Page:The Mythology of the Aryan Nations.djvu/232

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MYTHOLOGY OF THE ARYAN NATIONS.
BOOK II.

which surrounds the earth. The phrase Sôl gengr î oeginn simply spoke of the sun going down into the sea, as Helios sinks into the ocean. The other forms Ogen, Ogyges, approach still more closely to the Teutonic Oegir. We find the idea of fear as attached to the name more fully developed when we come to the Oegishialm, or helmet of dread, which the dragon Fafnir wears as he lies on the golden treasures, to strike terror into those who may dare to gaze on him, and again in the Eckesax or Uokesahs, the fearful sword tempered by the dwarfs in the Vilkina Saga,[1] weapons which, although there may perhaps be no affinity between the names, must remind us of the Aigis of Athênè and the helmet of Hades. Oegir's wife Ran is the mother of nine children, who become the eponymoi of fountains and streams.

  1. In the Dietrich story it is the sword with which the hero slays the gigantic Ecke.