Rhonda Tharp
Active Member
Ok, so Hermes was born of Maia and Zeus and was able to join the pantheon... does anyone know why Odin admired Loki and was able to "join" the pantheon even though he was born of a giant?
Loki and hermes
- Thread starter Rhonda Tharp
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Rhonda Tharp
Active Member
HAHAHAHAHA, love it! I love examining the trickster archetype. I was always baffled that Loki seems to be accepted into the pantheon, and I think "Trickster Makes this World" did a great job explaining that tricksters will take what they think is rightfully theirs. I just struggled with Odin's attitude towards him in some stories. Indianaj - good point about Sleipnir, I guess that would earn him a place at the table.
And my mother would agree that I am a trickster
And my mother would agree that I am a trickster
LegendofJoe
Active Member
I believe Odin had a close relationship with Loki even before he produced Sleipnir. In one version of the creation, Odin, Loki and Hoenir walked along the shore and saw two trees: the ash and the elm. From the ash they made man and from the elm, woman. Each god gave them an attribute:Odin gave breath, Hoenir gave spirit and Loki gave the vital spark and ruddy complexion (Voluspa). In the Prose Edda the creation story is told before the Sleipnir story, with Vili and Ve taking the places of Hoenir and Loki. (the stories seem to follow a chronological manner).
In a book by H. A. Guerber, the writer states that in the early days of the universe, Odin and Loki became sworn blood-brothers. As to why Odin did this I'm not sure. She quotes from Saemund's Edda, which I believe is what the Poetic Edda used to be called. But I can't seem to find it in my English version.
Rhonda Tharp
Active Member
I've got a copy of the Icelandic Sagas, would that be similar to the Prose/Poetic Eddas? Have you read translations of Snorri Sturluson's Eddas? Thanks that helped a lot!!!
LegendofJoe
Active Member
Hi Rhonda
Happy New Year!
The Icelandic Sagas are different than the Eddas. The Sagas are semi-historical accounts about the settlements of Iceland, Greenland and the New World. They read like historical fictions. (At least they do to me; a scholar might yell at me for wording it like that). Many are by anonymous authors. They include The Vinland Sagas, Njal's Saga, Eirik's Saga and Laexdala Saga. Snorri Sturluson wrote one such collection called the Heimskringla (History of the Kings of Norway). They hold such Sagas as King Harald Hardrada and St. Olaf's Sagas.
I don't know what collection you have, but they cannot be all of them: there are hundreds. They contain many dramatic accounts of people living in Iceland, Norway and anywhere else the Vikings had influence. Of course some sagas are more legendary and mythical: The Volsungasaga tells the story of Sigurd and Brynhilda. And the first book of the Heimskringla (Ynglingasaga), tells important mythological information concerning the battle between the Vanir and the Aesir.
Snorri also wrote the Edda. (Which we call the Prose Edda). It was a handbook for poets but contains tons of important myths and legends of the Norsemen. I read the Jean I. Young partial translation published by the University of California. I also read the newer complete translation by Anthony Faulkes published by
Everyman. The other Edda (Poetic), is a collection of anonymous poems and some prose. They also tell the myths and legends of the Norsemen, many which are repeated in Snorri's book. I read the Lee M. Hollander translation published by the University of Texas. I also have a newer one (which I did not read yet), by Larrington published by Oxford University Press.
I really recommend the Young translation of Snorri's Edda. It is fun to read, gives most of the stories and you are getting a first hand account of the stories rather than from a reteller. The complete name of the book is The Prose Edda: Tales from Norse Mythology.
Keep the questions coming.
LegendofJoe
Active Member
I really enjoyed Myths and Legends of the Norsemen by Helene Guerber. It is easy to read and contains just about all of the important myths.
It is a little outdated in places.
Rhonda Tharp
Active Member
I based my 8th grade curriculum unit (on the Norse) on that book. It's a good one.
If you are interested in Norse mythology, then help VuduPins Productions make a film based off of the Norse myths of Baldur's death. The film is called "Baldur's Dreams" and is centered around Odin, Frigg, Baldur, and Loki. Before we can begin filming, we need to raise funds. Please help us and go to this site and donate money. Spread the word and help this film get made. Every penny counts. Thanks!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vudupins/baldurs-dreams-a-norse-myth-short-film
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vudupins/baldurs-dreams-a-norse-myth-short-film
If you are interested in Norse mythology, then help VuduPins Productions make a film based off of the Norse myths of Baldur's death. The film is called "Baldur's Dreams" and is centered around Odin, Frigg, Baldur, and Loki. Before we can begin filming, we need to raise funds. Please help us and go to this site and donate money. Spread the word and help this film get made. Every penny counts. Thanks!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vudupins/baldurs-dreams-a-norse-myth-short-film
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vudupins/baldurs-dreams-a-norse-myth-short-film
Alejandro
Active Member
What I've always found curious about Hermes (and his admission into the Olympian pantheon) is that he was the only immortal child of Zeus among the ones sired upon Pleiades. Zeus had at least four children by Maia's sisters Taygete and Elektra, but weirdly, none is immortal like both parents (and Hermes). Other major gods consorted with the other Pleiades but they too produced mortal offspring. So I figure either that Maia was extraordinary among her sisters or that Hermes must've done some special thing to become not only immortal but also one of the twelve great gods.
Loki was supposedly a first cousin of Óðinn, whose mother the giantess Bestla, according to some reconstructions of Norse mythology, was the sister of Loki's father Fárbauti or of his mother Laufey. Sources explicitly call Fárbauti a Giant but there's some tantalising ambiguity as to what/who exactly Laufey was. It's possible even that she might have been a goddess, which, if she was married to a Giant, would make her the only goddess in the mythology of whom this is ever said (with the exceptions, perhaps, of Freyja and Gefjon). As a rule, the gods take women from the Giants, but the Giants are always denied a reciprocal privilege by the gods. (The same rule applies, though more loosely, in Greek myth.) But maybe Laufey was not actually Fárbauti's wedded wife: in one account, Fárbauti got Loki upon Laufey by striking her with a bolt of lightning. (Veiled reference to sexual violence? Loki's brothers Býleipt and Helblindi may have been conceived in the same manner, in which case perhaps the three brothers were triplets.) An alternate solution is that Laufey was both goddess and giantess, like many of the female Vanir who became part of the community of the Æsir. Maybe this isn't too much of a stretch, especially if we consider that Óðinn's mother was a giantess (what happened to her, by the way? Did she become a goddess of Ásgarð? And if she did, maybe so did Laufey, who may have been her sister)... If Loki's mother was an Ásynja [Ás-goddess], that naturally made him an Ás-god [one of the Æsir], the same as any other Ás who had some gigantic parentage, as a lot of them actually did, not least of whom were Óðinn himself, Óðinn's son Thórr, and Thórr's sons Magni and Móði.
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