was deaf to his brother's entreaties, and would not part with a drop of the precious liquor, which was carefully preserved in a cavern under his daughter's custody. Into this cavern Odin was resolved to penetrate. He therefore persuaded Baugi to bore a hole through the rock, which he had no sooner done than Odin, transforming himself into a worm, crept through the crevice, and resuming his natural shape, won the heart of Gunnlauth. After having passed three nights with the fair maiden, he had no great difficulty in inducing her to let him take a draught out of each of the three jars, called Odhrærir, Bodn, and Són, in which the mead was kept. But wishing to make the most of his advantage, he pulled so deep that not a drop was left in the vessels. Transforming himself into an eagle, he then flew off as fast as his wings could carry him, but Suttung becoming aware of the stratagem, also took upon himself an eagle's guise, and flew after him. The Æsir, on seeing him approach Asgard, set out in the yard all the jars they could lay their hands on, which Odin filled by discharging through his beak the wonder-working liquor he had drunken. He was, however, so near being caught by Suttung, that some of the liquor escaped him by an impurer vent, and as no care was taken of this it fell to the share of poetasters. But the liquor discharged in the jars was kept for the gods, and for those men who have sufficient wit to make a right use of it. Hence poetry is also called Odin's booty, Odin's gift, the beverage of the gods, &c., &c.

464

A CRITICAL EXAMINATION

OF THE

LEADING DOCTRINES

OF THE

SCANDINAVIAN SYSTEM OF MYTHOLOGY.

BY THE EDITOR.

It was our intention to have written a kind of commentary on the Prose Edda, in which we should have attempted to explain the myths contained in that work, and in the ancient poems of the Elder Edda, but having already exceeded our prescribed limits, we shall be obliged to conclude our editorial task by offering a few observations on a subject which, were it fully treated in all its details, would require a volume *.

We will not enter into the question whether the so-called primitive religion of mankind was monotheism or polytheism, such questions merely giving rise to idle speculations that cannot possibly lead to any satisfactory result. How, in fact, can we ascertain the primitive worship of mankind without knowing how mankind originated? And how are we to know this? Ask the Brahmin, and he will refer you to the Vedas, which he will assure you are the revelations of the Supreme Essence, and prove at least that his myth has priority of date in its favour. Ask the early Persian, and he will refer you to the Zendavesta. Ask the Israelite, and he will tell you that Jehovah revealed the work of creation to Moses. Inquire of modern science, and all that you will be able to learn is, that after the lapse of countless ages, in comparison to which the six thousand years of tradition and history are but as an infinitesimal fraction, the crust of this planet acquired its present form and consistency, and became a fitting abode for man.

*Finn Magnusen's Eddalæren fills, in fact, 4 volumes 12mo, containing altogether 1680 pages of letter-press, and his Lexicon Mythologicum, closely printed in double columns, takes up 850 quarto pages of the third volume of the Edda.

Guided by this science, you will also be able to perceive the first faint glimmerings of intelligence that accompany the rudimentary nervous system of the radiata, and to trace its gradual development, along with this system, through the collateral branches of molluscous and articulated animals to the vertebrata, until it attains its full maturity in the highest class of beings that has hitherto appeared on the earth: and analogical reasoning will warrant you in drawing the conclusion that this intelligence is still in a state of development, and may, even on this planet, in ages far too remote for human calculation, give rise to beings infinitely superior to any that at present exist on its ever-changing surface. Vain indeed must be the person who can imagine that Almighty power has breathed into such an imperfect being as man all the spiritual essence that mortality is capable of supporting:

we

M. Mallet, in his inquiries respecting the religion of the ancient Teutonic tribes, assumes that they originally worshipped a sole, unique deity, and, as usual, gives extracts from Tacitus in corroboration of his opinions. If our space allowed us, think we could show that the converse of all that he says on this subject in the commencement of the fifth chapter of this work would be much nearer the truth. If we follow the Teutonic tribes to the plains of Asia, and thus remount far beyond the bounds of authentic history and the times of Tacitus, we may, in fact, with much greater reason supposefor in such inquiries anything that can be said will be little better than mere conjecture-that their religion was essentially grounded on polytheism, for, like every other primitive people, they were, no doubt, chiefly occupied in hunting and in tending their flocks and herds. Now, when men are in this rudimentary state of social existence, they will be forcibly impressed by the varied phenomena of nature which they are utterly unable to comprehend. They hear the thunder pealing from the lurid clouds that veil the beneficent orb which experience has taught them regulates the seasons. They behold the forked lightning darting athwart the jarring rack winged with destruction. Trembling with fear, they naturally

It may not be irrelevant to observe, that in a note to the second edition of a pamphlet published in 1836, and entitled A few Remarks on our Foreign Policy," we had occasion to make use of a similar argument.

