CREATION LEGEND: MERODACH THE DRAGON SLAYER
Elder Spirits of the Primordial Deep--Apsu and the Tiamat
Dragon--Plot to Destroy the Beneficent Gods--Ea overcomes Apsu and
Muminu--The Vengeful Preparations of the Dragon--Anshar's Appeal to
Merodach--The Festival of the High Gods--Merodach exalted as Ruler
of the Universe--Dragon slain and Host taken captive--Merodach
rearranges the Pantheon--Creation of Man--Merodach as Asari--The
Babylonian Osiris--The Chief Purpose of Mankind--Tiamat as Source of
Good and Evil--The Dragon as the Serpent or Worm--Folk Tale aspect
of Creation Myth--British Neolithic Legends--German and Egyptian
Contracts--Biblical references to Dragons--The Father and Son
theme--Merodach and Tammuz--Monotheistic Tendency--Bi-sexual
Deities.
In the beginning the whole universe was a sea. Heaven on high had not
been named, nor the earth beneath. Their begetter was Apsu, the father
of the primordial Deep, and their mother was Tiamat, the spirit of
Chaos. No plain was yet formed, no marsh could be seen; the gods had
no existence, nor had their fates been determined. Then there was a
movement in the waters, and the deities issued forth. The first who
had being were the god Lachmu and the goddess Lachamu. Long ages went
past. Then were created the god Anshar and the goddess Kishar. When
the days of these deities had increased and extended, they were
followed by Anu, god of the sky, whose consort was Anatu; and Ea, most
wise and all-powerful, who was without an equal. Now Ea, god of the
deep, was also Enki, "lord of earth", and his eternal spouse, Damkina,
was Gashan-ki, "lady of earth". The son of Ea and Damkina was Bel, the
lord, who in time created mankind.[152] Thus were the high gods
established in power and in glory.
Now Apsu and Tiamat remained amidst confusion in the deeps of chaos.
They were troubled because their offspring, the high gods, aspired to
control the universe and set it in order.[153] Apsu was still powerful
and fierce, and Tiamat snarled and raised tempests, smiting herself.
Their purpose was to work evil amidst eternal confusion.
Then Apsu called upon Mummu, his counsellor, the son who shared his
desires, and said, "O Mummu, thou who art pleasing unto me, let us go
forth together unto Tiamat and speak with her."
So the two went forth and prostrated themselves before the Chaos
Mother to consult with her as to what should be done to prevent the
accomplishment of the purpose of the high gods.
Apsu opened his mouth and spake, saying, "O Tiamat, thou gleaming one,
the purpose of the gods troubles me. I cannot rest by day nor can I
repose by night. I will thwart them and destroy their purpose. I will
bring sorrow and mourning so that we may lie down undisturbed by
them."
Tiamat heard these words and snarled. She raised angry and roaring
tempests; in her furious grief she uttered a curse, and then spake to
Apsu, saying, "What shall we do so that their purpose may be thwarted
and we may lie down undisturbed again?"
Mummu, the counsellor, addressing Apsu, made answer, and said,
"Although the gods are powerful, thou canst overcome them; although
their purpose is strong, thou canst thwart it. Then thou shalt have
rest by day and peace by night to lie down."
The face of Apsu grew bright when he heard these words spoken by
Mummu, yet he trembled to think of the purpose of the high gods, to
whom he was hostile. With Tiamat he lamented because the gods had
changed all things; the plans of the gods filled their hearts with
dread; they sorrowed and spake with Mummu, plotting evil.
Then Ea, who knoweth all, drew near; he beheld the evil ones
conspiring and muttering together. He uttered a pure incantation and
accomplished the downfall of Apsu and Mummu, who were taken
captive.[154]
Kingu, who shared the desires of Tiamat, spake unto her words of
counsel, saying, "Apsu and Mummu have been overcome and we cannot
repose. Thou shalt be their Avenger, O Tempestuous One."
Tiamat heard the words of this bright and evil god, and made answer,
saying, "On my strength thou canst trust. So let war be waged."
Then were the hosts of chaos and the deep gathered together. By day
and by night they plotted against the high gods, raging furiously,
making ready for battle, fuming and storming and taking no rest.
Mother Chuber,[155] the creator of all, provided irresistible weapons.
