By the Gods!

fornsed: In Norse mythology, Gerðr (Old Norse “fenced-in”) is a...

Tue, 29 May 2012 07:13:11 -0700

In Norse mythology, Gerðr (Old Norse “fenced-in”) is a jötunn, goddess, and the wife of the god Freyr. Gerðr is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson; and in the poetry of skalds. Gerðr is sometimes modernly anglicized as Gerd or Gerth.

In both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, Freyr sees Gerðr from a distance, becomes deeply lovesick at the sight of her shimmering beauty, and has his servant Skírnir go to Jötunheimr (where Gerðr and her father Gymir reside) to gain her love. In the Poetic Edda Gerðr initially refuses, yet after a series of threats by Skírnir she finally agrees. In the Prose Edda, no mention of threats is made. In both sources, Gerðr agrees to meet Freyr at a fixed time at the location of Barri and, after Skírnir returns with Gerðr’s response, Freyr laments that the meeting could not occur sooner. In both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, Gerðr is described as the daughter of Gymir and the mountain jötunn Aurboða.

In Heimskringla, Gerðr is recorded as the wife of Freyr, euhemerized as having been a beloved king of Sweden. In the same source, the couple are the founders of the Yngling dynasty and produced a son, Fjölnir, who rose to kinghood after Freyr’s passing and continued their line. Gerðr is commonly theorized to be a goddess associated with the earth. Gerðr has inspired works of art and literature.

Picture: Skirnir’s Message to Gerd (1908) by W. G. Collingwood.

This is a great blog for all things Norse! If you’re a Thoroholic, give it a look.

Selkie Way up north, sitting by the sea, looking at seals all...

Fri, 18 May 2012 07:58:00 -0700

Selkie

Way up north, sitting by the sea, looking at seals all day, who could honestly say they haven’t had at least one romantic thought about those little water-dwelling blubber-bags? The story of the Selkie is the story of that love that dare not speak its name (basically).

In the folk tales of Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands the Selkie pops up from time to time; maintaining the form of a seal while in the water, the Selkies can come ashore, shed their skin, and take the form of a beautiful human. Nearly every story involving a Selkie is a romantic tragedy of some sort, whether it’s that of a beautiful lady Selkie tricking a sad farmer boy into the water to smash him up on rocks, or a guy with nothing better to do stealing the shed sealskin of a Selkie maiden and forcing her to marry him, the tales generally aren’t “feel-good.”

The males of the supernatural species spend most of time seeking out women who are angry or dissatisfied with their husbands and seducing them; their homewrecking abilities are unquestioned.

The leading theory on where the Selkies come from, regardless of what they do, is that they are the bizarre reincarnation of restless drowned souls.

Alright— this question came in this morning and I borked it somehow, so re-posting question...

Wed, 02 May 2012 07:52:00 -0700

Alright— this question came in this morning and I borked it somehow, so re-posting question...

tomippen: knowgnosis: Seraphim The Seraphim are the power...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:53:58 -0700

tomippen:

knowgnosis:

Seraphim

The Seraphim are the power rangers of the angelic choirs.

Except Zordon is way cooler than god, Rita is cooler than Satan, and Alpha stays in the game longer than jesus.

A very interesting design of the Seraphim! Remember them? Still pretty rad.

Huldufólk I’m sure that most of you have heard tell of the...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:45:00 -0700

Chasing after an elusive alfar

A house for Huldufolk in Iceland

Huldufólk

I’m sure that most of you have heard tell of the elves and faeries who live in woods and dells, dwelling just beyond the reaches of human perception right? Right! Well, the Nordic peoples who spread across Western Europe brought with them the tales of their elves (or alfar) wherever they went, and those stories persist even to this day, though in some places they’re closer to the cultural surface than they are in others.

