Note 165 — PART II (continued 3)
Reading edition
It is curious to note how Dante employs this symbol to represent the Imperial eagle, in Purg. xxxii. 125 sqq., which, in its onslaught upon the car of the Church, reminds us how the bird Karshipta breaks off the branches of the Tree of Life in the Var of Yima. Surely this coincidence, and also the frequency of the culture bird in the myths of unconnected races, afford good examples of the independent origin of similar ideas. In the branch covered with life-giving berries, brought by the eagles in the Voyage of Maelduin, we may possibly have a modification of the popular Irish tradition, further influenced by the Phœnix legend, or, maybe, some Oriental tradition, derived through intercourse with the Eastern Churches.