stepped upon the hen. This movement is also typical for the nightmare; therefore, it is said of King Vanlandi, "Mara trad han," the Mara trod on him in sleep even to death.[91] A synonym for nightmare is the "troll" or "treter"[92] (treader). This movement (calcare) is proven again by the experience of Freud and myself with children, where a special infantile sexual significance is attached to stepping or kicking.
The common Aryan root mar means "to die"; therefore, mara the "dead" or "death." From this results mors, [Greek: mo/ros] = fate (also [Greek: moi~ra][93]). As is well known, the Nornes sitting under the "world-ash" personify fate like Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. With the Celts the conception of the Fates probably passes into that of matres and matronæ, which had a divine significance among the Germans. A well-known passage in Julius Cæsar ("De Bello Gallico," i: 50) informs us of this meaning of the mother:
"Ut matres familias eorum sortibus et vaticinationibus[94] declararent,
utrum prœlium committi ex usu esset, nec ne."[1]
In Slav mara means "witch"; poln. mora = demon,
nightmare; mōr or mōre (Swiss-German) means "sow,"
also as an insult. The Bohemian mura means "nightmare"
and "evening moth, Sphinx." This strange connection
is explained through analysis where it often
occurs that animals with movable shells (Venus shell) or
wings are utilized for very transparent reasons as symbols
of the female genitals.[95] The Sphingina are the twi-*
- ↑ That these matrons should declare by lots whether it would be to their advantage or not to engage in battle.
