Indo-European Mythology and Religion
Page 30
(Earth) waiting to be revived by the storm-god. The
name Aegir is itself possibly related phonetical y and
semantical y to the Sumerian Enki (Lord of Earth), who
is the counterpart of the Indic Varuna. He is represented
as a sea-god in ‘Skaldasparmal’ ( Prose Edda) and in the
‘Hymiskvida’ ( Poetic Edda) as a god who brews ale (the
equivalent of the Indic ‘soma’) for the Aesir. However, in
the ‘Hymiskvida’ he complains that he does not possess a
cauldron (a phallic symbol) to brew ale for his guests in.
Thor ventures to obtain such a cauldron from Hymir, a
‘giant’ who clearly represents the phallic aspect of Ymir
in the underworld just as Zeus and Ganesha do. Wotan,
however, is not directly identified with Hymir. However,
in the Hymiskvida Tyr is said to be the son of Hymir
whereas Snorri Sturluson declares, in the Skaldskaparmal
of the Prose Edda, that Tyr was the son of Odin. So the two figures are probably identical. Only, the fact of the divine
phal us being swallowed by Wotan is not apparent in the
extant Norse literature.
***
265
indo-european mythology and religion
Just as Wotan may be identified with Indra in the
earlier phase of the cosmic evolution which witnessed
the separation of the substance of Heaven from that of
Earth, the second appearance of Indra (now representing
Ganesha, the ‘son’ of Shiva, as the deity that contains the
divine phal us, or the life of the universe, in his stomach576)
in the Underworld may also be associated with Wotan
through the Tree of Life called Yggdrasil.577
In the Vedic literature, Indra is said to have imbibed
the soma in the dwelling of Tvashtr, who is the formative
aspect of Dyaus. Soma is described in RV III,48,2-3 as that milk which Indra’s mother, Aditi, “poured for thee [Indra]
in thy mighty Father’s dwelling / Desiring food he came
unto his Mother, and on her breast beheld the pungent
Soma.” At RV III,48,4, Indra is said to have conquered his father and borne off the soma in beakers thereafter. Indra
is the deity that resuscitates the divine Light sunk in the
Underworld with the potency of the ‘soma’ that he has
drunk.
RV II,15 gives an account of Indra’s development into
a universal Tree of Life as a result of his consumption of
soma and this soma-inspired growth holds Earth and
Heaven together:
High heaven unsupported in space he stablished: he
filled the two worlds [earth and heaven] and the air’s
Mid-region.
Earth he upheld, and gave it wide expansion. These
things did Indra in the Soma’s rapture.
576 See p.226.
577 We may remember also the swallowing of Ouranos’ phal us by
Chronos/Shiva’s son, Zeus (see M.L. West, The Orphic Poems, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983.p.85).
266
alexander jacob
Indra is indeed represented as the vital force of Agni/Shiva
in all its three forms, in the underworld, the mid-region,
and the heavens, thus as Agni, Vāyu and Āditya ( RV X,31): 8. … With power divine he makes his skin a filter,
when the Bay Coursers bear him on as Surya [=Āditya]
He passes o’er the broad Earth like a Stega:578 he
penetrates the world as Wind [=Vāyu] the mist-cloud.
He balmed with oil, near Varuna and Mitra, like Agni
in the wood, hath shot forth splendour.
Indra’s association with soma causes him to be called the
“lord of the seed”.579
The Tree of Life through which the solar energy rises is,
in the Indic literature, said to span the entire universe
comprising the three regions of earth, the mid-region, and
the heavens, which are dominated respectively by the three
forms that the solar energy assumes in its development in
our universe – Agni, Vāyu, Āditya. Agni is, in KYV V,5,1, called "the lowest of deities", while Vishnu (i.e. as Āditya) is the highest.
