ANONIMO - Creation Myth of the Indo-europeans

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Creation Myth of the Indo-Europeans

Welcome to the Proto-Indo-European Religiondomain at piereligion.org.

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Creation Myth

Correspondents in

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and Religions

Indo-European

Creation Myth in

Hebrew and

Phoenician

Indo-EuropeanRituals

Festivals, Foodand Farming

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Early EnglishText Society

The Primal Cow Creation Mythor the Myth of how the World was

made from the body of a giant bovineis one of the best represented

and most widely recognized myths of the Indo-Europeans. The

following versions of this myth show the range of the material, and the

approximate dates indicate the time span. The elements are (1) *Yama

or *Yems, the twin who is (2) dismembered by (3) *Mnu, his

brother, and then the parts of the twins body are used to (4) create the

world according to a specific formula his bones are the rocks, hisblood made the rivers and seas, etc. While the substance of the

formula is essentially folkloric (rocks do look like bones of the

earth), the use of the formula in this particular context and the

linguistic correspondence of the names make possible the

reconstruction of a Proto-Indo-European myth, as recognized by Cox,

p. 189. This myth is also described by Mallory and Adams, p. 129-130,

in theEncyclopedia of Indo-European Cultureand many other modern

authors including Jaan Puhvel and Bruce Lincoln, which is why it was

chosen as the first example. The forms of the myth are organized here

according to the language group.

Sanskrit

In Sanskritthis deity is known as Yama. The oldest source is theRig

Vedacomposed circa 2000 - 1000 BCE according to western scholars,

earlier according to Hindu scholars.

Yam dies (it doesnt say how): Yam surrendered his dear body,

see Rig Vedic hymn 10.14. This was published on p. 223, Vol. 2, in

Vedic Mythology.

Sanskrit (late 2nd millennium BCE), Yama died as the first of

mortals. The original source is theAtharva VedaXVIII.3.13, and this

was published on p. 222, also in Vol. 2, Vedic Mythology.

later Sanskrit (1000 - 500 BCE). First a bull, then the wife of Manu,

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named Manv is killed (with Manus permission) in sacrifice by the

Ashuras but without any world making. Here the bull is unnamed and

although Manu gives permission, it is the Ashuras who actually kill it.

The original source is the Satapatha-Brhmana: 1 Kanda, 1 Adhyya,

4 Brhmana 14-17. This was published on pp. 29-30, Vol. 12 (trans. by

Julius Eggeling), Sacred Books of the East.

Avestan and the Iranian Languages

In Avestanthis deity is known as Yima Kshaetra and later forms such

as Jamshid and eventually Jems. The earliest part of the Avesta was

composed before 600 BCE, Zoroastrians think earlier.

Yima Kshaeta makes the world grow larger three times, but he does

this while he is still alive. This version is clearly mythological. Yima is

the Avestan form of Sanskrit Yama and Kshaeta means shepherd

later shah, king. The original source is theZend-Avesta,Vendidad,

Fargard II, and this was published, p. 12-21, Vol. 4 (translated by

James Darmesteter), in the Sacred Books of the East.

Another reference, also in Avestan mentions ....Ai Dahka and

Spityura, he who sawed Yima in twain. According to the editor of the

text (Darmesteter), Spityura was a brother of Yima. The original

source is theZend-Avesta,Zamyd Yasht, VIII: 46, published p.

293-297, Vol. 23, in the Sacred Books of the East.

Pahlevi (Middle Persian) texts date to between 224 BCE and 664 CE.In this source Gayomard (older form Gaya Maratan mortal life) is

killed by Ahriman (spelled Aharman in this translation). A cow and

Gayomard are both killed. Out of the cows body grows the world, and

from Gayomards body are born the first humans, his children Mshya

and Mshyana (who are male and female) so he is the ancestor of

everyone. The name Gayomard is not a good cognate with Yima

Kshaeta, but Jaan Puhvel equates them on the basis of the similarity of

the stories. The original source is theBundahin,Ch. 3, part 23,

(Gayomard spoke thus: mankind will be all of my race) and Ch.

15, the whole of it. This is published in Vol. 5 (translated by E.W.

West), p. 19 and p. 52, in the Sacred Books of the East. An analysis of

this was published by Jaan Puhvel, under the titleRemus and Frater,

pp. 300-311.


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Gemini is the Latin word for twins though it usually applies to Castor

and Pollux. They were worshiped all over the Roman world with

votive altars with inscriptions, which remained after the Romans were

gone. They were especially revered by sailors and they may be the

source of some of the Pagan Saintswhich appear in early Christian

myths, such as various Sanctos Geminos, the various Sts. James and/orSantiago de Compostella.

Celtic Languages

In the Celtic languagesthe same story is told of the White Bull of Ai,

in early Irish texts written down between the 11th-14th centuries CE.

In one myth a bull is killed and dismembered by another bull and the

parts of his body are distributed around Ireland, which explains the

names of many features of the landscape, though not the cause of their

existence.

It was not long before the men of Erin (Ireland), as they were there in

the company of Ailill and Madb early on the morrow, saw coming over

Cruachan from the west, the Brown Bull of Calnge with the

Whitehorned Bull of Ai in torn fragments hanging about his ears and

horns. Among the less revolting distributions is this one: Then he

raised his head, and the shoulder-blades of the Whitehorned fell from

him in that place. Hence, Sruthair Finnlethe (Stream of the White

Shoulder-blade) is the name given to it. The original source is the

last chapter of the Tin B Calnge,usually called in English, The

Cattle Raid of Cooley.These quotations are from The Ancient Irish

Epic Tale, Tin B Calnge,translated by Joseph Dunn, publ. David

Nutt, London, 1914.

