Age of Fable or Beauties of Mythology

by Thomas Bulfinch

  done incautiously or from necessity, the place must be purified by religious ceremonies.

  They must not appear at public markets, and are confined to the use of particular wells,

  which they are obliged to surround with bones of animals, to warn others against using

  them. They dwell in miserable hovels, distant from cities and villages, and are under no

  restrictions in regard to food, which last is not a privilege, but a mark of ignominy, as if

  they were so degraded that nothing could pollute them. The three higher castes are

  prohibited entirely the use of flesh. The fourth is allowed to eat all kinds except beef, but

  only the lowest caste is allowed every kind of food without restriction.

  Buddha.

  Buddha, whom the Vedas represent as a delusive incarnation of Vishnu, is said

  by his followers to have been a mortal sage, whose name was Gautama, called also by

  the complimentary epithets of Sakyasinha, the Lion, and Buddha, the Sage.

  By a comparison of the various epochs assigned to his birth, it is inferred that he

  lived about one thousand years before Christ.

  He was the son of a king; and when in conformity to the usage of the country he

  was, a few days after his birth, presented before the altar of a deity, the image is said to

  have inclined its head, as a presage of the future greatness of the new-born prophet.

  The child soon developed faculties of the first order, and became equally distinguished

  by the uncommon beauty of his person. No sooner had he come to years of maturity

  than he began to reflect deeply on the depravity and misery of mankind, and he

  conceived the idea of retiring from society and devoting himself to meditation. His father

  in vain opposed this design. Buddha escaped the vigilance of his guards, and having

  found a secure retreat, lived for six years undisturbed in his devout contemplations. At

  the expiration of that period he came forward at Benares as a religious teacher. At first

  some who heard him doubted of the soundness of his mind; but his doctrines soon

  gained credit, and were propagated so rapidly that Buddha himself lived to see them

  spread all over India. He died at the age of eighty years.

  The Buddhists reject entirely the authority of the Vedas, and the religious

  observances prescribed in them and kept by the Hindus. They also reject the distinction

  of castes, and prohibit all bloody sacrifices, and allow animal food. Their priests are

  chosen from all classes; they are expected to procure their maintenance by

  perambulation and begging, and among other things it is their duty to endeavor to turn to

  some use things thrown aside as useless by others, and to discover the medicinal power

  of plants. But in Ceylon three orders of priests are recognized those of the highest order

  are usually men of high birth and learning, and are supported at the principal temples,

  most of which have been richly endowed by the former monarchs of the country.

  For several centuries after the appearance of Buddha, his sect seems to have

  been tolerated by the Brahmans, and Buddhism appears to have penetrated the

  peninsula of Hindustan in every direction, and to have been carried to Ceylon, and to the

  eastern peninsula. But afterwards it had to endure in India a long continued persecution,

  which ultimately had the effect of entirely abolishing it, in the country where it had

  originated but to scatter it widely over adjacent countries. Buddhism appears to have

  been introduced into China about the year 65 of our era. From China it was

  subsequently extended to Corea, Japan, and Java.

  The Grand Lama.

  It is a doctrine alike of the Brahminical Hindus and of the Buddhist sect that the

  confinement of the human soul, an emanation of the divine spirit, in a human body, is a

  state of misery, and the consequence of frailties and sins committed during former

  existences. But they hold that some few individuals have appeared on this earth from

  time to time, not under the necessity of terrestrial existence, but who voluntarily

  descended to the earth to promote the welfare of mankind. These individuals have

  gradually assumed the character of reappearances of Buddha himself, in which capacity

  the line is continued till the present day, in the several Lamas of Thibet, China, and other

  countries where Buddhism prevails. In consequence of the victories of Gengis Khan and

  his successors, the Lama residing in Thibet was raised to the dignity of chief pontiff of

  the sect. A separate province was assigned to him as his own territory, and besides his

  spiritual dignity he became to a limited extent a temporal monarch. He is styled the

  Dalai Lama.

  The first Christian missionaries who proceeded to Thibet were surprised to find

  there in the heart of Asia a pontifical court and several other ecclesiastical institutions

  resembling those of the Roman Catholic church. They found convents for priests and

  nuns; also, processions and forms of religious worship, attended with much pomp and

  splendor; and many were induced by these similarities to consider Lamaism as a sort of

  degenerated Christianity. It is not improbable that the Lamas derived some of these

  practices from the Nestorian Christians, who were settled in Tartary when Buddhism was

  introduced into Thibet.

  Prester John.

