CHRISTMAS OBSERVANCES
In modern times, as the once joyful celebrations of May-day have waned
the festivities of Christmas-tide have undergone increase and
development. The grosser features of the festival have, no doubt, been
eliminated; the mummers and the lord of misrule have for the most part
gone the way of the May-king, but all the more graceful and orderly
observances of the time have strengthened their hold on the popular
favour. The decoration of the house is as usual to-day at Christmas as
it once was at May-day, and the Christmas-tree has stepped into the
place which the May-tree once held in the affections of the young. Yet
if we trace these Christmas observances back to their origin, we find
them as distinctively pagan in their ancestry as the festivities of
May-day.
We owe the survival of many pagan customs largely to the Roman Church,
whose settled policy it was to adapt the old festal rites to the
purposes of the new faith, and to divert its rude converts from the
riotous festivities of their unconverted friends by offering them the
more orderly rejoicings of a Christian holy day. Gregory the Great, when
he sent his missionaries to Britain, instructed them to Christianise the
festivals and temples of the heathen, “raising their stubborn minds
upwards not by leaps, but step by step.” And Dr. Tille, in his learned
work on the German Christmas,[363] has shown what pains were taken by
the priesthood to transfer to their own feast the rude rejoicings with
which the unconverted Germans celebrated their great festival at the
beginning of winter. The same transference of pre-Christian usages
occurred in Italy, where the Christmas festival, first definitely fixed
at the time of the winter solstice by Bishop Liberius, A.D. 354,[364]
inherited, as expressly stated by Polydore Virgil, several of the
features of the great Roman festival of the Saturnalia, held about the
same time. This festival was an occasion for universal mirth and
festivity. Friends visited and feasted each other, and there was a
general interchange of presents, the objects presented consisting
usually of branches, wax tapers, and clay dolls. The stalls were laden
with gifts, like the Christmas shops of to-day. One of the days of the
festival, the _dies juvenalis_, was devoted to children. The solstitial
character of the festival is shown by the fact that another of its days
was dedicated by the Emperor Aurelian to the Persian sun-god, Mithra;
and Varro states that the clay dolls, which were an important feature of
the celebration, represented the infant sacrifices once made to a
Phoenician Baal who had been introduced to Rome under the name of Saturn
or Cronos.[365]
However this may be, it is clear that some observances familiar to us at
Christmas—the feasting, the present giving, and the now obsolete
mumming—have an origin which is lost in antiquity. Other customs, too,
though with a different _provenance_, have an equally venerable
ancestry. The use of mistletoe, for instance, is without doubt a direct
legacy from the Druids, who were wont at the time of the solstices
solemnly to place upon their altars the mysterious branch, into which it
was thought that the spirit of the tree retreated when the rest of the
leaves had fallen. This practice, strangely enough, survived until
within comparatively recent years in a ceremonial practised at York
Minster and some other northern churches,[366] though as a rule the
introduction of the mistletoe into Christian edifices was strongly
reprobated, on the score that it was a heathen emblem.
The practice of decorating the house at the New Year with holly and
other evergreens was also a pagan observance. Dr. Chandler refers to it
as a Druidic custom, the intention being to provide the sylvan spirits
with a shelter to which they might repair, “and remain unnipped with
frost and cold winds, until a milder season had renewed the foliage of
their darling abodes.”[367] In early times the Church made a stand
against this use of evergreens as being a pagan custom, but the
interdict was not persevered in, and later on we find the decoration of
the churches a recognised practice, the note for Christmas eve in the
old Calendar being, _Templa exornantur_.[368]
The observance, however, which most concerns us here is that of the
Christmas-tree, the evolution of which furnishes us with one of the most
interesting chapters in the history of religious development. To the
present generation the Christmas-tree appears such an essential feature
of the festival, as celebrated in this country, that many will be
surprised to hear how recent an importation it is. But as a matter of
fact, the Christmas-tree was practically unknown in England until it was
introduced by the late Prince Consort.[369] Even in Germany, the land of
its origin, it was not universally established as an integral part of
the festival until the beginning of the present century,[370] and it was
only at that date that it came to be known as the “Weihnachtsbaum” and
“Christbaum.”[371] Goethe in 1774 describes it as adorned with wax
tapers, sweetmeats, and apples, but calls it simply the “decorated
tree.”[372] Schiller in 1789 finds no more distinctive name for it than
the “green tree.”[373] Since that time, or rather since 1830, its
diffusion throughout the world has been so marvellously rapid that there
is nothing to compare with it in the whole history of popular customs.
In Germany the Christmas-tree can be traced back more or less in its
present form to the beginning of the seventeenth century, when an
unnamed writer, in some extremely fragmentary notes, tells us that it
was the custom at Strasburg to set up fir-trees in the houses at
Christmas, and to deck them with roses of coloured paper, apples,
etc.[374] The next mention of it occurs half a century later in the
writings of Professor Dannhauer, a celebrated theologian, also living in
Strasburg.[375] “Amongst the other absurdities,” he writes, “with which
men are often more busied at Christmas than with the Word of God, there
is also the Christmas or fir-tree, which they erect in their houses,
hang it with dolls and sweetmeats, and then shake it and cause it to
shed its flowers. I know not the origin of the custom, it is a child’s
game.... Far better were it to lead the children to the spiritual cedar,
Christ Jesus.” The reprobation of the Strasburg preacher was echoed by
other divines, and to this cause probably the Christmas-tree owed its
slow diffusion throughout Germany. The theological dislike of it,
however, as it turned out, was ill-advised, for eventually the
Christmas-tree displaced other popular observances of a far less
innocent nature.
So far we have been treading historical ground, but in tracing the
Christmas-tree still farther back we have only inference to go upon. The
subject, however, has been carefully worked out by Dr. Tille,[376] and
the pedigree which he traces for the tree is a most interesting one. His
argument must here be condensed as closely as possible. The
Christmas-tree, with its lights, its artificial flowers, and its apples
and other fruit, is presumably connected with the legend of Christmas
flowering trees, which was very familiar to the Middle Ages, and of
which the English myth of the Glastonbury thorn is an example. The
origin of the legend in Germany is thus explained by Dr. Tille:—It is
not unusual when the season is mild to find trees blossoming in
November, especially the cherry and the crab-tree. For the old German
peasant the New Year began with the great slaughtering feast early in
November, when the cattle were brought in from the pastures, and all the
superfluous ones were butchered and feasted on; the winter was thus
counted to the New Year, like the eve to a holy day. Hence when trees
blossomed late, a casual connection was inevitably traced between the
strange phenomenon and the New Year feast at which it took place. On the
introduction of Christianity the feasts of St. Martin, St. Andrew, and
St. Nicholas were substituted for the ancient festivals. The strange
blossoming power of nature was connected with St. Andrew’s Day, and
fruit-boughs severed on that day were believed by the people to possess
particular virtue.[377] The Mediaeval Church, always eager to enlist
popular superstitions in its own support, set itself to transfer to
Christmas the blossoming tree of the November festival, and the legends
which related how celebrated magicians like Albertus Magnus, Paracelsus,
and Faustus had made for themselves a summer in the heart of winter were
incorporated by the monks into the lives of certain saints.[378] The
belief in trees that blossomed and bore fruit at Christmas was widely
distributed and firmly held amongst the people in the later Middle Ages.
