The Golden Bough (Vol
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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Golden Bough (Vol. 2 of 2) by James George Frazer This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license Title: The Golden Bough (Vol. 2 of 2) Author: James George Frazer Release Date: November 12, 2012 [Ebook 41359] Language: English ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOLDEN BOUGH (VOL. 2 OF 2)*** The Golden Bough A Study in Comparative Religion By James George Frazer, M.A. Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge In Two Volumes. Vol. II. New York and London MacMillan and Co. 1894 Contents Chapter III—(continued). .2 § 10.—The corn-spirit as an animal. .2 § 11.—Eating the god. 61 § 12.—Killing the divine animal. 81 § 13.—Transference of evil. 134 § 14.—Expulsion of evils, . 142 § 15.—Scapegoats. 165 § 16.—Killing the god in Mexico. 197 Chapter IV—The Golden Bough. 202 § 1.—Between heaven and earth. 202 § 2.—Balder. 220 § 3.—The external soul in folk-tales. 268 § 4.—The external soul in folk-custom. 295 § 5.—Conclusion. 323 Note. Offerings of first-fruits. 335 Index. 349 Footnotes . 443 [Transcriber's Note: The above cover image was produced by the submitter at Distributed Proofreaders, and is being placed into the public domain.] [001] Chapter III—(continued). § 10.—The corn-spirit as an animal. In some of the examples cited above to establish the meaning of the term “neck” as applied to the last sheaf, the corn-spirit appears in animal form as a gander, a goat, a hare, a cat, and a fox. This introduces us to a new aspect of the corn-spirit, which we must now examine. By doing so we shall not only have fresh examples of killing the god, but may hope also to clear up some points which remain obscure in the myths and worship of Attis, Adonis, Osiris, Dionysus, Demeter, and Virbius. Amongst the many animals whose forms the corn-spirit is supposed to take are the wolf, dog, hare, cock, goose, cat, goat, cow (ox, bull), pig, and horse. In one or other of these forms the corn-spirit is believed to be present in the corn, and to be caught or killed in the last sheaf. As the corn is being cut the animal flees before the reapers, and if a reaper is taken ill on the field, he is supposed to have stumbled unwittingly on the corn-spirit, who has thus punished the profane intruder. It is said “The Rye-wolf has got hold of him,”“the Harvest-goat has given him a push.” The person who cuts the last corn or binds the last sheaf gets the [002] name of the animal, as the Rye-wolf, the Rye-sow, the Oats-goat, etc., and retains the name sometimes for a year. Also the animal is frequently represented by a puppet made out of the last sheaf or of wood, flowers, etc., which is carried home amid rejoicings on the last harvest waggon. Even where the last sheaf is not made § 10.—The corn-spirit as an animal. 3 up in animal shape, it is often called the Rye-wolf, the Hare, Goat, and so on. Generally each kind of crop is supposed to have its special animal, which is caught in the last sheaf, and called the Rye-wolf, the Barley-wolf, the Oats-wolf, the Pea-wolf, or the Potato-wolf, according to the crop; but sometimes the figure of the animal is only made up once for all at getting in the last crop of the whole harvest. Sometimes the animal is believed to be killed by the last stroke of the sickle or scythe. But oftener it is thought to live so long as there is corn still unthreshed, and to be caught in the last sheaf threshed. Hence the man who gives the last stroke with the flail is told that he has got the Corn-sow, the Threshing-dog, etc. When the threshing is finished, a puppet is made in the form of the animal, and this is carried by the thresher of the last sheaf to a neighbouring farm, where the threshing is still going on. This again shows that the corn-spirit is believed to live wherever the corn is still being threshed. Sometimes the thresher of the last sheaf himself represents the animal; and if the people of the next farm, who are still threshing, catch him, they treat him like the animal he represents, by shutting him up