She also brought into being eleven kinds of fierce monsters--giant
serpents, sharp of tooth with unsparing fangs, whose bodies were
filled with poison instead of blood; snarling dragons, clad with
terror, and of such lofty stature that whoever saw them was
overwhelmed with fear, nor could any escape their attack when they
lifted themselves up; vipers and pythons, and the Lachamu, hurricane
monsters, raging hounds, scorpion men, tempest furies, fish men, and
mountain rams. These she armed with fierce weapons and they had no
fear of war.
Then Tiamat, whose commands are unchangeable and mighty, exalted
Kingu, who had come to her aid, above all the evil gods; she made him
the leader to direct the army in battle, to go in front, to open the
attack. Robing Kingu in splendour, she seated him on high and spoke,
saying:
"I have established thy command over all the gods. Thou shalt rule
over them. Be mighty, thou my chosen husband, and let thy name be
exalted over all the spirits of heaven and spirits of earth."
Unto Kingu did Tiamat deliver the tablets of fate; she laid them in
his bosom, and said, "Thy commands cannot be changed; thy words shall
remain firm."
Thus was Kingu exalted; he was vested with the divine power of Anu to
decree the fate of the gods, saying, "Let thy mouth open to thwart the
fire god; be mighty in battle nor brook resistance."
Then had Ea knowledge of Tiamat's doings, how she had gathered her
forces together, and how she had prepared to work evil against the
high gods with purpose to avenge Apsu. The wise god was stricken with
grief, and he moaned for many days. Thereafter he went and stood
before his father, Anshar, and spake, saying, "Our mother, Tiamat,
hath turned against us in her wrath. She hath gathered the gods about
her, and those thou didst create are with her also."
When Anshar heard all that Ea revealed regarding the preparations made
by Tiamat, he smote his loins and clenched his teeth, and was ill at
ease. In sorrow and anger he spoke and said, "Thou didst go forth
aforetime to battle; thou didst bind Mummu and smite Apsu. Now Kingu
is exalted, and there is none who can oppose Tiamat."[156]
Anshar called his son, Anu, before him, and spoke, saying: "O mighty
one without fear, whose attack is irresistible, go now before Tiamat
and speak so that her anger may subside and her heart be made
merciful. But if she will not hearken unto thee, speak thou for me, so
that she may be reconciled."
Anu was obedient to the commands of Anshar. He departed, and descended
by the path of Tiamat until he beheld her fuming and snarling, but he
feared to approach her, and turned back.
Then Ea was sent forth, but he was stricken with terror and turned
back also.[157]
Anshar then called upon Merodach, son of Ea, and addressed him,
saying, "My son, who softeneth my heart, thou shalt go forth to battle
and none shall stand against thee."
The heart of Merodach was made glad at these words. He stood before
Anshar, who kissed him, because that he banished fear. Merodach spake,
saying: "O lord of the gods, withdraw not thy words; let me go forth
to do as is thy desire. What man hath challenged thee to battle?"
Anshar made answer and said: "No man hath challenged me. It is Tiamat,
the woman, who hath resolved to wage war against us. But fear not and
make merry, for thou shalt bruise the head of Tiamat. O wise god, thou
shalt overcome her with thy pure incantation. Tarry not but hasten
forth; she cannot wound thee; thou shalt come back again." The words
of Anshar delighted the heart of Merodach, who spake, saying: "O lord
of the gods, O fate of the high gods, if I, the avenger, am to subdue
Tiamat and save all, then proclaim my greatness among the gods. Let
all the high gods gather together joyfully in Upshukinaku (the Council
Hall), so that my words like thine may remain unchanged, and what I do
may never be altered. Instead of thee I will decree the fates of the
gods."
Then Anshar called unto his counsellor, Gaga, and addressing him,
said: "O thou who dost share my desires, thou who dost understand the
purpose of my heart, go unto Lachmu and Lachamu and summon all the
high gods to come before me to eat bread and drink wine. Repeat to
them all I tell you of Tiamat's preparations for war, of my commands
to Anu and Ea, who turned back, fearing the dragon, of my choice of
Merodach to be our avenger, and his desire to be equipped with my
power to decree fate, so that he may be made strong to combat against
our enemy."
As Anshar commanded so did Gaga do. He went unto Lachmu and Lachamu
and prostrated himself humbly before them. Then he rose and delivered
the message of Anshar, their son, adding: "Hasten and speedily decide
for Merodach your fate. Permit him to depart to meet your powerful
foe."
When Lachmu and Lachamu heard all that Gaga revealed unto them they
uttered lamentations, while the Igigi (heavenly spirits) sorrowed
bitterly, and said: "What change hath happened that Tiamat hath become
hostile to her own offspring? We cannot understand her deeds."