In the German literature of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries many
instances of the miraculous fact are circumstantially recorded.[379] A
writer in 1430 relates that “not far from Nuremburg there stood a
wonderful tree. Every year, in the coldest season, on the night of
Christ’s birth this tree put forth blossoms and apples as thick as a
man’s thumb. This in the midst of deep snow and in the teeth of cold
winds.” In a MS. letter of the Bishop of Bamberg, dated 1426, and
preserved in the Hofbibliothek at Vienna, the actual blossoming of two
apple-trees at Christmas is mentioned as an acknowledged fact, and we
find a Protestant preacher giving full credence to the belief nearly a
couple of centuries later.
But the most striking instance of the hold which such legends had taken
on the popular mind is to be found in connection with our own miraculous
tree, the Glastonbury Thorn—
The winter thorn
Which blossoms at Christmas, mindful of our Lord.
This tree, which was the object of such veneration in the later Middle
Ages that the merchants of Bristol are said to have found the export of
its blossoms extremely remunerative, stood upon an eminence near the
town of Glastonbury. The legend ran that Joseph of Arimathea, who,
according to monkish teaching, was the first Christian missionary to
this country, one Christmas eve planted his staff in the ground. The
staff, which years previously had been cut from a hawthorn-tree, at once
took root and put forth leaves, and by the next day was in full blossom.
The miracle was repeated on every subsequent Christmas-day. Even after
the Reformation we find King James I. and his queen and other persons of
quality giving large sums for cuttings from the tree, which were
believed to have the same miraculous virtue as the parent thorn, and
even in the following reign it was customary to carry a branch of the
tree in procession and present it to the king. In the Civil War the
original tree was destroyed, but some of its off-shoots survived, one
especially at Quainton in Buckinghamshire, which suddenly sprang into
fame again when the new style was introduced into the Calendar in 1752,
and the people, resenting the loss of their eleven days, appealed from
the decision of their rulers to the higher wisdom of the miraculous
tree. According to the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ for 1753, about two
thousand people on the night of 24th December 1752 came with lanthorns
and candles to view the thorn-tree, “which was remembered (this year
only) to be a slip from the Glastonbury thorn.” As the tree remained
bare the people agreed that 25th December, N.S., could not be the true
Christmas-day, and refused to celebrate it as such. Their excitement was
intensified when on 5th January the tree was found to be in full bloom,
and to pacify them the authorities were driven to decree that the old
Christmas-day should be celebrated as well as the new. It may be added
that two thorn-trees still exist near the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey,
which blossom during the winter, and are identified by Loudoun with a
variety of hawthorn, the _Crataegus oxyacantha praecox_, which is
admittedly a winter flowerer.[380]
There is, however, as Mannhardt points out,[381] another way in which a
fruit-bearing tree became popularly associated with Christmas. The
ancient Church had devoted the day before Christmas-day to the memory of
Adam and Eve, and it was customary at Christmas in many parts of the
Continent to give a dramatic representation of the story of the Creation
and Fall in connection with the drama of the Nativity. Hence arose the
Paradise-plays which were familiar to the Middle Ages from the
thirteenth century onward. The well-known legend that the cross of
Christ was fashioned from a tree which had sprung from a slip of the
Tree of Knowledge served as a link between the events celebrated so
closely together, the Fall and the Birth of the Redeemer, and gave
additional significance to the scenery of the Paradise-play, consisting,
as it usually did, of trees, or sometimes of a single tree, laden with
apples and decked with ribbons. In some cases the tree was carried on to
the stage by one of the actors. In this way the apple-bearing tree
became the recognised scenic symbol of Christmas, and naturally
connected itself with, if it did not spring out of, the very early
legend of the Church that all nature blossomed at the birth of Christ,
who Himself, according to the fanciful symbolism of the time, was the
very Tree of Life which had once stood in paradise.
Another popular custom, which dates back to the time when the belief in
the beneficent power of sylvan deities was general, is also probably
entitled to a place in the pedigree of the Christmas-tree. It was
customary amongst the ancient Germans on one of the sacred nights of the
winter festival, when, according to the popular belief, nature was
permeated with new life, to cut wands from the hedges.[382] These were
brought home, put in water or planted in a pot of moist earth, and
solemnly placed, some in the open air, some in the stable, and some in
the house. A month later each wand would be in full bloom, and it was
then the custom to carry it round and lightly strike with it those to
whom one wished to impart health, strength, and fruitfulness. Those
struck with it rewarded the striker with presents, in recompense for the
benefit he was assumed to convey. This custom, which is probably of
Indian origin, survived in some parts of the Continent as a child’s game
even in the present century. Under the influence of Christianity the day
for cutting the wands was delayed, so that they might bloom at
Christmas, and in some parts it is still usual to arrange that there
shall be a flowering branch in the house at that time. In Nordlingen, a
century ago, families used to compete with each other as to which should
be able to show the most flourishing branch at Christmas-tide.[383] To
this day in Austrian Silesia the peasant women sally forth at midnight
on St. Andrew’s eve to pluck a branch from an apricot-tree. It is put in
water and flowers about Christmas time, and is taken by them to Mass on
Christmas-day.[384]
Amongst people to whom the apple-bearing tree of the Paradise-play was
familiar the substitution for the blooming branch of an evergreen decked
with fruits and ribbons and artificial flowers was quite natural. It
became, as it were, a proxy for the deciduous branch, still remaining
the occasion for present-giving, though now the tree became the giver
instead of the receiver of gifts.
The custom of hanging lights upon the Christmas-tree is a comparatively
late innovation, the well-known print of “Christmas in Luther’s Home,”
where an illuminated fir-tree is represented as the centre of the
festivity, being demonstrably an anachronism. The Christmas-tree, when
we first definitely meet with it at the beginning of the seventeenth
century, was certainly not illuminated. But the idea of a light-bearing
tree was familiar to the Middle Ages. An old Icelandic legend relates
that once upon a time, at Mödhrufell, there stood a mountain-ash which
had sprung from the blood of two innocent persons who had been executed
there.[385] Every Christmas-eve the tree was seen to be covered with
lights, which the strongest gale could not extinguish. These lights were
its wonderful blossoms, for in folk-lore lights are often made to
represent flowers and _vice-versâ_.[386] In the old French legend of
Perceval, the hero is represented as coming upon a tree illuminated with
a thousand candles, and Durmals le Galois, another hero of mediaeval
legend, twice saw a magnificent tree covered with lights from top to
bottom.[387]
It has already been mentioned that wax-tapers were given as presents at
the Roman Saturnalia, and it may well be that the connection of lighted
candles with Christmas time may date back to the ancient solstitial
celebrations, in which they were regarded as symbolical of the new birth
of the sun. The same idea—that of typifying the renewal of life by means
of lighted tapers—is found in the Netherlands in connection with the
May-tree, which there bears lights amongst its other decorations. At
Venlo on the Maas the maidens light the tapers as the evening comes on
and then dance around the lighted tree.[388] At Lüneberg, at wedding
festivities, it is usual to carry a “May” adorned with lights before the
bridal pair, and in the Hartz Mountains the so-called “St. John’s tree,”
round which the peasants dance, is a pyramid adorned with wreaths,
flowers, and lights.
