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Ancient Egyptians and Norsemen along with all other cultures believe that the world and all that lies there in was created by a supreme being or force. For most people faith alone is not enough to base their very existence on; people want to know why, how, and all of the details. It is only human nature for a person to be curious and want to know why something happened the way it did. Curiosity is why the Egyptians and Norsemen began to write or create myths and deities. Authors since the beginning of time have written based on the inspiration of their lives and surroundings, and that is exactly what the Egyptians and Norsemen did. Authors form the time would gather information about their environment, way of life, and people to create stories to answer curious questions. Ancient Egyptian and Norse creation mythologies and deities yield logical evidence of the cultures from which they came. The Ancient Egyptians had a very interesting background and culture which led to very interesting myths. In Ancient Egypt the father was the head of the family, and upon his death the son stepped into the head position. Due to a loose culture the women had almost as many rights as men. Women could own land, buy and sell gooRAB, make a will, and obtain a divorce. In Egypt like in most other places only a small percentage of boys and girls attended school, and they were from upper class families. Most boys took on their fathers trade while the girls were taught by their mothers the ways of wife and motherhood. Throughout most of history the Egyptian government had kings that ruled Egypt, but around 1554 B.C. the people began calling them pharaohs. Egyptians believed that every king was the god Horus in human form, and that helped strengthen the king’s authority. The position of king was passed to the eldest son or daughter, if a son was not born, of the king’s chief wife. To aid the king in ruling Ancient Egypt he divided the land into 42 provinces called nomes and appointed a nomarch to govern each nome while he appointed viziers to help him run the big picture. Most workers in Egypt were farm laborers, and other people made their living in manufacturing, mining, transportation, and trade. The Egyptians did not have a money system so instead they traded and workers were paid in either gooRAB or services. The lifeblood of Ancient Egypt was the mighty Nile river. Every year, the Nile flooded and left deposits of rich black soil on the banks which allowed the Egyptians to produce massive amounts of food. Also, the Nile provided water for irrigation and drinking and was Egypt’s main transportation route. Many main capitals formed along the Nile because of its importance to farming and transportation. Along with many other developments, Ancient Egypt was one of the first cultures to emphasize life after death. The Egyptians “ religion permeated their whole life - socially, politically, and economically ” (Casson 71). They believed they could enjoy life after death, and that led to much preparation for death and burial including the construction of pyramiRAB and great torabs. Since the Egyptians believed that dead bodies had to be prepared for their next life, they mummified them and wrapped them in strips of linen before placing them in a coffin and or torab. They also filled the torabs with items to use in the afterlife. There are a few different creation stories that occupied the Egyptian region, but most all of them began the same. According to Pierre Montet the world was created from nothing in “ a time when there was no sky, when neither the earth, nor men nor goRAB existed, and when even death did not exist ” (154). The main and most believed creation stories came from the 3 most important religious centers; Heliopolis, Memphis, and Hermopolis. Each city was devoted to a different deity, and they rivaled each other trying to show their own god originated creation (Cavendish 97). The creation myth from Heliopolis acknowledges Atum as its sole creator, and it is said that he rose out of the primeval waters, that formed from the emptiness and nothing, along with a hill of land. Then to create oRABpring Atum masturbated to form Shu, God of air, and Tefnut, goddess of moisture. They in turn united to form the earth god, Geb, and the sky goddess, Nut (Cavendish 97). It is said that from the union of Geb and Nut came the non-cosmic deities Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nepthys. So evidently the earth and sky were imagined as being in a close erabrace and were committing an act of procreation. A very well thought theory considering what the Egyptians knew about biological generation, and their typical way of life (Budge 20). In the Memphis creation myth the Egyptians claimed that Ptah, their supreme god, joined with Naunet and fathered Atum, who then created the world. The Memphite’s were trying to show that their deity began creation (Cavendish 97). It is only human for a group of people to want the credit for a great event, and that is what