[tied] Re: There was Three Smiths

From: cas111jd@...
Message: 7884
Date: 2001-07-14

I believe I recall that the Balts and Slavs had hearth 'goddesses' in
the house and forge 'gods' in the smithy. I think they were
more "hearth" and "forge" deities than "fire" deities. Their sexes
were differentiated by function and spheres - the house was the
woman's domain and the barn or smithy was the man's. Women tended the
home fire since cave man days, while the forge god could only have
developed after metalworking was discovered. I don't think there was
any substitution. They complimented each other.

I'm not certain of any hearth goddesses in Celtic or Norse religion,
though. Perhaps one of Frigga's handmaidens was one originally, but
that's just guessing.

--- In cybalist@..., "João S. Lopes Filho" <jodan99@...> wrote:
> It's plausible to connect the Third Smith to the sparks and the ore.
> Speaking of the male and female fire spirits: Were there another
Female
> Hearth Goddesses besides Hestia and Vesta, or this goddess can be
seen as
> Old European myth, later substituted by the IE Fire-god?
>
> Joao SL
> Rio
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <cas111jd@...>
> To: <cybalist@...>
> Sent: Friday, July 13, 2001 12:53 PM
> Subject: [tied] Re: There was Three Smiths
>
>
> > Fristly, the THREE was the magic number on many things in IE
> > mythologies. The ancient Europeans were wont to see, it seems,
most
> > things in terms of three. The names of the Cyclopes suggests some
> > relationship with the thunder god, though links between the
thunder
> > god and smith-god are sparse in the IE mythologies. Except for the
> > Cyclopes relationship with Zeus and the Baltic thunder- and smith-
> > god affinity, most smith-gods seem more like chthonic gods than
sky-
> > gods.
> >
> > Still, it seems that the early IE peoples saw some connection: the
> > smith's hammer is an attribute of the thunder god, his hammering
is
> > like thunder (I guess). The fire in his forge was sometimes
> > identified with a male spirit (as with the Balts and Slavs) as
> > opposed to the female spirit of the house hearth (as with Hestia
and
> > Vesta, etc.). The third smith-god you adeptly cite may be from the
> > sparks that are made when the hammer beats the metal? Maybe he
was a
> > magician that turned the ore into metal?
> >
> > --- In cybalist@..., "João S. Lopes Filho" <jodan99@...> wrote:
> > > PIE Smith God: One or Three
> > >
> > > It's clear to me that PIE myth had a triad of Three Smith Gods
> > (perhaps originally carpenters).
> > > Let's see:
> > >
> > > The Three Cyclopes (Greece) : Brontes, Steropes, Arges
> > > The Three Rbhu (India) : Rbhuks.an, Vaja, Vibhu
> > > The Three (or Four) Elves, Ivaldir's sons (Scandinavia) :
Alfrigr,
> > Grerr, Bergling ...or...Eitri, Brokk, Sindri
> > > The Three Irish Smiths : Goibniu, Luchtar and Creidne (or Cian,
> > Samain and Goibniu)
> > >
> > > And more:
> > > The Four/Three Telkhines? - Ormenos, Lykos, Akteus and
> > Megalesios ...or... Argyron, Khryson and Kalkhon
> > > The Three Builders of Thebas walls - Amphion, Zethos, Lokros
> > > The Three Builders of Trojan walls - Poseidon, Apollon and
Aiakos
> > >
> > > My hypothesis is that there were Three Smith Gods, possibly
three
> > men that was turned into gods to honour their great squills. Their
> > were:
> > > THUNDER - names
> > meaning "thunder", "thunderer", "strong", "noisy", "copper/bronze"
> > > LIGHTNING - names
> > meaning "quick", "violent", "penetrant", "hot", "burning", "gold"
> > > FLASH - names meaninh "shining", "white", "gleaming", "silver"
> > >
> > > I'd like to discuss it.
> > >
> > > Joao SL
> > > Rio de Janeiro
> >
> >
> >
> >
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http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >