From: Omar Karamán
Message: 6758
Date: 2001-03-26
> I agree that Cerberus onece appears to havee been more serpentine.I always wondered if shamanistic aspects of Norse mythology may have
> This could be due to a sort of cultural merger, perhaps pre-IE Greeks
> had serpentine Cerberus, old IE steppe dwellers had a dog as an
> underworld guardian?: I have noticed the dog as underworld guardian
> is a more common motif among northern shamanistic societies. Perhaps
> this is why there is so much dog symbolism in Norse myth?
> Then again, maybe Cerberus is a dog-snake hybrid in order to evokeSomething like that is related to Mandeville's marvellous travels: half
> the characteristics of two animals.
> The dog aspect would represent the vigilant guardian nature of
> Cerberus. Another instance of this is the simargl(Sp?), connected
> with the gryphon, which is part dog part bird.
> It is guardian of theLike the eagle in the top of Yggdrassil tree.
> sacred tree, or between the earthly and celestial realms.
> The serpent aspect of cerberus would connect it with the UnderworldI am sure of having read something about a text where Kerberus is simply
> deity, wisdom, intitation etc.
> The placement of Cerberus near a river could betray its serpentineYes, perhaps the river is only a barrier. But V. Propp has a interesting
> origins, or maybe the river is used to represent the barrier between
> the land of the living and the dead, and Cerberus is there to re-
> enforce it.