| Völsung and Völsi |
[Jan. 12th, 2009|09:21 am] |
It is apparent that the Völsungasaga contains many motifs that appear to have been adapted from the mythology of gods of the Third Function. Donald Ward discusses this somewhat in his book "The Divine Twins: An Indo-European Myth in Germanic Tradition." I think there are more parallels than he mentions, and perhaps someone should do an in-depth analysis comparing this saga to what we know about the myths concerning the Vanir and other Third-Functional gods.
In any case, I was struck the other evening by what might be a connection between the Völsungasaga and a mention of what appears to be a phallic cult in northern Norway, in the Völsa Þáttr. There, a household worships a preserved horse-penis under the name of Völsi, reciting verses (sometimes rather racy ones) over it every evening. It seems at least possible that this could have been a cult-object of Freyr, who is represented with a large penis and is associated with horses.
The name of Sigmundr's father in the Völsungasaga, Völsung, has puzzled me for years. The name seems to mean "descendant of Völs-", and was the name taken by the whole kin, rather than them calling themselves his descendants: *Völsung-ungar. I wonder if the name could mean "descendant of Völsi," with "Völsi" being a name for Freyr.
It also occurs to me that in Völsung's children, we see in Sigmundr and Signy a pair of twins who have an incestuous relationship, similarly to Njörðr and his sister among the Vanir; or Freyr and Freyja, according to the Lokasenna.
Food for thought. |
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| The origin of Man |
[Jan. 7th, 2009|12:31 pm] |
I recently re-read Puhvel's "Aspects of Equine Functionality" in Myth and Law Among the Indo-Europeans, and was struck by something from a bit of Indian mythology. There's a god, Vivasvant, whose wife is the goddess Saranyu. They have a son, Yama, after which Saranyu creates a double of herself, Savarna, and runs away in the form of a mare. Believing the double to be his wife, Vivasvant fathers Manu on her. He then perceives his mistake, and takes the form of a stallion in order to pursue Saranyu; when he catches up to her, they're both still in horse-form, and he fathers the twin Asvins on her, which is why they are sometimes in the form of horses themselves.
So, we know that Yama is the first to die, and it is probable that the giant who was sacrificed and dismembered to make the world - Prajapati or Purusha - is the same as Yama; Yama is cognate to Norse Ymir, both seeming to mean "twin," also the meaning of Tuisto in Tacitus' account. I don't know if this is directly attested in India, but he was likely sacrificed by his brother Manu, whose name means "man," and is cognate with "Mannus" in Tacitus. Yama, as the first to die, becomes the king of the world of the dead. Manu, the first man, becomes the first king.
Anyhow, this all suggests that mankind, as descended from Manu, is closely related to the original sacrificial macranthrope and king of the dead, as well as being closely related to the hippomorphic third-functional twins, which may be why Indra wanted to bar them from receiving soma-sacrifice in India's version of our War of the AEsir and Vanir. I think there's a reflection of this theme of barring from receiving sacrifice in Germanic religion: in Vsp. 24, the gods go to their seats and discuss: "eða skyldo goðin öll gildi eiga" or should all gods own tribute. (I should mention that Cleasy-Vigfusson translates "gildi eiga" as "mean[ing] to hold a feast, with the notion of making a league or peaceful agreement", but that interpretation is based solely on this selfsame passage, and may therefore be reading more into the words than is there.)
The really interesting part, to me, about the birth of the first Man, though, is that his father was a god, and his mother an illusion. This suggests to me an interesting perspective on the relative kinds of being that gods and men have, at least in India (although the notion may have gone back to Proto-Indo-European times, as well). In other words, man is related to the gods, his origin goes back to them, in part; but the reason that man fades, withers, and dies, the reason that he is not as "real," as gods are, that his being is not as powerful as theirs, is that his origin goes back also to an illusion. Man's being partakes of the illusory as well as of the divine, and *that* is the reason that man is how he is.
On a somewhat unrelated note, I'm currently translating Skírnismál. There's a word in stanza 33 that's frustrating me: "fyrinilla," in the phrase "in fyrinilla mær", 'the [something] maiden". If the second element in the word is "illa," then we have "the [something]-evil maiden". Anyone know what the hell "fyrinilla" means? Cleasby-Vigfusson is no help.
