Publications of the Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature No. 3 OLd NOrse MythOLOgy — COMParative PersPeCtives OLd NOrse MythOLOgy— COMParative PersPeCtives edited by Pernille hermann, stephen a. Mitchell, and Jens Peter schjødt with amber J. rose Published by THE MILMAN PARRY COLLECTION OF ORAL LITERATURE Harvard University Distributed by HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England 2017 Old Norse Mythology—Comparative Perspectives Published by The Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature, Harvard University Distributed by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England Copyright © 2017 The Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature All rights reserved The Ilex Foundation (ilexfoundation.org) and the Center for Hellenic Studies (chs.harvard.edu) provided generous financial and production support for the publication of this book. Editorial Team of the Milman Parry Collection Managing Editors: Stephen Mitchell and Gregory Nagy Executive Editors: Casey Dué and David Elmer Production Team of the Center for Hellenic Studies Production Manager for Publications: Jill Curry Robbins Web Producer: Noel Spencer Cover Design: Joni Godlove Production: Kristin Murphy Romano Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Hermann, Pernille, editor. Title: Old Norse mythology--comparative perspectives / edited by Pernille Hermann, Stephen A. Mitchell, Jens Peter Schjødt, with Amber J. Rose. Description: Cambridge, MA : Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature, 2017. | Series: Publications of the Milman Parry collection of oral literature ; no. 3 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017030125 | ISBN 9780674975699 (alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Mythology, Norse. | Scandinavia--Religion--History. Classification: LCC BL860 .O55 2017 | DDC 293/.13--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017030125 Table of Contents Series Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii by David Elmer, Casey Dué, Gregory Nagy, and Stephen Mitchell Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix by Joseph Harris Preface: Situating Old Norse Mythology in Comparative Contexts . . . . . . . . . xiii by Pernille Hermann, Stephen Mitchell, and Jens Peter Schjødt Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix Part One. THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL COMPARISONS JENS PETER SCHJØDT Pre-Christian Religions of the North and the Need for Comparativism: Reflections on Why, How, and with What We Can Compare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 PERNILLE HERMANN Methodological Challenges to the Study of Old Norse Myths: The Orality and Literacy Debate Reframed . . . 29 KATE HESLOP Framing the Hero: Medium and Metalepsis in Old Norse Heroic Narrative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 JONAS WELLENDORF The Æsir and Their Idols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Part Two. LOCAL AND NEIGHBORING TRADITIONS TERRY GUNNELL Blótgyðjur, Goðar, Mimi, Incest, and Wagons: Oral Memories of the Religion(s) of the Vanir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 TORUN ZACHRISSON Volund Was Here: A Myth Archaeologically Anchored in Viking Age Scania . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 OLOF SUNDQVIST The Temple, the Tree, and the Well: A Topos or Cosmic Symbolism at Cultic Sites in Pre-Christian Northern Europe? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 THOMAS A. DUBOIS The Mythic Sun: An Areal Perspective . . . . . . . 191 JOHN LINDOW Comparing Balto-Finnic and Nordic Mythologies . . 223 Table of Contents Part Three. GLOBAL TRADITIONS RICHARD COLE Snorri and the Jews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 MATHIAS NORDVIG Creation from Fire in Snorri’s Edda: The Tenets of a Vernacular Theory of Geothermal Activity in Old Norse Myth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 STEPHEN A. MITCHELL Óðinn, Charms, and Necromancy: Hávamál 157 in Its Nordic and European Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . 289 JOSEPH FALAKY NAGY Vermin Gone Bad in Medieval Scandinavian, Persian, and Irish Traditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323 EMILY LYLE Baldr and Iraj: Murdered and Avenged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 MICHAEL WITZEL Ymir in India, China—and Beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381 vi Ymir in India, China—and Beyond Michael Witzel Harvard University Abstract: In examining the Old Norse mythological creation story about Ymir, that is, the creation of the world from the body of a primordial giant, from a broadly comparative perspective, this essay refers to a variety of creation myths, some from Indo-European and some from Chinese and Polynesian mythologies, and argues that a “Laurasian myth” entailed the origin of the world from a pre-existing giant, a myth, the author contends, with roots in Stone Age hunting cultures. Introduction In this paper, I partially employ the new theory of historical and comparative mythology that leads to increasingly earlier reconstructions of mythological systems, as laid out in my recent book, The Origins of the World’s Mythologies (2012). My premise is that earlier forms of myths, especially those of Eurasia and the Americas, can be compared and successfully reconstructed, resulting in a unique story line from the beginning of the world to its end. Here I will use as an e a ple of this theor the ths of ir Puru a and Pangu. The myth about a primordial giant forms part of the creation myths, or as we should rather say, in non-Judaeo-Christian terms: emergence myths. That of the giant is found from Iceland to Southern China and beyond. It stands somewhat apart among the more common myths of a primordial Nothing, Chaos, Darkness or Water. As such, it can perhaps lay claim to what Dumézil called a bizarrerie, a feature that does not make much sense in the narrative in which it is found, but as it turns out, goes back to a much older layer of myths. In this myth, the primordial giant was in existence before the world emerged: he was somehow killed and carved up, and his various body parts became the origin of heaven and earth and even of humans. Michael Witzel The well-known prototype is the Germanic Ymir, who is slain, and from his skull heaven is made; from his bones, the mountains; and so on. In the parallel version of Old India, it is puru a (man) from whose body the various parts of heaven and earth are created including hu ans ( gveda 10.90). In Old China there is the quite similar myth of Pangu (P’an ku), which seems to derive, not from the Han people of Northern China but from the Austric populations in what is now Southern China. 1 Pri a facie the three a or ths referred to those of Pangu Puru a and Ymir, have no connection with each other, as they are located in very distant regions and at various equally distant time periods: the Chinese case is attested in the last few centuries BCE, the Indian one is found in a text composed a few hundred years earlier (around 1000 BCE), and the Icelandic one more than 2000 years later, while many thousand miles separate their respective places of origin. Puru a The oldest version of the Puru a th is found in the gveda the first preserved text of India. It is the poetic composition in archaic Sanskrit (Vedic) of traditional bards following the convention of the Indo-Iranian, and even Indo-European, poetic language and style. These bards roamed the northwestern Indian subcontinent and Afghanistan, while composing traditional hymns praising the deities. They expected a gift from the local chieftains (“kings”) for their recitations, which often included praise of the ancestors of the local magnate. hen the pri ordial Puru a ( an) is carved up2 ( gveda 10.90.7) the gods the S dh as 3 and the is (seers poets) o ered hi (Puru a) for themselves […] 1 2 3 Austric refers to a large language family that includes Austroasiatic in India, S.W. China and S.E. Asia as well as Austronesian that spread out of Taiwan to the Philippines, Indonesia, Madagascar and to all of Pol nesia. or the Chinese th see ston 1896 1972: 33n2 Mathieu 1989. ecentl a Chinese version of a continuous creation myth has been published: Hu Chongjun, (2002; cf. China Daily ednesda pril 3 2002 p. 9). This looks like an artificial co pilation intended to provide China with a “creation myth”, which it is lacking; we only have fragments, adapted to the rationalistic, Euhemeristic Confucian tradition. On the oldest Chinese myths, cf. David Ha kes uoted in Barrett 1995: 72 f.: to arrive at so e archet pal r- th is a aste of ti e. The Eocene ge of th is unkno able as e ork back ards e find an even greater number of groups and […] diversity”. However, for methods to address this welcome diversity, see it el 2012: 2.3 and cf. Birrell 1993: 18 22 for reconstructing older for s of Chinese ths. or a or sources of Chinese th see ang and n 2005: 4 . Cf. the discussion b Bau ann 1986: 144 . A rather vague, little mentioned group of deities, apparently the ancestors of the current gods; see uiper 1978 appendi . 364 Ymir in India, China—and Beyond 11. hen the portioned out Puru a in ho an parts did the fashion him? What are his mouth, arms, thighs, and feet called? 12. His mouth was the Brahmin, his arms were fashioned (into) the noble an ( an a) his thighs ere the ai a 4 from his feet the dra (serf) as born. 13. The moon has been born from his mind, the sun was born from his eye; from his mouth was born Indra and Agni,5 and from his breath the wind. 14. ro his navel there as the inter ediate space (at osphere) from his head developed heaven, from his feet the earth, from his ears the cardinal directions. Thus they fashioned the worlds. 