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1S8 Hagen: K vadr.
way of a brief summary indicate what I believe to have
been the main features of the Orion story, which found its
way northward, and the reasons why it came to be attrac-
ted into two originally distinct native stories, thus bringing
about a sort of connection between them. Let us suppose
that the chief motives of the borrowed story were the
following :
1) Three or more gods are gathered.
2) They banquet on a slaughtered animal.
3) Out of their excreta, deposited by all the gods in
common into the hide, which serves as a receptacle or ves-
sel, they create a boy, Orion.
4) Their purpose in undertaking this ”ceremony” is to
render satisfaction to their host by giving him a boy.
5) Orion’s undoing in being blinded by Minos or Oeno-
pion is preceded by an episode in which he is made drunk
by satyrs.
It is easily seen that motives 1 and 2 are of such a
character that they might readily be attracted into a story
about the peace-making between æsir and vanir, especially
if it be assumed, with Schüek, that this peace-making was
originally said to have been celebrated by a ”gemensamhets-
offer”. But also motives 3 and 4, as I have tried to indi-
cate, would be in harmony with such an episode, ”consilia-
tion” being the key note in both. When it is said that a
boy is given by one party to another in order to render
satisfaction, the hostage idea is not far off. One must won-
der whether the sacrifical banquet of the gods was not ori-
ginally followed by an exchange of hostages also. This is
strongly suggested by Snorris other version of the peace-
compact as told in the Ynglingasaga, where Kvasir is ac-
tually given by the vanir as a hostage to the æsir. Motive
5 needs but a word. If I am justified in regarding the
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