Norse mythology

[EricaofRenais]

With the datamine in Heroes I saw a lot of talk about Norse myths and since I have read a bunch of them I thought I would make a topic about them and give some info.

Thor dressed up as Freya to to get his hammer back from the king of the ice giants who stole it to try and get Odin to give him Freya.  Loki went with Thor and helped him, in fact it was Loki's idea to sneak in as women to get the hammer back.

Friday is named after Odin's wife Frigg not Freya.

I am just putting these two up first if people have questions or comments about Norse mythology then we can talk about it here.

Edited June 10, 2019 by EricaofRenais

[Dragoncat]

1 hour ago, EricaofRenais said:

Friday is named after Odin's wife Frigg not Freya.

Huh, I always thought it was Freya.

Also Thursday is named after Thor.

[vanguard333]

4 hours ago, EricaofRenais said:

Thor dressed up as Freya to get his hammer back from the king of the ice giants who stole it to try and get Odin to give him Freya.  Loki went with Thor and helped him, in fact it was Loki's idea to sneak in as women to get the hammer back.

My favourite version of this story is the one by the YouTube channel Overly Sarcastic Productions, where, halfway to Jotunheim, Thor looks at Loki and realizes, "Hang on; you're the shapeshifter! Why couldn't you have pretended to be Freya?!" Loki's response, "Hey, look: Jotunheim!" 

[EricaofRenais]

4 hours ago, Dragoncat said:

Huh, I always thought it was Freya.

Also Thursday is named after Thor.

Yeah I thought it was Freya at first too, but once I started reading Norse myths I found out it was named after Frigg.  Tuesday is named after the Norse god Tyr (Odin's brother) and Wednesday is named after Odin.

@vanguard333 I haven't seen those videos but that sounds really funny.  Of course Loki being the trickster god plays in to why Thor ended up wearing a veil and dress. 

[vanguard333]

57 minutes ago, EricaofRenais said:

I haven't seen those videos but that sounds really funny.  Of course Loki being the trickster god plays in to why Thor ended up wearing a veil and dress. 

The videos are quite funny. They've done quite a few videos on various myths from throughout the world. 

[Siskan]

Actually there's really no way to know for certain which god Friday is derrived from. There's no conclusion among researchers either.

I can't remember any references in the sagas, so I'm not sure what you're referring to. But do remember that they were only told orally for the longest time and were only written down in the 13th century.

In any case it's nice that you've found an interest in these things.

[EricaofRenais]

9 hours ago, Siskan said:

Actually there's really no way to know for certain which god Friday is derrived from. There's no conclusion among researchers either.

I can't remember any references in the sagas, so I'm not sure what you're referring to. But do remember that they were only told orally for the longest time and were only written down in the 13th century.

In any case it's nice that you've found an interest in these things.

Every single thing I have looked into when I was researching the days of the week (which was before I got in to Norse myths) stated that Friday was named for Frigg.  Just try googling it.  When I started looking up things about Frigg I kept seeing things stating that Friday was named after her.  Now, when I was looking at Norse myths themselves Frigg is only really talked about as Odin's wife and not much else.

[Siskan]

2 minutes ago, EricaofRenais said:

Just try googling it. 

Yes I'm aware it's the most common theory cited online. I actually happen to have a degree in archaeology, having specialized on runestones. I've read up on tons about various etymology of the old Norse languages because of that. I'm not saying this in order to claim that my words are worth more than yours though, just letting you know the depth of my interest in the subject! : ) As for weekdays in particular I've only read into it on my free time, much like yourself I'm guessing.

However, what I can say is that I've seen both Frigg and Freyja as possible candidates. And even Frey. Though if you've found some conclusive evidence I'd be interested to hear it, I must admit it has been quite a while since I really looked into it.

[EricaofRenais]

1 hour ago, Siskan said:

Yes I'm aware it's the most common theory cited online. I actually happen to have a degree in archaeology, having specialized on runestones. I've read up on tons about various etymology of the old Norse languages because of that. I'm not saying this in order to claim that my words are worth more than yours though, just letting you know the depth of my interest in the subject! : ) As for weekdays in particular I've only read into it on my free time, much like yourself I'm guessing.

However, what I can say is that I've seen both Frigg and Freyja as possible candidates. And even Frey. Though if you've found some conclusive evidence I'd be interested to hear it, I must admit it has been quite a while since I really looked into it.

