Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/mythologyofallra31gray THE MYTHOLOGY OF ALL RACES Volume III CELTIC SLAVIC Volume I. Greek and Roman William Sherwood Fox, Ph.D., University of Western Ontario. Volume II. Eddie Canon John A. MacCulloch, D.D., Bridge of Allan, Scotland. Volume III. Celtic, Slavic Canon John A. MacCulloch, D.D., Bridge of Allan, Scotland. Jan Machal, Ph.D., Bohemian University. Volume IV. Finno-Ugric, Siberian Uno Holmberg, Ph.D., Turku University. Volume V. Semitic Stephen H. Langdon, M.A., B.D., Ph.D., Oxford University. Volume VI. Indian, Iranian A. Berriedale Keith, D.C.L., Edinburgh University. Albert J. Carnoy, Ph.D., University of Louvain. Volume VII. Armenian, African Mardiros Ananikian, B.D., Kennedy School of Missions. Alice Werner, L.L.A. (St. Andrews), School of Oriental Studies. Volume VIII. Chinese, Japanese John C. Ferguson, Ph.D., Peking, China. Masaharu Anesaki, Litt.D., University of Tokyo. Volume IX. Oceanic Roland Burrage Dixon, Ph.D., Harvard University. Volume X. North American Hartley Burr Alexander, Ph.D., Scripps College. Volume XI. American (Latin) Hartley Burr Alexander, Ph.D., Scripps College. Volume XII. Egypt, Far East W. Max Muller, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania. Sir (James) George Scott, K.C.I.E., London. Volume XIII. Index Louis Herbert Gray, A.M., Ph.D., Columbia University. PLATE I Brug na Boinne The tumulus at New Grange is the largest of a group of three at Dowth, New Grange, and Knowth, County Meath, on the banks of the Boyne in the plain known to Irish tales as Brug na Boinne, the traditional burial-place of the Tuatha De Danann and of the Kings of Tara. It was also associated with the Tuatha De Danann as their immortal dwelling-place, e. g. of Oengus of the Brug (see pp. - 50-51, 66-67, 1 76 77 )- The tumuli are perhaps of the neolithic age (for plans see Plate VI, A and B). THE MYTHOLOGY OF ALL RACES IN THIRTEEN VOLUMES LOUIS HERBERT GRAY, A.M., PH.D., Editor GEORGE FOOT MOORE, A.M., D.D., LL.D., Consulting Editor CELTIC SLAVIC BY BY JOHN ARNOTT MACCULLOCH, JAN MACHAL, ph.d. HON. D. D. (ST. ANDREWS) WITH A CHAPTER ON BALTIC MYTHOLOGY BY THE EDITOR VOLUME III BOSTON MARSHALL JONES COMPANY M DCCCC XVIII mm r-3 Copyright, 1918 By Marshall Jones Company Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London All rights reserved PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CONTENTS CELTIC PAGE Author’s Preface 5 Introduction 7 Chapter I. The Strife of the Gods 23 II. Tuatha De Danann and Milesians. ... 42 III. The Division of the Sid 49 IV. Mythic Powers of the Gods 54 V. Gods Helping Mortals 62 VI. Divine Enmity and Punishment 68 VII. The Loves of the Gods 78 VIII. The Myths of the British Celts .... 92 IX. The Divine Land 114 X. Mythical Animals and Other Beings. 124 XI. Myths of Origins 135 XII. The Heroic Myths — I. Cuchulainn and his Circle 139 XIII. The Heroic Myths — II. Fionn and the Feinn 160 XIV. The Heroic Myths — III. Arthur .... 184 XV. Paganism and Christianity 206 VI CONTENTS SLAVIC PAGE Editor’s Preface 217 Pronunciation 219 Introduction 221 Part I. The Genii 225 Chapter I. Belief in Soul and Genii 227 II. Worship of the Dead, Especially An- cestors 233 III. The Household Gods 240 IV. Genii of Fate 249 V. Navky and Rusalky 253 VI. VlLY 256 VII. Silvan Spirits 261 VIII. Field-Spirits 267 IX. Water-Spirits 270 X. Sun, Moon, and Stars 273 Part II. The Deities of the Elbe Slavs 275 Chapter I. Svantovit 279 II. Triglav 284 III. SvARAZIC 286 IV. Cernobog 288 V. Other Deities 289 Part III. The Deities of the Pagan Russians .... 291 Chapter I. Perun 293 II. Dazbog 297 III. SvAROZIC AND SvAROG 298 IV. Chors 299 V. Veles, Volos, and Stribog 300 Part IV. Cult and Festivals 303 Chapter I. Worship of the Gods 305 II. The Koleda 3°7 CONTENTS vii PAGE III. The Rusalye 311 IV. The Kupalo and Jarilo 313 Part V. Baltic Mythology 315 Notes, Celtic 333 Notes, Slavic 351 Bibliography, Celtic 365 Bibliography, Slavic 389 ILLUSTRATIONS plate facing page I Brug na Boinne — Coloured Frontispiece II Gaulish Coins 8 1. Horse and Wheel-Symbol 2. Horse, Conjoined Circles and S-Symbol 3. Man-Headed Horse and Wheel 4. Bull and S-Symbol 5. Bull 6. Sword and Warrior Dancing Before it 7-8. Swastika Composed of Two S-Symbols (?) 9-10. Bull’s Head and two S-Symbols; Bear Eating a Serpent 11. Wolf and S-Symbols III Gaulish Coins 14 1. Animals Opposed, and Boar and Wolf (?) 