16. ith sacrifice the gods o ered to sacrifice. These for s (of sacrifice). ( 10.90.7 . translation) ere the first Ymir In Old Norse mythology, as recorded in the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda in the 13th century,6 there was chaos at the time of the beginning of the world, “a yawning abyss” (gap var ginnunga; Vǫluspá 3). Then the sea was created; as ere Ni hei the land of clouds and fogs in the North and Muspelhei the southern land of fire. Through the contact of ice fro the north and the ar bree es fro the South a first being the pri ordial giant ir as created.7 The Prose Edda o ers an e tensive version highlights of hich include: Sv se segir lusp : r var alda gap var ginnunga en gras ekki Sv se kalt st af Ni hei i ok allir hlutir gri ir sv var allt þat, er vissi námunda Múspelli heitt ok ljóst, en Ginnungagap var svá hlætt sem lopt vindlaust. Ok þá er mœttisk hrímin ok blær hitans svá at bráðnaði ok draup, ok af þeim kvikudropum kviknaði með krapti þess er til sendi hitann, ok varð manns líkandi, ok var sá nefndr Ymir […] Hann er illr ok allir hans tt enn. k llu v r hr ursa. 4 5 6 7 Derived from vi the people . The tripartite division re ects the Indo-European social set-up see Benveniste 1969: 65 79 and an orks b . Du il beginning in 1934 such as 1939 1959. Two of the most prominent Vedic deities. or a discussion of er anic ths about creation see Puhvel 1987: 219. Who was to be dismembered like the Indian puru a. 365 Michael Witzel (As it says in Voluspa: It was at the beginning of time […] The mighty gap as but no gro th ust as fro Ni hei there arose coldness and all things grim, so what was facing Muspell was hot and bright, but Ginnungagap was as mild as a windless sky. And where the rime and the blowing of the warmth met so that it thawed and dripped, there as a uickening fro these o ing drops and due to the po er of the source of the heat it became the form of a man, and he was given the name of Ymir […] He was evil and all his descendants. We call them frost-giants.) Næst var þat, þá er hrímit draup, at þar varð af kýr sú er Auðhumla hét, en fjórar mjólkár runnu ór spenum hennar, ok fœddi hon Ymi […] Hon sleikði hrímsteinana […] þriðja dag var þar allr maðr. Sá er nefndr Búri S nir Bors dr pu i tun. (The next thing when rime dripped was that that there came into being fro it a co called udhu la and four rivers of ilk o ed fro its teats, and it fed Ymir […] It licked the rime-stones […] the third day a complete man was there. His name was Buri. He begot a son called Bor […] Bor’s sons killed the giant Ymir.) En er hann fell, þá hljóp svá mikit blóð ór sárum hans at með því drektu þeir allri ætt hrímþursa, nema einn komst undan með sínu hýski. Þann kalla tnar Bergel i. ( nd hen he fell so uch blood o ed fro his ounds that ith it they drowned all the race of the frost-giants, except that one escaped with his household. Giants call him Bergelmir.) eir t ku i ok uttu itt innungagap ok ger u af honu r ina af bl i hans s inn ok v tnin. r in var ger af holdinu en b rgin af beinunu . r t ok ur ir ger u eir af t nnu ok lu ok af ei beinum, er brotin váru. (They [Bor’s sons] took Ymir and transported him to the middle of Ginnungagap, and out of him made the earth, out of his blood the sea and the lakes. The earth as ade of the esh and the rocks of the bones, stone and scree they made out of the teeth and molars and of the bones that had been broken.) T ku eir ok haus hans ok ger u ar af hi in ok settu hann upp fir r ina e f ru skautu . 366 Ymir in India, China—and Beyond (They also took his skull and made out of it the sky and set it up over the earth with four points.) Þá tóku þeir síur ok gneista þá er lausir fóru ok kastat hafði ór Múspellsheimi, ok settu á miðjan Ginnungahimin bæði ofan ok neðan til at l sa hi in ok r . (Then the took the olten particles and sparks that ere ing uncontrolled and had shot out of the world of Muspell and set them in the iddle of the fir a ent of the sk both above and belo to illu inate heaven and earth.) eir t ku ok heila hans ok k stu u lopt ok ger u af sk in. (They also took his brains and threw them into the sky and made out of them the clouds.)8 Vǫluspá 3 4 19 in the Poetic Edda has this shorter version: 3 r var alda vara sandr né sær iorð fannz æva gap var ginnunga ar er ir b g i né svalar unnir; né upphiminn, en gras hvergi. (Early in time Ymir made his settlement, there was no sand nor sea nor cool waves; earth was nowhere nor the sky above, a void of yawning chaos, grass was there nowhere.) 4 r Burs s nir þeir er miðgarð sól skein sunnan þá var grund gróin bio u u p o mœran scópo; á salar steina, grœnum lauki. (before the sons of Bor brought up the land-surface,9 those who shaped glorious Midgard;10 the sun shone from the south on the stone-hall, then the ground was grown over with green leek.) 8 9 10 aulkes 1995: 9 11 Snorra edda pp. 9 11. Burs synir (literally, “Burr’s sons”) refers to the gods, Óðinn, Vili, and Vé. The earth of human beings, other than Ásgarðr (Asgard), of the gods, and the world of the giants. 367 Michael Witzel 19 sk veit ec standa heitir ggdrasill hár baðmr, ausinn hvítaauri; a an ko a d ggvar stendr fir gr nn rs dala falla r ar brunni. (An ash I know that stands, Yggdrasill11 it’s called, a tall tree, drenched with shining loam; from there come the dews which fall in the valley, green it stands over rd s ell.)12 The myth of carving up Ymir also occurs elsewhere in the Poetic Edda, in Grímnismál 40: 40 r is holdi var ior of skǫpuð, en ór sveita sær, biorg ór beinum, baðmr ór hári, en ór hausi himinn. ( ro ir s esh the earth as created and from his blood, the sea, mountains from the bones, trees from this hair, and from his skull, the sky.)13 The corresponding Old Indian h n fro the gveda (10.90) uoted above often reads like a translation of the Norse text, or vice versa. Their close correspondence opens up the possibility that this is an old, Indo-European idea.14 This is strengthened b the closel related Old Norse th of the god inn (Odin), who hung himself on the tree Yggdrasill for nine15 days and nights as 11 12 13 14 15 Literally, “Óðinn’s (Odin’s) horse”; Óðinn hung himself in its branches for nine days to receive universal wisdom; cf. below. Transl. Larrington 2014 cf. Orchard 2011. Urðar brunnr ( rd s ell) is said b Snorri to lie under one of the three roots of Yggdrasill, but as Old Norse urðr means “fate”, Urðar brunnr can also be translated as “the well of fate”. Urðr, one of the three norns, is almost always mentioned in association with the well. Larrington 2014: 4 . Orchard 2011: 57. cf. it el 2012: 109n28. Linguisticall ir Old Indian ( edic) a a the brother of Manu ancestor of all hu ans see it el 2012: 119 n. 115 cf. Tho pson 1993: Motifs 961.4. Mountains spring fro scattered parts of slain giant serpent s bod India 961.5. Mountains (cli s) fro bones of killed giant Iceland. For the description of the “canonical creature” visible in this myth, in sorcery (Merseburg sorcer stan as tharvaveda etc.) and also else here see atkins 1995. or the Indo-European narrative structure of the sorcer stan as see Thie e 1971: 202 12: a thological narration or poe is follo ed b the actual spell details in it el 1987. Nine is the t pical nu ber of North sian sha anis although so e have co pared inn s self-sacrifice ith that of Christ hich as ell kno n in Iceland b then. 368 Ymir in India, China—and Beyond an o ering by himself to himself. This again has a Vedic parallel, in that “the gods o ered the sacrifice ith the sacrifice ( 1.164.50 cf. 10.90.16 above).16 Descent of Ymir/Yama A short excursus should be added here: in Norse myth, Ymir is one of the primordial beings, and the father of the giants (Prose Edda) and contemporaneous with inn and his brothers thus deities of the current era. The ancestry of Ymir’s linguistic counterpart in India and Iran, Yama/Yima, ho ever di ers. Indo-Iranian Yama means “twin” and indeed he has a twin sister, Yam . In the gveda a tries to seduce i a to produce children but he refuses. In Iran, however, brother-sister incest (Avestan, xva tuuada a) was sanctioned and co on do n to the rab con uest in 650 CE. In India thus early humans had to be created in another fashion. Another brother of Yama, Manu, became the ancestor of humans (just as Tacitus’ Mannus is for the western Germanic tribes). As no other female but his sister a as around then Manu had to fashion his ife out of clarified butter (ghee). As the myth says, when she walks you still can see butter in her footsteps. Subsequently, Yama becomes the king of the netherworld and departed humans, while his Iranian counterpart, Yima, is killed (sawn into two!) by his brother Spitiiura. Here we notice the typical repositioning of certain mythological persons up and down on the family tree: Manu and Yama are descendants of the sun deit ivasvant (M rt a) belonging to the 4th ( Ol pian ) generation of gods, while Ymir has an undetermined, earlier and independent origin, while interacting with one god of the current generation of deities, inn before the emergence of humans (from Askr and Embla).17 Nuristani and Mediterranean reminiscences There are a number of local South Asian reminiscences of this myth, for e a ple in Nuristan ( afiristan) in Northeastern fghanistan and in neighboring Kashmir.18 16 17 18 or other Indo-European parallels ( ussian reek etc.) see Lincoln 1986: 1 . Tree origin would be another one of Dumézil’s “bizarreries”. The origin of humans from trees is otherwise very rare and mostly restricted to the “southerm” (Gondwana) mythologies of subSaharan frica (Bau ann 1936) and Sahul Land (Ne uinea- ustralia) see it el 2012: 335 f. Tho pson 1993: Motifs 642.1. Pri eval o an cut in pieces: houses etc. ade fro her bod India 1724.1 1724.1. ni als fro bod of slain person India ho ever note 969.1. Mountain fro buried giant India 1716.1. cf. also the initial section of the innish alevala ( it el 2004). 