In Greek mythology, a Phrygian flute player, son of Olympus; sometimes called Silenus; follower of the Great Mother goddess Cybele. Marsyas, who took up the flute after it had been discarded by its creator, Athena, challenged Apollo to a contest between his flute and Apollo’s lyre. Marsyas lost, and Apollo bound him to a tree and flayed him until he died. All of the spirits and deities of the woods lamented Marsyas’s death, and their tears became the river Meander. King Midas, who had taken Marsyas’s side in the contest, had his ears turned into those of an ass as punishment. The figure of Marsyas bound to a tree influenced many portrayals of the Crucifixion. In Plato’s Symposium the great philosopher Socrates is called a Marsyas and a Silenus. Plato’s Republic mentions the flute as an instrument that evokes the darker Dionysian, unruly passions, as opposed to Apollo’s lyre, which represents harmony. Dante’s invocation to Apollo in The Divine Comedy (Paradise, canto 1) uses the same imagery. Ovid’s Metamorphoses (book 6) and Matthew Arnold’s Empedocles on Etna deal with the myth. Raphael, Perugino, Tintoretto, Titian, and Rubens are among the artists who have treated the subject.
In Australian mythology, a dog whose blood turned the rocks red. One day Marindi was passing by the dry bed of a water course when he heard a voice saying “Come out and fight.” It was Adno-artina, the gecko lizard, who offered the challenge. Marindi agreed to the fight, but the lizard, seeing Marindi’s huge teeth, decided the battle should be put off until the evening, when he would be able to see better. The lizard tied a string around the root of his tail to prevent courage from leaving his body. As they fought, Adno-artina seized Marindi by the throat. The dog’s blood poured out and dyed all of the rocks in the creek red. To this day red ochre, used extensively for decorative purposes, is obtained from the spot where the battle took place.
In Christianity, sacred writings compiled from the Hebrew Scriptures and various early Christian works. The word bible is derived from the Greek biblos, part of an ancient plant used in making books. The Greek word biblia, meaning “the books,” referred to the Scriptures. The Greek biblia (plural) became the Latin biblia (feminine singular), from which came the English word bible.
The Catholic Church in the third century took the Hebrew Scriptures, both the Hebrew books accepted by all Jews and those written in Greek and used by some Jews in various parts of the world, then added various Christian works, forming the Bible. The King James, or Authorized, Version, completed in 1611, is the best-known translation of the Bible into English, though numerous other versions exist. During the Middle Ages the common Bible was the Latin translation called the Vulgate, made by St. Jerome in the fourth century. It contained books later rejected by Protestants at the Reformation and placed in the Apocrypha. Translations of the Vulgate into some European languages were made during the Middle Ages. One of the first is ascribed to Caedmon about 650. St. Bede the Venerable made a translation of the Gospel According to St. John about 735. In 825 Anglo-Saxon glosses (marginal annotations) were made of the Vulgate Gospels and psalters. Between 890 and 900 King Alfred 178 Bhrigu made various translations of selected passages of the Bible. In the year 1000 the earliest extant English translation of the four Gospels appeared.
In 1320 William of Shoreham made an English translation of the Psalms, and Richard Rolle made an English translation of the Psalms in 1340. The first Wycliffe translation of the whole Bible appeared in 1384 but was condemned by the church. A revised version by John Purvey was made about 1396. Numerous English versions followed the Reformation, the most famous, because of its influence on English literature and life, being the King James Version of 1611. In Germany the Bible was translated by Martin Luther between 1522 and 1534. There had been several prior translations into German; some were literal translations of the Latin Vulgate and were thus not very readable. Luther’s Bible was not only closer to the Hebrew and Greek originals, but also could be read in both major dialect regions of Germany. As a result of the recently developed movable type procedure, it was possible to produce many copies of the Bible for sale and distribution. Some records suggest that as many as 100,000 copies appeared during Luther’s time. The Bible has two major divisions, the Old Testament, containing the pre-Christian Jewish Scripture, and the New Testament, containing writings of the early Christian era. Each division of the Bible consists of many different books, written by various authors over a long period of history. In the King James Version the Old Testament consists of 39 books, the New Testament, 27. Roman Catholic Bibles contain the Apocrypha within the Old Testament. For example, the Catholic New American Bible contains 46 books within the Old Testament and the same New Testament books found in the King James Version.