That is cool that you specialized in runestones.  No I don't have any conclusive evidence that it is for sure after Frigg, I just read it was on every site I looked at and then once I saw she was Odin's wife I figured it fit better then the others.  So I thought it was after her.  Celtic and Norse myths are one of my hobbies, so hey having someone to talk about them with is fun.  Now Lithuanian myths on the other hand get pretty sad.

[Siskan]

8 hours ago, EricaofRenais said:

That is cool that you specialized in runestones. 

Some of them have depictions of scenes from the sagas. There's even this 11th century carving on a flat rock where you can follow the story left to right:
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

8 hours ago, EricaofRenais said:

So I thought it was after her.

Well, it could very well be. I just prefer to be careful about stating facts when there's still uncertainty.

8 hours ago, EricaofRenais said:

Celtic and Norse myths are one of my hobbies, so hey having someone to talk about them with is fun.  Now Lithuanian myths on the other hand get pretty sad.

They are definitely interesting and even entertaining. What about Lithuanian myths? I haven't read any so far, but I've read about them.

[EricaofRenais]

5 hours ago, Siskan said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

They are definitely interesting and even entertaining. What about Lithuanian myths? I haven't read any so far, but I've read about them.

Those are really neat. My mom used to work for my city's local history museum and she was sent to Denmark for work once and she got to go to their national museum and see some of their Viking artifacts.  She only got spend a couple of hours at that museum though, and she was sad she didn't get to spend more time there.

Lithuanian myths for the most part have pretty sad endings, it has been a while since I read some of them but the one I really remember was about how Baltic amber came to be.  The story was about two lovers who ended up not being able to be together and first the man drowned in the sea on his way back to the woman and then the woman drowned herself in the sea when she found out and the amber is her tears.  Most of the Lithuanian myths end like that.  I got interested reading myths of the people I am descended from, so I started with Celtic myths and branched out from there.

[Siskan]

2 hours ago, EricaofRenais said:

My mom used to work for my city's local history museum and she was sent to Denmark for work once and she got to go to their national museum and see some of their Viking artifacts.

That's nice, but the lack of time is a shame. I have yet to go there, but there are some very nice exhibitions at various museums across Scandinavia for sure.

2 hours ago, EricaofRenais said:

Lithuanian myths for the most part have pretty sad endings

Oh, if they're all like the one you described it's all very sad indeed. Still seems interesting though Have you read a lot?

2 hours ago, EricaofRenais said:

I got interested reading myths of the people I am descended from, so I started with Celtic myths and branched out from there.

That makes sense, luckily that's one of the most interesting collections of myths as well. It's just a shame most of it hasn't been left unaltered much like the Norse. But then some cultures have lot more or less everything.

[EricaofRenais]

1 hour ago, Siskan said:

 

Oh, if they're all like the one you described it's all very sad indeed. Still seems interesting though Have you read a lot?

That makes sense, luckily that's one of the most interesting collections of myths as well. It's just a shame most of it hasn't been left unaltered much like the Norse. But then some cultures have lot more or less everything.

Yeah most of the Lithuanian myths I have read end like that, but I have only read a few and an overview of their gods and goddesses since I can't read Lithuanian I can only read the few things that have been translated to English.  

Celtic myths very because they kind of overlap in some areas but are different in other ways since you have stories from the Welsh, Scottish, Irish and a bit from Gaul all lumped together as "Celtic" myths.  Anyway, yeah it is sad that some myths get altered because of translation or other factors. 

[Siskan]

On 6/22/2019 at 10:01 PM, EricaofRenais said:

I can only read the few things that have been translated to English.  

Ah yes, that's often a limit. Have you read Finnish mythology? Kalevala is available in English.

 

On 6/22/2019 at 10:01 PM, EricaofRenais said:

Celtic myths very because they kind of overlap in some areas but are different in other ways since you have stories from the Welsh, Scottish, Irish and a bit from Gaul all lumped together as "Celtic" myths. 

That's a bit unfortunate, but it's possible to discern at a least.

As for alteration, the sad thing is that a lot of it happened when it was initially recorded in writing. So unlike bad translations you can't go back and redo it.

[EricaofRenais]

4 hours ago, Siskan said:

Ah yes, that's often a limit. Have you read Finnish mythology? Kalevala is available in English.

 

That's a bit unfortunate, but it's possible to discern at a least.

As for alteration, the sad thing is that a lot of it happened when it was initially recorded in writing. So unlike bad translations you can't go back and redo it.

I haven't started reading Finnish myths yet, but I do plan on it since I like several Finnish rock bands that mention some myths in their songs.  I will add Kalevala to m list of things to read.

