June 1, 1887.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE 



183 



which represent the winds, half-symbolieally, as faces or 

 heads blowing — probably a fancy of very early date. For 

 instance, in the " Iliad," when Achilles offers libations at 

 the funeral pyre of Patroclus, the winds, at the command 

 of Iris, raise the flames. The gentle Zephyr and the wild 

 Boreas made the wild tumultuous winds blow and fanned 

 the flames ; but when the morn dawned the whistling winds 

 returned to their eaves. 



The Valkyries, or swan-maidens, travelled through air 

 and water, and belonged to Wuotan's " furious host." They 

 were warlike virgins, mounted upon horses, and armed with 

 helmets and spears. They guided the souls of the dying on 

 the battle-field to Valhalla, the home of Odin, where he 

 dwells with all the Aesir or gods.* He was desii-ous to 

 collect a great many heroes in Valhalla, to be able to meet 

 the giants on a day when the final contest must come. He 

 sent the Valkyries down to every battle-field to make choice 

 of those who shall be slain, and hence their name, which 

 means " choosers of the slain." When they ride forth on 

 their eixand their armour sheds a strange flickering light, 

 which flashes over the Northern skies, making what men 

 call the " Aurora Borealis," or " Xorthem Lights." t 



In the Edda a legend exists about seven-and-twenty 

 Valkyries riding through the air. " When their horses shake 

 themselves, the dew drops from their manes in the deep 

 valleys." In " Balder Dead," Matthew Arnold refers to the 

 Valk}Ties as follows : — 



And the A'alkvries on their steeds went forth 

 Toward earth and tights of men : and at their side 

 Skulda, the youngest of the Sornies, rode ; 

 And over Bifrost, where is Heimdall's watch. 

 Past Slidgard Fortress, down to earth they came ; 

 There through some battle-field, where men fall fast, 

 Their liorses fetlock -deep in blood, they ride, 

 And pick the bravest warriors out for death, 

 ^Tiom they bring back with them at night to heaven. 

 To glad the gods, and feast in Odin's hall.J 



Odin or Wuotan answered to the Greek Zeus, the Alfadir 

 or father of all. His wife is Freya, and she is the northern 

 Thor or Baldr, according to Cox.§ Valhalla is the great 

 hall in which Odin feasts with the heroes who have fallen in 

 battle. These heroes amuse themselves by fighting when 

 they are not feasting. When seated on his throne Odin 

 overlooks all heaven and earth. Two ravens, Hugin and 

 Munin, rest upon his shoulders, and two lions, Geri and 

 Freki, crouch at his feet. Odin's furious host is the storm- 

 wind howling through the air, and supposed to be the souls 

 of slain warriors on their way to Valhalla. Wuotan takes 

 special delight in the rushing of his wind-host over moun- 

 tains and valleys in a great gale, leading on the Pitris. 

 These live in the sky with Zama, and sometimes shine as 

 bright stars. In the Ai-yan traditions the storm-wind is a 

 host of Pitris, or one great Pitri, who appears as a fearful 

 giant, and in other traditions Wuotan's furious host is a 

 pack of wolves or wish-hounds, or a single savage dog or 

 wolf '! 



Wuotan has dominion over both air and water, walking 

 on the waves and commanding the gale. In olden times 

 they tell of Wuotan's wanderings with his waggon drawn 

 by two wolves. 



A resemblance can be traced between Hermes and 

 Wuotan. The howling-dog or wish-hound of Hermes, 

 whose appearance is a portent of death, and is merely 



* Cox, " Manual of Mythology," p. 281. 



t Bullfinch, " Age of Fable," p. 409. Gray's ode, " The Fatal 

 Sisters," is founded on this superstition. 



* Bullfinch, "Age of Fable," p. 410. 



§ Cox, " Manual of Mythology," p 280. 

 II Fiske, '■ Myths and Mythmakers," p. 77. 



the tempest personified. At night, Odin, like Hermes, was 

 supposed to rush over treetops, accompanied by a host of 

 dead men's spirits.* 



Odin was himself also represented as a dog, and the 

 howling wind was a great dog or wolf. " As the fearful 

 beast was heard speeding by the windows and over the 

 housetops, the inmates trembled, for none knew but his own 

 soul might be required of him." In Odenwald it is believed 

 that the passing of the Wild Huntsman is a sign of the 

 approach of war. He is supposed to issue with his train 

 from the ruined castle of Rodenstein, and pass through the 

 air to the castle of Schnellerts.f 



The German poet Biirger wrote a poem about Fal- 

 kenberg, a keeper of a royal forest, who hunted on the 

 Sabbath. During the chase he was joined by two huntsmen ; 

 one tried to persuade him to desist, the other led him on. 

 At last, from amid the stormy clouds, a voice of thunder 

 was heard saying : 



Be chased for ever through the wood, 



For ever roam the affrighted wild. J 



Helplessly the WOdgrave was whirled through the air, and 

 this dreadful chase, according to the legend, goes on still, 

 and will last for ever. Behind him follow the hounds and 

 hoi-ses. When the peasants hear these sounds in the passing 

 storm they devoutly cross themselves. Our Heme, the 

 Hunter of Windsor Forest, referred to in the " Merry 

 Wives of Windsor," act iv. scene 5, resembles the above. 



There is an old tale goes that Heme the Hunter, 

 Sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest, 

 Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight. 

 Walk round an oak with great ragg'd horns. 

 And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle.§ 



In the story of the Erl-king, the father tells his child 

 that the siren's voice is but the rustling of the wind among 

 the dry leaves ; and the Xiebelung king whom the child 

 sees is but the mist rising over the plain. 



Max Miiller suggests that our nursery tale of Robin 

 Hood is only a disguise of the Xorthem god Wuotan. ]| 



NOTES ON AMERICANISMS. 



By Eichaed A. Proctor. 



Fix it, in the elegant phrase " nohow j-ou can fix it," 

 the use of the verb to " fix," already considered (Kxow- 

 LEDGE for March, p. 114), is seen at its best. Sam Slick 

 first introduced the phrase, 1 think. But it can hardly be 

 considered a distinct Americanism, as by Bartlett. For, 

 granted the verb " to fix " in the wrong American sense, we 

 must accept any possible use of the word, grammatical or 

 otherwise, as part of the usage. 



Fixings. In this word, however, we have a distinct 

 Americanism. We have already considered the expression 

 " chicken fixings " as distinguished from " common doings." 

 On the general use of the word " fixings," or, as it is more 

 commonly pronounced, " fixins," we have what is precisely 

 akin to the use of the word " doings." There are many 

 other examples, as in the words " going " and " coming," used 



* This recalls Erckmann-Chatrian's story of the wild huntsman, 

 Vittiakab, and how he sped through the forest, carrying away a 

 young girl's soul. 



f It is said that the sotmd of his phantom horses and hounds 

 was heard by the Duke of Baden before the commencement of the 

 last war in Germany. 



} Fiske, " Myths and Mythmakers," p. 32. 



§ Sir Walter Scott, " The WUd Huntsman," LLs 170-1. 



II Max Miiller, "Chips from a German Workshop," vol. ii., 

 p. :i5a. 



