The goddess Niaerdh watches over her sea and:
"Upon her brow shone the morning star."
-Poul Anderson, "Star of the Sea" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 467-640 AT I, p. 467.
The goddess Naerdha of the Wanes goes to war against the invading Anses and:
"Upon her brow a star burned white as the fire's heart."
-op. cit., II, p. 557.
Gundicar, a big man with a beer belly, chats to two Time Patrol agents:
"'I think this Nerha goddess of [Veleda's] 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....'"
-op. cit., 10, pp. 551-552.
Gutherius, a sea trader, bows low to the evening and morning stars because:
"...they too are Nehalennia's."
-op. cit., III, p. 628.
An Atlantic sailor prays:
"Pure as yourself, your evenstar shines above the sunset...
"Ave Stella Maris!"
-op. cit., IV, p. 640.
Here is a mythological progression:
a goddess of nature;
a goddess of war;
a man relating what he has heard about a new goddess;
a peaceful sea trader worshiping the goddess;
a sailor praying to "Mary, mother of God..." (p. 639)
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And the prayer to the Blessed Virgin reminded me of this bit from Canto XXXIII of Dante's PARADISO (line 46, Sayers/Reynolds translation): "The eyes which God doth love and reverence..." Has stayed in my mind as a bold and daring statement about the Virgin and the Incarnation.
Sean
Post a Comment