, the w afer be throw n off, though now

the most c ritical inspect ion of the po l ished surface

can discover no trace of any form, if w e breathe once

more upon i t, a spectral image of the w afer comes

plainly into view ; and this may be done again and

again. Nay more, i f the po l ished metal be carefu l ly

put aside, w here nothing can deteriorate i ts surface ,

and be so kept for many months, on breathing again

upon i t, the shadow y form emerges . A shadow ,

"

he says again,

“never fal ls upon a w al l w i thout leav

ing thereupon a permanent trace w hich m ight be

made visible by resort ing to proper processes .

W ho does not find hi s old and w e l l-know n fact

freshly i l lumined, at least made more vivid and

l iving to him, by the apt analogy presented ? Al l the

exper iences of l ife, does not sc ience te ll us, every

thing in vision or in sound, i s l i teral ly printed on

the substance of the brain, and leaves i ts indel ib le

image on that impressible tablet, to be recal led, to

rise to consc iousness long years after perhaps, w hen

the right conditions meet . I t w ri tes i ts superscr ip

t ion and impression there, a s does the fal l ing leaf

upon the flagstone on w hich you w alk .

W e never w eary of such landscapes a s are opened

befo re the imagination ; rather w e are charmed and

exhi larated w i thou t end.

THE MAIDEN i n r un EAGLE 'S NEST. z rg

God has so cop ied forth H imself into the whole

l ife and energy ofman ’

s soul,

says one of the olde r

w ri ters, “ that the love ly character of the Divinitymay be most easi ly seen and read of al l men w ith in

themselves as they say Phid ias, the famous statuary,a fter he had made the statue of Minerva with the

greatest exqu isiteness of art to be set up in the

Acropol is at Athens, afterw ards impressed hi s imageso deeply in her buckler,

‘ that no one could dele te

o r efface i t w ithout dest roying the w hole statue.

’

Penetrated, made transparent to us, as is instantly

a ndw ithout effort, this language of figure, the myths,nursery stories, &c . , become very significant and

q u ickening. They show the endeavor of the human

mind to hint in' the speech of symbol the real i ties

of spiritual, or the strik ing beaut ifu l factsw hich only

such tongue can paint or describe. Brynhild on the

Gl istening Heath l ies sleeping, enc ircled by walls

of flame, enfolded w i thin the dragon ’

s coi ls, and

waits the prince w ho has the resistless sw ord G ram,

a nd is able to leap the w al ls, slay the monster, w ake

a nd release her. So sw ee t Briar Rose in the tale,plunged in her l ong sleep, can be awakened only

by the magic touch of her lover 's hand . In the

H indu story of l i ttle Surya Bai , the maiden i s high

up in the eagle ’s nest, fast asleep . The evil demon

o r Rakshasa, striving hi s utmost to gain access to

John Smi th, 1618-1652. See h lloch’s Rational Theology in, England,i n Seventeenth Century , Vol . 2. p . 169.

2 20 SYMBOLISM .

her, in vain,leaves one of his finger nai ls fast in the

c rack of the door ; she r ises in the mo rn ing to look

out on the w orld below , opens the door, rece ives a

w ound from the sharp claw ,and fal ls dead . This

eagle '

s nest , the eyr ie of the c louds ; this Rakshasa’s

claw , the thorn of darkness or night — the same sto ry

i s told i n so many o ther forms in a ll the mytho logies.

The spr ing to w hich S iegfried stooped to dr ink ,

giving the fatal opportunity w h ich Hagen avai led of'

to w ound him in the back , the pyre on w hich Her

akles and Quetza lcohua tl a re burned at the end of

the ir caree r, the D i kta ian cave in w h ich the infant

Zeus must be born, the Lake and the Cave in ou r

nursery tale,— the Lady descending into the Lakeand rising from the Cave, al l a re luminous

w hen seen as they a re w r i tten, in symbo l .

In the final str ife upon the p lains of I l ion, in w hich

Achi lleus ming led a nd w as to lose hi s l ife, al l nature

w a s roused, the very heavens w ere moved and took

part, Zeus bids all the gods choose each hi s side . He

alone, the poet tel ls us, w i ll look dow n serenely on

the struggle, a s i t rages beneath him . The sky i tsel f,abode of the pure ether, far above the grosser and

ever agitated ai r breathed by mortals, canno t be con

cei v ed as tak ing part in this contest. Clouds,l ight

h ings, w ind and vapo rs may . They cannot look

unmoved on this stupendous death-conflict, the great

est, most momentous now enacted on the face of the

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2 2 2 SYMBOLISM.

draught, drink of the gods, w hich gives strength and

confers immortal i ty. I t i s the divine nectar, Indu,sap w hich flow s from Indra, stream w hich i s pu ri ty

i tse l f, and source of al l health and pow e r. To mortals

i t i s strength i n weakness, medic ine that cu res al l

malady, and gives restoration of you th in old age .

This w hich primari ly w as probably the mo isture ofthe

heavens, the l ife-giving rain, pure w ater of the skies

has been transfigured into the nectar of immo rta litv .

I t has been in the dream of subsequent ages.

Ponce de Leon sought i t long and anxiously, searched

ami d the rocks and l impid springs of the Bahamas,and the lusc ious groves ofhis new -d iscovered Flo rida,but found it not . Prester John in earl ier time

( thi rteenth centu ry) , te lls of i t. I t w as, he says, in

hi s ow n domin ions— though no mo rtal has ever

been able to find w here the kingdom of this false

claimant w a s.

“At the foot of Mount O lympus,”he

w ri tes to Manuel of Constant inople, and other w est

ern potentates,“ bubble s up a Spr ing w hich chang es

i ts flavor hourly n ight and day, and the spring i s

scarcely three days ’ jou rney from Paradise, out of

w hichAdam w as driven . I f any man drinks thrice of

this spring, he w i l l from that day fee l no infirm i ty,

and he w i l l, as l ong a s he l ives, appear of the age of

thi rty.

”

S i r John Mandevi l le, trave l l ing in southern Asia

a century after, ident ifies themountain i t i s Polombo,near a c ity of the same name, viz . ,

Colombo in

THE W ELLE or YOUTHE. 2 2 3

Ceylon ; and he found the wel l . And at the foo t of

that mount, he te l ls us,“ i s a fay r w el le and a

gret , that hath odour and savour of al l spices ; and at

every hour of the day he chaungeth hi s odour a nd

hi s savour dyv ersely . And w ho so drinketh 3 t imes

fasting of the w atre of that w el le, he i s hool of

al l manner of sv kenesse, that he bathe . And they

that dw e llen there and drynken of that w elle, thei

never han sykenesse , and the i semen al le w eeys

yonge . I have dronken there of 3 or 4 si thes ( t ime s) ;and z i t, methinkethe I fare the bette r . Some

men c lepen i t the Wel le ofYouthe : for thei that often

drynken thereat semen al le w eys yong ly and ly v en

w i thou ten sykeness. And men seyu that that w e lle

cometh out of Paradys ; and therefo re i t i s so

vertuous.

"

Notw i thstanding that S i r John speaks so posi t iv ely

and assu ringly, I have not heard that any one since

has been able to find i t . I t hovers i n the imaginat i on,

and insp i res forever ou r hopes. Immortal ity, the

unfading youth, w e seek as our portion and boon,

and far w ou l d w e go any of us to find draught of

that m i racu lous w ater. Pi lgrims and searchers w e

al l a re, al l too oft baffled and mocked by the distant

mi rage. I f less fortunate than S i r John, do w e no t

sometimes sip of the sac red element, drinking a drop

or tw o of that al l-qui ckening and renovat ing Soma

juice ? D raught that imparts al l k inds of re inv igor

2 24 SYMBOLISM .

ation al ike to body and to m ind, and p reserves from

harm for another peri od. I have seen at least a few ,

I be l ieve, who knew what i t w as to approach and

quafi'

from that eternal fountain. They dre'

w day by

day of those w aters that impart heal th and the bloom

of youth to soul and also to flesh.

I t lay in the thought of the old myth-maker, and

that conception of the We l l shadowed hi s dream.

The mystic sampo w a s made up of the feathe r of a

sw an , of a tuft of woo l, of a grain of corn, and of

ch ips from a spindle, and i t became so large that i t

had to be carried by a hundred-horned ox .

'

Ti s a

clear symbo l to the Finnish m ind of that w ealth, that

quern of abundance w hich in other lands i s typed

under the cup, the.

horn , the grai l . Wel l might

W a inamoinen or any o ther minst rel descend the

depths of Pohj ola to recover it, happy if hi s harp

m ight lay the dragons to sleep and permi t him to

bring i t away . But he also, the relat ion significantly

adds, lost the pri celess treasure in a desperate con

flict forced upon him w i th the nether pow ers, ere he

had ful ly reached the land of l ight . Hard to gainand almost equally hard to keep the inner possession

W ho has not found i t w rested aw ay at t imes, ev en

w hen he seemed to have secure hold upon i t

From the blood of Q v a si r, w isest of al l be ings, the

Norseman said, the dw arfs m ingling i t with honey,made a costly mead , w hose taste upon the l ips im

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zz6 SYMBOLISM .

And the more w e read and ponder here, the more

w e are astonished at the marvelous fert il i ty of the

human mind, the extent of i ts resou rces in devising

so much from so l itt le material . Its ingenuity i s

exhaustless ; i t interests us by i ts numberless inv en

t ions, w here these seem to have no ground in real ity,but only to come from the exuberance of pure fancy.

Referring to music, D r. New man w e l l says, There

are seven notes in the scale ; make them thi rteen, yet

how slender an outfi t for so vast an enterprise.

” As

al l articulat ions of speech, the myriads and myriads

of words come from a few primal roots, a handfu l ofmonosyl lables, phonet ic types ; as al l numerals, the

names, come from the first three, throughout the

domain certainly of Aryan, Shemi ti c‘

and Egyptian

tongues ; al l tools from the hammer and cel t ; al l

agricul tural implements, spade, hoe, plough, &c .,

from the digging st ick ; all stringed instruments

from the archer 's bow ;— so, from a few story roots,or archetypal myths, te l l ing for most part one story,never ending, and never w earying, al l the w eal th of

mythology, of legend and household tale, has been

born.

We seem to be standing befo re a kaleidoscope,whose every new turn brings a new comb ination and

a new view . Sun, moon, stars, daw n, earth, great

nature everyw here, and espec ial ly humanity, greet

under so many and such varied phases, There is no

THE FERT ILITY OF THE HUMAN MIND. 2 2 7

mo re engaging study than the tracing of these myth ic

w ords and phrases, learning so far as w e may in the

many dark or obscu re cases, what the meaning w as

of the early namer, as he attempted to intimate or

describe. And often indeed shal l w e perce ive that

the real ity sought w as fel t t ranscendent, and the u t

most language cou ld do w as seen to be but shadow

and type. This also has i ts deep fascination for them ind .

