The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2)Frazer, James George
ReligionComparative
The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
Sometimes again the corn-spirit hides himself amongst the cut corn in the
barn to reappear in bull or cow form at threshing. Thus at Wurmlingen in
Thüringen the man who gives the last stroke at threshing is called the
Cow, or rather the Barley-cow, Oats-cow, Peas-cow, etc., according to the
crop. He is entirely enveloped in straw; his head is surmounted by sticks
in imitation of horns, and two lads lead him by ropes to the well to
drink. On the way thither he must low like a cow, and for a long time
afterwards he goes by the name of the Cow.(91) At Obermedlingen in Swabia,
when the threshing draws near an end, each man is careful to avoid giving
the last stroke. He who does give it “gets the Cow,” which is a straw
figure dressed in an old ragged petticoat, hood, and stockings. It is tied
on his back with a straw-rope; his face is blackened, he is tied with
straw-ropes to a wheelbarrow, and wheeled round the village.(92) Here,
again, we are met with that confusion between the anthropomorphic and
theriomorphic conception of the corn-spirit, which has been already
signalised. In Canton Schaffhausen the man who threshes the last corn is
called the Cow; in Canton Thurgau, the Corn-bull; in Canton Zurich, the
Thresher-cow. In the last-mentioned district he is wrapt in straw and
bound to one of the trees in the orchard.(93) At Arad in Hungary the man
who gives the last stroke at threshing is enveloped in straw and a cow’s
hide with the horns attached to it.(94) At Pessnitz, in the district of
Dresden, the man who gives the last stroke with the flail is called Bull.
He must make a straw-man and set it up before a neighbour’s window.(95)
Here, apparently, as in so many cases, the corn-spirit is passed on to a
neighbour who has not finished threshing. So at Herbrechtingen in
Thüringen the effigy of a ragged old woman is flung into the barn of the
farmer who is last with his threshing. The man who throws it in cries,
“There is the Cow for you.” If the threshers catch him they detain him
over night and punish him by keeping him from the harvest supper.(96) In
these latter customs the confusion between the anthropomorphic and
theriomorphic conception of the corn-spirit meets us again. Further, the
corn-spirit in bull form is sometimes believed to be killed at threshing.
At Auxerre in threshing the last bundle of corn they call out twelve
times, “We are killing the Bull.” In the neighbourhood of Bordeaux, where
a butcher kills an ox on the field immediately after the close of the
reaping, it is said of the man who gives the last stroke at threshing that
“he has killed the Bull.”(97) At Chambéry the last sheaf is called the
sheaf of the Young Ox and a race takes place to it, in which all the
reapers join. When the last stroke is given at threshing they say that
“the Ox is killed;” and immediately thereupon a real ox is slaughtered by
the reaper who cut the last corn. The flesh of the ox is eaten by the
threshers at supper.(98)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account