Achilles, a humanized sun-god, was vulnerable in his heel, just as the Teutonic Sigfried could only be wounded in his back: this represents the sun as retiring from the heavens with his back turned, struck by the weapon of darkness, just as Ares, the blind God, with his tusk slew Adonis, or sightless Hodr with his mistletoe shaft smote Baldur. The fable has been varied to suit the atmospheric peculiarities of different climes in which the Aryans found themselves. She, seeing the creature stained with blood, concluded, with feminine precipitance, that ithad fallen on the baby and killed it, and she flung her water jar at it and slew it.
Traditional Scottish Folk The Parting Glass Lyrics - Genius In former days there lived in Skerr a Druid of renown. 4. In the battle of Stamfordbridge an arrow from a skilled archer penetrated the windpipe of the king, and it is supposed to have sped, observes the Saga writer, from the bow of Hemingr, then in the service of the English monarch. We have the same story in the Gretla; only there the dead king is Karr the old; Grettir is led to open his cairn, by seeing flames dancing on the mound at night. Shall we meet in that blest harbour,When our stormy voyage is oer?Shall we meet and cast the anchorBy the fair celestial shore? It may be objected to this, that the cross is a sign so easily made, that it was naturally the first attempted by a rude people. Instantly the swan reappeared on the river, drawing the little shallop after it, and uttering loud cries to call its brother. Simplicius was ascertained to have been Archbishop of Ravenna, Pantulus to have been Bishop of Basle, and Aetherius proved to have been the bridegroom elect of Ursula, who had been converted to Christianity, and had come up the Rhine to meet his saintly betrothed. Wheat, barley, millet, and beans have been found about the piles, together with the stones of wild plums, sloes, and cherries, also crab-apple pips. He hastened to Julius Caesar, and told him that his sister was in the neighbourhood. At length, when dwelling in this palace, he saw the swan return again with the boat and chain: he at once re-entered the vessel, and was never seen again; but his progeny remain to this day., A genealogy of the house of Flanders, in a MS. of the thirteenth century, states: Eustachius venit ad Buillon ad domum ducissae, quae uxor erat militis, qui vocabatur miles Cigni[208] Jacob van Maerlant (b. After they had proceeded a while, William was found to be guilty of a trespass against Holy Church, of which he had to be purged before he could proceed much further. They agree to the terms, leaving the choice to Wieland, who selects Angelburga, whom he had long loved without having seen. Helgi and his brother Thorstein went on a cruise to Finnmark, or Lapland. According to these, Antichrist will overrun the earth, mounted on an ass, and followed by 40,000 Jews; his empire will last forty days, whereof the first day will be a year long, the duration of the second will be a month, that of the third a week, the others being of their usual length. It was this person who was seen in Hamburg in MDLXIV. The spread of geographical knowledge has contracted the area of his dominions, and a critical acquaintance with history has exploded the myth which invested Unk-Khan, the nomad chief, with all the attributes of a demigod, uniting in one the utmost pretensions of a Pope and the proudest claims of a monarch. John took an active part in the troubles of the Church under the incursions of the Sarasins, and 325 letters of his are extant, addressed to the princes and prelates of his day. By the moon he had no posterity, but by the other he had one son only, the little Horus. Tammuz, or Adonis, was again identical with Osiris. It is wrapped in a wisp of wool, and kept in a leaden box full of small grains like barley-meal. After the building of the temple schamir vanished. He had a tail more than a foot long, covered with red hair, and very like that of a cow. 1830, pp. Pst doctorumHc doctrix efficitur Rom legens: horumHc auditu fungitur loquens. He spoke many languages, claimed the power of healing the sick, and asserted that he had travelled nearly all over the world. I was the man in th moon when time was. xvi. Mithra is clearly identical with the sun, and Ahriman with darkness. It seems to me probable that this head, if there were truth in the charge, was revered because it was part of an ancient druidic rite to produce a head upon a vessel, though for what purposes we do not know. It was not sufficient that Solomon should have skilfully pieced together the rough stones: he was supposed to have hewn them by supernatural means, without the tool of iron. They ate, and then, as they sat weeping and speaking to one another, by the will of God they fell asleep. And as soone as Sir Bedivere had lost the sight of the barge, he wept and wailed, and so tooke the forrest[182]., Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,Nor ever wind blows