SYMBOLISM,CONT INUED.

No tw i thstanding that reference has al ready been

made freely to the value and effect ive u se of symbo l

i sm , I am tempted here to dw e l l upon i t somew hat

farther. I t i s so great a theme, w e cannot ponder i t

too long and deeply, hardly indeed speak of i t too

much. In i t i s involv ed w hateve r belongs to the in

st ruct ion and improvement of man .

W e natural ly del ight in personification. The chi l d

w i th i ts toys,hobby-horse, do l l, or m im ic go-cart,

fi nds unceasing exh i laration and j oy . And to the end

w e love to p lay w i th these counters of sport and

make-bel ieve. W e teach and inc i te by such methods,

talk w i th the chi ldren upon w hat the w ind says, the

b rook , w hat the bi rds say , a s they chant thei r rounde

lays of gladsome song . And w e eas i ly go out to

w hat the ten thousand tongues of natu re speak , w hat

t he faces beam to express, throughou t the universe

of glow ing l ife. W e a re not caught i n an i l lusi on,

but instructed in truth, not entangled in mytho logy,but l iberated and w inged, borne on to he ights that

o therw ise i t w ere beyond our pow er to gain ‘ In

h im w as l ife, and the l ife w a s the l ight ofmen .

(228)

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2 30 SYMBOLISM.

Planets are thy jew els.Stars thy forehead gems,Set li ke sapphires gleamingOn kingliest of anadems.

Ev en the great gold sun-

god

Blazing through the sky ,Serv es thee but for crest-stone.

”

Carlyle said the stars w ere the street - lamps of the

C i ty of G od “Want is a grow ing giant , w hom the

coat of Have w a s never large enough to cover,”

says

a w e l l -know n American w riter, w hose w o rds a re al l

gl istening symbo ls. All this i s thoroughly trans

parent to us ; w e feel that desc ript ion could hardly be

fit ter or finer . And y et in some stages of the human

m ind it m ight carry mythology .

Some day a l ike transparency w i l l shine through

al l the representat ions given in the old mythologies,

so far at least as they a re not product of the gross

ness of savagery ; and the mind w i l l be introduced

to a new temple of beauty and w onder, w he re i t

shall beho l d and w orship w i th eve r increas ing

del ight. Worship w i thout taint or remo test touch

of any ido latry . For the language a nd the thought

w i l l be seen symbo l ic, poet ic , the essay of the

spiri t to reach through type, sim i l i tude , person ifica

tion, the heights inaccessible of tru th and pure being.

The gods w i l l be seen in nature, the w ood -nymphs,the ce lest ial muses, the bri l l ian t go ddess of the

daw n. The Greek epigram said: Cease you r w ork,

ye maids w ho labored at the mil ls , sleep , and let the

P ICTURESQUE IN SPEECH FROM MYTHIC SOURCES. 2 3 I

birds sing to the returning daw n. Demeter has b id

den the w ater-nymphs to do your task ; obedient to

her cal l, they throw themselves on the wheel and

turn the ax le and the heavy m i l l . ’

The Greek mytho logy w i l l speak w i th new force

to the thought, the imagination, as the key tha t

unlocks i t i s found and appl ied , and i t i s discovered

that here i s a subl imely royal endeavor on the par t

of man ’

s soul to speak the name ineffab le, to c lothe

the invisible in form, to penetrate and te l l the w rap t

and insc rutable secret. And w hen our poor labor

ing masses,’

says Prof. Anderson,

“

get the i r taste

cu l t ivated for poetry , art and mytho logical lore,w hen they have learned to apprec iate our common

inheri tance, they w i l l find that our Gothic history ,fo lk - lore, and mytho logy togethe r form

—“ A linkThat binds us to the skies,A bri dge of ra in-bow s, thrown acrossThe gulf of tears and sighs.

”

To this day ou r best w riters and speakers i llustrate

and enforce the i r thought from these sources, part icu

la rly the Greek . I t i s Spontaneous. Nothing can

be mo re natural , w e m ight say necessary, than to

refer to the Labyrinth and the thread of Ariadne, the

bed of Proc rustes, Pandora’

s box , the peri ls of

Odysseus w i th hi s voyagers, the Scyl la and Charyb

dis, eve r present to w reck , the one or the othe r

of them, the bark , the song of the S i rens, the draught

2 3 2 sv usou sm.

of Kirke, the lyre of Apol lo, Ste — to present bright ly

and vividly the idea to hand. Indeed there seems

no thing so good in speech anyw here a s the symbol ic

figures and personal izations which the mythic con

ception affords. An i l lustrat ion, a w ord from such

source te l ls more than al l description otherwise from

the enti re store of language. It makes language

picturesque and l iving. How could w e get a long

w i thout such words as og re, speetre, exorez'

re, t/zegood

zloz'

mom'

on, o r genius, &c .? A sto ry from the realm of

pure mythic fancy w i l l tel l and conv ince, where an

argument w ould utterly fai l . In the future there

w i l l be use no t less but more of these resources, as

thei r w ider range is found . Not only Greek, butTeutonic, H indu, Tarta r, and Red Indian, wi ll help .

Our teaching throughout in chi ldhood, and to l ife’

s

farthest end, is by object-lessons. W e a re a ll chi ld

ren, al l in theK inder -ga f fe” school . W e cl imb by the

stair-case of simi l i tude and example, a scend to heaven

by the ladder set on earth. Metaphor is the mi rror

w herein w e see what w ere otherwise bev ond possi

b i l i ty of vision. And it wi l l doubt less be a lw ays

t rue with humanity, that the deepest lessons w i l l be

impressed, the most vivid and helpful images fixed

in the mind by this ce lestia l dia lect . A l l the great

teachers have used i t freely ; i t i s fire method with

them. Jesus and Buddha abound in i t, or the cognatemethod of parable ; Lao Teze, Zoroaster, Pythag oras.

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2 34 SYMBOLISM.

stabi l i ty and fix i ty , the Proteus alw ays changing

form, yet ever one and the same, he says The flux

of pow er i s eternal ly the same . I t rolls in music

through the ages, and al l ter restria l energy, —the

man i festat ions of l ife a s w el l a s the display of

phenomena,— are but modu lat ions of i ts rhythm.

Max Mu l ler has much of the same element . I t

const itutes, w i th his c lear percept ions, profound

learning and affluent i l lustrat ion , the charm that

c lo thes as w i th a shining robe al l of hi s Essays and

Lectu res. W e may tap language w herever w e l ike,

the sap that runs from i ts roo ts i s alw ays conceptual ."

Robert B row n ing, contemplat ing the deep , dread

abode of the D i re Ones, the abyss of the Erebos,speak s of i t a s “ this ho l low hew n out of n ight ’s

hear t . Kant ’s characterization of ethics as“the

ast ronomy of the mind ,”i s apt and st r ik ing from i ts

fel ic i tous symbolism . Tyndal l ’s declarat ion, ground

ed in hi s c lear demonstrat ion, that ‘ w e l ive in the sky ,

not under i t ,’

easi ly te l ls us much mo re than the fact

of our re lation to the l i te ral sky ; te l ls the transcen

dent fact b rought home w i th a fresh fo rce from this

impressive figure . Carlyle and Emerson a re con

Spicuous examples, each in hi s w ay , of this w ealth.

Carlyle '

s conceptions a re T i tan ic, his figures gigan

tesque, but they are spontaneous and powerful .The pow ers of the heavens are shaken, the earth

quake chasms gape, the stars dance and ree l in the

MASTERS IN THE REALM or IDEAL . 2 3 5

storms, but w e are i rresist ibly set to learn geology ,

a nd in the letters of fire he traces on the c i rcle of the

un iverse, w e read and must the law s of the cosmos .

“ I t i s main ly to hi s splendid imaginat ion,"says Mr .

James,“ that he ow es hi s posi t ion in l i terature .

Both the moral and the physical w orld w ere fu l l o f

pictures for him, and i t w ou ld seem to be by hi s

g reat p icto rial energy that he w i l l l ive.

” Emerson

s tands almo st alone , has few equals in al l the ages,

a nd so far as I can see, no superior . But w ha t

fragments these co lo red sentences w ere, says D r .

Ho lmes, and w hat p ictures they often p laced before

us, a s i f w e too saw them ! Carlyle i s in some

senses stronger,moremassive, strik ing, commanding ;Emerson is loft ier, serener, clearer, and in the long

run, of higher effect . Both are masters in the realm

o f the ideal .

The de l ight, the instruct ion is unending, and man

neve r outgrow s the appetences and loves of hi s

chi l dhood in this particular. Nay, a s the race ma

tures, the more w i l l i t affect and enjoy this poeti c

insight and objec t-teaching. The love is primal and

fi nal , belong s to chi ldhood and be longs much more

to the ripen ing of age . I t i s in the very nature of

humani ty, and the const itut ion of the human soul

w ou ld be undone, obl iterated, in the extinction of

th is e lement .

Re l igion,art

,poetry, belong not to the minority

of man, to be left behind as a chi ld’

s dream or toy ,

2 36 SYMBOLISM .

as the mind opens to the sc ient ific stage ; they a re

the heri tage of hi s majori ty, to be the bright consum

mate dow er and perfection of hi s fina l grow th. The

spiri t i s to draw more and quaff deepe r perpetual ly

from this fountain. The teachers that a re to come

w i l l exceed those of the past in the gift of this vision

and speech. They w i l l bathe al l l ife , the w orld, in a

new and hi therto unknow n beau ty, w i l l i l lume and

gi ld every remotest nook or most common- place

aspect of our ex istence w i th the radiance o f the

eternal l ight. The deaf shal l hear, b lind shal l see,

stupid Shall w ake ; al l shall stand on the mount

of transfigurat ion and behold w i th ano inted vision .

The great poets, prophet s, bards, a re y et to be .

Hardly a note, speak ing comparat i v e ly, ha s thus far

been sung of this strain ; least of all has been ren

de red the ai r i n any tong ue of speech o r art .

Sc ience w i ll furn ish hin t and i l lu strat i on . The

kingdom of know ledge i s rich beyond degree, con

sta ntly extending, and w ill be draw n from w i th great

freedom to furn ish and exal t the m ind. The gifted

ex posi tors in this realm w i l l be among the high

pr iests, the hierophants, in the temple of the future.

For nature i s perpetual teacher and inspirer ; the

parallel isms of seen and unseen, the i l lustrat ions frommatter to spirit , a re unending.

The symbo l ism of art,— a w ide vo lume compara

t iv ely unknow n to most,— especial ly the relig ious

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2 38 SYMBOLISM .