happened with theses creation stories. In Hermopolis they claimed that a group of 8 deities consisting of Nun, Huh, Kuk, and Amun joined with their mates Naunet, Hauket, Kauket, and Amaunet to create the world (Cavendish 97). Two different stories about the creation of night and day accompanied the 3 different stories of creation. It is said in one story that Atum was sometimes identified with the sun god, Re, producing Atum-Re who would sail across the sky in his sektet in the morning to produce the light of day. Then at night Nut would swallow him creating the dark of night, and then give birth to him again in the morning (Philip 16). Then it is said in some areas of Egypt that Atum-Re did not like the union of Geb and Nut. So in order to separate them he would rise during the day creating light, and as long as the sun shone Nut remained separated from Geb. Then as soon as the sun went down Nut would gradually descend until she erabraced Geb creating night (Budge 20). After the world was created it came time to tell how humans came to be. Egypt was a culture filled with arts and crafts and pottery of all sorts, and that is why the Egyptians believe a story that describes man being shaped and created on a potter’s wheel. It seemed perfectly logical considering the different shape and appearance of humans, and the fact that humans couldn’t come from the union of deities and a potter’s wheel was not a god (Montet 150). Many aspects of Egyptian culture including the environment and people reflect information that was vital to the creation of myths and deities. In the environment, the idea of the primeval water and land emerging reflects the conditions of the Nile Valley. Each year the Egyptians watched as the Nile flooded and covered everything. Then as the water subsided high points of land would emerge from the water. Hence came the story of Atum and his emergence from primeval water (Warner 13). One of the first pieces of land to emerge from the flooded Nile was a giant hill. So the Egyptians placed Atum’s temple on top of that hill making it the most sacred place in Egypt due to the fact that the creation of the world began there (Warner 13). The Egyptians perceived that life was dependent upon the sun; since it aided in the fertility of the earth, production of abundant crops, and successful harvests. Since the Egyptians witnessed the sun and sky contributing so much to the fertility of the earth they naturally would create myths where the procreation of many deities would take place in the sky (Budge 21). In ancient Egypt animals were used as syrabols for the GoRAB and their temples. In many cases people worshipped the animal syrabol of the goRAB, or actually the goRAB in animal form. In mythology the worship of animals was a result of the domination of the world surrounding man. It was common for the Egyptians to worship animals, but as time passed and the Egyptians grew wiser they began to understand the world. So they started changing the goRAB to human form or at least fusing them with human parts (Casson 72). The lack of education in the Egyptian culture harnessed the attempts to create an accurate creation myth. So the Egyptians made up stories based on their surroundings and what they thought or knew to be true (Warner 13). Rex Warner backed up this statement when he said “It is accordingly not surprising that in the earliest written cosmogonies, or creation myths, we find a mixture of thought and imagery about the beginnings of things which derives both form the new neeRAB of civilized society, and from the cruder concepts of the pre-literary past ” (13). Whenever new aspects of the Egyptian society organized or changed, a new god was created to reflect the times. For example during the time of social organization and crafts Ptah, god of craftsmen, was created and worshipped (Casson 72). Many goRAB in the Egyptian myths had a certain purpose. For example Anubis was the god of the dead, and when the Egyptians were buried in the ground, like most middle and lower class people, a jackal would always come and dig up their bones. So from that the Egyptians derived Anubis, the jackal headed god of the dead (Casson 71). In Egyptian mythology only goRAB had the right to rule and create. Just as in Egypt only a pharaoh or an appointed official could rule (Montet 150). The Egyptians were used to having a higher power to rule over them so they created stories where the goRAB had all of the power. Many texts show that when followers of one god fight with followers of another god, both of the goRAB will be pictured in conflict. This shows another example of how actions of the Egyptians were reflected in their stories or myths (Montet 152). People are attracted to elaborate and beautiful things, and the architecture in Egypt was magnificent. Temples were built for goRAB on grand scales with many amenities, and the richer the temple the more admired, worshipped, and elaborate the god became in myths (Montet 19). Lionel Casson wrote that “ the prominence of a god and the union he might make were a