loudly; butliesDeep-meadowd, happy, fair with orchard lawnsAnd bowery hollows crownd with summer sea,. There he found a princess with whom he spent a few agreeable weeks. We shall put aside the story of the swan-children, and confine our attention to the genuine myth. This portion belongs to thee, O Rudra, whose animal is the mouse[149]. In later mythology it became the attribute of Ganeca, who was represented as riding upon a rat; but Ganeca is simply an hypostasis for Rudra. Herodotus gives a curious legend relating to the destruction of the host of Sennacherib before Jerusalem. He had two daughters, Kara Kuruptju (black thimble) and Kesel Djibak (red silk); the elder evil disposed and in league with the powers of darkness, a friend of the raging swan-woman; the younger beautiful and good. The Council of Ephesus denounced him, and, in spite of the emperor and court, Nestorius was anathematized and driven into exile. The poor creature was recognized as a woman of the neighborhood who had vanished four months before. Beer, Leipzig, 1859. Belov. Who that has visited Snowdon has not seen the grave of Llewellyns faithful hound Gellert, and been told by the guide the touching story of the death of the noble animal? It is because the soul is thought to travel on the wind, that we open the window to let a dying person breathe his last. King Olaf, Longfellow tells us, when keeping Christmas at Drontheim, Oer his drinking-horn, the signHe made of the Cross Divine,As he drank, and mutterd his prayers;But the Berserks evermoreMade the sign of the Hammer of ThorrOver theirs., This we are told by Snorro Sturleson, in the Heimskringla[81], when he describes the sacrifice at' Lade, at which King Hakon, Athelstans foster-son was present: Now, when the first full goblet was filled, Earl Sigurd spoke some words over it, and blessed it in Odins name, and drank to the king out of the horn; and the king then took it, and made the sign of the cross over it. The list of representations might be greatly extended. [1][2][3][4][5][6] It has also long been sung in Ireland, enjoying considerable popularity to this day and strongly influencing the style in which it is often now sung. Thus sang the clerks from the Sarum Horae B. Mariae, on S. Georges day, till the reformation of the Missals and Breviaries by Pope Clement VII., when the story of the dragon was cut out, and S. George was simply acknowledged as a martyr, reigning with Christ. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God.[2], There can, I think, be no doubt in the mind of an unprejudiced person that the words of our Lord do imply that some one or more of those then living should not die till He came again. Gottfried-Carl was King of Tongres, and lived at Megen on the Maas. One is the house of gloom, another of men with sharp swords, another of heat, one of cold, one of the mansions is haunted by bloodsucking bats, another is the den of ferocious tigers[42]. Follow my blackened traces, and they will conduct you to the gate whence I was expelled. Seth hastened to Paradise. It was certainly overthrown in the reign of Theodosius I. O Pilot, the great and the glorious,That sittest in garments so white,Oer death and oer hell The Victorious,The Way and the Truth afid the Light,Speak, speak to the darkness appalling,And bid the mad turmoil to cease:For, hark I the good Angels are callingMy soul to the haven of Peace. And Malchus entered first into the cavern to his companions, and the bishop after him. A hundred and seventy-nine of the bodies had been burnt. On the 13th May, 1548, the Count of Cleves presented the players with a silver swan of considerable value. ii. On the second day of Creation were created the well by which Jacob met Rebecca, the manna which fed the Israelites, the wonder-working rod of Moses, the ass which spake to Balaam, and schamir, the means whereby without iron tool Solomon was to build the House of God. In this it resembles the Gorgons head or the basilisk. The water stands four inches high in a hollow stone shaped like a mussel-shell. The last of these is strongly impressed with Christian influence, and gives indications of the transformation of the evil being into a dragon. Joy, song, and minstrelsy reign in that blessed region[183]. Concluding hastily that the hound had proved unfaithful, had fallen on the child and devoured it,in a paroxysm of rage the prince drew his sword and slew the dog. All are set dancing, and cannot stop till the piping has ceased. Leo IV. The plan succeeds admirably, and the dog spends his remaining years in comfort. and the ancient Mexican symbolized the sacrificial fire by a blood-red hand impressed on his sanctuary walls. There is a curious story told by Fordun in his Scotichronicon, which has some interest in connection with the legend of the Tanhuser. And forsoothe there is a gret marveule: For men may see there the erthe of the tombe apertly many tymes steren and moven, as there weren quykke thinges undre. The connection of this legend