All the high gods then arose and went unto Anshar, They filled his
council chamber and kissed one another. Then they sat down to eat
bread and drink sesame wine. And when they were made drunk and were
merry and at their ease, they decreed the fate for Merodach.
In the chamber of Anshar they honoured the Avenger. He was exalted as
a prince over them all, and they said: "Among the high gods thou art
the highest; thy command is the command of Anu. Henceforth thou wilt
have power to raise up and to cast down. None of the gods will dispute
thy authority. O Merodach, our avenger, we give thee sovereignty over
the entire Universe. Thy weapon will ever be irresistible. Smite down
the gods who have raised revolt, but spare the lives of those who
repose their trust in thee."
Then the gods laid down a garment before Merodach, saying: "Open thy
mouth and speak words of command, so that the garment may be
destroyed; speak again and it will be brought back."
Merodach spake with his mouth and the garment vanished; he spake again
and the garment was reproduced.
All the gods rejoiced, and they prostrated themselves and cried out,
"Merodach is King!"
Thereafter they gave him the sceptre and the throne and the insignia
of royalty, and also an irresistible weapon[158] with which to
overcome his enemies, saying: "Now, O Merodach, hasten and slay
Tiamat. Let the winds carry her blood to hidden places."
So was the fate of Merodach decreed by the gods; so was a path of
prosperity and peace prepared for him. He made ready for battle; he
strung his bow and hung his quiver; he slung a dart over his shoulder,
and he grasped a club in his right hand; before him he set lightning,
and with flaming fire he filled his body. Anu gave unto him a great
net with which to snare his enemies and prevent their escape. Then
Merodach created seven winds--the wind of evil, the uncontrollable
wind, the sandstorm, and the whirlwind, the fourfold wind, the
sevenfold wind, and the wind that has no equal--and they went after
him. Next he seized his mighty weapon, the thunderstone, and leapt
into his storm chariot, to which were yoked four rushing and
destructive steeds of rapid flight, with foam-flecked mouths and teeth
full of venom, trained for battle, to overthrow enemies and trample
them underfoot. A light burned on the head of Merodach, and he was
clad in a robe of terror. He drove forth, and the gods, his fathers,
followed after him: the high gods clustered around and followed him,
hastening to battle.
Merodach drove on, and at length he drew nigh to the secret lair of
Tiamat, and he beheld her muttering with Kingu, her consort. For a
moment he faltered, and when the gods who followed him beheld this,
their eyes were troubled.
Tiamat snarled nor turned her head. She uttered curses, and said: "O
Merodach, I fear not thy advance as chief of the gods. My allies are
assembled here, and are more powerful than thou art."
Merodach uplifted his arm, grasping the dreaded thunderstone, and
spake unto Tiamat, the rebellious one, saying: "Thou hast exalted
thyself, and with wrathful heart hath prepared for war against the
high gods and their fathers, whom thou dost hate in thy heart of evil.
Unto Kingu thou hast given the power of Anu to decree fate, because
thou art hostile to what is good and loveth what is sinful. Gather thy
forces together, and arm thyself and come forth to battle."
When Tiamat heard these mighty words she raved and cried aloud like
one who is possessed; all her limbs shook, and she muttered a spell.
The gods seized their weapons.
Tiamat and Merodach advanced to combat against one another. They made
ready for battle. The lord of the high gods spread out the net which
Anu had given him. He snared the dragon and she could not escape.
Tiamat opened her mouth which was seven miles wide, and Merodach
called upon the evil wind to smite her; he caused the wind to keep her
mouth agape so that she could not close it. All the tempests and the
hurricanes entered in, filling her body, and her heart grew weak; she
gasped, overpowered. Then the lord of the high gods seized his dart
and cast it through the lower part of her body; it tore her inward
parts and severed her heart. So was Tiamat slain.
Merodach overturned the body of the dead dragon and stood upon it. All
the evil gods who had followed her were stricken with terror and broke
into flight. But they were unable to escape. Merodach caught them in
his great net, and they stumbled and fell uttering cries of distress,
and the whole world resounded with their wailing and lamentations. The
lord of the high gods broke the weapons of the evil gods and put them
in bondage. Then he fell upon the monsters which Tiamat had created;
he subdued them, divested them of their powers, and trampled them
under his feet. Kingu he seized with the others. From this god great
Merodach took the tablets of fate, and impressing upon them his own
seal, placed them in his bosom.
