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Grimm's TM - Supplement Chap. 14 Sup.
CONDITION OF GODS. p. 318. ) The heathen notion of the power of the gods is esp.
seen in their being regarded as wonder-workers, who did not sink into sorcerers
till Christian times; conf. p. 1031. GDS. 770. The giants on the other hand
were looked upon, even by the heathen, as stupid, pp. 526-8-9. ----- The longevity
of gods (long-aevi, lanc-libôn, Notk. Cap. 144) depends on simple food and a
soul free from care (p. 320-4). So thinks Terence, Andr. 5, 5: ego vitam deorum
propterea sempiternam esse arbitror, quod voluptates eorum propriae sunt; and
the dwarfs ascribe their long and healthy lives to their honesty and temperance
(p. 458). ----- Amrita (Somad. 1, 127) is derived by Bopp. Gl. 17a, from a priv.
and mrita mortuus, hence immortal and conferring immortality; and a-mbrosia
(279a) fr. a-mrosia, brotoj being for mrotoj.
Various accounts of its manufacture in Rhode's Relig. bildung d. Hindus 1, 230.
It arises from the churning of the ocean, says Holtzmann 3, 146-150, as ambrosia
did from treading the wine press, K. F. Hermann's Gottesd. alth. p. 304. Doves
carry ambrosia to Zeus, Od. 12, 63; conf. Athen. 4, 317. 321-5. Ambrosia and
nectar are handed to goddess Calypso, while Odysseus partakes of earthly food
beside her, Od. 5, 199. Moirai eat the sweet heavenly food of honey (p. 415n.).
Even the horses of gods have in their manger ambrosia and nectar, Plato's Phædr.
247. Yet the gods eat white alfiton, meal (Athen.
1, 434), which Hermes buys for them in Lesbos. Ambrosial too is the odour shed
around the steps of deity (Suppl. to 327 end), of which Plautus says in Pseud.
iii. 2, 52:
ibi odos demissis pedibus in coelum volat;
eum odorem coenat Juppiter cotidie. p. 320. ) The belief of the Greeks in the Immortality of their
gods was not without exceptions. In Crete stood a tomb with the inscription:
'Zeus has long been dead (teqnewj palai), he thunders
no more,' Lucian's Jup. tragoed. 45; conf. p. 453n. Frigga's death is told by
Saxo, ed. M. 44; dead Baldr appears no more among the gods, Sæm. 63b; then Freyr
falls in fight with Surtr, Týr with Garmr, Thôrr with miðgarðsormr; Oðinn is
swallowed by the wolf, Loki and Heimðall slay each other. Duke Julius 302-3.
870 (in Nachtbüchlein, 883), says he has heard that the Lord God was dead (the
Pope?). ----- Oðinn and Saga drink, Sæm. 41a; Heimðall drinks mead 41b, and
always 'gladly' : drecka glöð 41a. dreckr glaðr 41b (p. 324). Thôrr eats and
drinks enormously, Sæm. 73b. Sn. 86, and a Norweg. tale of his being invited
to a wedding. p. 321. ) Of a god it is said: rhidiwj eqelwn,
Od. 16, 198. rhidion qeoisi 211; of Circe: reia
parexelqousa, Od. 10, 573. Zeus can do the hardest things, ouden
asqmainwn menei, Æsch. Eum. 651. In Sn. formâli 12, Thôrr attains his
full strength at twelve years, and can lift ten bear's hides at once. Wäinämöinen,
the day after his birth, walks to the smithy, and makes himself a horse. p. 322. ) Got ist noch liehter (brighter) denne der tac (day),
der antlitzes sich bewac (assumed a visage)
nâch menschen antlitze. Parz. 119, 19. p. 323. ) Numen, orig. a neuma, nutus,
means the nod of deity, and deity itself, as Festus says (ed. O. Müller 173,
17): numen quasi nutus dei ac potestas dicitur. Athena also 'nods' with her
eyebrows: ep ofrusi neuse, Od. 16, 164. Diu (frau
Minne) winket mir nû, daz ich mit ir gê, Walth. 47, 10; and Egilss. p. 305-6
has a notable passage on letting the eyebrows fall. Les sorcils abessier, Aspr.
45b. sa (si a) les sorcils levez, Paris expt. p. 104. Thôrr shakes his beard,
Sæm. 70a. The anger, hatred, vengeance of the gods was spoken of on p. 18-9.
