Chapter 22

The small, almost invisible star just above the middle one in the waggon's thill has a story to itself. It is called waggoner, hind, in Lower Germany dümeke, thumbkin, dwarf, Osnabr. dümke, Meckl. duming, in Holstein 'Hans Dümken, Hans Dümkl sitt opm wagn.' They say that once a waggoner, having given our Saviour a lift, was offered the kingdom of heaven for his reward; but he said he would sooner be driving from east to west to all eternity (as the wild hunter wished for evermore to hunt). His desire was granted, there stands his wagon in the sky, and the highest of the three thill-stars, the 'rider' so-called, is that waggoner. Another version in Müllenhoff's Schles. Holst. sagen no. 484. I daresay the heathen had a similar fiction about Wôdan's charioteer. Joh. Praetorius De suspecta poli declinatione, Lips. 1675, p. 35: 'qui hanc stellam non praeteriissent, etiamsi minor quam Alcor, das knechtgen, der dümeke, das reuterlein, knechtfink fuisset;' and again on the thief's thumb, p. 140: 'fabula de pollicari auriga, dümeke, fuhrman.' That the same fancy of the waggoner to this constellation prevails in the East, appears from Niebuhr's Arabia, and the Hungarian Göntzöl seems closely related to him; in Greek legend likewise Zeus places the waggon's driver (hniocoj ) or inventor Erichthonius among the stars, though not in the Great Bear, but between Perseus and the Twins in the galaxy. The Bohemian formánek, wozatag (auriga) or bowozny signify Arcturus, Boötes and Erichthonius (Jungm. 1, 550. 3, 401), and palecky u wozu thumblings on waggon. But in Slovènic, it seems, hervor (Murko 85. arnik 229b) and burovzh mean the waggoner and the Polar Star.

The cluster of brilliant stars in which the Greeks recognised the figure of Orion (58) had various Teutonic names, the reason of which are not always clear to us now. First, the three stars in a line that form Orion's belt are called in Scandinavia Friggjarrockr, Friggerok (pp. 270. 302-3), and also by transfer to Mary Mariärok, Marirok (Peter Syv in the Danske digtek. middelald. 1, 102), Mariteen; here is plain connecting of a star-group with the system of heathen gods. The same three stars are to this day called by the common folk in Up. Germany the three mowers, because they stand in a row like mowers in a meadow: a homely designation, like that of waggon, which arose in the childlike fancy of a pastoral people. OHG. glosses name Orion pfluoc (aratrum), and in districts on the Rhine he is called the rake (rastrum): he is a tool of the husbandman or the mower. The Scotch pleuch, Engl. plough, is said of Charle's wain. Some AS. (perhaps more OS) glosses translate Orion by eburðring, eburðrung, ebirdring, ebirthiring (Gl. Jun. 369. 371), (59) which in pure AS. would have been eoforðryng, eforðring; it can mean nothing but boar-throng, since þryng, as well as þrang, Mid. Lat. drungus, is turba. How any one came to see a herd of wild boards in the group, or which stars of Orion it included, I do not know: the wild huntsman of the Greek legend may have nothing to do with it, as neither that legend nor the group as seen by Greek eyes includes any hunted animal; the boars of the Teutonic constellation have seemingly quite a different connexion, and perhaps are founded on mere comparison. OHG. glosses give us no epurdrunc, but its relation to Iuwaring and Iring was pointed out, p. 359 note. In the latter part of the Mid. Ages our 'three mowers' or the Scandinavian 'Mary's distaff' is called Jacobs-stab, Boh. Jahubahul; the heathenish spindle, like the heathenish Irmin-street (p. 357 note), is handed over to the holy apostle, who now staff in hand, paces the same old heavenly path; in some parts Peter's staff is preferred. The Esthonians call Orion warda tähhed, spear stars, from 'wardas' spear, and perhaps staff, like St. Jame's staff. The Lithuanians szenpjuwis, hay-star? from 'szen' foenum (Nesselmann 515), as August is called szenpjutis; because the constellation rises at hay-harvest? perhaps also with reference to the 'three mowers' ? for in the same way several Slav nations have the name kosi scythes, Boh. kosy (Jungm. 2, 136), Pol. kosy (linde 1092ª), slovèn. koszi (Murko 142) mowers. Other Slavic names of Orion are shtupka (Bosn. Bible, 3, 154), for which we ought to read shtapka, in Vuk shtaka crutch, crosier, from our stäbchen, Carniol. pálize staves in Stulli babini sctapi old wives' staves; and kruzilice, (60) wheelers, rovers? from 'kruziti' vagari (see Suppl.).

