COSMOGONY
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COSMOGONY
against the complexity of which appear in greater re-
Hef the majesty and simplicity of the words: In the be-
ginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Cosmogonies of More Modern Races. — Amongst more modern myths of the world's origin the Norse and the American cosmogonies call for comment.
The Norse Cosmogonies are the only remnant of an- cient German ideas on this subject, for the so-called "Prayer of Wessobrunn", a fragment ascribed to the eighth or ninth century, is too short to give us any information beyond the belief in the existence of one almighty god, and with him a multitude of divine spirits, before the world was. It is, moreover, imcer- tain whether the Wessobrunner fragment represents pure Germanic thought uninfluenced by Christianity. The Norse cosmogonies are contained in the Edda; the more ancient one in the Voluspa of the Poetic Ed- da, the younger one in the Gylfaginning of the Prose Edda. It is sometimes said that these cosmogonies so clearly betray the influence of the Arctic climate that they can in no sense belong to the Southern Ger- mans. This, however, is hardly convincing, as it is unknown where precisely the Germans lived previous to their immigration into Europe, and what was the climate of Northern Europe and Asia when these Sagas first grew up. In the third verse of "The Si- byl's Song", of Voluspa, the cosmogony begins: —
There was a time when only Ymir was.
Nor sand, nor sea, nor briny waves.
Nay earth existed not, nor heaven above.
A yawning space without a spot of green
Until the vaults were raised of all
By Burl's Sons creating noble Midgard.
Then shone the Southern Sun on stony mountains.
And from the very soil the herbs were sprouting.
And yet the Sovithern Sun, the helpmate of the Moon,
Bridled heaven's steeds with her right hand,
For it was unknown as yet where she should dwell.
Nor knew the moon the power he possessed.
The Stars were ignorant of their abode.
Then went the Powers all to sit in judgment
The all-holy gods held thereupon their council.
To Night and to the waning moon gave names.
They gave to Morn and Noon their calling
To Afternoon and Eve, whereby to reckon years.
The Sibyl further chants how the Aesir met on Ida's plain, built altars and temples, lit the blazing furnace, and"forged their tools. The creation of dwarfs is then related in detail, and finally the creation of man. Three Aesir, great and kind, went to the world and found in utter weakness Ask and Embla, the first human pair. " Spirit they possessed, but sense had none; No blood, nor strength to move, nor goodly colour. Life gave Odin, Sense gave Hoenir, Blood gave Lodur and goodly colour." This cosmogony is explained, enlarged, and slightly modified in the Gyl- faginning, or Gylfa's deception. The lengthy account can be summecl up as follows: —
There are three stages of development: (a) the rise of three fundamental beings in times primeval, Mus- pelheim, or the southern realm of Liglit, Niflheim or the northern realm of Darkness, and between them the Ginnunga Gap, or yawning cleft. Muspelheim ex- isted first, and Niflheim is secondary in the order of being, but how either arose the cosmogony does not explain. In the northern realm there e.xLsted a well, called Hwergelniir, from which jiroceeded twelve tor- rents, called together Elivagar, or Iccstreani. This stream flowing into the Ginmmga Gap formed thecos- mogonic being Ymir. At first this was a lifeless mass, but this mass develops imder the influence of .\u(l- humla, represented as a cow licking the ice, being a figure for the Thawing Warmth, (b) Out of Ymir the Fro.st fiiaiits, ur lliimthurses, arise, and the funda- mental gods; out of Audhumla arise Odin, Vili, and Ve; or Odin, \'ili, and Ve are the sons of Biir, who
married Bestla, daughter of the Frost Giant Bolthor
(c) Odin, Vili, .and Ve slay the monster Ymir, thro
his body into the Ginnunga Gap, and out of his liml
form the visible universe, or the Midgard, out of h
skull the vault of heaven, out of his brains the cloud
out of his blood the seas, and so on. Then they bui
the Burgh of theGods, Asgard; they order the course <
the stars and create the Dwarfs. Lastly, the first ma
and woman are created. Ask and Embla, whom Odi
found as weak and miserable beings on the .seashore
These Norse cosmogonies differ from the more an cient cosmogonies in this : that they do not really g back to the first beginning of all things, but presup pose the existence of a twofold world — one South tfi other North — and only account for the formation d this present world in the space between both. The; agree with most other cosmogonies in ascribing th actual formation of this Cosmos to one (Odin) or mor (Odin, with Vili and Ve as destroyers of Chaos) intelli gent personal beings or gods.
Americnn Cosmogo})ies have been preserved fair number. The early missionaries to .\merica, es pecially those to Mexico, Central America, and Sout America, were strongly impressed with the monotheis tic character of Indian speculations, ascribing thi world and its phenomena to the influence of one omni present spiritual being, called in one place the " Grea Spirit ", in another place Viracocha, in another Hunah ku, elsewhere Quetzalcoatl, etc. Yet, concurrentl with these true religious and philosophic ideas, ther existed a number of apparently puerile traditions cor cerning the beginning of things. But again thes childish fancies were but the clothing of general cos mogonic ideas. According to the Ottawas and othe northern Algonquins, a raft was floating on the shore less waters. Upon this raft were a munber of animal with Michabo, the Giant Rabbit, as their chief. A they were without land to live on, Michabo, the Gian Rabbit, made first the beaver and then the otter, tha they should dive and bring up a piece of mud. A they failed, Wajashk, the female muskrat, at her ow request is allowed to dive. When she had remaine below for a day and a night, she floated to the surfac as dead, but they found in one of her paws a little clo of mud. Michabo, endowed with creative powe; kneads this little bit of soil till he makes it grow int an island, a mountain, a coimtry, nay into this worl in which we live. He shoots his arrows in the groun and transfixes them with other arrows, thus creatin trees with stems and branches. Some say he create man from the dead bodies of certain animals, othei that he married the muskrat and thus begat the anoe^ tors of the human race. It has been .suggesteil tluit i the name "Michabo" there lies concealed another won, - t: viz. "MichiWaban", the great Dawn, or the great Easi Ura The word Wajashk ", likewise, probably contains th. word " Ajishki ", or mud. The story then would mear Wien the great light in the east shone upon the pr meval waters, dry land in ever-increasing extent a| peared above the surface, and the rays of the sui piercing the soil, brought forth the trees, and the actio of the light on the slime brought forth man.
Closely similar to this cosmogony is that of the Ire quois. In the beginning theheavensabove were people with celestial beings, and the wide ocean belnw wit monsters of the deep. Then .\taensic. a divine being.fe through a rift in the sky into the primeval waters. Tlv turtle otTered her liis back as resting place. Then som animal brought her a little clay, out of which .she pre duced the dry land. Ataensic gave birth to adaughtei who, though a virgin, gave birth to twins, Tawiscar and ,I(>skeha. This daughter having died in child birth, her body, being buried, imparts fertility to th soil. .\ mortal battle is waged between the tw brothers Joskeha, the good, and Tawiscara, the ev one. The latter is overcome, flies to the West, an^ becomes the god of the dead. Joskeha creates firs
Ihtani
nui't
tbeiis
fhS
Elton
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