Book Reviews

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong

Page 11

REVIEWS
Herman Lommel, Kleine Schriften. Herausgegeben von Klaus L. Janert (Glasenapp-Stiftung, Band 16). Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH., 1978. XX, 626 pp. DM 88,-.
The sixteenth volume of the publications of the Glasenapp-Stiftung contains a selection of the work of Herman Lommel (1885-1968). Several of his articles relating to Avestan studies were reprinted already in Zarathustra (Darmstadt, 1970) and his translations of the Gathas of Zarathustra were incorporated in a posthumous publication: Die Gathas des Zarathustra (Basel, 1971). For this reason the present volume does not fully reflect the importance of Lommel's work in the field of Avestan studies, to which he made such important contributions in the period between the first and second world wars. Most of the articles reprinted in this volume were published in the period 1939-1968, and relate to Vedic studies. In this field Lommel made much use of mythological and ethnological parallels and the later Vedic literature for the explanation of Vedic hymns. Lommel defended this recourse to later legends especially against Oldenberg, cf. for instance p. 235: "Im allgemeinen wird man ja bei Sagen und Legenden, wenn wesentliche Züge ihres Inhalts mit Angaben älterer Originalquellen übereinstimmen, darin ein Anzeichen finden, dass sie trotz legendärer Ausschmückung Glaubhaftes enthalten und, wo nicht ein Bild, doch ein Spiegelbild wirklicher Geschehnisse geben" (cf. also p. 488). With regard to mythological and ethnological parallels Lommel was aware of the fact that his colleagues did not always approve of his methods. Typical is the following passage from his article on 'Kopfdämonen im alten Indien': "Die ethnologischen Parallelen legen uns die Auffassung nahe, dass auch im Namuci-Mythos der abgetrennte Kopf, der seinem Überwinder drohend nachrollt, eine Erscheinungsform des Mondes sei. Solche Analogien können auf die richtige Einsicht lenken, aber doch nur eine Wahrscheinlichkeit ergeben; Beweise sind sie nicht. Darum mag der eine mehr, der andere weniger geneigt sein, solchen Hinweisen zu folgen, und es scheint, dass Indologen und Indogermanisten Parallelen aus anderen Kulturbereichen nicht gerne berücksichtigen" (p. 419). Perhaps Lommel has not always escaped the danger of being too much influenced by parallels in his interpretations of Vedic myths.
Lommel tried to study Avestan and Vedic concepts in a wider context. In his very speculative article on 'Mithra und das Stieropfer' he wrote: “Die kultische Tötung des Soma in Gestalt von Pflanzenschösslingen beim vedischen Opfer und der Mythos von der Tötung des Haoma-Stiers im Mithras-Mythos stehen also in einem weiten ethnologischen Zusammenhang und sind die arische Ausgestaltung eines urzeitlichen, prähistorischen Mythos und Kultus" (p. 208). It is obvious that Lommel was much influenced by the work of Walter Otto, Leo Frobenius, Ad. E. Jensen and C. Hentze, and this influence has perhaps not always been entirely beneficial. His attempts to study Vedic mythology in a wider context also led Lommel to study the relations between mythological concepts in the Near East and India, cf. his articles on 'Regenkamm und Himmelsrind' (pp. 524-550) and 'Again: the two-headed celestial cow' (pp. 551-559).
In his studies of Vedic gods (Indra, Mitra and Soma) Lommel went his own way and vigorously defended his views against those of other Vedic scholars who, in general, have remained rather sceptical towards his interpretations. It is a pity that his monograph on Indra (Der arische Kriegsgott, Frankfurt, 1939) was not reprinted in this volume, because it contains his most detailed study of a Vedic god.
Almost all the articles published by Lommel in Paideuma and in Symbolon have been reprinted in this volume. In reading these articles one cannot escape the impression that
Indo-Iranian Journal 22 (1980) 237-264.0019-7246/80/0223-0237 Copyright © 1980 by D. Reidel Publishing Co., Dordrecht, Holland, and Boston, U.S.A.