Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions by T. W. Doane

the _lower regions_. It enters the sign Capricornus, or the Goat, and the astronomical winter begins. The days have reached their shortest span, and the _Sun_ has reached his extreme southern limit. The winter solstice reigns, and the Sun seems to stand still in his southern course. For three days and three nights he remains in hell--the lower regions.[495:1] In this respect _Christ_ Jesus is like other Sun-gods.[495:2] In the ancient sagas of Iceland, the hero who is the Sun personified, descends into a tomb, where he fights a vampire. After a desperate struggle, the hero overcomes, and rises to the surface of the earth. "This, too, represents the Sun in the northern realms, descending into the tomb of winter, and there overcoming the power of darkness."[495:3]