369 Michael Witzel In ash ir a giant k asa de on as killed and an e bank ent as built fro his re nants on the itast ( helu ) iver using his leg and knee.19 It is called setu da the odern Suth area at Srinagar (see it el 2012: 476n108). The Nuristani ( afiri) th is ore elaborate than the brief references from medieval Kashmir. A demon (Espereg-era) brings sun and moon into his house. The god Mandi changes into a boy, and eventually he breaks the door. He puts the Sun on his right shoulder, the Moon on his left, and rides out of the house. The dark world becomes bright. Espereg-era follows them, but Mandi cuts o all his seven heads drags hi to the right side of the valley and covers him up.20 In o e the thical founder figure o ulus kills his brother e us ProtoIndo-European e o-s representing the Indian a a and Old Iranian i a.21 Like e us i a is killed b his brother Spitiiura.22 In the Hebrew Bible, the myth of Cain and Abel may be compared, though occurring in a di erent conte t that of o erings to ehovah. bel as a shepherd Cain a far er ehovah preferred the ani al sacrifice hence Cain killed his rival brother bel ( enesis 4). si ilar contest is seen bet een acob and Esau ( enesis 25). Esau as a skillful hunter, while Jacob “dwelt in tents”, apparently as a herder. Once, coming home rather hungry, Esau asked Jacob to feed him but the latter agreed onl if Esau handed hi his birthright as firstborn hich as hat occurred. A similar myth is found in Japan, however, again without the lethal outcome of the clash between Cain and Abel. The contest between the divine elder Ho-wori and the ounger Ho-deri ( o iki 1.42) does not lead to killing.23 Their father, the pri ordial deit Ninigi gave Ho-deri a agic hook for fishing and his brother Ho-wori a magic bow for hunting. Ho-deri became jealous of Ho-wori’s success in hunting and proposed to exchange the paternal gifts, which was done. Both were unsuccessful in their new pursuits and Ho-wori even lost the magic hook. When Ho-deri asked his hook to be returned, it could not be found. The angry Ho-deri threatened to kill his brother. Ho- ori ed to the ocean deit s palace 19 20 21 22 23 See Stein, R jatara gi 3.336 58 cf. 1.159 for ak a dikes. See it el 2004 based on accounts of . Buddruss (field ork 1955 1956 2002) and ett ar (1986). See Du il 1995: 289 . Puhvel 1987: 287 89. Apparently Yama and Yima had committed some evil action. Yama became the Lord of the Netherworld and the dead and Yima that of a similar underworld palace (Vara). Philippi 1968: 148 co pares the tale to others in Indonesia the Marshall Islands and the erican Pacific North est. 370 Ymir in India, China—and Beyond under the sea, married his daughter, got the hook back and then returned home, here Ho-deri attacked hi ho ever Ho- ori finall forgave hi . One may also compare the ancient Mesopotamian creation of man from mud and blood. According to the Enuma Elish, the gods decided that one of them, Kingu, was to be killed so that humans could be created. Marduk killed Kingu, i ed his blood ith cla and for ed the first hu ans. Like i a and a a Kingu then lived in the Netherworld.24 Pangu The myth of a primordial giant is also found in what is now Southern China, fro here it has entered the standard Old Chinese te ts (late first illenniu BCE). It thus originally was not a Han but an Austric or Austro-Thai myth.25 The pri ordial giant Pangu as cut up in a fashion si ilar to ir and Puru a.26 The first version uoted here has close si ilarities ith the Tahiti th of Ta’aroa (see below), which is not surprising, given that both the Austro-Thai and Austronesian language families originated in what is now Southern China. 24 25 26 27 28 1. First there was the great cosmic egg.27 Inside the egg was Chaos, and oating in Chaos as P an ku the undeveloped the divine e br o. And P’an ku burst out of the egg […] with an adze in his hand with which he fashioned the world […] He chiseled the land and sky apart. He pulled up the mountains on the earth and dug the valleys deep, and made courses for the rivers. High above ride the sun and moon and stars in the sky where P’an ku placed them; below roll the four seas […]28 2. The orld as never finished until P an ku died ro his skull as shaped the do e of the sk and fro his esh as for ed the soil of the fields fro his bones ca e the rocks fro his blood the rivers and seas; from his hair came all vegetation. His breath was the wind; his voice made thunder; his right eye became the moon, his acobsen 1976: 181. Austro-Tai is a hypothetical S.E. Asian language family that, other than Austric (see above n. 2), includes ustronesian and the Tai- adai languages (such as Thai Shan etc.). Benedict 1990 even wants to include (what at best can be called a substrate of) Japanese. For the myth see Mathieu 1989. See M nke 1976: 254 f. ang and n 2005: 75 176 . Note another translation of a similar text dating from the third century CE, taken from San Wu li chi ( Three kings and five e perors ) b Hs Chen in Mair 1998: 14 cf. ang and n 2005: 65. Note the concept of four real oceans, situated in the four cardinal directions; all four could, of course, not have been known at the time of the composition of this myth. Cf. the “eastern, estern and northern( ) sea in landlocked edic India ( tharvaveda 11.5.6). 371 Michael Witzel left eye the sun.29 From his saliva or sweat came rain. And from the vermin which covered his body came forth mankind.30 Austronesian Polynesia Far away from the Indo-Europeans and China, the Polynesians—a seafaring Austric people whose ancestors, ultimately, had emerged from Southern China around 4000 BCE31 —speak of primordial emptiness and darkness. In the Maori version (New Zealand), negation or nothingness (kore) gives birth to chaos or darkness (po), and this, to rangi (heaven or sky).32 Another version, involving the primordial deity, Io,33 has the following account: Io dwelt within the breathing space of immensity. The niverse as in darkness ith ater ever here. There was no glimmer of dawn, no clearness, no light. And he began by saying these words— That he might cease remaining inactive: “Darkness become a light-possessing darkness”. And at once light appeared […]34 Then (he) looked to the waters which compassed him about, and spake a fourth time, saying: “The waters of Tai-kama, be ye separate. 29 30 31 32 33 34 Note that Pangu’s left eye became the sun, and his right eye, the moon. (One would expect the opposite as the right side / hand is usually preferred). In Japan, too, the sun deity originated fro the left e e of I anagi cf. Nau ann 1988: 65. Sproul 1991: 201 2 (retold fro Macken ie 1925: 260 f. 247 f.) for a si ilar te t b Hs Cheng Wu yün li-nien chi ( chronicle of five c cles of ti e ) see Mair 1998: 15. Cf. also Mathieu 1989 for similar versions from the Yiwen leiju and Yishi, both referring back to the Sanwu liji of the third century BCE. For connections between Indian myths and those of Austric and some East Asian populations, see Sergent 1997: 369 96 for a brief linguistic overvie of these areas including putative ho elands see van Drie 2006. See Tregear 1969: 391. Note that the Pueblo-area th of the uni erindians is uite si ilar also as regards the separation of ather Heaven and Mother Earth see Eliade 1992: 130 . Io as pri ordial deit has been controversiall discussed see . . S ith 1982 ho believes that Io has been invented at the end of the nineteenth centur under issionar in uence ho ever it is typical that esoteric deities are known only to small groups of priests. (Note early Japan for the pri ordial pair a urogi/ a uro i that appears not even in the o cial i perial o iki ths but onl in so e archaic Shint pra ers). Cf. the discussion in it el 2012: 126 27 131n213. Cf. the Biblical and Maya myths, but note the old poetical style of this passage which excludes issionar in uences. Stress on various t pes of darkness is also found in Maori ths see it el 2012: 109 . 372 Ymir in India, China—and Beyond Heaven be formed”. Then the sky became suspended. “Bring forth thou Tupua-horo-nuku”. And at once the moving earth lay stretched abroad.35 In still another version, the Tahiti creator god is Ta’aroa (Maori Tangaroa, Takaroa; Hawai’ian Kanaloa).36 Ta’aroa […] was his own parent, having no father or mother […] Ta’aroa sat in his shell (pa’a) in darkness (te po) for […] ages […] The shell was like an egg revolving in endless space, with no sky, no land, no sea, no moons, no sun, no stars. All was darkness […] But at last Ta’aroa […] caused a crack […] Then he slipped out and stood upon his shell […] he took his new shell for the great foundation of the orld nd the shell that he opened first beca e his house the dome of the god’s sky, […] enclosing the world (ao) then forming […] elated are the ( ustric) Borneo and ilipino ths of the origin of ani als 37 fro di erent parts of the bod of a slain giant. In Japan, whose ancient myths (in the Kojiki, Nihon Shoki) mostly relate to those of the neighboring steppe areas of Asia, dismemberment is not a feature of primordial creation, but it occurs after the violent death of the primordial goddess I ana i. She as severel burned hile giving birth to the fire god Hi.no agi-ha a- o.no ka i ( o iki 1.7).38 From her dead body were created the eight thunders.39 Her consort I anagi then killed the fire god and fro 35 36 37 38 39 Translation fro Sproul 1991: 345 uoting Hare Hongi s A Maori Cosmology. Hare Hongi was a prominent Maori priest at the turn of the 20th century (accused by Z. J. Smith of myth forgery; see above n. 33). This version as reliabl