2. Man-Headed Horse and Bird, and Bull Ensign 3. Squatting Divinity, and Boar and S-Symbol or Snake 4. Horse and Bird 5. Bull and Bird 6. Boar 7. Animals Opposed IV God with the Wheel 20 V Smertullos 40 VI A. Plan of the Brug na Boinne 50 B. Plan of the Brug na Boinne 50 VII Three-Headed God 56 VIII Squatting God 72 IX A. Altar from Saintes 86 B. Reverse Side of the same Altar 86 X Incised Stones from Scotland 94 1. The “Picardy Stone” 2. The “Newton Stone” X ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE FACING PAGE XI Gauls and Romans in Combat 106 XII Three-Headed God II2 XIII Sucellos jjg XIV Dispater and Aeracura (?) 120 XV Epona 124 XVI Cernunnos .... 128 Incised Stones XVII from Scotland 134. 1. The “Crichie Stone” 2. An Incised Scottish Stone XVIII Menhir of Kernuz 140 XIX Bulls and S-Symbols 132 1, 6. Carvings of Bulls from Burghhead 2-5. S-Symbols XX A. Altar from Notre Dame. Esus 158 B. Altar from Notre Dame. Tarvos Trigaranos . 158 XXI Altar from Treves . .• 166 XXII Page of an Irish Manuscript 176 XXIII Artio 186 XXIV Boars 188 XXV Horned God 204 XXVI Sucellos 208 XXVII Zadusnica 237 XXVIII Djadek 244 XXIX Setek 244 XXX Lesni Zenka 261 XXXI Svantovit 279 XXXII Festival of Svantovit 281 XXXIII Radigast 286 XXXIV Idealizations of Slavic Divinities 288 1. Svantovit 2. Ziva 3. Cernobog and Tribog XXXV Veles 300 XXXVI Ancient Slavic Sacrifice 305 XXXVII The Sacred Oak of Romowe. 305 CELTIC MYTHOLOGY BY JOHN ARNOTT MACCULLOCH, Hon. D.D. (St. Andrews.^ RECTOR OF ST. SAVIOUR’S, BRIDGE OF ALLAN, STIRLINGSHIRE, AND HONORARY CANON OF CUMBRAE CATHEDRAL TO DR. JAMES HASTINGS Editor of the Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, the Dictionary of the Bible , etc. WITH THE GRATITUDE AND RESPECT OF THE AUTHOR AUTHOR’S PREFACE j a former work * I have considered at some length the re- rligion of the ancient Celts; the present study describes those Celtic myths which remain to us as a precious legacy from the past, and is supplementary to the earlier book. These myths, as I show, seldom exist as the pagan Celts knew them, for they have been altered in various ways, since romance, pseudo-history, and the influences of Christianity have all affected many of them. Still they are full of interest, and it is not difficult to perceive traces of old ideas and mythical conceptions beneath the surface. Transformation allied to rebirth was asserted of various Celtic divinities, and if the myths have been transformed, enough of their old selves re- mained for identification after romantic writers and pseudo- historians gave them a new existence. Some mythic incidents doubtless survive much as they were in the days of old, but all alike witness to the many-sided character of the life and thought of their Celtic progenitors and transmitters. Romance and love, war and slaughter, noble deeds as well as foul, wordy boastfulness but also delightful poetic utterance, glamour and sordid reality, beauty if also squalid conditions of life, are found side by side in these stories of ancient Ireland and Wales. The illustrations are the work of my daughter, Sheila Mac- Culloch, and I have to thank the authorities of the British Museum for permission to copy illustrations from their publica- tions; Mr. George Coffey for permission to copy drawings and photographs of the Tumuli at New Grange from his book New Grange ( Brugh na Boinne) and other Inscribed Tumuli in Ire- land; the Librarians of Trinity College, Dublin, and the Bod- * The Religion of the Ancient Celts, Edinburgh, 1911. — 6 AUTHOR’S PREFACE leian Library, Oxford, for permission to photograph pages from well-known Irish MSS.; and Mr. R. J. Best for the use of his photographs of MSS. In writing this book it has been some relief to try to lose oneself in it and to forget, in turning over the pages of the past, the dark cloud which hangs over our modern life in these sad days of the great war, sad yet noble, because of the freely offered sacrifice of life and all that life holds dear by so many of my countrymen and our heroic allies in defence of liberty. J. A. MACCULLOCH. Bridge of Allan, Scotland, May, 16, 1916. hi 1 2 INTRODUCTION N all lands whither the Celts came as conquerors there was I an existing population with whom they must eventually have made alliances. They imposed their language upon them — the Celtic regions are or were recently regions of Celtic speech — but just as many words of the aboriginal vernacular must have been taken over by the conquerors, or their own tongue modified by Celtic, so must it have been with their mythology. Celtic and pre-Celtic folk alike had many myths, and these were bound to intermingle, with the result that such Celtic legends as we possess must contain remnants of the aboriginal mythology, though it, like the descendants of the aborigines, has become Celtic.