| ||
Home | Site Index | Heithinn Idea Contest | | ||
Grimm's TM - Chap. 9 Chapter 9
Amongst the train of Ares and Mars there appear certain mythic
beings who personify the notions of fear and horror. Demoj
and FÒboj (Il. 4, 440. 11, 317. 15, 119)
answer to the Latin Pallor and Pavor; it is the two former that harness the
steeds of Ares, FÒboj is called his son
(13, 299), and in Aeschylus he is provided with a dwelling (mlaqron
tectum), out of which he suddenly leaps. So in the old Bohemian songs, Tras
(tremor) and Strakh (terror) burst out of forest shades on the enemy's bands,
chase them, press on their necks and squeeze out of their throats a loud cry.
(Königinh. hs. 84. 104); they are ghostly and spectral. This borders upon Vôma,
Omi and Yggr (pp. 119, 120), terms which designate the god himself, not his
companions, sons or servants, yet they again bear witness to the community there
was between Wuotan and Zio. Thôrr was called ôtti iötna, terror gigantum. When
in our modern phraseology fear 'surprises, seizes, shakes, deprives of sense,'
personfication is not far off; in the Iliad also 17, 67 clwrÕn
doj (neut.) are,
pale fear seizes; but masculine embodiments like demoj,
fÒboj, pallor, pavor, tras, strakh, bring it more vividly before us,
and pavor was weakened by passing into the fem. paura, peur of the Romance.
AS. þâ hine se brôga ongeat (terror eum invasit), Beow. 2583. OHG. forhta cham
mih ana, N. ps. 54, 5; forhta anafiel ubar inan, T. 2, 4; conf. MHG. diu sorge
im was sô verre entriten, sie möhte erreichen niht ein sper, fear was fled so
far from him, a spear could not reach it, Wh. 280, 10 (see Suppl.). But further
on, we shall get acquainted with a female Hilta, comparable to the Lat. Bellona
and the Gr. Enyo and Eris, who is really one with war and the war-god. Týr is described in Sn. 105 as a son of Oðinn, but in the Hymisqviða
as a kinsman of the giants. His mother, whose name is not found, but whose beauty
is indicated by the epithet all- gullin, all-golden, Sæm. 53ª, must have been
a giant's daughter, who bore to Oðinn this immortal son (see Suppl.). << Previous Page Next Page >>
© 2004-2007 Northvegr. Most of the material on this site is in the public domain. However, many people have worked very hard to bring these texts to you so if you do use the work, we would appreciate it if you could give credit to both the Northvegr site and to the individuals who worked to bring you these texts. A small number of texts are copyrighted and cannot be used without the author's permission. Any text that is copyrighted will have a clear notation of such on the main index page for that text. Inquiries can be sent to info@northvegr.org. Northvegr™ and the Northvegr symbol are trademarks and service marks of the Northvegr Foundation. |
|