22.03.2013 Views

Untitled - Centrostudirpinia.it

Untitled - Centrostudirpinia.it

Untitled - Centrostudirpinia.it

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

724 SKY AND STAES.<br />

each other, of equal size and brightness, perhaps the Twins ?<br />

This is another instance of the connexion we found between stars<br />

and eyes ; and the toe translated to heaven is<br />

qu<strong>it</strong>e of a piece<br />

w<strong>it</strong>h the tongues and the correspondence of the parts of the<br />

body to the macrocosm, p. 568 (see Suppl.).<br />

The milky-way and <strong>it</strong>s relation to Irmin I have dealt w<strong>it</strong>h,<br />

pp. 356-8.<br />

Amongst all the constellations in our sky, three stand pro<br />

minent to the popular eye : Ursa major, Orion and the Pleiades.<br />

And all of them are still known by native names ; to which I<br />

shall add those in use among the Slavs, L<strong>it</strong>huanians and Finns,<br />

who give them the same place of honour as we do.<br />

The Great Bear was doubtless known to our ancestors, even<br />

before their conversion, as ivaggon, wain; which name, un-<br />

borrowed, they had in common w<strong>it</strong>h kindred [Aryan] nations,<br />

and therefore <strong>it</strong> is the common people s name for <strong>it</strong> to this<br />

wain turns round<br />

day : they say, at dead of night the heavenly<br />

w<strong>it</strong>h a great noise, conf. p. 745. So the Swiss (Tobler 264a ) :<br />

when the herra-waga stands low, bread is cheap, when high, <strong>it</strong> is<br />

dear. 0. v. 17, 29 uses the pi. wag and gistelli/ meaning at<br />

which last (Ursa minor)<br />

once the greater waggon and the less ;<br />

Berthold calls the 1<br />

wegelin. So des wagenes gerihte/ Wackern.<br />

Ib. 772, 26. It comes of a lively way of looking at the group,<br />

which circling round the polar star always presents the appear<br />

ance of four wheels and a long slanting pole, deichsel (temo), on<br />

the strength of which the AS. sometimes has pisl alone : wcenes<br />

fiisla (thill), Boeth. Rawlins. 192 b . Eeferences are given at<br />

p. 151, also the reasons for my conjecture that the waggon meant<br />

is that of Wuotan the highest god. True, an 0. Swed. chronicle<br />

connects the Swed. name karlwagen w<strong>it</strong>h Thorr, who stepping<br />

into his chariot holds the seven stars in his hand (Thor statt<br />

naken som ett barn, siu stjernor i handen och Karlewagn), which<br />

I will not absolutely deny; but <strong>it</strong> is Woden stories in particular<br />

that are transferred to the Frankish Charles (p. 153). When<br />

in Gl. Jun. 188 Arturus is rendered wag an (though Gl. Hrab.<br />

1 Ich han den glanzen Mmelwagen und daz gestirne besehen, Troj. 19062.<br />

There may for that matter be several himelwagens, as there were many gods w<strong>it</strong>h<br />

cars. Cervantes too, in a song of the g<strong>it</strong>anilla (p. m. 11), says: Si en el cielo hay<br />

estrellas, que lacientes carros formau.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!