Mayan Creation Stories

For thousands of years, scientists have tried to interpret the concept of creation. However, before people had access to modern scientific equipment, they told creations stories. A creation story is a myth that explains how and why the earth was made. A few cultures with differing opinions on creation are Europeans, Cherokee Indians, West Africans, and Hawaiians. Europeans tell the story of Genesis and God creating the earth in seven days and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Cherokee Indians believe that the earth was created by a water beetle. In West African culture, they teach the Golden Chain story, and Hawaiians have the Kumulipo story to explain their beliefs on creation. Although each story follows a basic guideline, they all have distinct disparities.

Popol Vuh is the Creation Story Myth by the Mayans. It is a myth history of the Quiché Maya of central highland Guatemala. Once subjugated by Pedro de Alvarado in 1524 (Woodruff 97). It was originally written by the K’iché people in the ancient times (1554-1558 CE). It was believed that all books written at that time where hidden from Christian missionaries so the author has hidden identities but then found their works and destroyed. Only four works of the Yucatan Maya survive in the present day. The Dresden, Madrid, and Paris Codices and the Chilam Balam. And only one of the Quiche: The Popol Vuh. At the beginning of the 18th century Francisco Ximénez discovered the original book of Popol Vuh. He translated the only remaining sources of the book manuscript in Spanish. Francisco Ximénez is a parish priest of Chichicastenango in highland Guatemala. His work is now placed in the Newberry Library, Chicago. The Popol Vuh translated as “The Council Book” or “The Book of people” (The Book of the Mat). It is considered now as a sacred book of the Mayans because it serves as a priceless resource for understanding Maya religion, culture, and history. If any else books were still existing from the Las Casas, it is believed have not yet come to light. To understand this topic better, this paper will demonstrate some things about Popol Vuh and the story behind Xibalba.

Ymir was such a cruel god, Odin and the other gods could not tolerate it any longer and plotted against and killed him. Then Odin and his brothers made all things from the parts of Ymir’s body. Odin had positive interaction with his brothers and they all agreed he was the most powerful. His aunts, Ymir’s sisters were very upset over the death of their brother and constantly caused trouble for everyone.

In the myth of Popul Vuh the book sheds light on what Mayans believed the way creation came about. Popul Vuh is the legacy of Mayan culture that consists of the creation of the Maya, a civilization of people that dates back to 1000 A.D. in Mesoamerica. When comparing the Mayan creation myth to the Greek classic creation myth, there are very few similarities. Greek creation tells the tale of how the earth was created, as well as the heavens. Greek creation method also highly focuses on the creation of the gods themselves. In the Mayan creation myth, the Gods attempt to create a race of humans to do little more than worship them, but to develop a culture.

In Voluspa stanza nine, the volva describes how the gods “would make the lord of the dwarves out of Ymir’s blood and his rotting limbs” (Crawford 4). Snorri, in “Gylfaginning,” elaborates on this by describing how “the earth was made of the flesh and the rocks of the bones” (Sturlson 8). However, Ursula Dronke argues that creating the earth after slaying Ymir was random as, “no other Norse source offers any reason for the killing, and Snorri was probably inventing here what seemed to him most likely” (Dronke 111). However, if the idea of slaying a monster or giant and then using the body to create the new world is a random invention, then how could it appear in the Rig Veda as well? In the “Hymn of Man” section of the Rig Veda, they discuss the killing of Purusa the giant to create the world and how “all creatures are a quarter of him” (Doniger 30).

Another value we see throughout the creation myth is magic. In the creation myth the gods had set the sky and stars, leaving no light until they took two children, Sol and Moon. The gods put them in the sky, Sol drove the chariot that carried the sun and Moon filled the night sky with light (Sturluson). Magic is seen when the gods take to very human beings and set them in the sky to be light for day and night. Furthermore the bifrost was another example of magic in the Norse mythology. The bifrost was a rainbow bridge and its perfected arc and majestic colors are a proof of its origin with the gods (Sturluson). It allowed the gods to get to earth and through the different realms of the heavens. The bifrost sits behind or in a visible

Fire melting ice and ice cooling fire causing drops of moisture to fall and with this life to quicken. With the first meeting of fire and ice those drops took the form of a giant called Ymir.