So were the enemies of the high gods overthrown by the Avenger.
Ansar's commands were fulfilled and the desires of Ea fully
accomplished.
Merodach strengthened the bonds which he had laid upon the evil gods
and then returned to Tiamat. He leapt upon the dragon's body; he clove
her skull with his great club; he opened the channels of her blood
which streamed forth, and caused the north to carry her blood to
hidden places. The high gods, his fathers, clustered around; they
raised shouts of triumph and made merry. Then they brought gifts and
offerings to the great Avenger.
Merodach rested a while, gazing upon the dead body of the dragon. He
divided the flesh of Ku-pu[159], and devised a cunning plan.
Then the lord of the high gods split the body of the dragon like that
of a mashde fish into two halves. With one half he enveloped the
firmament; he fixed it there and set a watchman to prevent the waters
falling down[160]. With the other half he made the earth[161]. Then he
made the abode of Ea in the deep, and the abode of Anu in high heaven.
The abode of Enlil was in the air.
Merodach set all the great gods in their several stations. He also
created their images, the stars of the Zodiac, and fixed them all. He
measured the year and divided it into months; for twelve months he
made three stars each. After he had given starry images of the gods
separate control of each day of the year, he founded the station of
Nibiru (Jupiter), his own star, to determine the limits of all stars,
so that none might err or go astray. He placed beside his own the
stations of Enlil and Ea, and on each side he opened mighty gates,
fixing bolts on the left and on the right. He set the zenith in the
centre.
Merodach decreed that the moon god should rule the night and measure
the days, and each month he was given a crown. Its various phases the
great lord determined, and he commanded that on the evening of its
fullest brilliancy it should stand opposite the sun.[162]
He placed his bow in heaven (as a constellation) and his net also.
We have now reached the sixth tablet, which begins with a reference to
words spoken to Merodach by the gods. Apparently Ea had conceived in
his heart that mankind should be created. The lord of the gods read
his thoughts and said: "I will shed my blood and fashion bone... I
will create man to dwell on the earth so that the gods may be
worshipped and shrines erected for them. I will change the pathways of
the gods...."
The rest of the text is fragmentary, and many lines are missing.
Berosus states, however, that Belus (Bel Merodach) severed his head
from his shoulders. His blood flowed forth, and the gods mixed it with
earth and formed the first man and various animals.
In another version of the creation of man, it is related that Merodach
"laid a reed upon the face of the waters; he formed dust, and poured
it out beside the reed.... That he might cause the gods to dwell in
the habitation of their heart's desire, he formed mankind." The
goddess Aruru, a deity of Sippar, and one of the forms of "the lady of
the gods ", is associated with Merodach as the creatrix of the seed of
mankind. "The beasts of the field and living creatures in the field he
formed." He also created the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, grass,
reeds, herbs and trees, lands, marshes and swamps, cows, goats,
&c.[163]
In the seventh tablet Merodach is praised by the gods--the Igigi
(spirits of heaven). As he has absorbed all their attributes, he is
addressed by his fifty-one names; henceforth each deity is a form of
Merodach. Bel Enlil, for instance, is Merodach of lordship and
domination; Sin, the moon god, is Merodach as ruler of night; Shamash
is Merodach as god of law and holiness; Nergal is Merodach of war; and
so on. The tendency to monotheism appears to have been most marked
among the priestly theorists of Babylon.
Merodach is hailed to begin with as Asari, the introducer of
agriculture and horticulture, the creator of grain and plants. He also
directs the decrees of Anu, Bel, and Ea; but having rescued the gods
from destruction at the hands of Kingu and Tiamat, he was greater than
his "fathers", the elder gods. He set the Universe in order, and
created all things anew. He is therefore Tutu, "the creator", a
merciful and beneficent god. The following are renderings of lines 25
to 32:
Tutu: Aga-azaga (the glorious crown) may he make the crowns
glorious--
The lord of the glorious incantation bringing the dead to life;
He who had mercy on the gods who had been overpowered;
Made heavy the yoke which he had laid on the gods who were his
enemies,
(And) to redeem (?) them created mankind.
"The merciful one", "he with whom is salvation",
May his word be established, and not forgotten,
In the mouth of the black-headed ones whom his hands have made.
_Pinches' Translation_[164]
Tutu as Aga-azag may mankind fourthly magnify!
"The Lord of the Pure Incantation", "the Quickener of the Dead ",
"Who had mercy upon the captive gods",
"Who removed the yoke from upon the gods his enemies".