Yeah, sadly stories and myths get altered and it is hard to find the original source with the older ones, plus each "clan" had their own version of telling the myths which is why with Celtic myths I try and read several versions of a myths so I have the most information.

[Karimlan]

2 hours ago, EricaofRenais said:

 since I like several Finnish rock bands that mention some myths in their songs.  I will add Kalevala to m list of things to read.

Look no further than Amorphis (Helsinki). The first few albums they had (The Karelian Isthmus, Tales From the Thousand Lakes, Elegy) are rife with stories and symbolisms from the Kalevala. You'd hear true death metal growls from them on those three LPs, often interspersed with clean pipes.

Here's the title track from Elegy:

 

Edited June 28, 2019 by Karimlan

[vanguard333]

On 6/10/2019 at 11:11 AM, EricaofRenais said:

Norse mythology then we can talk about it here.

Okay. To me, one thing I've found is that Norse Mythology gets used a lot in fantasy media these days. Dwarves, Elves, a cursed ring that corrupts its bearer; all derived from Norse Mythology, and because almost everybody imitates Tolkien, almost everyone indirectly is using Norse Mythology. Plus, there's almost always a group of people that are stereotypical Vikings. 

I'm just saying, there are other mythologies out there that get seriously underutilized in fantasy compared to Norse Mythology. The example that comes to mind for me is Celtic Mythology. There is so much cool stuff in Celtic Mythology that fantasy could use, but doesn't. One of my favourites is the stories of fairies, and I mean the original fairies of Norse Mythology; those butterfly-winged creatures in popular media were actually created by the Victorian English. Fairies in Celtic Mythology didn't have wings, and they were far scarier. 

[EricaofRenais]

14 minutes ago, vanguard333 said:

Okay. To me, one thing I've found is that Norse Mythology gets used a lot in fantasy media these days. Dwarves, Elves, a cursed ring that corrupts its bearer; all derived from Norse Mythology, and because almost everybody imitates Tolkien, almost everyone indirectly is using Norse Mythology. Plus, there's almost always a group of people that are stereotypical Vikings. 

I'm just saying, there are other mythologies out there that get seriously underutilized in fantasy compared to Norse Mythology. The example that comes to mind for me is Celtic Mythology. There is so much cool stuff in Celtic Mythology that fantasy could use, but doesn't. One of my favourites is the stories of fairies, and I mean the original fairies of Norse Mythology; those butterfly-winged creatures in popular media were actually created by the Victorian English. Fairies in Celtic Mythology didn't have wings, and they were far scarier. 

LotR has Celtic in it as well, Rohan is based on Celtic culture in several aspects.  Manga has been using Celtic myths a fair bit lately, The Ancient Magus Bride is the most well known right now since it is the newest, but there are several manga series that have Celtic undertones that if you know Celtic myths you can figure out where the author found some of their ideas.  The Legend of Zelda series also has heavy Celtic undertones, Epona was a Celtic goddess and Hyrule having three major goddesses like the Celts had The Mother, The Maiden and The Crone also Link could be likened to some of the better know Celtic heroes. 

Yes, I will agree that Norse myths have become more popular right now, but you can find Celtic myths in several popular series. 

[vanguard333]

3 hours ago, EricaofRenais said:

LotR has Celtic in it as well, Rohan is based on Celtic culture in several aspects.  Manga has been using Celtic myths a fair bit lately, The Ancient Magus Bride is the most well known right now since it is the newest, but there are several manga series that have Celtic undertones that if you know Celtic myths you can figure out where the author found some of their ideas.  The Legend of Zelda series also has heavy Celtic undertones, Epona was a Celtic goddess and Hyrule having three major goddesses like the Celts had The Mother, The Maiden and The Crone also Link could be likened to some of the better know Celtic heroes. 

Yes, I will agree that Norse myths have become more popular right now, but you can find Celtic myths in several popular series. 

Oh; I'm not saying that Celtic Mythology doesn't get used; I just meant that it, like a lot of mythologies, gets used far less so compared to Norse Mythology. For instance, just try to find a fantasy story made in the west that doesn't have elves and/or dwarves that isn't A Song of Ice and Fire. They're everywhere. 

I was well aware of most of those examples already, but thanks. Yeah; The Legend of Zelda gets points for naming the horse Epona, and even more points for most of the fantasy species being completely unique to the Zelda series; that level of creativity really adds a lot the games. However, one could argue that it then loses points for using the Victorian English fairy. But I'm not going to say that simply because The Legend of Zelda is my favourite game series, and I admit that those tiny butterfly-winged pests fit the Zelda series better than Celtic Fairies would.