The Sun.
London, England, 1824-11-11 00:00:00

FOR THE SUN.

EDDA.
FABLE Vl.—Of the Giant NOR.
The giant Nor is the first ,of those who dwelt
in the Land of the Giants.: He had a daughter
called Night, who is black, like all her family.
She was first married to a man named Nagl(fara
by whoa►-she had a son, whose name• is Ander.—
She then became the wife of Onar, and they had
a daughter, which is the Earth. This daughter
was bestowed upon Daglinger, who is of the
same family as the Gods; and she brought forth,
the Day, which is brilliant and beautiful, as are
all that belong to the family of the Gods. Then,
the Universal Father taking Night and Day, he
placed them in the Heavens, and gave them two
horses and two chariots, that they might travel',
round about the world, one after the other.—
Night proceeds the first upon her horse, named
Kimfax (icy mane). Every morning, when he
starts, he waters the earth with the foam that
falls from his bit (this is the dew). The horse of
Day is called Skinjax (luminous mane), and with
his shining mane he gives light to the air and to
the earth. Gangler then inquired how it was
that De regulated the course of the sun and of
the moon ? liar answered, and said—There was
formerly a man who had two children so hand-
some and so well made, that he called his son
Mane (Moon), and his daughte►; Surma (Sun).—
But the gods, in anger that they had dared to
take such noble names, took them up into hea-
ven, and compelled the daughter to drive the
chariot of the Sun, which the gods had made out

of the fires that issued from the world of fire,
to give light to the earth. Moreover, the gods
placed upon each horse two skins filled with air,
to refresh those steeds, whence proceeds, accord-
ing to the earliest accounts, the freshness of the
morning. Mane regulates the revolution of the
moon, and its various changes. One day he
carried off two children, who were returning from
a fountain, and carried a pitcher suspended to a
stick. These two children always attend the
moon, upon which they may be distinctly seen
from the earth. I3ut, interrupted Gangler, the
suu travels as fast as if he dreaded some one.
And well he may, replied liar, for there are near
him two wolves ready to devour him. The one
pursues the sun, who fears it, because he will one
day become its prey, and be swallowed up by
it. The other pursues the moon, and will one
day treat him in a similar manner. Gan.
gler said, Whence came these wolves ?
liar replied—There once lived in the east of
Midgard a female giant who inhabited a forest of
which the trees were made of iron, and from her
all the female giants that dwell in this spot derive
their name. This old magician is the parent of
many giants, all of which have the figure of some
wild and ferocious animal. By her also these
two wolves were brought forth. One among this
monstrous race is said to be more formidable
than all the rest. This monster fattens upon
the substance of men whose life is drawing to a
close ; sometimes it devours the moon, and
sprinkles with blood both the air and the
heavens. There is the sun- of sacred, in the
manner described in the Voluspa :
" Not fur from the last dwells the old magi-
cian of the forest, of which the trees are of iron.
In that spot does she bring forth various mon-
sters: one of which becomes the most powerful
of all. It is that which herds upon the life of
those that are drawing towards their end. One
day, clad in the spoils of other giants, he will
stain with blood the army of the gods ; and in
the course of the ensuing summer, the light
of the sun shall become extinct. These de-
structive winds shall blow from every part.—
Do you not comprehend these words ?"
In this fable, we must remark, that night is
made to bring forth the day. This belief pre-
vailed among all the Celtic tribes ; and from this
pre-eminence of night arose the practice of pre-
ferring its name to mark the progress of time, a
practice rendered still more general by the
method which then prevailed of employing lunar
instead of solar months. We still trace this an-
cient universal practice of northern nations in the
present expressions of se'nnight or seven nights
and fortnight or fourteen nights.

The Moon is here considered as belonging to
the masculine, and the Sun to the feminine gen-
der, which is still the case in the German lan-
guage ; and what is here said IF only a rode at-
tempt to account for her phases, for the course of
the SUB, the freshness of the mornings, and those
phenomena which moo could not view with indif-
ference, and which they naturally attempted to
explain. The occasional voracity of a wolf is
here meutioned as the cause of lunar eclipses,
whence arose a custom once almost universally
prevalent, of endeavouring to rescue her by
frightening her foe away with loud noise ; and
the Celts, who never lost sight of the final de-
struction of the globe, failed not to teach that a
fatal day would Come when the Moon would fall
a prey to her voracious pursuer.
In the opinions here stated, that this same
monster sucked the substance of men, who are
thus brought insensibly to the grave. we discover
the notion of Vampirism, which had also its
origin in the East, and ,once prevailed in some
parts of Europe. It is truly curious to observe
this coincidence in the popular belief of distant
nations, since they afford no slight
.proof of a
COllllllOll origin. A. P.

MEMO it II A ctor being reproached by
'Len for having forgotten 801111' words of his part
in the Beggars' Opera, on the fifty-third night of
its performance, .exclaimed, " What, do you
think one can remember a thing for ever?"

In .1776, an Officer of the Army having gone
from Newcastle to Derby on a recruiting party,
took his dog with him, hut left him behind on his
!returning to Newcastle, on the 16th of August.
The dog 1111Siang his master, set out for New.
castle, where he arrived on the 18th, having
been less than forty-eight hours performing a
journey of ISO miles, on an unknown road !
We understand that Mr. D'Eaytw:, late ma-
nager and ballet-master, and Mr. A YILTON, late
stage-manager of the operas, are on the eve of
purchasing the King's Theatre, and mean to
open it. for the next season.—(MorningPver.)

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MASONIC NOTICES FOR NEXT WEEK.
. ENGLAND.

Monday, Nov. 15, Lorrnow. Nos. 1,8, 14, 15, 22,
284, 293, 308.
COUNTRY. N 05.20, 72, 102, 219, 311,
368, 423, 509, 510, 521,
583.
Tuesday, ---18, Lorrnnx. Nos. 33, 42, 266, 309.
Co twralt. Nos. 127, 151, 167, 170,
181, 199, 385, 532, 544,
651.
IVeanesday, 17, LoKno34. Grand Steward's Lodge.
Nos. 36, 56, 92,131, 225,
296.
COUNTRY. Nos. 95, 105, 124, 146,
207, 229, 339, 342, 465,
487, 489, 529, 581, 678,
711.
Thursday, - 18, Lownorr. Nos. 115, 128, 152, 274,
388. House Coin. Fern.
Sch. at 11.
COUNTRY. Nos. 48, 113, 171, 288,
416, 453, 466, 469, 511,
561.
---19, LONDON. No. 493.
COUNTRY. Nos. 30, 53, 193, 470,
600, 646.
Saturday, - 20, LONDON. • • •
COUNTRY. No. 64.
1 RELAN D.
Monday, Nov. 15, Coax. No. 67.

F►iday,