The Oak and the Thunder-God Author(S): H
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The Oak and the Thunder-God Author(s): H. Munro Chadwick Source: The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 30 (1900), pp. 22-44 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2842615 Accessed: 10/12/2010 11:29 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=rai. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. http://www.jstor.org ( 22 ) THE OAK AND THE THUNDER-GOD. BY H. MUNROCHADWICK, M.A., Fellow of Clare College,Cambridge. [PRESENTED JANUARY 9TH, 1900.] INTRODUCTION. THE objectof this paperis to discussthe connectionbetween the sacred oak and the cultof the thunder-god.For this purposeit is necessaryto give an account, first,of the cult of the thunder-godas practisedby the chiefpeoples of Europe, and secondly,of the tree-sanctuarieswhich are foundamong the same peoples. Afterthis we may considerthe evidencefor connectingthe sacred oak with the cult of the thunder-god;and in conclusionan attemptwill be madeto give some explanationof this connection. Since the mythsand cults of the Greeks and Romansare comparativelywell known,it seemedunnecessary in most cases to do morethan give referencesto easily accessibleauthorities. On the otherhand I have thoughtit advisable to illustrateat soniewhatgreater length the less familiarreligions of thenorthern peoples. In the courseof the discussionI hope to show that the thunder-godwas the chief deity of the early inhabitantsof Europe,and furtherthat the temples of late heathentimes were, to a greatextent, developedout of tree-sanctuaries.I think,therefore, it will be admittedthat the subjectis one of considerableimportance for the study of earlyEuropean religion. CHAPTEI 1:. ?1. ThexThqvtder-Go(i in the North. H. Petersenin his book On-Nordboernes Gudedygikelse og Gudetro i Hedenold, has shownthat in the Northduring the last centuriesof theheathen age Thorwas moreworshipped than any othergod, and that his cutltbears everysign of a remoteantiquity. This subjecthas beenso fullyand ably discussedby Petersen thatit is needlesshere to do morethan brieflyrecapitulate the main arguments whichhe has advanced. Theyare as follows:-(1) Whenevermention is made of figuresof the gods in temples,Thor's figure seems always to take the chiefplace. In no case is it statedthat the centralposition was occupiedby any othergod. In severalcases Thor'sfigure is the onlyone mentioned. (2) In compoundpersonal names /hd- is yastlymore frequent than the nameof any othergod. Thus in the Landn4ina Bo6kTh&or- o-curs in 30 miieln'salnd 21 womenl'sniameis, distributed over about800 H. MUNROCHADWICK.-The Oak flndthe Thunder-Cod. 23 and 300 personsrespectively. On the otherhand Frey-occurs only in twomen's namesand one woman'sname (four persons in all), while 6i5dn-does not occur. The significanceof thesestatistics is shownby thefact that persons who borethe nameof a god were regardedas being underhis special protection.' In place- namesalso Tlhdr-is farmore irequent than the nameof any othergod. (3) When Scandinaviangods are mentioned by foreign writers, either Thor is mentionedalone or he is representedas the chiefof the gods. (4) Especiallysignificant is the title AittgardtsTzqtrr " sanctifierof the earth" whichis applied to Thor in the Edda. Petersenillustrates this by the use of the phrasebur uiki Jisi kuml (or Y.u. Pasi runar) "may Thor sanctifythese mounds" (or " these letters") which occurson two monumentsin Jutland. The same idea is symbolicallyexpressed by thereprcsentation of the hammeron severalinscriptions in Jutlandand Sweden. That thehammer was used at funeralsis madeprobable by the accountof Balder's funeralin Gyjlfaginning49, whereThor consecrates the pyrewith his hammer. A similar usage at weddingsnmay be inferredfrom the story in fThrymskvida. Peterseninfers that the hammerwas used on many otherimportant occasions, especiallyat the openingof the assembly. Hammersused as personaladornments have frequentlybeen found. That theywere used also in publicworship is made probableby Saxo's account (xiii, p. 630) of the large metal hammers(malleos loticales)which Magnus Nielsen carried away