And Finally, Norse Mythology, My Favorite

Norse mythology was made by the Vikings, Nordic sailors who conquered, traded, and lived in Scandinavia which consists of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. They called their gods Æsir Gods. The King of the Æsir Gods was Odin. He was the God of War, Wisdom, Death, and the Sky. It was rumored that Odin could start a war just by throwing his magic spear.

Odin’s son was Thor. He was the God of Thunder. With his mighty hammer Mjölnir, he fought giants and monsters. His step-brother, Loki, was the God of Trickery and Shapeshifting.

There were nine worlds in Norse mythology. They were all connected  by the Tree of Life named Yggdrasil.

There were:

Asgard, the land where the Æsir Gods lived.

Midgard, where all humans lived.

Nidavellir, the home of the dwarves.

Muspelheim, the realm of fire and demons.

Alfheim, the world of the light elves.

Vanaheim, the home of the Vanir.

Helheim, the home of Hel and the dishonorable dead.

Niflheim, the world of ice.

Jotunheim, the home of all giants.

Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life

Loki was very mischievous, in fact,  Loki once placed a bet with a dwarf named Brokk, that none of the royal weapons could be bettered. Loki said if the dwarves won, they could claim his head. Brokk took the challenge and while the dwarves were working, Loki turned into a fly to distract them. The dwarves won the bet, but, when they came to claim Loki’s head, Loki said that they could take his head, but they had no right to any part of his neck. Since none of the dwarves knew where the head ended and the neck began, they punished Loki by sewing his mouth shut.

Odin once had a dream of how to get more knowledge and see the future. To get this information, he had to hang himself from a tree for nine days, pierced by his own spear.

Loki and Angrboda the giant had three monstrous children, Jörmungandr, Fenrir, and Hel. Jörmungandr was sent to surround Midgard to protect all the humans. Fenrir stayed in Asgard, and Hel was half-alive, half-dead and was sent to Helheim as the Goddess of the Dead.

Fenrir was put in chains in the palace in Asgard to protect the gods. The gods challenged Fenrir of his strength and said that he couldn’t break his chains. Fenrir easily bit his chain and released himself. The gods then went to the dwarves and asked them to make a chain that would withstand Fenrir’s strength.

After the chain was made the chained Fenrir and asked him to break the chain. Fenrir could not and stayed chained forever.

The gods, other than Odin, Thor, and Loki, Balder is the God of Light, Joy, Purity, Beauty, Innocence, and Reconciliation. Frigg is the Queen of the Æsir Gods. She is also the Goddess of Love and Fertility. Tyr is the God of War, Patron, and Justice. Freya is the Goddess of Love. Those are all of the gods you need to know. The others have pretty much the same powers as the other gods but different names. All the Æsir gods lived in Asgard.

Asgard, the Land of the Æsir gods

Norse mythology is a very interesting mythology because of Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life. It holds nine very interesting worlds, but my favorite is Nidavellir, the home of the dwarves. The dwarves are such interesting beings. They always stay inside creating weapons and jewelry from metals because if sunlight touches their skin, they turn to stone!

Dwarves

The second most interesting things in my opinion, are the light elves. These creatures have pointed ears and can do magic. The exact opposite of light elves, are dark elves, which do everything light elves do, but are obviously dark and evil.

Most people think that Vikings wore horns on their battle helmets. That is not true. Hollywood movie makers put horns on the helmets depicting Vikings to make them look more intimidating.

Authentic Viking Helmet

Personally, Norse mythology is my favorite. Please comment on what your favorite myth is. Thank you for reading this three part blog.

Roman Mythology: A Quick Guide

Remus and Romulus’ parent was Rhea Silvia, not the Rhea from Greek mythology. Amulius, the wicked king, hired a slave to throw Remus and Romulus into the Tiber River. To give them a chance, the slave put the boys in a cradle and sent them floating down the river. A she-wolf named Lupa picked them up from the river and raised the two children.

Amulius taking the twins Remus & Romulus

Lupa with Romulus & Remus

When the boys got tall and strong they went back to kill Amulius for his dastardly deed. After they killed Amulius they became rulers. Over time they got bored and wanted to make a city on the countryside where they grew up. They started arguing who should get to be king and eventually, Romulus killed Remus, and named the city after himself. The city’s name was Rome.

Romulus killed his twin brother Remus &
named the city of Rome after himself
Seen here Dabbing.

The Romans copied the Greek Gods with some name adjustments.

Here’s  a chart:

Zeus=Jupiter, God of the Sky

Hera=Juno, Goddess of the Heavens

Poseidon=Neptune, the God of the Sea

Hades=Pluto, the God of the Underworld

Demeter=Ceres, Goddess of the Harvest

Dionysus=Bacchus, God of Wine

Hephaestus=Vulcan, God of Fire and Metalworking

Athena=Minerva, Goddess of Wisdom and Crafts

Ares=Mars, God of War

Aphrodite=Venus, Goddess of Love

Artemis=Diana, Goddess of the Hunt

Apollo=Apollo, God of Music and the Sun

The monsters are the exact same thing as well as the heroes.

Make sure to check out my third and final blog in this series about Norse mythology!

Greek Mythology

In the fall of 2016, I started reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I have recently started on the third book of The Heroes of Olympus series. All of this got me thinking, I should do a blog about myths.

No I don’t think I’m a “myth-master” just because I read the series. I have been researching all myths on my own, including the following: Greek, Roman, Norse, and Egyptian mythologies.

Greek mythology is where my adventure begins. At the beginning of time, Mother Earth, or Gaea, created rivers with the blood running through her veins. The hills and earth were made of her luscious green hair. The sky, Ouranos, took interest in Mother Earth and she consequently bore ten strong children. These were named the Titans. The youngest Titan, Cronus, was a very curious child.

Ouranos, Gaea, and Tartarus

Gaea and Ouranos next had six children. Three one-eyed Cyclops and three children with one hundred arms named the hundred-handed ones. Ouranos hated his hideous children and sent them to the bottom of Tartarus, the abyss in the Underworld where terrible creatures were held.

Gaea hated Ouranos because he killed her six hideous, but loved, sons. So in return she asked her youngest child Cronus to use an adamantine sickle to kill Ouranos. Cronus did as his mother told him and killed his father.

Cronus was then the Ruler of the World and Time. He married a Titan named Rhea. Even though they were siblings, they married because…reasons (this happened a lot in mythology). They had five children that Cronus swallowed. I’m not even joking, he ate all five of his children! When Rhea gave birth to her sixth child, Zeus, instead allowing Cronus to eat Zeus, Rhea tricked Cronus into eating a boulder.

Zeus grew up to be tall and powerful and when the time was right, Zeus overthrew Cronus and became the ruler of the world. He made Cronus vomit all of his children. They all survived in Cronus’ stomach all of those years. The children’s names were Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Hera, and Demeter.

This is where it gets confusing. Zeus got a Titan named Metis pregnant. To avoid getting overthrown like his father before him, he ate Metis (what is wrong with this family?!). Zeus started getting headaches and bore the child Athena…from his head.

Zeus then married Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest. She bore the child Persephone.

The following will perhaps be easier to understand:

Hera+sheer will=Hephaestus

Zeus+Leto=Apollo and Artemis

Ouranos’ body parts+the ocean=Aphrodite

Zeus+Maia=Hermes

Zeus+Hera=Ares      

 This is Greek mythology in a nutshell.

Stay tuned for Part II of this three part series on mythology!