Indo-European Poetry and Myth

The idea ‘slay’ is often expressed in the old Germanic languages by the periphrasis ‘become the slayer for’ (with dative): Old E ...

‘Great fame’ is a natural collocation of words, and there is nothing neces- sarily poetic about it. However, it is established i ...

of which now reaches heaven’, cf. Od. 8. 74, 9. 20, 19. 108; Ar. Nub. 461 κλο ο1ρανο ́ μηκε, ‘heaven-high fame’.^102 The dura ...

imperishable in the world’ (3. 42. 22); kı ̄rtir astu tava ̄ks ̇ ayya ̄‘let your fame be imperishable’ (3. 77. 26); yas ́o,ks ̇ ...

conceits. The Three Hundred in the gold torques will be esteemed hyd orffen byd, ‘till the end of the world’ (Y Gododdin 1129). ...

11 King and Hero In the long run these hopes were not realized. A hero’s exploits might be celebrated in song for several genera ...

This dichotomy probably reflects a reality of ancient societies. In the Roman war with the Sabines the kings of the two peoples ...

displaced the original n-stem as the word for ‘king’: Old Irish rí (genitive ríg), Gaulish -rix (in personal names, Dumnorix, Ve ...

one who ensured that things ran true in his domain. There was a sacral aspect to his office, but religious ritual was determined ...

(4. 1. 16 p. 90) relates that Herminthrud, the queen of Scotland, offered herself to the young Danish king Amleth (Hamlet), sayi ...

is a goddess representing Sovereignty, or the land over which he is to be sovereign. For example, the five sons of Eochaid Mugme ...

Let us return from these divine and symbolic queens to the human one. So far as we can make out, she played no part in the king’ ...

with the broth. The naked king climbed into it and sat there, dipping his mouth in to sup, while the gobbets of boiled meat were ...

We may also recall the Indian myth about the birth of the As ́vins (end of Chapter 4). Before we leave the subject of the inaugu ...

assume, who laid down these prescriptions and counted as the supreme authority in matters of ritual. Various other Indo-Iranian ...

recalled from Chapter 1, were ancient alternative images also in the sphere of poetry and song. In several traditions the king i ...

specialist lawyers to advise him, but the judgment was his unless he chose to delegate it.^39 Where there is judicial authority, ...

some. Water will be salubrious and foodstuffs delicious in the country where King Yudhis ̇ t ̇ hira lives (MBh. 4. 27. 13–20). S ...

The same notions were current in the Celtic lands. Livy (5. 34. 2) tells of a legendary Gaulish king Ambigatus in the time of Ta ...

Urien of Rheged is praised in one of the poems ascribed to Taliesin as ‘most bountiful of Christians: much you bestow on the men ...