In all these customs, which are no doubt survivals of the belief in a
tree-inhabiting deity, we see the collateral relations, if not the
direct progenitors of our Christmas-tree. In short, modern as it is in
its present form, the Christmas-tree epitomises many most ancient ideas;
is the point to which many streams converge whose source is hidden in a
far distant antiquity. It is the meeting-point of the old pagan belief
in the virtues vested in the tree and of the quaint fancies of the
Middle Ages, which loved to see spiritual truths embodied in material
forms. Christ, the Tree of Life, blossoming on Christmas-eve in Mary’s
bosom; the fatal tree of paradise whence sprang the cross, the
instrument of man’s salvation,—that “fruit-bearing heavenly-nourished
tree planted in the midst of redeemed man,” so often represented in
mediaeval art; the miracle of nature, so stirred by the wonder of the
event as to break forth into blossom in the midst of winter—all these
ideas, so characteristic of mediaeval thought, became grafted together
with observances derived from solstitial worship, upon the stock of the
sacred tree, laden with offerings and decked with fillets. Indeed the
Christmas-tree may be said to recapitulate the whole story of
tree-worship,—the May-tree, the harvest-tree, the Greek _eiresione_, the
tree as the symbol and embodiment of deity, and last but not least, the
universe-tree, bearing the lights of heaven for its fruit and covering
the world with its branches.
FOOTNOTES
[1]Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_ (Edin. 1889), p. 84.
[2]Goblet d’Alviella, _The Migration of Symbols_ (London, 1894), p. 119.
[3]_Op. cit._ chap. iv.
[4]J. Menant, _Les Pierres gravées de la Haute-Asie_ (Paris, 1886), Part
II. p. 63.
[5]_Les Origines de l’Histoire_ (Paris, 1888), vol. i. p. 88.
[6]A. H. Sayce, _Religion of the Ancient Babylonians_ (London, 1887),
Lect. IV.
[7]Robertson Smith, _op. cit._ p. 169.
[8]Cf. Ex. xxxiv. 13; Deut. vii. 5, xii. 3, xvi. 21; Judges iii. 7, vi.
25; 1 Kings xiv. 15; 2 Kings xvii. 16; cf. also Isaiah i. 29, lxv.
3, lxvi. 17.
[9]Robertson Smith, _op. cit._ p. 172.
[10]Eusebius, _Praepar. Evang._, lib. i. cap. 10.
[11]Goblet d’Alviella, _op. cit._ p. 125.
[12]Ezek. xli. 18.
[13]1 Kings vi. 29-35.
[14]G. Maspero, _The Dawn of Civilisation_ (London, 1894), p. 122.
[15]Slatin Pasha, _Fire and Sword in the Sudan_ (London, 1896), p. 114.
[16]J. G. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_ (London, 1890), vol. i. p. 60.
[17]Duff Macdonald, _Africana_ (London, 1882), vol. i. p. 60.
[18]Frazer, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 307.
[19]A. H. Sayce, _op. cit._ p. 238.
[20]_Encyclop. Brit._, 9th edition, vol. xviii. p. 850.
[21]_Isis et Osiris_, 46.
[22]Lajard, _Le Culte du cyprès pyramidal_ (1845), p. 148.
[23]Sir. W. Ouseley, _Travels_ (London, 1819), vol. iii. p. 83.
[24]Herodotus, vii. 31.
[25]R. Folkard, _Plant-lore, Legends, and Lyrics_ (London, 1892), p.
239.
[26]M. D. Conway, _Demonology and Devil-lore_ (London, 1879), vol. i. p.
299.
[27]Quintus Curtius, _De Gestis Alex._ viii. 33.
[28]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 4.
[29]Goblet d’Alviella, _op. cit._ p. 130.
[30]Murray’s _Handbook for Japan_ (London, 1884), p. 66.
[31]E. B. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_ (London, 1871), vol. ii. pp. 196,
198.
[32]Goblet d’Alviella, _op. cit._ p. 131.
[33]Müller, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_ (Basel, 1855), p. 494.
[34]E. B. Tylor, _Anahuac_ (London, 1861), pp. 215, 265.
[35]Carl Bötticher, _Der Baumkultus der Hellenen_ (Berlin, 1856).
[36]L. R. Farnell, _The Cults of the Greek States_ (Oxford, 1896), vol.
i. p. 14.
[37]Arthur Evans, in the anthropological section of the British
Association, _Times_, 23rd Sept. 1896.
[38]Jacob Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_ (Göttingen, 1844), vol. i. p. 60.
[39]_Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme_ (Berlin,
1875); _Antike Wald- und Feldkulte_ (Berlin, 1877). These volumes
will be referred to as Mannhardt I. and II.
[40]A. Castren, _Ethnologische Vorlesungen_ (St. Petersburg, 1857), p.
141.
[41]Boecler, _Der Esthen abergläubische Gebräuche_, etc. (St.
Petersburg, 1854), quoted in Fergusson’s _Tree and Serpent Worship_.
[42]Lucan, _Pharsalia_, iii. 405.
[43]Jacob Grimm, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 67.
[44]Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ lib. xvi. 95.
[45]Mannhardt I. p. 70.
[46]Hall’s _Chronicle_ (London, 1809), p. 580.
[47]_Ibid._ pp. 515, 520.
[48]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 534.
[49]E. B. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, vol. ii. p. 202.
[50]_Op. cit._ Lecture III.
[51]The Attis of Catullus (London, 1892), Excursus II.
[52]Deuteronomy xxxiii. 16.
[53]1 Esdras ii. 5.
[54]Maspero, _op. cit._ p. 84, note 1.
[55]Farnell, _op. cit._ vol. i. chap. iii.
[56]_Ibid._ vol. i. p. 66.
[57]_Ibid._ vol. ii. p. 429.
[58]_Ibid._ vol. ii. p. 432.
[59]Pausanias, 8, 23, 6.
[60]Farnell, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 185.
[61]_Ibid._ vol. i. p. 212.
[62]_Ibid._ vol. ii. p. 644.
[63]_Ibid._ vol. i. p. 9.
[64]Theocritus, _Idyll._ xviii. 48.
