Chapter 27

This mode of representing Death, which soon became universal, stands in sharp contrast with the ancient portraitures and the old heathen conceptions of him. The engaging form of the genius, akin to Sleep, the childlike Angel of death, is now supplanted by a ghastly figure copied from the grim reality of corruption in the grave. Yet even here poetry steps in with her all-embracing, all-mellowing influence. The older conceptions of Death as leading away, as attacking, as dancing, applied to this new and hideous figure, have called forth a host of truly popular, naïve and humorous art-productions; nay, their wealth is not nearly exhausted by the artists yet. Without this bag of bones aping the garb and gestures of the living, (28) and his startling incongruity with the warm life around, all the charm and quaintness of those compositions would be gone. Less enjoyable must have been the processions and plays in which these spectacles were exhibited in France during the 15^th cent. and perhaps earlier; there and then originated that peculiar name for the Dance of Death: chorea Machabaeorum, Fr. la danse Macabre. (29)

Another name of Death, much later seemingly than Blicker, but now universally known, is Freund Hein or Hain; I cannot even trace it up to the middle of last century. (30) In itself it looks old and fitting enough, and is susceptible of more than one explanation. Considering that Death has so many points of contact with giants and other spirits, the name Heine (p. 503) might be borrowed from the homesprite for one, and the addition of Friend would answer to the 'fellow, neighbour, goodfellow' of those elvish beings whom we meet with under the name of Heimchen, Heinchen (pp. 275. 459n.), and who border closely on the idea of departed spirits. Add the L. Germ. term for a winding-sheet, heinenkleed (p. 446). But it is also spelt hünenkleed, which brings us to 'heun, hüne,' giant (p. 523); and Hein itself might be explained as Heimo (p. 387), or Hagano (p. 371). A Voigtland story of the god Hain (Jul. Schmidt, p. 150), or the Thuringian one about an ancient haingott, grove-god (Rosencranz's Neue zeitschr. i. 3, 27), being themselves very doubtful, I am not inclined to fasten on our still doubtful Friend Hein. Still less attention is due to a name for mortuarium, 'hainrecht,' (31) coming as it probably does from heimrecht, i.e. heimfall, lapse of property.

Kaisersberg calls Death holz-meier, wood-mower. He wrote a book, De arbore humana (Strasb. 1521 fol.), 'wherein easily and to the glory of God ye may learn to await blithely the woodcutter Death.' Then, p. 118b: 'So is death called a village-mower or wood-mower, and justly hath he the name, for he hath in him the properties of a wood-cutter, as please God, ye shall hear. The first property of the village-mower is communitas, he being possessed in common by all such as be in the village, and being to serve them all alike. So is the wood-cutter likewise common to all the trees, he overlooketh no tree, but heweth them down all.' (32) Here Death is regarded as a forester, a ranger, who has a right to fell any of the forest-trees. It is said that in some places the gravedigger is called holzmeier.

In the Deutsche Schlemmer, a drama of the 16^th cent., Death is called the pale Steckefuss or Steckebein (leg-stretcher), as Gryphius too (Kirchhofsged. 36) names him Streckfuss, because he stretches out the limbs of the dying, loosens them (lusimelhj); and before that, the twice quoted Meister-song of the 14^th cent. has: 'er hat kein ru, er hab gestrecket mir das fell (my skin),' Hag. mus. 2, 188. In Chr. Weise's Drei erzn. 314 I find Streckebein and Bleckezahn, bleak (i.e. bared) teeth; and elsewhere Dürrbein, Klapperbein, names for a skeleton. The allusion in kupferbickel (Ackerm. aus B. p. 34) remains obscure (see Suppl.).

It remains for me to mention certain more fully developed myths respecting Death, which have survived from assuredly a remote antiquity.

