The Icelandic Creation Myth: A Comparative Analysis

321 Words1 Page

The common motif for the Mesopotamian and Icelandic creation myth are “the world parent”, “a war in heaven” and “the creation of earthly matter from the body of the first mother”, ( The World of Myth, Page 19). In the Mesopotamian story the world parents are Apsu, who is primordial freshwater, and Tiamat, the great saltwater body, they created land. Lahmu and Lahamu led to the first family Anshar and Kishar with their son Anu, which later led to his family. Ea and his brother killed Apsu and angered Tiamat causing her to create a monster for revenge. The Icelandic creation myth the world parents are Muspell in the south, the place of fire and Niflheim in the north, is the place of ice and snow. Where the climates met there was melting ice

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast Hesiod And Greek Mythology

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    Roman and Greek mythology are filled with multiple interpretations of how the creator, be it the gods or nature, contributed to the birth of the world. These stories draw the backgrounds of the gods and goddesses that govern much of classical mythology. Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Hesiod’s Theogony are two pieces of work that account for how our universe came to be. A comparison of Theogony with Metamorphoses reveals that Hesiod’s creation story portrays the deities as omnipresent, powerful role whose actions triggered the beginning of the universe whereas in Metamorphoses, the deities do not play a significant role; rather the humans are center of the creation. The similarities and differences are evident in the construction of the universe, ages of man, and the creation of men and women on earth.

    Read More

  • Using at least one example from the tutorial readings, describe the relationship between myth or ritual and the maintenance and recreation of soci...

    849 Words  | 2 Pages

    Myth, and the maintenance and recreation of the socio-cosmic order, is a seemingly paradoxical occurrence in religion, yet their relationship to one another becomes established as the evolution of belief flourishes and the intricate understanding of the cosmos coupled with the allegory of myth become increasing interlinked.

    Read More

  • Monsters in Greek Mythology

    1641 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rosenberg, Donna. "The Creation of the Titans and the Gods." World Mythology. 3rd ed. Chicago: NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group, Inc., 1999. 82-89. Print.

    Read More

  • Creator God Archetype

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    For instance, the creation of world from a dark water abyss to a living world by Atum, an Egyptian deity exemplifies homogenous impression of creator god. According to Egyptian mythology, the spirit of creator was bounded by the primeval water as there was emptiness all over. The origin began with the emergence of Atum from primeval chaos in the form of a serpent. However, he was alone so he gave birth to the first divine couple. Then, the divine couple Shu and Tefenet gave birth to other gods and goddesses and the world was formed out of chaos (Willis 39). Considering the complexities of nature, humankind have considered that all of the resources including water, wind, land, and other things are created by none other than the creator. This indicates that some ideas are universal and inherited by all humans independent of their tradition. Moreover, Jung claimed that a part of human mind contained a collective unconsciousness shared by all human species. The phenomena of creation by Atum manifest the persona of creator god and it thereby establishes similarities that can be recognized by all humans regardless of their culture, ethnicity, or geographical

    Read More

  • The Ononadaga Creation Myth

    324 Words  | 1 Pages

    The story of creation is left up to the person you ask. Different cultures and societies have different stories about how the world was created, also known as creation myths. A creation myth is a story that shows how the world they lived in was created or how the first people came to inhabit it. It usually reflects their culture and beliefs. The Native Americans have very elaborate creation myths. Culture plays a big part in their creation myths. They used their views to make a creation myth that applied to their lives and values. Even though the Modoc and Lakota creation myths focus on respecting living creatures, the Ononadaga creation myth in contrast focuses on not giving up.

    Read More

  • Comparing Mohawk Tribe And The Hebrew Bible Creation Myth

    1636 Words  | 4 Pages

    Have you ever wonder how the universe was created? Some people believe in the Earth creation by the Supreme Being, some believe in the scientific explanation of Big Bang explosion theory. Every civilization in the world has its own story of how things are created. Each story reflects how people see and think the world at their time. In this essay, I am going to compare two myths of how man was created – the creation tale of Mohawk Tribe and the Hebrew Bible creation story. There are a lot of similarities as well as differences between these legends. While some differences between the two tales are the development of the stories and the meaning behind the stories, the similarities between them is the concept of creationism.

    Read More

  • Norse Mythology In Modern Culture

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    Norse Mythology Norse mythology has become prevalent in modern culture, but this is possible only due to the compilations and prior analyses that have been done. The way that many are exposed to Norse mythology today is through modern media, specifically films. Three such films that include major elements of Norse mythology are Thor directed by Kenneth Branagh, Thor: The Dark World directed by Alan Taylor, and Avengers directed by Joss Whedon. All three of these films are part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and fit together into one story. These films also create a fairly complex, modern interpretation of Norse mythology that is complete with major characters and elements of Norse mythology, such as the nine realms and their names, and characters like Odin, Loki, Thor and Heimdall.

