By the Gods!
RSSPosts tagged with "goddess"
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.
Wadjet
Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?
In case that wasn’t clear enough, we’re talking about Wadjet, and she was the Egyptian snake goddess of Lower Egypt. Besides being the protector and patron goddess of the entire Nile Delta, Wadjet was the guardian deity of women, childbirth, and kings; indeed, the symbol of Wadjet (known as the uraeus) was the rearing cobra on a bright disc, and was the symbol of the Pharaohs. Wadjet and power were synonymous in Ancient Egypt, which is why on every Egyptian crown and royal ornament back in the day, there was a big ol’ snake jumping out at you; that was Wadjet, telling you to step back, son.
She was the protector of Lower Egypt, (which was the northern region, to make it as confusing as possible for Ancient History students) but after the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt around 3000 BCE, Wadjet’s duties would’ve doubled if she hadn’t partnered up with Nekhbet, the white vulture goddess who held the same role in Upper Egypt. Now double-teaming the task of protecting a united Egypt, Nekhbet and Wadjet settled down together and redefined the kingly symbol of the uraeus, adding a falcon to the snake-crown.
The Going Forth of Wadjet was the goddess’ big festival. It was a feast, and we don’t know too many specifics on it, aside from the fact that it was celebrated on the 25th of December. No, it’s not a coincidence. The 25th was one of those universally celebrated dates, thanks to the Solstice. All over Europe and the Mediterranean the Winter Solstice was seen as a time of celebration. The later adoption of the day as the culmination of the Christian calendar was a power move by the early Church to take some sway away from Mediterranean pagans. Early bishops had some issues with sharing.
Calypso
In Greek mythology Calypso was a nymph of unsurpassed beauty and alleged daughter of the titan Atlas. While her name pops up quite a bit in popular culture, Calypso is most famously remembered for detaining Odysseus on the island of Ogygia.
Not bursting into a million crabs all over Johnny Depp.
The word “detaining” has some negative connotations but really, the hero of the Odyssey didn’t have it too bad. He was kept on the island for seven years to be Calypso’s immortal trophy husband, enjoying all the benefits that entailed. Truly a mighty gift worthy of much praise and ancient Greek high-fives (I’m sure the immortality was fun too).
In the end, *Spoiler* Odysseus tells Calypso that while she is indeed more beautiful, he misses his wife and true love Penelope and asks to be sent home. Calypso, knowing she could get any Tom Dick and Argonaut she wants has no hard feelings and sends him packing on a boat lovingly stocked with wine and bread. Thus performing one of the most calm and rational break ups in history.
![Νύξ ; Nyx - Primordial Greek Goddess of NightRoman: NoxZeus the almighty god of the Greek Olympian Pantheon is depicted as all powerful. However, like every deity or hero there is always one thing (if not many) they fear. I’m not referring to an envious Hera, nor a tyrannical father like Kronos, or even the Gigantes who almost ransacked Olympus. There is one figure, in the obscure pages of Greek Mythology whom Zeus wishes to displease - one with the power over Gods and Mortals - Nyx the Goddess of Night.Origins: Nyx is depicted as a black-winged Goddess driving a chariot, and at times a veil of dark mist. Mentioned from the cosmogony of Hesiod, she was born from Air (Khaos). Sleeping with Darkness (Erebos) produced Light (Aither) and Day (Hemera), first components of the primeval universe. However, she gave birth to other more known but lesser gods which include [According to Hesiod]:
Thanatos (Gentle Death)
Hypnos (Sleep)
Morpheus & the tribe of dreams (Oneiroi)
Moirai (better known as the Fates)
Ker & the Keres (Bringers of violent death)
Moros - (Doom)
Oizys (Misery)
Momos (Criticism & Blame)
Hesperides (Nymphs of the Evenings)
Nemesis (Retribution)
Apate (Deceit)
Philotes (Sex - hence the the suffix -phile)
Geras (Old age - Geriatrics anyone?)
Eris (the most famous hater in the Universe of Greek mythology - Strife/Discord)
Though rarely mentioned in Greek Myths, one passage from the Iliad by Homer is a scene where Hypnos addresses Hera about an old favor she commanded of him:[Hypnos addresses Hera :] `That time I laid to sleep the brain in Zeus of the aegis and drifted upon him still and soft, but your mind was devising evil, and you raised along the sea the blasts of the racking winds, and on these swept him away to Kos, the strong-founded, with all his friends lost, but Zeus awakened in anger and beat the gods up and down his house, looking beyond all others for me, and would have sunk me out of sight in the sea from the bright sky had not Nyx (Night) who has power over gods and men rescued me. I reached her in my flight, and Zeus let be, though he was angry, in awe of doing anything to swift Nyx’ displeasure.’”
Zeus played it safe… and did a smart thing not to anger a Goddess far more powerful than he. So we have Nyx and her children to thank for many other events in Greek Mythology. E.g. Eris, spirit of discord, throwing the Golden Apple which influenced the start of the Trojan war, etc.