recorded t ice bet een 1848 and 1922 Eliade 1992: 88 cf. Sproul 1991: 249 . Tho pson 1993: Motif 1716.1. ni als fro di erent parts of bod of slain giant. iant person co o etc. Borneo Philippines: Di on 177. In the eda M tari van s elling inside the other is a secret na e of the fire deit gni. Note that gni is born three ti es: in heaven on earth (in ritual) and in the aters gveda 3.20.11 10.45.1 (so eti es he also is found garbho rodasyo , “in the earth”). There are several fire gods in apan: the one entioned above and then others born fro the deca ing bod of I ana i. The first fire god is killed b I anagi in revenge for burning her (cf. gni s repeated death, explained in Vedic texts as burning up in ritual). Izanami’s burn injuries and subsequent death could then re ect the ritual production of fire b drilling it (as is still done at i portant Shint and edic rituals). This is somewhat reminiscent, as Japanese mythologists have pointed out, of the myth of Hainu ele Coconut branch (in Cera Ne uinea) cf. Eliade 1992: 18. This th has been studied in detail b ensen 1979 no. 11 s 1948: 113 f.: Hainu ele had gro n fro a coconut tree, furthered by the blood from the wound of a man, and quickly grew into a woman; she was killed by local people during the great maro festival (cf. Ca pbell 1989: II.1: 70 .) and buried in 373 Michael Witzel his blood various deities were created. This constitutes a general trend that is continued by the creation of many other deities from the various polluted parts of the dress and bod of I anagi at the great purification carried out upon his return from the Netherworld where he went, Orpheus-like, to meet his departed wife Izanami. Di ering ho ever fro the other Eurasian ths the various parts of Izanami’s or Izanagi’s body do not become parts of the universe. In fact, most of the constituent parts of the universe, in particular, all the islands of Japan, as well as many deities of the sea, the waters and rivers, the wind, the mountains, the plains, the land, and so on, had already been born by Izanami. Connections between India and South China? The Puru a th of old India clearl has Indo-European connections in Iceland and Anatolia (see below) and some other reminiscences,40 however, the SinoIndian connection may have been reinforced in India by a corridor linking Austric myths in Southwestern China and Northern India, between Yunnan and Assam. There are some indications of an old link between the two areas,41 long before the rather di cultl passed southern Silk oad (fro unnan to Assam) was established. Indeed, both areas share a number of myths such as that of the turtle supporting the earth or the origin of certain t pes of hu an beings ( i tara ana) fro a gourd found onl in the late edic Taittir a ra aka 2 or epic heroes and Chinese “emperors” who have been born from gourds (or eggs, as also with the Munda people of Eastern India).42 It is interesting to note that such si ilarities e cept for Puru a/Pangu are not found in the oldest Indian te ts but first co e up onl in a late la er of the Vedas, and subsequently in Epic and Puranic texts: they “bubble” up from the local substrate and get o ciall accepted onl after an centuries. The similarity between Southern Chinese (Austric) and Indian myths may have been due to an old substrate underlying the myths of both areas.43 While this is an interesting line of speculation that would have to be substantiated by future research, I must leave it at that here. 40 41 42 43 pieces; from her several graves grew various plants, especially tubers. Her arms were made into a gate: all men who could pass through it remained human; those who could not, became various animals or spirits. Cf. also above on o e ( e us). See Sergent 1997. Cf. also Sergent 1997. or ore on the gourd origins of Mah bh rata heroes see Berger 1959. Cf. Sergent 1997 it el 2012: 230. 374 Ymir in India, China—and Beyond Hittite and East Asian tales of rocks The hypothetical Austric/South Chinese connections of Indian myth are, however, balanced by another version of the tale of the primordial giant that is found in Hittite, and thus Indo-European texts of roughly the same time as the gveda actuall a fe hundred ears before its co position. et as so uch in Hittite myth and ritual, the tale goes back to previous Hatti and Hurrite texts.44 The Hittite th is a so e hat aberrant version in hich lliku i stands on a pri ordial giant of stone pelluri.45 It may be compared to the Austronesian story (Taiwan, Polynesia) of a preexisting rock,46 from which humans frequently emerge. In Japan, the large rock pillar at Shingu (Kii Peninsula), now representing the primordial god Izanagi, is worshipped rather than the deities in the adjacent Shint shrine.47 Note also that in Chinese th the first king of the earl Hsia d nast was born from his father, Kun, who had turned into stone. This occurred after his execution by the High God, because he had stolen the magic “swelling mold”, b hich one could build da s to ste the pri ordial ood (covering Northern China). Yü was born when his father’s belly was cut open after three years.48 Si ilarl Ch i the son of this legendar first Hsia king as also born fro a rock: his mother, Tu Shan, had changed into a rock when she was frightened by her husband, Kun, who had changed into a bear.49 Conclusion Hypothetical connections between Southwest China and North India apart, we have widely scattered evidence of the myth of a primordial giant, whether it 44 45 46 47 48 49 The Hatti were a pre-existing local population in the Hittite realm, from which the Hittites took over many myths and rituals: some of them are transmitted in Hatti language in Hittite docuents. The Hurrites originall ste ed fro the Caucasus area and are related to the rartu people the beca e the southern neighbors of the Hittites in Northern S ria/Ira and in uenced them as well. Colarusso 2006: 32 urne 1976: 192 Haas 1982 Puhvel 1987: 25 f. Personal observation in ustronesian T aitung Tai an 2005. See Tho pson 1993 Motif 644. niverse fro pre-e isting rocks. Originall rocks are assu ed and ever thing is ade fro the . Sa oa: Di on 17. Personal observation ebruar 1990. On the other side of the valle there is another rock ith a vulva-like cavity; it represents Izanagi’s wife, Izanami. Chang 1983: 10 and Bodde 1961: 399. Chang 1983: 10. Note the role of the bear as ulti ate ancestor in orean th at the thical ti e of c. 2500 BCE described in Samguk Yusa. 375 Michael Witzel was locally conceived as made of stone (Anatolia/Caucasus) or emerging from chaos ( ir Puru a) or fro a pri ordial egg (Pol nesia/China). Taking all the evidence together and tracing it back to the area of origin of the populations and languages involved, we get: Indo-European area ( ir Puru a): steppe belt probabl in the Pontic area north of the Black Sea c. 3000 4000 BCE50 Anatolia and Hurrite: neighboring Caucasus area c. 2000 BCE Chinese: with southern non-Han minorities, attested only in the later 1st millennium BCE Southeast Asia/Polynesia: emerging from Taiwan and neighboring (non-Han) ainland China c. 4000 BCE. In sum, we have two old foci that are distant from each other by thousands of miles and a few thousand years: one in the western steppe/Caucasus belt and one in what is now South China. The two are not directly connected (forgetting about Heine-Geldern’s great Pontic migration),51 and must go back to a much older pre-horticultural origin, in short, to a Paleolithic pattern. In sum, there is fairly widespread evidence for an archaic Eurasian myth that entailed the origin of the world from a preexisting giant, sometimes made of stone. The carving up of the primordial giant may represent a very old stage of (Laurasian) mythology,52 going back to the times of Stone Age hunters.53 The giant ould then be a re ection of the hunted or killed ani als that were carved up in a similar way, one that could be seen until recently in the Northern European (Saa i) North sian and inu bear sacrifice.54 The bones of such animals must not be cut or cracked and were preserved intact (like Þórr’s [Thor’s] ram) as to allow their rebirth (in heaven or in this world).55 50 51 52 53 54 55 See no D. nthon and D. inge 2015. Heine- eldern 1951. or the ter s see above and it el 2012: 4 5 and passim. There even is a slight chance that the myth may already have been a Neanderthal one (if they had speech as it see s possible no ): bear o erings head separated are idel found (though so e have been e plained as accidental due to ooding in caves) for illustrations see Ca pbell 1988: I.1: 54 . lso a Stone ge bear figure ith head still attached has been found at Montespan (Ca pbell 1988: I.1: 62) as ell as a bear skull clearl in an earl Ho o Sapiens conte t on an “altar” in the undisturbed Chauvet Cave (Southwest France) that is to be dated at 32,000 years ago. See the pictorial evidence in Ca pbell 1988: I.2: 152 . cf. ba ashi and laproth 1966 for Sakhalin Island. or the edic custo s see it el 1987 cf. the tale of Þórr’s ram whose body is reconstituted from his bones, and similarly the role of astuuant (bone having [life]) in Zoroastrian texts (Avesta). Note also the Achaemenid-period rebirth of humans from their graves referred to in the Hebrew Bible (Daniel 12.2). See further Tho pson 1993 Motifs 1724.1. ni als fro bod of slain 376 Ymir in India, China—and Beyond hile the er anic and edic ths of ir and Puru a a thus go back to Proto-Indo-European mythology,56 the Austric, Austronesian, Polynesian, and Hittite versions represent other traditions. These myths were, however, no longer told by ancient hunters and gatherers, but by members of the subsequent food-producing societies.57 In sum, they are reminiscences of a much earlier stage of culture—and of mythology. Thus, they are fairly isolated and “bizarre” in the respective mythologies of the Indo-Europeans and East Asians. Works Cited Primary Sources Grímnismál: see Poetic Edda Poetic Edda Edda: Die Lieder des Codex regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 5th rev. ed. Ed. ustav Neckel and Hans uhn. er anische Bibliothek. Heidelberg: 1983. translation The Poetic Edda. Transl. Carolyne Larrington. 