Page:Origin and Growth of Religion (Rhys).djvu/642

626 the other hand, it readily applies to the case of the Sun-hero Cúchulainn, of whom we read that Labraid of the Swift Hand on the Sword had long craved Cúchulainn's aid; but that when the hero actually came, according to an old prophecy, and proceeded to deal slaughter among his friend's foes, Labraid became very anxious that he should not kill too many of them: at all events, no reason is suggested for his anxiety. The same idea is to be traced also in the story of Peredur, but in a somewhat different form: he deals the witch of Gloucester just one blow of his sword, and that suffices to quell the witch's courage, as she recognizes in Peredur a man of whom it had been prophesied that he should come and conquer her and her formidable sisters. This prophecy is to be compared with the foreknowledge possessed by the Tuatha Dé Danann as to the final battle of Moytura, and the oracle which had warned the Olympic gods that they could only conquer the Giants with the aid of a mortal, who proved to be Heracles.

Thus far we have been looking to what extent Celtic and Teutonic forms of the myth elucidate the Greek versions; let us now turn round and see what light the latter may throw on the former. We may begin just where we left off, that is to say with Heracles, who was originally a or mortal, but became a god. This short and general method of distinguishing between heroes and gods, between men and the immortals, must have once been available in the like manner among both Celts and Teutons. For, as regards the latter, suffice it to mention the story of Goᵭmundr reigning over the