At last, "Star of the Sea" begins to date its chapters. A barbarian tells Everard and Floris about the prophetess, Veleda:
"'.... I think this Nerha goddess of hers is of the Wanes, not the Anses ... unless it's another name for Mother Fricka. And yet ... they say Nerha is as terrible in her rage as Tiw himself.... There's something about a star and the sea, but I know nothing of that, we're inlanders here....'" (pp. 551-552)
Something about a star and the sea... Theology shifts. The Aesir have overlaid the Vanir. Goddesses of two pantheons might be identified. One might displace a god. Centuries later, the Mother of God will be Star of the Sea.
The Time Patrol agents trace Veleda back through time but prudently avoid contact with her:
"'Do you think we - meaning you, I suppose - could approach her directly and get acquainted?'
"Floris shook her head. 'No. Especially not now, when she has isolated herself. Probably she is in a state of emotional, perhaps religious crisis. An interruption could bring on...anything.'" (8, p. 541)
"Edh herself, the Patrol agents had better avoid meeting. Until they had more knowledge of her and whatever the forces were that she was unleashing, they would be crazy to interfere." (10, p. 552)
Indeed. Although they and we on first reading do not know this yet, Edh would recognize Janne Floris as the goddess. It was the Patrol agent's eventual/earliest interference in Edh's life that transformed her into the prophetess, Veleda.
10 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Indeed, the irony was that Janne's impulsive action itself led to Edh/Veleda becoming a seeress.
"Star of the Sea" seems to be a common name for Catholic parishes dedicated to the BVM at or near sea coasts, btw.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I wonder how the star and the sea became associated with Mary.
Paul.
There is discussion of the etymology of "stella maris" in the Wikipedia article, "Our Lady, Star of the Sea."
Incidentally, Gods traveling in human guise were common as dirt in Germanic mythology -- as in Greek, pre-Christian Celtic, and Hindu myths; it seems to be part of the common Indo-European.
So if Edh had recognized her Goddess, it wouldn't be in the least strange that she appears as a human being.
For example, both Zeus and Odhinn were patrons of wanderers and gangrels -- and themselves appeared as such impoverished wanderers, in many stories.
Hence hospitality and assistance to such was an offering to those Gods.
Kaor, Paul!
As regards the origins of the Catholic custom of some parishes being dedicated to "Our Lady, Star of the Sea," I don't know. But I will look up the Wikipedia article about it.
Yes, disguised gods does seem to be common a trope in the various branches of Indo/European mythologies. And something similar happened to St. Paul one of his companions when miracles done in the name of Christ had excited pagans acclaiming them as being gods like Hermes. Which they strenuously disclaimed!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
The etymology of "stella maris" turns out to be important and based on a misunderstanding.
Paul.
Sean: that bit with St. Paul is also interesting in terms of Greek folk-religion in the 1st century.
If you went by upper-class written sources, you'd think that worship of the Olympians had become somewhat pro-forma by then.
That little glimpse into the demotic shows that to ordinary people -- not the ones what got into the historical records or philosophical musings -- it was perfectly credible for Hermes or Zeus to show up in disguise.
One of the reason the Gospels are useful is that they give a glimpse of a completely different social strata than the "offical", high-culture records.
Incidentally, the Rabbinical commentaries from the 2nd century are also useful because they give a very different view of life in the Roman empire than the "official" one; more demotic, and also from the viewpoint of a subject people with a long history of hostility to Roman authority. It's notably more disenchanted.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Yes, I agree that while it had fashionable with many upper class Romans and Greeks to be merely pro forma about the Olympians, that was often NOT the case with ordinary people, who still took those gods seriously. And they would be the ones who were among the first to be converted to Christianity.
Yes, the Gospels and the Letters of Paul gives us glimpses into how ordinary people thought in the first century AD, that we simply don't get very often from the works of Caesar, Lucretius, Virgil, Tacitus, etc.
I would expect Jews, with their long history of "checkered" relations with the Romans, to be more disenchanted with their rule!
Ad astra! Sean
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