Odp: Frika's Rams (that is, Freya's Cats).

----- Original Message -----

From: markodegard@...

To: cybalist@eGroups.com

Sent: Sunday, October 31, 1999 12:40 AM

Subject: [cybalist] Frika's Rams.

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

--Mark

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Well, fancy using cats on stage in a Wagnerian setting, the poor animals meowing and screaming in terror! The High German version of Germanic mythology (followed by Wagner) merges Odin's (= Wodan's) wife with Frey's sister because of their similar-sounding names (which are etymologically different). Frigg (one of the Aesir) was originally the goddess of the sky, marriage and housewives; Freya (one of the Vanir, though living in Asgard), of love, fertility and pregnancy. In terms of function they were more or less like Hera and Aphrodite or Juno and Venus, respectively. Wagner is doing injustice to Frigg (= Fricka, Frija), who, though critical of her husband's excesses, was a lady of noble bearing, gentle manners and great tact.

 

Why cats? One possible reason is this: Norse mythology portrays Freya as a veritable she-cat on heat. Her twin brother Frey (incidentally, the owner of the gold-bristled wildboar, which he rode to magically increase his erectile ability, not unlike some modern motorists) was scarcely better. But let me also quote something I've just written to Alexander Stolbov:

Since the domestic cat is a recent arrival in northern Europe, and the Germani can hardly have meant wildcats (which keep themselves to themselves and do not play any conspicuous roles in folklore), I suppose Freya's "cats" were originally large felines (leopards or lions) or rather fabulous images of such beasts radiating from the Pontic and Mediterranean regions.

... I mean, if the myth is that old.

 

Piotr