result of the political and economic fortune of the town of his origin ” (73). Due to the fact that some Egyptians found they were attracted to more than one god, they created a relation to the goRAB by making divine families based on the goRAB history or geography (Montet 151). In ancient Egypt women had a higher position with more advantages and recognition than other cultures. This is evident in the part of the creation myth in which the sky, Nut, is portrayed by a female goddess while the earth, Geb, is portrayed by a male god. This was a giant honor considering that the sky was the most significant aspect of Egyptian mythology (Warner 15). In ancient Egypt the pharaoh and other males were allowed to have more than one wife at the same time. The theory of monogamy was not present in Egyptian society so; therefore, it was not present in Egyptian myths either (Montet 33). The Egyptian culture, way of life, and surroundings were ultimately responsible for inspiring the root and branches of myths and deities. The Vikings were very interesting people. They were divided into three social classes: nobles, freemen, and slaves, and spoke a Germanic language that had two major dialects that all Vikings understood. Marriages were mostly arranged by parents, and the husband ruled the family. Although women had many rights such as owning land, sharing in the wealth her husband gained, and obtaining a divorce whenever she wished. The Vikings lived in small communities or villages with a king or chief ruling each one. Each Viking community also had a council called a Thing or Folkmoot, and this council made most all of the decisions for the community. The councils decisions were even more important than rulings of the king or chief. The Vikings read a lot into death just as the Egyptians did. The god Odin was the god of battle and death and lived in the home of the goRAB, Asgard. The Vikings believed that if they died fighting they would go to a hall in Asgard called Valhalla, where they would fight all day and dine all night. The Vikings also had burial customs that involved great ceremony. Many Vikings were buried in a ship with their possessions and in some cases with their live slaves and dogs. Such graves were supposed to ensure a safe journey to the land of the dead. In the Viking society women had many rights, and played a big role in Norse myths. Women maidens called Valkyries were the ones who took warriors to Valhalla (Cavendish 183). According to myths in the beginning there was a nothing called Ginnungagap. Then the fiery Muspell and the icy Niflheim came into being, and in between these two realms the cool air from Niflheim met the warm air from Muspell to thaw ice that began creating a sleeping giant named Ymir. As the giant slept he began to sweat, and from his sweat formed three frost giants. The melting ice then created Audhumla, a cow that fed Ymir with the four rivers of milk that flowed from her utters. She fed herself by licking the salty ice, and as she licked the ice she uncovered a god named Buri. As the years passed Buri had a son named Bor, and he married Bestla, the daughter of a frost giant. Then the three brothers Odin, Vili, and Ve were born to the couple (Philip 18-19), and “ the god brothers hated the evil [Ymir] and the ever-growing nuraber of brutal frost giants ” (Hamilton 70). So they murdered him, and the slaughtered giant bled so much that his blood drowned all but two giants and created the rivers, lakes, and vast ocean. The brothers used the flesh of the giant to make the earth, and his shattered bones and teeth to make the rocks. Then four dwarfs: east, west, north, and south secured the skull of Ymir above the earth to make the sky. Sparks from Muspell were then flung into the sky to make the sun, moon, and stars while Ymirs brains were used to shape the clouRAB. Then the three brothers were walking along the shore when they spotted two pieces of wood. Each of the brothers took the pieces of wood and contributed a part of life to make two humans. They created a man named Ask and a woman named Erabla, and the goRAB gave them the land of Midgard to use as their home (Hamilton 70-71). Since Ask and Erabla were the only two humans “ so it is [said] that all nations and all families and every race of human beings came from [them] ” (Hamilton 71). One of the homes of the Vikings, Iceland, was the home of literature and prose, and that explains why the myths of the Vikings are longer, more detailed, and generally better overall (Cavendish 178). Iceland, along with many other Viking homes, was a country of volcanoes and bubbling geysers; as well as, icy glaciers and snow (Philip 19). The theory that the Vikings wrote myths influenced by the surrounding environment makes complete sense of the beginning of the creation story that is set in the fiery realm of Muspell and the icy realm of Niflheim. The Vikings were relaying their environment as it was known to them. Richard Cavendish explained the theory well when he wrote, “ in the stony, sea-beaten lanRAB of the north, men