Page:The Journal of English and Germanic Philology Volume 18.djvu/425

 The Origin of the German Carnival Comedy 421 in Essen curiously enough as "burying (or burning) of Bac- chus." An effigy of Martin Luther was burned at Midsummer in certain Catholic parts of Germany down to the year 1807 or 1808. 160 The identification of the effigy with Luther was, as Frazer rightly observes, 161 modern, for we may assume that the burning of an effigy in the Midsummer bon-fires is far older than the time of Luther. The ceremony of " Carrying out Death" is generally fol- lowed by a ceremony of "Bringing in Summer." 162 If Hunger and Death are driven out, Wealth and Life must be brought in to take their places. "Bringing the Summer" was a procession with a tree or branch or with a leaf-clad mummer as symbolical of the spirit of vegetation returning or reviving in spring. 163 Some- times the resurrection of the "dead Carnival" is also enacted as a symbolical expression of the revival of vernal life in spring. These ceremonies are still observed in Germany 164 and in other countries. 165 The contrast between the dormant state of the powers of vegetation in winter and their awakening in spring also took the form of a dramatic contest. In this ceremony the two contending parties are no longer felt to be only two successive representatives of the same principle, but represent two oppos- ing principles. They are not considered as the new and old fertility spirits, but as the god of light and life struggling against his antagonist, the demon of darkness and death. The battle is usually fought not between individuals, but between groups. It is not a single but a collective combat. The representatives of summer and winter each have their train of followers. The Antichoria in the Greek comedy, which may be traced back to this battle between Summer and Winter, consisted of two opposed companies with different characters or masks. 166 Faded survivals of this combat may be seen in the rural custom Ibid.,x. 167, 172, xi. 23. 161 Ibid., x. 167. 162 /&/., iv. 233. "/Wtf.,ii. 74, iv. 252sqq. 164 Ibid. f iv. 233, 237 sqq., 246sqq. Ibid., iv. 249sqq. 166 Cf. Cornford, op. cit., p. 125.