  An early account, communicated probably by travelling merchants, of a Lama or

  spiritual chief among the Tartars, seems to have occasioned in Europe the report of a

  Presbyter or Prester John, a Christian pontiff, resident in Upper Asia. The Pope sent a

  mission in search of him, as did also Louis IX. of France, some years later, but both

  missions were unsuccessful, though the small communities of Nestorian Christians,

  which they did find, served to keep up the belief in Europe that such a personage did

  exist somewhere in the East. At last in the fifteenth century, a Portuguese traveller,

  Pedro Covilham, happening to hear that there was a Christian prince in the country of

  the Abessines, (Abyssinia,) not far from the Red Sea, concluded that this must be the

  true Prester John. He accordingly went thither, and penetrated to the court of the king,

  whom he calls Negus. Milton alludes to him in Paradise Lost, Book XI., where,

  describing Adam's vision of his descendants in their various nations and cities, scattered

  over the face of the earth, he says, -

  ". . . Nor did his eyes not ken

  Th' empire of Negus, to his utmost port,

  Ercoco, and the less maritime kings,

  Mombaza and Quiloa and Melind."

  Chapter XXXVIII: Northern Mythology - Valhalla - The Valkyrior

  Northern Mythology.

  The stories which have engaged our attention thus far relate to the mythology of

  southern regions. But there is another branch of ancient superstitions which ought not

  to be entirely overlooked, especially as it belongs to the nations from which we,

  through our English ancestors, derive our origin. It is that of the northern nations

  called Scandinavians, who inhabited the countries now known as Sweden, Denmark,

  Norway, and Iceland. These mythological records are contained in two collections

  called the Eddas, of which the oldest is in poetry and dates back to the year 1056, the

  more modern or prose Edda being of the date of 1640.

  According to the Eddas there
was once no heaven above nor earth beneath, but

  only a bottomless deep, and a world of mist in which flowed a fountain. Twelve rivers

  issued from this fountain, and when they had flowed far from their source, they froze

  into ice, and one layer accumulating over another, the great deep was filled up.

  Southward from the world of mist was the world of light. From this flowed a warm

  wind upon the ice and melted it. The vapors rose in the air and formed clouds, from

  which sprang Ymir, the Frost giant and his progeny, and the cow Audhumbla, whose

  milk afforded nourishment and food to the giant. The cow got nourishment by licking

  the hoar frost and salt from the ice. While she was one day licking the salt stones

  there appeared at first the hair of a man, on the second day the whole head, and on

  the third the entire form endowed with beauty, agility, and power. This new being was

  a god, from whom and his wife, a daughter of the giant race, sprang the three brothers

  Odin, Vili, and Ve. They slew the giant Ymir, and out of his body formed the earth, of

  his blood the seas, of his bones the mountains, of his hair the trees, of his skull the

  heavens, and of his brain clouds, charged with hail and snow. Of Ymir's eyebrows the

  gods formed Midgard, (mid earth,) destined to become the abode of man.

  Odin then regulated the periods of day and night and the seasons by placing in

  the heavens the sun and moon, and appointing to them their respective courses. As

  soon as the sun began to shed its rays upon the earth, it caused the vegetable world

  to bud and sprout. Shortly after the gods had created the world they walked by the

  side of the sea, pleased with their new work, but found that it was still incomplete, for it

  was without human beings. They therefore took an ash tree and made a man out of it,

  and they made a woman out of an alder, and called the man Aske and the woman

  Embla. Odin then gave them life and soul, Vili reason and motion, and Ve bestowed

  upon them the senses, expressive features, and speech. Midgard was then given them

  as their residence, and they became the progenitors of the human race.

  The mighty ash tree Ygdrasill was supposed to support the whole universe. It

  sprang from the body of Ymir, and had three immense roots, extending one into

  Asgard, (the dwelling of the gods,) the other into Jotunheim, (the abode of the giants,)

  and the third to Niffleheim, (the regions of darkness and cold.) By the side of each of

  these roots is a spring, from which it is watered. The root that extends into Asgard is

  carefully tended by the three Norns, goddesses, who are regarded as the dispensers

  of fate. They are Urdur, (the past,) Verdandi, (the present,) Skuld, (the future.) The

  spring at the Jotunheim side is Ymir's well, in which wisdom and wit lie hidden, but that

  of Niffleheim feeds the adder, Nidhogge, (darkness,) which perpetually gnaws at the

  root. Four harts run across the branches of the tree and bite the buds; they represent

  the four winds. Under the tree lies Ymir, and when he tries to shake off its weight the

  earth quakes.

  Asgard is the name of the abode of the gods, access to which is only gained by

  crossing the bridge, Bifrost, (the rainbow.) Asgard consists of golden and silver

  palaces, the dwellings of the gods, but the most beautiful of these is Valhalla, the

  residence of Odin. When seated on his throne he overlooks all heaven and earth.

  Upon his shoulders are the ravens Hugin and Munin, who fly every day over the whole

  world, and on their return report to him all they have seen and heard. At his feet lie his

  two wolves, Geri and Freki, to whom Odin gives all the meat that is set before him, for

  he himself stands in no need of food. Mead is for him both food and drink. He

  invented the Runic characters, and it is the business of the Norns to engrave the runes

  of fate upon a metal shield. From Odin's name, spelt Woden, as it sometimes is, came

  Wednesday, the name of the fourth day of the week.

