Category Archives: Thief
Veles
Also Known As: Benec, Vėlinas (Baltic, Lithuanian),Volos, Volusu, Volusu, Vyeles, Ganyklos (Lithuanian), Vlas (Russian), Walgino, Weles
Epitaphs: King of Bears, Lord of all Wolves, Master of the Forest, “Skotiybog“ (God of Cattle)
Etymology: “Uel-“ to see, fields, spirits of the dead. Also likely from the proto-Indo-European word “wel-“ wool
In Slavic beliefs, folklore, and mythology, Veles is a god of many things from storms and trickery to God of the underworld and domestic animals as well as the god of the earth and water. Veles is indeed a significant and major supernatural force within Slavic mythology and beliefs. Depending upon your source, some of it can seem rather contradictory.
Given the nature of Slavic beliefs, there isn’t much concrete documentation. There is still a lot of oral history and traditions about Veles found in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Russia. All of this can get very confusing as for the longest time, first with the arrival of Christianity, a lot of local Slavic pagan beliefs were done away with and made to be seen as aspects of evil and the devil. Then later, when that’s no longer so prominent, there just isn’t a lot that has been documented and what survives has been by oral tradition and that, can vary widely by local, regional traditions that have managed to get passed on. We also hit on several dubious sources that over time have proven not to be reliable.
Naturally, this will be where I’ve got some mistakes and expect I Veles to be a post I will come back to correct several times and update.
Attributes
Animal: Bear, Cattle, Crows, Dragons, Owl, Ravens, Rooster, Serpents, Wolf
Colors: Black, Blue, Green, Red
Day of the Week: Sunday
Directions: North, West
Element: Earth, Water
Gemstones: Bloodstone, Garnet, Jasper, Jet, Obsidian, Onyx
Incense: Cedar, Clove, Ginger, Wormwood
Month: February, March
Plant: Cedar, Hawthorne, Holly, Ivy, Mistletoe, Pine, Wheat, Willow
Planet: Mercury
Season: Autumn
Sphere of Influence: Cattle, Commerce, Divination, Fertility, Magic, Medicine, Music, Pastures, Underworld, Wealth, Wildlife
Symbols: Cattle, Horns, Serpents, Wool
Tarot: Cups, Pentacles
Weapon: Spear
Description
In some sources, Veles is described as a wolf-headed god. In other sources, Veles is described as a large serpent with horns that lives in the water or is pictured at the bottom of the Slavic World Tree with Perun in his eagle form at the top. Frequently, Veles is depicted as an elderly man with a gray beard and hair. As a shapeshifter, Veles often takes on the traits of those animals favored or associated with him such as horns and bear fur.
When in the form of a bear, Veles is regarded as the King of Bears. As a wolf, among the southern Slavs, Veles is the lord of all wolves.
Velinas – In the Balto-Slavic regions, a description is given that describes him as being a one-eyed god with a gift for divination and leader of the Wild Hunt, lord of the dead, and to whom people sacrificed to were killed with a spear. This version of Veles warrants having its own post as one source found, discusses Velinas as similar to, yet clearly different from Veles. Taking a look at the Mediterranean region among the Greek and Roman cultures, there were other culture groups like the Etruscans, the Dacians, Phrygians who have their own local deities who were similar to those of the Greek and Roman deities and would frequently be absorbed into the Greco-Roman pantheons and survive as epitaphs for the local region.
What’s In A Name?
According to the linguist Roman Jakobson, the name Veles comes from the word “uel-“ and “esu-“ while the name Volos comes from another root word for where “-el” changes to “olo.” The root word “uel” or “wel-“ can have variable meanings and refer to any number of words such as “to die,” “grass,” “to see,” “to want,” “to turn,” “to cull,” “tepid”, “hair,” “wool,” “forest,” and “deception” as in magical deceptions. The book “The Mythology of All Races” published in 1918 says that Veles’ name comes from “weles” for wolf.
