Grassman and Ludwig give the epithet "fearless" to the gods and to Vala, respectively.

But compare I.6.7, where the same word is used of Indra.

For the oft-mentioned act of cleaving the cave, where the dragon Val or Vritra (the restrainer or envelopper) had coralled the kine( i.e.without metaphor, for the act of freeing the clouds and letting loose the rain), compare I.32.2, where of Indra it is said: "He slew the snake that lay upon the mountains ...

like bellowing kine the waters, swiftly flowing, descended to the sea"; and verse 11: "Watched by the snake the waters stood ...

the waters' covered cave he opened wide, what time he Vritra slew."] [Footnote 28: Aryan, Sanskrit _arya, arya_, Avestan _airya_, appears to mean the loyal or the good, and may be the original national designation, just as the Medes were long called [Greek: _Arioi_].