In fact there i s not anyw here in the w ide w orld a

mode of expression chosen by the m ind to int imate

or shadow sense of i ts relat ion to the highest, that

has not a meaning and vital i ty for us all . Even in

the Japanese temple of Tensio Dai S in , desc ribed by

Kempfer a trave l le r in the e ighteenth centu ry,

thronged then w i th many w orshipers, the pieces of

w h ite paper, placed round on the w al ls, emblematic .

of purity, and the po l ished metal m i rror, so le thing

to be seen in the m idst, hint of the al l -see ing eye,

have the i r quaint and S imple symbo l ism.

There remains much to do just ice to the thought

even of savages. There i s a higher side than the

ido latry sheer, the mytho logy of the rude and bar

bar ic races. Genu ine percept ions the re have alw ays

been, fi tt ing representat ions too of the true and

spi ritual. When w e enter in Sp i ri t of true ca tho

l ic ity , simple love of the fact, that alone, w e shal l

find them more than w e think . The altar flame, the

naphtha fire, to ld a momentous truth in nature and

in hi story. W e have not yet grow n beyond i ts force

or the image that shadow s i t ; w e shal l never.

The groves w ere God 's fi rst temples. This sen

tence so often quoted as to have become almost one

of the common-places, i s show n to be Statement of

histor ic fact, so far at least a s some of our race a re

concerned . Grimm has demonstrated by hi s re

searches that w i th the old Teutons the w o rds for

THE SACRED GROVE. 2 39

temple signified properly a w ood. Our forefathe rs

worshiped in the depths of the forest, as findi ng

there the fi t test shrine, the nearest home to them, of

the fel t presence of the Deity. I t w as the recog n i

t ion of this patent , overshadow ing fact shin ing, spea k

ing in the so l i tudes of the forest, that gave ground

o riginal ly to the tree and grove w orship that ho l ds

so prominent a place in the history of re l igions,appearing in fact al l over the globe . H i s remem

brance of the fo rest , w i th i ts sacred reti remen ts,presence and communings, man does not ou tg row ,

as w e see evinced in the Go thic archi tectu re, car ry

ing st i l l in i ts leading features no ted in the cathedrals

and churches, obvious suggestion of the tal l ov er

arching trees of the sacred grove . The H indus fe lt

that, do st i l l perhaps, more than a ny other peop le.

“ Do not the grand forest trees, says one of the i r

old poe ts, “ unde r w hich the herm i ts have plunged

into deeps of meditation in the open air, seem to

have been themse lves transpo rted by the i r ow n

serene t ranqu i l l i ty into the divine l ife i n G od 7’ W e

have grow n aw ay from w orship of the tree , but the

perception, the thought that lai d i ts foundation, and

fi rst info rmed it, the m ind shal l never leave behind .

The t ree i s st i l l al ive and inst inct w i th De i ty, the

so l i tudes vocal forever to the inner ear.

W i th w hat a beau ti ful simpl ic i ty as of the wo rld ’s

chi ldhood, our forefathers spoke of God ’s coming

2 40 SYMBOLISM .

dow n to earth, w hen sufl'

er ing from so rrow or any

i l l, to be li fted and cheered by the song of the hard !

And for perception of the method of spiritual

commun ication of man w i th the h ighest,— I know

not w here w e find i t more genu ine in i ts degree than

w i th Red Indians, as show n i n th is ta le told among

the Mandans. The ir great ancestor, the fi rst man,

had prom ised to render them aid in t ime of need,

but had departed and di sappeared i n the West .

Trouble came , they w ere beset by foes,and they

w ou ld fain ge t from the divine ancestral man the

help they now sore needed . Bu t how to commun i

cate w i th him ? One thought to send a b i rd , but no

bird w as equal to so long a fl ight. One w ou ld reach

him by a look , but sight w as l imi ted, the hi l ls w alled

him in . A thi rd said t/zozeg lzt must be the medium,

he cou ld send th is to the first man. So he w rapped

himsel f in his bufl'

a lo robe, and he fe l l dow n and

said “ I think— I have thought- I come back .

"He

threw off the robe, he w a s bathed in sw eat.

This savage phi losopher, not only l ike Des Cartes,knew himself in thought, he knew the highest also,

he saw the D iv ine Man ,i n thought . The story tel ls

that he had reached the great helper, and that helper

came dow n and interposed .

A l l that belongs to the w orld of sceni c representa

t ion, of plast ic and p ictorial art, the drama, as w el l as

the w ord -paint ing of story-te ller and poet, comes

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2 4 2 SYMBOLISM.

Symbo l ism, yes, not less but more, infini tely more

i n the coming time ; all the resources of the w o rld

w i l l be draw n upon ; the sacred art of Egyptian,

Babylonian, H indu, most of al l Greek, the types of

every race, w hereby they have sought to art icu late

thought of Sp iri tual and everlasting, w i l l be used

largely and he lpful ly.

Materni ty, the divineness and love of mo therhood,

w i l l be represented not alone in our fam i l iar type of

the Madonna, but in others i l lustrating the beaut ifu l

maternal relat ion as w el l, Greek , Roman, Nor se, and

i n examples no t less impressive in our modern t ime .

The Egyptians had the i dea, so the Chinese, a s w el l

a s the c lassi c and o ther ancient pe0p1es ; they em

bodied it each in thei r seve ral w ay, and w i th a beauty

i n each case a ll the i r ow n.

The l ike affection and tenderness exhib ited on that‘low er but sim i lar plane, may be instanced from the

animal w o rld. W hy not the figures from some of

these, the stork or pel ican for example, reverenced

for suchfca re of the aged, and perfect devot ion to off

spring, and furni sing an old symbo l ? W e may have

from the animals as many significant hints in figure ,a s the ancient H indus w ith the ir subtle pow ers of

spir itual perception, found . And in exalting the

brute so a s to teach us the great lessons, w e not less

but more honor and exalt the human.

The devo t ions of friendship, re lat ion of teacher and

taught, Pythagoras and his hand, all inst ructors

THE PSALM or LIFE. 2 43

and l ove rs and learners,— these among the highe st,divinest of al l things w e know ; the loves of youth,of man and maiden, the fideli t ies, joys and mutu al

communings of the conjug al re lat ion ; all the sacr a

ments and pow erfu l qu ickening of the social l ife in

i ts many types ; the hero ic sufferings and sacrific es

of the confessors and martyrs ; the to i l and achiev e

men ts of inventors, scholars, art ists, and artisans in

every k ind and degree — these must be celebrated,to ld , publ ished , impressed i n the pregnant language

of figure and pictu re . Rel igion in i ts w orship is to

be the psalm of l ife, pa an to the benign i ties, the

w orths, and the virtues, of human and al l munda ne

ex istence . Some of these scenes, the great momen ts

i n the history of man, show ing the soul victor ious

over all, divine ly st rong and free, w i l l be among the

most w ho lesome and pow erfu l inc i tements and ton ics

for human i ty.

And shal l not the l i ly, the lotos, the cactus, the

cedar, the palm, mo re than al l the grand old Yggdra

si l, stand to speak the i r several truth to the eye and

the imaginat ion ? For that unthought, unseen, u n

know n, even to highest, purest conception, real i ty

nearest, inmost, y et remotest forever, perhaps no

hint for expression can be more significant and

suggest i ve than the simple insc ript ion in the

Greek temple at De lphi , Ez', THOU ART .

‘ He that

has no mark , his mark a re w e,’

says a Mohammedan

apothegm. H im that alone i s, must the mind con»

2 44 SYMBOLISM .

template w ithout image or any representation, of

whom the sunl ight , the ray of reason i tsel f, whi le the

beam, is but shadow .

The Roman Cathol ic church has lessons to teach

us ; i t is not here simply for w arning, for admonit ion

and deterrent , but also i n a degree for an ensample .

For the use that church ha s made of the object ive,its address to the sense of the aesthet ic, and to that

side of our natu re w hich deals in form and determin

at ion,— always present and pow erful in us al l ,— has

suggestions of priceless w orth for the prophets of

truth. Some day the method w i l l be employed but

w i th entire safety, shunn ing re l igiously and with

infal l ible sureness that rock of fatal i dolatry upon

which all barks hi therto have gone to w reck . No

more imperat ive que st ion i s pressing for the best

minds to-day, than the devising of fi tting gar

ments for the worship of the sou l, seek ing and find

i ng the appropriate vestures w here in to clothe the

truths of l ight, glasses that shal l rightly temp er,w hi le not refract or disto rt or obscu re one l ine of

the gl istening, pierc ing rays. Imperative, yet diffi

c ult and subtle to the last degree ; the embarrass

ment w e all know , the necessi ty i s sovere ign and

absolute. A fearfu l per i l there has alw ays been,lead ing often and ever indeed, to the deadly abyss.

But “ the more formi dable m ischief w i l l make the

more useful slave.

"

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-2 46 SYMBOLISM.

him a hideous w oman, profligate and deformed .

"‘ W ho art thou,’

he cr ied ;‘ W ho art thou, than

w hom no demon cou ld be more fou l or ho rrible ?’

To him she answ ered, I am thy ow n ac t ions.

’

And there met him ( the departed one in the groves

of Paradise) , a beaut ifu l maiden, w hose form and

face w ere charm ing to heart and sou l . To her he

said, W ho art thou, in comparison w i th w hom none

so fai r w as ever seen by me in the land of the l i ving ?

T he maiden replied, ‘ 0 Youth, I am thy

I t te l ls the story of the sure and natural retribu

t ions on conduct, mo re aptly a nd forc ibly perhaps

t han any o ther form of statement cou l d .

Our acts our angels are, or good or i ll.Our fatal shadow s that w alk by us sti ll.

Our great satisfact ion in an imal fables comes from

the same source . They clothe the most significant'

t ruths in the form of a spr ightly, te l l ing story. The

vinv est ing of the an imal w i th personal i ty, and giving

reason and speech, impar ts pictu resqueness and a

fresher interest . Hence they have been the del ight

of all ages and al l races. Through the apo logue,

amid the arbitrary and abso lute depot isms of the

East, a s a H indu phrase expresses i t, ‘ The tongue of

w isdom may speak in the ea r of au thority .

’

The w onderful prison of Merl in i s described in

Morte d ’ Arthur ; — an enchanted tow er, no such

s trong tow er in the w orld, says Me rl in,

“a s this

MERLIN’

s PRISON . 24 7

w he rein I am confined ; and it i s neither of woo d.nor of iron, nor of stone, but of air, w ithout anythinge lse ; and made by enchantment so strong

,that i t

c an never be demol ished w hi le theworld lasts, nei the rc an I go out, nor can any one come in. save she w ho

hath enclosed me here, and w ho keeps me company

w hen i t p leaseth her ; she cometh when she l isteth,

for her w i l l i s here .