The following books of the Bible are found in the King James Version: Genesis (in the beginning) is the first book of the Bible, narrating the myths and legends of the ancient Hebrews from the Creation to the story of Joseph in Egypt. Genesis forms the first part of the Law, or Torah or Pentateuch (five-volume document), which consists of the first five books of the Bible. The major themes of Genesis are primeval legends and myths of humankind (1–11:19) and accounts of the patriarchs (11:28–50:26), including the legends of Abraham (11:26–25:10), Isaac (25:11–26:35), Jacob (27–36), and Joseph (37–50). Exodus (going out) continues the tales, legends, myths, and history of the Hebrews. The main themes of Exodus are oppression and deliverance (1–18), including Moses’ call (2–4), escape from Egypt (5–14), and the wilderness (14–18); imposing the law through delivering the Ten Commandments (20); forming the Covenant between God and Israel (21 and 23) and giving details and specific laws of the tribes; the Tabernacle at Sinai and the construction of the Ark (24–40). Leviticus consists of ritual laws; its title comes from the tribe of Levi, the hereditary priests. Decoration from a 1563 edition of the Bible Bible, The 179 Numbers is so named because of the two numberings of the people. It focuses on Moses, the leader and prophet.
The book narrates the legends of the Hebrews from their second year in the wilderness to the arrival on the borders of Moab, close to the Promised Land. Deuteronomy (second law) is the last book of the Pentateuch; the title refers to the repetition by Moses of Yahweh’s commandments. The book consists almost entirely of discourses ascribed to Moses by later Hebrew legend. It narrates a résumé of the wilderness events (1–4), the Decalogue and other laws (5–26), the written law (27–28), Moses’ farewell speech and his charge to Joshua (29:1–31:13), and Moses’ last days and death (31:14–34:12). Joshua, the last of the first six books of the Bible, called the Hexateuch, is named for the successor of Moses, who led the Israelites into Canaan. Its main themes are the conquest of Canaan (1–12), division of the land (13–22), and Joshua’s last speech and death (23–24). Judges deals with the activities of the “Judges,” or tribal leaders, who ruled between the entry into Canaan and the establishment of the monarchy. Its main divisions are introduction (1–2:5); the legends of the judges (2:6–16:31), telling of Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Abimelech (antihero), Tola, Jair, Jephtah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson; the conquest of Laish by the Danites, who renamed it Dan; and the sexual abuse of a Levite’s concubine by Benjamites of Gibeah, resulting in her death and the subsequent war of vengeance by the rest of the tribes of Israel (17–21).
Ruth tells a story of the days of the Judges concerning the family of a man of Bethlehem who was forced by a famine to migrate to Moab; his Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth became the ancestress of King David and, according to New Testament accounts, also of Jesus. 1 Samuel records the events leading to the establishment of the kingdom of Israel and the reign of Saul, the first king. Its main themes are legends of Samuel (1–12) and the reign of Saul (12–31), telling of the conflict of David, who later became king, and ending with the killing of Saul and his sons at Gilboa by the Philistines. 2 Samuel continues the narrative, telling of David, who became first king of Judah and later of all Israel. Its main themes are David’s attainment of the monarchy (1–10), David and Bathsheba (11–12), David and his rebel son Absalom (13–19), and the last events in David’s life (20–24). 1 Kings tells of the death of David and the succession and reign of his son Solomon (1–11); then of the legends, history, and myths of Israel and Judah (12–22) after the split of Israel. Important figures are Ahab, Elijah, and Elisha. 2 Kings continues 1 Kings, narrating the end of the northern kingdom, the reign of Hezekiah in Judah, and legends and tales of Elisha. The book ends with the destruction of the southern kingdom and tells of Josiah and the conquest of Judah by Babylon. 1 and 2 Chronicles recapitulate previous books, often contradicting information in them. Ezra tells of Ezra and Nehemiah, who came back from Babylon with the Jews to rebuild the Temple. Nehemiah continues the legends recorded in 1 and 2 Chronicles as well as in Ezra. Esther is a folktale about the Jewess Esther who married Xerxes, king of Persia, and saved the Jews from a pogrom. The Jewish feast of Purim was established to celebrate this deliverance. The next major division of the Bible consists of the five poetical books, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon or Song of Songs. Job tells of a man punished by God, though he is guilty of no sin. The book explores the question “Why do the righteous suffer?” but produces no answers. Psalms is a collection of prayers, poems, and hymns recited and sung in both Jewish and Christian worship. 180 Bible, The Proverbs is a book of sayings illustrating general truths, using pithy and colorful language. It was traditionally ascribed to Solomon but is written by many other hands. Ecclesiastes is filled with skepticism and pessimism about the world and its creator. After it was included in the Bible, it was edited to soften its harsh message.