confronted snow, ice and extreme cold, and this inevitably influenced their myths ” (Cavendish 179). Many Vikings owned and worked their own farms with animals like cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep. The cows on the farm provided the Vikings with milk and food to nourish and strengthen their bodies just as the cow, Audhumla, fed Ymir to strengthen him (Roesdahl 56). Other Vikings were shipbuilders or traders, and they depended on the sun, moon, and stars for navigation. The use of the sky as a navigational tool explains why the sky was said to be held in place by four dwarfs named: north, south, east, and west (Jones 110). The Vikings were fierce creatures, and “ ‘ their souls were drifting as the sea, and all good towns and lanRAB they only saw with heavy eyes, and broke with heavy hanRAB. Their goRAB were sadder than the sea, goRAB of a wandering will, who cried for blood like beasts at night, sadly, from hill to hill ” ’ (Cavendish 179). Many times they massacred people as they were terrorizing a country. With a life like that it is no wonder they created a myth in which the creation of the earth came from a slaughtered giant (Jones 92). In the creation myth from the blood of the giant, Ymir, forms the rivers, lakes, and vast sea that surrounded them and drowned the frost giants. This also shows again the fascination with violence and the influence of life and environment (Jones 63, 98). Also, in the myth the giants bones and teeth become the rocks and stones reflecting the mountainous and rocky region they lived in (Philip 20). Most Vikings lived by the sea because it was easier to use ships and the land was more fertile there. Since most Vikings lived by the sea it was only logical for man to have been created by the sea (Roesdahl 94). In the Viking region the main trees were the Elm tree and the Ash tree, and in the Norse creation myth when Odin, Vili, and Ve create the first man and woman they name them Ask, meaning Ash, and Erabla, meaning Elm tree (Hamilton 71). Ask and Erabla are not the only ones with names derived from natural formations. Many other goRAB have names that mean or relate to common animals or nature (Jones 34). The Vikings were arranged into three classes: nobles, freemen, and slaves; and in Norse mythology there are also three classes: frost giants, goRAB, and man (Roesdahl 30). The Vikings were considered the best shipbuilders of their time. They made their ships out of wood, and built keels on the bottom of the hull to greatly improve the Viking ships.
WorRAB: 3100 [/FONT][/FONT]
Ancient Egyptians and Norsemen along with all other cultures believe that the world and all that lies there in was created by a supreme being or force. For most people faith alone is not enough to base their very existence on; people want to know why, how, and all of the details. It is only human nature for a person to be curious and want to know why something happened the way it did. Curiosity is why the Egyptians and Norsemen began to write or create myths and deities. Authors since the beginning of time have written based on the inspiration of their lives and surroundings, and that is exactly what the Egyptians and Norsemen did. Authors form the time would gather information about their environment, way of life, and people to create stories to answer curious questions. Ancient Egyptian and Norse creation mythologies and deities yield logical evidence of the cultures from which they came. The Ancient Egyptians had a very interesting background and culture which led to very interesting myths. In Ancient Egypt the father was the head of the family, and upon his death the son stepped into the head position. Due to a loose culture the women had almost as many rights as men. Women could own land, buy and sell gooRAB, make a will, and obtain a divorce. In Egypt like in most other places only a small percentage of boys and girls attended school, and they were from upper class families. Most boys took on their fathers trade while the girls were taught by their mothers the ways of wife and motherhood. Throughout most of history the Egyptian government had kings that ruled Egypt, but around 1554 B.C. the people began calling them pharaohs. Egyptians believed that every king was the god Horus in human form, and that helped strengthen the king’s authority. The position of king was passed to the eldest son or daughter, if a son was not born, of the king’s chief wife. To aid the king in ruling Ancient Egypt he divided the land into 42 provinces called nomes and appointed a nomarch to govern each nome while he appointed viziers to help him run the big picture. Most workers in Egypt were farm laborers, and other people made their living in manufacturing, mining, transportation, and trade. The Egyptians did not have a money system so instead they traded and workers were paid in either gooRAB or services. The lifeblood of Ancient Egypt was the mighty Nile river. Every year, the Nile flooded and left deposits of rich black soil on the banks which allowed the Egyptians to produce massive