136 THEOLOGY. 



feasted, and attended by the beautiful maidens, the Valkyrias. Thor, 

 or Thunre, was the mighty god of thunder ; Uller, his son, was the 

 god of skating and duelling ; Balder, was the god of justice and good- 

 ness ; Forsette, his son, the god of concord ; Niord, was god of the 

 sea and navigation ; Frey, his son, was the god of sunshine and rain ; 

 Tyr or Tuisco, the god of battles ; Brage or Braga, the god of wis- 

 dom and poetry ; ffoder, was the blind god; Vidar, the powerful god 

 of silence ; Vali, the god of archery ; and Heimdall, was the sentinel 

 of heaven. The worship of Seator or Saturn was introduced by the 

 Saxons, and was of Roman origin. 



Other goddesses, besides Frigga, were Saga or Laga, the myste- 

 rious ; Syra or Eica, the goddess of medicine ; Gesione, of chastity; 

 Snotra, of modesty ; and Tylla or Jylla, of secrecy. Frey a, daugh- 

 ter of Niord and wife of Hoder, was the goddess of love ; Siona, or 

 Soona, of first love ; Wara, of marriage ; Vara, of truth ; Lobna, of 

 reconciliation ; Lyna, of preservation ; Wora or Vora, of wisdom ; 

 and Synia, of law and justice. Iduna, wife of Brage, kept the 

 mystic apples of youth. The Fairies, were mostly good spirits, the 

 offspring of the gods; and the three Nornas, Urda, Varanda or 

 Verdandi, and Skulda, were the mighty spirits of the past, pre- 

 sent, and future. 



Loke, one of the ice-giants, was usually an evil spirit, though 

 sometimes reckoned with the gods, rfngerbode was his wife, and 

 their offspring were the serpent Midgard, the wolf Fenris, and Hela, 

 the dread goddess of death. Siguna or Signa was his second wife, 

 and Vali and Nari, their sons. The Dwarfs, were produced from 

 the corpse of Ymir ; and the Genii were good or evil, according as 

 they sprang from the gods, or the giants. The Edda teaches that the 

 twilight of the gods is yet to come, when Surtur the black will 

 destroy Valhalla and Niffleheim, with most of the gods ; after which 

 the great ALFADER will create a new heaven, Gimle ; and a new hell, 

 Nastrond, where even warriors, if vicious, will be doomed to punish- 

 ment. 



The Celtic tribes, in Wales and Brittany, worshipped several gods, 

 corresponding nearly to those of the Romans. The Druids were 

 their priests, and had great influence in the direction of their affairs. 

 They believed in transmigration, and worshipped in gloomy groves, 

 or under the oak, their sacred tree. 



5. Of Ind-American Mythology, we have room for but a few 

 words. The Mexicans believed in one Supreme Deity, Tcotl or 

 Ipalnemoani ; but they worshipped several gods or idols ; as Tlaloc, 

 god of the waters ; Quetzalcohuatl, god of the winds ; Hidtzulupuctli, 

 Vitzilipuztli, or Mexitli, the god of war; Nahuatzin, or the sun; 

 and Tezcatlipoca, or Telpuctli, the youngest of the gods, who re- 

 stored the earth after the flood. The Peruvians also worshipped the 

 sun ; in whose temple were Virgins of the Sun, like the Roman 

 Vestals. They called the first man Manco-Capac, and his wife 

 Mama Oella, or Ocolla. The Northern Indians generally worship 

 but one God, and have no idols; believing in a future life of war and 

 hunting, in the land of the great Spirit. 



