The Morals, Interventions of Gods, Heroes, and Critical Lens Statements of the Norsemen Myths

Many Cultures develop myths, legends, or stories to explain what seemed to them as an unexplainable action. One of these cultures, the Norsemen, also compiled myths to explain summer and winter and other such instances. Also, as in a myths usual ingredients, they also include morals or lessons, god/goddess intervention, and heroes. Some even have universal statements, critical lens statements that are sayings or quotes.

One Norsemen myth is the story of Niord, the God of Summer. The characters mentioned in the story are Niord, Aegir, Odin, Hoenir, Skadi, Frey, Freya, & Balder. The only example of God/Goddess intervention is when the Gods on Loki had unfortunately met Skadi, Goddess of Winter, whose father was killed. She was then swayed to a more pleasant mood they took advantage and agreed that she could marry on of the Gods, but only can only choose by feet. This story was mainly about how a God, Niord, got married to someone who was the complete opposite of himself. They did their best to keep the marriage afloat but each living in the others world upset the other. They did have two children, named Frey and Freya. They then mutually agreed that their marriage wasnt meant to be and basically had a divorce.

One quote that doubles as a critical lens statement is She felt that these feet must be of the God Balder, for he had a body to marvel at, but unfortunately noted that it was the feet of Niord, but not showing her disappointment. This quote principally means that though a person may seem to be perfect, we all in an essence have a flaw. This connects to the man of the Greeks, Achilles. He too had a flaw for which is his Achilles heal and this is what lead to his downfall. Another quote which has a critical lens statement is and the howling of the wolves had greatly made his stay in his wifes terrain unbearable. This quotes meaning is that a person who is obligated to change his/her complete usually spells destruction. One story that can relate with this quote is of Zeus and lo because Zeus was not willing to change his lifestyle, turning lo into a cow to hide his adultery from Hera. The person/god closest to a hero in this story is Niord because he was the one who agreed to marry Skadi and did his best to make things work between them.

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Another myth of the Norsemen is the story of Vali. The characters are Billing, Rinda, Odin, Vali, Rossthiof, Vecha/Vak, and Hodur. The main example of God/Goddess intervention was when Odin came from Loki to have a child with Rinda so that his other sons death would be avenged. The story begins when Odin arrives at Rindas house to court her so that he could have his child with her. After a few unsuccessful attempts she finally gave in and she after had a child named Vali. Vali grew to full stature of a man in one day. He then pursued his half-brothers murderer and had avenged, satisfying Odin. But, see! Thy avenger, Vali come, spring from the west, in Rindas womb, True son of Odin! One days birth! This means that when penance is needed to be done, it will be paid in full, even if the odds seem impossible. One connection to this quote was the story of Orestes and when he killed Aegisthus, who had killed Agamemnon, Orestes true father. One of the Heros unusual characteristic was that he was able to grow up in one day and able to avenge his half-brothers death in less than a day!

An additional Norsemen myth is the story of Hermod. The characters are Hermod, Rossthiof, Rinda, Odin, and Vali. The major God/Goddess intervention was when Odin sent his son Hermod to Rossthiof to learn of the prophecy of Vali. The story is basically about how Hermod was sent to Rossthiof to learn of the prophecy of how Odin can avenge the death of his son, Jokil, and he came back with the prediction that for Jokils dearth to be avenged Odin must have a child with a woman named Rinda, who will bore the child Vali, and will grow to full adult state in one day and murder Jokils murderer. The Hero was Hermod who heroically traveled down to Rosthiofs land to learn of the future though he knew great evil lay before him and that success was not guaranteed. He is similar to the god of Hermes in Greek Mythology.

In the Norsemen story of Uller, he was said to be God of Winter. The Characters are Uller, Odin, Baldur, Hodur, and Skadi. One example of God/Goddess intervention is when Uller takes power of the Norsemen and those who believe in it because during the winter time he is most powerful, even above Zeus. He is also known as the God of Hell. The myth begins by explaining Ullers uncanny love for wilderness and big game hunting. He was said to control over the earth for the same amount of time Odin controlled the world. Baldur, God of Light associated with Odin while Hodur, God of Darkness, was to associate with Uller. Uller was not liked by the people of Earth as they liked Odin due to the fact that he did not pamper them as much as Odin but made life for the humans one to struggle for survival. Still, however, they would worship him by offering leather to what he can add to his collection and create clothing. The hero of this story is Uller and some of his special qualities and characteristics he had were that he was leaned more towards darkness and hell rather than being like Odin and more enjoyable.

One quote with a critical lens statement is Uller dared to usurp Odins position during the winter when Odin was away and controlled the lands of Asgard and Misgard and was even said to take Odins wife, Frigga. This means that only the evil minded would try to usurp the positions of the noble- hearted. This connects to the story of Clytemnestra, Aegisthus, and Agamemnon. Aegisthus killed Agamemnon, the King, so that he could marry Agamemnons wife Clytemnestra and usurp the position of King from Agamemnon. Another quote from the story of Uller is the power of light (Balder) yet again yields to the power of darkness (Hodur). Many times in the past goodness has yielded to evilness, though goodness has always prevailed and the struggle between light and dark symbolizes that. The story of The Odyssey relates to this because Odysseus being the light always yielded to whatever the Greek Gods through at him, especially Poseidon.

The Final Norsemen story is about Forseti, the equitable peacemaker. The characters were 12 men of law, Forseti, Balder, and Odin. The story is about Forseti, son of Balder and Nanna. He was born as a God who could listen equally to both sides and rule perfectly fair judgment to the side that was correct. For this ability, he joined the 12 councilman of Gods/Goddesses at Loki and the Gods/Goddesses gave him a beautiful house of gold with a beautifully decorated interior. He then had 12 disciples who he accompanied in the form of a man so that may land on heligoisland (holy island) where they are to have peace and no quarrels. Forseti is the hero in this story because he was the one who had setup judicial law for both mankind and gods. He was born from parents of good nature, Balder who was the god of light and Nanna who was the Goddess of immaculate purity.

To conclude, though many types of people over great distances have created myths and legends of Gods, they all have the same basis. Such as Odin in Norsemen Mythology is to Zeus, good is to good. Also, many of these myths were formed around the same time which leads to why we have so many variations today and recurrences of similar events in different cultures.

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