of St. John with Ephesus may have had something to do with turning the seven martyrs of that city into seven sleepers. I gently rise and softly call, 33. Any one touching her received a violent shock; one medical gentleman, having seated her on his knee, was knocked clean out of his chair by the electric fluid, which thus exhibited its sense of propriety. When the time of the Crucifixion of Christ drew nigh, this wood rose to the surface, and was brought out of the water. The hermit rose from his orison, and by Gods mercy found his way back to the surface, and from that day exercised greater austerities, and after his death he was numbered with the saints. . Above the heads of the combatants flew a great swan; this was Kara, the mistress of Helgi, who had transformed herself into a bird. For many days the caravel of Don Fernando was driven about at the mercy of the elements, and the crew were in despair. She is commonly called the Papess Joan. It will be seen at once how wanting they are in all substantial evidence which could make us regard the story in any other light than myth. High up on the north-west flank of the mountain, in a precipitous wall of rock, opens a cavern, called the Hrselloch, from the depths of which issues a muffled roar of water, as though a subterraneous stream were rushing over rapidly-whirling millwheels. The ancient Aryan had the same name for cloud and mountain. Because you have set the water in motion. There the Queen of Sheba found it, and she, recognizing its virtue, had it raised. When the sentence had been pronounced by Pilate, Christ was about to be dragged past his house; then he ran home, and called together his household to have a look at Christ, and see what sort of a person He was. Bertram, who succeeded his father, readily granted the land he asked for, but was not a little vexed, when he found that, by cutting the hide into threads, Raymond had succeeded in making it include a considerable area. Sacras., tom. Rudolph Botoreus says, under this date, I fear lest I be accused of giving ear to old wives fables, if I insert in these pages what is reported all over Europe of the Jew, coeval with the Savior Christ; however, nothing is more common, and our popular historieshave not scrupled to assert it. The day of his martyrdom was the 23rd of April. No liability is accepted due to the information in this website. Or, again, if the number of the virgins were eleven, they may have been entered as SS. Shall we meet with many loved ones,Who were tom from our embrace?Shall we listen to their voices,And behold them face to face., So is a hymn from the Countess of Huntingdons collection:. At the foot of Mount Olympus bubbles up a spring which changes its flavor hour by hour, night and day, and the spring is scarcely three days journey from Paradise, out of which Adam was driven. Every succeeding hour the sick man became worse, and when the first glimpse of the morning appeared, Mr. Bunworth expired. S. Ado wrote a martyrology in 880, but makes no mention of Ursula and the other virgins; nor does Notker of S. Gall, who died in 912; nor, again, does the Cor-bey martyrology of 900; neither do the two of uncertain date called after Labbe and Richenove.
Parting The dumb child pointed out the spot where the children had vanished, and the blind boy related his sensations when he heard the piper play. Rufin. The cross is surrounded with rich feather-work, and ornamental chains[95]. The first to question the reverence shown for S. George was Calvin, who says Nil eos Christo reli-quum facere qui pro nihilo ducunt ejus intercessio-nem, nisi accedant Georgius aut Hippolitus, aut similes larvae. Dr. Reynolds follows in the wake, and identifies the martyr with the Arian Bishop of Alexandria. The two latter returned from their foraging expedition successful, but the hare had found nothing. Mezeray informs us that he was assured of the truth of the appearance of Melusina on the old tower of Lusignan, previous to the death of one of her descendants, or of a king of France, by people of reputation, and who were not by any means credulous. The story goes on to relate how that the hermit was told by an angel in vision whose the children were; how a false charge was brought against Beatrice, and she was about to be executed, when Helias appeared in the lists, and by his valour proclaimed her innocence; and how Matabrunes treachery was discovered. But it was when order was given to throw down and destroy her castles, that she uttered her loudest cries and wails. In the mean while the day of ordeal approached, and Else fell into despair. They are probably identical with the Gandharvas, heavenly musicians attending on Indra (Mahabh. lii. Every year we undertake a pilgrimage, with retinue of war, to the body of the holy prophet Daniel, which is near the desolated site of Babylon. Some of these met him on his first starting on his journey, and there were fifteen in long white garments. The home of the fable was that border-land