The Germanic name of the Tree of Life, Yggdrasil, is
commonly understood by scholars to be derived from
Old Norse ‘drasil’ meaning horse and ‘Ygg’, an epithet
of Wotan’s. This is possible since the name of the sacred
tree in Sanskrit, ‘ashvatta’, is derived from ‘ashva’ (horse)
and denotes the rampant energy of the god of Wind,
Wāta/Wotan. The tree is associated with the horse also in
Shamanistic rituals which depict the “ride” or “ascent” of
the shaman to heaven.580
578 The meaning of this word is uncertain, though it may refer to the penetrating power of Agni.
579 Mahābhārata, I, 57, 1-27.
580 See Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, N.Y.: 267
indo-european mythology and religion
In the poem ‘Voluspa’ the tree is said to contain nine
worlds, those of the gods (Asgard), the Vanir (Vanaheim),
the elves (Alfheim), men (Midgard), giants (Jotunheim),
fire (Muspel sheim), the dark elves (Svartalfheim), the
dead (Niflheim), and another world that is unidentified.
These nine worlds correspond to the three Heavens, three
Mid-Regions and three Earths of the Vedas.581
The Germanic Yggdrasil grows sidewards, and one of
its roots is said to be based in Heaven, Muspel , where the
gods (Aesir/Asuras) hold court. Under this root is the well
of Urd.582 In one region of heaven called Valaskjalf (the
hall of the slain) is to be found the seat of Odin, called
Hlidskjalf, whence he surveys the nine worlds covered by
the tree.
The second root reaches the Ginnungagap where the
“frost ogres” dwel . This region represents the waters from
which the sun is final y born (just as it is born earlier also
from Heaven and from Earth). Here is to be found an
oracular spring guarded by the sage Mimir.
The third root ends in Hel, or Niflheim, which is Earth
as well as the land of the dead, the underworld. At the
base of this region dwel s the serpent Nidhogg in the well
called Hvergelmir.
The tree represents the entire universe that comes
to be in Midgard, which is the Mid-Region between
Heaven and Earth that includes all the stars. That the
Nordic tree also represents the axis from which the sun
is born is made clear in the verses that refer to “Arvak and
Alsvid”, two horses which “must pull wearily the sun from
Pantheon Books, 1964 , p.270.
581 According to AV XIX,27,4f., there are, along with “three heavenly vaults”, also “three oceans ¨[Earths]… three atmospheric regions”
(see W. Kirfel, Die Kosmographie der Inder, Hildesheim: G. Olms, 1967,
p.14f).
582 Prose Edda,“Gylfaginning”, p.15.
268
alexander jacob
here”.583 These horses are related to the horse-twins that
are common in Indo-European mythology such as the
Ashvins, Nāsatya, and Dasra, in the Vedas, the Ašvieniai in
Baltic mythology that pull the carriage of the sun, and the
Graeco-Roman Dioscuri.
The Norns inscribe on the tree the fates of all human
Laws they made there, and life allotted
To the sons of men, and set their fates. (‘Voluspa’, 20)
As in India, the destruction of the Yggdrasil, which
represents the universe, heralds the end of a cosmic age,
Ragnarok, which however will be followed by a renewed
creation of the universe from the life-bearing trunk
(earth) of the tree.584
***
In the Germanic myths ale is the equivalent of the soma
with which Indra is infused while he rises as the Tree of
Life manifest as our universe. Thor, who is the deity who
finds the cauldron (phal us) in which Aegir might brew his
ale, represents the seed of the rising sun that will course
through the Tree of Life, or the revived phal us of the
debilitated solar Light. It is possible that the name Thor is
derived from the same root thor- denoting the ejaculation
of semen which is noted in the epithet ‘thoreni’ applied
to Aphrodite as sprung of Zeus’ seed in the Derveni
Orphic writings.585 If so, this would approximate Thor to
583 Poetic Edda, ‘Grimnismal’, 37.
584 Snorri Sturluson, The Poetic Edda, ‘Völuspá’, 59ff., tr. H.A. Bellows, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1936; cf. The Prose Edda,
‘Gylfaginning’.
