removed by another she vanishes. These things go to show that such
supernatural beings cannot themselves undo charms expressly performed
against them. So evil spirits cannot penetrate a circle drawn around him
by one who invokes them. So, too, the sign of the cross is an efficient
protection against them; and it is therefore made upon churches and
altars at the time of consecration.

But the stipulation made by the lady of Corwrion was twofold. Not only
was her bridegroom to forbear striking her with iron, but he was not
even to know her name. It is so difficult for us to put ourselves into
the mental attitude of savages, that we do not understand the objection
they almost all entertain to the mention of their names. The objection
itself is, however, well known and widely spread; but it is not always
manifested in exactly the same form. In some cases a man only refuses to
utter his own name, while he will utter another's name readily enough.
Sometimes it is deemed an unpardonable thing to call another by name; he
must be addressed, or spoken of by an epithet. And frequently a man's
real name is a profound secret, known only to himself, all others
knowing him only by some epithet or title. Sometimes it is only
forbidden to relatives by marriage to speak one another's names. Thus in
various ways etiquette has prescribed a number of customs limiting the
utterance of names among savage and barbarous peoples all the world
over. The origin of these rules and customs seems to have been the dread
of sorcery. A personal name was held to be a part of its owner; and,
just as the possession of a lock of another's hair, or even a paring of
his nail, was believed to confer power over him, so was the knowledge of
his name. Similarly men in the lower culture have a great fear of having
their likenesses taken; and everybody is familiar with the belief that a
witch, who has made a waxen image and given it the name of any one whom
she wants to injure, can, by sticking pins in it, or melting it in a
flame, inflict pain, and even death, upon the person whom the doll
represents.[220]

Illustrations of this superstition might easily be multiplied from every
nation under heaven. But we need not go so far afield; for if we compare
the taboo in the story of Corwrion with the other stories I have cited
from the same county, we shall have no difficulty in satisfying
ourselves as to its meaning. It can only belong to the stage of thought
which lo