Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

56
The Irminsul
How that belief arose, we can only surmise. It may be that in
the dim past, when the ancestors of these tribes developed out of
hunters into herdsmen and emerged from the forest on to the open
plain, they missed the big tree that seemed to support the sky
(' heaven-reaching,' as Homer' calls it). And in the absence of
that mighty prop there was nothing to guarantee the safety of
their roofl
Now early man was a practical person. His roof being insecure,
he proceeded to shore it up. The Irtnins/il was primarily a sky-
prop, though we may well believe that it came to be viewed as the
' Od. 5. 239 eKaT-q t tjv ovpavofj.rjKrjs, cp. Hdt. 2. 138 S^vSpea oiipavofi-qKea, Anth. Pal.
4. I. 49 f. (Meleagros) ovpavofj-dKevs | (poivLKos. 'I remember, I remember, | The fir trees
dark and high; |
(T. Hood).
I
used to think their slender tops |
Were
close against the sky'
- Attention may here be drawn to the various accounts of the Kallikantzaroi given by
the modern Greeks. These are summarised as follows by J. C. Lawson Moiiern Greek
Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion Cambridge 1910 p. [94: 'The Callicantzari appear
only during the dwdeKa-nfiepov or "period of twelve days" between Christmas and
Epiphany'. ('Leo Allatius (De quor. Graec. opinat. cap. ix. ) makes the period a week
only, ending on New Year's Day.) The rest of the year they live in the lower world, and
occupy themselves in trying to gnaw through or cut down the great tree (or in other
accounts the one or more columns) on which the world rests. Each Christmas they have
nearly completed their task, when the time comes for their appearance in the upper world,
and during their twelve days' absence, the supports of the world are made whole again.'
Details will be found in N. G. Polites IlapaSoo-eis Athens 1904 i. 331 no. 590 from
Bourboura in Kynouria (The Lykokatzaraioi come from below the earth. All the time
they are hewing away with their axes at the tree which supports the earth (jh Sivrpo ttov
^aa-rdeL rrj yfjs). They chop and chop till a tiny piece no bigger than a thread remains
uncut, and they say 'Come, let us be off; it will fall of itself.' They return after the
Baptism and find the tree entire, absolutely whole. And again they chop, and again they
come, and so continually do they busy themselves), i. 347 no. 612 from Naupaktos (...the
Pagan Ones begin hewing with their teeth and with axes the three columns which support
the world (tols rpets KoXovvais, irou ^acTcLv tov kSct/j-o), to hurl them down, that the world
may collapse. Etc.), i. 352 no. 621 from Lasta in the deme Mylaon, Gortynia (The earth
is supported below by one column, which has four other pillars (/xid KoKbvva, ttov ^x*'
Teacrepovs &\\ovs cttv'Kovs \infra § 3 (a) iii (k)]). There the Kolikantzaroi are in bondage for
ever and labour at cutting the column to make the earth fall. Etc.), i. 354
no. 622 from
Demetsana in Gortynia (The Kallikantzaroi are naked, apart from beards and moustaches,
and in size resemble a child of ten, some being a little taller, others a little shorter. They
dwell in the Underworld, where there -are three wooden columns supporting the whole
earth (eicet ^lvo.1 rpels ^uXivais KoXoccais kuI Kparovv oXrjc rrjv 7^). The Kalikantzaraioi
want to cut the columns and overthrow the world, and they are perpetually getting to work
with their axes and chopping the three columns. Etc.), i. 335 no. 623 from (iralista in
the deme Ithome, Karditsa (The Karkantsaloi have their dwelling in Hades, and gnaw
with their teeth the pillars which support the sky, that it may fall and crush the earth
{kI povKavovp id rd SbvTia tous to. arvXta, d.7r' ^acFTOvu Toiiv oiipavb vd fjLT}i> Tria-g kI ir\aKW(rTg
TT] ~yri). They gnaw and gnaw and do their utmost to cut the pillars. Etc.). See further
N. G. Polites MikiT-q enl tov piov twi/ Neur^pwv 'EWrjvwv Athens 187 1 i. 26 and 69,
T- N. Svoronos in the /otirn. Intern. d'Arch. Num. 1912 xiv. 252 and 280. It will be
observed that, whereas most of these versions make the tree (no. 590) or columns (nos. 612,
621, 622) support the earth, one at least (no. 623) makes the pillars support the sky.