Derivation Of The Word " Mason."

DERIVATION OF THE WORD " MASON . "

BY BRO . GEORGE F . FORT . THE irresistible might attributed to the hammer of the Norse deity , Thor , had so far surA'ived the practice of pagan rites among the Teutonic races , that many of its symbolic uses were perpetuated in the

ordinary details of civil and ecclesiastical society during tbe Middle Ages . Perhaps the last historical application of the redoubted mallet to typical purposes may be found in the surname of the Fran Irish

King , Charles M artel , or Charles the Hammer-bearer , who , until the rising tide of Moslem conquest in Europe was checked at Tours , still maintained the custom of carrying the diminutive hammer as a prototype of the all-powerful God of Asgard . Numerous and oft recurring references

in the Eddiac songs to the manifold powers of this divine implement , attest hoAv profoundly the pagan mind of Northern Europe Avas impressed with the absolute necessity of its presence , not only in celebrating the battle-god ' s characteristic

worship , but in the humbler spheres of civil and domestic life . The most sacred duties of society Avere halloAved by the mallet touch , when wielded Avith emblematic allusion to the binding force inherent in Thor ' s celebrated weapon . In the cumbersome and solemn ceremony of an

ancient Scandinavian marriage , this symbol must rest upon the knee of the veiled bride , in direct allusion to that unquestioning renunciation of personal Avill which she surrendered unto marital authority . AVhen , amid imposing rites , the body of the cherished dead was about to be

reduced to ashes , or placed upon a fragile bark to endure the merciless tossing of faithless Avaters , the priesthood , in imitation of theNor ^ ediviuity , consecrated thefuneral pile Avith a mallet . With this instrument those Avho had outlived the age of strength

and martial activity , were remorselessly slaughtered and sent to Thor . Behind the door in every Teutonic household , such a hammer Avas always hung in vieAv . Although Christianity extinguished the more flagrant features of the ancient paganism , the new religion suffered unnumbered symbolical uses of this implement to continue , and in

some instances incorporated tbem with other religious practices . In this way it survived to mediaeval judicial procedure ; nor Avas it restricted to actual court usage , but was oftentimes made to serve as an

ensign or signal to rally the people of certain districts , in order to congregate them as a united body at a designated place . Primarily the suspension of a hammer in churches alluded to the original tragic purposes to which it Avas formerly applied . Subsequently it Avas substituted by a club

or mace , ancl in this form for centuries continued to be displayed in many sacred edifices , till towards the close of the Middle Ages . At the entrance of some provincial towns in Germany , a club Avas hung up , at the side of which a a doggerel verse

portrayed its death-dealing properties , descended from the Norse god ' s mallet . Kven in Monasteries an implement of this kind was preserved as an emblem and as a symbol of union . When the early Germanic guilds , dating from the first forms of Teutonic

society , had so far developed into an accurately defined element in later times , they still retained the ancient forms , and certainly many of the symbols with which their precursors performed

heathen-religious . Societies thus based upon tbe worship of Thor , the divine Hammer-Bearer , rigidly maintained the unalterable type of that divinity , the mallet or mace , as a symbol of their closely-organized union . After the victory of Charles Martel at Tours in

France , and tbe rapid extension of Christianity , consequent upon the defeat of the Mohammetan forces , the hammer , Avhich distinguished this illustrious monarch and procured for him the title ul ancient protector of Gallic Masonsapparently

, ceased to be carried by his successors , the Carlovingian kings , as referring too directly to the Norse battle-god . It Avas therefore substituted by another implement , equally typical of poAver , the mace , and still continues in royal ceremonials to be ensign

of authority and union . From the mallet , club , or mace , of identical and exact signification , the name of mason has originated . The symbolical attributes of Thor ' s mallet or mace are to this day the groundwork of a master ' s authority over a Lodge of Masons , and the strange vitality of this deity ' s symbol still