The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1853-01-06
For the National Era.
THOR, THE THUNDER GOD, IN THE MIssIs-
sISSIP1 VALLEY

For the National Era.
THOR, THE THUNDER GOD, IN THE MssIs-
sIsMPI VALLEY
In his famous Essay on the Hero as Divini-
ty, Mr. Thomas Carlyle, after describing some
of the poetical characteristics of the old Scan
dnavian mythology suggests that the tones of
this early music, though long since inaudible
in the land of their birth, may still be now
and then caught, family echoing through the
backwoods Of America. 1t seems to me that
in my wanderings about the West have heard
some of these echoes. Ii seems to me- that in
certain respects these pioneers resemble the
gigantic heroes who figure in ancient Scsndi-
navian myths, and it is not far out Of the way
to remark, that the people of the Mississippi
Valley are now, without being aware of it,
living in a sort of NEUROLOGICAL epoch. The
resemblance alluded to consists in certain huge,
awkward, original, and exaggerated forms of
ideas images, and modes of expression. The
reader who is familiar with the story of Thor,
the Scandinavian divinity, and his adventures
among the Iotuns, during his celebrated visit
to lotunheim, will understand what | mean
A very amusing account of this visit may be
found in Professor Longfellow's Introduction
to his Translation of Icelandic Poetry. 1t oc-
Cured to me, while reading it, that if Thor,
with his companions Loke the Eater. and
Thialfe the Runner, would condescend to visit
the Mississippi Valley, in the way he visited
Iotunheim, and challenge the giants to trials
of skill in their respective arts, he and his
comrades would, very probably, soon find their
match. ! have no doubt that somewhere in
Kentucky he would fall in with men ready to
boast as largely as Heimdal the Waterman on
the walls of Valhalla, whose ear was $50
acute, that he could hear the grass grow in
the meadows of earth, and the wool On the
backs of Sheep That is specimen of Scan
dinavian Dragging which would not discredit
Dick Wildfre himself 1t very fairly illus
tratcs this Western exaggeration.
You know that the giant Hymir was wont
to call the icebergs his cows, and that the old
Morse poem finely says of him." He looks at
the rocks with his devil eye, aud they split in
the glance of it," Now, do not exactly
know of any instance in which Hymir OF
the Mississippi Valley ever split a rock by the
glance Of his eye; but we have a trait some
what analogous to it in the biography of Da-
vid Crockett, whose power of grinning was
80 prodigious, he could easily grin the bark of
a tree. This Crockett story evidently belongs
to the same category with that Of the giant
Hymir.
We al &pa4 q y, DOR hs r-rsunlyf
was most formidable adversary However
he made little or no impression on giant Skrym
ner, though he struck him three times on the
head with that hammer. The giant was toe
big his skull was too tough for him. Indeed
Thor took refuge in the giants glove, mista
king it for house. Carlyle suggests that this
glove was some earth cavern; suppose sort
of Big Cave of Kentucky, with its fingers
spreading far away, many miles under the
earth
Now, against this world renowned Thor and
his hammer, would confidently pit the Mis-
sissipp- Yalley-renowned Captain Scott and his
rifle. must tell you this Scott story though
you have heard it thousand times. ! aver
that it is as characteristic an exaggeration as
any in all the Morse poetry. Scott, you know,
was a Kentucky rifeman, precisely such an
one as kossuth has lately been praising to the
skies at Louisville. Like Mike Fink, the last
of the boatmen, be used to amuse himself now
and then, when sailing down the Ohio, by
shooting the heels off the negroes as they idly
sat summing themselves upon the fences that
ran along the rivers banks Scott was out
one day, hunting coons. Espying one in tree
he Immediately brought his rifle to his shout
der; the coon happened to see him, and, as the
Western narrator or rather the Western skald,
has it, instantly this dialogue took place
Is your name Scott! 2"
"Yesn
"John Soott?D
"Yesn
"Captain John Scott?"
Yes, arn
Well, then, you needn't fire. III come right
down.
SO soon as he was perfectly assured that the
unerring marksman was before him, he surren-
dered at discretion. What a congenial travel
ling companion would Captain Scott have been
to Thor, in his search of adventures about the
world
1t is related that when Thor and his COM
rades visited the lotuns their King instantly
made demand very nearly akin to what is
tactly made upon every one who comes to this
.cimen Of those arts by which you are dis
tinguished, you and your companions; for
nobody is permitted 10 remain here, unless he
Loke, Immediately stepped forward, and an
nounced that he was pre-eminent in the art
of eating; that he would eat on a wager,
result of the contest Loke and his competitor
we're each placed at the extremitiesof long
table, loaded down with food They fell to
eating voraciously, and they met at the middle
of the table Loke had deyoured all the food
that lay in his way but his competitor had
eaten up, not only all the food before him, but
also all the dishes, and moreover, one-haIf the
table into the bargain. OF course Loke was
declared to be beaten. | regret that cannot
bring forward any instances Of gigantic eating
among these Western Scandinavian. A Ken
tucky barbecue, at which an entire OK is roasted
and devoured, might perhaps furnish a case in
point Crockett, with his plate clicked as
clean a. the palm of his HAND" might have
been a good companion for Loke and If no
one of these diners can swallow as much az
he they can, doubt not judging from their |
despatch at hotels and on steamboats,, get |
through meal with celebrity enough to aston |
ish even that prince Of gormandizers
recall, by the way, the case of man in |
Arkansas, who was 30 ugly that when he did |
Sat, the victuals did not taste good. | have
also heard them speak out here of native
,rab-spple no excessively sour that when tasted,
L makes even the pigs squeal The above al
usion to ugliness reminds me Of what | once
heard from q strong minded woman in Ala
bsma, q termagant aud a vixen--s character
which, In Western lingo 10 called a Kattama-
'sng Talking Of marrying rich people, she
she would marry man who bad
,lenty Of money though he was 30 ugly she
isd b scream owl every time she looked at him.
These illustrations belong emphaticslly TO the
Western people, and they would not discredt
I'D Morse literature
You NAV recoIlect that among Thor's COM |
,snions was Thialfe, the Runner. He chal-
enged one Of the iotuns 10 race. They start
ID, and 30 sight-outrunning" was the Iotun,
'e turned the goal and got back to the start