Term Papers on Scandinavian Mythology

Term Paper Title	Scandinavian Mythology
# of Words	1506
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	6.02

Scandinavian Mythology

The beginning of Scandinavian Mythology goes back before the Vikings, during the Scandinavian Bronze Age, which lasted from 1600 - 450 BC. Some of the mythology remains today. The stories recorded from this mythology are taken from the work of Christian writers and poets. I will begin by telling the story of the creation of the world, according to Norse mythology.
The Creation- In the beginning there was no earth or heaven, no sand nor see nor cooling waves. There was only Ginnungagap, a great void. In the north there was an icy world, while in the south, a fiery realm. The northern part of Ginnungagap became filled with the ice and. When that ice formed and was firm, a drizzling rain arose from the venomous rivers and poured over the ice where it cooled into rime, and one layer of ice formed on top of the other throughout Ginnungagap. The southern part was lit by the sparks and glowing embers, which flew out of the fiery realm. Where the heat from the south met the coolness in the north the ice was thawed and it began to drip and by the might that sent the heat, life appeared in the drops of the running fluid and this fluid formed into the likeness of a man. He was given the name Ymir. As the frost continued to thaw another form was created. This form became a cow called Audhumbla. From her teats flowed four rivers of milk and it was upon this that Ymir was fed. While he fed, Ymir slept, and while he slept a male and female frost giant grew from his armpits and one leg fathered a six headed troll with the other leg.
Audhumbla lived by licking the ice-blocks that were salty, and by the evening of the first day there appeared a man's hair where she licked. On the second day, a man's head appeared, and by the third day the whole man was freed from the ice. This man was called Buri. He had a son name Bor who married Bestla, who was the daughter of the giant Bolthum. Bor and Bestla had three sons, Odin, Vili, andVe.
There was great strife between the offspring of Ymir and the children of Bor and Bestla. Odin led his brothers against Ymir and they killed him. Ever since that time there has been hatred and enmity between the gods and the giants.
Odin and his brothers dragged Ymir's body into the void. His flesh became the earth, his blood the sea. His bones became the mountains, his hair the trees, and his teeth the stones. The sons of Bor then took Ymir's skull and fashioned from it the sky and set it over the earth. Under each corner they placed a dwarf and it is from the names of these dwarves that we get the directions, North, South, East and West. The sons of Bor then took the sparks and burning embers that were flying about and cast them into the midst of Ginnungagap to light the heavens and the earth. They gave stations to all the stars and planets.
They then fashioned a world for the families of giants and this world is known as Jotunheim. Away from this land they fashioned a stronghold to surround the world, to defend it from the giants. This land was fashioned from Ymir's eyebrows, and it is called Midgard. They then took the brains of Ymir and cast them into the air and these became the storm-threatening clouds.
One day while Odin and his brothers were walking along the sea shore they came upon two tree trunks. The gods saw great beauty in the trunks and set forth to bring them to life. Odin gave them soul, Vili gave motion and sense, and Ve gave being and blooming hue. These beings were the first humans and they were called Ask and Embla. Midgard was given to them to inhabit.
Now that the earth was made and had been filled with all manners of beings the gods created a home for themselves. The gods then built for themselves a stronghold in the middle of the world and it is known as Asgard. They built a bridge to connect Asgard and Midgard, and this bridge is Bifrost. Asgard is sheltered by the great world tree, Yggdrasil, which touches upon all of the worlds.
Yggdrasil- the world tree, the ash tree that connects all of the Nine Worlds of Norse mythology. The tree survives the...

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