where Germans and Kelts met, where the Nibelungen legends were brought in contact with the romances of Arthur and the Sangreal. Then the owner of the rod resumed it, and, passing over the same places, the stick rotated with such violence that it seemed easier to breakthan to stop it. In some household tales a wicked step-mother throws white skirts over her step-children, and they are at once transformed into swans. The Parting Glass is my favourite Irish Music and song at a Funeral. It occupies its legitimate position in the Creeds, and the Church has never failed to insist upon it with no faltering voice. Paludanus relates in his Thesaurus Novus, of course on incontrovertible authority, that Alexander the Great was full of desire to see the terrestrial Paradise, and that he undertook his wars in the East for the express purpose of reaching it, and obtaining admission into it. Eirek then retraced his steps to India, unmolested by the dragon, which did not affect any surprise at having to disgorge him, and, indeed, which seems to have been, notwithstanding his looks, but a harmless and passive dragon. Then he asked for the money, but it was refused. Seh ziehen die Wolke mit der Brust voll Segen,Des Mondes Kahn im Meer der Nachte prangen. Anast. Our delineations of angels in flowing white robes, with large pinions, are derived from the later Greek and Roman representations of victory; but were not these figureshalf bird, half woman derived from the Apsaras of the Vedas, who were but the fleecy clouds, supposed in the ages of mans simplicity to be celestial swans? The first night I slept under my tent in the same island, I was wakened with a start by a wild triumphant strain as of clarions pealing from the sky. May be, the shadow of the Cross was cast further back into the night of ages, and fell on a wider range of country, than we are aware of. They say that the eyes of the idol of Tehama (in South Arabia), called the eagle, are perpetually flowing with tears, and will so continue, from the night wherein it lamented over Tammuz along with the image of the Sun, because of the peculiar share that it had in the story of Tammuz. An equally remarkable illustrated work on Antichrist is the famous Liber de Antichristo, a blockbook of an early date. The face was that of a young and rather handsome woman, but pale, and the hair, which was reddish, loose and dishevelled. A little old man of the mountain this time offers to free the land of the vermin for a thousand gulden. S. George, then, according to the Oriental Christian story, suffers at least seven martyrdoms, and revives after each, the last excepted. Raymond then invited the young count to his wedding, and the marriage festivities took place, with unusual splendour, in the magnificent castle erected by Melusina. I will sing, says the Rigveda, the ancient exploits by which flashing Indra is distinguished. What thoughtful, God-fearing persons are to thinkof the said person, is at their option. Not far off, however, lived a venerable hermit, Patrick by name, who often sought the desert for the purpose of therein exercising his austerities. A Freiherr von Giittingen possessed three castles between Constance and Arbon, in the Canton of Thurgau, namely, Giittingen, Moosburg, and Ober-burg. It is likely that the tradition of the ancient druidic brotherhood lingered on and gained consistency again among the Templars. Bishop Jordanus, in his description of the world, accordingly sets down Abyssinia as the kingdom ofPrester John; and such was the popular impression, which was confirmed by the appearance at intervals of ambassadors at European courts from the King of Abyssinia. The hands seem to people to be long, and the fingers not to be parted, but united by a web like that on the feet of water-birds. In the Herverar Saga is an account of a famine in Jutland, to obtain relief from which, the nobles and farmers consulted whom to sacrifice, and they decided that the kings son was the most illustrious person they could present to Odin. The following night she re-appeared and assured him that Christ had, at her prayer, forgiven him. Arriving there, they were horrified to find his mangled body lying on the ground, though the nature of the lacerations showed that he had not had to suffer long ere death released him. But Bran smote off the head of a hostile chief, and cast the bloody head into the bowl, when it burst, and its virtues ceased. It is more than a coincidence that Osiris by the cross should give life eternal to the Spirits of the Just; that with the cross Thorr should smite the head of the Great Serpent, and bring to life those who were slain; that beneath the cross the Muysca mothers should lay their babes, trusting by that sign to secure them from the power of evil spirits; that with that symbol to protect them, the ancient people of Northern Italy should lay them down in the dust[105]. The rod in his hands was more violently moved than in those of M. Grimaut, and when I