H. Sachs (1, 102b), speaking of Death's arrival, says he twitches or jerks the stool from under man, tips it over, so that he tumbles to the ground. He takes from him his seat and standing among the living: I suspect there was a fuller story at the back of this. More commonly the same thing is expressed by 'Death has blown the man's candle out' (as Berhta blew out the lights of the eyes, p. 277), for the notions of light, life and sojourn among the living, run into one another. (33) The living principle was linked to a light, a taper, a brand: when these were wasted, death ensued (pp. 409. 415). Here then the idea of Death is intimately connected with that of fate. The genius lowers his torch, reverses it, and the light of life is quenched. For the child as soon as born, the norn has kindled a light, to which his thread of life is fastened; possibly even our lighting of tapers in connection with birthday gifts has reference to this. (34) We have a capitally contrived story of Gossip Death (gevatter Tod, Kinderm. no. 44), the conclusion of which represents a subterranean cavern, with thousands of lights burning in endless rows. These are the lives of men, some still blazing as long tapers, others burnt down to tiny candle-ends; but even a tall taper may topple or be tipt over. The preceding part relates, how Death has stood gossip (35) to a poor man, and has endowed his godson with the gift of beholding him bodily when he approaches the sick, and of judging by his position whether the patient will recover or not. (36) The godson becomes a physician, and attains to wealth and honours: if Death stands at the sick man's head, it is all over with him; if at his feet, he will escape. Occasionally the doctor turns the patient round, and circumvents Death; but in the end Death has his revenge, he catches his godson napping, and knocks his candle over. (37) Throughout this fable Death shows himself friendly, good-natured and indulgent, only in case of absolute need does he fulfil his function; hence too his gossiphood (38) with man, which evidently corresponds to that ancient visit of the norns to the newborn child, and their bestowing gifts on him (pp. 408-12), as in some nursery-tales the fays are invited to stand godmothers. (39) The extinguished light resembles the taper and the brand, to which are linked the lives of Nornagestr and Meleager (pp. 409. 415). It is then a primitive myth of heathen Germany; in telling which, Death was pictured, even till recent times, not as a skeleton, but in the shape of a living man or god. We cannot wonder that the story is found with a great many variations, which are collected, though still incompletely, in Kinderm. 3, 72: in some of them Death presents his godson with a ring, by which he can judge of diseases. (40) Old Hugo von Trimberg at the close of his work had told a tale 'von dem Tôde, wie er ein kint huop (took up),' but there is not much in it (Bamb. ed. 23665-722): Death promises to send his gossip some messengers before he comes to fetch him (as in the Meister-song p. 847n.); these are, ringing in the ears, running at the eyes, toothache, wrinkled skin, and grizzled beard. The gossiphood is the only guarantee of any connection with the later märchen.----The resemblance of the OHG. toto, godfather, MHG. tote (Parz. 461, 10. Wh. 7, 21) to tôt, death, is striking, though strictly the quality of the vowel keeps the two words apart, and to harmonize them some derivative process must be presupposed. The story never grew out of a play on the words (see Suppl.). (41)

Equally celebrated, but gayer in tone, is the tale of Death and Player Jack (Spielhansel, no. 82; conf. 3, 135-148), who by a spell binds Death to a tree, so that nobody dies in the world for seven years. Welcker (Append. to Schwenk p. 323-4) has pointed out a parallel story in Pherekydes, how Death is set on by Zeus to attack Sisyphos, who binds him in strong chains, and then no one can die; Hades himself comes and sets Death free, and delivers Sisyphos into his hands. Our German fable interweaves the Devil into the plot. Once the Devil was put in possession of hell, he had to take his place beside Death, as the alliteration 'death and devil!' couples them together. So Welnas, Wels, originally the death-god of the Lithuanians and Lettons, got converted into the Devil. According to the christian view, angels received the souls of the just, devils those of the wicked (p. 836); therefore Death in coming for souls was divided into a double power, according as he resembled the angel or devil. As angelic messanger, he comes nearest the christian Michael, whose office it was to receive souls (Morolt 2660. 2715), conf. p. 836. Of very aged people, who still live on, we say 'Death has forgotten to fetch them.' The Nib. Lament 122 has: 'der Tôt het ir minne, die dâ sterben solden,' D. bore those in mind that there should die, or, as Lachmann interprets it, desired them for his band. (conf. p. 848).

