Northern mythology

146 XORTHERX MYTHOLOGY.
deities are Odin, "\^ili, and Ve_, wiio are brothers ; at tlie
creation of mankind, tliey are Odin, Hoenir, and Lodur,
who are not brothers. These beings, therefore, denote
several kinds of the divine agency, but are not the same.
Odin^s name shall be further considered hereafter; here
we will merely observe that it bears allusion to mind or
thought, and breathing; it is the quickening, creating
power. Vili, or Vilir^, is the Old Norsk expression for
will, which, if referred to the Sansk. vel, or veil, Gr. elXeo),
Lat. volo, velle (volvo), would denote the power that sets
matter in motion. Among the dvrarfs also the name of
Vili occurs. Ve signifies in the 0. Nor. tongue, a place
of assembhj, with the idea of holiness and peace, and is the
root of at vigja, to consecrate (Goth, veihs, Ohg. wih, sacred-,
Goth, vaihts, a thing, the created, consecrated ; 0. Nor.
\'?ettr, thing, opp. to ovsettr, a monster). It expresses
therefore consecration, that is, separation from the evil,
Jiurtful or disturbing. Hence, at the creation of the world,
Ve operates so far as the divine power obstructs the opposing
evil matter, that would not yield to Thought and
Will. Thus explained, Odin, Yili and Ve accurately correspond
to the Indian trinity, Trimurti, and the three
chief Indian gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, the creating,
preserving, and judging powers, or omnipotence, goodness,
and justice. As Frigg is said to be married to Odin, Vili,
and Ve^, so is the primeval mother of the Indians, Parasiakti,
represented as the Vv^ife of the three first- created
gods. According to Finn Magnusen, Vili is light, and
Ve fire, whereby it is, at the same time, assumed that
Vili is the same with Hoenir, and Ve with Lodur. At the
creation of man, Odin gave ond, Hoenir 65, Lodur la and
litu goSu. Ond signifies sjnrit or breath, the intellectual
or physical life; o^r signifies sense, mind) ond and o^r
are to each other as anima and mens (o^r from va^a, vadere ;
^
Ynglingas. cc. 3, 5. 2 p^ge 32, and note.