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"Einheri's Channel" тобындағы соңғы жазбалар
18.01.202509:01
There are clear allegories in our attested Germanic myths, and possibly the best example of this is a self-consciously allegorical myth of Thunder [Þórr], particularly his visit to the etten Outyards-Lock [Útgarða-Loki] which is narrated in prose in the Gylfaginning, in the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson. Let us briefly summarize its contents:
Thunder, Lock [Loki] and Thelf [Þjálfi], Thunder's servant, travel to the Ettenland. There, they encounter the Outyards-Lock, who challenges them to a series of contests. Lock enters a food-eating contest against an etten but loses because the opponent not only eats the food but also the table and bones alike. Likewise, Thelf, who is very swift, goes into a racing contest but couldn't win, because his opponent was too fast. Thunder faces three challenges: drinking from a horn he cannot empty, lifting a cat he cannot raise fully, and wrestling an old woman who easily overpowers him. What's the catch? The mythic narrative ends with Outyards-Lock explaining to Thunder the reality of the challenges that were faced:
In that food-eating contest Lock lost to Lowe [Logi], whose name means "Flame."
When Thelf couldn't outrun High [Hugi], it was because nothing is swifter than "Thought," which is the meaning of High's name.
When Thunder couldn't drink the horn, it was because the horn was connected to the entire ocean, and what Thunder managed to drink lowered the sea level. The cat wasn't a cat, it was the Middenyard serpent, and Thunder managed to lift one of its paws which frightened everyone. And the old woman was Eld [Elli] herself, whose name means "Old Age," whom no one can defeat.
This myth can justifiably be called self-consciously allegorical because at the end of the narrative all its allegorical content is revealed to the audience. It goes on to show that allegory could be employed in myths, and that it could also be their constituent part.
Thunder, Lock [Loki] and Thelf [Þjálfi], Thunder's servant, travel to the Ettenland. There, they encounter the Outyards-Lock, who challenges them to a series of contests. Lock enters a food-eating contest against an etten but loses because the opponent not only eats the food but also the table and bones alike. Likewise, Thelf, who is very swift, goes into a racing contest but couldn't win, because his opponent was too fast. Thunder faces three challenges: drinking from a horn he cannot empty, lifting a cat he cannot raise fully, and wrestling an old woman who easily overpowers him. What's the catch? The mythic narrative ends with Outyards-Lock explaining to Thunder the reality of the challenges that were faced:
In that food-eating contest Lock lost to Lowe [Logi], whose name means "Flame."
When Thelf couldn't outrun High [Hugi], it was because nothing is swifter than "Thought," which is the meaning of High's name.
When Thunder couldn't drink the horn, it was because the horn was connected to the entire ocean, and what Thunder managed to drink lowered the sea level. The cat wasn't a cat, it was the Middenyard serpent, and Thunder managed to lift one of its paws which frightened everyone. And the old woman was Eld [Elli] herself, whose name means "Old Age," whom no one can defeat.
This myth can justifiably be called self-consciously allegorical because at the end of the narrative all its allegorical content is revealed to the audience. It goes on to show that allegory could be employed in myths, and that it could also be their constituent part.
16.01.202515:57
In the Old Norse literary corpus, there are two words that are of particular interest that are used to refer to the phases of the Moon, that is "ný" and "nið." It is thought that in archaic times, these two words referred to the Full Moon (ný) and to the New Moon (nið) respectively. The meaning of the word "nið" can be interpretted along the lines of the Moon being "empty." But what is of particular interest here is the fact that the Full Moon is thought to be a "new" Moon, literally. The Cleasby-Vigfússon dictionary of Old Norse asserts that:
"ný (n.) - the 'new' of the moon, whereby the ancients seem to have meant the waxing or even the full moon, for the new moon was called nið, q. v.; and ný and nið (q. v.) are used alliteratively as terms opp. to one another [...]"
More importantly, there are instances in the sagas where the word "ný" is used exactly this way providing important context, e.g. in a compound word in Fljótsdæla saga, c. 11:
Það var eina nótt að tekið var á fótum Grími. Þá var nýlýsi mikið. Hann spurði hver þar væri.
