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OF THE GODS. 125
OHAPTEK XI.
OF THE GODB.
The explanation of the Gods of the Asa Faith
and of the purely mythological legends, is one of
the most difiBcult tasks in the interpretation of its
dogmas, and here more than anywhere, it" is neces-
sary to guard against seeking a well-finished alle-
gory. I^ true the gods are mainly a conception
of the powers of Nature under certain personalities;
but as a power of Nature could not be conceived
of except in a personification, the latter, in its most
sensual form, often became the Essential. All the
gods of the Asa mythology are clothed in human
form, and represented as thinking, acting, and even
suffering, as men ; but they are ideahzed in both
physical and mental power, and thought to be less
limited by Time and Space than earthly men ;—and
under this human form, and in a measure, human
activity, the agency of Nature was very often
wholly forgotten by the Skalds in their Mythologi-
cal legends. They adhered, it is true, to the im-
portant distinctive attributes in the personality of
each Divinity, but they introduced many extrava-
gances of the imagination into their stories, merely
to make them the more attractive. But this was,