"For their forgiveness did he create mankind",
"The Merciful One, with whom it is to bestow life!"
May his deeds endure, may they never be forgotten
In the mouth of mankind whom his hands have made.
_King's Translation._[165]
Apparently the Babylonian doctrine set forth that mankind was created
not only to worship the gods, but also to bring about the redemption
of the fallen gods who followed Tiamat.
Those rebel angels (_ili_ gods) He prohibited return;
He stopped their service; He removed them unto the gods (_ili_) who
were His enemies.
In their room he created mankind.[166]
Tiamat, the chaos dragon, is the Great Mother. She has a dual
character. As the origin of good she is the creatrix of the gods. Her
beneficent form survived as the Sumerian goddess Bau, who was
obviously identical with the Phoenician Baau, mother of the first man.
Another name of Bau was Ma, and Nintu, "a form of the goddess Ma", was
half a woman and half a serpent, and was depicted with "a babe
suckling her breast" (Chapter IV). The Egyptian goddesses Neheb-kau
and Uazit were serpents, and the goddesses Isis and Nepthys had also
serpent forms. The serpent was a symbol of fertility, and as a mother
was a protector. Vishnu, the Preserver of the Hindu Trinity, sleeps on
the world-serpent's body. Serpent charms are protective and fertility
charms.
As the origin of evil Tiamat personified the deep and tempests. In
this character she was the enemy of order and good, and strove to
destroy the world.
I have seen
The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam
To be exalted with the threatening clouds.[167]
Tiamat was the dragon of the sea, and therefore the serpent or
leviathan. The word "dragon" is derived from the Greek "drakon", the
serpent known as "the seeing one" or "looking one", whose glance was
the lightning. The Anglo-Saxon "fire drake" ("draca", Latin "draco")
is identical with the "flying dragon".
In various countries the serpent or worm is a destroyer which swallows
the dead. "The worm shall eat them like wool", exclaimed Isaiah in
symbolic language.[168] It lies in the ocean which surrounds the world
in Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Teutonic, Indian, and other
mythologies. The Irish call it "morúach", and give it a mermaid form
like the Babylonian Nintu. In a Scottish Gaelic poem Tiamat figures as
"The Yellow Muilearteach", who is slain by Finn-mac-Coul, assisted by
his warrior band.
There was seen coming on the top of the waves
The crooked, clamouring, shivering brave ...
Her face was blue black of the lustre of coal,
And her bone-tufted tooth was like rusted bone.[169]
The serpent figures in folk tales. When Alexander the Great, according
to Ethiopic legend, was lowered in a glass cage to the depths of the
ocean, he saw a great monster going past, and sat for two days
"watching for its tail and hinder parts to appear".[170] An
Argyllshire Highlander had a similar experience. He went to fish one
morning on a rock. "He was not long there when he saw the head of an
eel pass. He continued fishing for an hour and the eel was still
passing. He went home, worked in the field all day, and having
returned to the same rock in the evening, the eel was still passing,
and about dusk he saw her tail disappearing."[171] Tiamat's sea-brood
is referred to in the Anglo-Saxon epic _Beowulf_ as "nickers". The
hero "slew by night sea monsters on the waves" (line 422).
The well dragon--the French "draco"--also recalls the Babylonian water
monsters. There was a "dragon well" near Jerusalem.[172] From China to
Ireland rivers are dragons, or goddesses who flee from the well
dragons. The demon of the Rhone is called the "drac". Floods are also
referred to as dragons, and the Hydra, or water serpent, slain by
Hercules, belongs to this category. Water was the source of evil as
well as good. To the Sumerians, the ocean especially was the abode of
monsters. They looked upon it as did Shakespeare's Ferdinand, when,
leaping into the sea, he cried: "Hell is empty and all the devils are
here".[173]
There can be little doubt but that in this Babylonian story of
Creation we have a glorified variation of the widespread Dragon myth.
Unfortunately, however, no trace can be obtained of the pre-existing
Sumerian oral version which the theorizing priests infused with such
sublime symbolism. No doubt it enjoyed as great popularity as the
immemorial legend of Perseus and Andromeda, which the sages of Greece
attempted to rationalize, and parts of which the poets made use of and
developed as these appealed to their imaginations.