[65]Bötticher, _op. cit._ pp. 103, 229.
[66]_Ibid._ pp. 217, 220.
[67]Farnell, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 14.
[68]Wisdom xiii. 11 (Revised Version).
[69]Theocritus, _Epigram._ IV.
[70]Maximus Tyrius, viii. 1.
[71]Apuleius, _Florid._ i. 1.
[72]Maspero, _op. cit._ p. 84, note 3, and p. 130.
[73]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 467.
[74]De Gubernatis, _Mythologie des Plantes_, vol. ii. p. 26 _et seq._
[75]Farnell, _op. cit._ vol. i. pp. 108-110.
[76]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 345.
[77]Clemens Alex., _Protrepticus_, cap. 1, sect. 10.
[78]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 407.
[79]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 351.
[80]_Ibid._ p. 445.
[81]Theocritus, _Idyll._ vi. 7.
[82]_Fortnightly Review_, February 1870.
[83]Farnell, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 292.
[84]Euripides, _Troades_, 795.
[85]Farnell, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 325.
[86]Pliny, xvi. 60; Servius ad Virgil. _Aen._ iv. 507.
[87]Robertson Smith, _op. cit._ p. 175.
[88]Tiele, _Religion de l’Egypte_, etc. p. 83.
[89]A. Cunningham, _The Stûpa of Bharhut_ (London, 1879), p. 113.
[90]A. Cunningham, _op. cit._ p. 114.
[91]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 245.
[92]C. F. Keary, _The Vikings of Western Christendom_ (London, 1891),
pp. 36, 52, 53.
[93]Frazer, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 64.
[94]J. Grimm, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 369.
[95]Robertson Smith, _op. cit._ p. 169.
[96]Sir W. Ouseley, _Travels_, vol. i. p. 369.
[97]Statius, _Theb._ ix. 585.
[98]Apollon. Rhod. _Argonaut._ 2.
[99]Cf. Ovid, _Metamorphoses_, viii. 743.
[100]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 79.
[101]Orelli, No. 1266.
[102]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 88.
[103]_Ibid._ chap. xxi.
[104]_Ibid._ p. 385.
[105]Bötticher, chap. xxv.
[106]_Ibid._ p. 398.
[107]Sayce, _op. cit._ pp. 536, 539.
[108]Leviticus xxiii. 40.
[109]2 Maccabees xiv. 4.
[110]Bötticher, _op. cit._ pp. 321, 322.
[111]Pausanias, vii. 2, 4.
[112]Herodotus, vi. 75.
[113]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 35.
[114]Pausanias, ii. 13, 3.
[115]Sayce, _op. cit._ p. 493.
[116]Robertson Smith, _op. cit._ p. 125.
[117]_Nineteenth Century_, October 1895, p. 607.
[118]Isaiah xiii. 21; xxxiv. 14.
[119]Leviticus xvii. 7.
[120]Maspero, _op. cit._ pp. 83, 84.
[121]Mannhardt II. chap. ii.
[122]Mannhardt II. p. 139.
[123]_Aeneid_, viii. 601.
[124]Mannhardt II. p. 31.
[125]Hymn. Homer. Aphrod. 259-273.
[126]Plutarch, _De Defect. Orac._ 11.
[127]Hymn. in Cererem. 41.
[128]Apollonius Rhod., _Argonaut._ i. 471 _et seq._
[129]Mannhardt II. p. 1.
[130]Lucian, _Verae Historiae_, lib. 1.
[131]W. R. S. Ralston, _Contemporary Review_, vol. xxxi. p. 521.
[132]_Ibid._ vol. xxxi. p. 525.
[133]Robertson Smith, _op. cit._ pp. 126, 213, 461.
[134]_Aeneid_, iii. 27-34.
[135]_Metamorphoses_, viii. 741, 774, translated by Henry King (London,
1871).
[136]Mannhardt I. pp. 34 _et seq._
[137]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 79.
[138]_Ibid._ p. 79.
[139]_Ibid._ p. 79.
[140]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 79.
[141]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 83.
[142]Mannhardt I. p. 146.
[143]Mannhardt II. p. 39.
[144]_Ibid._ I. p. 75.
[145]Mannhardt I. p. 89.
[146]_Ibid._ I. p. 93.
[147]_Ibid._ I. p. 117.
[148]Mannhardt I. pp. 126 _et seq._
[149]Mannhardt I. pp. 138 _et seq._
[150]F. Rinder, _Old-World Japan_ (London, 1895), p. 137.
[151]Mannhardt I. p. 143.
[152]H. W. Bates, _The Naturalist on the Amazon_ (London, 1863), vol. i.
p. 73.
[153]_The Prose or Younger Edda_, translated by G. W. Dasent (Stockholm,
1842), p. 10.
[154]Mannhardt I. p. 7.
[155]Catlin, _Letters, etc., on North American Indians_, vol. ii. p.
169.
[156]_Works and Days_, v. 143.
[157]_Odyssey_, xix. 162.
[158]_Aeneid_, viii. 315.
[159]F. Galton, _Narrative of an Explorer_, etc. (London, 1853), p. 188.
[160]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 117.
[161]Alex. v. Humboldt, _Examen Critique_, vol. i. p. 52.
[162]Apollod. iii. 14, 3.
[163]Goblet d’Alviella, _op. cit._ p. 142.
[164]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 116.
[165]Diodor. v. 66.
[166]Pausanias, ix. 22, 2.
[167]_Ibid._ vii. 4, 4; viii. 23, 4.
[168]Servius ad Virgil. _Aeneid_, iii. 91.
[169]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 338.
[170]_Metamorphoses_, ii. 346-366, translated by Henry King (London,
1871).
[171]_Metamorphoses_, viii. 711-724. The story is told by Lelex of
Troezene at a feast given to Theseus by Achelous, the river-god.
[172]Bion, _Idyl._ i. 63.
[173]_Midsummer Night’s Dream_, Act ii. Sc. 2.
[174]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 268.
[175]_Ibid._ p. 389.
[176]Percy’s _Reliques_.
[177]_Old-World Japan_, p. 115.
[178]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 274.
[179]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 325.
[180]_Old-World Japan_, p. 127.
[181]_Op. cit._ vol. ii. p. 786.
[182]Frazer, _op. cit._ vol. ii. p. 328.
[183]_Selections from the Talmud_ (London, 1889), p. 318.
[184]Moore’s _Life of Lord Byron_, vol. i. p. 101.
[185]Mannhardt I. p. 32.
[186]_Ibid._ p. 53.
[187]_Ibid._ p. 182.
[188]Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ lib. xvi. 27.
[189]Tacitus, _Annal._ xiii. 58.
[190]Pliny, _op. cit._ lib. xv. 36.
[191]The late General Gordon, in _Times_ for 5th January 1885.
[192]Goblet d’Alviella, _op. cit._ p. 142.
