Connections in Greek and Norse Mythology

In the beginning there was the Earth, at least in some form in both Greek and Norse myths. In Greek it was Gaia whereas there were regions in Norse. There was Muspell, the “region flickers with dancing flames” and Black Surt was there with his flaming sword. There was Niflheim, the land of snow and ice. There was also, of course, Hvergelmir, the land of spring where the rivers lie. This also relates to Greek mythology where the Ocean, the world encircling river had 50 daughters with Nereus. In the common interest of parents and children, Rheia and Kronos had three powerful sons in Zues, Poseidon, and Hades. I’m not quite sure what it is with trios of immortals in mythology but Bor and Bestla birthed three sons by the names of Odin, Vili, and Ve. It seems that both mythological beginnings began in the same way with the Earth as the mother of all things with three powerful deities coming of it.

The striking similarity of the gods and goddesses in Greek and Norse myth does not only appear in how they came about, but in the cruelty they have towards mortals and others. As Apollo feared that he would not be the best musician he killed the mortal who would challenge him, the Norse gods made a deal with a mason to create a better wall to protect Asgard. When the time came that he would have finished the wall in time to win his prizes; Freyja, the most beautiful goddess (similar to that of Aphrodite), the sun, and the moon, the gods had to find a way to cancel the contract. Although the giant was not quite a human mortal he paid the same price. The moral of both stories is that no one got the best of the gods…EVER.

Disobeying a god also seemed to be a pretty horrible idea. Remember when Pandora opened the box even though she was told not to and let disease and all that good stuff into the world? Well in Norse mythology there had to be at least one rebel! Thor told the farmers family that they should not hinder the bones of the goats but instead throw them onto the skin. The famished little boy disobeyed because he longed for nourishment and sucked the marrow from the bone. Something so small should be ignored and forgiven right? Not in Thor’s eyes! He was about to kill the family but then he came to his senses and only kept them as slaves! The gods are as reasonable as they come with disobeying. Either you do it or all hell breaks loose.

There are some very similar ideologies in Greek and Norse myths but the idea of the gods being kind to anyway has never quite changed. It’s their way or the highway in most cases.

3 thoughts on “Connections in Greek and Norse Mythology

  1. It did seem like poor judgement to appose either a Norse god or a Greek god, though you do bring up a good point, the Norse gods tended to have a loophole in it where you could/should rebel. It seems like in the Norse culture you were rewarded for your bravery even if it was at the expense of it being towards leadership. I don’t think the same could be said for the Greek culture. I think the leaders and powerful at the top would quite like to keep it that way. I happened to see Heimdall and Thor as an amalgam of Prometheus. They both were the peoples champ (especially Thor) and Heimdall created the races of men similar to Prometheus creating men out of clay. It seems as though most older and more modern religions have their own version of Odin, the all father and Zeus.

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  2. I’d have to agree with @ericgustavson2 about the Norse god loophole. I also noticed that more than once, quite frequently actually, that loophole came in the form of Loki. I think the Norse gods were much more ruthless than the Greek gods. In an odd way, this makes me like them and enjoy their tales even more.

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    • I do think that I would rather anger a Norse god than a Greek god. Yes, Thor got angry with Thalfi, but instead of instantly smiting him, like Artemis did with Actaeon, he calms down and actually, in the act of punishing him, gives him a better life than he would have had as a poor farm boy. It’s like the Norse gods can understand how motivation works.

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