in the pig-sty, calling him with the cries commonly addressed to pigs, and so forth.1 These general statements will now be illustrated by examples. We begin with the corn-spirit conceived as a wolf or a dog. [003] This conception is common in France, Germany, and Slavonic countries. Thus, when the wind sets the corn in wave-like motion, the peasants often say, “The Wolf is going over, or through, the corn,”“the Rye-wolf is rushing over the field,”“the Wolf is in the corn,”“the mad Dog is in the corn,”“the big Dog is there.”2 When children wish to go into the corn-fields to pluck ears or gather the blue corn-flowers, they are warned not to do so, for 1 W. Mannhardt, Die Korndämonen, pp. 1-6. 2 W. Mannhardt, Roggenwolf und Roggenhund (Danzig, 1865), p. 5; id., Antike Wald-und Feldkulte, p. 318 sq.; id., Mythol. Forsch. p. 103; Witzschel, Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen, p. 213. 4 The Golden Bough (Vol. 2 of 2) “the big Dog sits in the corn,” or “the Wolf sits in the corn, and will tear you in pieces,”“the Wolf will eat you.” The wolf against whom the children are warned is not a common wolf, for he is often spoken of as the Corn-wolf, Rye-wolf, etc.; thus they say, “The Rye-wolf will come and eat you up, children,” “the Rye-wolf will carry you off,” and so forth.3 Still he has all the outward appearance of a wolf. For in the neighbourhood of Feilenhof (East Prussia), when a wolf was seen running through a field, the peasants used to watch whether he carried his tail in the air or dragged it on the ground. If he dragged it on the ground, they went after him, and thanked him for bringing them a blessing, and even set tit-bits before him. But if he carried his tail high, they cursed him and tried to kill him. Here the wolf is the corn-spirit, whose fertilising power is in his tail.4 Both dog and wolf appear as embodiments of the corn-spirit in [004] harvest-customs. Thus in some parts of Silesia the person who binds the last sheaf is called the Wheat-dog or the Peas-pug.5 But it is in the harvest-customs of the north-east of France that the idea of the Corn-dog comes out most clearly. Thus when a harvester, through sickness, weariness, or laziness, cannot or will not keep up with the reaper in front of him, they say, “The White Dog passed near him,”“he has the White Bitch,” or “the White Bitch has bitten him.”6 In the Vosges the Harvest-May is called the “Dog of the harvest.”7 About Lons-le-Saulnier, in the Jura, the last sheaf is called the Bitch. In the neighbourhood of Verdun the regular expression for finishing the reaping is, “They are going to kill the Dog;” and at Épinal they say, according to the crop, “We will kill the Wheat-dog, or the Rye-dog, or the 3 W. Mannhardt, Roggenwolf u. Roggenhund, p. 7 sqq.; id., A. W. F. p. 319. 4 W. Mannhardt, Roggenwolf, etc. p. 10. 5 W. Mannhardt, M. F. p. 104. 6 Ib. 7 Ib. p. 104 sq. On the Harvest-May, see above, vol. i. p. 68. § 10.—The corn-spirit as an animal. 5 Potato-dog.”8 In Lorraine it is said of the man who cuts the last corn, “He is killing the Dog of the harvest.”9 At Dux, in the Tyrol, the man who gives the last stroke at threshing is said to “strike down the Dog;”10 and at Ahnebergen, near Stade, he is called, according to the crop, Corn-pug, Rye-pug, Wheat-pug.11 So with the wolf. In Germany it is said that “The Wolf sits in the last sheaf.”12 In some places they call out to the reaper, “Beware of the Wolf;” or they say, “He is chasing the Wolf out of the corn.”13 The last bunch of standing corn is called the Wolf, and the man who cuts it “has the Wolf.” The last sheaf is also called the Wolf; and of the woman who binds it they say, “The Wolf is biting her,”“she has the Wolf,”“she [005] must fetch the Wolf” (out of the corn).14 Moreover, she is herself called Wolf and has to bear the name for a whole year; sometimes, according to the crop, she is called the Rye-wolf or the Potato-wolf.15 In the island of Rügen they call out to the woman who binds the last sheaf, “You're Wolf;” and when she comes home she bites the lady of the house and the stewardess, for which she receives a large piece of meat.