The lost Sumerian story may be summarized as follows: There existed in
the savage wilds, or the ocean, a family of monsters antagonistic to a
group of warriors represented in the Creation legend by the gods. Ea,
the heroic king, sets forth to combat with the enemies of man, and
slays the monster father, Apsu, and his son, Mummu. But the most
powerful demon remains to be dealt with. This is the mother Tiamat,
who burns to avenge the deaths of her kindred. To wage war against her
the hero makes elaborate preparations, and equips himself with special
weapons. The queen of monsters cannot be overcome by ordinary means,
for she has great cunning, and is less vulnerable than were her
husband and son. Although Ea may work spells against her, she is able
to thwart him by working counter spells. Only a hand-to-hand combat
can decide the fray. Being strongly protected by her scaly hide, she
must be wounded either on the under part of her body or through her
mouth by a weapon which will pierce her liver, the seat of life. It
will be noted in this connection that Merodach achieved success by
causing the winds which followed him to distend the monster's jaws, so
that he might be able to inflict the fatal blow and prevent her at the
same time from uttering spells to weaken him.
This type of story, in which the mother monster is greater and more
powerful than her husband or son, is exceedingly common in Scottish
folklore. In the legend which relates the adventures of "Finn in the
Kingdom of Big Men", the hero goes forth at night to protect his
allies against the attacks of devastating sea monsters. Standing on
the beach, "he saw the sea advancing in fiery kilns and as a darting
serpent.... A huge monster came up, and looking down below where he
(Finn) was, exclaimed, 'What little speck do I see here?'" Finn, aided
by his fairy dog, slew the water monster. On Finn, aided by his fairy
dog, slew the water monster. On the following night a bigger monster,
"the father", came ashore, and he also was slain. But the most
powerful enemy had yet to be dealt with. "The next night a Big Hag
came ashore, and the tooth in the front of her mouth would make a
distaff. 'You killed my husband and son,' she said." Finn acknowledged
that he did, and they began to fight. After a prolonged struggle, in
which Finn was almost overcome, the Hag fell and her head was cut
off.[174]
The story of "Finlay the Changeling" has similar features. The hero
slew first a giant and then the giant's father. Thereafter the Hag
came against him and exclaimed, "Although with cunning and
deceitfulness you killed my husband last night and my son on the night
before last, I shall certainly kill you to-night." A fierce wrestling
match ensued on the bare rock. The Hag was ultimately thrown down. She
then offered various treasures to ransom her life, including "a gold
sword in my cave", regarding which she says, "never was it drawn to
man or to beast whom it did not overcome".[175] In other Scottish
stories of like character the hero climbs a tree, and says something
to induce the hag to open her mouth, so that he may plunge his weapon
down her throat.
The Grendel story in _Beowulf_,[176] the Anglo-Saxon epic, is of like
character. A male water monster preys nightly upon the warriors who
sleep in the great hall of King Hrothgar. Beowulf comes over the sea,
as did Finn to the "Kingdom of Big Men", to sky Grendel. He wrestles
with this man-eater and mortally wounds him. Great rejoicings ensue,
but they have to be brought to an abrupt conclusion, because the
mother of Grendel has meanwhile resolved "to go a sorry journey and
avenge the death of her son".
The narrative sets forth that she enters the Hall in the darkness of
night. "Quickly she grasped one of the nobles tight, and then she went
towards the fen", towards her submarine cave. Beowulf follows in due
course, and, fully armoured, dives through the waters and ultimately
enters the monster's lair. In the combat the "water wife" proves to be
a more terrible opponent than was her son. Indeed, Beowulf was unable
to slay her until he possessed himself of a gigantic sword, "adorned
with treasure", which was hanging in the cave. With this magic weapon
he slays the mother monster, whose poisonous blood afterwards melts
the "damasked blade". Like Finn, he subsequently returns with the head
of one of the monsters.
An interesting point about this story is that it does not appear in
any form in the North German cycle of Romance. Indeed, the poet who
included in his epic the fiery dragon story, which links the hero
Beowulf with Sigurd and Siegfried, appears to be doubtful about the
mother monster's greatness, as if dealing with unfamiliar material,
for he says: "The terror (caused by Grendel's mother) was less by just
so much as woman's strength, woman's war terror, is (measured) by
fighting men".[177] Yet, in the narrative which follows the Amazon is
proved to be the stronger monster of the two. Traces of the mother
monster survive in English folklore, especially in the traditions
about the mythical "Long Meg of Westminster", referred to by Ben
Jonson in his masque of the "Fortunate Isles":
Westminster Meg,
With her long leg,
As long as a crane;
And feet like a plane,
With a pair of heels
As broad as two wheels.