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| Varuna & Woden |
[Dec. 9th, 2007|03:15 pm] |
"Varuna, sky god and archetype of the "Universal Sovereign", is also the god of the ocean, where serpents dwell, as the Mahabharata explains; he is the "king of serpents" (nagaraja) and the Atharva Veda even goes so far as to call him "viper".
Mircea Eliade, "Patterns in Comparative Religion" Ch. 12, "Morphology and Function of Myths"
- The association with water, cf. Wóden's bynames Nikarr/Hnikarr and Nikuðr/Hnikuz, which seem to have cognates in Anglo-Saxon nicor and Old High German nichus, both meaning "water-sprite, sea-monster".
- The association with snakes, specifically Wóden entering the mountain where Sutting kept the mead of poetry, in the form of a snake.
This is not entirely surprising, as Wóden and Varuna would seem to be cognate figures between their mythologies, but the sharing of these features would most likely be due to common inheritance from PIE religion. |
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| Crossdressing heroes |
[Apr. 12th, 2006|11:19 am] |
Compare these to the Þrymskvíða. Herakles, Arjuna, and Þórr are all 2nd-function figures.
From "Myths of the World" by Padraic Colum
"Then a dreadful thing happened in Kalydon; by an accident, while using his strength unthinkingly, Herakles killed a lad who was related to Deianeira. He might not marry her now until he had taken punishment for slaying one who was close to her in blood.
As a punishment for the slaying it was judged that Herakles should be sold into slavery for three years. At the end of his three years' slavery he could come back to Kalydon and wed Deianeira.
So Herakles and Deianeira were parted. He was sold as a slave in Lydia; the one who bought him was a woman, a widow named Omphale. To her house Herakles went, carrying his armour and wearing his lion's skin. And Omphale laughed to see this tall man dressed in a lion's skin coming to her house to do a servant's tasks for her.
She and all her household had fun with Herakles. They would set him to do house-work, to carry water, and set vessels on the tables, and clear the vessels away. *Omphale set him to spin with a spindle as the women did. And often she would put on Herakles's lion-skin and go about dragging his club, while he, dressed in woman's garb, washed dishes and emptied pots.*"
From the Mahâbhârata:
""Vaisampayana said, 'Next appeared at the gate of the ramparts another person of enormous size and exquisite beauty decked in the ornaments of women, and wearing large ear-rings and beautiful conch-bracelets overlaid with gold. And that mighty-armed individual with long and abundant hair floating about his neck, resembled an elephant in gait. And shaking the very earth with his tread, he approached Virata and stood in his court. And beholding the son of the great Indra, shining with exquisite lustre and having the gait of a mighty elephant,--that grinder of foes having his true form concealed in disguise, entering the council-hall and advancing towards the monarch, the king addressed all his courtiers, saying, 'Whence doth this person come? I have never heard of him before.' And when the men present spoke of the newcomer as one unknown to them, the king wonderingly said, 'Possessed of great strength, thou art like unto a celestial, and young and of darkish hue, thou resemblest the leader of a herd of elephants. Wearing conch-bracelets overlaid with gold, a braid, and ear-rings, thou shinest yet like oneamongst those that riding on chariots wander about equipped with mail and bow and arrows and decked with garlands and fine hair. I am old and desirous of relinquishing my burden. Be thou like my son, or rule thou like myself all the Matsyas. It seemeth to me that such a person as thou can never be of the neuter sex.'
"Arjuna said, 'I sing, dance, and play on instruments. I am proficient in dance and skilled in song. O lord of men, assign me unto (the princess) Uttara. I shall be dancing-master to the royal maiden. As to how I have come by this form, what will it avail thee to hear the account which will only augment my pain? Know me, O king of men, to be Vrihannala, a son or daughter without father or mother.'
"Virata said, 'O Vrihannala, I give thee what thou desirest. Instruct my daughter, and those like her, in dancing. To me, however, this office seemeth unworthy of thee. Thou deserves! (the dominion of) the entire earth girt round by the ocean.'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'The king of the Matsyas then tested Vrihannala in dancing, music, and other fine arts, and consulting with his various ministers forthwith caused him to be examined by women. And learning that this impotency was of a permanent nature, he sent him to the maiden's apartments. And there the mighty Arjuna began giving lessons in singing and instrumental music to the daughter of Virata, her friends, and her waiting-maids, and soon won their good graces. And in this manner the self-possessed Arjuna lived there in disguise, partaking of pleasures in their company, and unknown to the people within or without the palace.'" |
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