According to Norse myth, the mountainous regions of Asgard were once home to the principal gods or the Aesirs. A clan of warriors, the Aesir pantheon has gods like Odin, Thor, Baldyr and Tyr. They were tall, blue eyed and blonde haired and were known for their prowess with the axe and the sword.
The Aesirs were in constant battle with the Vanirs, a Nordic clan; also believed by some to be an older family of gods. The Vanirs were peace loving and agricultural while the Aesirs were always ready for a fight
The conflict between Aesirs and Vanirs is central to Nordic mythology. Some interpret this as a fight for supremacy between two tribes. Others believe that the Vanirs were an older cult that was forced to flee when faced with a warrior clan like the Aesirs.
It is not possible to pick one theory over the other simply because we don’t know fact from fiction. Like most myths, these too are short of documentary evidence or proof. But that is not issue really. What is interesting is that the Norse legends tell us about the way Aesirs and Vanirs interacted with each other. They fought over land, over women and for moral supremacy.
The myths tell us about the qualities that the tribes held dear and it indicates the compulsions behind the migratory nature of most ancient civilisations. According to one story, Iounn was the Aesir god of youth and beauty and held in high regard by the clan. Once, she was abducted by the giants and the Aesirs found themselves ageing like the normal folk. Iounn was rescued by Loki the trickster who changed his form and flew her back to the kingdom of Aesirs.
These myths make me wonder whether the Aesirs and Vanirs of Norse tales are even remotely connected to the Asur and Vanar in Indian mythology? Or are Aesir, Ahura and Asur part of the same family of myths?
Mircea Eliade, the well known Romanian scholar of comparative religions better known in India for his autobiographical novel, Maitreyi (a fictionalised account of his relationship with Bengali writer Maitreyi Devi) has said that the conflict between Aesirs and Vanirs reflect Indo-European myths of conflict between the gods of the sky and the gods of the earth.
Is it possible that we have more than just a name in common between Nordic and Vedic mythologies?
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Ram, Ram…
Ram is in the news. What with various politicians laying claim to his legacy and historians debating his existence, Ram’s found a mention in the sound bytes. Was he a god that once walked the earth? Was he a king? Was he real? Or was he a composite character, drawn from heroic exploits of India’s many tribal kings?
We don’t have answers to any of these. The reason is that every time, we try and talk about our mythology, religion gatecrashes the party. Thus if we want to study the character of Ram, we cant. Because if we were to raise questions about his birth, it would be un-Indian. To question his moral authority, is disrespectful.
And yet, his sons did that in the Ramayana indicating a strength of character that we seem to lack today. His wife delivered the harshest judgement of all when she walked out on him, choosing death over her marriage. But, do we discuss this. Of course, not.
We cant debate any of these issues without holding up the invisible shield of faith. Mythology is rolled into the jumble of stuff that constitutes ancient Indian culture; the culture that we fail to uphold but never tire of eulogising. In the name of Ram, lets drop the blinkers. Let us talk about him, let us allow for an objective study of our myths and let's go with the Indian tradition of argument and debate. It would help us discover -- not whether Ram existed or not -- but the true meaning of his life story and a lot more about the times he lived in. I am sure that his creators – human or divine – would approve.
We don’t have answers to any of these. The reason is that every time, we try and talk about our mythology, religion gatecrashes the party. Thus if we want to study the character of Ram, we cant. Because if we were to raise questions about his birth, it would be un-Indian. To question his moral authority, is disrespectful.
And yet, his sons did that in the Ramayana indicating a strength of character that we seem to lack today. His wife delivered the harshest judgement of all when she walked out on him, choosing death over her marriage. But, do we discuss this. Of course, not.
We cant debate any of these issues without holding up the invisible shield of faith. Mythology is rolled into the jumble of stuff that constitutes ancient Indian culture; the culture that we fail to uphold but never tire of eulogising. In the name of Ram, lets drop the blinkers. Let us talk about him, let us allow for an objective study of our myths and let's go with the Indian tradition of argument and debate. It would help us discover -- not whether Ram existed or not -- but the true meaning of his life story and a lot more about the times he lived in. I am sure that his creators – human or divine – would approve.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
another goddess takes off...
Mrityu is the goddess of death. According to Vedic mythology, she was created by Bramha to prevent the universe from being overrun by his creation. Her duty was to ensure that all things born must die someday.
However Mrityu was not happy with the order of things. She didn’t want to do what she was being asked to and was so distressed at the thought of being forced to obey her father that she fled her home. She hid herself in the depths of the ocean, say some while others says that she tucked herself into the petals of the lotus flower. But you cant hide from Bramha and he found her and pleaded with her to come back.
Mrityu wept; “Why”, she asked her father, “should I have to be the one who destroys life?”
