Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



story and the Finnish legend of the robbing of 

 the Sampo do not exactly fit, but the two myths 

 are sufficiently close to prove a common origin 

 for Sampo and golden fleece. Kaleva, if it ever 

 stood for eagle in a Finnic dialect, has disap- 

 peared in favor of kotkas or kokko. Now 

 Achilleus seems to be a word which once had 

 the eagle or dragon meaning in Greek, but 

 through dislike to the use of a god's name 

 gradually fell out of vogue for the creature it- 

 self, just as Kaleva disappeared from Finnic. 

 In the chapter on the cuckoo we have seen 

 how grateful the eagle was to Vaino, that Pan 

 and Orpheus of the Finns, because when Vaino 

 cleared the land of woods he left the birch-tree 

 standing as a perch and nesting-place for birds ; 

 for this thoughtfulness the eagle brings fire 

 dov/n from heaven. Throughout the Kale- 

 vala the eagle is a favorite bird simile. Ilma- 

 rinen as a bridegroom is described as an eagle 

 which has broken into the castle of young 

 girls and seized the most beautiful of ducks. 



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