They punish misdeeds, boasting, presumption. Their envy, fqonoj,
is discussed by Lehrs in Königsb. abh. iv. 1, 135 seq.; conf. qelgein
(Suppl. to 331). twn tinoj fqonerwn daimonwn mhcanh gegone,
Procop. 2, 358. thj tuchj o fqonoj 2, 178. ephreia
daimonoj = tantalizing behaviour of a god, Lucian pro lapsu in salut.
1. Loki loves mischief when he brings about the death of Baldr. So the devil
laughs to scorn: der tiuvel des lachet, Diut. 3, 52. smutz der tiuvel, welch
ein rât! Helbl. 5, 89. des mac der tiuvel lachen 15, 448; conf. the laughing
of ghosts (p. 945). p. 324. ) Radii capitis appear in pictures, Not. dign. orient.
pp. 53. 116. Forcellini sub. v. radiatus. Ztschr. des Hess. ver. 3, 366-7. astraphn
eiden eklamyasan apo tou paidoj, saw lightning flash out of his son (Asklepios),
Paus. ii. 26, 4. dô quam unser vrôve zu ime, und gotlîche schîne gingen ûz irme
antlitze (fr. Mary's face), D. myst. 1, 219. p. 325. ) The Homeric gods are without care, autoi
de t akhdeej eisin, Il. 24, 526; they are blessed, serene, and rejoice
in their splendour. Zeus sits on Olympus, kudei gaiwn
(glad of his glory), terpi-keraunoj (delighting in
thunder), and looks down at the smoking sacrifices of those he has spared. Ares
too, and Briareus are kudei gaiontej. A god feels
no pain: eiper qeoj gar estin, ouk aisqhsetai, Aristoph.
Frogs 634. So Grîpir is 'glaðr konôngr,' Sæm. 172b. ----- The gods laugh: gelwj
d ep autw toij qeoij ekinhqh, Babr. 56, 5; risus Jovis = vernantis coeli
temperies, Marc. Cap. (conf. giant Svâsuðr, p. 758). subrisit crudele pater
(Gradivus), Claudian in Eutr. 2, 109. Callaecia risit floribus ...... per herbam
fluxere rosae, Claud. laus Serenae 71. 89. riserunt floribus amnes, Claud. Fl.
Mall. 273; conf. laughing or sneezing out roses, rings, etc. Athena too is said
to meidan, Od. 13, 287. p. 327. ) For gods becoming visible Homer has a special word enarghj:
calepoi de qeoi fainesqai enargeij, Il. 20, 131. qeoi
fainontai enargeij, Od. 7, 201. 16, 161. enarghj hlqe
3, 420. enarghj suggenomenoj, Lucian's Sat. 10. -----
Gods can appear and vanish as they please, without any outward means: dwarfs
and men, to become invisible, need the tarn-hat or a miraculous herb. No one
can see them against their will: tij an qeon ouk eqelonta
ofqalmoisin idoit h enq h enqa kionta; Od. 10. 573. ----- As a god can
hear far off: kluei de kai proswqen wn qeoj, Æsch.
Eum. 287. 375; as 'Got und sîn muoter sehent dur die steine,' MS. 2, 12a; so
gods and spirits enter locked and guarded chambers unperceived, unhindered,
Holtzm. 3, 11. 48. Dame Venus comes 'dur ganze mûren,' p. 455-6; the Minne conducts
'durch der kemenâten ganze want,' through the chamber's solid wall, Frib. Trist.
796. St. Thomas walks through a closed door, Pass. 248, 26-7. Athena's messenger
eishlqe para klhidoj imanta, Od. 4, 802. para
klhida liasqh 4, 838. Loki slips through the bora Sn. 356; and devils
and witches get in at the keyhole. Examples of sudden appearance, p. 400; disappearance, p. 951-2.
Oðinn, Höner, Loki in the Färöe poem, when invoked, immediately appear and help.