Germany and Scandinavia have hidden alfar or elves (or a close Germanic derivative), but Iceland is an interesting example of further cultural intermingling with their Huldufólk. Norse settlers had their alfar, but Irish settlers out of the more separate Celtic tradition had their hill folk. Some tradition even attaches the Huldufólk to Adam and Eve in Christian mythology, as the second string of “unclean” children Eve bore and tried to hide from God, who then declared “What man hides from God, God will hide from man,” demonstrating what can only be described as a firm grasp of reason and judgment.

Depending on who you ask (and when you were asking them), the various breeds of hidden people in germanic myth can be good or wicked. The Huldufólk seem to be less malicious than some mischievous elves have been known to be, and indeed are respected in much of the Icelandic cultural tradition. Some folk have even built tiny lil’ dwellings for the little people to reside in!

The origins and attitudes of the Huldufólk can change dramatically depending on who you ask about them, but their existence in Icelandic folklore can certainly be traced back a long way, even as far back as in the verses of the Eddas.

20,000 Strong!?

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:34:52 -0700

20,000 followers? I am beyond touched. I don’t know half of you half as well as I should...

Eru Ilúvatar Alright! Today is Tolkien Day, so I’m gonna...

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 08:16:00 -0700

Eru Ilúvatar

Alright! Today is Tolkien Day, so I’m gonna tell you all about Ilúvatar, the creative force/god analogue in the Lord of the Rings universe. In the Silmarillion, which is a compilation of ancient histories by the Elves, the creation of that world is written, as they understand it.

In the timeless void before the thought of life of any sort existed, Ilúvatar, the One, dwelt alone. He brought into being, through his thought, the Ainur: a countless multitude of angelic spirits. He gave them all free will and a wide range of abilities and talents, but their first great accomplishment was their music. Iluvatar bade the Ainur to make three great themes of music, and after it was performed, they discovered that their song contained an image of the world that was yet to be, as well as the fate of that world unfolding. This was called the Ainulindalë, or the Music of the Ainur.

With a word, Iluvatar commanded the world to be, and it was formed, though it was a chaos of swirling elements. Iluvatar encouraged those of the Ainur who were willing to go down into the world and help form it as they saw in the music, and many did. They each had their own loves, and gave thought to different areas of the world. Melkor, the mightiest of the Ainur, had created dischord in the Music, and went down into the world to destroy the work of the other Ainur, desiring to be its master. Ilúvatar had spoken to the Ainur, however, saying:

“Behold your Music! This is your minstrelsy; and each of you shall find contained herein, amid the design that I set before you, all those things which it may seem that he himself devised or added. And thou, Melkor, wilt discover all the secret thoughts of thy mind, and wilt percieve that they are but a part of the whole and tributary to its glory.”

At this point, Ilúvatar handed over the kingship of Arda (the world) to Manwë, the greatest of the Ainur spirits who went down into the world, save Melkor. He became the chief of the Valar: fourteen of the greatest Ainur who formed and oversaw the greatest portions of the world. Ilúvatar would not intervene until countless years later, after the Children of Ilúvatar (Elves and Men) had awoken.

because tomblr was taken.: Happy Tolkien Day!

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 07:38:48 -0700

because tomblr was taken.: Happy Tolkien Day!: tomippen: On March 25th in the year 3019 of the...

"I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen, of meadow-flowers and butterflies In..."

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 08:25:49 -0700

“I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen, of meadow-flowers and butterflies In...

By the Hand of Shiva! You guys are the greatest. This is a...

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:59:41 -0700

By the Hand of Shiva! You guys are the greatest. This is a spontaneous Tom-hug for the lot of you for being so rad.

I cannot, cannot believe the amazing responses you guys have sent me regarding the last post about having a history degree!

I feel so LOVED!!

I thought I’d send out a big group message to thank all of you at once, since I just have so much love spilling out of me right now. So this is it!

You are officially the #1, greatest, most wise and kind group of readers/followers on the tumblrverse. I am officially redoubling my efforts to get some posts up on this thing with more regularity.

You are all the greatest. If we ever meet in real life, biscuits on me.

You realize that with a history degree there's almost nothing you can do. Unless you get a PhD and teach as a professor at a University. Because without an education degree you can't teach history at a school-age level. Not trying to be rude - I enjoy your blog. But what do you plan on doing in the future?

