The Humanities Program: by Rosamund Hodge

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Norse Mythology

The Norse were a people who lived mainly in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland, though they travelled all across Europe. You have probably heard of them as the Vikings, the raiders who terrorized England and Ireland in the eighth and ninth centuries. But the Norse were also traders, farmers, and artists; and like all peoples, they had their own religion.

Like the Greeks and Egyptians, the Norse worshipped many gods, most of whom ruled over some aspect of nature. But the Norse experienced nature very differently than the Greeks and Egyptians did. Because they lived far to the north, their lives were a battle to stay warm through the icy winters. So it is not surprising that--unlike the Greek gods--the Norse gods were locked in a constant battle with the Frost Giants and Fire Giants who wanted to destroy the world.

As you read the stories about the Norse gods, think about how they are similar to the other mythologies you have read, and how they are different. What might have caused the Norse to tell such stories about the world around them? What would it be like to believe in Odin instead of Zeus?

Out of Fire and Ice: The Norse Creation Story

In the beginning there was Múspell, the realm of fire, and Niflheim [niv-uhl-heym], the realm of ice. Between them there was nothing except a vast emptiness called the Ginnungagap [gin-oong-ga-gahp]. For many ages there was nothing else. But gradually, sparks began to fly out of Múspell while icy fogs billowed out of Niflheim. They met in the middle of Ginnungagap, which became as mild as a summer's day; the fog condensed into water-drops, and the drops were given life by the sparks.

Out of the mixture condensed Ymir [ee-mir], the first giant. As he slept, a male and a female giant grew under his armpits, and another one sprouted out of his foot. These strange children were the ancestors of all the giants, who are the terrible enemies of gods and men.

But the gods had a very different origin. Out of the fire and ice also came a giant cow named Audhumla [owd-hoom-la]. She was hungry, so she began to lick the salty ice flowing out of Niflheim. On the first day that she licked the ice, she uncovered a man's hair; on the next day, his head was visible; and on the third day, the whole man came free of the ice. His name was Búri, and he was the ancestor of all the gods. He married the daughter of a giant and had a son named Borr, who also married a giant's daughter. Borr's sons were Odin, Vili, and Vé, who would become the great gods of the Norse.

Even though the gods had married giant women, they were enemies with the giants from the beginning. They fought constantly, until one day Odin, Vili, and Vé finally killed Ymir. So much blood poured out of Ymir's wounds that all the giants were drowned--except for one, who climbed on a chest with his wife and floated to safely. In this way, the feud between the gods and giants continued.

Meanwhile, the three brothers dragged Ymir's body to the middle of the Ginnungagap and made it into the world we know. Ymir's flesh became the earth, his blood became the oceans, and his bones became the mountains. They made his skull into the sky; the stars they made with sparks from Niflheim, but they made the clouds out of Ymir's brains.

After Odin, Vili, and Vé had finished, they went walking along the sea-shore to look at the world they had made. Washed up on the shore were two tree-trunks. The three gods shaped the them into the forms of a man and woman. Odin gave them breath and life; Vili gave them thought and movement; and Vé made them able to speak, hear, and see. Then they gave them clothing and names: the man was called Ask and the woman was called Embla. From them are descended all the people of the world.

Orpheus and Eurydice

Orpheus was the son of Calliope, the goddess of epic poetry, and he was the greatest musician who ever lived. When he played on his lyre, all the people fell silent, animals gathered round to listen, and even trees would lean towards the sound of his music.

Now Orpheus fell in love with a woman named Eurydice, and they were married with great rejoicing. But there was an evil omen at the wedding: the marriage torch could not be lit, no matter what Orpheus did. And this omen was immediately fulfilled. As Orpheus and Eurydice walked away from the ceremony together, a snake rose up out of the grass and bit her, and she died in his arms without a word.

Heartbroken, Orpheus swore to get Eurydice back, no matter the cost. So he begged advice from many gods, and he searched through many strange lands, and he descended into deep caverns, until at last he found the entrance to the Underworld, the land of the dead.

The gate to the Underworld was guarded by Cerberus, a snarling three-headed dog; but when Orpheus played a lullaby, Cerberus lay down to sleep. Then he came to the river Styx, which was guarded by the ferryman, Charon, who was not supposed to let anyone but the dead pass -- and they could only pass one way. Orpheus sang a beautiful song to Charon about his love for Eurydice, and the ferryman agreed to take him across, even though he was not dead.

