The penance of the warrior in Indo-European sagas: Mimesis, scapegoat and sacrifice

One of the most widespread criticisms of René Girard's theory – which seems highly powerful in explaining the foundations of all human culture – is the claim of the author's selectivity when it comes to the texts he examines. In this thesis Girard's theory has been used to analyze the common Indo-European Three Sins of the Warrior theme that has been revealed by Georges Dumézil, and the conclusions have been shared with the reader. In the First Chapter, primeval sacrifice stories of the Vedic and Germanic traditions are examined along with the Girard's theory to create a sound basis in reader's mind about the ancient Indo-European's understanding of the sacrifice. In the Second Chapter the theme of the Three Sins of the Warrior, which is the central subject of the thesis, is deeply analyzed. And in the Third Chapter, a phenomenon that has been revealed through the findings of the previous chapters, the phenomenon of the Sacrifice-God, is examined through Scandinavian and Indian sagas and religious texts, and the special status of Christianity as it is thought by Girard has been opened to discussion. Throughout the study we have been very careful to stay loyal to the holy scriptures and sagas, avoided speculations as much as possible and tried to be sure about the originality of the work that we are presenting. The importance of this thesis doesn't sprout solely from its originality, but also its feature of being a kind of introduction for those who are familiar neither with Girard's theory nor Indo-European studies. As source, along with the ancient texts, we used many esteemed works of notable scholars from various disciplines such as sociology, ethnology, theology, history of religions, linguistics, archaeology, archaeogenetics and zooarchaeology. Keywords: Indo-European Studies, Girardian Mechanisms, Primeval Sacrifice, Three Sins of the Warrior, Krishna and Odin.