Germanic Languages

The Germanic languageshave information about both Ymir and

Mannus, but they never appear in the same myth, rather they appear

only in myths widely separated in both time and circumstances.

A Roman textGermania

2 by Tacitus, writing in Latin in the year 98,tells that Mannus, the son of Tuisto, was the ancestor of the Germanic

people. We never see this person/being again, but the names Alamanni

and German(s) are interpreted (perhaps by folk etymology) as

all-men, the German name for themselves.


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In Old Norse texts written down in the 13th century but composed

earlier, Ymir is a giant dismembered by Odin and Odin's brother Gods

to make the World with the formula:

Of Ymirs flesh the earth was fashioned,

And of his sweat the sea;Crags of his bones, trees of his hair,

And of his skull the sky.

Then of his brows, the blithe Gods made

Midgard for sons of men;

And of his brain, the bitter-mooded

Clouds were all created.

The original source is the Grimnismal 40-41, (in the Poetic Eddaor the

Elder Edda). This version is quoted from p. 21, The Prose Eddaby

Snorri Sturluson, translated by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur, TheAmerican-Scandinavian Foundation, Oxford University Press, London,

1923.

Baltic Languages

In the Baltic Languagesa Lithuanian folktale tells of a bull and 3 cows

which are beheaded by Aurin, (the morning star) and then the land

appears. The very end of the story reads:

The maiden upon returning released her bull. The bull knelt down and

spoke in a mans voice: Chop off my head! The maiden did not wantto chop it off, but she had to. She chopped the head off--a fourth of the

seas disappeared, became land. Her brother emerged from the bull. She

cut off the heads of all three cows, who were her sisters. All the seas

disappeared, turned to land. The earth sprang to life. The original

source for this is a folktale called Saul and Vej Motina(The Sun

and the Mother of the Winds), pp. 309-13, of M. Davainis-

Silvestraitis Collection, Pasakos, Sakms, Oracijos(Tales, Legends

and Orations) published in Vilnius, 1973. The English version is from

p. 67 Of Gods and Menby Algirdas J. Greimas, translated by Milda

Newman, Indiana Univ. Press, Indianapolis, 1992.

Conclusion

This myth appears in five out of eleven major language groups of the

Indo-European family, taking into account the fact that Sanskrit and


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Avestan are counted as one when estimating the range of a myth. It

seems that *Yamais a personification of the cows which were killed

and dismembered for food by the Indo-Europeans who were

personified as Man. This myth continues with the formation of the

world from the various parts of the body of the cow. The process of

slaughter was ritualized as an offering to the Gods --perhaps-- thenarrative was developed to explain the practice. The presentation given

here addresses only part of this myth, which can be reconstructed

further to tell the tale of a great flood which Manu survives, and his

subsequent institution of religious rites and law codes. Besides this

myth about Yama and his names in various languages, several festivals

for him can be reconstructed, and some elements of the practice of the

ritual of slaughter can be reconstructed to a Proto-Indo-European

original.

Additional Correspondents

The Indo-European Creation myth has correspondents among many

other languages and religions, including the ancient Semitic languages

of the Middle-East and Mesopotamia. It was also borrowed into both

Christianity and Buddhism. This page describes these forms of the

myth.

There are also West Semitic versionsof the Indo-European Creation

Myth, notably in the Phoenician of the Ras Shamrah tablets, and in

Hebrew in Psalm 74 in the Old Testament of the Bible. The West

Semitic versions are clearly borrowed from the Indo-European original

as can be seen by the confusion in the meanings of the word Yam or

Yama, which refers to a domestic animal in Indo-European languages

but is a word for the sea or a lake in Hebrew and Phoenician.

References

Analecta Indoeuropaea, (a collection of articles), by Jaan Puhvel,

publ. by Innsbrucker Beitrage zur Sprachwissenschaft, Innsbruck,

1981.

Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, ed. by J. P. Mallory andDouglas Q. Adams, Fitzroy Dearborn, London, 1997.

"The Indo-European Myth of Creation" by Bruce Lincoln,History of

Religions, ed. by Mircea Eliade, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Nov. 1975) pp.

121-145, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

The Mythology of the Aryan Nationsby George W. Cox, Kegan


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Paul, Trench & Co, London, 1887.

"Remus et Frater" by Jaan Puhvel,History of Religions, ed. by

Mircea Eliade, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Nov. 1975) pp. 146-157, The

University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Sacred Books of the East, translated by various Oriental scholars,

series ed. by Max Mller, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1879-1904. Vedic Mythologyby Alfred Hillebrandt, translated by Sreeramula

Rajeswara Sarma, publ. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1981 (orig. 1891).

General Link for Indo-European Myths

Internet Sacred-Texts Archiveat www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm

A version of this article was originally posted by me on Wikipedia but

it was repeatedly vandalized by religious bigots. The page was

published at pierce.yolasite.com/yamamyth but Yola was hacked in

Nov. 2011 and they could not salvage their servers. It is now published

here with many revisions based on continuing research.

2007, last updated 7/15/2010, at piereligion.org/yamamyth.html


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ANONIMO - Creation Myth of the Indo-europeans