” Arthu r cou ld not reach him ,

he cou ld not reach Arthur henceforth any more ;S ir Gaw a in, though he cou ld hear him and hold some

converse, cou ld not find, cou ld not see him ; he i s he ld

in most impalpable, yet most stern and i rresistib le

p rison.— How more happily cou ld the captures and

i ncarcerat ions, the enforced ex i le and expatriat ion

o f the sou l w e al l somet imes know , he described ?

Ere w e be aw are, w e a re locked in the enchanted

c ast le, enclosed in a bush of hawthorn,’

and no

pow er on earth can take us out . Nay, in a sense, w e

a re a ll the re, from l ife’

s beginning to i ts end.

Goethe ’s marve l l ous Tale, Jar M arefzen o'er a ller

M are/2m , and Bunyan’

s A l legory, both are vivid and

pow erful p ictures. They m i rror so much of l i fe,

they must both also be immo rtal , for they w il l speak

to man '

s natureAs long as the heart hath w ishes.As long as li fe hath woes.’

P i lgrim and wanderers w e a ll are, exposed, beset,

be leaguered, and ful l often ove rcome, making the

toi lsome peri lous journey across the fields of Time,

2 48 SYMBOLISM.

m i red in fu l l many a slough of Despond , and caught

not seldom in drear castle of the Giant Despair,a s w e attempt to u rge our w ay from the

!

c i ty of

the plains to the N ew Jerusalem beyond mountain

and dividing river.

In deal ing w i th chi ldhood , We mu st use picture

and the concrete ; i n deal ing w i th the adul t years,

w e st i l l have to ho ld much to that same method .

And the resou rces of history for th is supply a re

pract ically infini te .

There are stor ies or mythic representations that, I

think , must hav e been transparent at the beginn ingto the most sto l id unde rstanding, fel t to have force

by the figurat ive or mo ral meaning they couched.

The concrete and picturesque fo rm w a s of the frame

w ork by w hich the m ind w as helped . If by any they

came to be taken in the letter, and be l ieved in so,

the case w ou ld but furnish an instance of reversion,

analogous to that of cu l t ivated land by neglect laps

ing to w i lderness, or individual men or tr ibes

measu rably c ivi l ized, going back to w i ldness and

barbarism.

When the Norsemen spoke of N ight and Day as

horsemen, driv ing each hi s steed, and the dew w e see

in the morning, as the shining foam dropped from

the bi t of Hr imfaxi ’s* bridle w hen hi s journey i s

done, and the gl istening rays that penc i l the sky and

Hr imfaxi , Rimy-mane.

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2 50 SYMBOLISM.

bark al l pee led off. The good w alk the l og safe ly ,

though stones are sent flying at them by six peop le

w ho are on the other side . The w icked t rying to

dodge the stones, sl ip oh.

the log , and perish in the

bo i l ing gu lf be low . Corresponding to this i s the

idea among the Moslems of the Bridge Es- S i rat,finer than a hair , and sharper than the edge of a

sw ord ,— the Bridge Chinav a t of the Pa rS iS,—v w hich

al l sou l s must pass, but from w hich the w icked,

attacked and harried by demons, inevitab ly fal l into

the aby ss .

These a re a ll good as m i rror . It w a s probably in '

the character of figure or type that they w ere first

invented and to ld .

And the same again in substance w e find in the

Brig o’ D read , na brader than a thread ,

”sung in

the o ld Lyke-Wake D i rge in the North Count ry,England , an anc ient funeral chant. The old savage

or barbaric legend is modified , bu t the poor tired

sou l ha s to pass ov er the B r idg e of D read, through

the pierc ing fu rze and Purgatory Fi re , al l the same .

I t i s armed how ever w ith the “ he l l-shoon of the old

N orsemen, the shoes now com ing through the

Chari ty the sou l has show n in l ife .

Thi s a* nighte, thi s a nigli te ,

Ev ery night and a lleF i re and fieeti and candle-light,And Christe recei v e thy saule.”

THE BRIG o’ DREAD . 2 5 1

First i t comes to W hinne-moor, w here if in l ife

i t has given e i ther hosen or shoon, i t now may pu t

them on, and so be protected against the W hinnes .

But if not , the W hinnes shall prick it to the bare

beean ( bone) . Then the Brig o’ D read the sou l

must cross, and next beyond that'i t meets Purgatory

Fi re.

If ev er thou gav e ei ther mi ike or drink.

Ev ery ni ght and alle ;The fire sha ll nev er make thee shr inke,And Chri ste recei v e thy saule.

But ifmi lke nor drink thounev er gav e neean,‘

Ev ery night and alleThe fire shall burn thee to the bare beean,

And Chri st receiv e thy saule.

”

Walter Scott states the bel ief inYo rkshi re . Theya re of beli efe that once in the i r l ives i t is good to

give a pa z’

r of new s/zoes to a poo r man, for as much a s

after th is l ife they are to pass ba refoote through a

great launde fu l l of tho rns and furzen, except by the

meryte of the almes afo resai d they hav e redeemed the

forfey te ; fo r at the edge o f the launde an oulde ma n

sha ll meet them w i th the same shoes that w ere given

by the part ie w hen he w a s ly v ing , and after he hath

shodde them, di sm i sseth them to go through thick

a nd thin w i thou t scratch o r

In German fo lk - lo re i t i s taught that he w ho gave

bread in hi s l ife t ime , shal l find i t after death ready

for him to cast into the he l l-hound'

s jaw s.

Neean, none .

1Border M instrelsy , ci ted by Grimm.My tha loaie, 795 .

2 5 2 SYMBOLISM .

I t i s plain to see - that the moral e lement i s present

i n these mythic representat ions ; perhaps i t w a s

superior and presid ing . They served in the past

the i r u se, and they have now great interest and value

a s show ing a page in the history of man’

s m ind .

isThe H indu representations of the retr ibut ions t o

the sou ls a re sign ificant , a s they dec lare the natural

a nd exact justice that must come fo r deeds done in

l i fe . The steale r of food shal l be dyspeptic ; the

horse - thief shal l go lame ; the scandal -monger shal l

have foul breath ; the th ief w ho stole perfumes, shal l

become a musk - rat, &c . Some tr ibes in B raz i l be

l ieve that the sou ls of the b rave w i l l become beau t i

ful birds, w hi le cow ards w i ll be changed into rept i les.

The pic tures in Dante’s Inferno , intensely real ist ic ,viv id and fearful a s they are, hav e ground in truth,

bat ing the fact that they are in part the expression of‘

hi s ow n prejudice and personal exasperat ion ,— and

may hav e a p resent value for impress ing, but such

things a re to be used w i th caution . W e may better

pass qu ickly along .

N on rag z'

om’

am dz'

lar , ma g uanz’a eperm

‘ In indigest ion food i s poison,

’

says a H indumax im ; i n disuse of the discerning reason, fai lure to

penetrate through the oute r and seen, read dow n to

the inner verit ies, and rest in them alone, i s death.

Words a re pow ers, they carry not se ldom fearfu l

n ightmare and bl ight . Pictures w i l l become rea l

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EXCELSIOR .

Thus w i th infinite desireDeathless beauty doth inspi reHuman souls : one goal attainedHigher summi tsmust be gained .

—PERSIA'

N .

W e have outgrow n and surmounted much, but w e

are not yet ful ly free . Max Mii ller te l ls us w e have

not to this hour escaped the meshes of mythology,

even w i th reference to some of our most common

w ords, and those no t connec ted in any di rect w ay

w i th re l ig ious i deas. He adduces instances in point ,

w hich must bring surprise even to the observant and

thoughtful .

W e penetrate some of this figu rat i v e speech, i t i s

t ransparent to us. W e speak of high, low , of ascend

ing , of descending, using the w ords in recognized

spi r i tual sense ; w e a re never ensnared by them. W e

employ old terms that go back to rudest mythopoe ic

ag es, as‘ rainbow ,

’ ‘ thunderbo l t,’&c . , but w e have

ou tgrow n al l tramme l of these. The w o rds mean to

us no more w hat they once did . So w i th ‘en

thusiasm,

’

clear as the mark i s carr ied here of rhy

thology ; w e no longer signi fy or be l ieve,as w e so

(254)

PARENTAGE FROM THE SUN . 2 5 5

speak , in a div ine affla tus and possession by dei ty.

The case i s the same w i th ‘

epilepsy,’ ‘

ecstasy ,

’

‘ l unacy,’

&c. The grow th of the mind has w ho l ly

borne the thought ou t of the mythological stage.

W e see through the impersonation in our w o r d

Natu re ; w e character iz e he r a s a mother, the a l l

p roduc ing and al l-nour ishing mo the r,— indeed the

w ord Natu re l i teral ly means the one alw ays abou t

to bring forth,— but w e a re nev er for a moment

caught in this phraseology . W e hav e left that to i l a

good w ay beh ind . W e can speak of the sun a s fathe r,and be as l itt le dece ived . L i teral ly , the phi lo logis tstel l us, the te rm signifies the beg etter . In str ic te st

sense he i s the parent, p rocreato r, of a ll l i fe there i s

on the plane t ; he i s ou r fathe r .

Every tree, plane t a nd flow e r, grow s a nd flour

ishes by the grace and bounty of the sun. Thunder

and l ightn ing a re hi s t ransmuted strength . Eve ry

fi re that burns, and eve ry flame that glow s, dispenses

l ight and heat w hich originally be longed to the sun .

He rears the w ho le vegetable w orld, and through

i t the an imal ; the l i l ies of the field a re his w o rkman

ship , the ve rdure of the meadow s, and the cattle upon

a thousand hi l ls . He forms the muscle, he urges the

blood, he bu i lds the brain. H i s fleetness is in the

l ion ’

s foot , he spr ings in the panther, he soars in the

eagle .

The sun digs the ore from our m ines, he riv ets the

plates, he bo i ls the w ater, he draw s the t rain. He

2 56 EXCELSIOR.

not only grow s the cotton, he spins the fibre, and

w eaves the w eb .There i s not a hammer raised, a

w hee l turned, or a shuttle throw n , that i s not raised ,

turned and throw n by the

W e are hi s ofl'

Spr ing ; our very thought , conscious

ness i tsel f, ow ns the sun fo r i ts parentage .

W e hav e outgrow n the gods, have pushed i ntelli

gence into t he darkness of igno rance, unt i l the

uni v e rse w hich to Greek , H indu , Teu ton, to al l rude

or semi -c iv i l ized races i n fact, seemed peopled w i th

dei t ies, w i th strange and cap r ic iou s and v ery fleshlypersonal i t ies. i s to us luminous w i th la w . W e can

u se the names Apo llon, He rakles, Z e us or Jupi te r,

Mars, &c . , but they carry no snare ; they a re very

innocent person ification .

So far, good . W e hav e got ten out of the po ly the

i sm of the o ld ages, w e a re no longe r in ecstasy o r

te rror in the imagined presence of the mu l ti tudinous

gods and goddesses of the Pan theon. W e have

escaped the to i l ofperson here ; w here Greek saw the

v arious personal i ties, w e , gifted w i th a larger freer

v ision, see pow ers and forces.

