It now lies near at hand to inquire whether the mythology which attributed the same father to Mimer and Thrudgelmer was unable to conceive in this connection the idea of a nobler origin for the former than the latter. The remedy nearest at hand would have been to have given them mothers of different characters. But the mythology did not resort to this expedient. It is expressly stated that Ymer bore children without the pleasure of woman (gygiar gaman—Vafthrudnersmal, 32; cp. No. 60). Neither Mimer nor Thrudgelmer had a mother. Under such circumstances there is another expedient to which the sister of the Teutonic mythology, the Rigveda mythology, has resorted, and which is explained in the 90th hymn of book x. of Rigveda. The hymn informs us in regard to a primeval giant Parusha, and this myth is so similar to the Teutonic in regard to Ymer that it must here be considered.
The primeval being Parusha was a giant monster as large as the whole world, and even larger (lines 1-5). The gods resolved to sacrifice him, that is to say, to slay him for sacred purposes (l. 6), and from his limbs was created the present world. From his navel was made the atmosphere, from his head the canopy of heaven, from his two feet the earth, from his heart the moon, from his eye the sun, from his breath the wind, &c. His mouth became the brahma (the priest), his arms became the rajanya (the warrior), his thighs became the vaisya (the third free caste), and from his feet arose the sudra (the thrall, line 12).
The two fundamental ideas of the myth concerning Parusha are:
(1) There was a primeval being who was not divine. The gods slew him and created the material world out of his limbs.
(2) This primeval being gave rise to other beings of different ranks, and their rank corresponded with the position of the giant's limbs from which they were created.
Both these fundamental ideas reappear in the Teutonic myth concerning Ymer. In regard to the former idea we need only to quote what Vafthrudnersmal says in strophe 21:
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Or Ymis holdi var iord um scaupud, en or beinom bjorg, himinn or hausi ins hrimkalda iotuns, enn or sveita sior. |
Of Ymer's flesh the world was shapen, from his bones the rocks, the heavens from the head of the ice-cold giant, from his blood the sea. |
In regard to the second fundamental idea, it is evident from the Rigveda account that it is not there found in its oldest form, but that, after the rise of four castes among the Rigveda Aryans, it was changed, in order to furnish an explanation of the origin of these castes and make them at least as old as the present material world. Far more original, and perfectly free from the influence of social ideas, it appears in the Teutonic mythology, where the 33rd strophe of Vafthrudnersmal testifies concerning its character:
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Undir hendi vaxa quatho hrimthursi mey oc maug saman; fótr vid fóti gat ins froda iotuns serhaufdathan son. |
A son and a daughter are said to have been born together under the rimthurse's arm; foot begat with foot the strange-headed son of the wise giant. |
In perfect harmony with this Gylfaginning narrates: "Under Ymer's left arm grew forth a man and a woman, and his one foot begat with the other a son. Thence come (different) races."