The Case for Týr = Mitra: Part 4 of 4
There is also an important case to be made that the fathers of both Týr and Lugh are connected, which would further strengthen the argument for the identification of Týr (with Baldr) as a Mitraic deity. The scholar Thor Ewing has shown that the story of Lugh's birth, involving the infiltration of Balor's fortress by Cian and his impregnation of Balor's daughter Ethliu, matches in numerous details the infiltration of Óðinn into the mountain fortress to steal the mead of poetry while also sleeping with Gunnlǫð. Ewing explains in his essay “Óðinn and Loki Among the Celts” the several features shared between the myths of Óðinn and Cian, which are also in part shared by Welsh Gwydion, the likely father of Lleu.
As Óðinn must infiltrate the giant Suttungr's mountain fortress to regain the Mead of Poetry, so Cian must infiltrate the fortress of the giant Balar to regain the cow known as Glas Ghaibhleann. Suttungr's daughter Gunnlǫð gives the Mead of Poetry to Óðinn as Balar's daughter Eithne gives the Glas Ghaibhleann to Cian. Óðinn sleeps with Gunnlǫð as Cian sleeps with Eithne. Wages that are promised to the infiltrator (Óðinn), who has disguised himself as a worker, are not paid by Baugi as wages that are promised to the infiltrator (Cian), who has disguised himself as a worker, are not paid by Balar. Ewing further notes that in the subsequent tales, Cian's son Lleu perches on an otherworldly tree that “grows in upland ground” and has been “drenched by nine score tempests,” while Óðinn hangs from the world tree Yggdrasil for nine nights -- a mysterious correspondence that may symbolize yet another important myth that has shifted from one deity to another via close association. The fact that both the father of Lugh and the father reported by Snorri of Týr share this central infiltration myth (which even results in Lugh's birth in the Irish version) creates the possibility that the sons of both Cian and Óðinn were then the same or overlapping.
Additionally, per Ewing, while Cian follows a wandering cow, the Welsh Gwydion follows a wandering sow, and each one stands as the protective father figure to Lugh and Lleu respectively, this correspondence suggesting a greater circle of parallels between the three figures of Óðinn, Cian, and Gwydion. And the name Gwydion is believed to be the same as Gaulish "Mercury Uiducus," meaning Mercury the Woodsman or the Wise. Gwydion is a wily trickster magician figure, using his magic to create a woman out of flowers and to transform her into an owl, among other things; he is a father figure, is seen as a forerunner of Merlin, and is often compared to Óðinn.
We must reiterate that this familial connection between Óðinn and Týr mainly relies on the less reliable Prose Edda, and contradict parts of the Poetic Edda that make Týr instead the son of Hymir. However, the fact that Snorri's Prose Edda genealogy aligns so well, and so conveniently, with the Mahabharata genealogy, in the way thus far described, reinforcing the closeness of the Mitraic and Aryamanic figures, forces one to question whether Snorri was basing his genealogy on other unknown primary material or in some other way had a true understanding of the divine genealogy.
Another detail in line with such speculation is the association of the Mitraic archetype with canines. Upon Yudhishthira's ascent of the Holy Mountain, he is asked by Indra to abandon the dog which has been accompanying him thus far. Yudhishthira refuses, claiming that it is a sin to abandon an innocent and loyal animal. Upon this refusal, it is revealed that the dog was Yudhishthira's spiritual father, Dharma-Mitra, all along. The placement of this dog-loyalty motif at the end of the epic, along with the importance it is given (we are reminded as well of the companion dog repeatedly depicted alongside Roman Mithras in the widespread reliefs, Irish Lugh’s dog Failinis, and the close association of dogs with Cúchulainn, son of Lugh), has to make us think of the dog and wolf affinity associated with Týr in the Norse sources. Týr is said to be the only one courageous enough to feed the wolf Fenrir. He also gains its trust enough for the wolf to accept his hand as good surety. But even more interesting, perhaps, is that Týr also meets his end side by side with a dog. For it is said that Týr and the dog Garmr will do battle at Ragnarok, and that each will kill the other. This dog is said to howl to signal the onset of Ragnarok. Furthermore, a dog which some scholars believe to be this same Garmr is said to be met by Óðinn when he travels to Hel. Thus, Yudhishthira is tested with a dog right before entering the gates of Paradise while another dog, possibly associated with Týr, may be met at the gates of the Norse Hel. Scholars have debated whether any of these three canines — Fenrir, Garmr, and the dog of Hel —are the same or distinct. Regardless, Týr's close association with at least two of them may itself suffice as one more clue to his identity.
From these arguments, one of the first questions that should arise is: if Baldr is the god who dies, revives, and is the last survivor and leader, why then is he not the Mitraic "Lawful Sovereign"? Indeed, this possibility has to be seriously weighed. After all, Baldr is the one said explicitly to have a hall where judgments are passed and peace is sought, and to have a son whose sole function seems to be to undertake legal proceedings and to champion fairness. Much more so than Týr, Baldr and his son Forseti are straightforwardly associated with the judicial sphere in the available myths. It has also been theorized that the variation of Baldr's name, “Baldag,” may mean “bright day,” while the Mitraic god is the very god of the daylit sky.
Yet the counterarguments to the suggestion that Baldr ought to be the Mitraic god are many as well. Firstly, Baldr's judgments are said not to be effective, they do not hold despite his attempts to champion goodness, peace, and justice. This connects, as aforementioned, to Vidura, incarnation of Aryaman, whose counsels to Dhritarashtra to pursue peace and fair dealing are likewise ultimately ignored so that fate and the dark age can pursue their course unrestrained by ideal goodness. Baldr is also not a military leader, which each of the other Mitraic figures is, and which is one of the central elements of their archetype. Baldr doesn't even participate in the war of Ragnarok, but only emerges when it is finished, while Týr does battle in it as a Mitraic war god should. In addition, Baldr's description as having a brow so white that the whitest of grasses is compared to it, aligns him with the idea that, like Aryaman, he is specifically the designated god of the society of the “noble color” and of the Aryan people. Many other parallels already adduced in this article also point to Týr being the Mitraic god, most significantly perhaps the parallel of Týr's lost hand and Yudhishthira's no longer floating chariot.
It seems that, if we choose to follow Dumezil, then the simplest explanation to this is that Baldr and Týr indeed are connected deities, almost aspects of one another, or continuous in some way. From this perspective we would say that the magical invulnerability, death and resurrection motif, often seen in the Mitraic gods of other branches, was, in the Norse case, attached to Baldr (indeed the sovereignty of the "Lawful Sovereign" itself comes through more clearly in Baldr's kingship of the world after Ragnarok than in the extant myths of Týr); that the Mitraic "bright sky" association showed itself more clearly in Baldr's name as well; but that the judicial and contract-related roles were shared in some fashion between Baldr and Týr; while Týr would be said to have taken for himself the Mitraic war god role and perhaps the role of god of the Thing as well -- "a chief of assembly amongst the chiefs of assemblies" as Iranic Mithra is called. The evidence has been presented, and so the question will be decided by each interpreter.
*****
Comments
Post a Comment