The root word “uel” is also related to the proto-Germanic word “walaz” that is also seen in the old Norse “valr,” “valkyria,” and “Valholl” all words related to the Norse god Odin who is known too by the name “Valfǫðr.” In the Baltic dialects and language, we see this reflected in the word “vėlės/veļi” for the “spirits of the dead,” “shade of the deceased,” and “shadow of death.”. This is reflected in the Baltic god’s names of Vėlinas, Velnias, and Velns. A connection of the word “uel” from “ṷélsu-“ for meadow or pasture has been made with the Greek Elysium, the fields of the blessed dead.
Where “uel-“ relates with “to see,” there is a connection in the name of the seeress Veleda. Going off this, in Norse mythology there is a “Völva,” a seeress connected to water and foretelling known as “Völuspa.” The word “Völuspa” is connected to spinning or braiding the Thread of Fate of those whose futures have been seen. “Völva” is also the cognate for a “Wheel” or “Spinning Wheel.”
In the proto-Indo-European language, etymologists have found the root word “wel-“ meaning wool and likely where the English word “wool” comes from. The Russian word for “hair” is “volos.” As a god of horned cattle and other livestock, this makes sense.
Worship
First off, “The Primary Chronicle” is the main source and historical record that provides us with evidence for Veles’ importance and worship. Veles is one of the Slavic gods that can be concretely confirmed while there are several others that have been disproved or there’s still information being gathered to confirm them.
Veles is worshiped in two distinct forms. One as Veles and one as Volos. This makes sense as that can be a way to break down all the aspects of what Veles is a god of and the domains he presides over. Scholars and etymologists suggest that Veles and Volos are two different gods being referred to. However, that does make sense for a need to see two different deities once the Slavic regions began to be Christianized and there’s a split of Veles’ dualistic nature.
Cocks or Roosters would be sacrificed to Veles at the rivers or lakes sacred to him.
During the later 10th century, Vladimir I, the Prince of Kiev erected seven statues in his city, of which Veles was one of them. However, Veles’ statue is the only one that didn’t stand up on the hill next to the other statues and castle. Instead, Veles’ statue could be found in the city in the marketplace. This placement indicates strongly Veles’ importance to commerce. Plus, it also shows that the worship of Perun and Veles needed to be kept separate as Perun’s shrines and worship were to be conducted up high with Veles’ place down in the lowlands. Among the Southern Slavs, Veles’ name is often found in place names.
Triglav – Veles was worshipped as an aspect of the three-headed Slavic god Triglav and the Slavic trinity consisting of Perun, Veles, and Svarog.
Christian Influence
With the arrival of Christianity in the Slavic regions and countries, the aspect of Veles has largely been suppressed, at least the aspects connecting him to the Underworld and as a trickster. He has been equated with the Devil with his name becoming the same word for ghosts and devils. There is a record of Czech’s referring to Veles as a devil in the 16th century. An idol was thrown in the Pocayna River. Veles is used frequently in medieval curses from Bohemia.
Due to Veles’ dualistic nature, we see a split in his name with Veles and Volos. The name Veles under Christian influence holding a more negative connotations and associations. Whereas with Volos, he is held more benignly, and this aspect survives, becoming associated with different Saints.
St. Blaise – Or Saint Vlas, Saint Vlaho, St. Blaz, or St. Vlasiy, he is connected more to the aspect of Volos, he is a shepherd and patron saint cattle and domestic animals. Icons of St. Vlas were placed in cattle sheds for their protection. The Saint’s name day is February 12th and, on this day, cattle are treated to a special feed to eat. In Yaroslavl, the church built on the site of Vele’s shrine was dedicated to St. Blaise.
St. Nicholas – Veles is associated with this saint who is a patron of merchants, fishermen, and mariners. There is also this connection due to the association with water and being a snake who is slain by St. George, a motif similar to the enmity between Perun and Veles.
Parentage and Family
Parents –
Father – Rod, the creator god in Slavic beliefs.
Mother – Zemun, a divine or celestial cow.
Sometimes Veles’ parents are given as Svarog and Lada.
Siblings
Perun and Dażbóg
Consort
Depending on the region or the source cited, Veles is married either to Mokosh, the goddess of the earth, or to Devana, a goddess of the wilds and hunt.
Mokosh – She is somewhat conflicting as in other stories Mokosh is the wife to Perun and whom Veles kidnaps in their never-ending feud.
Devana – Or Dziewanna was forced to marry Veles after she rebelled against Perun.
