Essay about An Inside Look at Norse Mythology

The creation of the gods starts with chaos and from the chaos came the endless gods: Eros, Tartarus, and Gaea (Love, hell, and the earth). Gaea created Uranus, the first ruler of the sky and Eros

Norse Mythology’s creation started with a giant named Ymir. He emerged from the ground and grew very large from cow’s milk. In time, the god Buri and his wife appeared and gave birth to Bor and Bor’s son was named Odin. Ymir, was evil, and the gods didn’t like it, so they killed him, making his huge body form the earth. His blood became the sea, his flesh became land, his bones became mountains, his hair became the trees, and his

Hundreds of years ago people did not have the technology to explain different forces of nature. They created gods, each with separate powers, to rule their domains. Some of the gods were merciful, some were wicked, and others were merely servants of more powerful gods. Looking at the gods, it is easy to tell what the civilization most valued. I am going to look at the Greek and the Norse gods to compare what was most important to their societies.

Scandinavian Paganism, more commonly known as Norse Mythology, was a popular polytheistic religion during the Anglo-Saxon time period. It is believed to have been derived from the culture of Germanic Paganism. According to Norse Mythology, at the center of the universe lies the greatest ash tree, known as Yggdrasil, whose roots and branches spread across the universe connecting each of the nine realms of Aesir, giants, and Niflheim. The world was believed to have been created by the body of Ymir, a giant that was killed and dismembered by the first gods. His flesh created the earth, his bones formed the mountains, and his blood filled the seas.

The Norse story did not have one maker of good, but multiple elements and events that emerged from one evil giant in this creation myth. Ymir was malicious and wicked and when Odin and the other gods could no longer tolerate Ymir's evil acts, they united to kill the giant. "Ymir’s huge body formed the earth, his blood became the sea, his flesh became the land, his bones the mountains and his hair the trees" (Distant Train, Inc., 2011). The other gods and Odin shaped the sky with his skull, it was held up by four towering tall pillars. Odin created the sun and moon out of sparks of the fiery depths of Muspell and placed them in the sky. The ice began to melt in the new world of Ginnungagap from the illumination of the sun and moon and vegetation began to grow. Odin named the new world Midgard, meaning 'The Middle Land'. Odin discovered two fallen trees, of ash and of elm, which he then extracted from the mud and shaped the first woman and man. "Odin breathed life into the beings, gave them reason and feelings, hearing and sight" (Distant Train, Inc., 2011). Similar to the Genesis story of Adam and Eve, Odin then called the man Ask and the woman Embla.

In the beginning there was no time or gods, only land and sea. Where the sea meet the land a white mare burst forth from the sea foam, her name was Eiocha. Eiocha soon found some sea-foam seeds and ate them, soon they grew into a child in her, she gave birth to the god named Cernunnos. While she was giving birth her pain was so great that she ripped off a piece of bark that she catapulted into the sea, as it fell to the watery deeps of the sea it grew to deep-sea giants. As for poor lonely Cernunnos he felt that he was outnumbered for the great number of sea giants, he along with his horse-mother they created more gods, their names were Maponos, the God of Youth, Tauranis, the God of Thunder, Teutates, the Protector, and the fertility goddess, Epona. After Eiocha’s children grew into adults she became sad and depressed, while she longed for the sea she finally returned to her life as a sea-mare, and became known as Tethra, goddess of the deep. Soon the gods and goddesses created a paradise like land, while the deep-sea giants looked upon the gods with hatred they declared war upon the gods. After a great war and successfully making the giants return to the sea, the gods turned to the place they once called paradise. It was in ruin, as well as almost all humans were killed, all except for two that Epona had saved and they were charged with recreating the human

The Norse mythos' story of creation centers around the tale of Ymir the Giant. In the beginning there were two planes separated by Ginnungagap, an empty void: Niflheim, a plane of ice, and Muspelheim, a plane of fire (Short.). Then, formed out of dripping snow, came Ymir

In the beginning of time, there was a god and his four children who created the earth. For example, all five gods had a different job on their creation. His four children were gods of earth, wind, fire, and water; they created the basics of Earth. The main god, Atenis, was in charge of creating the living specimens and giving the modernistic earth purpose. Furthermore, Atenis and his children had to discover a suitable piece of land for their creation. They searched far and wide for the perfect planet to establish a world. After a year of scrutinizing throughout the galaxy, the gods rejoiced when they found land that would soon be called Earth. Before long, Atenis sent his children to construct his mental idea to a physical being.

