DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52552#0082
66
THE THUNDERWEAPON
with the national axe and also with the three-pronged Babylonian
lightning. Among the Greeks the latter reappears as the trident,
round which, as the weapon of Poseidon, a different inter-
pretation gradually grew; among the Hindus we find it repre-
sented by the trisula, which in the hand of Siva never lost its
original character of a thunderweapon. By doubling the active
part of the three-pronged lightning-image the Assyrians evolved
another form of the thunderweapon which passed over to the
Greeks and with them attained its fullest development in the
keraunos of Zeus. The evolution of this lightning-design became
complete in the Hellenistic period, and the form was preserved
among European nations and in the Hellenized regions of
Central Asia as far and as long as they were dominated by
classical culture.
But, untouched by all later developments, the ancient thunder-
stone belief, which satisfied the popular craving for an explana-
tion of natural phenomena, has survived amongst the nations
of the old world up to the present day. In earlier days it
was in some cases combined with the established religion, for
instance amongst the Romans; later on the influence of higher
religions deprived it of the religious element which was, origin-
ally, one of its intrinsic features. Only among a few races in
a low stage of religious development do we still find an actual
worship of thunderstones, such as is practised in southern India
and on the Guinea Coast. In the extreme north of Europe, in
Iceland, where thunder is a rare event, the thunderstone belief
which the early Norwegian settlers brought with them dis-
appeared, because the natural conditions of the country did not
favour its development. On the other hand, it has in modern
times been carried by European colonists to foreign continents
where the natives had formed quite different ideas about the
thunder and its cause.
This enquiry into the thunderweapons of different peoples
and different ages has carried us through a region which is
far removed from the established forms and material limits of
actual life; where the human mind, unhindered by practical
considerations, would seem to be able to choose one means of
expressing its ideas just as well as another.
THE THUNDERWEAPON
with the national axe and also with the three-pronged Babylonian
lightning. Among the Greeks the latter reappears as the trident,
round which, as the weapon of Poseidon, a different inter-
pretation gradually grew; among the Hindus we find it repre-
sented by the trisula, which in the hand of Siva never lost its
original character of a thunderweapon. By doubling the active
part of the three-pronged lightning-image the Assyrians evolved
another form of the thunderweapon which passed over to the
Greeks and with them attained its fullest development in the
keraunos of Zeus. The evolution of this lightning-design became
complete in the Hellenistic period, and the form was preserved
among European nations and in the Hellenized regions of
Central Asia as far and as long as they were dominated by
classical culture.
But, untouched by all later developments, the ancient thunder-
stone belief, which satisfied the popular craving for an explana-
tion of natural phenomena, has survived amongst the nations
of the old world up to the present day. In earlier days it
was in some cases combined with the established religion, for
instance amongst the Romans; later on the influence of higher
religions deprived it of the religious element which was, origin-
ally, one of its intrinsic features. Only among a few races in
a low stage of religious development do we still find an actual
worship of thunderstones, such as is practised in southern India
and on the Guinea Coast. In the extreme north of Europe, in
Iceland, where thunder is a rare event, the thunderstone belief
which the early Norwegian settlers brought with them dis-
appeared, because the natural conditions of the country did not
favour its development. On the other hand, it has in modern
times been carried by European colonists to foreign continents
where the natives had formed quite different ideas about the
thunder and its cause.
This enquiry into the thunderweapons of different peoples
and different ages has carried us through a region which is
far removed from the established forms and material limits of
actual life; where the human mind, unhindered by practical
considerations, would seem to be able to choose one means of
expressing its ideas just as well as another.