The Jews in ancient, mediaeval and modern times . ant superstition arenothing more or less than the remains of the greatlegends of the old heathen religious faiths, softeneddown, but still living in the souls of the and his school would have us believe that thephantoms of the mighty Norse gods still haunt themodern generations of the Teutonic stock, refusingto be exorcised from the popular mind. * Raiderthe beautiful is dead, is dead, sings the Swedishpoet Tegner, after the old saga ; and in like mannerwith Balder, we have believed that Odin and Thorand Freya were utterly gone, wi
The Jews in ancient, mediaeval and modern times . ant superstition arenothing more or less than the remains of the greatlegends of the old heathen religious faiths, softeneddown, but still living in the souls of the and his school would have us believe that thephantoms of the mighty Norse gods still haunt themodern generations of the Teutonic stock, refusingto be exorcised from the popular mind. * Raiderthe beautiful is dead, is dead, sings the Swedishpoet Tegner, after the old saga ; and in like mannerwith Balder, we have believed that Odin and Thorand Freya were utterly gone, with the men thatpaid them worship. These students would have usbelieve that the ghosts of the gods, at any rate, re-fuse to be laid. Sometimes in blithe and merryguise they continue to appear in the souls of menbelonging to the great races whose forefathers wor-shipped them ; sometimes the grim circumstancethat attended them in their former pre-eminenceis not laid aside. What wonderful grandeur in thethought that these rough hands of the old gods. THE WANDERING JEW. 2 12 THE STORY OF THE JEWS. refuse to become decrepit through time, or beatenoff by culture! How they reach round the newaltars that have crowded out their own simple fanes,because the all-conquering Jew has willed it shouldbe so ! How they cross the widest oceans to thehomes of the farthest wanderers, still haunting,phantom-like, the hearts of men whose barbariansires held them dear ! The superstition of the Wild Huntsman, stillcherished by many a simple peasant soul, can bethus traced back through the centuries to an originin the stormy faith professed by the vikings. Thefierce rider who presses unsatisfied, attended by histroop of deathless hounds, mid the roar of thewinters blast, through the heavens torn with thetempest, in pursuit of the stag that forever fliesbefore him, was really the god Odin. As we thinkhow the Wandering Jew has become connected withthis stormy Northern myth, it might seem as if theold disp
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookpublisherlo, booksubjectjews