placed one of my fingers in each ofhis hands, whilst the rod turned, I felt the most extraordinary throbbings of the arteries in his palms. Pietro della Francesca also dedicated his pencil to the history of the Cross in a series of frescoes in the Chapel of the Bacci, in the church of S. Francesco at Arezzo. Virg., till the number rose at a leap to eleven thousand. Argent. This account was soon translated into other languages, and spread the fable through mediaeval Europe. Again, in the atrium this cross was repeated twenty times in the principal place before the tablinum and altar of the household divinities, and again in connexion with water. Consequently in redigging the foundations a number of bones were discovered, especially at one spot. The holy vessel gave oracles, expressed miraculously in characters which appeared on the surface of the bowl, and then vanished. Lohengrin belongs to the round table; the hero who releases Beatrice of Cleves is called Elias Grail. P. ab. [142] Afzelius, Sagohafder (2nd ed. In 1662 G.C. Kirchmayer, a Wittemberg professor, composed a thoughtful dissertation, De Paradiso, which he inserted in his Delici stiv. Fr. The water was then very low, and one of the conjuring parties had lit up this disk at the waters edge. The Eastern facade has fourteen doors opening on a terrace, with bas-reliefs between them. The material blessings are easier to be described. 8), and Job, He putteth His hand upon the rock (xxviii. Among the Babylonians the mouse was sacrificed and eaten as a religious rite, but in connexion with what god does not transpire[155]. A Wali once smashed a pot full of herbs which a cook had prepared. Contact Us. They traversed Syria, and took shipprobably at Balsora; then, reaching India, they proceeded on their journey on horseback, till they came to a dense forest, the gloom of which was so great, through the interlacing of the boughs, that even by day the stars could be observed twinkling, as though they were seen from the bottom of a well. Its hills sloped green and tufted with beauteous trees to the shore, the mountain-tops were enveloped in bright and transparent clouds, from which gushed limpid streams, which, wandering down the steep hill-sides with pleasant harp-like murmur, emptied themselves into the twinkling blue bays. Their god Thorr was the thunder, and the hammer was his symbol. Then the king came up and asked Oddr what he thought about the shot.. Now, Paris, visited for the first time by a poor peasant, itssalonsopen to him, dazzling him with their splendor, and the novelty of finding himself in the midst of princes, dukes, marquises, and their families, not only may have agitated the countryman to such an extent as to deprive him of his peculiar faculty, but may have led him into simulating what he felt had departed from him, at the moment when he was under the eyes of the grandees of the Court. An Anglo-Saxon story bears some traces of the same legend. I have dronken there of 3 of 4 sithes; and zit, methinkethe, I fare the better. Try contacting them via Messages to find out! Taliesin ben Beirdd, the famous poet of the same age, speaks of the sacred vessel in a manner which connects it with bardic mythology. The revelations of Elizabeth of Schonau, and those of Hermann, Joseph of Steinfeld, will be found in Surius, Vita Sanctorum, under October 21st. Now we desire to be made certain that youhold the right faith, and in all things cleave to Jesus Christ, our Lord, for we have heard that your court regard you as a god, though we know that you are mortal, and subject to human infirmities. There was once a Count of Seefeld, who in time of famine put all his starving poor in a dungeon, jested at their cries, which he called the squeaking of mice, and was devoured by these animals in his tower in the lake, to which he fled from them, although he suspended his bed by iron chains from the roof[140]. The title of this book is deceptive. The hero won his well-earnd placeAmid the saints, in deaths dread hour;And still the peasant seeks his grace,And next to God, reveres his power.In many a church his form is seenWith sword, and shield, and helmet sheen:Ye know him by his steed of pride,And by the dragon at his side.. Basil and St. Ambrose as his authorities for stating that it is situated on the top of a very lofty mountain in Eastern Asia; so lofty indeed is the mountain, that the waters of the four rivers fall in cascade down to a lake at its foot, with such a roar that the natives who live on the shores of the lake are stone-deaf. Into this Gest descended by a rope, holding a sword in one hand, and a taper in the other. He places horizontally between his forefingers a rod of any kind given to him, or picked up in the road, of any sort of wood except elder, fresh or dry, not always forked, but sometimes merely bent. The same motions and symptoms manifested themselves when he reached the place where the second victim had lain. Don Ioacos II. The effects produced by the lightning