“Never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race. … Behold, the church of St. Cuthbert, spattered with the blood of the priests of God, despoiled of all

The Norse creation myth does not have one maker of good, but many events and elements that emerge from one evil giant. In this story a cow slowly licks away mountains of ice from two beings, creating the god Buri and his goddess wife (Distant Train, Inc., 2011). "They had a son named Bor, and his son was named Odin, who became the king of all the gods" (Distant Train, Inc., 2011, para. 6). Ymir was an evil, brutal, and cruel giant. One day Odin and the other gods plotted to kill Ymir because they could no longer follow his evil ways. Ymir's body became the earth, his flesh became the land, his blood became the sea, his hair became the trees, and his bones became the mountains (Distant Train, Inc., 2011). Odin and the other gods created the sky from Ymirs' skull, which was held up by four pillars (Distant Train, Inc., 2011). Odin created the moon and the sun by

“The gods have such a challenge, and they will agree to send you. Far away, to a shadow giant’s realm known as Shadow Crown. Deep in the northern mountains. Go now, Odin shall grant you vision on your

At the beginning there was nothing but water. Until one day Apusu and Tiamat descendants became unruly. Apusu was frustrated and wanted to kill their clan so Apusu left Tiamat and went on with the plan to kill the clan. Then the young gods found out about the plan against them so the son of Damkina his named was Marduk he was the god of rain and storms. The gods finally called on Marduk to take on his father’s battle. Marduk got ready for the battle and armed himself and then he set off on his journey to find Tiamat’s army. After the fought Marduk split Tiamat’s body in half. Marduk went to seek to vanish the other gods that was with Tiamat. The gods

That which is innangard (“inside the fence”) is orderly, law-abiding, and civilized, whereas that which is utangard (“beyond the fence”) is chaotic, anarchic, and wild. This applies each to the geographical plane and also the human psyche; thoughts and actions is innangard or utangard even as pronto as spatial locations. Asgard, the “Enclosure of the Aesir,” is that the divine model of the innangard, whereas Jotunheim, the “Homeland of the Giants,” is that the model of the utangard. Midgard is, once again, somewhere within the middle. But, because the -gard part within the name implies, Midgard is – at least in theory – attempt to be a lot of like Asgard, additional ordered according to the divine model upon that it’s

Using the power of thought, Atum created his form. To be, the great god Atum created a large dirt pile upon which he could stand. Lonely, Atum took from his shadow two children – Shu and Tefuut. He sent them forth to create the world. After a time, Atum missed his children, so he took his eye and sent it out onto the earth to search for them. Shu and Tefuut returned to the god safely, so he cried joyfully. From the power in his tears, humans arose. Shu and Tefuut gave birth to two children, Geb and Nut, who were to create a place for the humans to live. However, the god and goddess fell in love. This was forbidden, so Atum separated them forever by making Nut the Earth and Geb the sky. Nut was pregnant, and gave birth to the gods Isis, Set, Horus, Nephys, and Osiris. Osiris was given the earth to rule, and humans were placed on the

Asgard is sometimes known as Asgarth. It is the realm of the gods and the home of both the Aesir and Vanir. Is is ruled by Odin, the leader of the Norse deities. It is located in the heavens, but is connected to earth by a bridge, known as Bifrost, sometimes referred to as a rainbow. There is also a route from Asgard to the underworld, the domain of Hel. Valhalla, a hall within Asgard, was the palace for fallen kings, warriors who had died in battle and heroes.