At that, Bramha, the story goes, cupped his palm and collected all her tears and said, “You are there to help preserve the balance of life itself. But your tears will not be in vain. They will do your work for you. They will spread disease and illness among mankind to ensure that life comes to an end and the universe keeps its balance.”
Picture by Mekhala Singhal
Sunday, September 09, 2007
the boy who snared the sun
Shaiontoni says: You may like this story which also snares the sun and holds it down, in this case, to prevent it from rising. It was found in
American Indian Fairytales
Retold by W.T. Larned
Illustrated by John Rae
Derrydale, Randomhouse publishers
Iagoo the story teller tells the tale: “In the days of the great dormouse, In the days long long ago when there were many more animals than men on the earth, and the biggest of all beasts was Dormouse. Then something strange happened -- something that never happened before or since…….The story I am going to tell you is not so much about the dormouse as it is about a little boy and his sister. Yet had it not been for the Dormouse, I would not be here to tell you about it, and you would not be here to listen. The only people left on the whole earth were a young girl and her little brother.”
The boy was a dwarf and not more than three feet high but his sister was larger and stronger. She looked after him well but knew that he would have to take care of himself some day or the other. So she taught him the art of shooting and set him up with some bows and arrows. The boy was happy and one winter’s day he shot down some wild snowbirds. His sister sewed the skins together and made him a light coat to keep him warm. They boy strutted around “like a turkey cock” in his coat and one day decided to explore the world. He told his sister that he wanted to see whether, “you and I are the only persons living on earth? Perhaps if I look around I may find someone else. It will do no harm to try.” He walked and walked and walked and when he grew tired lay down to rest on the edge of a hill. Soon he was fast asleep and while he slept: “The bird skins of which the coat was made were still fresh, and …under the full glare of the sun they began to shrivel and shrink.”
The boy woke up and was very angry with the sun.” First he did nothing at all but stretch himself on the ground, where he lay for ten days without eating or moving. Then he turned over onto his side and lay there for ten days more. At last he rose to his feet…and said to his sister: “I have a plan to catch the sun in a noose. Find me something to make a snare.”
His sister got him some rough grass to twist into a rope but he said that would not do. She then cut her hair and braided it. This pleased him and he “drew it between his lips and as he did this it turned into a kind of metal, and grew much stronger and longer, until he had so much that he wound it around his body. In the middle of the night, he made his way to the hill, and there he fixed a noose at the place where the sun would rise. He had to wait a long time in the cold and darkness. But at last a faint light came into the sky. As the sun rose it was caught fast in the noose, and there it stayed.”
The rest of the world flapped around in the darkness. “Ad-ji-dau-mo, the squirrel, chattered and scolded from the branch of a pine tree. Kah-gah-gee, the raven flapped his wings and croaked more hoarsely than ever to tell the others that the end of the world had come. Only Muk-wa the bear did not mind, for it was winter, and the darker it was the better he liked it.”
“Wabun, the East Wind was the one who brought the news. He had drawn from his quiver the silver arrows with which he chased the darkness from the valleys. But the sun had not risen to help him and the arrows fell harmless to the earth. ‘Wake, wake!’ he wailed. ‘Someone has caught the sun in a snare. Which of all the animals will dare to cut the cord?’
The animals decided to go to Dormouse but he was fast asleep. So they went to An-ne-mee-kee, the thunder who went Boom! Boom! In the ear of Dormouse. “The biggest beast on earth slowly rose to his feet. In the darkness he looked bigger than ever, almost as big as a mountain. …………“’Now said Coyote to Dormouse,’ it is you that will have to free the sun. If he burned one of us, there would be little left but bones. But you are so big that if part of you is burned away there will still be enough. Then in that case you would not have to eat so much, or work so hard to get it.’
“Dormouse was a stupid animal and Coyote’s talk seemed true talk. Besides, as he was the biggest animal, he was expected to do the biggest things. So he made his way to the hill where the little boy had snared the sun, and began to nibble at the noose. As he nibbled away, his back got hotter and hotter. Soon it began to burn, until all the upper part of him burned away and became great heaps of ashes. At last when he had cut through the cord with his teeth, and set the sun free, all that was left of him was an animal no larger than an ordinary mouse. What he became then, so he is today…….”
American Indian Fairytales
Retold by W.T. Larned
Illustrated by John Rae
Derrydale, Randomhouse publishers
Iagoo the story teller tells the tale: “In the days of the great dormouse, In the days long long ago when there were many more animals than men on the earth, and the biggest of all beasts was Dormouse. Then something strange happened -- something that never happened before or since…….The story I am going to tell you is not so much about the dormouse as it is about a little boy and his sister. Yet had it not been for the Dormouse, I would not be here to tell you about it, and you would not be here to listen. The only people left on the whole earth were a young girl and her little brother.”
