Corn fox

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The grain fox is a figure of popular belief. The fox is related to the grain .

Germany and France

When the wind made waves in the grain, in Nördlingen they said “the fox is walking through the grain”, in Usingen “the foxes are moving through the grain.” In Campe near Stade , the reaper was called out while cutting the last grain: “De Voss sitt in, get em almost! ”In the Moselle department :“ Watch out if the fox comes out! ”In the Bourbonnais :“ Vous attraperez le renard! ”If someone is sick or wounded while cutting grain:“ Il a le renard! ”( Loire- Atlantique ) or “Il a tué le renard!” ( Côte-d'Or ) In Ravensberg and Steinau , children were warned against playing in the cornfield “because the fox is sitting in it”. In the canton of Zurich the last sheaf was called “fox”. In Burgundy and the Ain department, the last sheaf, white fabric and colored ribbons were used to make an animal figure called a “fox”, which was thrown into the hallway of the farmer who was the last to finish the mowing. Even when threshing, the last sheaf was called “fox” ( Saône-et-Loire department ) and they said: “We'll beat the fox!” In Saverne , a stuffed fox was placed in front of the threshing floor of the farmer who was the last to finish the threshing had become.

At Louhans , when the last grain was cut, the reapers left a handful and threw their sickles on it. Whoever scored best was called "the fox". Two girls decorated his hat with flowers and at the evening dance festival it was said that the fox dances with all the girls. The harvest meal there was also called renard . In the municipality of Bresse-sur-Grosne (Saône-et-Loire department), the last ear of wheat represented the fox and a few protruding ears were the foxtail. Here, too, the reapers threw the sickles at the tail and when the tail was cut off, they shouted “You cou cou!” And the thrower was honored. In Styria , the so-called "Whitsun Bride" in a festive, white robe was pelted with nettle wreaths and ridiculed, but was nevertheless taken in a solemn procession with two "wreath maidens" to the center of the village, where the "fox dance" took place.

Whether the grain fox had a real existence in Europe in the sense of a grain spirit , or whether it is the result of folklore and religious history speculation, can no longer be decided today. All evidence of the Kornfuchs leads back to the work of James George Frazer , who in turn obtained his material from Wilhelm Mannhardt . Opposite wolf, dog, rooster, rabbit, cat, goat, bull, pig etc. a., the fox as the embodiment of the grain spirit is of subordinate importance for Frazer anyway. Since the customs discovered by Mannhardt in the 19th century have long been extinct, the research is beyond scrutiny. Some conclusions and theories, especially those of Frazer, are rejected by recent research.

Japan

In Japan, the fox is the main animal of the rice plant deity, Inari , and also has the function of protecting the rice fields. In a legend, the rice goddess Inari, who appears as a beautiful woman and a vixen at night, marries a rice farmer and helps him with the flourishing of the rice plants.

South America

In South America, the fox has functions comparable to the European corn and Japanese "rice fox": In the Cusco region , the ararihua field overseers wore a fox skin and a fox hat because there the fox heralds the rain and good harvests. The same can be found in the coastal region of Peru , where the guards were called Pariana . It is said that during their service they were not allowed to eat their food with cutlery, but had to ingest it with their mouths like foxes and call themselves “foxes”. In a North American fairy tale, the goddess “Maismutter” appears in the form of two girls named “Green Corn” and “Yellow Corn” and invites the fox to dance on the roof, that is, to a holy wedding.

Palestine

In the Book of Judges, Samson catches three hundred foxes, ties torches to their tails, lights them and chases them into the grain of the Philistines. So he sets fire on the sheaves, the standing grain, the vineyards and olive trees. (Judges 15: 4) It can be assumed that the biblical episode points to earlier agrarian rites.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Mythological research. P. 109f note 2
  2. ↑ Revue des traditions populaires 2 (1887), p. 500. Quoted in Frazer Golden Bough V, 1, p. 268
  3. ↑ Anton Schlossar: Cultur- and customs pictures from Styria. Graz 1855, p. 54f. Quoted in Mailahn: Göttin, Fuchs und Ostern 2007, p. 27
  4. ↑ Annette Kledt: The Abduction Cyrus studies athenisch-Eleusinian Demeter religion , Palingenesia belt 84, Steiner, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-515-08615-3 , p 20ff Google
  5. ^ Karen A. Smyers: The fox and the jewel . Shared and private meanings in contemporary Japanese Inari worship. Univ. of Hawaií Press, Honolulu 1999, ISBN 0-8248-2058-4 , pp. 75-78 .
  6. ↑ Maxwell Riddle: The wild dogs wild dogs in life and legend . 1st edition. Howell, New York 1979, ISBN 0-87605-809-8 , pp. 102-103 .
  7. ↑ Peter Eeckhout: La Yunga renarde. Une figure symbolique préhispanique . In: Revista Española de anthropología Americana . No. 28 . Facultad, 1998, ISSN  0556-6533 , p. 130–131 ills. Pp. 132–134 ( PDF ).
  8. ↑ Peter Eeckhout: La Yunga renarde. Une figure symbolique préhispanique . In: Revista Española de anthropología Americana . No. 28 . Facultad, 1998, ISSN  0556-6533 , p. 131 ( PDF ).
  9. ^ Elisabeth Willis de Huff: Taytay's tales . folk-lore of the Pueblo Indians. GG Harrap, London 1923, p. 183-186 .
  10. ^ Salomon Reinach: Cultes, Mythes et religions , Paris, Robert Laffont, 1996, p. 549.