| Sir James George Frazer (1854–1941). The Golden
Bough. 1922. |
XLVIII. The Corn-Spirit as an
Animal |
§ 1. Animal
Embodiments of the Corn-spirit |
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| IN SOME of the
examples which I have cited to establish the meaning of the term
“neck” as applied to the last sheaf, the corn-spirit appears in
animal form as a gander, a goat, a hare, a cat, and a fox. This
introduces us to a new aspect of the corn-spirit, which we must now
examine. By doing so we shall not only have fresh examples of
killing the god, but may hope also to clear up some points which
remain obscure in the myths and worship of Adonis, Attis, Osiris,
Dionysus, Demeter, and Virbius. |
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| Amongst the many animals whose forms the corn-spirit
is supposed to take are the wolf, dog, hare, fox, cock, goose,
quail, cat, goat, cow (ox, bull), pig, and horse. In one or other of
these shapes the corn-spirit is often believed to be present in the
corn, and to be caught or killed in the last sheaf. As the corn is
being cut the animal flees before the reapers, and if a reaper is
taken ill on the field, he is supposed to have stumbled unwittingly
on the corn-spirit, who has thus punished the profane intruder. It
is said “the Rye-wolf has got hold of him,” “the Harvest-goat has
given him a push.” The person who cuts the last corn or binds the
last sheaf gets the name of the animal, as the Rye-wolf, the
Rye-sow, the Oats-goat, and so forth, and retains the name sometimes
for a year. Also the animal is frequently represented by a puppet
made out of the last sheaf or of wood, flowers, and so on, which is
carried home amid rejoicings on the last harvest-waggon. Even where
the last sheaf is not made up in animal shape, it is often called
the Rye-wolf, the Hare, Goat, and so forth. Generally each kind of
crop is supposed to have its special animal, which is caught in the
last sheaf, and called the Rye-wolf, the
Barley-wolf, the Oats-wolf, the Pea-wolf, or the Potato-wolf,
according to the crop; but sometimes the figure of the animal is
only made up once for all at getting in the last crop of the whole
harvest. Sometimes the creature is believed to be killed by the last
stroke of the sickle or scythe. But oftener it is thought to live so
long as there is corn still unthreshed, and to be caught in the last
sheaf threshed. Hence the man who gives the last stroke with the
flail is told that he has got the Corn-sow, the Threshing-dog, or
the like. When the threshing is finished, a puppet is made in the
form of the animal, and this is carried by the thresher of the last
sheaf to a neighbouring farm, where the threshing is still going on.
This again shows that the corn-spirit is believed to live wherever
the corn is still being threshed. Sometimes the thresher of the last
sheaf himself represents the animal; and if the people of the next
farm, who are still threshing, catch him, they treat him like the
animal he represents, by shutting him up in the pig-sty, calling him
with the cries commonly addressed to pigs, and so forth. These
general statements will now be illustrated by examples. |
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