1. The Norse Myths Class 7

2. Norse mythology beginnings Creation, Death, and Rebirth Told to King Gylfi in the guise of Gangleri Ginnungagap = Open Void Muspelheim= Destroyers Home guarded by Surt with the flaming sword (flaming world) the sparks that came from it became sun and stars Niflheim = Fog land, with a spring called Hvergelmir, with eleven rivers with the foam becoming ice and turning into mist ) From the foam venom came Ymir and the Audhumla = cow came from the ice and fed him. Aud. Licked ice and Buri (grandfather of gods) was born From Buri came Bor and Bor had Odin, Vili, and Ve and they killed Ymir. The rest of the Frost giants drowned in his blood. Bergelmir alone escaped and he and his wife sired the next race of giants. . 3. Ymir The corpse of Ymir made the world. Flesh = earth Blood = salt sea Large bones = mountains Smaller bones and teeth = rocks and pebbles Hair = forests Eyebrows = barrier to separate giants and dwarfs from middle earth Skull = sky Brains = storm clouds First man = Ask from ash tree and first woman Embla from elm tree Odin, Vili and Ve built Asgard and two ravens, Thought and Memory fly over the world every day and return to sit on Odin shoulders 4. Norse Gods are not immortal Valhala is the hall of the slain. Valkyries are daughters of Odin who choose the slain. Go through list of gods on pg. 460 Death of Balder will lead to Ragnarok, the last great battle. Loki causes it and is confined in Hel, his daughter and the goddess of the dead. Next for 3 years there will be bloody wars and evil will run wild and ruin the world and then three terrible winters. The earth will shake and free Fenrir, Loki and a dragon. All the creatures of evil will fight the gods and they will be destroyed and then all the human beings will be and then the earth will be reborn again. And the two humans who had survived the endless winters will become the parents of the next race of human beings. 5. The Death of Balder 6. Cross-dressing Thor 7. The fate of Loki 8. Ragnarok 9. Tricksters Mapping Trickster Figures 1. ambiguous and anomalous personality of the trickster: a necessary anomaly involving every set of extremes: sacred and profane, life and death, culture and nature, order and chaos, fertility and impotencehe is not defined merely as a series of oppositions or contrasts. His activities are outlawish, outlandish, outrageous, out of bounds and out of order. 2. deceiver/trick player: a consummate and continuous trick-player and deceiver. In many cultures and religions, the trickster acts as the prima causa of disruptions and disorders, misfortunes and improprieties. He might be an unconscious numbskull (the trick can be played back on him) or a malicious spoiler. 3. shape-shifter: The trickster can alter his shape or bodily appearance in order to facilitate deception. Not even the 10. Trickster Continued 4. situation-invertor: The trickster exhibits typically the ability to overturn any person, place, or belief, no matter how prestigious. Profaning or inverting social beliefs brings into sharp relief just how much a society values these beliefs. 5. messenger/imitator of the gods: Often of uncertain or impure birth, the trickster can be both a messenger and an imitator of the gods. He can slip back and forth. He may be the messenger of death or he may bring gifts. Society may be simultaneously disrupted and renewed. 6. sacred/lewd tinker: noted for his ingenuity in transforming anything at hand in order to find a creative solution. The trickster seems impelled inwardly to violate all taboos, especially those which 11. Homework Rosenberg: pp. 418-453 King Arthur