Meg has various graves. One is supposed to be marked by a huge stone
in the south side of the cloisters of Westminster Abbey; it probably
marks the trench in which some plague victims--regarded, perhaps, as
victims of Meg--were interred. Meg was also reputed to have been
petrified, like certain Greek and Irish giants and giantesses. At
Little Salkeld, near Penrith, a stone circle is referred to as "Long
Meg and her Daughters". Like "Long Tom", the famous giant, "Mons Meg"
gave her name to big guns in early times, all hags and giants having
been famous in floating folk tales as throwers of granite boulders,
balls of hard clay, quoits, and other gigantic missiles.
The stories about Grendel's mother and Long Meg are similar to those
still repeated in the Scottish Highlands. These contrast sharply with
characteristic Germanic legends, in which the giant is greater than
the giantess, and the dragon is a male, like Fafner, who is slain by
Sigurd, and Regin whom Siegfried overcomes. It is probable, therefore,
that the British stories of female monsters who were more powerful
than their husbands and sons, are of Neolithic and Iberian
origin--immemorial relics of the intellectual life of the western
branch of the Mediterranean race.
In Egypt the dragon survives in the highly developed mythology of the
sun cult of Heliopolis, and, as sun worship is believed to have been
imported, and the sun deity is a male, it is not surprising to find
that the night demon, Apep, was a personification of Set. This god,
who is identical with Sutekh, a Syrian and Asia Minor deity, was
apparently worshipped by a tribe which was overcome in the course of
early tribal struggles in pre-dynastic times. Being an old and
discredited god, he became by a familiar process the demon of the
conquerors. In the eighteenth dynasty, however, his ancient glory was
revived, for the Sutekh of Rameses II figures as the "dragon
slayer".[178] It is in accordance with Mediterranean modes of thought,
however, to find that in Egypt there is a great celestial battle
heroine. This is the goddess Hathor-Sekhet, the "Eye of Ra".[179]
Similarly in India, the post-Vedic goddess Kali is a destroyer, while
as Durga she is a guardian of heroes.[180] Kali, Durga, and
Hathor-Sekhet link with the classical goddesses of war, and also with
the Babylonian Ishtar, who, as has been shown, retained the
outstanding characteristics of Tiamat, the fierce old "Great Mother"
of primitive Sumerian folk religion.
It is possible that in the Babylonian dragon myth the original hero
was Ea. As much may be inferred from the symbolic references in the
Bible to Jah's victory over the monster of the deep: "Art thou not it
that hath cut Rahab and wounded the dragon?"[181] "Thou brakest the
heads of the dragons in the waters; thou brakest the heads of
leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people
inhabiting the wilderness";[182] "He divideth the sea with his power,
and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud (Rahab). By his
spirit he hath garnished the heavens: his hand hath formed (or
pierced) the crooked serpent";[183] "Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces
as one that is slain: thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy
strong arm";[184] "In that day the Lord with his sore and great and
strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing (or stiff) serpent,
even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that
is in the sea".[185]
In the Babylonian Creation legend Ea is supplanted as dragon slayer by
his son Merodach. Similarly Ninip took the place of his father, Enlil,
as the champion of the gods. "In other words," writes Dr. Langdon,
"later theology evolved the notion of the son of the earth god, who
acquires the attributes of the father, and becomes the god of war. It
is he who stood forth against the rebellious monsters of darkness, who
would wrest the dominion of the world from the gods who held their
conclave on the mountain. The gods offer him the Tablets of Fate; the
right to utter decrees is given unto him." This development is "of
extreme importance for studying the growth of the idea of father and
son, as creative and active principles of the world".[186] In Indian
mythology Indra similarly takes the place of his bolt-throwing father
Dyaus, the sky god, who so closely resembles Zeus. Andrew Lang has
shown that this myth is of widespread character.[187] Were the
Babylonian theorists guided by the folk-lore clue?
