[Main Blog Post] [Book] Thoughts on Comparative Mythology

[jprussell]

I at last got around to reading and writing up my thoughts on Jaan Puhvel's Comparative Mythology, a book that I'm ashamed to admit I didn't know about a few months ago. If you're interested in the myths of folks who speak/spoke Indo-European languages, and most of all if you're interested in what we might be able to work out about the ancestral myths told by those who spoke the Proto-Indo-European mother tongue, you'll find lots to like here.

Comments

Re: The chief god in different Indo European pantheons

[causticus]

Also keep in mind that we have zero evidence of any "pan-Germanic" theology ever existing, or even a uniform set of deities all the Germanic-speaking peoples shared. At best, we know of a short list of gods with similar-enough names (ex: Woden/Wotan/Odin) that the different Germanic peoples venerated.

It seems that fixed pantheons and standardized mythological canons are a product of high civilizations that are able to extend their cultural influence over a wide geographic expanse and impose an ossified cultural template (via the written word) on their various subjects. With tribal societies things are generally a lot more fluid and always in some state of flux. It's very likely that different Germanic tribes and regions had different stories, or at least different variations of what was once a common set of myths and symbols. And those tribes close to the linguistic borders of course absorbed elements of neighboring peoples lore and customs (i.e. the Franks likely adopting Gaulish and Gallo-Roman deities into their native religion).

And the scraps of theology we do have today come from a very late period, at the tail end of the Viking Age, from Christianized Icelanders who were quite mixed with the many Irish slaves the Norse seafarers had taken as they settled the island (The Modern Icelandic genome is about 30-40% Irish). I wouldn't be surprised if medieval Icelandic poets were at least partially influenced by Irish bardic traditions and maybe even blended some Celtic mythic and/or stylistic elements into what became the Eddas. Norse-Gaelic hybridization was a very real thing during the late Viking Age, as much of the language and culture of the Hebrides and Scottish Highlands was affected by this as well (A good number of Highland Scot clans were founded by Vikings, as evidenced by their names).

What's clear as that Woden/Odin was the favorite god of the warband, and this was consistent over the course many centuries. What we know very little about though is what the everyday religion was like for the Yeoman and Thrall castes, beyond some hints of Thor/Donar and Ing-Frey being favorites of the commoners in some places.

Re: The chief god in different Indo European pantheons

[jprussell]

Fair points, all. I'd also point out that Celtic-Germanic syncretism likely goes back even farther, since in the earliest days of proto-Germanic speakers, the Celts were their immediate richer, more powerful, higher-status neighbors - artifacts like the Gundestrap Cauldron suggest at least trade/raiding relationships, and especially in the period of Roman control of parts of modern-day France, Germany, and Britain, we see Celtic and Germanic artifacts cheek-by-jowl, along with signs of syncretism.

As for the pantheon thing, I agree that the idea of "a pantheon," in the form of a unified, static body of Gods worshipped in the same way and with the same tales told about them is almost certainly over-projected onto every body of myth/religion we have, even the Greeks and Romans, but especially those less-well-documented and less-unified (like the Germans and the Celts). That being said, I tend to think that there were more strands of continuity than the most extreme forms of the "no pantheons" argument allow. To put that in plain, down-to-earth terms with an example, I think that the cult and tales of *Wodhanaz, Wotan, Woden, and Odin were meaningfully similar beyond a name with shared etymological roots. I also think the "Odin was just the God of the warband" argument at times goes a bit far (not saying you're asserting that here), and I tend to think that though, as you say, He was the warband's favorite God, that doesn't mean he wasn't recognized/worshipped/sung about by other groups of society.

All that being said, yeah, the on-the-ground religious picture of the Germanic-speaking folks was almost certainly more complicated at any given time than we tend to assume, to say nothing of changes over time, and different Gods, tutelary spirits, tribal totems, and so forth very likely played a bigger role in everyday folks' lives than it's easy for us to guess at. Luckily, polytheism neatly allows for this kind of variety, so I'm not too put out by it. For myself, all I can say is that I had a moment where I realized how almost comically apt Woden was as a God for me to worship: I signed up for the Army to try to join the Special Forces, I broke both my feet in the attempt, learned a lot about myself and the world from the suffering that resulted, I mostly try to get my way in the world by speaking, I teach others how to get what they want through speaking, and I'm always restless for new knowledge, including magical knowledge. Luckily, no insane furies just yet, nor situations where that would be useful.

Cheers,
Jeff

Re: The chief god in different Indo European pantheons

[causticus]

No disagreements from me on any of that!

On the Odin matter, I'm personally agnostic on what his greater role was or wasn't outside of the warband. Though I don't think that's really that important of a question in the grand scheme of things anyway, since IMHO, what matters is what present-day devotees of him perceive his roles, functions, and attributes as being.

Basically what you said,

"Luckily, polytheism neatly allows for this kind of variety, so I'm not too put out by it."

I think is the takeaway here.