There is a short sequence of glyphs in the Tahua text which is initiated with a niu glyph:
The intended meaning of the sequence may be to bring to mind the story about 'killing' the old fire and how a new fire then is alighted, corresponding to the new year sun. Here niu would then correspond to the first phase of the story - when the old fire has been stamped out and only the ghost of it remains at the top. The bottom part is like a sack into which the still red hot embers of the old fire have been put. Aa1-13 marks the 'death' of the old year. The 3 glyphs arrive after 12 glyphs referring to the solar calendar year. |