Children
Jarilo – A fertility god raised by Veles after being kidnapped. So he may not really count.
Chaoskampf
The struggle against Chaos; this is a familiar motif found throughout the world in many different regions and mythologies of a culture hero or God going up against a creature of chaos. This creature is often shown as and takes the form of a great serpent or dragon. This is the familiar Knight slaying the Dragon seen in many European mythologies. Parallels to this concept are even found in other cultures.
This aspect is seen in the descriptions of Veles where he is a serpent with horns and the battle that he has with Perun. It’s a dragon or serpent-slaying motif seen with the story of Saint George slaying the dragon.
Storm Myth – Battle With Perun, the Storm God
As previously mentioned above under Chaoskampf, this story is perhaps the best-known Slavic story, especially as it fits into the Christian ideas of a hero slaying the dragon or evil or order triumphing over chaos.
Russian scholars and philologists Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich Ivanov and Vladimir Toporov have reconstructed this mythical battle of Perun and Veles with comparative studies to various Indo-European myths, Slavic folk tales, and songs.
Perun, the god of thunder battles against Veles in his dragon form. Depending on the story, Veles has stolen either Perun’s son, wife, or cattle which leads to their conflict.
As a challenge, in the shape of a huge serpent, Veles comes up from the underworld of Nav and wind his way up the Slave World Tree towards the heavens and Perun’s domain. Naturally, Perun responds by sending lightning bolts so that Veles flees back down and turns himself into various animals, people, and even trees to escape from or ambush Perun as they battle it out.
In the end, Veles is slain by Perun and the person or thing that Veles is to have stolen is released from within his body and it comes out in the form of falling rain from the heavens.
Scholars have commented that this “Storm Myth” is probably how the ancient Slavs would explain the changing of the seasons throughout the year. Any dry periods would be seen as Veles’ theft with the storms and lightning being interpreted as a divine battle up in the heavens and Perun’s ultimate triumph over Veles with the arrival of rain and Perun establishing order over chaos.
The Slavs have a saying that wherever lighting strikes, that is Perun attacking Veles.
Variation 1 – In the stories where Veles kidnaps Perun’s son, it is Jarilo, the tenth son who is stolen. Veles then raises Jarilo as his own son, who when he is older, becomes a god of fertility and heralds the arrival of spring when he returns to the lands of the living.
Variation 2 – It is Perun who is stolen as an infant and raised in the underworld. Once Perun is grown, he battles many creatures in order to fight his way back up to the mortal world.
Fertility God
Since the “Storm Myth” is cyclical and repeats every year. It connects Veles as a god of fertility and a god who dies and then is resurrected. The snake or serpent aspect of Veles would be him shedding his old skin or old life to be reborn as the year changes.
The “Storm Myth” and battle with Perun places Veles in a more negative role as one who brings chaos. Certainly, change is chaotic, but there is a pattern that emerges and soon you can make sense of that pattern and bring about a certain order to things so it doesn’t get destructive.
For the ancient Slavs, Veles wasn’t evil, he was the god of the wilds and nature which can appear to be very unpredictable if you’re not careful or respectful.
Later Christian influences will place him as evil and why in so many places Veles’ name does become synonymous with the devil and evil. But we do see where Veles appears as a Saint such as Saint Nicholas to save a poor farmer’s cattle from the destructiveness of St. Elias, a representative of Perun.
While Perun is more associated with agriculture, there is a Russian custom during harvest season to cut the first ear of wheat and tie it into an amulet that would protect crops from evil spirits. This was known as “tying the beard of Veles” which meant to invoke good fortune and wealth.
Duality – Ultimately the conflict of Perun and Veles is the duality in the clash of good and evil and the cyclical nature of the passing of the seasons and year. Veles represents the earth, water, and physical world and Perun represents fire, the heavens, and spirit.
Marriage To Devana
Also known as Dziewanna, she is a goddess of the wilds and hunt. As punishment, Devana found herself forced to marry Veles after she rebelled against Perun. Wanting to be wild and free, Devana didn’t initially love Veles at first despite the two having a domain that’s very similar to each other. After a bit of thought, Veles managed to win Devana over when he changed into a basil flower and calmed her. While they’re still not really in love, together they do watch over the lowlands of the wilds and are a force not to be taken lightly.
