DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0104
The Irminsul
55
witness to the terror which this thought inspired among the peoples
of Central Europe. Strabon1 and Arrian2 both tell us that in the
year 335 B.C. the Celts of the Adriatic, men of great stature and
a haughty disposition, sent envoys to sue for the friendship of
Alexander. The Macedonian monarch received them in state and
asked them what they dreaded most, expecting the obvious answer
' You.' To his chagrin they replied that they had but one fear—lest
the sky should some day fall upon them ! So he promptly packed
them off, with the cutting remark that the Celts were constitutional
braggarts. Again, in the year 179 B.C. an army of over thirty
thousand stalwart Bastarnians, led by their chief Clondicus, marched
against Dardania, but were daunted by a big thunderstorm on
Mount Donuca. They declared, says Livy3, that the. gods were
routing them and the sky falling upon them.
These wild notions were not confined to the barbarians of Middle
Europe. They have at least left traces of themselves in the litera-
ture of Italy and Greece, traces which become clearer and more
tangible as we follow them back into the past. Horace4, who has of
course outgrown such nonsense, uses it just to round off an effective
stanza: even if the sky should come tumbling about him, the well-
conducted and resolute Roman would not turn a hair5. Terence8
treats the matter more seriously : wanting a proverb to describe
undue timidity, he introduces ' the folk that say " What if the sky
were to fall this verv moment ? "' We gather that there were such
folk in the second century B.C., superstitious peasants or the like.
But for a fuller expression of their belief we must get back another
three or four hundred years. Theognis7 of Megara in a characteristic
passage protests that he loves his friend and hates his foe, adding
by way of solemn confirmation : ' Else may the great broad sky of
bronze come crashing down upon me, that terror of earth-born men.'
I need not labour the point. It is clear that the lower classes
in Italy and at least the Megarians in Greece shared with Celts
and Bastarnians the paralysing fear that some day the sky itself
might fall.
to fall; I must go and tell the king." So she went along and she went along and she
went along till she met Cocky-locky. "Where are you going, Henny-penny?" says
Cocky-locky. "Oh ! I'm going to tell the king the sky's a-falling," says Henny-penny.
"May I come with you?" says Cocky-locky. "Certainly," says Henny-penny. So
Henny-penny and Cocky-locky went to tell the king the sky was falling.' Etc. See
further J. Grimm Geschichte der deutschen Sprache'A Leipzig 1868 i. 322 n. *, id. Teutonic
Mythology trans. J. S. Stallybrass London 1883 ii. 813 n. 2, 1888 iv. 1541.
1 Strab. 301 f. 2 Arrian. 1. 4. 6—8.
3 Liv. 40. 58. 4 Hor. od. 3. 3. 1 ff.
5 Cp. Plout. de facie in orbe hinae 6.
8 Ter. heaut. 719. ? Theogn. 869^
55
witness to the terror which this thought inspired among the peoples
of Central Europe. Strabon1 and Arrian2 both tell us that in the
year 335 B.C. the Celts of the Adriatic, men of great stature and
a haughty disposition, sent envoys to sue for the friendship of
Alexander. The Macedonian monarch received them in state and
asked them what they dreaded most, expecting the obvious answer
' You.' To his chagrin they replied that they had but one fear—lest
the sky should some day fall upon them ! So he promptly packed
them off, with the cutting remark that the Celts were constitutional
braggarts. Again, in the year 179 B.C. an army of over thirty
thousand stalwart Bastarnians, led by their chief Clondicus, marched
against Dardania, but were daunted by a big thunderstorm on
Mount Donuca. They declared, says Livy3, that the. gods were
routing them and the sky falling upon them.
These wild notions were not confined to the barbarians of Middle
Europe. They have at least left traces of themselves in the litera-
ture of Italy and Greece, traces which become clearer and more
tangible as we follow them back into the past. Horace4, who has of
course outgrown such nonsense, uses it just to round off an effective
stanza: even if the sky should come tumbling about him, the well-
conducted and resolute Roman would not turn a hair5. Terence8
treats the matter more seriously : wanting a proverb to describe
undue timidity, he introduces ' the folk that say " What if the sky
were to fall this verv moment ? "' We gather that there were such
folk in the second century B.C., superstitious peasants or the like.
But for a fuller expression of their belief we must get back another
three or four hundred years. Theognis7 of Megara in a characteristic
passage protests that he loves his friend and hates his foe, adding
by way of solemn confirmation : ' Else may the great broad sky of
bronze come crashing down upon me, that terror of earth-born men.'
I need not labour the point. It is clear that the lower classes
in Italy and at least the Megarians in Greece shared with Celts
and Bastarnians the paralysing fear that some day the sky itself
might fall.
to fall; I must go and tell the king." So she went along and she went along and she
went along till she met Cocky-locky. "Where are you going, Henny-penny?" says
Cocky-locky. "Oh ! I'm going to tell the king the sky's a-falling," says Henny-penny.
"May I come with you?" says Cocky-locky. "Certainly," says Henny-penny. So
Henny-penny and Cocky-locky went to tell the king the sky was falling.' Etc. See
further J. Grimm Geschichte der deutschen Sprache'A Leipzig 1868 i. 322 n. *, id. Teutonic
Mythology trans. J. S. Stallybrass London 1883 ii. 813 n. 2, 1888 iv. 1541.
1 Strab. 301 f. 2 Arrian. 1. 4. 6—8.
3 Liv. 40. 58. 4 Hor. od. 3. 3. 1 ff.
5 Cp. Plout. de facie in orbe hinae 6.
8 Ter. heaut. 719. ? Theogn. 869^