The next major division of the Old Testament contains the Major and Minor Prophets. Isaiah is named for a prophet who warned Israel of its sin and promised a messiah to deliver her from her enemies. Isaiah also was a preacher who used parables, as Jesus did much later. Jesus was probably greatly influenced by Isaiah and his preaching, since Christians consider the central message of his prophecy to be the coming of Jesus. Much of the text of Handel’s Messiah was taken from the Book of Isaiah. It is now agreed by scholars that Isaiah wrote only part of the book; his followers wrote some sections. Jeremiah is named after the prophet. It includes his prophecies as well as considerable biographical material. Lamentations consists of five poems that have been ascribed to Jeremiah but were not written by him. They tell of the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and are used extensively in Christian liturgy. Ezekiel is a long, often tedious work, but it contains some passages of greatness. Ezekiel claimed he was commanded to warn Israel about its rebellion against God. Much of his prophecy he received through visions, the best known being his vision of the fiery wheels. Daniel contains legends about the prophet for whom it is named. Daniel was an Israelite in the land of Persia and came into conflict with Persian officials when he refused to worship Persian idols. He was cast into a lion’s den for his refusal, but the God of Israel protected Daniel, and he emerged unharmed. It was also Daniel who correctly interpreted the “writing on the wall” for King Belshazzar, which predicted the king’s destruction. Hosea, the 28th book and the first of the Minor Prophets, uses symbolic language, telling of Hosea’s marriage to a whore, who represents faithless Israel. Joel, the second of the Minor Prophets, consists of only three chapters in three discourses.
It contains no Bible stories in the usual sense but is largely a series of exhortations for Israel to repent its sins. Amos is the first prophetical book compiled. It denounces wealth and luxury. Obadiah is only 21 verses long. It is a violent attack on Edom, Israel’s enemy. Jonah is a short folktale about the prophet, in which Jonah causes a tempest at sea when he flees from God in a boat. When he confesses he is the cause of the tempest, the mariners cast him overboard, and he is swallowed by a giant fish. After Jonah repents, the fish vomits him out on dry land, and Jonah fulfills his promise to God and becomes a prophet. Micah is ascribed to the prophet Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah in Judah. Micah laments the degeneracy of the house of Jacob and warns against false prophets. Nahum is a collection of oracles written by Nahum, the Elkoshite about 700 b.c.e. He warns of punishment for Nineveh for the sins of its people and predicts that God will rout the enemies of Israel. Habakkuk concerns the threat of the Babylonians to Judah’s security. The prophet rebukes the Chaldeans for their sins. Job Bible, The 181 Zephaniah speaks of the sins of Judah and predicts God’s severe punishment. He ends with a vision of the dispersed people of Judah returning to their own land. Haggai is the prophet chosen by God to encourage the rebuilding of the Temple. He tells the people that sin impedes their work. Zechariah stresses temple worship. He warns the people of Jerusalem of their possible destruction and of the vengeance of God against the enemies of the city. Malachi is the last of the Old Testament prophets.
He tells of a time when the prophet Elijah will return. The next section of the Bible, which is often omitted, contains the Apocrypha, those books rejected by Protestants as not belonging in the Hebrew Bible because they were written in Greek and used by Greek-speaking Jews, not by the Jews in Jerusalem. All the books influenced Christian art, which has used many of their legends and tales. The 15 books of the Apocrypha are the following: 1 and 2 Esdras is a Greek reworking of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Tobit is a tale beloved by Martin Luther that tells of a demon who possesses various people and of how the angel of the Lord frees them. Judith is a short novel of a Jewess who destroys the enemy by cutting off the head of their leader. The Rest of Esther consists of additions to the Hebrew Book of Esther in the Bible, giving more details and dwelling on God and Israel. The Hebrew Book of Esther never mentions God. Wisdom of Solomon is a collection of proverbs, similar to the Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament. Ecclesiasticus is another wisdom book. Baruch is a short book ascribed to the secretary of the prophet Jeremiah. Letter of Jeremiah, a short letter ascribed to the prophet, ridicules idolatry. Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men gives their prayer, which is not found in the biblical Book of Daniel. Susanna is a short folk tale of a woman vindicated by the prophet Daniel. Bel and the Dragon is a short tale of Daniel in which he shows that idols are not really gods. Prayer of Manasseh, a short prayer, is still used in the Anglican church. 1 and 2 Maccabees are two books of legends and history of the Jews. The next major division in the King James Bible is the New Testament, which consists of 27 books, all accepted by Christians today. The first four books are called the Gospels (good news) and are the Early Church’s view of the person of Jesus as Messiah and the Son of God. They are not concerned with history but with faith, and they rearrange information to suit the needs of the believing Christians at the time they were compiled. The four Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew, the first but not the oldest Gospel, is arranged as a teaching manual. Matthew mentions many Jewish customs and stresses that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.
