The sky and the air are identified with the highest conceptions of divinity reached in the myths either of savage or more cultured races. The Great Spirit of the North American Indians was the god of the sky. Varuna, the all-seeing, merciful god of the Hindoos, was the god of the vault of heaven. Zeus, the supreme god of the Greeks, was the sky god; also Odin, the great god in Norse mythology (although above him was a mysterious, unnameable god), Ormuzd in Persian mythology, Rangi in Polynesian, in Japan the Invisible Lord of the Middle Heaven. Closely related in power to the gods of the sky are the gods of wind or storm. Sometimes the god of the sky is himself the wielder of the thunder, as in the case of Zeus, and sometimes there is a special god of storm or thunder, as the Indra of the Hindoos or the Thor of the Norsemen. In Indian myths, Manabozho often wielded the thunder and lightning, and he has contests with another god of the air, Paup-puk-keewiss, the wind, a personage full of mischief, as wind gods are apt to be, like the Greek Hermes. The personification of wind and thunder as birds is very common, and many a quaint tale results from this mythical idea. The Sioux Indians believed in a god, Wah-keen-yan, in the form of a large bird, whose flapping wings made the thunder. He lived in the far, far west, on a mound rising from a mountain top. To his tent there are four openings, in which there are sentinels clothed in red down. At the east is a butterfly, at the west a bear; a fawn is at the south, and a reindeer is at the north. He fashioned the first spear and tomahawk, and attempted to kill the offspring of Oan-tay-hee, his bitter enemy. If Oan-tay-hee came near the surface of the earth, then Wah-keen-yan would fire a hot thunderbolt at him. Another of his enemies was Chaho-ter’dah, the god of the forest. It was said that the god of thunder often came racing along, hurling lightning at a tree, to kill the forest god, who, having been warned, had taken refuge in the water. Then Chaho-ter’dah would ascend a tree and hurl his lightning at his adversary to bring him down to submission.
Aurora. Guido Reni.
Another thunder bird is Sootooch, believed in by the natives of Vancouver’s Island. He is a mighty bird, dwelling aloft and far away, the flap of whose wings makes the thunder, and his tongue is the forked lightning. There were once four of these birds in the land, and they fed on whales. But the great deity Quawteaht, entering into a whale, enticed one thunder bird after another to swoop down and seize him with its talons. Then he would plunge to the bottom of the sea and drown it. Thus three of them perished, but the last one spread his wings and flew to the distant height, where he has since remained.
The Dakotahs say that thunder is a large bird flying through the air. Its bright tracks are seen in the air before you hear the clapping of its wings. The old bird begins the thunder, but its rumbling noise is caused by an immense quantity of young birds or thunders that do the mischief. They are like the young, mischievous men that will not listen to good counsel. The old Thunder is wise and good, and does not kill anybody nor do any kind of mischief.
The chief god of the Brazilians is a large bird who sweeps over the heavens, watching his children and watering their crops. He warns them of his presence by the mighty sound of his voice, the rushing of his wings, and the flash of his eye. This interesting bird is worshipped in a way befitting his nature. A dry gourd is filled with pebbles and decked with feathers and arrows, which is rattled vigorously to symbolize the drama of the storm. This curious implement has another element of interest in the fact that it is one of the earliest forms of musical instrument.
An equally remarkable variety of bird is the wind bird, who wings his way through all mythologies in one form or another. Although the wind in Greece had risen to man’s estate, it was still represented as having wings. Even the wind god Hermes, far removed as he is from the savage idea of the wind, could not get along without wings for his feet and head. Zeus, also, has a raven for his messenger, and Odin has the ravens Hugin and Munin, who fly every day over the whole world and report to him on their return what they have seen. Besides, there is a Norse god of the winds—a giant who sits in the northern extremity of heaven, clad in eagle’s plumes. When he spreads out his wings for flight the winds arise from under them.
The thunder, however, like the wind, even among savages, is sometimes personified as men, as in the following Algonquin stories:
HOW A HUNTER VISITED THE THUNDER SPIRITS WHO DWELL IN MOUNT KATAHDIN
(Passamaquoddy)