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636 ELEMENTS.
idea of iotunn, p. 519), and they try to pacify him by pouring out
flour in the air. 1 I take this to be an ancient superstition,, and
light is thrown upon it now by a Norwegian tale in Asbjornsen
no. 7, of the northwind carrying off a poor fellow s meal three
times, but compensating him afterwards by costly presents. This
northwind behaves exactly as a rough good-natured giant. (See
Suppl.).
The raising of the whirlwind was, as we have seen (p. 632),
ascribed to divine, semi-divine and diabolic beings. In Norway
they say of whirlwinds and foul weather, ( the giant stirs his pots/
Faye p. 7.
In two weather-spells (Append., Exorcism v.) Mermeut and
Fasolt are called upon as evil spirits and authors of storms.
Fasolt is the well-known giant of our hero-legend, brother of
Ecke, who was himself god of tides and waves (p. 239). The
two brothers have kindred occupations, being rulers of the dread
sea and of the weather. What we gather from the second spell
about Fasolt seems to me of importance, and another conclu
sive proof of the identity of Ecke with Oegir : as Hler and
Kari are brothers and giants, so are also Ecke and Fasolt ; as
Hler commands the sea and Kari the winds, so does Ecke rule
the waters and Fasolt the storm. To the Norse poets the wind
is Forniots sonr 3
and (
2
Oegis broftir. Now, as Hler was called
by another nation Oegir, i.e. Uogi, Ecke, so Kari may have been
called Fasolt. Fasolt must be an old word, if only because it is
hard to explain ; does it come under the OHGr. fasa, fason (Graff
3, 705) ? In ON., ( fas *
is superbia, arrogantia ; the name seems
to express the overbearing nature of a giant. Mermeut, which
occurs nowhere else, perhaps means the sea-mutterer ? Schm. 2,
552. 653 has maudern, inutern, murmurare. These demi-gods
and giants
stand related to Donar the supreme director of clouds
and weather, as ^Eolus or Boreas to Zeus.
And from Zeus it was that the favourable wished-for wind
proceeded: Aios ovpos, Od. 5, 176. Wuotan (the all-pervading,
1
Sup. I, 282. Praetorius s Weltbeschr. 1, 429 : At Bamberg, when a violent
wind was raging, an old woman snatched up her mealsack, and emptied it out of
window into the air, with the words : Dear wind, don t be so wild ; take that home
to your child ! She meant to appease the hunger of the wind, as of a greedy
lion or fierce wolf.
2 Forniots sefar = sea and wind, Ssem. 90 b .