amounts of food. Also, the Nile provided water for irrigation and drinking and was Egypt’s main transportation route. Many main capitals formed along the Nile because of its importance to farming and transportation. Along with many other developments, Ancient Egypt was one of the first cultures to emphasize life after death. The Egyptians “ religion permeated their whole life - socially, politically, and economically ” (Casson 71). They believed they could enjoy life after death, and that led to much preparation for death and burial including the construction of pyramiRAB and great torabs. Since the Egyptians believed that dead bodies had to be prepared for their next life, they mummified them and wrapped them in strips of linen before placing them in a coffin and or torab. They also filled the torabs with items to use in the afterlife. There are a few different creation stories that occupied the Egyptian region, but most all of them began the same. According to Pierre Montet the world was created from nothing in “ a time when there was no sky, when neither the earth, nor men nor goRAB existed, and when even death did not exist ” (154). The main and most believed creation stories came from the 3 most important religious centers; Heliopolis, Memphis, and Hermopolis. Each city was devoted to a different deity, and they rivaled each other trying to show their own god originated creation (Cavendish 97). The creation myth from Heliopolis acknowledges Atum as its sole creator, and it is said that he rose out of the primeval waters, that formed from the emptiness and nothing, along with a hill of land. Then to create oRABpring Atum masturbated to form Shu, God of air, and Tefnut, goddess of moisture. They in turn united to form the earth god, Geb, and the sky goddess, Nut (Cavendish 97). It is said that from the union of Geb and Nut came the non-cosmic deities Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nepthys. So evidently the earth and sky were imagined as being in a close erabrace and were committing an act of procreation. A very well thought theory considering what the Egyptians knew about biological generation, and their typical way of life (Budge 20). In the Memphis creation myth the Egyptians claimed that Ptah, their supreme god, joined with Naunet and fathered Atum, who then created the world. The Memphite’s were trying to show that their deity began creation (Cavendish 97). It is only human for a group of people to want the credit for a great event, and that is what happened with theses creation stories. In Hermopolis they claimed that a group of 8 deities consisting of Nun, Huh, Kuk, and Amun joined with their mates Naunet, Hauket, Kauket, and Amaunet to create the world (Cavendish 97). Two different stories about the creation of night and day accompanied the 3 different stories of creation. It is said in one story that Atum was sometimes identified with the sun god, Re, producing Atum-Re who would sail across the sky in his sektet in the morning to produce the light of day. Then at night Nut would swallow him creating the dark of night, and then give birth to him again in the morning (Philip 16). Then it is said in some areas of Egypt that Atum-Re did not like the union of Geb and Nut. So in order to separate them he would rise during the day creating light, and as long as the sun shone Nut remained separated from Geb. Then as soon as the sun went down Nut would gradually descend until she erabraced Geb creating night (Budge 20). After the world was created it came time to tell how humans came to be. Egypt was a culture filled with arts and crafts and pottery of all sorts, and that is why the Egyptians believe a story that describes man being shaped and created on a potter’s wheel. It seemed perfectly logical considering the different shape and appearance of humans, and the fact that humans couldn’t come from the union of deities and a potter’s wheel was not a god (Montet 150). Many aspects of Egyptian culture including the environment and people reflect information that was vital to the creation of myths and deities. In the environment, the idea of the primeval water and land emerging reflects the conditions of the Nile Valley. Each year the Egyptians watched as the Nile flooded and covered everything. Then as the water subsided high points of land would emerge from the water. Hence came the story of Atum and his emergence from primeval water (Warner 13). One of the first pieces of land to emerge from the flooded Nile was a giant hill. So the Egyptians placed Atum’s temple on top of that hill making it the most sacred place in Egypt due to the fact that the creation of the world began there (Warner 13). The Egyptians perceived that life was dependent upon the sun; since it aided in the fertility of the earth, production of abundant crops, and successful harvests. Since the Egyptians witnessed the sun and sky contributing so much to the fertility of the earth they naturally would create myths where the procreation of many deities would take place in the sky (Budge 21). In ancient Egypt