The main divisions of his account are as follows: Jesus’ birth and childhood (1–2); Jesus’ Susanna 182 Bible, The baptism (3); Jesus’ temptation (4:1–11); the beginning of Jesus’ work in Galilee (4:12–25); the Galilean ministry (5–13), including the Sermon on the Mount; miracles and teachings (14–20), journey to Jerusalem (21–25); and the trial, passion, death, and Resurrection (26–28). Mark, the second Gospel but the earliest, is very short. It was used by Matthew and Luke when they compiled their own accounts. It breaks down as follows: Jesus’ baptism and temptation (1:1–13); Galilean ministry (1:14– 6:6); ministry outside Galilee (6:7–8:21); labors and instructions (8:22–13:37); and passion and Resurrection (14–16). Luke, the third Gospel, is written in better Greek than that of either Matthew or Mark. It gives more details but softens harsh aspects of the legend. It breaks down as follows: introduction (1:1–4); birth and childhood of Jesus (1–2); baptism and temptation (3:1–4:13); Galilean ministry (4:14–9:50); journey to Jerusalem (9:51–21:38); and trial, passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension (22–24). These first three Gospels are called synoptic because they often use the same material, though they shift it about for different emphasis. John, the last Gospel, is completely different in character. In it Jesus speaks like a Greek philosopher, and little is told of the historical Jesus. It breaks down as follows: prologue (1:1– 18); narrative demonstrating the Incarnation (1:19–12:11); and trial, passion and Resurrection (12:12–21;25). Acts of the Apostles, written by the author of Luke’s Gospel, tells the history of the Early Church and the lives of St. Peter and St. Paul. The next division of the New Testament contains Epistles, or letters, the majority ascribed to St. Paul. They are Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Hebrews, ascribed to St. Paul in the King James Version, was not written by him. The other letters are James, which contradicts St. Paul’s teaching regarding faith and works; 1 and 2 Peter; 1, 2, and 3 John, and Jude. The last book of the Bible is Revelation, the only prophetic book in the New Testament. It deals with the end of the world, the punishment of sinners, and the vindication of the righteous.
Demons and evil spirits, which abound in medieval Jewish, Christian, and Islamic mythology. In the Hebrew Old Testament, Satan is not the devil. He is the “adversary,” part of God’s heavenly host. This is shown in the Book of Job. Satan tempts Job, destroying his family and goods, but only with the permission of God. When Job cries out for justice, he does not condemn Satan, but God himself (Job 9:21–24). As Judaism developed, coming into contact with many pagan cults, Satan took on more of the attributes we know as belonging to the devil. By the time of the New Testament, Satan was generally regarded as an evil demon or ruler of demons (Matt. 12:24–28). He not only controls the body but also has power over spiritual nature, being called “prince of the world” (John 16:11) and even “god of the world” (2 Cor. 4:4). All of these New Testament quotes reflect the Jewish belief of that time. In Christianity the belief in the corporeal existence of the devil assumed its greatest force during the Middle Ages. St. Thomas Aquinas believed in devils, witches, incubi, and succubi.
When he wrote a commentary on the Book of Job, he identified the monster Behemoth as the devil and concluded that the devil could have intercourse with humans. When the devil devils 303 assumed a female form (succubus), he seduced men. When he assumed a male form (incubus), he impregnated women. The result of this sexual union produced, according to Aquinas, a human being, though the child would be more cunning than children of an ordinary human couple. Aquinas’s many explanations of Christian doctrines find their full expression in Dante’s The Divine Comedy. In this massive work the entire universe is ordered according to Scholastic teaching. The poem, divided into three sections—Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven—contains many descriptions of demons and, of course, Satan. Dante describes the three-faced Satan as a parody of the Christian Trinity and portrays him chewing on three sinners: Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, and Brutus and Cassius, who betrayed Julius Caesar. Dante leaves out Pontius Pilate because, to placate the Roman Empire, Christianity forgave Pilate’s part in the murder of Jesus. In fact, one branch of the Eastern Orthodox church lists Pilate among its saints. The medieval belief in demons passed on to the Protestant Reformation. Luther, like Aquinas, believed in the devil’s evil power to assist wizards and witches.