[193]Farnell, _op. cit._ vol. ii. p. 695.
[194]J. Menant, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 220.
[195]_Ibid._ vol. i. p. 170 _et seq._
[196]Goblet d’Alviella, _op. cit._ p. 145 _et seq._
[197]Lajard, _op. cit._ Pl. i.
[198]Frazer, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 70.
[199]Mannhardt I. p. 222.
[200]_Ibid._ p. 46.
[201]Virgil, _Georg._ ii. 291; Servius ad Virgil. _Aeneid_, iv. 446.
[202]Robertson Smith, _op. cit._ p. 169.
[203]Pausanias, x. 5, 3.
[204]_Encyclop. Brit._, 9th edition, vol. xvii. p. 808.
[205]Sayce, _op. cit._ p. 241.
[206]_Ibid._ p. 240.
[207]Robertson Smith, _op. cit._ p. 179.
[208]2 Samuel v. 24.
[209]Hosea iv. 12 (R. V.).
[210]_Odyssey_, xiv. 327.
[211]Scholiast on Sophocles, _Trachiniae_ 1169.
[212]Herodotus, ii. 52, 57.
[213]Clem. Alex., _Protrept._ ii. 11.
[214]Silius Ital. vi. 691.
[215]Pausanias, viii. 23, 4; i. 17, 5.
[216]Philostrat. _Imag._ ii. 33.
[217]Servius ad Virgil. _Aen._ iii. 466.
[218]_Encyclop. Brit._, 9th edition, vol. xvii. p. 809. Cf. also
Farnell, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 40.
[219]_Metam._ vii. 622-654.
[220]Apollod. i. 9, 16; Philostrat. _Imag._ ii. 15.
[221]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 341.
[222]Euripides, _Hecuba_, 456.
[223]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 344.
[224]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 344.
[225]Moses Choren, _Hist. Armen._ i. 15, 19.
[226]F. Lenormant, _La Divination chez les Chaldéens_ (Paris, 1875), p.
85.
[227]Sir W. Ouseley, _Travels_, vol. i. p. 369.
[228]The Sháh Námeh, _Chandos Classics_, p. 336.
[229]Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 294.
[230]_Ibid._ iv. 650; Virgil, _Aeneid_, vii. 81.
[231]Cicero, _De Divinat._ ii. 40.
[232]Dion. Halic. i. 14.
[233]Bötticher, _op. cit._ chap. xi.
[234]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 164.
[235]Cicero, _De Divinat._ i. 45.
[236]Dion. Halic. v. 16.
[237]Robertson Smith, _op. cit._ p. 126.
[238]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 113, note 22.
[239]Herodotus, iv. 67.
[240]Ammian. Marcell. L. 31.
[241]Tacitus, _Germ._ x.
[242]E. Davies, _Celtic Researches_, p. 812; _British Druids_, p. 43.
[243]R. Smith, _op. cit._ p. 179, note 5.
[244]The whole subject is very fully treated by Bötticher, _op. cit._
chap. xvi.
[245]Mannhardt I. p. 303.
[246]De Vallemont, _Physique occulte_ (1696), p. 10.
[247]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 113.
[248]John O’Neill, _The Night of the Gods_, vol. i. p. 53.
[249]Frazer, _op. cit._ vol. ii. p. 367.
[250]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 114.
[251]A. de Gubernatis, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 99.
[252]J. Brand, _Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great
Britain_ (London, 1849), vol. i. p. 58.
[253]W. Hone, _Year Book_ (1878), p. 588.
[254]W. Henderson, _Folk-lore of the Northern Counties_, pp. 110, 111.
[255]J. O. Halliwell, _Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales_ (1849), pp.
219, 220.
[256]C. H. Poole, _Customs, Legends, and Superstitions of
Staffordshire_, p. 74.
[257]Goblet d’Alviella, _op. cit._ p. 169.
[258]_Ibid._ p. 171.
[259]Sir G. Grey, _Polynesian Mythology_ (London, 1855), p. 1.
[260]A. H. Sayce, _op. cit._ p. 238.
[261]A. H. Sayce, _op. cit._ p. 362.
[262]Isaiah xiv. 13.
[263]De Gubernatis, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 45.
[264]_The Prose or Younger Edda_, translated by G. W. Dasent, p. 16.
[265]De Gubernatis, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 80.
[266]C. P. Tiele, _History of the Egyptian Religion_ (London, 1882), p.
46.
[267]Lethaby, _Architecture, Mysticism, and Myth_ (London, 1892), p.
120.
[268]_Ibid._ p. 111.
[269]_Babylonian and Oriental Record_ (June 1888), pp. 149-159.
[270]_Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington,
1894).
[271]Revelation xxii. 2.
[272]Lethaby, _op. cit._ p. 107.
[273]_Ibid._ p. 102.
[274]Herodotus, ii. 44.
[275]De Gubernatis, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 102.
[276]Mannhardt I. 307.
[277]Goblet d’Alviella, _op. cit._ pp. 107, 113.
[278]_Kalevala_, Second Rune.
[279]W. F. Kirby, _The Hero of Esthonia_ (London, 1895), vol. i. p. 48.
[280]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 516.
[281]_Ibid._ p. 518.
[282]Pliny, xxiv. 102.
[283]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 378.
[284]Windischman, quoted by Herbert Spencer, _Principles of Sociology_,
vol. i. p. 375.
[285]De Gubernatis, _op. cit._ vol. ii. p. 350.
[286]De Gubernatis, _op. cit._ vol. ii. p. 351.
[287]J. Muir, _Metrical Translations from Sanskrit writers_ (London,
1879), p. 168.
[288]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 548.
[289]Athenaeus, 473 C.
[290]_Bacchae_, 284.
[291]_Bacchae_, 297.
[292]W. Pater, _Greek Studies_ (London, 1895), p. 7.
[293]_Principles of Sociology_, vol. i. p. 377.
[294]De Gubernatis, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 261.
[295]De Gubernatis, vol. i. p. 262.
[296]_Ibid._ p. 182.
[297]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 9.
[298]G. Smith, _Chaldaean Account of Genesis_, pp. 88, 89.
[299]J. Menant, _op. cit._ vol. i. fig. 121.
[300]Sayce, _op. cit._ p. 240.
[301]Homer, _Odyssey_, iv. 563; Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 166.
[302]_Encyclop. Brit._, 9th edition, vol. viii. p. 536.
[303]2 Esdras ii. 18.
[304]_Ibid._ ii. 12.
[305]Eisenmenger, _Entdecktes Judenthum_ (1700), Bd. II. p. 318.
[306]Folkard, _op. cit._ p. 10.
[307]A. H. Sayce, _op. cit._ p. 48.
[308]Goblet d’Alviella, _op. cit._ p. 171.
[309]E. B. Tylor, _Early History of Mankind_ (London, 1878), p. 358.
[310]W. F. Warren, _Paradise Found_ (London, 1885), p. 144.
