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CHAPTER XXIV.
SUMMER AND WINTER.
The Seasons, which, like day and night, depended on the near
ness or distance of the sun, have maintained their personality a
great deal more vigorously and distinctly.
Their slow revolution
goes on with a measured stateliness, while the frequent change of
day and night soon effaced the recollection of their having once
been gods.
Day and night resemble summer and winter in another point,
viz. that the break of day and the arrival of summer are greeted
with joyful songs by the birds, who mourn in silence during night
and winter. Hence the Eddie kenningar of gledifugla (laetitia
volucrum) for summer, and sut ok striff
fuglcu (dolor et angor
avium) for winter. This sympathy of nature finds utterance no
end of times in the lays of our minnesingers (see SuppL).
The olden time seems at first to have recognised only two
seasons in the year, afterwards three, and lastly four. To this
the very names bear witness. Our jahr, Goth, jer, OHG. jar, M.
Nethl. jaer, OS. ger, AS. gear, Engl. year, ON. dr, is plainly the
Pol. iar, iaro, Boh. gar, garo, which signify spring. 1 In the
same way the Slavic Veto, lieto, liato, strictly summer, and seem
ingly akin to our lenz, OHG. lenzo, lengiz, MHG. lenze, lengez,
AS. lencten, lengten (lent, spring) has come by degrees to cover
the whole year. Thus both jar and leto mean the warmer season
and southern nations reckoned by them, as
(spring or summer) ;
the northern did by winters.
Ulphilas renders ero? by jer, and eVtavro? either by apn, Gal.
4, 10, or atafrni, John 18, 13, a word that has died out of our
language everywhere else, but still lingers in the Gothic names
Athanagildus, Athanaricus (AJmagilds, AJmareiks) ; it seems
1 The Pol. iar looks like tap, but this is understood to be for f <?a/>, ftvap,
Lat.
ver for verer, veser, closely conn, with Lith. wasara (aestas) and Sanskr. vasanta,
Benfey 1, 309. Of the same root seems the Slav, yesna, wiosna (spring), but hardly
the ON. vasaiSr, which means sharp winter.
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