Following St. Augustine’s authority, Luther had come to believe in incubi and succubi, since Satan in the form of a handsome man loves to decoy young girls. Luther also believed in changelings, children of the devil who replace human children. Islam, which is in part based on Jewish and Christian beliefs, calls Satan Iblis. He is mentioned in the Koran, as are the djinn (plural of genie), his offspring. Djinn are divided into different categories, although Islamic folklore is not always clear in its distinctions, many names being just different words for a demonic being. The orders are jann, the lowest and weakest; the djinn proper, who often appear in animal form; the shaitan or sayatin; ifrits; and the marida, djinn of the most powerful class. In all there are some 40 troops of 600,000 djinn, according to one count. When King Solomon (who often appears in Islamic legend) first saw the djinn, he was horrified at how ugly they were. He used his magic ring to gain mastery over them, forcing them to help build his great temple.
A modern Islamic tale tells of a family so tormented by djinn, which appeared in various animal shapes, that the family went into the desert, the home of the djinn, and killed all of the animals they could capture. This so reduced the population of djinn that Allah (who wanted to maintain a balance in his order of nature) had to intervene, and a truce was made to ensure that the djinn would not be wiped out entirely. The Koran (sura 6) tells that the djinn “in their ignorance” believed Allah had “sons and daughters.” Some, however, were later converted by Muhammad to Islam and are diligent followers of its rites. These djinn often appear as “household serpents” who protect the family, much in the manner of the genii in Roman mythology. The shaitans are a more dangerous breed of spirit than the djinn proper. Allah created al- Shaitan, perhaps another name for Iblis, who then produced eggs from which other demons were hatched. In a variant legend, Allah created not only al-Shaitan, but a wife, who produced three eggs. When hatched, the children were all ugly, having hoofs instead of feet. Shaitans are even uglier in their eating habits. They like excrement and other dirt and waste and prefer the shade to sunlight. It is believed that every man has a personal shaitan or demon, just as he has a personal guardian angel. Sometimes the shaitan is considered the muse of poetic inspiration. Ifrits, or afrits, are an even more dangerous group than the shaitans. Originally the word may have meant one who overcomes an antagonist and rolls him in the dust. In time the term was applied to a very powerful and always malicious djinn.
The Koran (sura 27) makes brief mention of the spirit as an “ifrit, one of the djinn,” and Islamic legend has added to 304 devils this brief Koranic mention. In Egypt, ifrit has come to mean the ghost of a murdered man or one who died a violent death. Yet the female version of the ifrit, the ifriteh mentioned in The Thousand and One Nights, is a benevolent djinn. In fact, in The Second Old Man’s Story (night 2) a pious woman is turned into an ifriteh and carries the hero to an island to save his life. In the morning she returns and says: “I have paid thee my debt, for it is I who bore thee up out of the sea and saved thee from death, by permission of Allah. Know that I am of the djinn who believe in Allah and his Prophet.” Of the other demons in Arabic and Islamic folklore, perhaps the most dreaded is the Ahlat- Tral, who live below the Sahara desert and appear as whirling sandstorms, drying up the wells before caravans arrive. There are numerous variant spellings of the demons in Islamic mythology. Djinn sometimes appears as jinn and jinniyeh (feminine). Ifrit is also spelled efreet, alfrit, afrit and for the female, ifriteh and afriteh.
In Norse mythology, a son of Odin and Frigga. A handsome god, Hermod was the messenger of the gods. He loved to enter battles and was often called “the valiant in combat.” Aside from his helmet and corselet Hermod had a magic wand or staff, Gambantein, which he carried wherever he went. Once, oppressed by fear of the future, Odin called on Hermod to put on his armor, saddle Sleipnir (the horse Odin alone was allowed to ride), and hasten off to the land of the Finns to see Rossthiof (the horse thief) for an answer to Odin’s fear. Hermod hurried off, carrying not his magic wand, Gambantein, but Odin’s runic staff. Rossthiof conjured up monsters to hinder Hermod, but Hermod soon mastered Rossthiof, binding him hand and foot and saying he would be set free only when he answered Hermod’s questions. Rossthiof, seeing there was no hope of escape, pledged himself to do all Hermod wished. As soon as he was free again, he began to mutter incantations, which made the sun hide behind the clouds, the earth tremble, and storm winds rise. Pointing to the horizon, Rossthiof asked Hermod to look, and the god saw a great stream of blood redden all the ground. While he was gazing at this, a beautiful woman suddenly appeared, and a moment later a boy stood beside her. To Hermod’s amazement the child grew to full height in a moment and was carrying a bow and arrows. Rossthiof said the blood portended the murder of one of Odin’s sons, but if Odin wooed and won Rinda in the land of the Ruthenes (Russia), she would bear him a son who would attain his full growth in a few hours and avenge his brother’s death.