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 07:41:03 -0700

Oh yes, I am indeed aware, but thank you for the academically-posthumous advisory. In my middle and...

Just a quick note...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:12:50 -0800

I want to thank you all for sending in so many questions, and wanted to provide a general note of...

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Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:41:29 -0800

Check out and follow By the Gods! on facebook!

Doubting Thomas Just a quick one for you today, mythfans. The...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:41:00 -0800

Doubting Thomas

Just a quick one for you today, mythfans. The picture above is one that I snapped personally on my recent trip to Paris, within Notre Dame cathedral (now that you know the source, the horrendous quality is explained; it’s dim in there, okay?).

Thomas was one of the apostles of Jesus of Nazareth according to the gospel of John in the New Testament. After Jesus’ death by crucifixion, he was believed to have resurrected and briefly returned to visit his buddies. Thomas, being a shrewd man, (by comparison) wasn’t willing to believe just anything. He decided to investigate the situation more closely by putting his fingers in Jesus’ wounds, taking their friendship to a new level.

Upon seeing that the wound was authentic, Thomas put his seal of approval on the resurrection.

What I personally like about this story is skepticism and scrutiny on the part of ol’ Tom. At least for a single moment, he’s one of the only guys willing to use his noggin and raise an eyebrow at the seemingly magical.

Atlas The big man with the mother of all back pain, Atlas is one...

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Atlas

The big man with the mother of all back pain, Atlas is one of the more famed Titans from the world of Greek myth. He was the son of Iapetus and Asia by Hesiod’s account (Hesiod being the author of the famed Theogony, from which a great deal of our info on Greek myth comes), but Hyginus believed him to be the son of Aether and Gaia. Regardless of his parentage, Atlas was a big strong fella who found himself on the losing team after the war between the Olympians and the Titans (the Titanomachy).

Atlas was undoubtedly a serious force for the Titans, but they still couldn’t quite get it done, due in part to Atlas’ brothers Prometheus and Epimetheus betraying their own kind to form an alliance with the Olympians. When Zeus and his cohorts had won out, they banished most of the Titans to Tartarus, the abyssal dungeon beneath even the Underworld. Atlas, however, with a nod to his incredible strength and apropos parentage, was sentenced to the western edge of the world and charged with holding up Uranus (the sky) on his shoulders forever. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a guy.

Though he’s often shown supporting the earth, this is an incorrect portrayal. He was originally depicted shouldering a great celestial orb, speckled with the sun, stars, and other knick-knacks of the firmament.

Atlas, in some stories, was turned to stone, and his tremendous body formed the Atlas mountain range in Northern Africa. In another tale, Heracles has a wacky adventure with the tragically trapped Titan, with hilarious results.

Momotarou, which can be translated as “peach boy” or...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:00:06 -0800

Momotarou, which can be translated as “peach boy” or “peach first son”, is a popular hero in Japanese folklore.

The story goes like this:

There once was an elderly, childless couple who lived out in the country. One day, the wife was washing the clothes in the river when she came upon a large peach floating towards her. Well, the wife grabbed that peach and brought it back with her to the house. She and her husband decided to open the peach, to eat the flesh inside. And what do they find when they cut it open? A little boy! The child went on to tell them that he was sent from Heaven to be their son. They were overjoyed, and named him Momotarou.

Years pass by and Momotarou leaves his parents to go and fight this band of marauding oni’s (demons or ogres) on a distant island. While he’s on his way there, he happens to befriend a talking dog, monkey, and pheasant; who all agree to to help him on his quest. At the island, Momotarou and his talking animal friends are able to penetrate oni’s fort and literally beat those oni’s into surrendering! Momotarou and his friends return from the battle, with treasure and the oni leader as their captive.

Momotarou returns home to his parents with all his spoils, and they all live comfortably from then on.

——————

Thanks for the awesome submission! If you’re interested in more of the Japanese-style myths in our archives, check out the Shinto and Buddhist directories!