But have w e reached the highest, o r prox imate ly

the final grow th in this regard ? Is ours the u l t imate

conception ? W e have throw n off the many, or

rathe r hav e reso lv ed the many into one . I l lumed

Tyndall, Heat as 0.Mode of Motion.

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2 5 8 EXCELSIOR.

sonali ty , as it al ready ha s in regard t o Nature and

the nature-gods of myth) , as i t contemplates the

supreme Real i ty ? Here too recogniz ing the meta

phors and person ifications of speech, and the real ism

of thought, but never to be caught thereby ? The

po inters w e al ready have, look that way. Max

Mii ller speaking of the old Vedic de i ty A tman

breath or spiri t, then the divine sel f,— says that the

idea remained “ l ike a pure crystal too transparent

for poetry.

"In my concept ion of person, says

Fichte, “ there are l im its how can I clothe Theew i th i t, without these ?

"In substance l ike l ight ,

in nature l ike t ruth,’

said Pythagoras.

God, the Infini te, —shal l w e not conce ive of that

supreme and ineffable a s presence rathe r thanperson,a s the One that t ranscends all , al l form and determina

tion, a ll categories even o f thought ? That One

e thereal, unknown, invisib le, w hose city i s immensity,w hose shape the un iverse, w hose open palace doo r

the dawn, w hose breath i s the breeze, w hose eye

beam the sheen of the star, w hose revelat ion i s reason,w hose incarnation i s man . And as w e must havefor our behold ing the ‘ ang e l of hi s presence,

’

as the

Hebrew s described, w hat Zoroaster ca lled the Amschaspands, somemode or type of the divine ex istence,something to temper the l ight to our visi on,— shal l w e

not find in Truth, Excel lence, Beauty, the highest,.grandest symbol ? He re i s shrine fo r

'

our purest

THE GREAT PRESENCE 2 59 '

worship, here a temple w hich i dolator ’s foot-step ;

canno t enter. Here i s point of uni on of Etern i tyw i th T ime, a realm for sc ience, a sphere for grow th

and enlargement on and on w i thout end. .

Milton says of himse l f, as he i s w ri t ing to a friend ,

that he i s enamored of moral perfec t ion. Can the re

be an obj ect w o rthie r of adoration and the hear t ’s

deepest love ?

Doubtless there w i ll sti l l be employment of the

w ords G od, D iv ine Be ing, Dei ty, or the ir equivalen ts.

Language must seek to express, and the tongue c an

bu t stammer . W e shal l use them because w e mu st ,

since the l im i ts of pic tor ial and personal speech w e

have never been able to pass, use, because they ha ve ,

r ightly read and kept sternly subo rdinate, the i r tru th

and str ik ing sign ificance . W e shal l remember that

w e too a re chi ldren ; w e also are attempting to set

our ladde r against the sky . These w o rds w i l l b e

thoroughly penetrated w i th l ight, made so transpar

ent they w i l l carry no obstruct ing ve i l , and cast no

shadow . As completely a s N a ture has become

deanthropomo rphi sed in our common speech, so

fu l ly sha l l the term God, and o ther w ords of l ike im

port, be freed from bearing or aw akening in any

degree the personal concept.

And w hat a presence i t i s, a s w e come into that

realm o f e thereal Truth and Beau ty ! Society here

2 60 EXCELSIOR .

i n every sol itude, solace in every so rrow , cheer am id

a ll darkness and discouragement . S treng th '

out of

v ery w eakness, and victory from defea t . Now here

such alchemy, w hich transmutes the basest earths to

go ld, and converts poison to nourishment . This i s

that real i ty w hich underl ies and transcends al l , ideal

w hich soars and broods, beckoning ever on and

beyond . This i s the N i rv ana of w hich the rapt sou ls

in the East hav e thought, dreamed , a nd tow ards

w hich they have onw ard striven . When man comes

to hi s estate and looks thus in to the perfect law of

l iberty, he shal l dw el l and rejo ice in this com

mun ion , every dav the inner beho lding, and l i fe a

psalm .

Human i ty the divine incarnation , in the human

s ou l a ray , a fadeless ray from the he ights of the skies.

The human i s ey e-beam of God.

“ In thy face, sai d

the dying Bunsen, look i ng up into the countenance

of hi s w ife, In thy face have I beheld the Eternal .This communicat ion none that has seen, fe lt , can ev er

forget. The soc ial , the dear ones w e kn ow , the per

sons w e beho ld , a re the medium thus of the impart

i ng and fe l low ship w i th the infin i te sou l . A neare r

access in any object ive relat ion w e cannot conceive,a nd may ne v er h0pe to obtain.

H ow Heav en descends into man, how man rises

tow ard and culm inates i n dei ty ; or in the large, how

t he ange ls of G od ascend and descend on this ladder

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2 62 EXCELSIOR .

the m ind . These attest the survival s ofmytho logy

not yet left behind . The pure Truth, the Everlast ing

Wisdom and Excel lence, w i l l be the sufli c ient re

source, the bosom of succo r, the a rm to sustain, that

the sou l ever in love may lean upon . How differen t

w i l l l ife be, w i l l death be, w hen the w ho le be ing

rests in trust on this presence, the inefi'

able One w ho

i s L ight, Beneficence and Pow er, no lo nge r anxie ty

or a ny sorrow or fear, no desi re of i nterposi t ion,

s ince i t fee ls that for it al l i s bound up in the dest i

n ies of the unfading real i ties. There w i l l be peace .

Teach me your mood, 0 patient star s !Who climb each night the ancient sky,Leav ing on space no shade, no scars ,No trace of age , no fear to d ie .

”

With this w i l l come marked change in the form

and a im of w orship , there w i l l be fa r le ss of invoca

t ion and appe llation as to a person, there w i l l be

ce lebration of the thoug ht’

s ideal . The sacraments

w i l l be different, the office of book , of discourse ,

w i l l be different . A l l things w i l l be c entered upon

the w orld of substance, cul t i v a t ion of the natu re and

charac ter . The per iod of dream , of te r ro r, of phan

tasy w il l be passed , period of v ision, o f l ibe rat ion in

know ledge, w i l l hav e come. The p rayer w i l l fade ,rather i t w i l l subl imate into psalm ; in v ocation be

come thanksgiving and song . Preaching w i l l be

teaching and inc itement through the reason and the

r ational sentiment, not the adm ini st rat ion of a pre

FROM ANTHROPOMORPH IC TO IDEAL. 2 63

s cribed and imposed faith, but the inculcation of

Truths, the Truths of Life; not imparting a revelation,

but aw aken ing the inner be ing, opening the door tonew facu l t ies, and l ift ing to a larger and higher free

dom . The stone which the bui lders have rejectedw i l l become the head of the corner .

A reve rence for veracity, for integrity, holding the

fealty supreme, regarding the law s themse lves as

pract ical ly very dei ty , appreciation deeper, keener,for the incarnate presence i n nature and in man,

aw aking of the sensibi l it ies so the Sp iri t shal l be al l

a l ive and aglow to the fact of the harmonies and

beaut ies, —w i l l be the re l igion, the prayer and the

al tar incense of the future .

I t has been a signal advance from Odin to G od,*

from the w ind to personal inv isible Spir i t ; a great

step once from coarse fet ich ism to the Jehovism of

the O ld Testament ; i t w i l l be a greater from the

a ntlzropomorpfiz'

e to the idea l ; more momentous in its

effect both upon thought and the forms ofworsh ip ,

And a s

'

the present looks back upon the old idolat ries

w i th w onder that the i r devotees shou ld have been so

stup id and bl ind, set in such narrow mou ld, and un

a ble to see over or get out , so shal l a future ag e l ook

back to ours with amazement that in the midst of

Both iaccording to Mr. JohnFi ske the same word ; Guodan originalformof Odin, becoming in course of time our word God.

2 64 EXCELSIOR .

our advanced and measurably ripene d civi l izat ion,

such expansi on and grow th in inte lle ctual freedom

and material and econom ic pow er, w e could St il l be

such pagans in our re l igion.

Wi th the higher emanc ipat ion there shal l be also

the larger recogni t ion and appropria t ion of man ’

s

past . Reading through a ll, the mind shal l read in

all,depths of meaning never seen before . Prof.

Youmans has w el l said, speaking of the sun, that i t is

mo re, far more to us of to -day than i t w as to the men

even of fifty years ago , since now science is learning

to explore and pierce i t , reads i ts e lements, and un

folds the story of i ts bi rth, i ts ag e , i ts a cti on, and i ts

dest iny . The spect roscope ha s penetrated the

heavens, unvei led the mystery of the sta rs, and show n

i n beaut iful and memorab le i l lust rat ion , the oneness

of the worlds and law s above, w i th those below .

L ight and heat, the crystal l izing molecu les, create the

fam i l iar w orld of every day anew for us, since expos

i tors l ike Tyndal l have told us the tale of the i r ma r

velons secrets and the i r inform ing inte l l igence .

So of mythology ; as w e a re able to decipher, to

enter into the frame and outlook of the people that

w rought the myths, to see a ll that and beyond also ,— i t speaks with a far deeper emphasis and mo re

p regnant meaning to us than to any before. Evenman '

s errors,"says Max Mii ller, w e learn to under

stand, even his dreams w e begin to interpret." W e

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2 66 EXCELSIOR.

h is w isdom and his infirmi t ies of fo l ly, shal l be sac

ramental to the perce iving and improving mind .

Every shred of this history shal l be prec i ous, divine .

W e al l a re l ike, al l held much in the same tethe r ; al l

visi ted w i th a common aspi rat ion, and enlarged in

the thought of one subl ime, measure less possi bi l i ty .

I t may be fi tt ing befo re w e end. to instance tw o

myths,— both from races in w hom l i t tle in the di rec

t ion of the poet ic and tru ly spiri tual might be ex

pec ted, races dw el l ing, w e might suppose sure ly and

almost inevitably on the low e r p lane, ami d the

besetments and p reoccupations of the mere sense .

The Esthon ians, l iving on marshes and ami d sand

plains, in most inhospitable c l imate , in smoky, sooty

hu ts, w hich they Share w i th the beasts, and that know

not w indow s or chimney s, a re not the people you

w ou ld suppose to be rich in imaginat ion , or in any

of the finer perceptions. But they hav e a tale that

tel ls that the thought of the poe t b looms here also ,am id the protracted n ight and de v ouring co ld of

A rct ic c l ime . Indeed the Kalevala,— w onderfu l pro

duct of the imagination,— apprises us that man maybe thinker , poet , bard , even under these hardest con

di tions .

