Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review Volumes 32 and 33.djvu/599

 The Origin of Monotheism. 289

incarnation of one, naturally became also the incarnation of the other. It is by no means clear, however, why the political predominance of one city over another should cause their gods to become one. May I suggest another explanation } It may be contrary to the evidence at the disposal of scholars, but then my suggestion will perhaps have brought forth this evidence, and thus definitely settled in what way conquest leads to fusion of gods. In the meantime this fusion may be accounted for mechanically thus: The Horus-King of Buto defeats the Sun-King of Heliopolis, and takes away his dignities ; but those dignities are merely the outward sign of his divinity. He takes over the attributes of the Sun-god because he has become the representative of the Sun-god. Henceforth he is Horus, and he is the Sun ; therefore the Sun and Horus are one.

I am emboldened to make this suggestion, ignorant as I am of the facts, by my knowledge of Fijian usage. Divine Chieftainship, somewhat obscured, has extended to Fiji, and therefore Fijian history may be consulted with advan- tage. We there find that titles are not made or assumed at will. With us any man who can unify Italy can proclaim himself King of Italy ; the Yugo-Slavs may any day set up a King of Yugo-Slavia ; but Fijian titles are in the gift of certain families, who alone can perform the rite of installation. Thus the people of Levuka bestow the title " Lord of Levuka " upon a chief who is not one of their own people, but one of the tribe of Mban which coming down from the hills first subdued them, and finally expelled them ; they still go one hundred and fifty miles by sea to instal every new chief of Mban. That chief also receives the title of " Root of War," or possibly " God of War," from his own tribe. ^ He therefore combines two divine person-

1 Vunivaln, vit means root, but it also means god. This translation would enable us to explain the title Vitnindovu given to the teacher of dances and secret ceremonies : he is the god of the bamboo ; we know that these teachers are actually possessed by spirits. T