So Orpheus came into the cold hall of Hades and Persephone, the King and Queen of the dead. There before their shadowy thrones he played a song so lovely that all the dead gathered to listen. The souls of the good, who lived happily in the Elysian Fields, were filled with sorrow for his loss. The souls of the evil, who were continually punished for their crimes, forgot their pain in his beautiful music. Even the Furies, the three terrible goddesses who avenged crimes without mercy, wept in pity. And Hades himself was moved.

"Ask me for a favor," he said, "and I will grant it."

"Let Eurydice return to life," said Orpheus.

Hades replied, "I will. But you must walk back to the living world with Eurydice following behind you, and you cannot look back until you have reached the sunlight, or she will be lost forever."

Orpheus agreed. It seemed like an easy thing to do. But as he climbed the road out of the Underworld, he could not hear Eurydice's footsteps, and he began to doubt that she was following him. Perhaps she had gotten lost along the way. Perhaps Hades had tricked him, and never given her back in the first place. At last, just as Orpheus saw the daylight ahead, he could bear it no longer and looked back over his shoulder. But he had broken his promise, and so what he saw was Eurydice being dragged back into the shadows. She only had time to call out, "Farewell!" and then she was gone.

So Orpheus lost his wife for a second time. And though he wandered the whole world lamenting her, he never saw her again--until he died, and went down to the Underworld one last time.

Go back to: Elementary Program: Volume One

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Persephone

Some of the myths that the Greeks told explained the natural world around them. One such myth was the story of Persephone.

When the world was young, there was no such thing as winter or famine. The earth was bursting with life, and flowers and fruit could grow at once on the same tree. It was ruled by Demeter, goddess of the earth, and especially of grain and the harvest. She was the one who first taught men to sow and reap grain, and in those days it was an easy task.

Demeter had a daughter, Persephone, who was dearer to her than anything else. Unlike all the other gods and goddesses, Persephone never came to Olympus. She spent all her times playing in the forests and hills, dancing with the nymphs and making chains of flowers. Some of the other gods had wanted to court her, but Persephone had no desire for a husband, and Demeter had no desire to lose her daughter.

But there was one other god who never went to Olympus: Hades, the lord of the dead. He ruled over the shadowy Underworld, where the souls of all the dead were gathered. But one day, Hades went up to the mortal world to see the daylight. He went to Sicily, and there, in the field of Enna, he saw Persephone gathering flowers with the sunlight on her hair.

Immediately Hades desired her, but he knew that Demeter would never allow her daughter to marry. So without a word, he seized Persephone and lifted her into his chariot. He did not listen to her terrified cries, but cracked the whip on his horses, and they plunged down into the earth, which closed up to hide their passing. No sign was left but the flowers lying scattered across the grass where Persephone had dropped them when she was seized.

So Hades made Persephone his wife, and set her on a throne beside him in the Underworld; but she missed her mother and the sunlight, and she was little pleased to be the queen of shadows. Meanwhile, Demeter searched for her daughter in a frenzy. At last Helios, the god of the sun who sees everything, told her what had happened.

Filled with grief and rage, Demeter swore that until she saw her daughter again, nothing green would grow. So winter came upon the earth for the first time. Snow fell in the fields, crops failed, and animals ran mad. Everywhere was hunger and destruction. People prayed to the gods, begging for mercy, and at last the gods themselves went to Zeus and demanded that he do something.

Zeus decreed that Hades must let Persephone return to her mother, as long as she had not eaten any food from the Underworld. For the Fates had decreed that whoever ate food from the Underworld could never be entirely free from it, and even Zeus could not defy the Fates.

When Demeter heard Zeus's decision, she rejoiced. But when Hermes, the messenger of the gods, went down to the Underworld to fetch Persephone, he found that she had eaten six seeds from a pomegranate.

So the gods reached a compromise: for six months out of every year, Persephone lives in the Underworld with Hades her husband; and during that time Demeter mourns, and it is winter. But at the end of those six months, Persephone returns to her mother, and then we have spring.

Go back to: Elementary Program: Volume One

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