368 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



Yggdrasil, on which Odin himself hangs, like the Helene Den- 

 drites of the Cretan legend — 



" I know that I hung, on a wind-swept tree 

 Nine whole nights, with a spear wounded, 

 And to Odin offered myself to myself, 

 On that tree of which no one knows 

 From what root it springs."* 



It may be urged that I have before stated my conviction that 

 kau and taara were both cattle-words. My opinion is un- 

 changed (nay, rather strengthened) ; but the consideration of 

 this subject would cause this paper to be of objectionable length, 

 and it must be left for the present. I will only notice two 

 points briefly. Taylor, in " The Alphabet," when speaking of 

 the Hebrew letters, says : " Tau, the last of the letters, is the 

 ' sign ' or ' cross ' used for marking the ownership of beasts (see 

 Ezekiel ix. 4). The early form of the letter is + or x , which 

 would be the easiest and most natural mark for such a purpose." 

 It has been stated that from consideration of some other Aryan 

 forms the Latin taunts, a bull, and taura, a cow, are words 

 which have lost a prefixed s, the corresponding word in English 

 (from Teutonic sources) being sixer: this is made doubtful, 

 perhaps, by Greek ravpog, ancient Slavonic t<»m(, Russian 

 turu, Irish tor. But if we allow that formerly ravpoc possessed 

 a prefixed sigma, we get aravpoc, a cross ! 



The cross of life and the tree of life were transferable images. 

 The Buddhist cross was a tree of life, which brought forth 

 flowers and leaves, as did the worshipped Ash, rah, " tree," (the 

 "grove") of the Assyrians. When they were, whether in 

 Europe or in Asia, approaching the shrine to offer the " new- 

 made fire," it was with the sacred fire-cross that they drew forth 

 the offering of flame — with the holy Swastika cross. If the tau 

 everywhere (as x and T) represented the cross, then reverence 

 and deification of this form of the tree or wood would be speedily 

 granted by the minds of simple men ; and the place whereon it 

 stood become holy, as its presence made sacred the temples in 

 the island of Hawaii. 



" Odin's Eune Song," Thorpe's trans, of " Scemunds Edda," p. 340. 



