Indo-European Poetry and Myth

(Wang) #1

I made shield upon shield’; RV 1. 53. 7 yudha ̄ ́ yúdham... pura ̄ ́ púram,‘fight
after fight... citadel after citadel’; 2. 24. 15 vı ̄rés
̇


u vı ̄ra ̄ ́m ̇úpa, ‘sons upon sons’;
Il. 14. 130 $φ’aλκεϊ aλκο, ‘wound upon wound’; 19. 290 δχεται κακ:ν
$κ κακο, ‘trouble succeeds trouble’; Hes. Op. 361 σμικρ:ν $π? σμικρ;ι,
‘a little upon a little’, 644 $π? κρδεϊ κρδο,‘profit upon profit’; in
Umbrian, Iguv. VIa. 20 pir pureto,‘fire from fire’; IV. 16 asa asam-a, ‘from
altar to altar’;Y Gododdin 246 ar beithing beithing, ‘destruction upon destruc-
tion’; 645 a lychwr y lychwr, ‘from light to light’, i.e. from dusk to dawn; poem
inFled Bricrenn 48 (cf. 52) ‘battle on battle, exploit upon exploit, head upon
head he heaps’; poem in Acallam na Senórach 3368, 3375 Stokes glind do glind


... a hor and-or, ‘from glen to glen... from border to border’;Beow. 931
wunder æfter wundre;Hávamál 141. 4–7orð mér af orði orðz leitaði, verc mér af
verki vercs leitaði, ‘word found me word from word, deed found me deed from
deed’; Salih Ugljanin, The Song of Baghdad (SCHS ii, no. 1) 975 zub po zubu,
‘tooth upon tooth’; D-email Zogic ́,Alija Rescues the Children of Alibey (SCHS
ii, no. 24) 754 dan po danu, konak po konaku, ‘day followed day, night’s rest
followed night’s rest’; Sulejman Makic ́,The Battle of Temisˇvar (SCHS ii, no.
27) 290 dan po danu, zeman od zemana, ‘day followed day, week followed
week’.
(c) Expressing matching status or reciprocal relationship.^123 Here are some
of the commonest categories:
God to god, a god among gods, etc.: RV 1. 1. 5 devó devébhih
̇


, cf. 1. 13. 11,


  1. 1, 9, 136. 4, 160. 1, 169. 8, and often; 1. 123. 10 és
    ̇


i devi devám, ‘you go,
goddess, to god’, cf. Hes. Th. 380 θεαθε;ι ε1νηθε4σα, ‘goddess bedded with god’; 405 θεα θεο $ν φιλο ́ τητι; Od. 5. 97 θεα` θεο ́ ν; Campanile
(1988), 25 no. 1. 8 deeib dia, ‘a god among gods’.
Mortal to mortal, man to man, etc.: RV 1. 147. 5 márto mártam; [Hes.]
Scut. 6 θνητα? θνητο4;Il. 15. 328, 16. 306 α, ν^ρ aλεν Eνδρα;Hávamál



  1. 6 maðr er mannz gaman, ‘man is a man’s pleasure’.
    Men of a particular trade or condition: RV 6. 32. 3 kavíbhih
    ̇


kavíh
̇

sán, ‘with
the seers himself a seer’;Od. 10. 82 ποιμνα ποιμν, ‘shepherd to shepherd’;
Il. 23. 318 ]νοχο περιγνεται ]νιο ́ χοιο; Hes. Op. 23 γετονα γετων,
25 f. κεραμε7 κεραμε4, τκτονι τκτων, πτωχ: πτωχω



ι, α, οιδ:
α, οιδω



ι.
Brother to brother: MBh. 6. 44. 2 bhra ̄ta ̄ bhra ̄taram; Aesch. Sept. 674
κασιγντωι κα ́ σι;Vo ̨lundarkviða 23. 3 bróðir á bróður;Igor 77 rekosta bo
bratuˇ bratu, ‘brother spoke to brother’;SCHS ii, no. 24. 1299 da brat brata
poznat’ ne mogasˇe, ‘brother could not recognize brother’. Cf. Beowulf 1978
mæ ̄ ̄ð wið mæ ̄ ̄ g e, ‘kinsman beside kinsman’.


(^123) Cf. Gonda (1959), 285–91.



  1. Phrase and Figure 113

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