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WOLF. FOX. CAT. BIRDS. 669
and the kindermarchen no. 38 has furnished him with nine tails,
as Sleipnir had eight legs, and some heroes and gods four
arms.
FreyjVs car was drawn by two cats (tveim kottum), p. 305.
Now., as fres in ON. means both he-cat and bear, it has lately
been contended, not without reason, that kottum may have been
substituted for fressum, and a brace of bears have been really
meant for the goddess, as Cybele s car was drawn by lions,
p. 254. For Puss-in-boots see pp. 503-9, and the Norweg. tale in
Folkeeventyr no. 29. Cats and weasels pass for knowing beasts
with magical powers, whom one has good reason to indulge, Sup.
I, 292 (see Suppl.).
BIRDS. With birds the men of old lived on still more intimate
terms, and their greater nimbleness seemed to bespeak more of
the spiritual than was in quadrupeds. I will here quote some
instances of wild fowl being fed by man. Dietmar of Merseb.
relates of Mahtildis, Otto L s mother (Pertz 5, 740): non solum
pauperibus, verum etiam avibus victum subministrabat ;
find the same in the Yita Mahtild. Pertz. :
v 6, 294)
r
and we
nee etiam
oblita est volucrum aestivo tempore in arboribus resonantium,
praecipiens ministris sub arbores proicere micas panis/ In Nor
way they used to put out bunches of corn for the sparrows on
Yule-eve : Jule-aften at sette trende kornbaand paa stoer under
aaben himmel ved laden og foe-huset till spurrens fode, at de
naste aar ikke skal giore skade (do no harm next year) paa
ageren, Hiorthoi Gulbrands dalen, Kb. 1785. 1, 130 ; it was a
sacrifice offered to the birds, to keep them from ravaging the
crops.
It reminds one of the legacy to birds on Walther von
der Vogelweide s tombstone, whose very name denotes pascua
avium/
Gods and goddesses often change themselves into birds, but
giants possess the same power too. The Bsthonian god Tarapila
flies from one place to* another, p. 77; the Greek imagination
pictured winged gods, the Hebrew winged angels, the Old German
a maiden with swan s wings. The Norse gods and giants put on
an eagle s coat, arnar-ham f p. 633n., the goddesses a falcon s coat,
vals-ham, p. 302. Wind is described as a giant and eagle, p.
633, and sacred eagles scream on the mountains : orn gol aria,