Now Merodach, as the son of Ea whom he consulted and received spells
from, was a brother of "Tammuz of the Abyss". It seems that in the
great god of Babylon we should recognize one of the many forms of the
primeval corn spirit and patriarch--the shepherd youth who was beloved
by Ishtar. As the deity of the spring sun, Tammuz slew the winter
demons of rain and tempest, so that he was an appropriate spouse for
the goddess of harvest and war. Merodach may have been a development
of Tammuz in his character as a demon slayer. When he was raised to
the position of Bel, "the Lord" by the Babylonian conquerors, Merodach
supplanted the older Bel--Enlil of Nippur. Now Enlil, who had absorbed
all the attributes of rival deities, and become a world god, was the
Lord of the harvest lands ... lord of the grain fields,
being "lord of the anunnaki", or "earth spirits". As agriculturists in
early times went to war so as to secure prisoners who could be
sacrificed to feed the corn spirit, Enlil was a god of war and was
adored as such:
The haughty, the hostile land thou dost humiliate ...
With thee who ventureth to make war?
He was also "the bull of goring horns ... Enlil the bull", the god of
fertility as well as of battle.[188]
Asari, one of Merodach's names, links him with Osiris, the Egyptian
Tammuz, who was supplanted by his son Horus. As the dragon slayer, he
recalls, among others, Perseus, the Grecian hero, of whom it was
prophesied that he would slay his grandfather. Perseus, like Tammuz
and Osiris, was enclosed in a chest which was cast into the sea, to be
rescued, however, by a fisherman on the island of Seriphos. This hero
afterwards slew Medusa, one of the three terrible sisters, the
Gorgons--a demon group which links with Tiamat. In time, Perseus
returned home, and while an athletic contest was in progress, he
killed his grandfather with a quoit. There is no evidence, however, to
show that the displacement of Enlil by Merodach had any legendary
sanction of like character. The god of Babylon absorbed all other
deities, apparently for political purposes, and in accordance with the
tendency of the thought of the times, when raised to supreme rank in
the national pantheon; and he was depicted fighting the winged dragon,
flapping his own storm wings, and carrying the thunder weapon
associated with Ramman.
Merodach's spouse Zer-panituᵐ was significantly called "the lady of
the Abyss", a title which connects her with Damkina, the mother, and
Belit-sheri, the sister of Tammuz. Damkina was also a sky goddess like
Ishtar.
Zer-panituᵐ was no pale reflection of her Celestial husband, but a
goddess of sharply defined character with independent powers.
Apparently she was identical with Aruru, creatrix of the seed of
mankind, who was associated with Merodach when the first man and the
first woman were brought into being. Originally she was one of the
mothers in the primitive spirit group, and so identical with Ishtar
and the other prominent goddesses.
As all goddesses became forms of Ishtar, so did all gods become forms
of Merodach. Sin was "Merodach as illuminator of night", Nergal was
"Merodach of war", Addu (Ramman) was "Merodach of rain", and so on. A
colophon which contains a text in which these identifications are
detailed, appears to be "a copy", says Professor Pinches, "of an old
inscription", which, he thinks, "may go back as far as 2000 B.C. This
is the period at which the name _Yauᵐ-ilu_, 'Jah is god', is found,
together with references to _ilu_ as the name for the one great god,
and is also, roughly, the date of Abraham, who, it may be noted, was a
Babylonian of Ur of the Chaldees."[189]
In one of the hymns Merodach is addressed as follows:--
Who shall escape from before thy power?
Thy will is an eternal mystery!
Thou makest it plain in heaven
And in the earth,
Command the sea
And the sea obeyeth thee.
Command the tempest
And the tempest becometh a calm.
Command the winding course
Of the Euphrates,
And the will of Merodach
Shall arrest the floods.
Lord, thou art holy!
Who is like unto thee?
Merodach thou art honoured
Among the gods that bear a name.
The monotheistic tendency, which was a marked feature of Merodach
worship, had previously become pronounced in the worship of Bel Enlil
of Nippur. Although it did not affect the religion of the masses, it
serves to show that among the ancient scholars and thinkers of
Babylonia religious thought had, at an early period, risen far above
the crude polytheism of those who bargained with their deities and
propitiated them with offerings and extravagant flattery, or exercised
over them a magical influence by the performance of seasonal
ceremonies, like the backsliders in Jerusalem, censured so severely by
Jeremiah, who baked cakes to reward the Queen of Heaven for an
abundant harvest, and wept with her for the slain Tammuz when he
departed to Hades.
Perhaps it was due to the monotheistic tendency, if not to the fusion
of father-worshipping and mother-worshipping peoples, that bi-sexual
deities were conceived of. Nannar, the moon god, was sometimes
addressed as father and mother in one, and Ishtar as a god as well as
a goddess. In Egypt Isis is referred to in a temple chant as "the
woman who was made a male by her father Osiris", and the Nile god Hapi
was depicted as a man with female breasts.