Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



birds that suggested this to the old Finnic 

 peoples on the Baltic when they invested Tar- 

 hapollo with human form and a red-hot spear. 



In this word tarha is merely an explana- 

 tory portion, polio alone 

 meaning owl. It has 

 a singular likeness to 

 Pallas. If we suppose 

 that the Aryan Greeks 

 ended by assuming va- 

 rious deities of a Tura- 

 nian subject-race, we can 

 easily account for the 

 true meaning of Pallas 

 in harmony with her attendant bird. 



Remarkable are the contrasts in the char- 

 acter of Pallas Athene. We can explain them 

 only by supposing a blending of traits from 

 various supernatural beings, just as we find 

 that a very popular saint will sometimes absorb 

 legends and miracles originally not his, but the 

 property of less known martyrs. Why should 

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^hC 