2nd ed. Oxford World’s Classics. O ford: 2014. Snorra Edda Snorri Sturluson. Edda. 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Santa Barbara. 380 Index [Note: Entries beginning with ‘Þ’ are grouped at the end of this index.] Abbo of Fleury, 304 Adalvard the Younger (bishop of Sigtuna), 167 Adam of Bremen, 128–130, 163–182 Æsir (æsir), 42, 90, 102, 113–14, 121–22, 124, 127–28, 130, 194, 196, 227, 229, 233, 243, 251–54, 272, 291–92 Afghanistan, 364, 369 Albertus Magnus (fl. 1245), 245 Alexander of Lamprecht der Pfaffe (ca. 1130), 256 Alken Enge, Jutland, Denmark, 294 alliteration, 199–200, 226 Alvíssmál, 74, 193–94, 215 Alþing, 128 Analogy, 8, 70, 233, 269, 276, 280–81, 284 Annales Regii, 271 anthropology, anthropologist(s), 10, 30, 36; anthropological parallels, xvi Antichrist, Der (1480), 262 anti-metalepsis, 67, 79, 81 Anund Jacob (Swedish king), 167 archaeology, archaeologist(s), 6, 8, 30, 95, 122, 129–30, 139–40, 143, 147, 149, 169, 172, 177–81, 215–16, 218, 226, 273–74, 280, 289, 294, 302 archetype, 5, 22 Ardeshir (Persian king), 330, 334, 337 Ariovistus (Germanic leader), 18 art, artist(s), 54, 63, 67, 70, 79, 262 artifact(s), artifactual, 6, 40, 54–55, 68, 179, 181, 217 Asdiwal, myth of, 10 Áslaug, 325, 331, 333, 337 Assmann, Jan, 17, 79, 344 Astaroð, 93 Atlakviða, 75 Atlamál, 75 Auðr hin djúpúðga (Auðr the DeepMinded), 344–45 Aurgelmir, 282–84 Australian aboriginals, myths of, 274 Austrfararvísur, 115 Austric populations, 364, 372 avenger, 233, 341, 348, 349–50, 352–53, 355–57 Avestan, 369 axial age, 17; religions, 18 Ælfric. See Marcarius and the Magicians, Saul and the Witch of Endor Baldr/Balderus, 45, 140, 228, 229, 233, 248, 250–51, 253, 276, 342, 347–54, 357, Baldrs draumar, 291, 293, 298, 309, 349, 353 Index Balkans, 148 Barthólómeus saga postula, 93 Bellah, Robert, 17–21 Bergbúa þáttr, 280 bergbúi ‘mountain-dweller’, 283 Bergelmir, 283 Bestla, 347 Bible passages: I Chronicles, 168; (Deutero-)Isaiah, 91; Exodus, 91; Genesis, xiv, 194, 370; Jeremiah, 91–92; Mark, 303; Matthew, 303, 333; Psalms, 91–92; Romans, 245; I Samuel, 303; Wisdom of Solomon, 91 “Biejjie-baernien såangoe Jeahnaj eatnamisnie” (North Sámi ‘Beaivvi bártni soagnju Jiehtanasaid máilmmis’) (The Sons of the Sun in the Land of the Giants), 207–8 “Biejjie-neijten sealadimmie” (North Sámi ‘Beaivvi Niedda jápmin’) (The Death of the Daughter of the Sun), 208 birds, 64, 68–70, 142, 148, 205, 247; augural, 353 bizarrerie (ativism reflecting older mythic layer), 364, 369 blót (sacrifice), 93, 94, 98, 100–102, 117, 119–20, 122, 124, 128, 177, 246. See also sacrifice. blótgyðjur ‘sacrifice priestess’, 117, 122 blóttré ‘sacrificial tree’, 177 boar(s), 118, 147 bones, 144, 145, 149–50, 177, 293, 364, 366, 368, 371, 376 book-prose theory, 29, 31, 33, 35 book-prose vs free-prose debate, 31–46 Borre style, 142 bracteate(s), 70, 71, 140, 145, 216 Bragi Boddason, 120, 232 bridal quest (motif R225), 203–5, 208 382 Brunhilde (queen), 175 bull, 121 Bundahis (Pahlavi cosmological text), 354–55 Byzantine Empire, 143, 151 Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae (Ordinances concerning Saxony), 175 Celebremus karissimi, 305 central place(s), 126, 143, 151, 155, 178, 179 Ch’i (son of legendary first Hsia king), 375 Charlemagne, 175; campaign of, against the pagan Saxons, 176 charm(s), charm magic, 204, 208, 226–227, 289–290, 292–294, 299, 302, 308–9, 330, 336 Charon’s obol, 289, 302, 305–6 China, 18, 271, 350, 364, 371, 372, 374–376 Christianization, 8, 90, 94, 99, 105, 143, 217–218, 244, 264, 305 Chronica Slavorum of Helmold of Bosau, 181 I Chronicles. See under Bible passages. Cian, 326–328, 330, 334, 335–336 Clermont runic casket (also known as the Franks casket), 78, 152 cnuimh (‘worm’ in Irish, variant of cruimh), 326, 330 Commentariorum in Hiezechielem of St. Jerome, 256, communication, 29, 38, 40, 42, 115; between ‘this’ world and the ‘other’ world(s), 11; oral, 42, 44; strategies, 17; with the dead, x comparativism(s), 4–5, 10, 14, 341; icongraphic method of, 70; méthode comparative, vii; Mircea Eliade’s views on, 4–5; and structural models as heuristic tools for reconstructing traditions, 4 Index comparison(s), 3–19, 23, 54, 78; of Baldr’s death and Iraj’s, 341–357; of Balto-Finnic poetry and West Germanic poetry, 225–226; of Finnic and Nordic mythology, 192–219, 224–235; of Hawaiian and Nordic mythology, 19–23; of Ilmarinen and the Wayland tradition, 232; of Old Uppsala and West Slavic materials, 163–82; of pictorial representations of Volund, 155; of Vanir gods to other gods, 115, 130; of volcanic activity and Old Norse literature, 273–281; of ‘worms’, 334 composition-in-performance, 32 Conán (the son of the Liath Luachra), 326–329, 334–336 Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta (Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils), 244 Concilium Germanicarum, 175 Concilium Turonense, 175 contextualization of performance practices, 36 conversion. See Christianization cosmic: birth, 348; egg, 371; elements, 168; hall, 182; knowledge, 230; model, 182; pillar, 176–178; references, 167; symbolism, 168, 173, 177, 180; travel, 204, 206; well, 174 creation myth(s). See myth(s). cross(es), 66, 155, 193, 206, 213; Halton and Leeds, 69; Kirk Andreas, Isle of Man, 79, 81 cult, cultic, 7, 94, 217–218; activities, 166; feasting, 169, 179; figures, 89–90, 95, 97, 100–101, 103, 105; functions, 172; hall(s), 172, 178; houses (hof, hǫrgar), 143–148, 155, 177, 179, 182; image(s), 176; practices, 91, 94, 102; site(s), 166–167, 169, 173, 175, 176, 178, 181–82; spring(s), 178; tree(s), 176–178; well(s), 178. See also ritual cultural diffusion, 199–200, 215; memory, 53; studies, 30 dainas: Latvian, 204, 209–210, 212, 214 Dala-Guðbrandr, 95 Dante Alighieri (d. 1321), 245 De Bello Gothico (Gothic War) of Procopius, 150 De Lapidibus (On Stones) of Marbod of Rennes, 307 dead, the, 14, 69, 144, 205, 234, 290, 291, 293–294, 299–300, 303, 305–310, 344, 345 decapitation, 303–4 Decreta. See Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta Dejbjerg, Jutland, Denmark, 125 demon(s), 92–94, 97–98, 175, 275, 370 demon-king, 350 Denmark, Danish, 60–61, 71, 78, 90, 99, 116, 125, 129, 143, 149, 167, 172, 181, 302, 304, 307, 330, 332, 353 Derrida, Jacques, 54 descent, 21, 149, 263, 337, 369 Descriptio insularum aquilonis (Description of the Islands of the North), Book 4 of Gesta Hammaburgensis, 164 (Deutero-)Isaiah. See under Bible passages devils. See demons diachronism, 342, 357; diachronic and synchronic approaches, 44–46 dialogic poems, 34, 126 Diarmaid, 324, 326–29, 334–36 diegetic level, 79; extradiegetic narrator, 71; extra- and intradiegetic worlds, 67 Dievs (Latvian sky god), 210 diffusion, 29, 199–200, 215, 218 383 Index Dinkard (Pahlavi Zoroastran text), 354 Dioscuri (twin brothers of GrecoRoman mythology), 215–16 direct speech, 73–76 dísablót, 128 Dísarsalr, 128 discourse: as concept, 15, 23; religious, 6, 90, 94; meta-discourse, 54; Óðinn-discourse, 15–16; textual discourse, 73; Þórrdiscourse, 15 Divina Commedi (Divine Comedy) of Dante Alighieri, 245 draugadróttinn ‘Lord of Ghouls’, 292 drinking, ceremonial, 143, 171 dróttkvætt, 33, 280 earth-egg creation myth. See under cosmic earthquake(s), 254, 276 East Anglia, England, 140, 304 Ecclesia, 246 edda. See eddic poems and Snorra edda eddic poems, 30, 31, 32–34, 40–41, 73, 120, 122, 130, 215, 225–26; aesthetics of, 32; composition-inperformance of, 32; dating of, 32; improvisation of, 33; medieval collection of (i.e., Codex Regius of the Elder edda, Poetic edda), 33, 41, 44, 53–54, 69, 79, 118, 227, 230, 234, 253, 255, 365, 367, 368; memorization of, 33; oral background of, 33; provenance of, 32. See also titles of individual poems Egill (Volund’s brother), 142, 148, 153 Egill Skalla-Grímsson, 227 Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar, 227 Egyptians, 18, 306; Egyptian art, frames on, 55; Egyptian literature, 72 einherjar (slain human heroes), 171 Eiríks saga rauða, 299 Eiríksmál, 126 384 ekphrasis, 40 Eldgjá, 270 Eliade, Mircea, 4–5, 9, 11, 23, 168 Elijah, 256 Ella (king of England), 333, 337 Elucidarius, 256 emergence myth. See under myth(s) Enarrationes in Psalmos (Expositions on the Psalms) of St. Augustine, 246 Endor, witch of, 303 Enlightenment, the, 91 Enoch, 256 Enuma Elis (Babylonian creation myth), 371 epic(s): 200, 202, 228, 355; Estonian, 199; Finnish, 199, 224–25; heroic, 79, 374; Indian, 374; Persian, 341, 345, 352, 355 Epitome of Roman History of Florus, 294n11 estate(s), royal. See central place(s) ethnopoetics, 34 euhemerism, 246 Everriculum fermenti veteris of Erik Pontoppidan, 90 evolution of religion. See religion Exodus. See under Bible passages Eyjafjallajökull (volcano), 270 Eyrbyggja saga, 118, 120, 292 Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, 356 Fáfnir, 56, 64, 66–68 Fáfnismál, 127 famine, 171, 271–72 Feldber. See under sanctuary Fenian cycle, 324 Feraydun, 341, 346, 350–53, 354, 357 Ferdowsi, Abolqasem, 341 Ferryman’s Fee, 290, 305–6, 308 fettering, 230, 353–55; of Loki and Zaddak, 353–55 feud(s), 146, 348–50, 357 fian (band of heroes), 326, 328 figurative interpretation, 245 Index Finland, 151, 192, 199–200, 202–3, 205, 215, 223–27, 229–30, 232–35 Finnish Literature Society (Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura), 199 fire(s), 69, 73, 96, 99, 120, 126, 146, 172, 193–94, 230, 231, 254, 269–72, 275–77, 280, 283–84, 296–97, 328, 