Norse Mythology Deffinitions

1. Vikings: Norse warriors and explorers.
   
2. Ginnungagap: The void that was there before creation.
   
3. Nifleheim: The land of Ice and Fog.
   
4. Muspellheim: The Land of Fire which was situated directly across from Nifleheim.
   
5. Yggdrasil: The world tree that connects all of the realms.
   
6. Asgard: The place where the gods live.
   
7. Midgard: The place where mortals live.
   
8. Hel: Where the dead go and the name of the Goddess who rules that same place.
   
9. Bifrost Bridge: Bridge connecting Midgard to Asgard. The Rainbow.
   
10. Ymir: The first Frost Giant who's body was used to create Earth.
    
11. Odin: Lead god who sacrificed his eye to gain total knowledge.
    
12. Frigg: Goddess of earth and most powerful Goddess.
    
13. The Valkyries : Daughters of Odin who take those slain in battle to Midgard.
    
14. The Norns: The fate maidens: titled Past, Present, and Future.
    
15. Thor: Strongest of the gods and son of Odin.
    
16. Balder: Most loved of the gods by humans and the gods. Son of Odin
    
17. Njord: Odin's brother and patron of the sailors.
    
18. Frey: God of Fertility, sun and rain.
    
19. Freya: Goddess of love, fertility, and magic.
    
20. Idunn: Goddess of youth and keeper of the golden apples, which keep the gods youthful.
    
21. Loki: Trickster god who will bring about the end of the world.
    
22. Fenrir: Loki's son. A wolf who also brings the end of the world upon us.
    
23. Jormungandr: The world serpent. Another of Loki's sons who destroy the world.
    
24. Ragnarok: The apocalypse that only two humans survive.
    
25. Runes: Magical figures that are used to convey thought and word through sound. They also allow humans to commune with the gods.

Citations: "Bifrost." March 27 1997. Drawing. Windows To the Universe. December 1 2008.

Oatway, Hale. "The Fenrir Wolf." Drawing. Elfwood. December 1 2008.

The Thunderbird

There is an island in the middle of a lake. One day that island attracted a huge storm. During that storm a huge flash of lighting struck that same island. The people who saw this flash of lighting also claimed to see a great fight between a great serpent and the Thunderbird. The Thunderbird finally killed the great serpent by flying high into the air and dropping it on the ground.
When the storm was over the lake dried up and that killed many animals. One day a man decided he wanted to see the Thunderbirds and so he set off on a journey to see them. He finally got their nest but saw none of the Thunderbirds. He looked around some and saw the Thunderbird baby. He asked the baby to hide him in its wings so when the parents came they wouldn’t see him. It didn’t work for when the parents came they smelled the human and threw the baby and human out.
Citatio

mythology song

Aeos my heress to my fortune grand
so proud, so tall, do you stand.
Spreading your thoughts so powerful
using your strength to devour all.
Aeos your power Aeos your strength
I admire you to a very great length.

Poseidon you riding your mighty steahorse
stirring currents of unbeknown force
living in the deep, the sea your source.
Ice pulses through your veins in an unending force
Poseidon your sea is vast and dark as your past

Non-Verbal Representaion of the myth Orpheus and Eurydice

Hero Definitions

Richard Loop
Period 2
10/24/08


A hero is a person who does great deeds and acts of greatness. They usually do something to help the community or are going on an adventure to find immortality. An example of a hero would be Hercules.

A myth is a story that symbolizes human experience and embodies the spiritual values of a culture. A myth also helps the community to understand or explain the natural things that occur. An example would be the story of Demeter and Persephone that explains why we have summer and winter.

A hero journey is full of trials and obstacles and is cyclical (follows a similar path). The journey contains a final battle that leads to the transformation of said hero, which leads to the hero giving a boon to the community. An example of a hero journey would be the story of Jason and the Argonauts.

Universal means it contains the big picture that encompasses everything or it is a common idea used a lot. An example of that would be a hero being used in most myths.

An archetype is the original model or starting point. An example of an archetype would be the three creation myths: the watery abyss, the void, and the egg.

Cyclical means it follows the same pattern or an unbroken cycle. Something that is cyclical would be the hero journey because it always follows the same pattern.

Duality is the quality of opposites existing as a whole. An example of duality would be the yin-yang because it has both of the qualities of good and bad living in a whole.

Creation is how everything started. Genesis is a good example for this because it describes the creation of earth in the eyes and beliefs of the Christians

The life from death concept is the idea of sacrificing something to make life better or to just to create life. Jesus dying on the cross is an excellent example for this because is describes the sacrifice he made on the cross for us so we don’t have to go to hell.

Matriarchal is when the woman is in charge, like the Amazonian women.

A tie in to the Matriarchal term is the mother earth/Gaia theory, which is everything from the earth is given to us by Gaia (the Greek mother earth) and through that everything is connected.

Patriarchal is when the man is in charge, like when a king is ruling in Britain.

Father Sky is a tie in to the patriarchal term because the sky is supposed to be our guardian/protector, like a patriarch.

A sacrifice is an offering of something to appease the gods. An example of that would be the Aztecs killing the slaves they captured to make sure they get good crops.

Orpheus an Eurydice myth

Orpheus and Eurydice
Imagine the most perfect melody you have ever heard. Now, take that melody and make it one hundred times better. What you have is the music of Orpheus, whose music was so great it was only surpassed by the gods. In each essay there are three levels of interpretation of the story of this great musician and his wife. Those three levels are the natural, social, and psychological points of the myth. We explain each myth with those levels because it helps us understand what those myths are for.
The natural level of this story is the easiest to understand. Orpheus is born and turns out to be a great musician who travels the world playing his lyre and changing the world. It is said that living and nonliving things followed him and that he moved rivers with the magic of his music. After a while Orpheus found the woman of his dreams, Eurydice, who fell in love with his music. Then one day, while she was walking through the woods with her bridesmaids, a snake bit her in the leg and she died. Orpheus, loyal man that he was, was so struck with grief that he dared the path to Hades. When Orpheus got there, he pleaded with Hades to release his wife. Hades agreed under one term, and that was Orpheus had to walk out of Hades with his wife following him without looking back. Orpheus agreed and left the Underworld. But he looked back at the end because he was so excited to see her and could not wait, so he lost Eurydice forever.
On the social level, things get more complicated. It shows how a man’s love and devotion could let him do anything. It also tells us how the Greeks thought that women needed to be rescued by men and must also be led or they will be lost forever. Another point that this myth shows us on the social level is that men are expected to go after their women and protect and save them.
The psychological level myths get really complicated, because the psychological nature of a single man or woman is explained. It shows yet again the loyalty and passion for women that allows men to do anything that love brings us. But the death and loss of Eurydice shows the longing and desire that men have for their women, and will encourage them to do anything for the one that they love, or really want.
So in conclusion, Orpheus rocks at the lyre, but not at following directions. The three levels of interpretations are the natural, social, and psychological, and bring a sense of understanding to the myths being explained. I feel that this myth is not that important because it does not make many valid points and is pretty boring.