Edwin W. Fay, a professor of comparative linguistics at the University of Texas who was known for his translations of the Rig-veda Mantras In The Grhya Sutras, uses Sanskrit literature to discuss the nature of the Vedic god of fire Agni. It is his suggestion that the god's titles in the Aryan past (Aryan referring here to the Indo-European cultural-linguistic group) stemmed from a god of lightening rather than a god of the sun, as others suggested. This discussion highlights the difficulties in determining the origin and nature of any ancient god and will be of interest to mythologists as well as linguists.