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Spiders in Heathen Mythology

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    #16
    Re: Spiders in Heathen Mythology

    I looked that up and it seems like "spider wight" is now seen as mistranslation of the original text which was "inspidenwiht", to mean "wretched creature". (The early scholar read it has inspiderwiht and equated it as spider wight.)

    Would you happen to have any information on that?

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      #17
      Re: Spiders in Heathen Mythology

      It's one of the big problems with any kind of translation, plus we have to remember that there was no single 'Anglo Saxon language' but a series of languages and dialects, some of which differed wildly. Most texts give the original as 'in spiderwiht' which of course is going to be open to quite a wide interpretation, although Gay (1988 - I think!) prefers 'in spider form.'

      Dwarves and spiders are often connected in folk tradition, as is noted in the Handworterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens, "Auch Zwerge nehmen nicht selten Spinnesgestalt an".

      Something I meant to mention earlier, Dez is that the names invoked are thought to be the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus - a clear attempt at some sort of Christianisation, although who or what they replaced is anyone's guess.
      www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


      Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

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