Abram Smythe Palmer (1844 – 10 July 1917) was a

doctor of divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

, lecturer at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, and enthusiastic

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...

and

mythographer Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

. For most of his life he was the vicar of Holy Trinity Church,

South Woodford South Woodford is an area of east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Woodford Green to the north, Walthamstow to the west, Snaresbrook and Wanstead to the south and Redbridge to the east, and is north-east of ...

, today a north-eastern suburb of London. He was the father of the composer

Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer (, 8 October 1882 – 29 November 1957) was an Irish composer, mainly of operas and vocal music, among them the first musical settings of poems by James Joyce. Biography Palmer was born of Protestant Irish parents in S ...

Müller's solar myth

Palmer re-issued

Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic disciplines of Indian ...

's ''

Comparative Mythology Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics.Littleton, p. 32 Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used ...

'' (1856) in 1908, with an extensive introduction and annotations, stating that he noted "a reaction taking place in favour of the views advanced by Max Müller". Müller had introduced the "solar myth" school of thought, which interpreted the world's mythology in terms of a supposed prehistoric

solar myth A solar deity or sun deity is a deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it. Such deities are usually associated with power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. The ...

. Palmer included in his edition the "Oxford Solar Myth", an 1870 parody by R. F. Littledale, which "proved" that Max Müller was himself a solar divinity.

Selected publications

Palmer's publications include: * ''Leaves from a Word-Hunter's Note-Book, Being Some Contributions to English Etymology'' (1876) * ''Folk-Etymology: A Dictionary of Verbal Corruptions or Words Perverted in Form or Meaning by False Derivation or Mistaken Analogy'' (1882) * ''Babylonian Influence on the Bible and Popular Beliefs: "Tĕhôm and Tiâmat", "Hades and Satan": A Comparative Study of Genesis I. 2'' (1897) * ''Jacob at Bethel: The Vision, the Stone, the Anointing: An Essay in Comparative Religion'' (1899) * ''The Folk and Their Word-Lore'' (1904) * ''The Ideal of A Gentleman; or, A Mirror for Gentlefolks, A Portrayal in Literature from the Earliest Times'' (1908) * ''The Samson-Saga and Its Place in Comparative Religion'' (1913)

References

Bibliography

External links

* *
Holytrinitysouthwoodford.org.ukScholarworks.iu.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Abram Smythe 1844 births 1917 deaths Irish lexicographers Mythographers