As Odin
was the leader of all disembodied spirits, he was identified in the middle ages
with the Pied Piper of Hamelin. According to mediæval legends, Hamelin was so
infested by rats that life became unbearable, and a large reward was offered to
any who would rid the town of these rodents. A piper, in parti-coloured
garments, offered to undertake the commission, and the terms being accepted, he
commenced to play through the streets in such wise that, one and all, the rats
were beguiled out of their holes until they formed a vast procession. There was
that in the strains which compelled them to follow, until at last the river
Weser was reached, and all were drowned in its tide.
“And ere three shrill
notes the pipe uttered,
You heard as if an army
muttered;
And the muttering grew to
a grumbling;
And the grumbling grew to
a mighty rumbling;
And out of the houses the
rats came tumbling.
Great rats, small rats,
lean rats, brawny rats,
Brown rats, black rats,
grey rats, tawny rats,
Grave old plodders, gay
young friskers,
Fathers,
mothers, uncles, cousins,
Cocking tails and
pricking whiskers,
Families
by tens and dozens,
Brothers, sisters,
husbands, wives—
Followed the Piper for
their lives.
From street to street he
piped advancing,
And step for step they
followed dancing,
Until they came to the
river Weser,
Wherein all plunged and
perished!”
Robert Browning.
As the
rats were all dead, and there was no chance of their returning to plague them,
the people of Hamelin refused to pay the reward, and they bade the piper do his
worst. He took them at their word, and a few moments later the weird strains of
the magic flute again arose, and this time it was the children who swarmed out
of the houses and merrily followed the piper.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin by H. Kaulbach
“There was a rustling that seemed like a bustling
Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling;
Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering,
Little hands clapping and little tongues
chattering,
And, like fowls in a farmyard when barley is
scattering,
Out came all the children running.
All the little boys and girls,
With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,
And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls,
Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after
The wonderful music with shouting and laughter.”
Robert Browning.
The
burghers were powerless to prevent the tragedy, and as they stood spellbound
the piper led the children out of the town to the Koppelberg, a hill on the
confines of the town, which miraculously opened to receive the procession, and
only closed again when the last child had passed out of sight. This legend
probably originated the adage “to pay the piper.” The children were never seen
in Hamelin again, and in commemoration of this public calamity all official
decrees have since been dated so many years after the Pied Piper’s visit.
“They made a decree that lawyers never
Should
think their records dated duly
If, after the day of the
month and year,
These words did not as
well appear,
’And so long after what
happened here
On
the Twenty-second of July,
Thirteen hundred and
seventy-six:’
And the better in memory
to fix
The place of the
children’s last retreat,
They called it the Pied
Piper Street—
Where any one playing on
pipe or tabor
Was sure for the future
to lose his labour.”
Robert Browning.
In this
myth Odin is the piper, the shrill tones of the flute are emblematic of the
whistling wind, the rats represent the souls of the dead, which cheerfully
follow him, and the hollow mountain into which he leads the children is typical
of the grave.
-------------------------
From
MYTHS OF THE NORSEMEN translated by H. A. Geurber
Illustrated
by various artists
ISBN:
978-1-907256-65-3
Click
on the URL for more info, a table of contents and to order in USD or GBP.
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