Helgi svarar: "Láttu hljótt. Má eg aldrei sofna. Vil eg að þú rísir upp því að nú er svo ljóst sem um dag. Vil eg að þú farir með mér."
One night Grim felt his foot being shaken. There was a great full moon's light. He asked who was there.
Helgi said, "Speak quietly. I can't sleep. I want you to get up, because it’s as light as day. I want you to go with me"
The fact that the Full Moon is thought to be "new" highly suggests that it was thought of as the beginning of months.
"ný (n.) - the 'new' of the moon, whereby the ancients seem to have meant the waxing or even the full moon, for the new moon was called nið, q. v.; and ný and nið (q. v.) are used alliteratively as terms opp. to one another [...]"
More importantly, there are instances in the sagas where the word "ný" is used exactly this way providing important context, e.g. in a compound word in Fljótsdæla saga, c. 11:
Það var eina nótt að tekið var á fótum Grími. Þá var nýlýsi mikið. Hann spurði hver þar væri.
Helgi svarar: "Láttu hljótt. Má eg aldrei sofna. Vil eg að þú rísir upp því að nú er svo ljóst sem um dag. Vil eg að þú farir með mér."
One night Grim felt his foot being shaken. There was a great full moon's light. He asked who was there.
Helgi said, "Speak quietly. I can't sleep. I want you to get up, because it’s as light as day. I want you to go with me"
The fact that the Full Moon is thought to be "new" highly suggests that it was thought of as the beginning of months.
15.01.202515:12
Further evidence that the Germanic months begun on Full Moons comes from our Gothic sources, in the so-called Gothic Bible (Wulfila's), there is a text that is "corrected" by the Gothic translator. In Colossians 2:16:
— μὴ οὖν τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω ἐν βρώσει καὶ ἐν πόσει ἢ ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς ἢ νεομηνίας ἢ σαββάτων,
— ni manna nu izwis bidomjai in mata aiþþau in draggka aiþþau in dailai dagis dulþais aiþþau fulliþe aiþþau sabbatum,
— let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holyday, or of the full moon, or of the sabbath days,
The original Greek texts uses the word νεομηνίας (neomēnias) - the New of the Moon, but the Gothic translator chose to translate the word as "fulliþe," that is the Full of the Moon, and we hold that this is not only because of the fact that the Full Moon is considered holy, but also because it is the beginning of the months for the Goths, like the νεομηνία (neomēnía) is for the Greeks. The word "fulliþe" here is of course cognate with the word -filleth in Winterfilleth attested in Bede.
Relating to our earlier post, a fragment of another Gothic text from the 500s is thought to list Gothic names of the months, and one of the month names that has been recovered with difficulty is thought to mean "fruma Jiuleis," that is "the month before Yule" which we think could very well be a Gothic parallel to the English attestation "Ǣrra-ġēolamōnaþ," and also possibly being evidence of the two Yulemonths being thought of as one preceding the Full Moon of Yule, while the second Yulemonth beginning with the Full Moon. And by the way, this instance is also thought to be our earliest attestation of Yule.
— μὴ οὖν τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω ἐν βρώσει καὶ ἐν πόσει ἢ ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς ἢ νεομηνίας ἢ σαββάτων,
— ni manna nu izwis bidomjai in mata aiþþau in draggka aiþþau in dailai dagis dulþais aiþþau fulliþe aiþþau sabbatum,
— let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holyday, or of the full moon, or of the sabbath days,
The original Greek texts uses the word νεομηνίας (neomēnias) - the New of the Moon, but the Gothic translator chose to translate the word as "fulliþe," that is the Full of the Moon, and we hold that this is not only because of the fact that the Full Moon is considered holy, but also because it is the beginning of the months for the Goths, like the νεομηνία (neomēnía) is for the Greeks. The word "fulliþe" here is of course cognate with the word -filleth in Winterfilleth attested in Bede.
Relating to our earlier post, a fragment of another Gothic text from the 500s is thought to list Gothic names of the months, and one of the month names that has been recovered with difficulty is thought to mean "fruma Jiuleis," that is "the month before Yule" which we think could very well be a Gothic parallel to the English attestation "Ǣrra-ġēolamōnaþ," and also possibly being evidence of the two Yulemonths being thought of as one preceding the Full Moon of Yule, while the second Yulemonth beginning with the Full Moon. And by the way, this instance is also thought to be our earliest attestation of Yule.
