Chapters 44-95 - Germanic Mythology

26. And they are made unsuffering, undecaying, and undisturbed.
27. Secondly, this, that the enclosure formed by Yim [Jamshed] was made by
him;
28. And when that rain of Malkos occurs -- since it is declared in revelation that
mankind and the other creatures and creations of Ohrmazd, the Lord, are mostly those
which shall perish.
29. One shall afterwards open the gate of that enclosure formed by Yim,
30. And the people and cattle, and other creatures and creations of the creator
Ohrmazd, shall come out from that enclosure,
31. And arrange the world again. 32
The lower world, where Yima, according to the ancient Iranian records, founded
this remarkable citadel, is Yama's kingdom, according to Rigveda, and also the kingdom
of death, of which Yama is king (Rigv., X. 16, 9; cp. I. 35, 6, and other passages). It is a
glorious country, with inexhaustible fountains, and there is the home of the imperishable
light (Rigv., IX. 7, 8; IX. 113, 8). Yama dwells under a tree "with broad leaves." There he
gathers around the goblet of mead the ancient fathers, and there he drinks with the gods
(Rigv., X. 135,1).
Roth, 33 and after him Abel Bergaigne (Religion Ved., I. 88 ff.), 34 regard Yama and
Manu, mentioned in Rigveda, as identical. There are strong reasons for the assumption,
so far as certain passages of Rigveda are concerned; while other passages, particularly
those which mention Manu by the side of Bhriga, refer to an ancient patriarch of human
descent. If the derivation of the word Mimir, Mimi, pointed out by several linguists, last
by Müllenhoff (Deutsche Alt., Vol. V. 105, 106), 35 is correct, then it is originally the
same name as Manu, and like it is to be referred to the idea of thinking, remembering.
What the Indo-European-Asiatic myth here given has in common with the
Germanic one concerning the subterranean persons in Mimir's grove can be summarized
in the following words:
The lower world has a ruler, who does not belong to the group of immortal
celestial beings, but enjoys the most friendly relations with the godhead, and is the
possessor of great wisdom. In his kingdom flow inexhaustible fountains, and a tree grown
out of its soil spreads its foliage over his dwelling, where he serves the mead of
inspiration, which the gods are fond of and which he was the first to prepare. A terrible
winter threatened to destroy everything on the surface of the earth. Then, on his domain,
the ruler of the lower world built a well-fortified citadel, within which neither destructive
storms, nor physical ills, nor moral evil, nor sickness, nor aging, nor death can come.
There he transferred the best and fairest human beings to be found on earth, and
decorated the enclosed garden with the most beautiful and useful trees and plants. The
purpose of this garden is not simply to protect the beings collected there during the great
winter; they are to remain there through all historical ages. When these come to an end,
32 E. W. West translation, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 24, Oxford University Press. (1880)
33 Rudolf von Roth, 1821-1895.
34 Abel Bergaigne, 1838-1888. La religion vêdique d'après les hymnes du Rig-Vêda. Paris, F. Vieweg,
1878-97.
35 Karl Victor Müllenhoff, 1818-1884. Zeitschrift für deutsches altertum und deutsche litteratur. Leizig,
Weidmann, 1841-53; Deutsche Altertumskunde. 5. 1883-1891