[311]J. Theodore Bent, _Nineteenth Century_ (October 1895), p. 607.
[312]_Iliad_, xi. 76.
[313]Sayce, _op. cit._ p. 360.
[314]_Paradise Lost_, Book IV. 133-147.
[315]Hesiod, _Theogn._ 215 _et seq._
[316]_Early Travels in Palestine_ (London, Bohn, 1848), p. 276.
[317]S. Baring-Gould, _Curious Myths of the Middle Ages_ (London, 1866),
p. 236.
[318]Plato, _Timaeus_, iii.
[319]W. F. Warren, _op. cit._ p. 12.
[320]_Select Letters of Columbus_ (Hakluyt Society), p. 137.
[321]_Old-World Japan_, p. 79.
[322]Goblet d’Alviella, _op. cit._ p. 176.
[323]Lethaby, _op. cit._ p. 97.
[324]_Decline and Fall_, chap. lii.
[325]Brand’s _Antiquities_, vol. i. p. 217.
[326]Court of Love, vv. 1431-35.
[327]_Anatomie of Abuses_ (1585), p. 94.
[328]J. Northbrooke, _Treatise wherein Dicing, Dauncing, etc., are
Reproved_ (1577), p. 140.
[329]Brand’s _Antiquities_, vol. i. p. 244.
[330]_Notes and Queries_, 3rd ser. vol. vii. p. 425.
[331]Brand’s _Antiquities_, vol. i. p. 219.
[332]Mannhardt I. p. 315.
[333]Mannhardt I. p. 160.
[334]Camden, quoted in Brand’s _Antiquities_, vol. i. p. 227.
[335]Frazer, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 78.
[336]_Ibid._ p. 77.
[337]Mannhardt II. p. 212.
[338]_Ibid._ p. 214.
[339]Bötticher, _op. cit._ p. 393.
[340]_Knights_, v. 729.
[341]_Wasps_, v. 398.
[342]_Plutus_, v. 1054.
[343]Mannhardt II. p. 257.
[344]Aeneas Sylvius, _Opera_ (Bale, 1571), p. 418.
[345]Frazer, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 73.
[346]_Ibid._ p. 74.
[347]Mannhardt I. p. 167.
[348]Frazer, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 100.
[349]Farnell, _op. cit._ vol. i. pp. 185, 189.
[350]Mannhardt I. p. 169.
[351]Mannhardt I. p. 174.
[352]_Ibid._ p. 218.
[353]Mannhardt I. p. 315.
[354]_Ibid._ p. 313.
[355]Mannhardt I. pp. 341 _et seq._
[356]Brand’s _Antiquities_, vol. i. pp. 253-261.
[357]Frazer, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 240.
[358]Mannhardt I. p. 360.
[359]Frazer, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 241.
[360]Frazer, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. 242.
[361]_Ibid._ vol. i. p. 243.
[362]Mannhardt I. p. 523.
[363]Alexander Tille, _Die Geschichte der Deutschen Weihnacht_ (Leipzig,
1893).
[364]_Ibid._ p. 2.
[365]J. G. Frazer in _Encyclop. Brit._, 9th edition, vol. xxi. p. 321.
[366]W. Stukeley, _Medallic History of Carausius_ (1757-59), vol. ii.
pp. 163, 164.
[367]Brand’s _Antiquities_, vol. i. p. 520.
[368]_Ibid._ pp. 519, 521.
[369]Mannhardt I. p. 240.
[370]_Ibid._ p. 238.
[371]Tille, _op. cit._ p. 264.
[372]Goethe, _Die Leiden des jungen Werthers_ (Am 20 December).
[373]Schiller und Lotte (Stuttgart, 1856), p. 574.
[374]Tille, _op. cit._ p. 258.
[375]_Ibid._ p. 259.
[376]Tille, _op. cit._ chap. viii.
[377]Tille, _op. cit._ p. 220.
[378]_Ibid._ p. 221.
[379]_Ibid._ p. 226.
[380]Folkard, _op. cit._ pp. 352, 353.
[381]Mannhardt I. p. 242.
[382]Tille, _op. cit._ p. 244.
[383]Tille, _op. cit._ p. 249.
[384]_Ibid._ p. 250.
[385]Mannhardt I. p. 241.
[386]Mannhardt, _Germanische Mythen_ (Berlin, 1858), p. 470, note.
[387]Tille, _op. cit._ p. 220.
[388]Mannhardt I. p. 244.
INDEX
A
Acacia, the, 11, 39, 40, 45
Accadians, the, 2, 4, 6, 111, 133
Acis, metamorphosis of, 81
Adonis, 11, 75, 81, 159
Aesculapius, laurel sacred to, 37
Alexander the Great, and the flower-maidens, 60;
and the Persian tree-oracles, 99
Ama-ravati, Buddhist sculptures at, 14
Ambrosia, 126
America, tree-worship in, 16, 17
Amrita, 125
Aphrodite, 30, 32, 46, 81, 88;
apples sacred to, 37;
myrtle sacred to, 37
Apollo, 47, 76, 98, 99;
and Daphne, 77;
laurel sacred to, 36, 47, 50, 77
Apples, sacred to Aphrodite, 37;
of Hesperides, 119
Arabia, the _Jinni_ of, 24, 52, 54, 94;
tree-oracles in, 99, 102;
tree-worship in, 45
_Argo_, oracular beam of the, 98
Armenia, tree-oracles in, 99;
use of branches in, 49
Artemis, 49, 76;
a vegetation deity, 29, 88;
sacred tree of, 45, 49
_Ashêra_, the, 8, 88, 96
Assyria, tree-worship in, 5, 6, 88
Astarte, 8, 30, 87;
the cypress sacred to, 40
Athena, 152;
the olive sacred to, 38
Athens, festivals at, 48, 151
Atlantis, the lost, 139
Atlas, Mount, 110, 119, 135, 136
Attis, a tree-god, 11, 75, 80, 81, 154, 159
Auxerre, sacred tree of, 20
Avalon, the isle of, 140
B
Babylonia, tree-worship in, 6;
mountain worship in, 112;
world-tree of, 111
Banian, the, 42, 64, 76
Basil, Holy, of India, 43
Baucis and Philemon, metamorphosis of, 79
Bavaria, Whitsuntide custom in, 159
Beech, the sacred, 46
Bharhut, Buddhist sculptures at, 15, 40, 42
Bo-tree, the, 40, 116
Bodhi-trees of the Buddhas, 40
Borneo, tree-worship in, 16
Bötticher, general conclusion of, regarding tree-worship, 21
Brahma, 14, 43, 115
Branches forced into flower at Christmas, 170;
religious use of, 13, 36, 37, 38, 47, 48, 91
Brittany, use of laurel branch in, 91
Buddhas, the Bodhi-trees of the, 40
Buddhism, tree-worship and, 14, 40, 110, 116, 142
Burma, tree worship in, 16;
tree-spirits of, 65
C
Canaan, tree-worship in, 3, 8, 88;
tree-oracles in, 95
Canute forbids tree-worship, 20
Carinthia, Green George of, 157
Cedar, the sacred, 7, 39, 40, 99, 95
Centaurs, the, 55, 56
Ceres, sacred grove of, 63
Chaldaea, cosmogony of, 113;
demons of, 53;
divination in, 105;
illustrious mounds of, 112;
oracles of, 95, 99;
tree-worship in, 4, 6;
world-tree of, 111
Charlemagne destroys the Irmensûl, 120
China, divination in, 105;
legends of, 83;
paradise legends of, 133;
tree-worship in, 15;
world-tree of, 118
Christmas observances, 162 _et seq._
Christmas-tree, introduction into England of, 165;
origin in Germany of, 165
Churches, decoration of, at Christmas, 164
Circassia, pear-tree worshipped in, 153
Clymene, the daughters of, 78
Clytia, metamorphosis of, 80
Columbus and the earthly paradise, 141
Cronos, 163;
a vegetation deity, 29
Cybele, 12, 30, 75, 81
Cyclops, the, 55, 56
Cypress, the sacred, 5, 13, 17, 39, 40, 51, 89, 131
D
Damaras, creation legend of the, 74
Daphne, 94;
metamorphosis of, 77
Daphnephoria, the, 47
Delphi, sacred laurel of, 36, 47, 50, 77, 98;
oracle of, 36, 50, 77, 94, 98, 102
Didû, the, emblem of Osiris, 34, 117
Dionysus, fruit-tree dressed as, 31, 33;
sacred tree of, 27;
a tree deity, 11, 12, 31, 32, 39, 48, 49, 57, 126, 159
Divination in Germany, 102;
by leaves, 107;
by roots, 106;
in Sarmatia, 102;
in Scythia, 102;
in Sweden, 105
Divining rod, the, 103 _et seq._
Dodona, oracular oak of, 28, 36, 93, 96, 98, 102
Druids, the, 20, 35, 103, 105, 161, 164
Dryads, the, 55, 58, 63
Dusares and the vine, 40
E
Ea, 7, 95, 111;
sacred cedar of, 40, 131
Eddas, the, account of man’s origin in, 73;
description of Yggdrasil in, 112
Egypt, sacred sycamores of, 9, 25, 27, 44, 45;
tree-demons of, 55;
tree-worship in, 9, 10, 25, 45;
world-tree of, 110, 117
_Eiresione_, the, 48, 151, 173;
addressed as a person, 153
Elves, 24, 52, 63, 65
England, Christmas-tree in, 165;
May celebrations in, 144 _et seq._;
tree-worship in, 20
Esdras, paradise of, 131
Esthonia, tree-worship in, 19, 44;
world-tree of, 122
F
Fairies, the, 65
Fauns, the, 55, 58
Faunus, grove oracles of, 100
Fertility, the tree as genius of, 87, 153
_Ficus ruminalis_, the, 76, 86
Fig-tree, the, associated with the silvani, 58;
carved as Pan, 33;
spirit of, 58
Finland, tree-spirits of, 70;
tree-worship in, 19;
world-tree of, 120
Flower-maidens, the, 60
France, divination in, 105;
harvest custom in, 150;
tree-worship in, 19
G
Gautama, 14, 41, 43, 76, 116;
and the Indian shot, 82
Germany, autumn festival in, 163, 166, 170;
Christmas-tree in, 165;
divination in, 102, 105;
May customs in, 150, 155;
tree-demons of, 19, 66;
tree-worship in, 18
Gilgames, 119, 137
Gilgit, sacred cedar of, 90
Glastonbury thorn, the, 166, 168
God, the, and the tree, 24 _et seq._
Gods, food of the, 113, 114, 122
Greece, creation legends of, 74;
harvest customs of, 151;
paradise legends of, 131;
tree-worship in, 12, 17, 28, 46
Green ladies, the, 68
H
Hamadryads, the, 57, 58
Haoma, 13, 123, 130
Harvest May, the, 151, 173
Hāthor, a tree-goddess, 9, 10, 25
Helen, sacred tree of, 18, 31
Hera, 29, 32, 76, 155
Hermes, 79;
birth of, 76
Hesperides, trees of the, 101, 119, 136
I
Iceland, paradise legend of, 138
India, paradise legend of, 129;
soma ritual of, 124;
tree-worship in, 13, 14, 35, 40, 43, 64;
world-tree of, 115
Indra, the paradise of, 129;
and the soma, 125
Irmensûl, the, 120
Israelites, tree-worship amongst, 3, 8;
use of branches by, 48
Istar, 6, 8, 30, 88
Italy, modern belief in wood-spirits in, 58;
tree-oracles in, 100;
tree-worship in, 12, 17, 28, 37, 47
J
Jack-in-the-Green, 148, 157
Japan, legends of, 83, 84;
paradise legend of, 141;
tree-demons of, 70;
tree-worship in, 15;
world-tree of, 118
_Jinni_ of Arabia, the, 24, 52, 54, 94
L
Laurel, the sacred, 36, 47, 50, 59, 77, 91, 98
Life-rood, the (Lebensrute), 103, 127, 170
Life, the tree of, 15, 130, 131, 142, 170
Life-tree, the, 84, 101
Little Daedala, festival of the, 155
Ljeschi, 69
M
Mahometan paradise, the, 132, 134
Maid Marian, 158
Maundeville, Sir J., his account of paradise, 137;
his description of a tree of paradise, 143
May-bride, the, 158
May celebrations, 21, 145 _et seq._
“May,” the, 149, 151, 153
May-pole, the, 146, 154, 155
May queen, the, 146, 156
Melcarth, the cypress sacred to, 40
Melus, metamorphosis of, 80
Metamorphosis into trees, 77 _et seq._
Metempsychosis into trees, 82 _et seq._
Mexico, human sacrifices in, 159;
tree-symbol found in, 16;
tree-worship in, 17
Milton, his description of paradise, 135
Mistletoe, 20, 164
Mithra, 13, 40, 163
Moss-women, the, 67
Myrtle, the sacred, 13, 29, 37, 39, 86
Mulberry-tree, the, 96
N
Nakhla, sacred acacia of, 45
Nantes, tree-worship condemned by Council of, 20
Narcissus, metamorphosis of, 81
Nejrân, sacred palm of, 45, 99
New Zealand, cosmogonic legend of, 110
Nicaragua, tree-worship in, 17
Nu̔ît, a tree-goddess, 10, 25, 27, 117;
goddess of the sky, 110, 117
O
Oak, the sacred, of Ceres, 63;
of the Druids, 20;
of Esthonia, 122;
of Finland, 19, 44, 121;
of Pan, 56;
of the Roman Capitol, 25;
at Romove, 44;
of Zeus, 28, 35, 37, 93, 96, 101, 155