14.01.202515:38
Many Germanic reconstructionists in the past few years have integrated the ancient Germanic Luni-Solar calendar into their contemporary religious practice, but there is one simple fact about the ancient Germanic calendar that many get wrong - the months did not begin on new moons, but on full moons.
We can illustrate this based on a couple of sources, namely Bede's De Temporum Ratione. That the ancient Germanic months corresponded to the Lunar cycle is well-established. That the ancient Germanic people recognized two yearly seasons, winter and summer, is also well-known. We learn from Bede that among the ancient English, winter begun on a Full Moon of a month called Winterfilleth:
"Hence, they called the month in which the winter season began 'Winterfilleth,' a name made up from 'winter' and 'full Moon,' because winter began on the Full Moon of that month."
Supposing that the Germanic months begun on New Moons, this would make a season begin in the middle of a month, which would be quite odd. But let see what Bede has to say further:
"The months of Yule derive their name from the day when the Sun turns back [and begins] to increase, because one of [these months] precedes [this day] and the other follows."
We know that Bede isn't referring to the Winter Solstice in this instance, but to a generally recognized belief of the ancient cosmology that the Sun literally moves away from the Earth in winter and closer in summer, resulting in the coldness and warmth of the seasons. But what is more striking here is the fact that while it's usually claimed that Yule Moon is the Full Moon in the middle of the second Yulemonth, Bede says that the first Yulemonth precedes this point and the other follows it, he does not say that Yule takes place in the middle of the second Yulemonth. The only logical explanation here is that Yule takes place between these two months. Keeping in mind that Winter begins on a Full Moon, Midwinter, likewise, taking place three months after its beginning, must take place on a Full Moon. Therefore, this other excerpt suggests that the second Yulemonth begun on a Full Moon, thus the ancient English months begun on a Full Moon.
This logic then further explains the later English attestations of the names of the two Yulemonths - Ǣrra-ġēolamōnaþ [Ere-Yulemonth] and Æfterra-ġēolamōnaþ [After-Yulemonth]. Yule is the Full Moon between these two Yulemonths and the first month precedes Yule, while the second takes place after Yule.
We can illustrate this based on a couple of sources, namely Bede's De Temporum Ratione. That the ancient Germanic months corresponded to the Lunar cycle is well-established. That the ancient Germanic people recognized two yearly seasons, winter and summer, is also well-known. We learn from Bede that among the ancient English, winter begun on a Full Moon of a month called Winterfilleth:
"Hence, they called the month in which the winter season began 'Winterfilleth,' a name made up from 'winter' and 'full Moon,' because winter began on the Full Moon of that month."
Supposing that the Germanic months begun on New Moons, this would make a season begin in the middle of a month, which would be quite odd. But let see what Bede has to say further:
"The months of Yule derive their name from the day when the Sun turns back [and begins] to increase, because one of [these months] precedes [this day] and the other follows."
We know that Bede isn't referring to the Winter Solstice in this instance, but to a generally recognized belief of the ancient cosmology that the Sun literally moves away from the Earth in winter and closer in summer, resulting in the coldness and warmth of the seasons. But what is more striking here is the fact that while it's usually claimed that Yule Moon is the Full Moon in the middle of the second Yulemonth, Bede says that the first Yulemonth precedes this point and the other follows it, he does not say that Yule takes place in the middle of the second Yulemonth. The only logical explanation here is that Yule takes place between these two months. Keeping in mind that Winter begins on a Full Moon, Midwinter, likewise, taking place three months after its beginning, must take place on a Full Moon. Therefore, this other excerpt suggests that the second Yulemonth begun on a Full Moon, thus the ancient English months begun on a Full Moon.
This logic then further explains the later English attestations of the names of the two Yulemonths - Ǣrra-ġēolamōnaþ [Ere-Yulemonth] and Æfterra-ġēolamōnaþ [After-Yulemonth]. Yule is the Full Moon between these two Yulemonths and the first month precedes Yule, while the second takes place after Yule.
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