There were two beings, Ymir the giant, who was nourished by his cow, Auðhumla his cow, born from the venoms from the river Élivágar in the empty void of the Ginnungagap. As he drank the milk of Auðhumla, the sweat that dripped from him gave birth to into giants. From his armpits a male and female were born. From between his legs, a six-headed dog was born. Eventually, three gods, whether born from the insane manner of all the other creatures, from some other, or already existing, it is not known. They were Odin, Vili, and Vé. When Ymir died, or perhaps the three gods killed Ymir, they used his flesh to fashion the earth, his blood to fill the oceans, his blood to raise hills, his hair to grow trees, his brains

In the beginning was a great abyss, Ginnugagap, that was occupied with dormant energy. There were two regions, one full of fire, heat, and light, and the other full of ice and cold. When they came together in the center, Ginnugagap, they created the primeval giant Ymir, from which came the first mad and woman. In Viking cosmology, the earth is depicted as a circular piece of land that is encompassed by the ocean. Yggdrasil, the World Ash, is an enormous tree that sits in the center of the land while the World Serpent rests at the depths of the ocean. Yggdrasil's roots journey down into the Underworld and below them lies a spring of hidden wisdom. An eagle sits at the top of the tree and chewing at its roots is the serpent, while a squirrel

Odin, Vili and Vé, create Midgard from the body of a giant they slayed, Ymir. From his flesh and some of his bones, the gods create the land and mountains. His blood is used to make the sea, his teeth; gravel and boulders. They then put the giants skull above the Midgard and dwarfs at each of the earth's four corners ; North, South, East, and West.They use eyebrows to create a protective fortress around the earth, preventing the giants from invading. From the giants brain, they make the clouds. They take the sparks of Muspelheim to become the stars, sun, and moon. The gods give gants Night and Day chariots, ordering them to ride around the sky. The sweat dripping off the mane of Night's horse causes the dew each morning. The wolf-giant,

The hot winds and fire of Muspel blew onto the ice of Niflheim causing the melting of the ice, the droplets formed into Ymir, a giant, and the very first of the god-like

There was basically nothing, the land of fire, Muspelheim, in the north, Niflheim, The land of ice, in the south, and the Ginnungagap which spanned the land between. The heat and ice met in the Ginnungagap, forming the river Élivágar, from which the first two beings were born, Ymir, the Jotun, who was nourished by his cow, Auðhumla, both born from the venoms from the river. As he drank the milk of Auðhumla, the sweat that dripped from him gave birth to giants. From his armpits, two humanoid beings were born. From between his legs, the next Jotun were born. Three gods were born from Borr, son of Búri, who was formed as Auðhumla licked the salty ice of Niflheim. They were Odin, Vili, and Vé. When Ymir died,

Vulcan, the god of fire, was sitting high up in his volcanic home. His home was right next to the iceland that was the home of Chione. The positive thing about this splitting of the land was the natural phenomena that split the two lands. They were called Ice bubbles. These bubbles were made of methane and they were trapped under the ice. If fire or heat ever tapped it slightly, it would explode. For, they hardly spoke to one another.

(D’aulaires 12). Only Niflheim (a waste of frozen fog) and Muspelheim (a place of raging flames) existed. Between Niflheim and Muspelheim there was a gaping pit called Ginnungagap. As embers and ice whirled around the dark, dismal pit they began to whirl faster and faster until fire created a spark of life within the ice. The frost giant, Ymir, a jotun, and an ice cow emerged from the pit. Ymir fell into a deep sleep. While he slept a male and female jotun formed from the warmth of his left armpit and a six-headed troll grew from his feet. The ice cow also brought life to this world. As she licked and licked the saltiness of Ginnungagap - a head of hair and then a whole body appeared from under her tongue. Next, a handsome man and his son appeared. The son, Borr, married a jotun maiden, Bestla. Together they had three sons who were so fair that they lit up the darkness around them. These three sons- Odin, Hoenir and Lodur were the first of the Aesir gods. They had the power to create a world. To do this the brothers had to kill Ymir first. Successfully, the brothers killed Ymir and pushed his body into Ginnungagap. Brine flowed from his wounds and flooded over the rim, creating the sea and killing his offspring and the cow. The brothers then took Ymir’s body out of the sea and began to make the earth out of his body. The flesh became the land. The bones became the mountains. The teeth made into rocks, the hair became the grass and trees and the eyelashes became

Norse creation mythology is full of dark chaos, murder and transition. The Norse creation myth also known as cosmogony is considered one of the best accounts of such literature in the world. Initially, there was only a gaping abyss which was known as Ginnungagap with no soil or sky. There were two homelands, and one of them was known as Niflheim which was full of elemental ice while the other was known as Muspelheim which was the land of elemental life. Fire flames from Muspelheim blew towards Ginnungagap where it met ice from Niflheim making the frost melt form drops. The drops formed were named Ymir which was one of the giants considered as gods. Ymir could reproduce since it was a hermaphrodite and could asexually reproduce creating more giants (McCoy, Daniel). Through this process, the first woman and man were created named Embla and Ask who were formed from tree trunks. The two created a fence name Midgard to keep them away from the other giants who could harm them (Lindow, John).