—-
Thanks for the awesome submission! This article wasn’t written by the regular editors, but submitted by a follower! If you’ve got a story you want to share, or a deity you really love, let us know! For more information on Nyx, go here. To submit your own articles to By the Gods!, click here!](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lm4v87fRrx1qbz35lo1_1280.jpg)
Νύξ ; Nyx - Primordial Greek Goddess of Night
Roman: Nox
Zeus the almighty god of the Greek Olympian Pantheon is depicted as all powerful. However, like every deity or hero there is always one thing (if not many) they fear. I’m not referring to an envious Hera, nor a tyrannical father like Kronos, or even the Gigantes who almost ransacked Olympus. There is one figure, in the obscure pages of Greek Mythology whom Zeus wishes to displease - one with the power over Gods and Mortals - Nyx the Goddess of Night.
Origins: Nyx is depicted as a black-winged Goddess driving a chariot, and at times a veil of dark mist. Mentioned from the cosmogony of Hesiod, she was born from Air (Khaos). Sleeping with Darkness (Erebos) produced Light (Aither) and Day (Hemera), first components of the primeval universe. However, she gave birth to other more known but lesser gods which include [According to Hesiod]:
- Thanatos (Gentle Death)
- Hypnos (Sleep)
- Morpheus & the tribe of dreams (Oneiroi)
- Moirai (better known as the Fates)
- Ker & the Keres (Bringers of violent death)
- Moros - (Doom)
- Oizys (Misery)
- Momos (Criticism & Blame)
- Hesperides (Nymphs of the Evenings)
- Nemesis (Retribution)
- Apate (Deceit)
- Philotes (Sex - hence the the suffix -phile)
- Geras (Old age - Geriatrics anyone?)
- Eris (the most famous hater in the Universe of Greek mythology - Strife/Discord)
Though rarely mentioned in Greek Myths, one passage from the Iliad by Homer is a scene where Hypnos addresses Hera about an old favor she commanded of him:
[Hypnos addresses Hera :] `That time I laid to sleep the brain in Zeus of the aegis and drifted upon him still and soft, but your mind was devising evil, and you raised along the sea the blasts of the racking winds, and on these swept him away to Kos, the strong-founded, with all his friends lost, but Zeus awakened in anger and beat the gods up and down his house, looking beyond all others for me, and would have sunk me out of sight in the sea from the bright sky had not Nyx (Night) who has power over gods and men rescued me. I reached her in my flight, and Zeus let be, though he was angry, in awe of doing anything to swift Nyx’ displeasure.’”
Zeus played it safe… and did a smart thing not to anger a Goddess far more powerful than he. So we have Nyx and her children to thank for many other events in Greek Mythology. E.g. Eris, spirit of discord, throwing the Golden Apple which influenced the start of the Trojan war, etc.
—-
Thanks for the awesome submission! This article wasn’t written by the regular editors, but submitted by a follower! If you’ve got a story you want to share, or a deity you really love, let us know! For more information on Nyx, go here. To submit your own articles to By the Gods!, click here!
Hi
Just read this post:
http://bythegods.tumblr.com/post/4897938356/loki-is-indeed-not-your-average-trickster-in
Could you clear up what Loki's status is? Is he considered a god, when he's not the son of one. His blood father is Farbaute, the giant, his mother Laufey, also a giant. Isn't it only in Snorri Sturlason's books that he is referred to as one of the gods. He's not considered a god by most, as you need to be born by God parents to be one.
Norse/Germanic mythology isn’t as clear cut as, say, Greek or Egyptian myth in this department. Loki is one of the divine/magic beings, as are the Aesir, the Vanir, and the Jotun.
“Aesir” (and the absorbed “Vanir”) are generally interchangeable with the term “gods” in Germanic myth. Loki helps the Aesir out from time to time, but of course he also hinders them fairly regularly, and sometimes performs outright dastardly deeds (like masterminding Baldr’s death). He’s a being of comparable power to many of the Aesir, so for this reason it’s reasonable to call him a “god.”
On the other hand, he ends up as a major adversary of the Aesir, condemned to a near-eternal torture until Ragnarok begins, when he will firmly place himself in the anti-Aesir camp for the final battle.
Another way to look at it, is that Loki does not have any domain that he oversees in the realm of men. By that I mean that he doesn’t have an area he’s seen as “master” of in the lives of the folk who wrote the myths. In battle sacrifices were made to Odin, prayers to Tyr and Thor. Sailors would pray and sacrifice to Njord, mothers to Frigg and young women to Freya. The people didn’t worship Loki, but simply acknowledged his role in divine developments.
The way I see it, we don’t have enough hard evidence on Germanic/Norse myth to be specific in our classifications. Most of what we’ve got is from Snorri Sturluson, as you mentioned, which was recorded centuries after the “golden age” of Norse/Germanic religious practice.
