It was also the custom to keep the hair unshorn during the performance
of a vow. "While his vow lasted a Nazarite might not have his hair cut:
'All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come
upon his head.' [326] The Egyptians on a journey kept their hair
uncut till they returned home. [327] Among the Chatti tribe of the
ancient Germans the young warriors never clipped their hair or their
beard till they had slain an enemy. Six thousand Saxons once swore
that they would not clip their hair nor shave their beards until
they had taken vengeance on their enemies." [328] Similarly, Hindu
religious mendicants keep their hair long while they are journeying
on a pilgrimage, and when they arrive at the temple which is their
goal they shave it all off and offer it to the god. In this case, as
the hair is vowed as an offering, it clearly cannot be cut during the
performance of the vow, but must be preserved intact. When the task
to be accomplished for the fulfilment of a vow is a journey or the
slaying of enemies, the retention of the hair is probably also meant
to support and increase the wearer's strength for the accomplishment
of his purpose.