Just what is a Myth exactly? What makes it different from a fairy tale for example?

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:18:02 -0800

This is a question that we get asked constantly, and it’s a difficult one to answer. First and...

A gift from Luke. He knows me too well. NOTHING LEFT OUT!

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:56:21 -0800

A gift from Luke. He knows me too well.

NOTHING LEFT OUT!

Janus There’s no better time to learn about Janus than in...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:01:05 -0800

Janus

There’s no better time to learn about Janus than in January, his very own special little month. As Janus is the Roman god of beginnings, (among other things) it’s fairly apropos to talk about him in the first days of a brand new year (on western calendars).

Besides being the patron of beginnings, (and endings) Janus is the god of transitions, as represented by doors and gates. Big fan of a good door, that Janus. Oh, and he’s also the god of time, and thus the two faces: looking back into the past and forward into the future.

Janus is actually difficult to classify in the Roman Pantheon: he’s one of those everything and nothing types of deities. It’s been debated exactly what he presides over, since things like “time” and “transitions” are nebulous. Is he everywhere, and perhaps all powerful, or is he literally just hiding behind a rock, watching you get out of bed and start your day? Many Roman philosophers saw him as both the spark that caused every beginning, and the shadow that brought about every end.

Janus is certainly one mysterious deity, and was the topic of countless debates in western culture since the days of the old Roman Kingdom.

Hector Are you familiar with the Iliad? Yes? Well,...

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:01:00 -0800

Hector

Are you familiar with the Iliad? Yes? Well, congratulations: it means you’re familiar with an amazing man named Hector.

No? What’s wrong with you? Don’t you like rad dudes? Let me tell you about this one rad dude named Hector.

Praised far and wide for his honour and heretofore unmatched prowess in battle, Hector was the firstborn son of Priam and Hecuba, the king and queen of Troy. As you may or may not know, Troy got tangled up in a tiff with all the Greeks on the other side of the Aegean, who were, for the most part, vassals to Agamemnon. Paris, Hector’s little brother, whisks away Helen, the wife of Menelaus (the king of Sparta), and this is used as a convenient reason for the Greeks to go to war with Troy.

While Hector was an incredible soldier, he was the sort of fellow who valued the lives of his men, and would rather avoid bloodshed. He was regarded highly by friend and foe for his noble and courtly nature, but when it came down to it, he could break your back with his little finger. Hector led the Trojan troops in the war, and demonstrated his brilliant leadership time and time again. He defeated the Greek champion Protesilaus in a duel, and forced a stalemate with the undefeated Ajax. Throughout the siege of his city, it was Hector who planned most of the defenses, and led the counterattack that burnt the Greek ships, nearly securing victory for the Trojans. Odysseus, when faced with Hector’s personal attack, described it as an “invincible headlong terror!”

However deserving a warrior he might’ve been, though, Hector was no match for the wrath of Achilles and the capriciousness of the gods. Hector had slain Patroclus, a beloved friend of Achilles, who had been wearing Achilles’ armour. Sadly for the Trojans, angry-Achilles doesn’t have an off-switch, and no amount of apology can calm the big guy down. As the Trojans retreat to their walled city after a failed attack, Hector hangs back to guard the rear and meets Achilles. They eventually do battle, but Hector is fooled by Athena, who had pretended to be Hector’s friend and shield bearer, but vanished in his moment of need. Achilles stabs poor Hector through the throat, and then attaches the body to his chariot, which he proceeds to drag about the battlefield. He “mistreats” Hectors body for two weeks, but Aphrodite and Apollo protect it from injury.

Priam, Hector’s father, is eventually allowed to reclaim the body. The subdued Achilles, filled with regret at the loss of such a great adversary, allows a twelve day truce so the Trojans can properly mourn Hector.

Besides being a great hero of Mediterranean myth, Hector is still remembered by lovers of antiquity in the western world, and was even immortalized as one of the “Nine Worthies” in medieval Europe, for being so honourable and mighty.