froma templeof Jupiteron one of the Swedishislands (about A.D. 1130). As sanctifieraild guardianof the home Thor's figurewas carved upon the &ndvcgisszlur"pillars of the high-seat"(the place of honourreserved for the head of thehouse). The reverenceattached to thesepillars is shownby several storiesdealilng with the colonisationof Iceland. The colonistsbrought their high-seat pillars with them. Thorolfrthrew the high-seatpillars of his templeoverboard on approachinglanid aind accepted the directionwhich they took as an indicationwhere to fixhis newhome.2 Hallsteinn, son of Thorolfr,prayed Thor to send himhigh-seat pillars.3 (5) It is likelyalso thatThor was regardedas the patronof theassembly. In Iceland,Thursday was the day on whichthe Al-ingi (generalassembly) was opened. This was also the case withthe Gulapingin Norwayand withmost of the districtassemblies in the Danish islands. (6) Evidencefor the cult of Thorin timeof war is givenby the accountof Styrbiorn'scampaign against Eirekr, king of Sweden,and by Dudo in his accountof the Normans. Snchare, according to Petersen,the mainfeatures of the cult of Thor. The importanceof the cult maybe estimatedby the fact that it embracesevery side of publicand privatelife, whereas the cult of Othinis concernedchiefly with the militaryside. LastlyThor seems to embodythe ideal of the nationalcharacter; he is representedas fearless,impetuous, but benevolenttowards men. Othin on the otherhand is distinguishedrather by shrewdnessand cunning. I Cf. EyrbyggiaSaga, c. 7, 11, and the passage from Grwnl.Anndll. appended to Vigfusson's edition of the Saga. 2 Eyrbyggia,s. 4. a LandndmaBOk, i, 23. 24 H. MUNROCIIADWiOK.- 1ThC Oak and the Ikunder-God. It is unfortunatethat no figureshave suirvivedwhich may be identifiedwith certaintyas representationsof Thor. Yet therecan be little doubt howhe was depicted,for the, Sagas containseveral storiesof his appearingto his friendsor enemiesupon earth.' He is representedas a man of largeand powerfulbuild, in theprilmle of life,and havinga red beard. The equipmentof thegod as depicted in themythological poems is renmarkable,especially from the negativeside. His weaponis almostalways the hammer.2He is never representedas possessing spear,sword, shield, helmet, or coat of mail. Againin travellillghe eithergoes on footor drivesin a carriagedrawn by goats. A horse is neverascribed to him. In Grm12nnismll29, immnediately before the enumerationof the horseswhich the godsride when they comneto do justice underYggdrasill's Ash, it is statedthat Thorhas to wade throughseveral streams on his way thither.The horsesof Othin, Freyr,Heimdallr and Balderare mentionedalso elsewhere. The antiquityof the representationof Thormay be estimatedby the absenceof the horseand of all the ordinaryweapons of war. His equipmentindeed resembles that of a hero of the StoneAgte rather than of any sutbsequentperiod. Bothfronm the shape of the hammeras depicted onl Rlunic stones,etc., and fromthe fact that the word (O.Norae Itarnarr)also means "rock" and is perhapsrelated to O.Bulg. kamy "stone" and kinldredwords, it appears n1otunlikely that Thor's hammerwas originiallya stone implement. Humansacrifices in connectionwith thiscult are seldommettioned. They were known,lhowever, both among the Norlmans(Dn)do, i, 1) and in Iceland (Eyrbyggia,s. 10), thoughin the lattercase the victimiiswere probably condemned criminals.4It is solmiewhatremarkable that in both these cases death seems to have beeninflicted by fellingwith a woodeninstrumiiient. Elsewhere sacrifices of horsesand oxen5and offeringsof bread and meat6are miientioned.Besides the sacrificesthere is one otherpoint which deservesmiientioln. In Icelandic temples it seems to have beenthe customto keep a sacred firein the aflh?'s(cj: p. 28) whichwas neverallowed to die ouit. Since the templedescribed in Kialnesingas.2, wherethis notice occurs, was primarilya Thor-temple,it is likely that thislholy firewas connectedwith the cult of Thor. It has been shownby Petersen(see above) that the blessingsconferred by Thorapply to all departmentsof human life. His connectionwith weatherand natural phenomenais surprisinglylittle evidenlcedin Norwegian-Icelandic