  Odin is frequently called Alfadur, (All-father,) but this name is sometimes used in

  a way that shows that the Scandinavians had an idea of a deity superior to Odin,

  uncreated and eternal.

  Of The Joys Of Valhalla.

  Valhalla is the great hall of Odin, wherein he feasts, with his chosen heroes, all

  those who have fallen bravely in battle, for all who die a peaceful death are excluded.

  The flesh of the boar Schrimnir is served up to them, and is abundant for all. For

  although this boar is cooked every morning, he becomes whole again every night. For

  drink the heroes are supplied abundantly with mead from the she-goat Heidrun. When

  the heroes are not feasting they amuse themselves with fighting. Every day they ride

  out into the court or field and fight until they cut each other in pieces. This is their

  pastime; but when meal time comes, they recover from their wounds and return to

  feast in Valhalla.

  The Valkyrior.

  The Valkyrior are warlike virgins, mounted upon horses and armed with helmets,

  shields, and spears. Odin, who is desirous to collect a great many heroes in Valhalla,

  to be able to meet the giants in a day when the final contest must come, sends down

  to every battle-field to make choice of those who shall be slain. The Valkyrior are his

  messengers, and their name means "Choosers of the slain." When they ride forth on

  their errand, their armor sheds a strange flickering light, which flashes up over the

  northern skies, making what men call the "Aurora Borealis," or "Northern Lights." ^*

  [Footnote *: Gray's ode, The Fatal Sisters, is founded on this superstition.]

  Of Thor And The Other Gods.

  Thor, the thunderer, Odin's eldest son, is the strongest of gods and men, and

  possesses three very precious things. The first is a hammer, which both the Frost and

  the Mountain giants know to their cost, when they see it hurled against them in the air,

  for it has split many a skull of their fathers and kindred. When thrown, it returns to his

  hand of its own accord. The second rare thing he possesses is called the belt of

  strength. When he girds it about him his divine might is doubled. The third, also very

  precious, is his iron gloves, which he puts on whenever he would use his mallet

  efficiently. From Thor's name is derived our word Thursday.

  Frey is one of the most celebrated of the gods. He presides over rain and

  sunshine and all the fruits of the earth. His sister Freya is the most propitious of the

  goddesses. She loves music, spring, and flowers, and is particularly fond of the Elves,

  (fairies.) She is very fond of love ditties, and all lovers would do well to invoke her.

  Bragi is the god of poetry, and his song records the deeds of warriors. His wife,

  Iduna, keeps in a box the apples which the gods, when they feel old age approaching,

  have only to taste of to become young again.

  Heimdall is the watchman of the gods, and is therefore placed on the borders of

  heaven to prevent the giants from forcing their way over the bridge Bifrost (the

  rainbow.) He requires less sleep than a bird, and sees by night as well as by day a

  hundred miles around him. So acute is his ear that no sound escapes him, for he can

  ever hear the grass grow and the wool on a sheep's back.

  Of Loki And His Progeny.

  There is another deity who is des
cribed as the calumniator of the gods and the

  contriver of all fraud and mischief. His name is Loki. He is handsome and well made,

  but of a very fickle mood and most evil disposition. He is of the giant race, but forced

  himself into the company of the gods, and seems to take pleasure in bringing them into

  difficulties, and in extricating them out of the danger by his cunning, wit, and skill. Loki

  has three children. The first is the wolf Fenris, the second the Midgard serpent, the

  third Hela, (Death.) The gods were not ignorant that these monsters were growing up,

  and that they would one day bring much evil upon gods and men. So Odin deemed it

  advisable to send one to bring them to him. When they came he threw the serpent

  into that deep ocean by which the earth is surrounded. But the monster has grown to

  such an enormous size that holding his tail in his mouth he encircles the whole earth.

  Hela he cast into Niffleheim, and gave her power over nine worlds or regions, into

  which she distributes those who are sent to her; that is, all who die of sickness or old

  age. Her hall is called Elvidnir. Hunger is her table, Starvation her knife, Delay her

  man, Slowness her maid, Precipice her threshold, Care her bed, and Burning-anguish

  forms the hangings of her apartments. She may easily be recognized, for her body is

  half flesh color and half blue, and she has a dreadfully stern and forbidding

  countenance.

  The wolf Fenris gave the gods a great deal of trouble before they succeeded in

  chaining him. He broke the strongest fetters as if they were made of cobwebs. Finally

  the gods sent a messenger to the mountain spirits, who made for them the chain

  called Gleipnir. It is fashioned of six things, viz., the noise made by the footfall of a cat,

  the beards of women, the roots of stones, the breath of fishes, the nerves