585 Ibid. , p.91.
269
indo-european mythology and religion
the Sumerian Ninurta/ (Babylonian Marduk), son of Enlil
(Lord of the Wind), and Skanda/Muruga, son of Shiva.
Indeed, just as Ninurta is considered the semen of the
“great mountain” Enlil, Skanda, the son of Shiva in Indic
mythology, has a name signifying "jet of semen". We may thus consider Thor to be the counterpart of the Indic
Skanda, the son of Shiva, who represents the solar force
growing within the Tree of Life and emitted through it
into our system as the sun.
The birth of Skanda is recounted in the Aitareya
Brāhmana. Prajāpati’s seed fal s when Rudra (Shiva)’s
arrow pierces him and from this seed arises a lake
surrounded by fire which is then agitated by the winds
and the force of Agni. The kindled seed that ultimately
turns into the sun is the same as Skanda.
Just as Skanda is the seed of the sun, his Dravidian
form, Muruga, is associated with the rising sun in the
Paripātal (ca. 300-400 A.D.) where he is described thus:
“his body was of the colour of fire, his garment and
garland red, the colour of the shaft of his ‘vel’ like coral,
and his face like the rising sun”. Hence he is called ‘Ceyon’,
the red god.586
***
The name Thor may also be related to Taurit, the
Anatolian bull-god who is later identified with Teshup,
the son of Kumarbi (Chronos/Shiva), whom we have
recognized as a counterpart of Zeus/Indra. As in the case
of Ninurta/Marduk, we note that Thor appropriates some
of the heroic qualities of Wotan as a storm-god.587 Like
Teshup, who is the slayer of Hedammu (CTH 348), Thor
586 Thor is also traditional y represented as a god with a red beard (see the 13th century Saga of Erik the Red, ch.8).
587 See p.235.
270
alexander jacob
battles the Midgard serpent (‘Gylfaginning ’, ch.48). In
the Prose Edda (‘Gylfaginning’), the slaying of the serpent is represented in the battle of Thor against the Midgard
serpent, which is, in the end, consigned to the Ocean
around Earth, which it then encircles.588 The root of the
Yggdrasil tree that reaches to Niflheim also harbours the
serpent Nidhögg, which must be related to the Midgard
serpent.
In the ‘Hymiskvida’ from the Poetic Edda, Thor kil s
the serpent Jörmungandr while on a boat with Hymir,
who owns the cauldron that Aegir needs to brew ale
in. Thor has to battle the serpent of ‘tāmasic’ power (or
‘inertia’) at the base of the Tree in the underworld (Earth)
before he can rise through the Tree as the sun. That is why
he is typical y represented as wielding a hammer, Mjölnir.
***
In the Indic mythology, Indra, rather than Skanda, fights
the dragon Vrtra and is represented with a weapon, the
Vajra, rather like Thor and his hammer. In the Vedas,
Vrtra is a serpentine cosmic phenomenon represented
as a demon of resistance which prevents the “mountain”
from ejecting its life-giving seed.589 In TS II,iv,12,2, Vrtra is said to have grown and enveloped the three worlds.
Again it is not Skanda/Muruga who destroys the dragon
but Indra himself, when all of the Adityas, Vasus, Rudras,
and gods were paralysed by the monster ( RV 10,48,11).
Indeed, Indra’s freeing of the waters from the restriction
imposed on them by the dragon Vrtra is associated with
the creation of our heaven and earth, which are formed
out of Vrtra’s body ( RV I,36,8).
588
The Prose Edda, Ch.47; cf. “The Deluding of Gylfi”.
589 The etymology of the word is more accurately preserved in the Avestan “Vrθra” meaning “resistance” (see A.K. Lahiri, Vedic Vrtra, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984, p.73).
271
indo-european mythology and religion
In BP VI,9,18, Vrtra is said to cover the universe in
darkness, which is not surprising considering that his
father Tvashtr is the same as Tartarus, who, according to
the Greek tradition, is the parent of Typhon.590 Indra is
associated with the discovery of the “lights” for the benefit
of living creatures and men in particular ( RV VIII,15,5).