These investigations will hardly have left it doubtful, that the heathen 'Death' is one of a secondary order of gods; hence too he coincides more especially with the semi-divine valkyrs and norns, he is dependent on Oðinn and Hel; of the Grecian gods, it is Hermes and Hades, Persephone and the ferryman Charon that come nearest to him. But his nature is also not unrelated to that of elves, homesprites and genii.

Chap. XXIV. has explained how he got mixed up with one of the time-gods, Winter; no wonder therefore that he now and then reminds us of Kronos.

In our Heldenbuch, Death figures as a false god, whom the heathen Belligan serves above all other gods, and whose image is demolished by Wolfdietrich. I do not know exactly how to account for this: it must be a diabolic being that is meant.

In the Finnish lays, Manala and Tuonela are often named together, but as separate beings. One is the underworld, from 'maa,' earth; the other the kingdom of the dead, as Tuon (qanatoj) is Death, Halja. In Kalewala, runes 6-9, Tuonela seems to be a river of the underworld, with sacred swans swimming on it (see Suppl.).




ENDNOTES:

28. As the beasts in a fable ape those of men. [Back]

29. Latest writings on the Dance of Death: Peignot, 'Recherches sur les danses des morts' (1826). F. Douce, 'The Dance of Death' (1833). The latter derives Macabre from St. Macarius, to whom three skeletons appeared in a vision. I do not see how 'chorea Machabaeorum,' as the oldest authorities have it, could have come from that; conf. Carpentier sub v. (a. 1424-53). It ought to appear by the old paintings, that the 7 heroes of the O.T. martyred in one day [2 Maccabees 7] were incorporated as leading characters of the dance. Perhaps it is more correct to explain 'macabre' from the Arabic magabir, magabaragh (dead-yard, cimeterium). On the French performances conf. Michelet's Hist. de France 4, 409-412 (Paris 1840). [Back]

30. It is used by Musäus (Volksm. 1, 16), Claudius and Gotter. J. R. Schellenberg in Pref. to Freund Heins erscheinungen (Winterthur 1785) thinks Claudius in his Asmus (after 1775) invented the name, which I very much doubt; he has given it currency. [Back]

31. Mittermaier's Privatrecht §77, no. 27. [Back]

32. The earlier editions in Latin (1514, 115b,c, and 1519, 105b,c) have in parentheses 'der dormeyger' and 'der holzmeyger.' [Back]

33. Wh. 416, 14: bî liehter sunnen dâ verlasch (went out) manegem Sarrazîn sîn lieht.' Lohengr. 133: 'er sluoc in, daz im muose daz lieht erlischen.' [Back]

34. In the child's game 'If the fox dies I get the skin' (Kinderm. 2, xviii), a piece of burning wood is passed round, and its extinction decides. [Back]

35. God-sib expresses the kinship of god-parents to each other or to the parents.----Trans. [Back]

36. So the bird charadrius, by looking at or away from you, decides your life or death, Freid. introd. lxxxvi., where a couplet in Titurel 5154-5 and the O. Fr. Bestiaire (Roquef. sub v. caladrio) are left unnoticed. [Back]

37. May not that 'stool' also, when upset, have knocked the candle over? [Back]

38. Is Death likewise called the brother of man, as he is of Sleep? The 'bruoder tôt' in Ben. 262 means fratris mors. [Back]

39. The semi-divine norns and fays protect and bestow gifts like christian sponsors. [Back]

40. Ettner's Unwürd. doctor p. 290. [Back]

41. Conf. p. 14 on the affinity between god and gôde. [Back]