43 See my _Lectures on the Science of Language_ (10th ed.), vol. ii. p
468.
44 See a most interesting essay, _Le Petit Poucet_ (Tom Thumb), by
Gaston Paris.
_ 45 Selected Essays_, vol. i. p. 478: “Here then we see that mythology
does not always create its own heroes, but that it lays hold of real
history, and coils itself round it so closely that it is difficult,
nay, almost impossible, to separate the ivy from the oak, the lichen
from the granite to which it clings. And here is a lesson which
comparative mythologists ought not to neglect. They are naturally
bent on explaining everything that can be explained; but they should
bear in mind that there may be elements in every mythological riddle
which resist etymological analysis, for the simple reason that their
origin was not etymological, but historical.”
_ 46 Lectures on the Science of Language_, vol. ii. p. 581.
47 Professor Blackie quotes Pausanias in support of this etymology. He
says: “The account of Pausanias (viii. 25, 26), according to which
the terrible impersonation of conscience, or the violated moral law,
is derived from ἐρινύειν, an old Greek verb originally signifying to
be angry, has sufficient probability, not to mention the obvious
analogy of Ἀραί, another name sometimes given to the awful maids
(σεμναί), from ἀρά, an imprecation.” If Professor Blackie will refer
to Pausanias himself, he will find that the Arcadians assigned a
very different cause to the anger of Demeter, which is supposed to
have led to the formation of her new name Erinys.
_ 48 Asiatic Researches, i._ p. 272; _Life of Sir W. Jones_, vol. ii. p.
240 _seq._
_ 49 Asiatic Researches_, i. p. 221.