Yggdrasil

viking

Norse Mythology Definitions

Vikings- A Norse explorer, warrior or merchant who raided and colonized areas in Europe from the eighth century to the eleventh century.

Ginnungagap- A vast void that existed prior to the creation of the universe.

Nifleheim- The northern realm of Ginnungagap that consisted of ice and intense cold.

Muspellheim- The southern realm of fire and heat in Ginnungagap.

Yggdrasil- The "World Tree" that was located at the center of the universe and joined the nine worlds of Norse mythology.

Asgard- The world and home of the Gods.

Midgard- The world inhabitated by humans.

Hel- The home of the dead.

Bifrost Bridge- The bridge that leads from Midgard, the realm of humans, to Asgard, the realm of gods. It is a divine rainbow.

Ymir- The first Frost Giant that created the race of giants from his sweat. When Ymir was killed the blood from his wounds almost drowned the entire frost giant tribe. Then his body was used to create Midgard. His flesh was the earth, his blood formed seas and lakes. His bones became mountains and his teeth became stones. His hair grew into trees and his skull was set above Ginnungagap and made the sky. Ymir's brains became clouds.

Odin- The son of Bestla and Bor. He was the oldest and greatest.

Frigg- Odins wife. She was a cloud spinner and a very powerful goddess.

The Valkyries- Were Odin's daughters, they were the choosers of the slain and the hero selectors.

The Norns- Were goddess who ruled the fates of the mortals.

Thor- A warrior son. He was the son of Odin and the strongest. He was the god of battle, thunder and fertility. He had a fierce temper and he was the owner of Mjolliner, the hammer.

Balder- A beloved son and loved god. The son of Odin and Figg. He was the god of radiance, rebirth, justice and light. He was beautiful and killed by Loki. His death was prophcided to be before Ragnarok.

Njord- Odin's brother. God of wind and sea and the patron sailor.

Frey- God of fertility, prosperity,sun and rain.

Freya- Goddess of love, fertility, magic and death.

dunn- Wife of Bragi. Goddess of youth and keeper of the golden apples.

Loki- Son of Giants, had mixed blood with Odin. He had magic that he used to be evil and a trickster. He was cunning and decietful. He had three evil children.

Fenrir- Son of Loki, he was the wolf.

Jormungandr- Son of Loki, evil world serpent.

Ragnarok- Doomsday, the final battle and the ending of the world.

Runes- a way of communicating by symbols and sounds.

Jay Johansen"Mourning." Photo of a painting. 11 November 2008.

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THE BAD WIFE

The Native American myth I read comes from the Blackfoot tribe. It is a story of betrayal, deceit and compassion.

A man, a very brave warrior, was married to one wife who he loved with all his heart. He was willing to give her everything. So after she had pestered the man coninously about letting her go and pick berries, even though there was an enemy tribe moving around, the man finally gave in and took his wife and some women to pick berries.

Not long had they been there when the man spotted the enemy tribe. The man threw his wife on the back of his horse and rode off as fast as he could. But the horse was not fast enough with all the weight. The man knew he has to throw his wife off of the horse. He knew the enemy tribe, the Snakes, would not kill such a beautiful, young women. Before he left her he vowed to return and rescue her from the Snakes.

When he got back to his tribe he assembled his men to go and fight for his wife. The man searched the Snakes camp, looking in windows for his beloved wife. When he could not find her he hid himself under the mud and waited for the women to come and get water.
When finally his wife made her way down the river bank he crawled out of his hiding spot and told her that six of her relations were waiting to take her home on the other side of the river. His wife replied "Wait, these people have given my a great many pretty things. Let me go back. When it is night I will gather them up, steal a horse and cross over to you." At first the man protested, then he gave in let her get her pretty things. He went back to his waiting warriors and told them that she would be there at night.
His wife went and told the chief that the sun had told her that there were enemy warriors across the river. The Snakes killed all the men except her husband. They brought him to his wife who acted like she had never seen him before.

She told the chief that the man has asked to be burned by ashes from his pipe and have boiling water poured onto his head.

Finally the man begs for death, he can not stand the torture anymore. So his wife tells the Snake people that the man wants to be given to the Sun.

When the Snakes had moved on to a new place to live, an old Snake women returned and helped the man who was very near death. She healed him and made him stronger. He decides he is not done. He will go to camp and get all his Piegan warriors and he will have revenge on the Snakes and his wife. The old women agrees to help him by marking the trail to lead him to the Snakes new camp.

When he arrived with his men to the Snakes camp he entered the house of the old women and told her to gather her family and keep them in the hut. The man did not want to kill her or her family.

Then in the very late of night the Piegans attacked and they were killing and stabbing people as quickly as they were coming out of thier lodges. His wife cried out: "Don't hurt me. I am Piegan. Are any of my people her?" They captured the wife and killed her by pushing her into a fire.
When the old Snake women came out of her hut she and her family were given one-half of all the horses and valuables the Piegans had taken. The Piegan chief offered to let her and her family join thier tribe and live with them. And so the Snakes joined the Piegans and lived with them until they died and thier children married the Piegans and there were no longer Snake people.



"The Bad Wife." Indian Mythology. Indian Mythology. 2006. 6 November 2008.

www.indianmythology.org/blackfoot/bad_wife.htm

A MTYH is an ancient belief that explains why things are.  They also can't be proven.  The story of Hercules.

