From: tgpedersen
Message: 56780
Date: 2008-04-05
>Two of our tenured members are struck by insights which prevent them
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott" <BMScott@> wrote:
> >
> > 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
> >
> - - - - - - -
> It strikes me that there would have been plenty of time for the
> innovation to enter the Icelandic litterature. The sagas supposedly
> also contain elements modelled on christian tales. The oldest
> elements of the sagas can hardly be proven much older than mid first
> century.
> Jouppe
>