Myths, Stories and Culture

This paper presents a comparison of themes that are persistent with the myths regarding stories and storytelling practices within two cultures.

Norse and Teutonic (Germanic) Mythology

Germanic mythology refers to the myths of people who spoke Germanic dialects prior to their conversion to Christianity. These ancient Germanic people from the continent and of England were illiterate. Most of what we do know about the mythology and beliefs of that era comes from literary sources written in Scandinavia and then transcripted into the Old Norse language of Iceland from the 12th to 14th centuries. Two collections of verse, known as the Eddas, exist (Kirk, 62).

The earliest, the Elder Edda or Poetic Edda, contains the earliest Norse mythology, whereas the Younger Edda or Prose Edda was written by Snorri Sturluson around 1220 AD. In the Prose Edda, Sturluson combined a variety of sources with three earlier poetic accounts of the origin of the world to create a wholly representative mythology.

In the Prose Edda version of the creation, all that originally existed was a void called Ginnungagap. To the north of the void was the icy region of Niflheim, and to the south of the void was the sunny region of Muspelheim. Warm breaths from Muspelheim melted the ice from Niflheim, and a stream of water flowed into the void, from which emerged the giant, Ymir, ancestor of the Frost Giants (DuBois, 18).

Created from drops of the melting ice, Audhumbla, the cow, nourished Ymir and was nourished herself by licking salty frost- and ice-covered stones. The stones were formed into a man, Bori, who was destined to become the father of Odin, Vili, and Ve. The brothers slaughtered Ymir and created the earth from his flesh, the mountains from his bones, the sea from his blood, the clouds from his brains, and the heavens from his skull. The heavens, according to the Prose Edda, were balanced by four dwarfs—Austri, Westri, Nordi, and Sudri—the directions on a compass. Sparks from the fireland, Muspelheim, became the stars of the sky (Christie, 33).

This newly created land, named Midgard, was to become the somber home of mortal humans. Even in Asgard, home of the gods, the atmosphere was grave and the only hope was to face disaster and fight the enemy bravely to earn a seat in Odin's castle, Valhalla. As with so many similar myths, Norse mythology reflected the attitude of the culture: In death there is victory, and true courage will not be defeated. Some of these mythic themes are represented in Richard Wagner's music-drama tetralogy, Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Oriental Mythology

The myths of India, China, and Japan are highly complex and sophisticated. They differ from Greek, Roman, and Germanic mythologies in that, rather than venerating anthropomorphic deities, the structures of these deities are usually polymorphic, intricately combining human and animal forms. The gods and goddesses of the Hindus take extraordinary human forms with numerous heads, eyes, and arms (Burland, 70).

During early times, deities in Chinese and Japanese myths were more animistic, ...