Indo-European Cosmology and Poetics: Cosmic Merisms in Comparative and Cognitive Perspective

The Norse mythological poem Vǫluspá and the hymn 10.129 of the Rigveda attest cosmogonic narratives which, as has long been noted, have several correspondences, but also undeniable differences: inter alia, the formula [HEAVEN and EARTH and WATER/SEA] for [COSMOS] which occurs in Vǫluspá 3 does not seem to have exact parallels within the Vedic hymn. The article proposes an interpretation of this formula as a merism of structure [A + [B + C]] which reflects the same polar conceptualization of the [COSMOS] that underlies the more frequent merism [HEAVEN and EARTH] (i.e. as an entity composed of two "halves", an upper and a lower one); this analysis finds support in the lexicon and phraseology of several other Indo-European languages ​​(Latin, Greek, Hittite and Armenian, inter alia). From a cognitive perspective, this conceptualization reflects the application of the UP-DOWN spatial scheme to the structure of the cosmos; in light of this, it is possible to identify a further parallel between the cosmogonic poetics of Vǫluspá 3 and that of Rigveda 10.129.