The boy was a dwarf and not more than three feet high but his sister was larger and stronger. She looked after him well but knew that he would have to take care of himself some day or the other. So she taught him the art of shooting and set him up with some bows and arrows. The boy was happy and one winter’s day he shot down some wild snowbirds. His sister sewed the skins together and made him a light coat to keep him warm. They boy strutted around “like a turkey cock” in his coat and one day decided to explore the world. He told his sister that he wanted to see whether, “you and I are the only persons living on earth? Perhaps if I look around I may find someone else. It will do no harm to try.” He walked and walked and walked and when he grew tired lay down to rest on the edge of a hill. Soon he was fast asleep and while he slept: “The bird skins of which the coat was made were still fresh, and …under the full glare of the sun they began to shrivel and shrink.”
The boy woke up and was very angry with the sun.” First he did nothing at all but stretch himself on the ground, where he lay for ten days without eating or moving. Then he turned over onto his side and lay there for ten days more. At last he rose to his feet…and said to his sister: “I have a plan to catch the sun in a noose. Find me something to make a snare.”
His sister got him some rough grass to twist into a rope but he said that would not do. She then cut her hair and braided it. This pleased him and he “drew it between his lips and as he did this it turned into a kind of metal, and grew much stronger and longer, until he had so much that he wound it around his body. In the middle of the night, he made his way to the hill, and there he fixed a noose at the place where the sun would rise. He had to wait a long time in the cold and darkness. But at last a faint light came into the sky. As the sun rose it was caught fast in the noose, and there it stayed.”
The rest of the world flapped around in the darkness. “Ad-ji-dau-mo, the squirrel, chattered and scolded from the branch of a pine tree. Kah-gah-gee, the raven flapped his wings and croaked more hoarsely than ever to tell the others that the end of the world had come. Only Muk-wa the bear did not mind, for it was winter, and the darker it was the better he liked it.”
“Wabun, the East Wind was the one who brought the news. He had drawn from his quiver the silver arrows with which he chased the darkness from the valleys. But the sun had not risen to help him and the arrows fell harmless to the earth. ‘Wake, wake!’ he wailed. ‘Someone has caught the sun in a snare. Which of all the animals will dare to cut the cord?’
The animals decided to go to Dormouse but he was fast asleep. So they went to An-ne-mee-kee, the thunder who went Boom! Boom! In the ear of Dormouse. “The biggest beast on earth slowly rose to his feet. In the darkness he looked bigger than ever, almost as big as a mountain. …………“’Now said Coyote to Dormouse,’ it is you that will have to free the sun. If he burned one of us, there would be little left but bones. But you are so big that if part of you is burned away there will still be enough. Then in that case you would not have to eat so much, or work so hard to get it.’
“Dormouse was a stupid animal and Coyote’s talk seemed true talk. Besides, as he was the biggest animal, he was expected to do the biggest things. So he made his way to the hill where the little boy had snared the sun, and began to nibble at the noose. As he nibbled away, his back got hotter and hotter. Soon it began to burn, until all the upper part of him burned away and became great heaps of ashes. At last when he had cut through the cord with his teeth, and set the sun free, all that was left of him was an animal no larger than an ordinary mouse. What he became then, so he is today…….”
Monday, September 03, 2007
when goddesses take flight...
This is a story from Japan.
The Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu was terrified of her brothers: Hurricane and Gale. They troubled her regularly. And one day, to escape their wilful hooliganism, the goddess ran away and hid herself in a cave.
As you can see, this led to chaos. The gods ran helter skelter looking for Amaterasu because she had taken away the light from their lives. Finally, they found her but, despite all their cajoling and pleading; she refused to step out of the cave. She wouldn’t even come to the entrance for fear that she may be dragged out by her brothers.
The god of wisdom came up with a plan. Go to the cave, he told his fellow gods, in great numbers. Take every musical instrument you can think up and a large mirror. Bang the instruments to create a racket that shakes every corner of the world.
The gods followed his advice and soon Amaterasu let curiosity get the better of her and peeped out. Look, the gods said, we now have a new sun goddess. She is brighter, braver and stronger than you.
Amaterasu saw the reflection in the mirror. Anger flooded her entire being and she stepped out for a fight. No sooner did she do that, the gods tied her up with ropes of dried grass and placed her back in the sky.
Gradually, Amaterasu came to accept her fate. But every night she finds her way back to the cave and lets the moon take her place in the night sky. The ropes of dried grass are the rays of the sun and even today, the Japanese believe that it is auspicious to hang up a garland of dried grass over the doorway during special ceremonies.
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