Between the shoulders of the Bull is a space thickly sown with stars, but in which seven (really six) larger ones are recognisable; hence it is called sieben-gestirn, OHG. thaz sibunstirri, O. v. 17, 29. Diut. i. 520ª. Gl. Jun. 188 (where it is confounded with the Hyades not far off, in the Bull's head). Beside the purely arithmetical denomination, there are others more living: Gr. Pleiadej, seven daughters of Atlas and Pleïone, whom Zeus raised to the sky, Il. 18, 486. Od. 5, 272, and who, like the Norse Thiassi and Örvandill, are of giant kin; but some explain these Pleiads from peleiaj wild dove, which is usually peleia . (61) Lat. Vergiliae, of which Festus gives a lame explanation. A German poet writes virîlie, Amgb. 42b.

The picture of the Pleiades that finds most favour among the people in Germany and almost all over Europe is that of a hen and seven chickens, which at once reminds us of the Greek seven doves. (62) Mod. Gr. poulia (Fauriel 2, 277). Our klucke, kluckerin, kluckhenne, brut-henne mit den hünlein; Dan. aften-höne, evening-hen (-hönne, Dansk. digtek. middelald. 1, 102); Engl. hen with her chickens; Fr. la poussinière, in Lorraine poucherosse, covrosse (couveuse, brood-hen, qui conduit des poussins) (63); Gris. cluotschas or cluschas the cluck-hens; Ital. gallinelle; Boh. slepice s kurátky hen with chickens; Hung. fiastik, fiastyuk from tik, tyuk gallina, and fiazom pario. The sign of the cluck-hen seems to me intergrown with our antiquity. Nursery tales bring in a peculiar feature, viz. that three nuts or eggs having been given as a present, out of them come a golden dress, a silver dress, and a cluckie with seven (or twelve) chickies, the three gifts representing sun, moon and seven-stars. Kinderm. no. 88 (2, 13). So in the Introd. to the Pentamerone, out of the miraculous nut comes a voccola co duduece polecine. Now the Hungarian tale in Gaal p. 381 has 'golden hen and six chickens,' meaning the Pleiades; and the maiden, seeking her lost lover, has to obtain access to him by the valuables contained in three nuts; these were three dresses, on which severally were worked the sun, the moon, and the seven-stars (conf. Wigal. 812), being gifts of Sun, Moon, and Seven-stars, bestowed upon her in her wanderings. The third dress tradition at last converted into the cluckie herself. Treasure-hunters dig for the costly cluckie with her chicks; conf. the sunken hoard, Chap. XXXII. A 'hen and twelve hünkeln' was also an earthly fine, Weisth. 1, 465. 499. I am not sure that we are entitled to connect the nut with 'Iduns huot'; but what is 'sun, moon and cluckie' with us, is with the Finns far more plainly 'päiwä, kuu, otawa,' i.e. sun, moon, bear. The Span. name is 'las siete cabrillas' seven kids. (64) Pol. baby old wives, Russ. baba old wife [and nasédka sitting hen], Linde 1, 38ª; Serv. vlashitsi (Vuk 78), vlashnitsi, (Bosn. Bible 3, 154, 223), Slovèn. vlastovtse swallows? but Jarnik 229b explains it 'ramstäbe,' which I do not understand. The O. Boh. name too is obscure, sczyetnycze pleiades (Hanka's Glossen 58b)= stetnice, bristly ones, from stetina seta? Slovèn. gostosévtsi, gostozhirtsi the thick-sown? The last name agrees with the Lith. and Finn. view, viz. the constellation is a sieve having a great many holes, or sifting out a heap of flour: Lith. sëtas Lett. setinsh, Esth. sööl or söggel, Finn. seula, seulainen. Why does Suchenwirt 4, 326 say, 'daz her daz tailt sich in daz lant gleich recht als ain sibenstirn'? because the army is so thickly spread over the land? (see Suppl.)

The origin of the Pleiades is thus related: Christ was passing a baker's shop, when He smelt the new bread, and sent his disciples to ask for a loaf. The baker refused, but the baker's wife and her six daughters were standing apart, and secretly gave it. For this they were set in the sky as the Seven-stars, while the baker became the cuckoo (p. 676 baker's man), and so long as he sings in spring, from St. Tiburtius's day to St. John's, the Seven-stars are visible in heaven. Compare with this the Norwegian tale of Gertrude's bird (p. 673).

There may be a few more stars for which popular names still exist. (65) In Lith. the Kids are artojis su jáuczeis plougher with oxen, and Capella neszeja walgio food-bearer (f.). Hanka's O. Boh. gl. 58b gives hrusa for Aldebaran, przyczek for Arcturus. We might also expect to find names for the Hyades and Cassiopeia. But many stars are habitually confounded, as the Pleiades with the Hyades or Orion, and even with the Wain and Arcturus; (66) what is vouched for by glosses alone, is not to be relied upon. Thus I do not consider it proved as yet that the names plough and eburdrung really belong to Orion. By 'plough' the Irish Fairy-tales 2, 123 mean the Wain rather than Orion, and who knows but the 'throng of boars' may really stand for the Uadej (from uj ) (67) and the Lat. Suculae ? (see Suppl.).