The association of Indra with the birth of the sun is evident
also in RV II,19,3: “Indra, this mighty one, the dragon’s slayer, sent forth the flood of waters to the ocean/ He gave
the sun his life, he found the cattle [the solar rays].”
***
Another figure that appears in the Germanic mythology
that warrants examination in conjunction with the rising
solar force Thor, is Mimir, for he is instrumental in the
process of the strengthening of the nascent sun. In the
‘Gylfaginning’ we have seen that Mimir’s spring lies at
the base of the Mid-Region. Mimir may be the Germanic
counterpart of the Babylonian Mummu, who in the poem
Babylonian Enuma Elish, I,98, is called a “vizier” (or son) of the personified Apsu/Abyss and is the formative force
of the Abyss. The Abyss and Mummu are later conquered
by Enki (Babylonian Ea) so that the latter rules as the Lord
of Earth/the Underworld.
The history of Mimir is recounted in Chapter 4 of
“Ynglingasaga”, where it is stated that, in the war between the Aesir and the Vanir,591 a truce was agreed upon
whereby the Vanir sent their gods Njörðr and Freyr to
the Aesir and the latter sent to the Vanir Hoenir and the
‘wise’ Mimir to the Vanir. Delighted, the Vanir send their
own wise man, Kvasir, to the Aesir. However Hoenir, who
590 Hesiod,
Theogony, 820-22.
591 Since the Aesir are Asuras, we may reasonably surmise that the Vanir are Devas, their name perhaps being a contraction of Devānir.
272
was made a chieftain of the Vanir, proved to be lacking
in independent judgement and reliant on Mimir, so the
Vanir seized Mimir, cut off his head and sent it back to the
Aesir. Odin preserved the head of Mimir magical y so that
it would reveal secret knowledge to him.
In the “Völuspá” (29) of the Poetic Edda, Odin pledges
his eye (that is, the sun)592 to Mimir in exchange for the
latter's wisdom, while Mimir himself drinks mead from
this eye, which lies within his spring. The secret knowledge
of the universe is thus juxtaposed with the growing force
of the sun. In “Gylfaginning” (15), Mimir is said to imbibe
mead from this eye using the horn Gjal arhorn which the
god Heimdallr will use to announce the Ragnarök, the
end of the gods. Heimdallr's “horn” is represented in the
‘Völuspá’, 27, as being
… hidden
Under the high-reaching holy tree;
On it there pours from Valfather's pledge [eye]
A mighty stream.593
Mimir’s imbibing of mead from the sun bears some
similarity to the consumption of solar energy by the
infant sun in RV III,I,7, where ‘Agni’ (the solar force that assumes three forms as Agni-Vāyu-Āditya)594 is said to
be nourished by the “milch-kine” (solar rays) which are
present in the seven cosmic rivers that issue out of the
mountain when Indra destroys the serpent Vrtra.595
592 In the royal horse-sacrifice of the Indo-Āryans, the horse is said to be produced from the “left eye” (the sun) of Prajāpati ( SB XIII,iii,1,1) and the sacrifice of the horse is meant to restore this eye to its proper place.
593 The Poetic Edda, tr. H.A. Bellows, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1936.
594 See p.259.
595 We may remember that the seven cosmic streams are associated 273
indo-european mythology and religion
***
Although the erection of the Tree of Life as the divine
phallic support of our universe represents the rejuvenation
of the fallen Heaven (Osiris/Varuna) and is the instrument
of the birth of the sun, it too has to be overcome spiritual y.
The final sacrifice that purifies the Tree of Life itself
is that undertaken by Wotan himself. In the poem
‘Havamal’ Wotan is said to have undergone an ordeal on
the Yggdrasil tree that resulted in his acquisition of the
knowledge of the magical runes that bear the fates of all