350, 365, 373 lnir 356 folk songs, 192, 199–205, 209–12, 215, 224–28, 230 folklore, 6, 30, 35–36, 217, 273 folktale(s), 7, 231 Fourth Lateran Council, 244 frame: as ‘non-physical boundary’, 54; as physical border (parergon), 54, 58 frame narrative, 54; open, 56, 63; portal, 60–61; unframed, 58, 80 Franks casket. See Clermont runic casket Frazer, Sir James George, 5, 23, 125 Frederick II (emperor), 252 free-prose theory, 29, 31, 33 Freyfaxi (horse in Hrafnkels saga), 117 Freyja, 115, 118, 121, 122, 127, 140, 298; as blótgyðja (sacrificial priestess), 117, 122 Freyr, 21, 94, 98, 115–27, 140, 165, 168, 170, 177, 234–35, 356; Freyr kings as ‘peace kings’, 21; Freysgoðar (Hrafnkell Hallfreðarson; Þórðr Özurarson), 116 Frigg, 122, 127, 347 Frösön church, Jämtland (earlier called Hoffs kirkio), 177–78 gallows, 295–97, 301; placement of, 296 Ganander, Christfrid, 224, 230–32 Gangleri (pseudonym for Gylfi, Swedish king), 41–42, 253, 276 Garz (temple site), 180 Gautreks saga, 296 Geertz, Clifford, 10 Geirrøðr, 231 Genesis. See under Bible passages genetic comparativism. See comparativism Genette, Gérard, 71–72 Gennep, Arnold van, 125 Geometric Period. See Greek Geometric period geothermal activity, 269–70, 273–77, 281, 284 Gerðr, 126–27, 356 Gesta Danorum of Saxo Grammaticus, 30, 45, 113, 127, 298, 302, 309, 323, 341 gesta episcoporum (‘the deeds of bishops’): genre of, 164 Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum (History of the Archbishops of HamburgBremen) of Adam of Bremen, 128, 163–173; Leiden manuscript (Cod. Voss. Lat. 4º 123), 164. See also Adam of Bremen gesture(s), 42; hand, 42–44; in Codex Upsaliensis, 43–44 Getica of Jordanes, 150 ghouls, 292–93 Ginnungagap, 277–78, 280, 365–66 Gísla saga Súrssonar, 34, 113, 116 Glaðsheimr, 170 Glomac (possible sacrificial site), 181 goðar, 116–17; blótgoðar, 122 Goðormr (god of the Danes), 94 Gospel of Nichodemus (apocryphal gospel), 248 Gotlandic picture stones. See under runestones and picture stones Göttweiger Trojanerkrieg, Der, 263 Grænlendinga saga, 299 385 Index Gráinne (daughter of Cormac, the high-king of Ireland), 324, 326, 329, 335 Grani (Sigurðr’s horse), 66, 68–69, 71 Greco-Roman philosophical tradition, 91 Greek Geometric period (ca. 900–700 BCE), 56 Gregory I (pope, also known as ‘the Great’), 175, 250–51 Gregory IX (pope), 244 Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar, 298 Gríma, 331 Grímnismál, 73, 117, 120, 126, 127, 170–71, 173, 197, 215, 281–82, 297, 368 Grógaldr, 291, 298 Groß Raden (possible sanctuary site), 180 Gudme, Fyn, Denmark, 172 Gudmund (Norwegian idol), 89–90, 104 Guðrúnarhvǫt, 75–76 Guðrúnarkviða I, 69, 75 guldgubber, 70 Gunnarr Gjúkason, 338; in the snake pit, 140 Gunnarr helmingr, 98 Gunnars þáttr helmings, 21, 115, 117, 126, 127 Guta saga, 124 Gutzkow (temple site), 180 Gylfaginning, 42, 102, 103, 127, 150, 170–71, 173, 194, 197, 232, 234, 281–82, 284, 291, 341 Hadingus, 15–16, 298 Haftv d 329 30 334 336 37 hagiographic texts, 92, 94–95, 101 Haithabu (also Hedeby), 18 Hákon Hákonarson (king), 257 Hákon Sigurðarson (earl, often referred to as Jarl Hákon), 99–100 Hákonar saga góða, 119 386 Hákonarmál, 126 Háleygjatal of E vindr sk ldaspillir Finnsson, 356 Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka, 296 Hallb rn hali (poet) 300 Hallmundarkviða, 270, 273, 280–81, 283 Hamðismál, 75 Hár, 41–42, 232, 253, 276, 277 Haraldr hárfagri (king), 151 Haralds Biezais, 209, 211 Harthgrepa, 298–99, 309 Hatti texts, 375 haugbúi, haugbúar ‘mound-dweller(s)’, 297–98, 300–301, 309 Hauks þáttr Hábrókar, 125 Hauksbók, 116 Hávamál, 74, 174, 289, 291, 294–97, 299, 302, 303, 307–10 Hawaii, 19; traditional Hawaiian society, 19–22 Hebrew Bible, 72, 370 Hegge, Norway: one-eyed figure from church in, 300 Heimdallr, 35, 226 Heimskringla. See individual saga titles Hekla, 270–71, 279 Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar, 118 Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, 74, 75 Helgö, Lake Mälaren, Sweden, 148, 151, 172, 178 Helmold of Bosau (author of Chronica Slavorum), 180–81 Hephaistos (Greek god), 152 Herder, Johann Gottfried von, 199, 224 Hermóðr, 248 Hermóðr’s Helreið, 248 hero, 54, 67, 69, 202–5, 209, 227, 301, 324–26, 337, 355; astral hero, 214; culture hero, 204 heroic legend, 53, 54, 56, 78, 80; heroic narrative, 53–54, 68, 76–77, 79; ‘heroic Edda’, 79; Index Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, 118, 177 Hevaa, Kaprio, Ingria, 201 hierophany, 5 Historia de Preliis Alexandri Magni (History of the Battles of Alexander the Great) of Leo Neapolitaniensis, 256, 257 Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor, 256 history of religions, 4–5, 10, 13 Hittite myths, 375 H r 229 347 350 353 54 356 as a e ish reference 248 H r/ Høtherus, 348 Hœnir, 291 hǫrgar, 94, 121–22 hofeiðr’ ‘hof-oath’, 119 hofgyðjur, 122; Þuriðr ‘hofgyðja’, 116–17; Steinvör ‘hofgyðja’, 117 Hólar, Iceland, 39 horse(s), 103, 117–18, 120, 166, 196, 211, 212, 215, 260, 293; in relation to the Vanir, 117; Freyfaxi, 117 Hrafnkell Hallfreðarson (‘Freysgoði’), 116 Hrafnkels saga Freysgoða, 113, 116–17, 118 Husaby, Västergötland, Sweden, 305 Hushang (legendary king in the Shahnameh), 346 Hvergelmir, 173–74, 276–77, 281–83 Hymiskviða, 74, 102, 281 Hyndluljóð, 118, 121–22, 291, 298 Iceland, 7, 39, 43, 78, 100, 102, 103, 116, 118, 122, 125, 130, 155, 168, 218, 225, 227, 234, 250, 264, 269–84, 295, 308, 349, 363, 374, Icelanders, 115–119, 284, Icelandic chieftain, 30; Icelandic oral tradition, 113; Icelandic place names, 117, 119; Icelandic sagas (See sagas); Icelandic settlement, 7, 116, 119, 125, 272, 344; Icelandic skalds, 30, 195 iconographic methods, 53, 70, 79 iconography, Christian, 303; runestone, 63 idols(s), 89–101, 103–5, 171, 180; idolatry, 91–95, 101, 104 Illerup Ådal, Jutland, Denmark, 18 Ilmarinen (god of the heavens), 202, 228, 231–32, 235 image(s), 38, 40–42, 45, 56, 90–91, 92, 98, 100, 124, 125, 171, 174, 176, 192, 193–94, 196–98, 200, 203, 205–6, 208–9, 213–17, 246, 262–64, 270, 273–74, 276–84, 289, 295, 297, 300, 302–3, 333 India, 35, 257, 364, 369, 374, 375; Indian hymn, 368; Indian Yama, 370 Indiculus superstitionum et paganiarum (Index of Superstitions and Pagan Practices), 175 Indo-Europeans, 4, 14, 202, 227, 324, 342, 344, 347, 353, 356–57, 363–64, 368, 370, 372, 374, 375, 376–77 Ingi Steinkelsson (Swedish king), 177 initiation, 151, 152, 155, 296 inquit, 73, 75, 76 Iraj (legendary character in the Shahnameh), 341, 346, 350–52, 355 Iran, 369 Ireland, 324, 326 Irish analogs, 331; derbfine, 344; tradition, 324, 325–26, 335; cnuimh/ cruimh, 330 Irminsul, 176, 178 Isaiah, (Deutero-)Isaiah. See under Bible passages. Isis (Egyptian goddess), 218 Isle of Man. See Man, Isle of Ívarr inn beinlaussi, 332–33 Jacobus de Voragine, 304 Jafnhár, 41, 42, 102 387 Index Jamshid (legendary king), 346, 350, 352–53, 355 Järfälla, Sweden, 304 Järrestad, Scania, 179 Jeremiah. See under Bible passages Jews, 243–64; blood libel against, 244; gyðingr, 247; Judaism and anti-Judaism, 244–47, 263; júði, 247; massacres of, 244; pogroms against, 244; ‘Red Jews’, 253–63; special clothing or badges, 244; ‘Synogaga’ as blind, 248 Jokkmokk, Sweden, 207 Jóns saga ins helga, 39 Jordanes, 150 jǫtunn, jǫtnar ‘giant(s)’, 229, 233, 252, 277, 280, 282–84, 366 Joukavainen (giant), 230–31 Judaism. See Jews Judei Nostri (Anglo-Norman text), 252 Jüngere Titurel, Der of Albrecht von Scharfenburg, 256 Kalevala, Old (Kalevala taikka wanhoja karjalan runoja suomen muinosista ajoista), 227–28 Kalevala, 192–93, 199, 224, 228–34; meter, 192 Kalevipoeg, 199 Kárr inn gamli (mound-dweller), 298 Káruljóð, 74 Kashmir, 369–70 Katla (volcano), 271–73 Kayumars, 346 kefli ‘rune stick’, 299, 302, 308, 309 Kiimasjärvi, 204 Kingu (Mesopotamian god), 371 Kinsarvik Church, Norway: antependium, 248–49 Kirk Andreas cross fragments, 79–80 Kjalnesinga saga, 120 Klamath tribe, 274 Konung Alexander, 257–61 Konungs skuggsjá, 257, 276, 279 388 Kráka (Crow), 325, 331–33, 337 Kristnitökuhraun, 273 Ku (Hawaiian god), 20–21 Kuhn, Thomas, 9 Kumlbúa þáttr, 298 Kun (of Hsia dynasty), 375 Kuutar, moon as a female deity in some Balto-Finnic songs, 204 Kvikkjokk, Sweden, 207 Laki (volcano), 270, 271–72, 279 Lamprecht der Pfaffe, 256 landnám (settlement period), 113, 218, 271–72, 275 Landnámabók, 113, 116–18, 125, 130, 271, 275 landscape(s), 113, 122–26, 149, 172, 210, 270–71; as expressions of cosmology, 167, 169 lapidary tradition, 307–8 Lateran Council, Fourth. See Fourth Lateran Council Latvia, x, 181, 192, 213; dainas (see under dainas); Latvian tradition(s), 192, 194, 197, 204, 209–14 lava, 270–84 laws, 79, 169, 244, 260, 275, 304, 308; Icelandic, Grágás, 295–96; Icelandic, Úlfljótslög (Law of Úlfljótr), 119–20; Langobardic, Leges Langobardorum (Lombard Laws), 175; Norwegian, Eiðsifa ingslǫg: ristinn r ttr hinn forni (Law of Eiðsivaþing: Older Christian Law), 100; Norwegian, Frosta ingslǫg (Law of Frostaþing), 308; Norwegian, Gulaþingslög (Law of Gulaþing), 124; Swedish, Upplandslagen (Law of Uppland), 128; Swedish, Västgötalagen (Westgötha laws), viii law-speaker(s), 43 Leach, Edmund, 10 Index Legenda aurea of Jacobus de Voragine, 304 Legendary Saga of St Óláfr, 95 Leges Langobardorum. See under Laws: Langobardic Lévi-Strauss, Claude, 10–11, 14 Liber Miraculorum (Book of Miracles) of Herbert of Clairvaux, 273 lightning, 90, 165, 271 líkneski ‘likeness’, 90–91, 98 Líkneskjusmíð, 90 literacy, xi, 30–46, 199; alphabetic, 40, 45 Liutprand (king), 175 Liutprandi Leges. See under Laws: Langobardic ljóð ‘charm’, 290 ljóðaháttr meter, 34, 116 Ljóðatal, 289 Lokasenna, 73, 253, 264, 347 Loki, 35, 229, 243, 253–55, 261–62, 276, 347, 349–50, 353–55; represented as a Jew, 248–53 Lönnrot, Elias, 192, 199, 224–25, 227, 233 Lono (Hawaiian god), 20–21 Lord, Albert B., 32 Luakini ritual cycle, 20–21 