H H

ascribe such terrible effects to a superhuman cause-to a wrathful deity, who rides the storm and launches his fiery bolts on the head of some devoted victim. Hence their firm belief in a God of Thunder-in a Thor, a Perun, a Perkunos, an Indra, a Jupiter Tonans. When located in a maritime district they venture in their frail barks to cross the seas that separate them from countries offering a rich spoil as the reward of their valour, and are suddenly assailed by a furious tempest that leaves little hope of safety, what can be more natural than their belief in a deity presiding over the oceana Njörd, a Neptune, an Ockopirn, a Varuna-who in this manner makes known his displeasure? All the great phenomena of nature are thus regarded as being under the guidance and control of elementary deities, and self-interest and selfpreservation soon teach the most savage tribes to invoke these deities in order that their wrath may be averted, or their beneficent influence exercised for the good of the community.

At a much later period, when the tribes have acquired a certain degree of civilization, and have their priests or their pontiff chieftains, this rude form of public worship will be reduced into a system, and the most powerful of the elementary deities, generally the God of Thunder Jupiter, Perun, Perkunos-will be regarded as the supreme divinity to whom all the others are subordinate. Temples will then be erected, and a public worship with sacrifices, sacrificial banquets and festivals instituted.

At a still later period, the chiefs, the priests and the poets, in a word, the most enlightened among the community, will form an esoteric doctrine,—will regard the deities to whom popular belief assigns a real superhuman existence, as the mere symbols of natural phenomena. The Bards, Skalds, Prophets, or by whatever name they may be designated, will draw up systems of cosmogony, theogony and mythology, susceptible both of an esoteric and an exoteric explanation. Some of these systems will be grounded on monotheism, some on pantheism, and others again on a dualistic monotheism, a system, in fact, which apparently offers the most rational explanation of the cause of evil in the world.

Tribes located in a sterile country, with a rigorous climate, have seldom passed beyond this stadium of intellectual deve

lopment, which may be regarded as the transition period from systematic mythology to philosophy, from theology to free inquiry. In the latter period the mind of man attains to the highest degree of intellectuality of which it is susceptible; but this culminating point of human intelligence presupposes several centuries of refinement and civilization, or, at least, a genial climate, a rich soil, wealth and prosperity; in short, a state of society in which men can find leisure to devote their lives exclusively to the study of the higher branches of human knowledge. Such a state of society existed at a very remote period on the plains of the Ganges, and gave rise to various schools of philosophy, in which were taught the Mímánsá, Védánta, Nyáya, and Sánkhya systems, the prototypes of those of ancient Greece and of modern Germany, with this difference, that theological doctrines generally form the groundwork of Hindostanic speculations, whilst the Hellenic and German are entirely based on free inquiry.

Philosophy has assumed various forms, has been cast into various systems, has given rise to the wildest theories and speculations, and has, after all, arrived at no satisfactory result. And how could it be otherwise? The object in view was too vast for beings endowed with such limited faculties as we possess. It was nothing less than to acquire the knowledge of things as they are in reality, and not as they appear to be. In order to do this it was necessary to investigate the mysterious concatenation of cause and effect, and to answer the great questions-What is the universe? What is man? How came he here? Whither will he go? Is he mere matter superiorly organized, or is he a material being endowed with an immaterial spirit? What is this spirit? Is it an individual essence, or does it form but an infinitesimal portion of a general vivifying principle disseminated and undulating like light and heat throughout the universe? What is this universe? Is it a fortuitous combination of atoms, or is it the work of Infinite Wisdom? May we suppose the Deity as a concentrated, and the universe as an extended immateriality, or must we acknowledge a personal Deity, an omnipotent, eternal, Supreme Essence, regulating matter at will, or subjecting it to unchangeable laws throughout eternity, and to whom time and space-those mysteries of mysteries—will be unknown? Now, although it is self evident that such ques

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