Midgard = Middle Earth, though not in the Tolkien sense, here it is the world we live in that the other 8 worlds of North Mythology might intersect with partially (and invisibly). Still, I understand what Tolkien was going for by populating his middle earth with so many other beings not of our world.

And here’s the most blatant similarity to what we find as being passed down from Proto-Indo European people’s: the creation of the world through the dismemberment of a mystical being. Here its Ymir, and evil being, but the idea is the same from India to Iceland. Fascinating!

I’m positive I’m not the first person the think of this, but with so much ancient myth being populated with giants, I wonder how much of that is a remnant of when we inhabited the earth with Neanderthals? Is there an ancient thread of memory that still prevails to this day? Would be cool if it was, anyway.

I love this line:

“Men tread the road to Hel

as the sky splits apart.”

Interesting concept of the three thrones, each higher than the other, sit High, Just-As-High, and Third. They will not let Gylfi leave until he grows wiser and so they educate him on the creation of the world. It would be like if we invaded a country and made the inhabitants go before a panel to get re-educated.

Good for Gefjun! The king tries to proposition her? Ok, but then she’s going to use the oxen from a giant to till out a large of a plot of land in a day and night and winds up taking enough land to reach the sea! Clever.

Ha, I like this bit: Odin starts travelling north and conquers everything in sight (East Saxland, Jutland, Westphalia, France) and puts his sons in charge as kingly governors so when the King of Sweden hears Odin is in town he goes out to meet him and tells him he can have as much authority as he wants. Beats a war you can’t win.

Good ‘ol Icelandic myth: We get introduced to Thor growing up in Turkey and how by 12 years old he’s already fully grown … and then in the next sentence he kills his foster parents and takes over the realm. No transition, no explanation, just “he killed his foster-father Loricus and his wife Lora.”

So since the people have no concept of God, we see their reasoning for how they see the world through nature: water can usually be found underground, blood circulation is the same for most animals, the seasons have an order to them. They still have a belief in some supreme power that controls the universe, however.

I like this image of God who, already having wiped up all of humanity once before because they stopped worshipping him, is still looking out for them.