Loki was definitely an important figure; some people think he used to have a more important role, but his duties were relegated to other Aesir as the stories changed. There are some theoretical systems that believe Odin to be the only “god” figure in an essentially monotheistic Norse religion, with the rest of the Aesir being semi-divine, closer to “angel” status beings.
Arachne
Known far and wide for her incredible weaving talent, nobody loved Arachne more than Arachne. The story comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, where the mortal girl Arachne boasts of her weaving ability to such an extent that Athena (Minerva, in Ovid’s Roman work), the Greek goddess of wisdom and crafts, is offended. You see, Arachne refuses to acknowledge that her gifts in weaving come, at least in part, from the gods (and from Athena, specifically). Athena then challenges Arachne to a weaving competition (a “weave-off,” perhaps) and Arachne accepts.
Now things start to get messy: Arachne weaves a tapestry depicting the transgressions and loves of the gods. It’s gorgeous, sure, but the subject matter offends Athena. Besides that, the goddess is horrified to see that the mortal’s tapestry outshines her own. In a rage, Athena destroys the tapestry, and turns the prideful Arachne into––you guessed it––a skittery little spider. I guess she was the first one. Athena invented spiders, you guys; she’s pretty creative, after all. But where was that creativity in the weaving competition, Athena!?
The Goddess Artemis
I’ve always had a heightened respect for Lady Artemis because her role in Greek Mythology, and in her many forms in other ancient Mediterranean cultures. She was the Goddess of the hunt, the outdoors, and virginity. Out of most of the Greek divinities, she seemed not as corrupt. One of the most fascinating things about her is the obvious love for nature. She believed that hunting of wildlife was acceptable and necessary. However, if it was done disrespectfully and inhumane, there would be “Tartarus” to pay.
——-
Thanks for the Submission! For additional information on Artemis, check here!
Eostre and Easter
The Easter weekend isn’t over yet, folks. Time to get your learnin’ on. Ever wonder where the name “Easter” came from? The Germanic goddess Eostre gets the credit on that one. She was a goddess of fertility and plenty, and the Anglo-Saxons had a month named after her. For all of us on the Gregorian calendar, that’d match up with April. Anglo-Saxon and Northern European festivals for the Easter-month (the “Eostre-monath”) involved eggs and hares, and these came to be attached to Eostre herself. What with it being a spring festival and all, located on or around the Equinox, themes of birth and fertility were only natural. Hard to beat rabbits when it comes to fertility, I suppose.
Now, how did Eostre get attached to the Christian celebration of the resurrection? Well, the Church was a big fan of re-appropriating pagan holidays. They took Lupercalia and made it a Saint’s celebration day, took the festival of Sol Invictus and made it Christmas; they were pros when it came to this stuff.
The Catholic Church determined that they would bring the Jewish festival of Passover and the Christian observance of the resurrection together. This was done under the vigil of the Roman Emperor Constantine (the first Christian Emperor), at the first Council of Nicaea. The title of “Easter month” was taken from the pagans, as the Church observed its use in Northern Europe, and sought to both marginalize the pagan celebration and indoctrinate/accommodate new pagan subjects.
And there you have it. Sorry, Eostre, but they took your month. Somehow the rabbits and eggs stuck around, though.
Hestia
Kind and humble, passive and non-confrontational, Hestia is the virgin goddess of domesticity, architecture, and the hearth in the Greek pantheon. She would receive the first offering at every sacrifice within a Greek household, back in the day. She would also have a public hearth within each major city where a flame burned continuously. When a new colony was established, the flame would be carried from this hearth to the new settlement.
Hestia is one of the goddesses of the first generation of Olympians; her brothers are Zeus, Hades and Poseidon, and her sisters Demeter and Hera. If you recall, that means she’s one of the children of the Titans Rhea and Cronus. She was described as both the oldest and youngest of the three sisters, as she was the first to be swallowed by Cronus and the last to be burped back out.
Though she was originally listed as one of the Twelve Olympians, she willingly gave up her seat for the newcomer, Dionysus, to go instead and tend the sacred fire on Mount Olympus. She was always a good sport, that Hestia. Never threw tantrums like the other Olympians. She has the fewest exploits of any Greek god or goddess; I guess she was too busy tending that fire, being quiet, and and practicing not-arguing.
Badb
An Irish goddess of battle whose name meant “crow,” Badb was part of the fearsome triumvirate of the Morrigan. She could influence the outcome of a conflict by inspiring the combatants with fear or courage, and often took the form of a crow, and appear prior to a battle to foreshadow the extent of the coming carnage. Her presence would also signal the coming death of a powerful person.
While Badb’s role in battle was sowing confusion and discord in battle, her sisters played different parts. Nemain was a spirit of frenzied havoc in battle, and Macha had more to do with slain warriors. The three sisters are together known as the Morrigan (sometimes the Morrígna), a triple-goddess with three aspects. Some sources, however, refer to Nemain as Morrigan, with Badb and Macha being different forms she could take. Either way, you wanted to make sure that the Morrigan—whatever it was— was on your side if battle was joined.
About By the Gods!