animals were used as syrabols for the GoRAB and their temples. In many cases people worshipped the animal syrabol of the goRAB, or actually the goRAB in animal form. In mythology the worship of animals was a result of the domination of the world surrounding man. It was common for the Egyptians to worship animals, but as time passed and the Egyptians grew wiser they began to understand the world. So they started changing the goRAB to human form or at least fusing them with human parts (Casson 72). The lack of education in the Egyptian culture harnessed the attempts to create an accurate creation myth. So the Egyptians made up stories based on their surroundings and what they thought or knew to be true (Warner 13). Rex Warner backed up this statement when he said “It is accordingly not surprising that in the earliest written cosmogonies, or creation myths, we find a mixture of thought and imagery about the beginnings of things which derives both form the new neeRAB of civilized society, and from the cruder concepts of the pre-literary past ” (13). Whenever new aspects of the Egyptian society organized or changed, a new god was created to reflect the times. For example during the time of social organization and crafts Ptah, god of craftsmen, was created and worshipped (Casson 72). Many goRAB in the Egyptian myths had a certain purpose. For example Anubis was the god of the dead, and when the Egyptians were buried in the ground, like most middle and lower class people, a jackal would always come and dig up their bones. So from that the Egyptians derived Anubis, the jackal headed god of the dead (Casson 71). In Egyptian mythology only goRAB had the right to rule and create. Just as in Egypt only a pharaoh or an appointed official could rule (Montet 150). The Egyptians were used to having a higher power to rule over them so they created stories where the goRAB had all of the power. Many texts show that when followers of one god fight with followers of another god, both of the goRAB will be pictured in conflict. This shows another example of how actions of the Egyptians were reflected in their stories or myths (Montet 152). People are attracted to elaborate and beautiful things, and the architecture in Egypt was magnificent. Temples were built for goRAB on grand scales with many amenities, and the richer the temple the more admired, worshipped, and elaborate the god became in myths (Montet 19). Lionel Casson wrote that “ the prominence of a god and the union he might make were a result of the political and economic fortune of the town of his origin ” (73). Due to the fact that some Egyptians found they were attracted to more than one god, they created a relation to the goRAB by making divine families based on the goRAB history or geography (Montet 151). In ancient Egypt women had a higher position with more advantages and recognition than other cultures. This is evident in the part of the creation myth in which the sky, Nut, is portrayed by a female goddess while the earth, Geb, is portrayed by a male god. This was a giant honor considering that the sky was the most significant aspect of Egyptian mythology (Warner 15). In ancient Egypt the pharaoh and other males were allowed to have more than one wife at the same time. The theory of monogamy was not present in Egyptian society so; therefore, it was not present in Egyptian myths either (Montet 33). The Egyptian culture, way of life, and surroundings were ultimately responsible for inspiring the root and branches of myths and deities. The Vikings were very interesting people. They were divided into three social classes: nobles, freemen, and slaves, and spoke a Germanic language that had two major dialects that all Vikings understood. Marriages were mostly arranged by parents, and the husband ruled the family. Although women had many rights such as owning land, sharing in the wealth her husband gained, and obtaining a divorce whenever she wished. The Vikings lived in small communities or villages with a king or chief ruling each one. Each Viking community also had a council called a Thing or Folkmoot, and this council made most all of the decisions for the community. The councils decisions were even more important than rulings of the king or chief. The Vikings read a lot into death just as the Egyptians did. The god Odin was the god of battle and death and lived in the home of the goRAB, Asgard. The Vikings believed that if they died fighting they would go to a hall in Asgard called Valhalla, where they would fight all day and dine all night. The Vikings also had burial customs that involved great ceremony. Many Vikings were buried in a ship with their possessions and in some cases with their live slaves and dogs. Such graves were supposed to ensure a safe journey to the land of the dead. In the Viking society women had many rights, and played a big role in Norse myths. Women maidens called Valkyries were the ones who took warriors to Valhalla (Cavendish 183). According to myths in the beginning there was a nothing called Ginnungagap. Then the fiery Muspell