In Norse mythology, the final battle between the gods and the giants that will bring about the end of the world. The battle will take place at Vigrith (field of battle). The destruction, however, will not be the complete end. The Prose Edda gives an account of a new “earth most lovely and verdant, and with pleasant fields where the grain shall grow unsown.” Some of the gods will return, such as Baldur and Hodur from Hel, the underworld, and a new couple, Lifthrasir and Lif (life), will repeople the land “and their descendants shall soon spread over the whole earth.” The Poetic Edda contains a description of the end in the poem Voluspa. Wagner’s last music drama in the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, titled Götterdämmerung, deals with the destruction of the gods.
In Australian mythology, name of the gigantic snake whose body arches across the sky as the rainbow. Known as Taipan among the Wikmunkan people, he is associated with the gift of blood to humankind, controlling the circulation of the blood as well as the menstrual cycle of women. Looked on as a At Ragnarok, Thor attacks the Midgard Serpent with his hammer while Odin does battle with Fenrir, the wolf (Ragnarok, by Johannes Gehrts) Rainbow Snake 817 great healer, Taipan demands that his sexual laws and customs be followed. His anger at the breaking of any of them is expressed by thunder and lightning. Medicine men and rain makers invoke Taipan by using quartz crystal and seashells in their rituals. Called Julunggul among the people of the eastern Arnhem Land, the Rainbow Snake is believed to swallow young boys and later vomit them up. This is symbolic of their rebirth, or the transition from youth to manhood. Known as Kunmanggur in a myth told by the Murinbata of the northwest of the Northern Territory to W. Stanner, the Rainbow Snake is either bisexual or a woman. Sometimes he is described as a male but is portrayed with female breasts. Other names by which the Rainbow Snake is known in Australia are Galeru, Ungur, Wonungur, Worombi, Wonambi, Wollunqua, Yurlunggur, Langal, Muit, and Yero.
In the mythology of the Amazonian Indians of Brazil, a siren. The Brazilian journalist and historian Alfonso Arinhos de Melo Franco (1868–1916) tells a tale, The Yara, of how a yara seduced a youth. Jaguarari is depicted as a handsome hunter loved by all of the villagers. One day he discovered a yara at Taruman Point, and from then on he was completely under her spell. He told his mother of the vision, and she warned him never to go back to the enchanted spot. Jaguarari, however, could not resist. He was seen in his canoe “rushing straight toward the sun, as though it would hurl itself into a flaming disk. And beside the young warrior, clasping him like a vine, stood a white figure, of a beautiful form, in a halo of silvery light that contrasted with the ruddy gleam of the setting sun, and crowned the long loose golden tresses.”
A small tree of the birch family; in Norse mythology, sacred to Thor, the thunder god, and believed to be the actual embodiment of lightning. Medieval German Christians would place hazel twigs in the form of a cross on windowsills during a storm in the hope of stilling it. During Halloween, sometimes called Nutcrack Night in Europe, hazel nuts are put on the fire to foretell the fate of lovers. This custom is alluded to in Thomas Gray’s poem Elegy in a Country Churchyard. In European folklore it was the custom for the leader of a wedding party to carry a hazel wand to ensure many offspring for the marriage. One medieval German legend says that Herodias, the wife of King Herod, who killed John the Baptist, was in love with the prophet. When his head was brought to her, she tried to kiss it, but it drew back and blew hard at her. Herodias was whirled up to the top of a hazel tree, where she still sits from midnight to cockcrow, floating in the air the rest of the time.
An herb with a purple flower. In Near Eastern mythology, the violet grew from the blood of the slain Attis, killed by a wild boar. He was consort to the Great Mother goddess Cybele. In Greek mythology, the violet is sacred to Ares and Io, and in Christian symbolism, white violets are associated with the Virgin Mary. In European folklore, the flower also is associated with mourning, suffering, and death and was believed to spring from the graves of virgins. The violet is symbolic of innocence. In Hamlet, Ophelia says that the king, the queen, and even Hamlet, now that he has killed Polonius, are worthy of this symbol.