m of the Arcadian Saga.'

'The Arcadian myth of Demeter Erinnys is undeniably a blending of the
epic tradition [of the ideal war-horse] with the local cult of
Demeter. . . . It is a probable hypothesis that the belief in the
wedding of Demeter and Poseidon comes from the sight of the waves
passing over the cornfield. . . .' {52}

It is very neat! But a certain myth of Loki in horse-form comes into
memory, and makes me wonder how Mannhardt would have dealt with that too
liberal narrative.

Loki, as a mare (he being a male god), became, by the horse of a giant,
the father of Sleipnir, Odin's eight-footed steed. Mr. W. A. Craigie
supplies this note on Loki's analogy with Poseidon, as a horse, in the
waves of corn:--

'In North Jutland, when the vapours are seen going with a wavy motion
along the earth in the heat of summer, they say, "Loki is sowing oats
today," or "Loki is driving his goats."

'N.B.--Oats in Danish are havre, which suggests O.N. hafrar, goats.
Modern Icelandic has hafrar=oats, but the word is not found in the old
language.'

Is Loki a corn-spirit?



Mannhardt's 'Mean Argument'


Mannhardt now examines the explanations of Demeter Erinnys, and her
legend, given by Preller, E. Curtius, O. Muller, A. Kuhn, W. Sonne, Max
Muller, E. Burnouf, de Gubernatis, Schwartz, and H. D. Muller. 'Here,'
he cries, 'is a variegated list of hypotheses!' Demeter is

Storm-cloud
Sun Goddess
Earth and Moon Goddess
Dawn
Night.

Poseidon is

Sea
Storm God
Cloud-hidden Sun
Rain God.

Despoina is

Rain
Thunder
Moon.

Arion, the horse, is

Lightning
Sun
Thunder-horse.

Erinnys is

Storm-cloud
Red Dawn.

Mannhardt decides, after this exhibition of guesses, that the Demeter
legends cannot be explained as refractions of any natural phenomena in
the heavens (p. 275). He concludes that the myth of Demeter Erinnys, and
the parallel Vedic story of Saranyu (who also had an amo

Martha Finley (1828 - 1909) was a teacher and author of numerous works, the most well known being the 28 volume Elsie Dinsmore series which was published over a span of 38 years. The daughter of Presbyterian minister Dr. James Brown Finley and his wife and cousin Maria Theresa Brown Finley, she was born on April 26th, 1828 in Chillicothe, Ohio. Finley wrote many of her books under the psodonym Martha Farquharson. She died in 1909 in Elkton, Maryland, where she moved in 1876.

Anonymous may refer to: Anonymus, the Latin spelling, may refer to: