Since we shall presently find Mr. Max Muller claiming the celebrated
Mannhardt as a sometime deserter of philological comparative mythology,
who 'returned to his old colours,' I observe with pleasure that Mannhardt
is on my side and against the Oxford Professor. Mannhardt shows that the
laurel (daphne) was regarded as a plant which, like our rowan tree,
averts evil influences. 'Moreover, the laurel, like the Maibaum, was
looked on as a being with a spirit. This is the safest result which myth
analysis can extract from the story of Daphne, a nymph pursued by Apollo
and changed into a laurel. It is a result of the use of the laurel in
his ritual.' {20b} In 1877, a year after Mannhardt is said by Mr. Max
Muller to have returned to his old colours, he repeats this explanation.
{21a} In the same work (p. 20) he says that 'there is no reason for
accepting Max Muller's explanation about the Sun-god and the Dawn, wo
jeder thatliche Anhalt dafur fehlt.' For this opinion we might also cite
the Sanskrit scholars Whitney and Bergaigne. {21b}