Olive, the, sacred to Athena, 38;
venerated by the Semites, 39, 49
Olympus, 134
Omens, tree, 101
Oracle-lots, 102
Oracles, tree, 93 _et seq._
Origin-myths, 73
Oschophoria, the, 48, 152
Osiris, his emblem, the Didû or Tât, 34, 117;
a tree-god, 11, 40, 159
P
Palestine, tree-demons of, 54;
tree-worship in, 7, 8
Palm-tree, the, 5, 45, 49, 88, 99
Pan, a tree-god, 31, 33, 46, 56;
the pipe of, 81
Paradise, 128 _et seq._;
an artificial, 143;
the earthly, 136;
trees of, 131, 142, 170
Paradise-plays, mediaeval, 169, 171
Patagonia, tree-worship in, 17
Pear-tree, the, worshipped in Circassia, 153
Permians, trees worshipped by the, 19
Persia, creation legends of, 23, 130;
haoma ritual of, 123;
tree-oracle in, 99;
tree-worship in, 13, 123;
use of branches in, 49;
world-tree of, 115, 142
Peru, wood-ghost of, 71
Pfingstl, the, 159
Phyllis, metamorphosis of, 79
Pine, the sacred, 28, 31, 56, 58, 59, 80;
venerated by the Semites, 39
Pippala, the, associated with Brahma, 14;
with Gautama, 41
Plane-tree, the, of Armavira, 99;
its connection with Pelops, 86;
with Persian kings, 13
Poland, tree-worship in, 19
Pomegranate, the, 5, 30, 80
Poplar, the, sacred to Dis, 39;
Zeus born beneath, 76
Puritans, denunciation of May-poles by, 21, 146
R
Robin Hood, king of the May, 158
Rome, grove oracle in, 100;
tree-worship in, 17, 28, 47
Romove, sacred oak of, 44
Russia, tree-demons of, 19, 66, 69;
tree-worship in, 19;
Whitsuntide custom in, 150
S
St. Mark’s, Venice, symbol of sacred tree in, 2, 5, 7
Sânchi, Buddhist sculptures at, 14, 42
Sanctuary, the tree as, 49
Sarmatia, divination in, 102
Saturnalia, the, 163, 172
Satyrs, the, 55, 56, 57
Scandinavia, world-tree of, 112
Scythia, divination in, 102
_Seīrīm_, “Satyrs” of the Bible, 54
Semites, tree-oracles of the, 95;
tree-worship amongst the, 7, 39-87
Sia Indians, cosmogony of, 118
Siam, tree-worship in, 16
Sileni, the, 55, 56
Silvanus, 28, 57
Sioux, creation legend of, 74
Soma, 124, 126
Sudan, tree-worship in the, 10
Sumatra, tree-worship in, 16
Swabia, spring observances in, 160
Sweden, divination in, 105;
May observances in, 150;
tree-spirits of, 68
Switzerland, tree-demons of, 68
Sycamores, the sacred, of Egypt, 9, 25, 27, 44, 45, 118
T
Taara, a tree-god, 44
Talmud, the, paradise of, 132;
life-tree mentioned in, 85
Tammuz, 6, 11, 12, 111, 159
Tapio, 70
Tât-pillar, the, 34, 117
Tengus of Japan, the, 70
Travancore, sacred tree in, 14
Tree, the, births beneath, 76;
Chaldaean symbol of the sacred, 2, 5, 30, 88;
dressed or carved as anthropomorphic god, 27, 31, 32, 35, 103;
of the community, 86, 154;
of the family, 86, 101;
of life, 15, 130, 131, 142, 170;
lights on, 91, 171;
offerings to, 30, 45, 46;
of paradise, 131, 169;
in relation to human life, 72;
as symbol of fertility, 88;
of universe, 109 _et seq._, 173
Tree-deities, 9, 16, 24 _et seq._
Tree-demons, 16, 24, 52, 55 _et seq._
Tree-nymphs, 55, 56, 58, 59, 61, 62
Tree-oracles, 93 _et seq._
Tree-origins, 73 _et seq._
Tree-omens, 101
Tree-sanctuaries, 49
Tree-soul, the generalised, 90;
primitive conception of, 1
Tree-worship, in Africa, 11;
in America, 16, 17;
in Arabia, 45;
in Assyria, 6;
in Borneo, 16;
in Burma, 16;
in Canaan, 3, 8;
in Chaldaea, 4, 6, 111;
in China, 15;
in Egypt, 9, 10, 25, 45;
in England, 20;
in Esthonia, 19;
in France, 19;
in Finland, 19;
in Germany, 18;
in Greece, 17, 28, 46;
in India, 13, 14, 35, 40, 43, 64, 124;
in Japan, 15;
in Mexico, 17;
in Nicaragua, 17;
in Palestine, 3, 7, 8;
in Patagonia, 17;
in Persia, 13, 123;
in Phoenicia, 8, 12;
in Phrygia, 12;
in Poland, 19;
in Rome, 17, 46;
in Russia, 19;
in the Semitic area, 7, 39, 87;
in Siam, 16;
in the Sudan, 11;
in Sumatra, 16;
origin of, 22
Trees, Christmas flowering, 116;
legends of bleeding, 62, 63;
legends of speaking, 101
Tristram and Iseult, legend of, 82
Trophonius, oracle of, 94
Tylor, Mr. E. B., on tree-worship, 21
Tyrol, wild women of, 67
U
Upsala, sacred grove of, 43
V
Vine-women of Lucian, the, 60
Vine, the, sacred to Dionysus, 39;
to Dusares, 40;
venerated by the Semites, 39
Vishnu, 43, 76
W
“Wege-warte,” legend of the, 83
Wends, the, and the May-pole, 156
Wild-fanggen, the, 67
Wild men of the woods, 21, 52, 56, 66, 68, 71, 161
Willow, the, connected with Artemis, 29;
with Hera, 29, 76;
inhabited by tree-spirit, 62
Woden, 43
Wood-maidens, 67
World-mountain, the, 110, 112, 118, 134
World-tree, the, 109 _et seq._;
of Buddhists, 116;
of Chaldaea, 111;
of Egypt, 110, 117;
of Esthonia, 122;
of Finland, 120;
of India, 115;
of Persia, 115;
of Scandinavia, 112
Y
Yggdrasil, 112 _et seq._
Z
Zeus, a tree-god, 18, 28, 29, 35, 46, 155;
oracle of, at Dodona, 93, 96
Zeus-Ammon, oracle of, 96
THE END
_Printed by_ R. & R. Clark, Limited, _Edinburgh_.
Transcriber’s Notes
--Silently corrected a few palpable typos.
--In the text versions only, delimited italicized text in _underscores_.
--In the Latin-1 text version only, the unusual character “latin u with
dasia” is represented by “u'”.
--In the Latin-1 text version only, transliterated Greek words are
delimited by {brackets}.