Sudden appearing is expressed in ON. both by the verb hverfa: þâ hvarf Fiölnir,
Völsungas. c. 17; and by the noun svipr, Fornald. sög. 1, 402. Sæm. 157a. der
engel von himele sleif, Servat. 399. dô sih der rouh ûf bouch, der engel al
damit flouch, Maria 158, 2. er fuor in die lüfte hin, die wolken in bedacten,
Urstende 116, 75; conf. 'rîða lopt ok lög,' and p. 1070-1. der menschlîch schîn
niht bleib lang, er fuor dahin, Ls. 3, 263. Homer uses anaissein
of Ares and Aphrodite: anaixante, Od. 8. 361; and
the adv. aiya as well as karpalimwj
and kraipna, Il. 7, 272. When Ovid. Met. 2, 785 says
of Minerva: 'haud plura locuta fugit, et impressa tellurem reppulit hasta,'
her dinting the ground with her spear expr. the ease of her ascent. Their speed
is that of wind: h d anemou wj pnoih epessuto (of
Athena), Od. 6, 20. sic effata rapit coeli per inania cursum diva potens, unoque
Padum translapsa volatu, castra sui rectoris adit, Claud. in Eutr. 1, 375. Eros
is winged, Athen. 5, 29. Winged angels, pennati pueri (p. 505). Vishnu rides
on Garuda, Bopp's Gl. 102a. Indra and Dharma as vulture and dove, Somadeva 1,
70. Holtzm. Ind. sagen 1, 81. Though Athena appears as a youth in Od. 13, 222,
as a girl 13, 288, her favourite shape is that of a bird: ornij
d wj anopaia dieptato 1, 320. As vultures, she and Apollo settle on a
beech-tree, and look merrily on at men, Il. 7, 58. As a swallow, she sits on
the rooftree amid the fighters, and thence (uyoqen ex orofhj)
uplifts the ægis, Od. 22, 297; so Louhi sits a lark on the window of the smithy
(Suppl. to 338), and the eagle in the dream ezet epi prouconti
melaqrw, Od. 19, 544; conf. the vulture, who the moment he is named looks
in at the door, Meinert's Kuhl. 165. Bellona flies away a bird, Claud. in Eutr.
2, 230; Gestr, i.e. Oðin, as a valr (falcon), and gets a cut in his tail, Fornald.
sög. 1, 487-8. Athena sth de kat antiquron klisihj,
Od. 16, 159; si mache sich schoen, und gê herfür als ein götinne zuo der tür,
Renner 12227. When the unknown goddess steps inside the door, her stature reaches
to the roofbeam, melaqrou kure karh, then in a moment
she is recognized, Hymn to Aphrod. 174, to Ceres 189. A woman's spirit appears
to a man in a dream: sîðan hvarf hun â brott; Olafr vaknaði, ok þôttist siâ
svip konunnar, Laxd. 122. sîðan vaknaði Heðinn, ok sâ svipinn af Göndul, Fornald.
sög. 1, 402. svipr einn var þar, Sæm. 157a. Fragrance and brightness emanate from a deity, Schimmelpfeng 100-1.
Hymn to Ceres 276-281 (Suppl. to 318); a sweet smell fills the house of Zeus,
Athen. 3, 503. So with the Hebrews a cloud, a mist, or the glory of the Lord
fills the house of the Lord, 1 Kings 8, 10-1; 2 Chron. 5, 13. comarum (of Venus)
gratus odor, Claud. de nupt. Heaven breathes an odor suavitatis, that nourishes
like food, Greg. Tur. 7, 1. The bodies of saints, e.g. Servatius, exhale a delicious
odour (p. 823); conf. the flowers that spring up under the tread of feet divine
(p. 330). The hands and feet of gods leave their mark in the hard stone, so
do the hoofs of their horses (Suppl. to 664). Gods appear in human form and
disguise, Oðinn often as a one-eyed old man, a beggar, a peasant, to Hrolf as
Hrani bôndi (Hrani is a hero's name in Hervararsaga, Rani in Saxo). p. 329. ) The Indian gods ride in chariots, like the Grk: Indra,
Agni, Varuna, etc., Nalus 15-6; 7 steeds draw the car of Sûryas the god of day,
Kuhn's Rec. d. Rigveda 99. 100; Râtri, night, Usa, aurora, are drawn by kine.
Plato in Phædr. 246-7 speaks of the gods' horses, chariots, charioteers, of
Zeus driving a winged car. Selene is appealed to: pot wkeanon
trepe pwlouj, Theocr. 2, 163. asterej, eukhloio kat
antuga Nuktoj opadoi 2, 166. ------ The German gods occasionally drive
in star-chariots, or the stars themselves have a chariot, pp. 151. 723n.; conf.
the car-processions p. 336; the sun too drives a chariot: Sôl varp hendi inni
hoegri um himiniódýr, Sæm. 1b (who is Vagnarunni in Egilss. 610, Oðinn or Thôrr?).
But riding is the rule, though Loki says to Frigg: ec þvî rêð, er þû rîða sêrat
sîðan Baldr at sölum, Sæm. 63b; even beasts ride in the Beast-apologue, Renart
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