Wanna Issi— O ld Father— had tw o serv ants, Koit

a nd Amma ri k, and he gave them a torch, w hich i t

w as the office of Ko i t to l ight every morn ing, and of

Ammari k to extingu ish in the evening . Faithfu l

THE W INTER-STREET or LIGHT . 2 67

they had l ong been in th is serv ice, and Wanna Issi at

length sai d to them they might be man and w ife.

They repl ied No, but asked that they might be per

mitted to remain forever bride and bridegroom ,

afli anced, l overs st i l l “Wanna Issi assented , and

henceforth Ko i t handed the torch every even ing to

Amma ri k, a nd Ammar ik took and ex t ingu ished i t .

Only during four w eeks in summer they rema in

together at m i dnight . Ko i t hands the dying to rch

to Ammar i k , but Amma r ik does not let i t die, b ut

l ights i t again w i th her breath. Then the i r hands

a re stretched out and the i r l ips meet, and the blush

of Ammar ik co lors the m idn ight

He re w e hav e those evenings in midsummer

under that latitude, w hen the gloaming seemsto k iss

the daw n. N o race has ever conce ived and told the

fact more finely.

Somew hat sim i lar, at least cognate to this, is an o ld

concept ion that has come dow n in the form o f a

legend, and been rendered i n verse by a Sw ed ish

poet of our t ime, Torpelius. The names of the tw o

lovers, draw n mani festly from the O ld Testament,show plainly that at the t ime i t assumed the form in

w hich w e have i t, there must have been some con

tact w i th Christ ian influence . But the thought i s

old, and w e l l i llustrates one of the early mythic con

cept ions. The bridge they threw up, arching the

Max Mflller inArt. onMythology , ChipsV, 87 .

2 68 EXCELSIOR.

farthest skies, i t need hardly be said, w as the Milky

Way .

Her name Salami was, hi s Zulamyth ;And both so lov ed. each other lov ed. Thus runsthe tender mythThat once on earth they li v ed , and lov ing there,W ere wrenched apart by night, and sorrow and despair ;And when death came at last. w i th whi te w ing s given.

Condemned to liv e apart, each reached a separate heav en.

as a a. sit

Yet lov ing st i ll uponthe azure heightAcross unnumbered ways ofsplendor , gleaming brightW i thw orlds on worlds that Spread and glowed and bur ned,Each unto each,w i th lov e that knew no limit, longing turned.Zulamyth half consumed, unti l he w i lledOut of hi s strength.one night, a bri dge of light to bui ldAcross the w aste—and lo! from her far sunA bri dge of light fromorb to orb Sa lami had begun.

A thousand years they bui lt, sti ll on, w i th fa i thImmeasurable, quenchless,—thus the legend sai th.Unti l the w inter-street of light—a bri dgeAbov e heav en'

s highest vault swung clear.remotest ridge fromridge.

Fear seized the cllerub im ; to God they spakeSee what amongst Thy works, Almighty, these canmake!God smiled. and smili ng, li t the Spheres w ith joyWhat inmy world lov e bui lds, ’ He sa id, sha ll I. shall lov e destroy ?The bri dge stood finished. and the lov ers flewInto each other 's arms ; when lo!shot up and grewBr ightest in the heav ens serene , a star that shoneAs the heart shines serene, after a thousand troubles gone.

”

Our second tale is from the Maoris of N ew Zea

land , a story of the or igin of man and of the dai ly

l ife of things on this earth, i n w hich w e have al l of

the chi ld’s simpl ici ty, a nd the thought, the imagina

t ion of more than childhood . I t is cal led ‘ The

Translation byMr. E. Keary .Evening Hours, Vol. 8.

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z7o nxcm sron .

or to rend them apart. Then spoke Tu-ma -tauenga ,

the fiercest of the chi ld ren of Heaven and Earth, I tis w el l , let u s slay them.

Then spake Tane -ma'huta, the fa ther of forests

and of al l things that inhabit them, o r that a re con

structed from t rees, Nay, no t so. I t i s better to rend

them apart, and to let the heaven stand far above us,and the earth lie under our feet . Let the sky become

as a st ranger to us, but the earth rem ain c lose to us

as our nourishing mo ther. The bro thers al l con

sented to this proposal , w i th the exception of Taw

hi ri -ma-tea , the father of w inds and sto rms, and he

fear ing that his kingdom w as abou t to be ove r

throw n, grieved greatly a t the thought of his parents '

be ing torn apart. Five of the brothe rs w i l l ingly con

sented to the separat ion of the i r parents, but one of

them w ou ld not agree to i t .”

The brothers all tried, in vain,— the god and father

of the cu lt i v ated food of man, god and father of fish

and repti les, &c . ;— every one failed . Then at last,

slow ly up r ises Tane-mahuta, the god and fathe r of

fo rests, of bi rds, and of insects, and he struggles

w ith his parents ; in vain he st rives to rend

them apart w i th hi s hands and arms. Lo, he pauses,hi s head i s now fi rmly planted on hi s mother, the

earth, his fee t he raises upand rests against hi s father,the skies, he strains his back and l imbs w i th mig hty

efi'

ort. N ow are rent apart Rangi and Papa, and

THE LIBERAT ION. 2 7!

w i th cries and groans of w e they shriek aloud,Wherefore slay you thus your parents ? Why com

m i t you so dreadful a cr ime a s to slay us, as to rend

your parents apart ? But Tane-mahuta pauses no t,he regards not the i r shrieks and cries : far, fa r

beneath him he presses dow n the earth, far, far above

him he thrusts up the sky .

Hence these sayings of o lden t ime It w as the

fie rce thrust ing of Tane, w h ich tore the heaven fromthe earth so that they w ere rent apart, and darkness

w as made mani fest, and so w a s the l ight ."

N o sooner w as heaven rent from the earth, than

the mul titude of human be ings w ere d iscovered

w hom they had begotten, and w ho had hitherto lainconcealed betw een the bodies of Rangi and

The legend next describes how Taw hi ri-ma -tea ,

god and father of w inds and storms, arose and fol

l ow ed hi s father to the realms above, hurrying to the

shel tered hol lows of the boundless sk ies, to hide and

cl ing and nest le there . Fierce desi re came to him to

w age w ar against hi s brethren w ho had done such

unhandsome deed to the i r parents.

“ Then came forth

hi s progeny, the mighty w inds, the fierce squal ls, the

clouds, dense, dark , fiery, w i ldly drifting, w i ldly

burst ing ; and i n the i r m idst the ir father rushed

* In one v ersion i t i s gi v en thus They became v isible, w ho ha dhi therto been concealed betw een the hollows of their parent’s breasts.

”

- Lang, Custom andMyth, ci ting Tay lor and Bastian.

2 72 EXCELSIOR.

‘

upon hi s foe . Tane -mahuta and h i s giant fo rests

w ere taken unaw ares, unsuspect ing, w hen the raging

hurr icane bu rst upon them, the ,m ig hty trees w ere

snapped in tw ain, prostrated, t runk s and branches

left torn upon the ground for insec t a nd grub to prey

on . The sea w a s sw ept and tossed w i th w i ld surg

ing s and mountain w av es t i l l Tanga roa , god of the

ocean and fathe r of a ll that dw el l there in, became

affrighted and fled. H i s chi l dren , the parents of fish

on the one hand and of repti les on the o the r, fled, the

one into the depths of the sea , the other into the

recesses of the shore,am id the fo rests and the scrubs.

The storm-g od attacked h is brother s, the gods a nd

progeni tors o f the t i lled food and the w i ld, but Papa ,

the Earth, caught them up and h id them, and be

searched and sw ept to find them , in v ain . He fe l l

upon the last of his brothers, the fathe r of fierce men,

bu t him he could no t e v en mov e . M a n stood erect,unshaken upon the bosom of his, mo ther earth. At

last the hearts of the Heav en and the S torm becametranqu i l , and the i r passion w as assuag ed .

But now Tu-ma-tauenga , farthe r of fierce men ,

became sti rred to attack . He w a s m i nded to avenge

himself upon hi s brethren w ho had left him unaided

to stand against the god of storms. He tw isted

nooses of the leaves of the w hanake tre e , a nd the bi rds

and beasts, chi ldren of the forest-god fe l l befo re him

netted nets of the flax plant and dragged ashore the

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2 74 EXCELSIOR.

his beloved, drops frequent tears upo n her bosom ,

a nd mm seeing Mesa, term them dew -drops.

"

So w e find here fountains of c lear w ater, w el ls of

l ife , opening for us in unex pec ted places . Humani ty

i s ri ch and bring s for us even i n i ts low er planes. per

petual surprises. W ho shal l any longer speak of

heathens, or people that dw e l l in the blackness of

unbroken n ight , having no percept io ns, no ideal s ?"

The scale i s everyw here one of degree ; i t is measu re ,

or more or less, that differences and d i v ides barbar

ous from c ivi l ized , pagan from Christ ian . A l l hav e

been touched from the fountain of W isdom and

Beau ty, and al l have art iculated s'

ome syl lable or

mo re from the name inefi'

able . W e find the oneness

of Humani ty, al l the race l ike, everyw he re essential ly

the same . The dist inct ions that have been draw n in

the past, artificial, grounded in our ignorance and

vain concei t of tribe or people, shal l in this grow ing

l ight pass aw ay. And by Speak ing to the common

perceptions, al l shal l be reached.

W e see also c lear hint here of the origin of the

mytho logy that w e find so ripened in the l i teratures

of the higher and more cu l tivated races. Ancesto rs~

of Greek , Teuton, and H indu , so c once ived and

spoke of the gods. These Mao ri tales a re the ge rm s

Grey ’sPolynesi anMythology , pp. 1-5 , 14, 15 . In the Greekmy thologythe dew i s the tears of Eos w eeping ov er the death ofMemnon. and in the

Teutonic, the trees inmourning ov er the stea ling aw ay of Iduna. w eep~frozen tears .

REVEALED THOUGH VEILED. 2 75 ,

of such legends as spring and have g row n into th isw orld-cover ing t ree.

On this ladder of symbol, ascending rung afte r"

rung from l ow er to higher, w e a re to cl imb up t o,

God, ascending and t ranscending unti l w e reach that

cent ral un i ty, that real i ty of al l, for w hich though t

ha s no concept ion and language no name . Here a re

w e to commune, and find our be ing ’s po rtion, j oy,possession foreve r. Here a re w e l iberated and come

to our estate . Speech canno t describe or image i t

even, the soul know s i t in some partial real izat ion .

A l l that highest p rophets and bards have hitherto ,

been able, w as but to adumbrate in some faint degree

to the al ready cognizant and perceiving spi rit . A t

the best the vision is shadow ed and dim, w e nev er

see our d ivin i ty unvei led. Only in some lofty type,

form t ranscending al l forms w e know , can w e behold

the invisible. W e rise, w e approximate, w e reach

neare r and nearer to the i l l imi table goal .

