"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)
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeleteAnd 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