Studia Islandica - 01.06.1963, Page 86

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located farther to the south than that of the Vanir cult. It there-
fore looks as if the cult of the Æsir gradually moved northward
irom Germany and took root most firmly in Southern Scandinavia.
It seems inevitable that the two cults must at some time have
come into conflict. Although by the Viking Age the conflict is at
an end, it must still have been a living memory when the Eddic
poems were composed. Here, therefore, is the likeliest place to
seek the germ of the story of the war and the subsequent alliance
between the Æsir and the Vanir.
The author has repeatedly touched on the parallels between the
rites of the Vanir cult and those of various southern and eastern
religions. On the other hand, no attempt has been made to com-
pare the cult of the Æsir with other religions, except for the initial
reference to the fact that Dumézil claims a primitive Aryan origin
for Germanic religion. Dumézil’s arguments are partly based on
the language itself, which, as far as it goes, provides the firmest
kind of foundation. But he also points out obvious similarities be-
tween the two principal Indian deities, Varuna and Indra, on the
one hand, and Odin and Thor on the other. The correspondance
between Mitra and Tyr is more difficult to establish, since we have
no detailed description of the worship of Tyr. But the purpose of
the present essay is not to discuss the relationship between the Æsir
eult and other Aryan religions, but only to point out the special
position occupied by the Vanir in Scandinavian religion.