Lucius Annaeus Florus. See Epitome of Roman History lyng-ormr ‘heather-snake’, 330 Lytir, 99, 125 magic, 11–12, 15, 125, 127, 208, 224, 252, 290, 292–93, 298–99, 307–10, 326, 331, 350, 370, 375. See also charm(s), charm magic magician(s), 12, 299, 309, 352 Magnúss saga berfœtts, 296 Makahiki ritual cycle, 20–21 Man, Isle of, 67, 79–80; Manx carving, 68 Mandi (Nuristani god), 370 manor(s), manorial residence(s). See central place(s) Manuchehr (legendary king in the Shahnameh), 351–53, 355 manuscript(s), medieval, 32, 35, 41, 164, 234; art, 63; as arenas for communication, 40, 44; Carolingian, 63; Ottonian, 63; production of in Sweden, 78; verbal and visual representation in, 43 manuscript(s), individual: AM 242 fol., Codex Wormianus (Prose edda), 246–48; AM 748 4to Fragments of the Elder and the Younger Edda, 234; Cod. Voss. Lat. 4º 123, Leiden manuscript of Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum of Adam of Bremen, 164; DG 11 4to Codex Upsaliensis (Prose edda), 42–44; Ny. kgl. Samling 66, 8vo Gamle danske urtebøger, stenbøger og kogebøger, 307; Ups C 528, Codex Bildstenianus (Ett fornsvenskt legendarium), 304; *Vatnshyrna manuscript, 280 Maori traditions, 372–73 Marbod, Bishop of Rennes, 307 Marcarius and the Magicians, Saul and the Witch of Endor of Ælfric, 303 Margery Kempe, 245 Maríu saga, 100, 248 Mark. See under Bible passages Matthew. See under Bible passages medium, media, xvi, 30, 34, 39, 40–45, 53, 56, 68, 71–78, 81, 274; differences in, 34, 44–45, 78; and mediation, 40, 53, 68; ‘medium theory’, 53, 54, 76, 81; strategies, 42–43; studies, 30 389 Index memory, 38, 66, 81, 343; collective, 45; communicative, 130, 344; cultural, 53; function of in oral and written cultures, 38; and image(s), 38; toast ‘minni’, 120 Merovingian France, 147–48, 151, 172, 177–78, 181 Messuskýringar (commentaries on the symbolism of liturgy), 247 metalepsis, 57, 71–72 Metamorphoses of Ovid, 276 Midas (king), and the Donkey’s Ears, 327 Middle East, 271, 324, 329 Midgard serpent (Old Norse Miðgarðsormr), 140, 254 Mikael Agricola (‘father of Finnish literature’), 223–32 Mímir/Mímr/Mími, 148, 235, 291–92, 303 modeling: as external memory device, 343; heuristic value of, 343–57 models: scholarly or scientific, 7–9 M kkurk lfi 103 4 245 Molda-Gnúpr, 271 mortuary practices and beliefs, 294, 302–3 Moses, 168, 245 mound dweller(s). See haugúi, haugbúar Mount Mazama, 274, 281 Mount Sinai, 168 multiformity, 324 Mundilfœri, 195–96 murder, 91, 341, 350–51; -and-revenge theme, 344–48, 350–53, 354–57; triad, 343, 347; weapon, 329 Muspell, Muspellzheimr, 194, 196, 243, 253–56, 262–64, 277, 301, 366–67 myth(s): of Adam and Eve, xiv, 101, 245; of Cain and Abel, 390 370; creation, 269–70, 276–77, 280–82, 284, 363–77; of Ho-wori and Ho-deri, 370–71; of Jacob and Esau, 370; mythic, 191–219; Nordic solar, x, 203–4, 212–16; performance and non-verbal aspects of, 45–46; of primordial giant being dismembered, 196–97, 282, 369–75; of sun as bird-egg, 200–202, 215, 230–31, 371, 373, 376; of sun as deified earthling consigned to the sky, 191; of sun as female, 191, 195, 198, 204, 209, 212, 214; of sun as unpersonified flame or disk, 191, 193, 196, 198, 213, 217; of sun perennially chased by wolves, 191; of sun’s movement in Bronze Age, 215; Snorri’s terms for, 193; verbal dimension of, 30 myth-ritual configurations of temple, tree, and well, 169 mythic oaks, 181, 204 mythological relationship, genetic, 4, 14, 16, 23, 323, 342 mythologies: Austric, 371, 373–74; Austro-Thai, 371; Balto-Finnic, 205, 224–25, 234–35; Chinese, 4, 364, 375; Finnish, x, 223, 226, 228, 232; Greek, 274, 303; Hawaiian, 19–22; Hittite, 104, 375; Indian, 372, 374–75; IndoEuropean, xv, 14, 104, 357, 377; Indo-Iranian, 364, 369; Iranian, x, 342; Japanese, 373; Laurasian, 4, 14, 363–64; Maori, 372; Nuristani, 369–70; Roman, 153 narratology, 71; narratological levels, relationship between, 79 necromancy (necromantia, nás orð ‘corpse-words’), 290–91, 293, 309; confusion with nigromantia, 290 Neoplatonism, 269, 282, 284; Index Neoplatonic dualism, 277 New Philology, 40 Niðungr (king; also Niðhad), 148, 153 Niflheimr, 276–77, 281–82 N r r 115 16 119 120 23 126 and Skaði, now-lost ljóðaháttr poem about, 116 noose, 289–90, 296 Nordic-Baltic peoples, intercultural relations of, 217 Norway, 56, 68, 89–90, 94, 98, 113, 115, 119, 125, 130, 147, 149, 248–49, 278, 300–302, 308, 356 Nuori-Juokawainen, 230 Nuristan, 369 oath(s), 96, 100–101, 118–20; hofeiðr, 119; lýrittareiðr, 100–101; sónargöltr, 118 Oddrúnargrátr, 752 Odensbrunn (Óðinn’s well), Uppsala, Tuna in Vendel (also Onsbrönn), 175 Odin. See Óðinn Óðinn, 11–15, 97, 115, 118, 122–23, 127, 130, 232–33, 235, 247, 282, 347–50, 357, 369; cognomena for (e.g., hangatýr, hangaguð, hangadróttinn, heimþinguðr hanga), 299–300; and creation, 196–97, 231; and Germanic Mercury-Wodan, 15; as ‘god of the Saxons’, 94; idol/image of depicted, 140–41, 155, 165, 170–71, 193; as ‘Lord of Ghouls’, 293–98; and magic, 289–310; as master of verse, 230; and Mímis brunnr (Mímir’s well), 174, 291–92; ‘Óðinn-discourse’, 15–16; ‘Óðinn kings’ as ‘war kings’, 21; as progenitor of kings and chieftains, 21, 234; and Rindr, 356; self-sacrifice on Yggdrasill, 21–22, 102, 368; as shaman, 11–15; and Väinämöinen compared, 230–31; with Þórr and Týr as a divine trilogy, 228–29 Ögmundar þáttr dytts ok Gunnars helmings, 21, 98, 115, 117, 126 Oisín (son of Fionn), 327–28, 335 Ólafr Geirstaðaálfr (king), 123 Óláfr Tryggvason (missionary king of Norway), 97–99, 124 Óláfr Haraldsson (saint and king of Norway), 94–95 Ólafs saga helga, 115, 122, 128 Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta, 117, 123, 124 Ólafs þáttr Geirstaðaálfs, 123 Old Icelandic Homily Book, 248–49, 252 Old Kalevala. See Kalevala, Old Olof Skötkonung (Swedish king), 305 oral: art forms, 31; background of sagas and poems, 31, 33, 44; -derived texts, 32–33, 35; literature, 34, 207; poetry, 33, 76, 227; ‘remediation’ of oral poetry in written medium, 76–78; tradition, 29, 31, 32, 114, 115, 120, 122–23, 125, 129–30, 224, 227, 230, 233, 325 orality and literacy debate, 29–45 ormr, Old Norse, ‘snake’, ‘dragon’ (cognate with Irish cnuimh/ cruimh, Persian kerm, and English worm), 330 Oseberg, Norway, 125, 130 Othinus, 348–50, 356. See also Óðinn Ovid. See Metamorphoses pagan revival: among the Wends (1134), 180 Päivätär (sun as a female deity in some Balto-Finnic songs), 204–5 Päivölä songs, 204 Paltamo, Finland, 202 Pangu (P’an ku), 363–64, 371, 374 Parchim (possible sanctuary site), 180 391 Index Parry, Milman, 32 Passio Sancti Eadmundi of Abbo of Fleury, 304–5 performance, 29–30, 32, 34–36, 54, 68, 76, 226, 309; of myth, 38–45, 126. See also under myth(s) performance practices, conxtextualization of. See contextualization of performance practices Persia, 337, 350–51. See also Iran petroglyph(s): Bronze Age, 215 philology, 30, 36–37 Phoenicians, 152, 306 picture stones. See runestones and picture stones place names, 115–19, 124, 172, 216. See also individual toponyms Poetic Edda. See eddic poems; and names of individual poems Polynesian traditions, 377 pre-Christian: Scandinavia, 14–16, 22–23, 29, 39, 95, 127, 129, 163, 168, 176–77, 180–81, 192, 293; Baltic mythology, 209; cultic practices, 102, 115; deities, 102; Icelanders, 273; oral formula, 102; Sámi beliefs, 206–7 Prester John, 257 primordial giant: emerging from chaos ( ir Puru a) 376 emerging from primordial egg (Polynesia/China), 376; of stone, 375–76; universe created from body of slain (motif A642), 196–97, 282, 369–75 processional roads, 125–26, 130, 179 Procopius, 150 prophecy, 70, 92, 102–3, 149, 290, 299, 303; summoned, prophesying dead (motif M301.14), 293, 299 Prose Edda. See Snorra edda protagonist(s), 34, 76, 331, 344, 348, 392 352–53 Psalms. See under Bible passages Puru a 363 65 371 374 376 77 Radogosc (temple site), 180 agnar k 197 212 227 Ragnarr loðbrók, 99, 103, 323–25, 330–38 Ragnars kvæði (Faroese ballad), 323 Ragnars saga loðbrókar, 99, 323, 330 k asa (de on) 370 Ralsiek (possible sanctuary site), 180 Ramsund. See under runestones and picture stones Randalín, 325, 331, 333–34, 337–38 reception of materials, 37, 39, 205, 234 reconstructing myths and religions, xv, 3–11, 15–17, 23, 35–36, 191, 364 Red Jews, 252–63; identified with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, 255–56; identified with Gog and Magog, 255; identified with the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, 255; religion(s), 4–23, 30, 79, 113, 115, 126, 129–30, 166–69, 177, 180, 225, 227, 244–45, 291, 304; ‘archaic’, 18; ‘axial’, 18; ‘different’, 6; Old Norse, 4–7, 9, 11, 16–17, 23, 180; Robert Bellah on evolution of, 17–22; ‘tribal’, 18 Remus, 153, 353, 370, 374 renewal of ritual structures. See under ritual structures gveda, 364, 368–69, 375 Richard the Lionheart (king), 244 riddle(s), 224, 332, 349 Rígsþula, 21 Rindr/Rinda, 233, 348–349, 356 ritual(s), 7, 9–12, 15, 17, 19–22, 40, 113, 118–22, 125–30, 143–47, Index 152, 155, 166, 169, 171–72, 175, 178–82, 206–10, 214, 216–18, 247, 293–97, 306, 308, 373–75; cycles, 20; landscapes, 169; pagan, 7, 175 ritual structures: renewal of, 146–47 Robert Grosseteste (fl. 1220s), 245, 252 Romans (book of the Bible). See under Bible passages Romulus, 153, 353, 370 Rösaring, Uppland, Sweden, 125 royal burial(s), 129, 166, 177; court, 148; dynasties, 153, 218, 323, 355; ideology, 234, 347; lineage, 20, 140, 149, 151–52, 217, 234, 328, 347, 353; manor, 151, 178 Rudolf of Fulda, 176 runestones and picture stones, 53–81, 139–40, 154–55, 193, 212, 215–16, 297; Denmark, Ålum (Ålum 3, DR 96), 58; Denmark, Hunnestad 3 (DR 284), 60; Denmark, Jelling 2 (Dr 42), 61, 78; Norway, Alstad, 59, 65; Norway, Dynna, 59, 65; Norway, Eggja, 59; Norway, Vang, 59; Sweden, Altuna (U 1161), 58, 139; Sweden, Ardre VIII, 154; Sweden, Årsunda (Gs 9), 139; Sweden, Drävle (U 1163), 140; Sweden, Gök (Sö 327), 53, 59, 66–71, 78–81, 139; Sweden, Krogsta (U 1125), 58; Sweden, Lärbro Stora Hammars I stone, 55, 297, 300; Sweden, Ledberg (Ög 181), 140; Sweden, Möjbro (U 877), 58; Sweden, Ockelbo (Gs 19), 139–40; Sweden, Österfärnebo (Gs 2), 139; Sweden, Prästgården (U 855), 64; Sweden, Ramsund (Sö 101), 53, 59, 65–71, 78, 80, 139; Sweden, Sanda stone, 216; Sweden, Stora Runhällen (U 1164), 62, 63; Sweden, Tjängvide I (G 110), 140; Sweden, Västerljung (Sö 40), 140; Sweden, Vittinge (U 1175), 139 sacrifice, 93, 97–103, 118, 120, 122–24, 127–28. See also blót (sacrifice) Sæmingr (first of the Hlaðajarl line of earls in Norway), 356 Saga Heiðreks konungs ins vitra. See Heiðreks saga sagas, 30–31, 33, 36–37, 95, 114, 117, 120, 122, 130, 275; fornaldarsǫgur, 30, 80. See also titles of individual sagas saint(s): cephalophoric, 303, 308; decapitated, 303; severed head of, speaks so that searchers can find it (motif V229.25), 304–5; statues of, 90, 105 saints (individual): Saint Augustine, 246, 252; Saint Boniface, 175; Saint Denis, 304; Saint Edmund, 304–5; Saint Erik, 178; Saint Jerome, 247; Saint John the Baptist, 303, 305; Saint Jón of Hólar, 90; Saint Óláfr, 94–96; Saint Sigfrid, 305 Salm, 346, 350–52, 355 Sámi (also Saami), x, 4, 11, 15, 149–51, 102, 191–92, 197, 205–9, 211, 214–18, 224, 376; ethnic markers of, 149; noaidi (shaman), 206; reputation as smiths, 150; shamanic drums, 206; as skridfenni, 150 I Samuel. See under Bible passages sanctuaries, possible Slavic sites: Feldber, 180; Groß Raden, 180; Parchim, 180; Ralsiek, 180; Wolin, 180; Wroklaw, 180 Sanskrit, 342, 364 Saul and the Witch of Endor, 303 393 Index Saxo Grammaticus, 15, 31, 127–30, 279, 291, 296, 298–300, 303, 308, 323, 341, 348–50, 353–56 Schweindorf, East Frisia, 152 sculpture, 56, 63, 67, 71, 90, 141 seiðr, 114, 122 Sgáthán, 327, 335–36 Shahnameh (Book of Kings) of Ferdowsi, 324, 329–30, 324, 326, 337, 341, 345–46, 350–55 shamanism, 11–15, 192, 223, 234, 368 Shingu (Kii Peninsula), 375 Sictona. See Sigtuna Sigrdrífumál, 127, 291 Sigtuna (Sictona), 78, 164–65, 167 Sigurðarkviða in skamma, 75 Sigurðr Fáfnisbani, 54, 67–71, 75–81 Sigurðr Hlaðajarl, 119 Sigyn, 253–54, 276 singing contest, 230 Skaði, 116, 121, 253–54, 356 Skáldatal, 43 skald(s), 6, 43–44, 100, 195, 232, 234, 300 skaldic poetry, 30, 33–35, 40, 76, 78, 104, 126, 234 Skáldskaparmál, 103, 127, 193–95, 234 Skedemosse, Öland, Sweden, 118 Skírnismál, 73, 116, 126–27, 211, 356 Sk ld god of the Scanians 94 Skrýmir, 232 Sleipnir, 140 Snorra edda (Snorri’s Edda. Also called The Younger Edda and The Prose Edda), 30–31, 42, 44, 75, 104, 244–45, 248, 253, 257, 261, 263–64, 269, 273, 276–77, 280, 281. See also Gylfaginning and Skáldskaparmál 394 Snorri Sturluson, 30, 31, 45, 113–15, 122–23, 126–30, 151, 170–74, 192–98, 218, 243–57, 261–64, 269–70, 272, 276–77, 281–84, 342, 348–51, 356 Soikkola, Finland, 203 solar myths. See myth(s). Solomon, Wisdom of. See under Bible passages Sonatorrek, 227 song traditions: Balto-Finnic, 199–200, 202; Karelian, 202; Latvian, 194, 209; Russian Orthodox, 205; Scandinavian ballad, 192, 200 soul traveling, 14 source(s): archaeological, 6, 95, 114, 122, 127–30, 95, 139–50, 169, 172, 177–82, 215–18, 226, 273–74, 280, 289, 294–95, 302–6; -critical perspective, xv, 3, 6, 16, 23, 33; ‘indigenous’ vs ‘foreign’, 6–7; textual, 29, 70, 164, 302. See also titles of individual works Speculum lapidum (The Mirror of Stones) of Camillus Leonardi, 307 Spitiiura, 369–70 Starcatherus, 21 Steinvör ‘hofgyðja’, 117 Stjórn, 101, 264 Sturlunga saga, 115 Styrmir Kárason (prior of the Augustinian house of Viðey), 94 sun. See myth(s) Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot (Ancient Songs of the Finnish People), 199, 224 Surtr, 248, 254, 272, 282–83 Sutton Hoo, East Anglia: boat burial, 140; helmet, 140 Sveinn Ástriðarson, Danish king, 167 Index Sveins þáttr ok Finns, 95 Sv l 197 98 Sweden, 65–67, 77–79, 98, 113–118, 123–30, 139–41, 144, 148–51, 155, 172, 177–79, 226, 302, 348 symbolism, 10, 168, 173, 177, 180–82, 247 Synagoga, 248–49 Szczecin (temple site), 180 Ta’aroa (Tahiti creator god), 371, 373 Tacitus, Cornelius (author of Germania), 21, 97, 118, 124, 294, 369 Tågaberg, Scania, 304 Tähemõrsja (The Star Bride), 205, 209 Tahmures, 346, 353 Talmud, 244 Tantalos, 33, 46 Telemark, Norway, 90, 68 temple(s), 20, 96–99, 102, 117–18, 144, 147, 150, 153, 163–73, 180; literary evidence for pre-Christian Slavic, 180; and sacrifices at Uppsala as described by Adam of Bremen, 163–73; Slavic configurations of temple, tree, and well, 180. See also names of individual Slavic temple sites tephra, 271, 275, 281 Teutoburg forest, 293–94 text-context, 35–38; -image relationships, 42; textualization (Verschriftlichung), 78–79 thick description, 10, 34 Thietmar of Merseburg (author of Chronik), 181 Tikopia, 19 Tissø, Zealand, Denmark, 178–79 tongue, 294, 299–302, 305–10; ‘objects’ (See Charon’s obol) topography, cultic, 163–82 topos, topoi, 78, 163, 167, 181, 245, 294 Torslunda, Öland, 140 Torsmyra, ‘bog dedicated to the god Þórr’, 179 Tóruigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne (Pursuit of Diarmaid and Gráinne), 324 Translatio S. Alexandri (Transfer of [the Relics of] St. Alexander) of Rudolf of Fulda, 176 transmission: of myths and narratives, 29, 37, 39–40, 45, 54, 68, 250, 257, 324, 332, 342; oral, 76; written, 68; written and oral, 73 treasure, 275–76, 331; buried, 275; motif, 68–69 tree(s), 70, 94, 101, 163–82, 203–4, 207, 211, 216, 251, 289–97, 326, 329, 343, 368–69 trémaðr ‘tree-man’, 91, 99, 332, 337 treuddar, triangular-shaped stone settings, 178 Triglav temple at Szczecin. See Szczecin, temple(s) tripartite structure, Dumézilian, 14, 343, 365 Troy, 42 Trundholm sun chariot, 196, 215 Tu Shan (Chinese legendary figure), 375 Tur (Iranian legendary figure), 346, 350–52, 355 typological comparativism. See under comparativism(s) Týr, 178, 228, 232; hand of, in Fenrir’s mouth, 140 Ukko (god of thunder and/or the sky), 202, 232 Ullikummi (giant of stone), 104, 375 universe: created from body of slain giant (motif A642). See primordial giant Upelluri (primordial stone giant), 375 Uppåkra, Scania, 139–49, 154–55 395 Index Uppsala, 21, 122–25, 127, 129–30, 149, 151, 163–82, 207, 234, 297, 356, as cultic center, 21, 122, 124, 125, 127, 129–30, 164–82, 234, 297, 356; as economic and political center, 123, 128, 151, 234 Urðr, well of (Urðar brunnr), 164, 167, 174, 368 Útgarðar, 232 Vaðgelmir, 283 Vafþrúðnismál, 74, 120, 126, 230, 231, 281–84 Väinämöinen (god of the waters), 202–3, 227–28, 230–35, valgaldr ‘corpse-magic’, 293, 309 alh ll 69 163 167 170 74 234 298 Váli, 253–54, 261, 348–50, 355 valkyrjur (valkyries), 171, 232 Vanir deities, 14, 113–30, 291; and the álfar, 117, 124; association with Uppland, Sweden; and female ritual specialists, 116–17; incestuous activities of the Vanir, 129; and the landscape, 124; ‘obituary’ by R. Simek, 113; ‘otherness’ of, 114; and place names, 116; ritual activities connected to, 118–19, 130 Vápnfirðinga saga, 117 Varuna, Vedic, 15 Varus (Roman general), 18 Vatnajökull, 271 Växjö, Småland, Sweden, 305 Vé, 196, 347, 367 Velent. See Volund Venerable Bede, the, 8 vengeance, 253, 341, 351. See also avenger verbal aspects, 30, 34, 42, 79, 227, 231, 234; and visual representations in manuscripts, complementarity of, 43 396 vermin (including worms, small serpents, and maggots), 60, 61, 90, 216, 324–37, 372 Viaticum, 306–8 Viðarr, 140 Víga-Glúms saga, 116, 118 Víkarr, 296 Vili, 196, 347, 367 Virgil, 245 Virgin Mary, the, 90, 204, 212 Vita Anskarii auctore Rimberto (Life of St. Ansgar of Rimbert), 181 Vita Prieflingensis (Prüfening Life), 180 itast ( helu ) iver 370 volcanic activity, volcanism, 269–84; Icelandic types, 270 Völsunga saga (also Vǫlsunga saga), 67–69, 332, 338 Vǫlsungakviða, 74 olund (also elent lundr lundr a land land) 69 74–75, 139–55, 232 Vǫlundarkviða, 74, 75, 139, 141–42, 149, 151, 154–55, 232 lundr lundr. See Volund volundu, Anglo-Frisian runic inscription, 152 Vǫluspá, 74, 121–22, 126, 150, 174, 195, 225, 227, 231, 244, 255, 261–64, 272–73, 282, 291, 298, 353, 365–67 vǫlva ‘seeress’, 293, 298, 309 wagons, 114, 212; journeys by, and their connections to the Vanir, 125 Wayland. See Volund land. See Volund well(s), 163, 167, 173–76, 178–80, 182. See also Óðinn: Mímis brunnr; Urðr, well of Widukind of Corvey, 176 Wielent. See Volund William of Auvergne (fl. 1228), 245 Index Wisdom of Solomon. See under Bible passages witch of Endor, 290, 303 Wolgast (temple site), 180 Wolin (sanctuary/temple site), 180 worldview, 10; Christian, 217; pagan, 6–7, 39, 115, 274, 284; religious, 7; Slavic, 181 Wroklaw (possible sanctuary site), 180 Yama (Vedic mythic figure), 346, 356, 369–71 Yggdrasill, 163, 167, 173–74, 178, 368 Yima (Iranian mythic figure), 369–71 Ymir, 197, 282, 284, 364–77 Ynglinga saga, 113, 117, 122–23, 127–29, 150–51, 230, 291–92, 300, 347, 356 Ynglings, 168 Younger Edda, the. See Snorra edda Yü (first king of the Hsia dynasty), 375 Zahhak (Iranian legendary figure), 346, 350, 352–55 Þiðreks saga af Bern, 142 Þjazi, 232 Þóra, 330–31, 333–34 Þórðr gellir, 344–45 Þórðr Özurarson, as ‘Freysgoðar’, 116 Þorgarðr (wooden man), 99–100 orger r H rgabr r 100 Þorleifr jarlsskáld, 100, 300 Þorleifs þáttr jarlsskálds, 99, 300 Þórr, 15, 90, 94–99, 103–104, 114, 115, 116, 118, 119, 122, 128, 130, 139, 165, 170, 179, 193, 228, 231–32, 235, 242, 348–49, 376; as god of the Englishmen, 94; and Hrugnir, 103; idol of, 90, 95–99, 165, 170; and Ilmarinen, 228, 231–34; and the Miðgarðsormr, 76, 140; and M llnir 95 232 Þorsteins þáttr bœjarmagns, 281 Þorsteins þáttr uxafóts, 298, 301–2, 309 Þrándheimr, 117–19, 123–24 Þriði, 41, 42, 253 Þrúðgelmir, 283 Þrymskviða, 74, 127, 226 Þuriðr ‘hofgyðja’, 116–17 397