Traditions, Superstitions and Folk-lore (Chiefly Lancashire and the North of England:) Their Affinity to Others in Widely-Distributed Localities; Their Eastern Origin and Mythical Significance.

CHAPTER II.

Chapter 2196 wordsPublic domain

FIRE OR SUN WORSHIP AND ITS ATTENDANT SUPERSTITIONS.

Fire worship denounced by the earlier ecclesiastics. Remnant in modern times. Allhalloween. Beltain fires. Derbyshire tindles and Lancashire teanlas. African notions of the Sun and Moon. Bonfires. The gunpowder plot. Midsummer fires. The elder Aryan fire-gods Agni and Rudra, and their attendants. Prometheus, the fire-bringer, the inventor of the chark, or earliest fire-kindling instrument. Original or "need-fire." Cattle disease. Fire superstitions. Burning wheels, etc. Sacrifices to the god Bel, and to the sun-god Fro or Fricco, in the North of England, etc. The feast of St. John the Baptist. Bone-fires. Dragons and serpents. Agni and the Midsummer demons. Ahi and Kuyava the destroyers of vegetation. The great Vedic serpent Sesha. St. George and other dragon slayers. Dragons, fiery serpents, and huge worms of the North of England, "blasters of the harvest." The Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf. The monster Grendel, of Hartlepool. Dragons and imprisoned maidens, and treasure hid in caves. Merlin's prophecy. Red and white dragons. Dragon poison converted into medical balm. Figurative interpretation. The thunderstorm reduces the heat, waters the parched earth, and promotes vegetable growth. A modern hypothesis as to the origin of dragon superstitions. Page 28