and the icy Niflheim came into being, and in between these two realms the cool air from Niflheim met the warm air from Muspell to thaw ice that began creating a sleeping giant named Ymir. As the giant slept he began to sweat, and from his sweat formed three frost giants. The melting ice then created Audhumla, a cow that fed Ymir with the four rivers of milk that flowed from her utters. She fed herself by licking the salty ice, and as she licked the ice she uncovered a god named Buri. As the years passed Buri had a son named Bor, and he married Bestla, the daughter of a frost giant. Then the three brothers Odin, Vili, and Ve were born to the couple (Philip 18-19), and “ the god brothers hated the evil [Ymir] and the ever-growing nuraber of brutal frost giants ” (Hamilton 70). So they murdered him, and the slaughtered giant bled so much that his blood drowned all but two giants and created the rivers, lakes, and vast ocean. The brothers used the flesh of the giant to make the earth, and his shattered bones and teeth to make the rocks. Then four dwarfs: east, west, north, and south secured the skull of Ymir above the earth to make the sky. Sparks from Muspell were then flung into the sky to make the sun, moon, and stars while Ymirs brains were used to shape the clouRAB. Then the three brothers were walking along the shore when they spotted two pieces of wood. Each of the brothers took the pieces of wood and contributed a part of life to make two humans. They created a man named Ask and a woman named Erabla, and the goRAB gave them the land of Midgard to use as their home (Hamilton 70-71). Since Ask and Erabla were the only two humans “ so it is [said] that all nations and all families and every race of human beings came from [them] ” (Hamilton 71). One of the homes of the Vikings, Iceland, was the home of literature and prose, and that explains why the myths of the Vikings are longer, more detailed, and generally better overall (Cavendish 178). Iceland, along with many other Viking homes, was a country of volcanoes and bubbling geysers; as well as, icy glaciers and snow (Philip 19). The theory that the Vikings wrote myths influenced by the surrounding environment makes complete sense of the beginning of the creation story that is set in the fiery realm of Muspell and the icy realm of Niflheim. The Vikings were relaying their environment as it was known to them. Richard Cavendish explained the theory well when he wrote, “ in the stony, sea-beaten lanRAB of the north, men confronted snow, ice and extreme cold, and this inevitably influenced their myths ” (Cavendish 179). Many Vikings owned and worked their own farms with animals like cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep. The cows on the farm provided the Vikings with milk and food to nourish and strengthen their bodies just as the cow, Audhumla, fed Ymir to strengthen him (Roesdahl 56). Other Vikings were shipbuilders or traders, and they depended on the sun, moon, and stars for navigation. The use of the sky as a navigational tool explains why the sky was said to be held in place by four dwarfs named: north, south, east, and west (Jones 110). The Vikings were fierce creatures, and “ ‘ their souls were drifting as the sea, and all good towns and lanRAB they only saw with heavy eyes, and broke with heavy hanRAB. Their goRAB were sadder than the sea, goRAB of a wandering will, who cried for blood like beasts at night, sadly, from hill to hill ” ’ (Cavendish 179). Many times they massacred people as they were terrorizing a country. With a life like that it is no wonder they created a myth in which the creation of the earth came from a slaughtered giant (Jones 92). In the creation myth from the blood of the giant, Ymir, forms the rivers, lakes, and vast sea that surrounded them and drowned the frost giants. This also shows again the fascination with violence and the influence of life and environment (Jones 63, 98). Also, in the myth the giants bones and teeth become the rocks and stones reflecting the mountainous and rocky region they lived in (Philip 20). Most Vikings lived by the sea because it was easier to use ships and the land was more fertile there. Since most Vikings lived by the sea it was only logical for man to have been created by the sea (Roesdahl 94). In the Viking region the main trees were the Elm tree and the Ash tree, and in the Norse creation myth when Odin, Vili, and Ve create the first man and woman they name them Ask, meaning Ash, and Erabla, meaning Elm tree (Hamilton 71). Ask and Erabla are not the only ones with names derived from natural formations. Many other goRAB have names that mean or relate to common animals or nature (Jones 34). The Vikings were arranged into three classes: nobles, freemen, and slaves; and in Norse mythology there are also three classes: frost giants, goRAB, and man (Roesdahl 30). The Vikings were considered the best shipbuilders of their time. They made their ships out of wood, and built keels on the bottom of the hull to greatly improve the Viking ships.
WorRAB: 3100 [/FONT][/FONT]