heroes and hero worship-第6节

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　　_its_　Councils　of　Trebizond；　Councils　of　Trent；　Athanasiuses；　Dantes；　Luthers；　are　sunk　without　echo　in　the　dark　night！　　Only　that　it　had　such　a　history　we　can　all　know。　　Wheresover　a　thinker　appeared；　there　in　the　thing　he　thought　of　was　a　contribution；　accession；　a　change　or　revolution　made。　　Alas；　the　grandest　〃revolution〃　of　all；　the　one　made　by　the　man　Odin　himself；　is　not　this　too　sunk　for　us　like　the　rest！　　Of　Odin　what　history？　　Strange　rather　to　reflect　that　he　_had_　a　history！　　That　this　Odin；　in　his　wild　Norse　vesture；　with　his　wild　beard　and　eyes；　his　rude　Norse　speech　and　ways；　was　a　man　like　us；　with　our　sorrows；　joys；　with　our　limbs；　features；intrinsically　all　one　as　we：　　and　did　such　a　work！　But　the　work；　much　of　it；　has　perished；　the　worker；　all　to　the　name。　〃_Wednesday_；〃　men　will　say　to…morrow；　Odin's　day！　　Of　Odin　there　exists　no　history；　no　document　of　it；　no　guess　about　it　worth　repeating。

Snorro　indeed；　in　the　quietest　manner；　almost　in　a　brief　business　style；　writes　down；　in　his　_Heimskringla_；　how　Odin　was　a　heroic　Prince；　in　the　Black…Sea　region；　with　Twelve　Peers；　and　a　great　people　straitened　for　room。　　How　he　led　these　_Asen_　（Asiatics）　of　his　out　of　Asia；　settled　them　in　the　North　parts　of　Europe；　by　warlike　conquest；　invented　Letters；　Poetry　and　so　forth；and　came　by　and　by　to　be　worshipped　as　Chief　God　by　these　Scandinavians；　his　Twelve　Peers　made　into　Twelve　Sons　of　his　own；　Gods　like　himself：　　Snorro　has　no　doubt　of　this。　　Saxo　Grammaticus；　a　very　curious　Northman　of　that　same　century；　is　still　more　unhesitating；　scruples　not　to　find　out　a　historical　fact　in　every　individual　mythus；　and　writes　it　down　as　a　terrestrial　event　in　Denmark　or　elsewhere。　　Torfaeus；　learned　and　cautious；　some　centuries　later；　assigns　by　calculation　a　_date_　for　it：　Odin；　he　says；　came　into　Europe　about　the　Year　70　before　Christ。　　Of　all　which；　as　grounded　on　mere　uncertainties；　found　to　be　untenable　now；　I　need　say　nothing。　　Far；　very　far　beyond　the　Year　70！　　Odin's　date；　adventures；　whole　terrestrial　history；　figure　and　environment　are　sunk　from　us　forever　into　unknown　thousands　of　years。

