Re[2]: [tied] Not "catching the wind " , or, what ARE we discussi

At 11:11:59 AM on Thursday, April 3, 2008, tgpedersen wrote:

[...]

> The usual explanation for 'cat' in Germanic and Celtic is
> that it is a loan from Latin; but if it is so, then

> 1) why does Freya have a cat-drawn chariot
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freyja

> qoute: '"People of many races visited this burning. First
> is to be told of Odin, how Frigg and the Valkyries went
> with him, and his ravens; but Freyr drove in his chariot
> with the boar called Gold-Mane, or Fearful-Tusk, and
> Heimdallr rode the horse called Gold-Top, and Freyja drove
> in her chariot drawn by cats..." (Gylfaginning (49))"';
> why this if they only knew the cat from the Romans; this
> doesn't look like a late accretion?

It strikes me as a detail that could have been added or
modified at just about any point. I also note that while
Freyr has Gullinbursti/Slíðrugtanni, Heimdallr has
Gulltoppr, Þórr has Tanngnióstr and Tanngrisnir, and Óðinn
has Sleipnir, Freyia just has anonymous cats.

Brian