As in some
places the grain taken from the Corn-mother is mixed with the
seed-corn in spring to make the crop abundant, so in some places the
feathers of the cock, and in Sweden the Yule Boar, are kept till
spring and mixed with the seed-corn for a like purpose. As part of
the Corn-mother or Maiden is given to the cattle at Christmas or to
the horses at the first ploughing, so part of the Yule Boar is given
to the ploughing horses or oxen in spring. Lastly, the death of the
corn-spirit is represented by killing or pretending to kill either
his human or his animal representative; and the worshippers partake
sacramentally either of the actual body and blood of the
representative of the divinity, or of bread made in his likeness.
Other animal forms assumed by the corn-spirit are the fox, stag,
roe, sheep, bear, ass, mouse, quail, stork, swan, and kite. If it is
asked why the corn-spirit should be thought to appear in the form of
an animal and of so many different animals, we may reply that to
primitive man the simple appearance of an animal or bird among the
corn is probably enough to suggest a mysterious link between the
creature and the corn; and when we remember that in the old days,
before fields were fenced in, all kinds of animals must have been
free to roam over them, we need not wonder that the corn-spirit
should have been identified even with large animals like the horse
and cow, which nowadays could not, except by a rare accident, be
found straying in an English corn-field.
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