Thursday, August 14, 2014

Norse Vs Greek



SIMILARITIES:


1. They both have many gods

2. Zeus and his brothers and sister fought their father and the Titans (older Greek gods) and took over as the main gods

Odin and the Aesir (gods from Asgard) fought the Vanir (Norse gods from Vanaheim) and took over as the main gods.

The reason for the wars were very different though

3. The Olympians gods (Zeus and the rest of the gang) allowed some of the Titans to live with them, but either killed or imprisoned the rest.

The Aesir (Odin and the rest of the gang) and Vanirs just got tired of fighting and called a truce. To create peace Goddess Freya and her brother Freyr and another god went to live in Asgard while two Vanir gods went to live in Vanaheim.

For the sake of peace, half of the dead/slain warriors went to Odin in Valhalla and the other half went to Freya in her field/hall.

4. They had numerous love affairs including with humans to produce demigods. In Norse mythology, you don't hear a lot about these demigods though.

DIFFERENCE:

In Norse mythology, there are nine realms (worlds):

1. Asgard (home of the Aesir gods):

2. Vanaheim (home of the Vanir gods)

3. Alfheim (home of the light Elves)

4. Midgard (home of humans) The rainbow bridge (Bifrost) connects Midgard and Asgard. Midgard is in the middle of the realms

5. Svartalheim (home of the dark Elves)

6. Nidavellir (home of the Dwarves).
Dwarves were master craftsmen. They forged Thor's hammer and Odin's spear

7. Jotunheim (home of the giants): Even though the giants from Jotunheim were sworn enemies of Aesir, the gods would take giantesses as lovers and have children with them.

8. Niflheim is the coldest and misty region in the north. Somewhere under the ground in Niflheim is Hel

9. Muspelheim-Home of fire giants and demons. It is way south, it's hot with volcanic activities.



Unlike the Greek gods, Norse gods used magic. Vanir gods used incantations, sorcery and charms.

Goddess Freya taught the Asgardians this kind of magic when she moved to Asgard. The knowledge was passed on to worthy human to fight evil.

Odin was the first to get runes and used them to do magic. He taught the other gods runic magic, which were passed on to worthy humans


Join me on my Goodreads Group for more discussions and a more inside look on the Runes series and the Guardian Legacy series




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