Nay　Grimm；　the　German　Antiquary；　goes　so　far　as　to　deny　that　any　man　Odin　ever　existed。　　He　proves　it　by　etymology。　　The　word　_Wuotan_；　which　is　the　original　form　of　_Odin_；　a　word　spread；　as　name　of　their　chief　Divinity；　over　all　the　Teutonic　Nations　everywhere；　this　word；　which　connects　itself；　according　to　Grimm；　with　the　Latin　_vadere_；　with　the　English　_wade_　and　such　like；means　primarily　Movement；　Source　of　Movement；　Power；　and　is　the　fit　name　of　the　highest　god；　not　of　any　man。　　The　word　signifies　Divinity；　he　says；　among　the　old　Saxon；　German　and　all　Teutonic　Nations；　the　adjectives　formed　from　it　all　signify　divine；　supreme；　or　something　pertaining　to　the　chief　god。　　Like　enough！　　We　must　bow　to　Grimm　in　matters　etymological。　　Let　us　consider　it　fixed　that　_Wuotan_　means　_Wading_；　force　of　_Movement_。　　And　now　still；　what　hinders　it　from　being　the　name　of　a　Heroic　Man　and　_Mover_；　as　well　as　of　a　god？　　As　for　the　adjectives；　and　words　formed　from　it；did　not　the　Spaniards　in　their　universal　admiration　for　Lope；　get　into　the　habit　of　saying　〃a　Lope　flower；〃　〃a　Lope　_dama_；〃　if　the　flower　or　woman　were　of　surpassing　beauty？　　Had　this　lasted；　_Lope_　would　have　grown；　in　Spain；　to　be　an　adjective　signifying　_godlike_　also。　Indeed；　Adam　Smith；　in　his　Essay　on　Language；　surmises　that　all　adjectives　whatsoever　were　formed　precisely　in　that　way：　　some　very　green　thing；　chiefly　notable　for　its　greenness；　got　the　appellative　name　_Green_；　and　then　the　next　thing　remarkable　for　that　quality；　a　tree　for　instance；　was　named　the　_green_　tree；as　we　still　say　〃the　_steam_　coach；〃　〃four…horse　coach；〃　or　the　like。　　All　primary　adjectives；　according　to　Smith；　were　formed　in　this　way；　were　at　first　substantives　and　things。　　We　cannot　annihilate　a　man　for　etymologies　like　that！　　Surely　there　was　a　First　Teacher　and　Captain；　surely　there　must　have　been　an　Odin；　palpable　to　the　sense　at　one　time；　no　adjective；　but　a　real　Hero　of　flesh　and　blood！　　The　voice　of　all　tradition；　history　or　echo　of　history；　agrees　with　all　that　thought　will　teach　one　about　it；　to　assure　us　of　this。

How　the　man　Odin　came　to　be　considered　a　_god_；　the　chief　god？that　surely　is　a　question　which　nobody　would　wish　to　dogmatize　upon。　　I　have　said；　his　people　knew　no　_limits_　to　their　admiration　of　him；　they　had　as　yet　no　scale　to　measure　admiration　by。　　Fancy　your　own　generous　heart's…love　of　some　greatest　man　expanding　till　it　_transcended_　all　bounds；　till　it　filled　and　overflowed　the　whole　field　of　your　thought！　　Or　what　if　this　man　Odin；since　a　great　deep　soul；　with　the　afflatus　and　mysterious　tide　of　vision　and　impulse　rushing　on　him　he　knows　not　whence；　is　ever　an　enigma；　a　kind　of　terror　and　wonder　to　himself；should　have　felt　that　perhaps　_he_　was　divine；　that　_he_　was　some　effluence　of　the　〃Wuotan；〃　〃_Movement_〃；　Supreme　Power　and　Divinity；　of　whom　to　his　rapt　vision　all　Nature　was　the　awful　Flame…image；　that　some　effluence　of　Wuotan　dwelt　here　in　him！　　He　was　not　necessarily　false；　he　was　but　mistaken；　speaking　the　truest　he　knew。　　A　great　soul；　any　sincere　soul；　knows　not　what　he　is；alternates　between　the　highest　height　and　the　lowest　depth；　can；　of　all　things；　the　least　measureHimself！　　What　others　take　him　for；　and　what　he　guesses　that　he　may　be；　these　two　items　strangely　act　on　one　another；　help　to　determine　one　another。　　With　all　men　reverently　admiring　him；　with　his　own　wild　soul　full　of　noble　ardors　and　affections；　of　whirlwind　chaotic　darkness　and　glorious　new　light；　a　divine　Universe　bursting　all　into　godlike　beauty　round　him；　and　no　man　to　whom　the　like　ever　had　befallen；　what　could　he　think　himself　to　be？　　〃Wuotan？〃　　All　men　answered；　〃Wuotan！〃