    Read More

  • Essay

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hesiod’s Theogony and the Babylonian Enuma Elish are both myths that begin as creation myths, explaining how the universe and, later on, humans came to be. These types of myths exist in every culture and, while the account of creation in Hesiod’s Theogony and the Enuma Elish share many similarities, the two myths differ in many ways as well. Both myths begin creation from where the universe is a formless state, from which the primordial gods emerge. The idea of the earth and sky beginning as one and then being separated is also expressed in both myths.

    Read More

  • Essay Comparing Greek Creation Myth And World On A Turtle's Back

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    The strange Greeks’ creation myth compares but also contrasts with the twisting storyline of the Iroquois’ creation myth. From creating the world from a piece of dirt and a turtle’s back, to giving birth to the earth, sea, and sky, these myths both include interesting stories and tales. The characters of the Greek creation myth are somewhat similar to those of the Iroquois’ myth, however, the story and explanations of them both differ greatly.

    Read More

  • A Summary Of The Metamorphoses

    1292 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Greek Creation Epic, The Metamorphoses by Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid), describes the formation of the Earth and mankind in ex nihilo, the Latin phrase defined as “out of nothing”. Ovid’s Metamorphoses tells a story of Earth’s creations as a god transforms a natural object Chaos into Earth and then populating it with humans and animals. This famous Greek mythical creation story has its similarities and differences with other creation stories we’ve studied such as Enuma Elish, Gensis 1 & 2, Hesiod’s Theogony. The Metamorphoses relates to some of these stories because of their emphasis the creation of the world being formed from the power of a god rather than being formed from chaos. The Metamorphoses was originally written in Latin by Ovid

    Read More

  • Genesis 1 And Egyptian Creation Myths Summary

    534 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths,” researcher Gordon H. Johnston reiterates the conclusions that A. H. Sayce, A. S. Yahuda have reached about the comparisons of Genesis 1 and Egyptian creation myths (Johnston, 180). Johnston postulates that there are undoubtedly strong similarities and connections between Genesis 1 and Egyptian creation myths (Johnston, 180). Johnston noted that these earlier analyses were overlooked and not accepted due to various reasons; easily accessible Mesopotamian materials, the assumption that Genesis 1 should be classified as a Priest source, ignorance of the Hebrew bibles’ Egyptian origins, and misunderstanding of the Egyptians terminology when analyzing creation ideas (Johnston, 179).

    Read More

  • Archetypes of Shinto and Ancient Greek Religion

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most countries in the world have archetypes in their creation myths, even countries as distant from each other as Japan and Greece. Japan’s religion, Shinto, has stories about sibling marriages and casting deformed children away. Greek myths have similar plots in their stories. There are reasons why these two completely different cultures have similar stories. The next three paragraphs explain why there are archetypes and differences in creation myths of Japan and Greece.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Theogony and Creation in Genesis

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the world there are various cultures with varying religions and creation stories to explain the creation of the Earth and it’s inhabitants. Of these creation stories two with similar and also different characteristics is the Creation story in the book of Genesis which is a part of the 1st Testament in the Hebrew Bible and explains the creation of Earth and humans, and the Theogony which is the greek creation story that describes the origins of the Earth and the Greek Gods. Both the Theogony and the Creation in Genesis show nature as a blessing for humans but it can also affect them negatively, However the myths differ in the ways that the Earth and humans were created and how humans interact with the deities of the creation stories.

    Read More

  • The role of god in the ancient world

    1747 Words  | 4 Pages

    People of the ancient world often had questions about their existence and how life and people came to be on earth. Most ancient people answered these questions through religion. The Sumerians were the first important group of people to inhabit Mesopotamia and they were known to practice a form of worship called polytheism, which is the worship of several gods. Mesopotamians associated different gods with natural events, emotions, and other occurrences. Their main deities included An (the god of the heavens), Enlil (Lord Storm), Enki (god of wisdom), and Nihursaga (the mother of all living things)(p.22). The Mesopotamians believed that the gods controlled all of the events and occurrences in life. An ancient text called “Creation of Man by the Mother Goddess” (p.34) helps us understand how the M...

    Read More

  • Creation Stories

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    All cultures seek to explain how everything in this world was created. They come up with their own creation stories that describe the creation of themselves and the things around them. Most creation stories also attempt to explain mysterious phenomena, teach lessons to the listeners, and emphasize aspects of life that each culture finds important. The three creation stories that I chose to compare were the creation myths of the Mande, the African Bushmen, and the Egyptians. These creation stories, though extremely different do share some similarities.

    Read More

More about The Icelandic Creation Myth: A Comparative Analysis

Open Document