are differently expressed. Words fail. Above the cross is a bird of peculiar character, perched, as we saw the eagle Nisroch on a cross upon a Babylonish cylinder. Whether this legend was in the Welsh book of Walter the Archdeacon, from which the good Bishop of S. Asaph derived so much of his history, does not appear. Sigfried conquers the dragon who keeps guard over a hidden treasure, the hero kills the dragon and brings to light the treasure. The peasants tell of a certain way of obtaining possession of this stone. Aymar, however, by means of his rod, discovered the secreted property, and restored it to the persons from whom it had been stolen. ii. Fatur qud hc natoPer servum conficitur. But to confine ourselves to two pointsthe phantom western land, and the passage to it. Tanhuser was a famous minnesinger, and all his lays were of love and of women, for his heart was full of passion, and that not of the purest and noblest description. . At first sight it seems probable that Helias is identical with Helios; but the difficulty of explaining how this classic deity should have become localized in Brabant is insurmountable, and I prefer the derivation of the name Helias from the Keltic appellation of the swan. And yet, probable as this supposition may seem at first sight, it is not to be harmonized with some of the leading features of the story. In a Walachian story it is the Almighty who gives the lad a bagpipe. And the silver comb fell, the golden shuttle dropped, and the threads of their tissue were broken. Please. Other people have strange notions, but they conceal them. If you would like to know more about our individually handmade Irish Wake set click here. Her name, she told him, was Melusina; she was a water-fay of great power and wealth. On a cylinder in the Paris Cabinet of Antiquities, published by Munter[91], are four figures, the first winged, the second armed with what seems to be thunderbolts. There, in radiant halls, dwelt the spirits of the departed, ever blooming and beautiful, ever laughing and gay. I speak to you in the name of the Moon., Ahem! Now, the tales of the Seven Wise Masters are translations from a Hebrew work, the Kalilah and Dimnah of Rabbi Joel, composed about A.D. 1250, or from Simeon Seths Greek Kylile and Dimne, written in 1080. He is subjected to numerous tortures, such as the rack, iron pincers, fire, a sword-spiked wheel, shoes nailed to his feet; he is put into an iron box set within with sharp nails, and flung down a precipice; he is beaten with sledge-hammers, a pillar is laid on him, a heavy stone dashed on to his head; he is stretched on a red-hot iron bed, melted lead is poured over him; he is cast into a well, transfixed with forty long nails, shut into a brazen bull over a fire, and cast into a well with a stone round his neck. This work is simply the story of Owain slightly altered. The fellow was sent for, and he boldly asserted his capacity for detecting criminals, if he were first brought to the spot of the murder, so as to be puten rapportwith the murderers. The friend of Raleigh added that government had ordered the arrest and immediate trial of the murderer, as the man assassinated was one of the principal servants of the Spanish ambassador. Several, with inscriptions in unknown characters, have a ram on one side, and the cross and ring on the other. We have then the Eastern myth of S. George identified with that of Tammuz, by one who is impartial. They came to the tent, and the man secreted himself, but the damsel became invisible. Traditional farewell songs Top. 1013; and the Gospel, S. John xv. Hob XXXIa 254. The Emperor Decius, who persecuted the Christians, having come to Ephesus, ordered the erection of temples in the city, that all might come and sacrifice before him; and he commanded that the Christians should be sought out and given their choice, either to worship the idols, or to die. in the name of Jesus Christ, I will assist you. Brave knight! said she; do not seek to die with me; enough that I should perish; for you can neither assist nor deliver me, and you will only die with me., At this moment the monster rose above the surface of the water. Let us follow Launcelot who was on a ship. At her approach the little ones extended their arms and smiled, and she took them to her breast and suckled them; but as the grey dawn stole in at the casement, she vanished, and the childrens cries told the nurses that their mother was gone. At the end of nine months, the wife of Helias gave birth to a daughter, who was named Ydain at the font, and who afterwards became the mother of Godfrey de Bouillon, King of Jerusalem, and of his brothers Baldwin and Eustace. He then performed some miracles, raised a dead man to life, and restored to life an ox which had been killedmiracles which resulted in numerous conversions. On hearing this, Perceval sought out and slew Pertinax, healed his uncle, obtained in return the sacred vessel and the bleeding lance, and retired to a hermitage.