And the c learer our percept ions and higher ou r

attainment, seeing the unseen and eternal , the more

shal l w e penet rate and apprec iate the l iving symbo l ,

world w e l i v e in, and the horn-book in w hich our‘

lessons w ere taught . Te rrest rial place i s found by

celest ial observat ion .

’

The more w e prize and lay

hold upon the substance, the more shal l w e apprecia te,

cherish, and in tende r love and aw e rel igiously cl ingto the manifiestat ion in t ime . Hence,

’

says Hermes,

2 76 EXCELSIOR .

‘w a s man called the Great Miracle.

’

The highest

ideal i sm can be but ever the truest real ism . The

e lementary book w e have learned in, the primer of

the human race, can never be fo rgotten or di s

e steemed . L ike a pal impsest, i t rev e a ls as studied

new , deeper inscript ions and more . For the A lp ine

c limbing that st il l aw aits, the best he lp is to be

found i n the recorded history of man , hi s thought

and most reso lu te endeavo r after apprehension of the

spi r i tual and real . This i s sacramen tal bread and

W ine ; i t i s the offered body and blood of a to i l ing,

suffer ing human i ty.

Ideas shal l become nobler, w orthie r, perceptions

c learer, aims, pu rposes, as w el l as conceptions more

exalted , language shall be purged a nd elevated , the

grosser elements, terms that have proved most easi ly

i l lusi ve and a snare, espec ial ly that have been satu

rated in the sense , shall be disused a nd pass aw ay.

The m ind itsel f shall be enfranchised , so that as i t

deals w i th invisible, i t shal l be taken nev er in mesh

of the seen . The mytho logy w i l l a l l be left behind .

W hy should not the terms God, Mav en, spi r i tua l w orld,

&c ., become a s pel luc id , as free from the personal or

any concrete impl icat ion, a s now to us al l a re sulfsta fzce,

fr a t/z More and mo re must speech become transpar

c a t, no toi l anyw here, and the soul shal l dw e l l in

undimmed , uninterrupted vision . There shal l be

n o night there, no i l lusion,no refract ion o r vei l

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2 78 nxcnr srok .

s entiment so fi tting, so exalted and clear, that to

see w i th the eye shal l be instantly to apprehend w ith

the reason ? So charged and radiant w i thgthe right

meaning that the spi ri t shal l be const rained, com

ipelled in the w i tnessing of it, to repai r to and repose

alone in the central real i ty for love and w orship ?

The w orld w i l l show transfig ured, a nd al l l ife w i l l

be music, w hen the prophet, w hen the harper comes.

The H indus said of the seven R ishi s, ‘ mo rtal but

uni ted w i th the immo rtals ’ that w i th the i r hymns

they ‘caused the daw n to arise and the sun t o shine .

’

Pregnant and beaut iful i s the hint w hich the tales

give us of the office of teacher and bard, interpreter

and minstre l to the inner se l f of us a ll. “ These

strains,”

says the Gudrunl ied,“ he ( Horant) sang,

a nd they w ere w ondrous. To none w ere they too

long w ho heard the strains. The t ime that i t w ou ld

take to ride a thousand mi les, passed w hi lst l istening

to him , as a moment . The w i ld beast of the forest

a nd the timid deer hearkened, the l i tt le w orms crept

forth in the green meadow s, fishes sw am up to l isten,

each forgett ing i ts nature so long a s he chanted hi s

song . A l ike pow e r in the harper Vo lker in the

N ibelungen Lay . He cou ld fight as w e l l as he cou ld

play, and the soft soo thing tones of hi s harp lu l l to

sleep the so rrow s of the anx ious men w ho are soon

'

to die .

Tales ofAmphion w i th his lyre, O rpheus w i th hi s

m i racul ous harp , Od in w i th his runes, Oberon w i th

THE STORY on THE RACE . 2 79

his horn, Gunadhya w ith his verses‘ that he had

w rit ten w ith hi s ow n blood,’ Wa inamoinen w i th h is

lays and w ith hi s kantele,— tel l not a fu lfilment on lybut more a prophecy, they speak their w ord of thesongs and the oracles that shal l be. Havew e not a llsomet imes heard notes of the strain ? And more ,infinitely more and h igher are in store . More and

more the l ight beats and breaks in the throbb ing

East . The eye Sees more clearly and deeply, the

heart know s trul ier, and w i th ever increasing del ight

and wonde r andnlov e.

This lesson w e find in the study of these exper i

ences and mythi c conceptions through the enti re

range of h isto ry,—the Spi ri t of man passing by slow ,

often impercepti ble stages out of i llusion to v isio n,

out of bondage to freedom. out of mythology to

know ledge, pu re worship , and ever augmenting per

cept ion and pow er. The road i s long, the goal y et

far,far aw ay . But the tale of mytho logy, the sto ry

of the race in i ts c ivi l ization and i ts grow th, is one

w ith the sc riptu re told in all the Bibles of the w orld ,— the j ou rney of the sou l from the city of the plains

on to the azure heights, the city,—which yet is not a

c i ty, no determinate place at all,— the c i ty of God.

I t beg inspsuclzikos, i t becomes pneumatikos it begin s

sensuous, an imal , i t rises in ever grow ing approx i

mat ion to spi ri tual . Sow n in weakness, i t i s raised

in power. I t leaves one after another i ts dreams, i ts

2 80 EXCELSIOR.

card-castles of fantasy behind , and asc ends to realm

of pure thought and be ing . I t has to learn sel f- t e

nunc iat ion and great t rust , to lay i tse lf nakedly for

repose and streng th upon the bosom of the infin i te

recti tude and everlast ing b enefic ience ,— the supreme

and impersonal Law .

The creature o f feel ing, of impu lse, o f passion,man

becomes lord of w i ll , master of charac te r . Plant ing

i n the moral ideal, w orship ing so le the ethereal

Truth and Excel lence, the m ind w i l l b e at once bothrel igious and free .

Ages yet may pass, e re the ful l -o rbed day Shal l

rise, but soon o r late the race is to un i te T ime w i th

the eternal, to beho ld w i th clearest v i s ion, to discern,

w orship and ado re perfectly the everl ast ing amid and

by the symbolism of the transien t and the seen.

Oute r and inner, v isible and invisi ble , fin i te and

i nfin i te, shal l jo in and blend into one . A l l confl ict ,a ll unrest Shal l be taken aw ay, perfec t v ision ,

pe rfect

conquest , perfect peace be w on . The beholding

spi r i t w i l l see Dei ty in mani festat ion , and a s man i

festa t ion, and reading constantly thro ugh that,Shal l

sink , rather subl imate all perpe tual ly in the real i ty

of G od .

Can w e express i t better than in the language of

the old Hebrew ,— the Jacob ’

s ladder let dow n , and

the angels of'

E l oh im ascending and descending,un i t ing earth to Skies, incarnating eternal in this

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INDEX.

Achi lleus, 55 , 73. 87, 160. 162, 220

JEschylos. 229

Algonquins.myths of the.21, 25 , 29.46 , 47, 55 , 67, 96, 249

Alkinobs, 265

Ammar ik, 266, 267

Amphion. 103, 191, 192, 273

Amri t, drink of Immortali ty , 184

Anderson, R . B 231

Androgynous representations, 171Andromeda , 57, 96, 188

Animation and Personi ii cation,

15 , 278

Anthropomorphism, 216, 267

Antigone, 201

Aphrodite, 65

Apollon, 5 1, 5 6, 58, 76. 83, 95,

106 , 160, 162, 169.206, 232, 266

Arda Virai , 246, 246

Argos, 265

Arktos, 39

Art, symboli sm of,

236, 237, 242, 243, 245

Artemis, 68

A rthur , 84. 35 , 101, 105 , 160.

162, 161, 184. 198. 199, 200, 247

Aryans, the early.35 , 71. 157.207. 208, 209

Ash wood, v i rtues ascri bed to,186,

Asklepios. 106

Athene, 66, 61, 123

Atlas, 180

Atman, the old Vedic deity , 258

Australians, myth 01 the, 83

Baba Yaga , 97

Babes in the Wood, 103, 161

Bacon, Francis, 117, 202. 217, 245

Baldur, 55 .105 .182, 190, 191.210

Bale-fires. i i i , 182‘

Bancroft.H . H . 49

Banier, Abbé, 11

Bay 01 Souls, 134, 135

Beauty and the Beast, 87. 104

Belief in the near affi ni ty of ani

mal creati on w ith humanity, 106~

Bi t- rest, the trembling-bridge ,

18, 34

Blue Beard, 102. 103

Bonaparte, Napoleon, 91, 129

Boots, tale of, 98, 104

Brag, descendant from Bragi , 125

Brig o’ Dread, 250, 25 1

Brinton, D. G .. 21, 22, 44 , 66

Brown, Robert , 66, 174

Brow ning .Robert, 234

Bryant, W . C. . 70

Brynh ild. 59, 73, 89 , 95 , 97, 105 . 219

Bunsen, C. J. J 12 , 260

Burial customs, 132, 133 , 134

Burning in efii gy , 116

Burroughs, John, 179

Bushy Bride. 98 , 99

Byron, 70

Capof inv isibi li ty, 163

Carlyle, Thomas,127, 178, 230, 234. 235

Ceres, 60

Charlemagne, 90. 91. 118

Charms, 118, 119, 136. 148 , 149

Choctaw s, belief of. 249, 250

Chest. story 01 the. 86

Chi ldren 01Heav en and Earth,268-274

Chri stmas Tree, 141

Church , Roman Catholic, pointsof v alue in, 297, 244

Cinderella, 97, 98.104 . 106:

(283)

2 84 mnsx .