HEROES are unique individuals who go on a journey to protect or change his or her community.  They also have a flaw which makes them human.  The story of Atalanta is an example of a hero.

A Hero must go on a HERO JOURNEY.  It's a journey that helps them change and bring a gift or boon back to their community. The sun god Ra goes on a hero journey every single day.

UNIVERSAL means appling to all.  It is both one thing and everything at the same time.  An example is Pandora's curiosity, which is universal.

An ARCHETYPE is an original kind or model.  The three archetypal images of creation are an egg, a watery abyss and a chaotic void.  Three archetypal heroes is Cultural, Trickster and Human.

A CYCLICAL pattern is on that is constantly repeating and cycling.  The Hero Journey is an example of cyclical because it seems to be the same in every religion and belief.

LIFE FROM DEATH is the belief that in order for somethings to live, something else must die.  An example is that for people to live plants and animals must die so we can be fed and live.  Another example is the life of a phoenix, which burns and from the ashes springs a new bird.

DUALITY  is the quality of opposites  existing at one time.  They compliment each other.  For example the ying-yang is an example of good and evil.  Another example is the choice between right and wrong, or between land and water.

CREATION is the beginning of everything.  It was how the earth and gods got started.  The story of creation is when Uranos was killed and his body parts and became the earth.

MATRIARCHAL is the foundation of female power.  It is the foundation of the mother ruling and being the head of the house.  An example is Mother Earth.

PATRIARCHAL is the foundation of male power.  The thought that the male is the head of the house.  An example is Father Sky.

SACRIFICE is giving up something to help others.  An example is Prometheus who sacrificed his life to help people by giving them fire.

Demeter and Persephone

How would you feel if the god of hell stole you from the world that you know, love and feel comfort in and took you against your will to live with him in the dark, unfamiliar scary depths of the Underworld? It would be terrifying, foreign and maddening. The relationship between Demeter, Persephone and Hades is a very interesting and eye-opening story. It also explains the seasons, marriage, innocence, and temptation. It all starts with Demeter, the Mother of the Earth. Unlike other goddesses, she lives on earth and can feel human emotions. She portrays motherhood, is nurturing and offers protection. She has a daughter named Persephone who she loves with all her heart. Persephone represents spring, rebirth, purity, innocence and being impressionable. While Persephone innocently loves life without a scare in the world, Hades comes up to earth, sees the beautiful girl and steals her away from the life she loves and knows. Hades represents death, intimidation and temptation, sin and jealousy.

To begin the process of really getting to know the myth and the characters in it we need to know and understand the three levels of interpretation. They are natural, social and psychological. The natural level is all about the big picture and how the world sees the character. It is the universal understanding of the story. A natural story explains nature and why things are the way they are. On a social level, we dig a little deeper. It is more local; its the level between the world and individual. It may support religious beliefs or represent a social event or why some people or animals behave the way they do. The deepest level of interpretation is psychological. This is the individual level. Many emotions and feelings that myths represent are psychological. It also explains the reason for needs and desires.

Demeter can be analyzed in three different levels, natural, social and psychological. On the natural level, Demeter is the Goddess of Corn and the Earth. She provides food and crops. Aside from the big picture, Demeter also stands for agriculture and the growing of crops to survive and having good soil to grow food and live. On the psychological level Demeter is nurturing, caring, loving, protecting and safe, which is evident by the way she cares for her daughter who she loves more than anything. When her daughter is forcefully taken from the earth she then represents loss, grief sadness and suffering. Which is different because most Gods live on Olympus and do not have or need to experience these emotions, or any emotions for that matter.

Demeter is not the only one that has a physiological level. Persephone is known widely as spring, flowers, trees, newness, babies, rebirth and everything pretty and good. On a bit deeper level we see that she is also about happiness, growth, beauty, innocence, virginity and purity. Persephone can do no wrong. On a very deep level, psychological level, she represents love, being a daughter, being in the teenage learning period and being impressionable and adventurous. After she is taken away from everything she loves, she changes a little bit and this represents loss and guilt, shame, sin, being tempted and falling into temptation.

Hades can also be analyzed on these three levels. On a large level he is seen as the God of the Underworld, and god of death and the god of cruelty. The thing about Hades is that he is just and fair but that is rarely what he is categorized as. On a social level, we see he is intimidating and tainting and also evil representing sin and temptation. But if we really dig deep into the inner realms of Hades and all that he stands for, we can look past the stereotyping and see that he is also lonely, self conscious, fearful, and compassionate. He is also jealous of the gods who get the glamorous life of Olympus, which is very understandable.

So even though it may seem like the story of Demeter and Persephone is solely about how the seasons change from summer to winter, when we dig deeper and try to relate to the characters on a personal level we find that we can learn much more than we thought possible. If we can relate to Hades and how he feels being stuck, lonely and jealous in the Underworld maybe we can start to understand why he took a beautiful, loving, young girl to sit with him at the throne. He may even be a great husband but when we characterize him as evil, dark and cruel we can not always see past that and really relate. So that is why it really helps to understand when we look at the three levels. This proves that in order to really understand mythology we must try to reach deeper into the stories and find out who the gods really are. Not only will it be easier to understand but it will also make learning more fun and interesting.