And　then　consider　what　mere　Time　will　do　in　such　cases；　how　if　a　man　was　great　while　living；　he　becomes　tenfold　greater　when　dead。　　What　an　enormous　_camera…obscura_　magnifier　is　Tradition！　　How　a　thing　grows　in　the　human　Memory；　in　the　human　Imagination；　when　love；　worship　and　all　that　lies　in　the　human　Heart；　is　there　to　encourage　it。　　And　in　the　darkness；　in　the　entire　ignorance；　without　date　or　document；　no　book；　no　Arundel…marble；　only　here　and　there　some　dumb　monumental　cairn。　　Why；　in　thirty　or　forty　years；　were　there　no　books；　any　great　man　would　grow　_mythic_；　the　contemporaries　who　had　seen　him；　being　once　all　dead。　　And　in　three　hundred　years；　and　in　three　thousand　years！　　To　attempt　_theorizing_　on　such　matters　would　profit　little：　　they　are　matters　which　refuse　to　be　_theoremed_　and　diagramed；　which　Logic　ought　to　know　that　she　_cannot_　speak　of。　　Enough　for　us　to　discern；　far　in　the　uttermost　distance；　some　gleam　as　of　a　small　real　light　shining　in　the　centre　of　that　enormous　camera…obscure　image；　to　discern　that　the　centre　of　it　all　was　not　a　madness　and　nothing；　but　a　sanity　and　something。

This　light；　kindled　in　the　great　dark　vortex　of　the　Norse　Mind；　dark　but　living；　waiting　only　for　light；　this　is　to　me　the　centre　of　the　whole。　　How　such　light　will　then　shine　out；　and　with　wondrous　thousand…fold　expansion　spread　itself；　in　forms　and　colors；　depends　not　on　_it_；　so　much　as　on　the　National　Mind　recipient　of　it。　　The　colors　and　forms　of　your　light　will　be　those　of　the　_cut…glass_　it　has　to　shine　through。Curious　to　think　how；　for　every　man；　any　the　truest　fact　is　modelled　by　the　nature　of　the　man！　　I　said；　The　earnest　man；　speaking　to　his　brother　men；　must　always　have　stated　what　seemed　to　him　a　_fact_；　a　real　Appearance　of　Nature。　　But　the　way　in　which　such　Appearance　or　fact　shaped　itself；what　sort　of　_fact_　it　became　for　him；was　and　is　modified　by　his　own　laws　of　thinking；　deep；　subtle；　but　universal；　ever…operating　laws。　　The　world　of　Nature；　for　every　man；　is　the　Fantasy　of　Himself。　　this　world　is　the　multiplex　〃Image　of　his　own　Dream。〃　　Who　knows　to　what　unnamable　subtleties　of　spiritual　law　all　these　Pagan　Fables　owe　their　shape！　　The　number　Twelve；　divisiblest　of　all；　which　could　be　halved；　quartered；　parted　into　three；　into　six；　the　most　remarkable　number；this　was　enough　to　determine　the　_Signs　of　the　Zodiac_；　the　number　of　Odin's　_Sons_；　and　innumerable　other　Twelves。　　Any　vague　rumor　of　number　had　a　tendency　to　settle　itself　into　Twelve。　　So　with　regard　to　every　other　matter。　　And　quite　unconsciously　too；with　no　notion　of　building　up　〃　Allegories　〃！　　But　the　fresh　clear　glance　of　those　First　Ages　would　be　prompt　in　discerning　the　secret　relations　of　things；　and　wholly　open　to　obey　these。　　Schiller　finds　in　the　_Cestus　of　Venus_　an　everlasting　aesthetic　truth　as　to　the　nature　of　all　Beauty；　curious：but　he　is　careful　not　to　insinuate　that　the　old　Greek　Mythists　had　any　notion　of　lecturing　about　the　〃Philosophy　of　Criticism〃！On　the　whole；　we　must　leave　those　boundless　regions。　　Cannot　we　conceive　that　Odin　was　a　reality？　Error　indeed；　error　enough：　　but　sheer　falsehood；　idle　fables；　allegory　aforethought；we　will　not　believe　that　our　Fathers　believed　in　these。


Odin's　_Runes_　are　a　significant　feature　of　him。　　Runes；　and　the　miracles　of　〃magic〃　he　worked　by　them；　make　a　great　feature　in　tradition。　　Runes　are　the　Scandinavian　Alphabet；　suppose　Odin　to　have　been　the　inventor　of　Letters；　a