~Clodd. 24 Fert ili ty of the humanmind ,Conception, the ultimate that 226, 227

may come. 25 7 Fetches.” 141

Conw ay ,M. D. 144 Fi chte , J . G on nature of Dei ty.Cooper , W . B. , 35 , 171 268

Cox, G . W .,19. 54 , 32 , 34 , 45 , 65

62, 87, 104, 111, 165 , 134, 213 22

Dakotas , mythological beliefs of, 21Danae. 57, 105 , 15 9, 161

Daphne, 51, 52, 68

Dawn, marri age of. 104

De Gubernatis, Angelo, 124

Demeter, 60

De Rougement, 186

Didactic Myths, 177-204

Digby , Sir Kenelm, 117

Dionysos, 160, 168

D’Israeli , I 217

Dog-Rib Indians, myth of the , 28

Drake, Si r Franci s, 40

Draper, John W . 217 . 218

Durandal, 85

Dyaus. 15 , 213

Dyer, T. F . T. 116, 148

Earth-cutting,Ea rthquakes,Eclipses,Elder wood , v i rtues ascri bed to,

137

Elysion, 213

Emerson, B. W . , 11, 42,177, 180, 209, 230, 234 , 235 , 262

Entranchi sement of the mind,276, 279, 280

EOS. 105

Er inyes, 181, 182, 229

Esquimaux, myths of the, 24 . 33

Esthonians , myth of the, 266, 267

Euhemeros 10, 11

Eurydike, 51, 98, 105 , 158

Excalibur , 85 , 87, 107, 162

Fa raday .Michael, 196, 233

Fear, dominating themind 01 asav age, 205 , 206, 207

Feeding the departed , 143

Ferrying the souls of the dead , 135 74 , 85 , 86, 87

Finns, myths of the,Fire,F i ske, John,

12, 17. 25 .74, 87. 101, 114, 263

Folk-lore. 108 , 110-125 , 128-149. 188

Forest, symboli sm of, 161

Fortunatus’ Hat, 107, 163

Fountain of Youth. 221, 222

Frederi ck Barbarossa , 90, 91, 113

Freya, 18. 51, 126

Freyr, 49 , 50, 195 , 265

Frodi 's Quern, 32 , 199

Gabriel’s Hounds,” 81

Galton, Franci s, m5 , 206Gerda , 49. 50, 265

Gi lbert, Dav is. 40

Glass Mountain. 59, 167

Glistening Heath, 59.

God, or igin of the w ord. 101,God , conception of in the future ,

259, 260, 261, 276

Godi v a , legend of, 89

Goethe. his Tale ofTales. 247

Golden F leece, 62, 172, 186. 265

Goldzi her . I 12 , 169, 172

Gould.B. Baring, 67, 78. 99.

130, 131, 134, 135 , 153, 194 , 197

Gra i l. the Holy , 197, 198 , 221

Gray , T . , 13

Greeks, characteri stics of.48, 183, 201, 208. 209

Greek mind , finest bloom in

ancient world, 10, 48

Grey. Si r George, 269 -274

Grimm, Jacob,106, 111, 125 , 130, 137 .

138. 139, 149, 160. 203, 238, 251

Grimm. the Brothers, 94

Grote , George, 10

Gudrunlied , 278

Gunadhya . 192, 193 , 279

Hamlet,

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2 86 INDEX .

Merlin, prison of, 246 , 247 Night and Day , Horses of, 48, 248

Metaphor , source ofmythology l Nightmare , 120

41-72 Ni rv ana . 260

Metaphor, v alue of, 216, 232 Nixy , 111

Michabo, 21, 29, 88 , 44 Nork, 167

Mi lky W ay , 26, 27, 123 , 268 Norns, 63, 184

Mi lton,John, 25 9 Norsemen,my ths of the, 18, 32, 35 ,

Moi rai , 63, 184, 185 36, 50, 51, 52, 53. 55 , 56, 59 ,

Moon-spots.myths accounting 67 . 73, 75 , 85 , 99, 104. 190, 248

for, 24, 25 Notes and Quer ies, 181. 151

Moral lessons told in myth,

180-195 , 197-204, 221- 225 , 249-25 2

Muller, Otfri ed, onmythi c formof expression, 13

Mii ller . F Max , 12, 13, 38, 39, 42, 52 ,

54 . 56. 69, 74, 84, 89. 94, 97,

98, 161. 211. 234 , 254.258, 264, 267

Music, pow er of, 191-195 , 278, 279

Mythic representations, that w eretransparent , 45 , 48, 51, 5 3, 248 , 249

Mythi c representations, thei r v a luefor impressing truth

, 231, 234

Mythology, some defini tions of,11-13

Mythology, its source,13-19, 38

-40. 274

Mythology , i llusions of, 17-19

Mythology , grow th of, 19, 274 , 275

Mythology , Speaks w ith deeperemphasi s, when. 230, 231, 264, 265

Mythology , Greek and Roman.

seems a labyrinth, 52 , 65

Mythology , Greek, superior tomost others, how . 71

Myths of Explanation, 20-40

Myths from Metaphor, 41-72

N ames. supersti tions in regardto, 113, 114

Nature, as v i ewed in the d ifferent stages ofmen'

s culture .

205 206, 208

Nature ,now deanthropomor

phised in i ts sense, 255 , 258, 259=Newman, J. H 226

New Zea landers, myths of the ,

15 , 46 , 66, 268-274

New Zealanders, supersti t ionsamong, 112, 134, 143, 144

Nibelungen Lay, 73, 1M, 278

Numbers and Days. certa in ones

unlucky , 128

Nursery Tales, descended frommythic sources, 94-109

18, 48, 49. 5 1, 82,

87, 95 , 100. 101, 107. 110. 161,

164 , 186 , 187, 190. 210, 263, 278

Odin, a psychopomp, 130, 131

Odin, degraded to an Ah-gott, orex -

god, 108

Odysseus, 80. 104, 173, 202, 231

Ogre, 95 , 108

Oi dipous. 57, 64, 201

Omens, sini ster, 128 , 129, 141, 142

Opening the w indow for egressof the soul, 131

Ordea ls , 119, 120

Orientation, 140

Orlgen. hi s v i ew of the stars, 15

Origin ofman , myths of, 30, 31,Orion, 66

Orpheus. 51.

107 , 191, 192, 202, 278

Ouranos, 65

Pan,

Parcte, 63

Persephone, 37 60, 105 , 158, 161, 167

Perseus, 33, 56. 57,

60, 76, 93, 105 , 107, 161, 168, 183

Personali ty , ascri ption of to ev eryobject, 13 . 14

Personification, 228 , 229. 257

Pest ma i den, 208, 204

PhantomArmy , 100

Pherekydes, 172

Phoi bos, 39,56, 63 , 83, 195

INDEX .

Phoi bos Lykegenes, 39

Piper oi Hameln, 81, 82, 83, 110, 158

Polynesians, myth of, 29

Portia , 88

Presence, that is more than person, 25 8. 262

Procopius, 136

Prometheus, 19, 48, 182

Protestantism, some of i ts l imi tations, 241

Prov erbs, often chi ps'

et mythology,110- 126

Prov erbial phrases.112-115 , 119-121, 123- 125

Pow ell, J . W 23

Psyche and Eros, 37, 104

Pythagoras, on nature of Deity, 258

Q uetza lcohuatl, 29

44 , 45 , 75 , 169, 220, 249

Ra in,23

Ra inbow , 34

Ralston,W .R. S 83, 95 , 134

Ramayana , the Hindu epic , 188

Rapunzel, 105

Red Ridi ng Hood, 95 , 161

Red Sw an, 46, 47, 67

Religion,permanence of, 235 , 236

Richter , J . P..74

Ring, magic v i rtues of, 138, 164, 165

RipVan W inkle, 91

Rob in Hood, 101

Roland to to the Dark Towercame,

” 107

Romeo and Juli et. 88

Rusk in, John,11, 12, 35 , 156, 169

S acredness of the robin,119

Sa int George, 76, 77, 95

Sa int Ursula.77, 78. 79

Sampo, the mystic, 224

Sanda ls of Perseus, 163‘

San G rea l, 164, 197, 198, 221

Science, the office it shall per

form,236

S choolcraft, H . R . ,41

S cott, W alter , 251

Sev en Sleepers, 112, 113

2 8 7

“ Sev en Whi stlers,” 81

Shadow and Signification, 156-176

Shadow s, the blighting, ofmythology,Shoshones, myth of the,Si bylline Books,Si egfr ied,Signs of sini ster omen,

128, 129, 130, 141, 142

Sigurd, 59, 73, 89

Simrock, 11

Sioux, myth of the, 22

Si rens, 202, 231

Skidb ladnir, 195 , 196

Sky, has furnished highest symbol, 220, 221

Slav ons,myths of the, 50, 5 9

Slav ons, supersti tions among,71, 111, 120, 143

Sleeping Beauty, 60,

Sleep-thorn. 15 7

Smith, John, 219

Snow , 28 , 123

Sokrates, 10

Sons of Ka lew , 193

Sophocles, 201

Soul, described as a spark of bea veh ly fire, by the Slav ons. 48

Soul, symbolized by the mouse ,83, 158, 159

Soul, journeyings after death,249-251

Soul, retributions to, 252

Sphinx, 203

Stauros, 165 , 166

Sun, myths of the,29, 30. 39, 44-51, 53—56

Sun, parentage from, 255 , 256

Supersti tions, i i i

112, 114-122, 128-138, 140-149

Superstitions in Sphere ofreligiousbeli ef, 149-153

Surv iv als, 128-153, 257, 261, 262

Sw an-ma i dens, 122

Symbolic speech. v alue of, 177-179

Symbolic terms employed ,156-174, 183, 185 , 186

Symbolism, i ts functi on, dangers ,etc.,

211-25 3, 275 , 277, 280

2 88

Symonds, J. A 201, 229, 245

Talismani c Trees, etc.,

Tantalos,

Tannhauser,Tara BaiTamkappe,Tartars, myth of the.

Tell, Wi lliam,

Telling the Bees, ’Tenaci ty of life in old impressions, etc ., 211, 214, 215

Tennyson, Alfred, 199, 200, 221

Termagant, origin of the word, 125Thomas of Erci ldoune, 118

Thor, 52, 5 3, 119, 139, 166

Thoreau, H . D 195 , 225

Thunder, 21

Thunder-axes," 33

Toltecs,myths of the, 29, 30,

44, 45 , 54, 66, 169

Tom Thumb, 95

Torpelius, 267, 268

Trees and Grov es sacred, 125 , 299

Trench, Robert, 202, 216

Trojan Conflict, 89

Tylor, E. B. , 11, 14, 25 ,

45 , 64, 69, 148, 149, 177

Tyndall, John,196, 238, 234 , 255 , 256, 264

Una and her Knight, 93

Urv asi , 98, 98

Ushas, 98, 105

Undine, 93, 122

INDEX.

Valkyri es,Vainana ,

Vampires,Vasi lissa.

Vei l, the symbolic,Vignoli , Ti to,Volsung.

Wa inamoinen, 32, 90,107, 174 , 193, 194, 195 , 279

Wandering Jew , 101

W anna Issi , 266

W ei rd S i sters, 184 , 185 , 200

W elle of Yonthe, 222, 22s

Wergeland , Henrick Arnold , 181

W i ld Huntsman, 100

W i lkins, A. S . , 208

W i lson, 11. B., 98

W inter-S treet of Light 267, 268

W i tch-hazel, 196

W i tches’ Sabbath, 107

W olf and Sev en K ids, 96

W ooden Horse , 89

Worship , the future, 230,

262 , 283 , 275 , 276, 278, 280, 281

W uttke , Adolf , 62, 138

Yggdrasi l,19

, 95 , 172, 184, 185 , 186, 248

Ymer , 85

Youmans, E. L

Zeus,Zeus Lyka ios,Zoroaster ,

Zulus, myths of the,