Still more unsafe and slippery is the attempt to identify the constellations of the East, founded as they are on such a different way of looking at the heavens. Three are named in Job 9, 9: wi âsh, hmyk kîmeh, ly,k ksîl; (68) which the Septuagint renders pleiadej, esperoj, arktouroj, the Vulgate 'Arcturus, Orion, Hyades,' and Luther 'the Wain, Orion, the Glucke (hen).' In Job 38, 31 kîmeh and ksîl are given in the LXX as pleiadej, Wriwn, in Vulg. as 'Pleiades, Arcturus,' in Diut. 1, 520 as 'Siebenstirni, Wagan,' and in Luther as 'Siebenstern, Orion.' For ksîl in Isaiah 13, 10 the LXX has Wriwn, Vulg. merely 'splendor,' Luther 'Orion.' In Amos 5, 8 kîmeh and ksîl are avoided in LXX, but rendered in Vulg. 'Arcturus, Orion,' and by Luther 'the Glucke, Orion.' Michaelis drew up his 86 questions on the meaning of these stars, and Niebuhr received the most conflicting answers from Arabian Jews; (69) on the whole it seemed likeliest, that [1] âsh was the Arabian constellation om en nâsh, [2] kimeh or chima the Arab. torîye, [3] ksîl the Arab. sheil (sihhêl); the three corresponding to Ursa major, Pleiades and Sirius. If we look to the verbal meanings, nâsh which some Arabs do change into ash, is feretrum, bier or barrow, (70) a thing not very different from a 'wain'; kimeh, kima seems to signify a thick cluster of stars, much the same sense as in that name of 'sieve': ksîl, means foolish, ungodly, a lawless giant, hence Orion.




ENDNOTES:

58. Our MHG. poets adopt Oriôn without translating it, MS. 1, 37ª. The Romans, acc. to Varro and Festus, called it Jugula, it is not known why. [Back]

59. The second passage has 'eburdnung,' an error, but an evidence of the MS.'s age, for the 8-9th cent. the second stroke of r was made as long as that of n. [Back]

60. Dobrowsky's Slavin p. 425; the Pol. kruzlic is crocklet, mug. Hanka's Altböhm. glossen have 66, 857 kruzlyk circulea, 99, 164 krusslyk lix, which I do not understand. Can it be crutch? [Back]

61. The Suppl. adds: 'the Pleiades, like doves, carry ambrosia to Zeus, but one always gets lost in passing the Planctae rocks, and Zeus fills up their number again, Athen. 4. 325-6.'---Homer tells the story simply of doves, pelaiai, Od. 12, 61.---Trans. [Back]

62. Conf. Pentam. 4, 8 'li sette palommielle,' seven children transformed. [Back]

63. Mém. des antiq. 4, 376. 6, 121-9. [Back]

64. Don Quixote 2, 41 (Idel. 4, 83; conf. 6, 242). [Back]

65. Cymric and Gaelic Bibles (Job 9, 9), retain the Latin names from the Vulgate; from which it does not follow that these languages lack native names for stars. Armstrong cites Gael. crannarain, baker's peel, for the Pleiades, and dragblod, firetail, for the Lesser Bear. [Back]

66. Keisersperg's Postil 206: 'the sea-star or the Wain, or die henn mit den hünlin as ye call it.' Grobianus 1572 fol. 93b: 'wo der wagen steht, und wo die gluck mit hünkeln geht.' Several writers incorrectly describe the 'dümke, düming' as 'siebengestirn'; even Tobler, when he says 370b 'three stars of the siebeng. are called the horses. near which stands a tiny star, the waggoner,' is evidently thinking of the Wain's thill [Germans often take the 'seven-stars' for Ursa instead of Pleiades]. [Back]

67. It has long been thought a settled point, that Suculae (little sows) was a blundering imitation of Uadej, as if that came from uj a sow, whereas it means 'the rainers' from uein to rain ('ab imbribus,' Cicero; 'pluvio nomine,' Pliny). Does the author mean to reopen the question? Did the later Greeks and Romans, ashamed of having these 'little sows' in the sky, invent the 'rainers' theory? May not Suculae at all events be a genuine old Roman name, taken from some meritorious mythical pigs?---Trans. [Back]

68. In Hebr. the three words stand in the order 'âsh, k'sîl, kîmâh; and their transposition here does some injustice to the Vulg. and Luther. As a fact, two out of the four times that k'sîl occurs, it is Wriwn in LXX, and the other two times it is Orion in Vulgate. Luther and the Engl. version are consistent throughout.----Trans. [Back]

69. Beschr. von Arabien p. 114; some more Arabian names of stars, pp. 112-6. [Back]

70. Bocharti hierorz., ed. Rosenmüller 2, 680. [Back]