From: markodegard@...
Message: 132
Date: 1999-10-31
It was Freyja, daughter of Njord and sister of Frey (not to be confused, at least in Scandinavia, with Frigg, wife of Odin and mother of Balder). And her chariot was drawn by cats (see the enclosed picture; sometimes she also rode a golden wildboar). Well, I have two cats and neither of them is too cooperative at any chore. I use leads for walking them out, and there is this little harness to which the leash is attached -- just try to put it on a cat, they REALLY hate being harnessed!Die Walküre, Act II Scene 2 (Brünnhilde):
Hojotoho! Hojotoho!
Heiaha! Heiaha! Hojotoho! Heiaha!Dir rat ich, Vater, räste dich selbst;
harten Sturm sollst du bestehn.
Fricka naht, deine Frau,
im Wagen mit dem Widdergespann.Hei, wie die goldne Geissel sie schwingt!
Die armen Tiere ächzen vor Angst;
wild rasseln die Räder;
zornig fährt sie zum Zank!Hojotoho! Hojotoho! Heiaha! Heiaha! Hojotoho! Heiaha! This advice I give, father, is to ready yourself; a hard storm is coming, one you must withstand.
Fricka approaches, your wife, in the wagon drawn by rams.
Hei, how the golden scourge [moves when] she swings it!
The poor animals bleat for fear; wildly the wheels rattle; here she comes to [make] the quarrel!
The translation is mostly via Alta Vista, with some cribs from an recording's accompanying libretto. No, we are most definitely not supposed to get our ancient Indo-European mythology via Wagner. The complete libretto can be found here:
http://gutenberg.aol.de/wagner/walkuere/walkuere.htm