God of Mischief
Like Loki, Veles is considered a god of mischief and trickery. This ties strongly to the association of Veles’ use of magic, shapeshifting, and the arts. This aspect holds where Veles is seen as a god of chaos and a disruption during any long periods of dryness, or no rain as primarily seen in the “Storm Myth.”
Magic & The Arts
In this aspect, we see Veles the god of divination, magic, music, poetry, the earth, and water. Oaths would be sworn in Veles’ name. Traveling musicians, skalds, bards, and poets were known to pray to Veles for his protection as they traveled.
As a god of poetry, divination, and the arts, Veles has been equated with the Norse Odin. There is a 12th-century Russian epic, “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” where the character Boyan the wizard is referred to as Vele’s grandson. Poetry, music, and magic were closely linked in both Nordic and Slavic beliefs.
Veles is regarded as a protector of traveling musicians. Up into the 20th century, in some wedding ceremonies held in northern Croatia, the music won’t begin playing unless the groom while making a toast, spills some of the wine onto the ground, especially near the roots of a tree. This tradition would be musicians making a toast to their patron deity.
The Slavic magician-priests were called: volhov, volchvi, vlъsvi and volъsvi. They were not priests of an elite religion like those belonging to Perun. Rather, these magician-priests were known to be seers, soothsayers, poets, magicians and sorcerers as well as healers and herbalists. It is thought the etymology of volchys connects them to Volos.
God of the Underworld
Veles is a god of the Underworld, in charge of the spirits of the dead whom he would send out as his messengers. In his connection to the earth, Veles is also a god of all the bounties and riches of the earth, growing above and found below.
Nav – Also known as Nawia, this is Veles’ abode in the underworld. Incidentally, the word nav could also refer to the spirits or souls of the deceased who had premature deaths or poor deaths such as drowning, or being murdered, or if you were a murderer or warlock, these were all spirits that would come back as demons to afflict the living. The navias could take the form of birds. In Bulgaria, there is folklore that says twelve navias could suck the blood from a pregnant woman. The navias were also the demonic representation of the 1092 plague in Polotsk, Belarus.
Very similar to Norse beliefs, the Slavs also believed a huge world tree connected the mortal world to the heavens and the underworld. The roots of the world tree formed the roof of the underworld as they stretched out.
Where Perun was seen as either a hawk or eagle sitting in the branches of the world tree looking out over the heavens, Veles was seen as a huge serpent coiled around the roots ruling over the underworld.
Unlike descriptions of other underworlds, Nav was viewed as a beautiful place in folktales as a place where it’s forever Spring with green, grassy plains and plenty of water. Many fantastical creatures could be found here, not just the spirits of the dead who watched over Veles’ herds of cattle.
For the Slavs, Nav was described as being somewhere “across the sea” and was the place where migrating birds would go to every winter. In folktales, we find a different name, Virey or Iriv and that Jarilo, the god of fertility and vegetation lived here during winter and would return when it was time for spring. Jarilo would cross the seas, returning to the lands of the living bringing spring and birds back.
The Separation Of The Human World & Underworld
This story concerns the separation and boundary separating the mortal, living world with that of the underworld and lands of the dead. A shepherd pledged to Veles to sacrifice his best cow and to keep the god’s prohibitions. From this, Veles divides the human world and the underworld with either a furrow that he plows or groove over the road that the shepherd carves with a knife to prevent evil or negative powers from crossing.
God of Cattle
As Volos, he is known as “skotiybog,“ the god of cattle who watches over and protects flocks, cattle and all domestic animals, keeping them from harm. The name skotnyi bog is also the name for livestock in general. This aspect of Veles survives and continued under Christian influence well into the 18th century as Saint Blaise where he is a protector of shepherds and their flocks or cattle.
It must be noted too that it isn’t just domestic animals that Volos watches over, but all wild animals, connecting him to the image of him as a horned serpent and thus, horned gods like Pan or Cernunnos who watch over the forests and animals. In addition to the horns associated with either a bull or ram, there is also sheep’s wool that is used as a symbol for Veles.
The Koledari would sing that they come to “weaving black wool.” There is some folklore involving wool and the expressions, “presti vunu” meaning weaving wool, and “crnu vunu presti” meaning the weaving of black wool. These are illusions to magical crafts and Veles’ role as a god of magic.
God of Commerce & Wealth
Given how cattle were regarded as a sign of wealth and influence, it’s not hard to see Volos become the god and patron of commerce, business, prosperity, trade, and wealth. Merchants would seal their agreements by swearing Volos’ name and even legal documents would sometimes have oaths to him. If you broke an oath, you could be sure of Volos’ punishment and retribution.
A Rus-Byzantine Treaty of 971 is the earliest record we have where signers swore by Vele’s name with violators being warned of a punishment. They would be killed by their own weapons that would become “yellow as gold.” It is thought that this meant they would be cursed with a disease.
Veles’ Feast Day
Or the Festival of Veles, this festival is celebrated either February 11th or 24th for the observance of midwinter. In Christian folk rituals, this festival corresponds with Saint Blaise’s feast day. In the Orthodox traditions, St. Blaise as the protector of cattle is said to have defeated Winter or Morana. Among Catholic traditions, St. Blaise is the patron of throat diseases and apples and candles are blessed to provide protection from those diseases. In Catholic tradition, St. Blaise’s feast day is February 3rd and apples would be sacrificed to him by feeding them to cattle.
Prayers would be offered to Veles for the protection of livestock and their health by sacrificing milk. The festival would be held near a place of worship. During this time, it is forbidden to eat veal. The food eaten during this time is groats seasoned with fat. Ritual fights would also be held during this festival.
The best part is knowing that this held close to Valentine’s Day and Lupercalia!
Velja Noc
The Great Night, in Slavic beliefs, following a lunar calendar, the first day of the New Year would begin on what corresponds with the Gregorian calendar of March 1st to celebrate the end of Winter and return of Spring. This festival could last from Christmas all the way to the end of February. After the arrival and Christianization of many Slavic countries, for those Slavs falling under the Orthodox Churches, this day came to be known as Velik Dan or the Great Day. For the Catholic Slavs, this day became Velika Noc, still the Great Night. Both names correspond with the day or the week in which Easter is observed.
In pre-Christian worship, Velja Noc is the night that the spirits of the dead walk the earth and would enter villages and homes to celebrate the New Year with their living relatives. It is believed that Veles, as the god of the underworld would send out the souls of the dead to the living world to act as his messengers. One tradition has young men known as koledari or vucari would dress up in long coats of sheep wool and wear grotesque masks as they went around the villages making a lot of noise and singing songs. They would be wet and muddy to symbolize the wet underworld of Nav and the ghosts of the dead. In the koledari traditions, they would visit different homes and people presented them with gifts as if they were messengers from Veles to gain his favor for wealth and fortune in the following year.
Which I find very fascinating as this all sounds very much like the Irish celebration of Samhain and Halloween with spirits of the dead passing over to the world of the living and dressing up in costume. Plus, the spirits visiting living relatives is a lot like celebrations of Día de Los Muertos in Mexico and Kalan Goañv in Brittany, France.
Syno-Deities
Apsat – A Georgian or Sarmatian deity and god of cattle and herds who has been equated with Velese.
Cernunnos – A god of the druids in Celtic myth, he is symbolized as a horned snake and god of nature and horned animals.
Hermes – A trickster god and messenger of the Greek pantheon, Veles has been compared to them.
Loki – Veles has been compared to the trickster god Loki from Norse mythology.
Mercury – The trickster and messenger god of the Roman pantheon.
Odin – Some descriptions of Veles also sound just like Odin with his one-eye and gift of prophecy.
Triglav – A three-headed underworld god worshiped by the Pomeranians and some of the Polabian Slavs in Szczecin, Wolin and Brandenburg. It was a short-lived cult confirmed by St. Otto of Bamberg in his biographies.
Vala – A demon who opposes the thunder god Indra in the Vedas.
Vėlinas – A Baltic deity who is very similar in appearance to the Norse Odin and not just Veles.
Anansi
Also called: Ananse (Trinidad and Tobago), Annancy or Anancy (Jamaica, Grenada, Costa Rica, Colombia, Nicaragua), Anansi Drew (The Bahamas), Anansi Kokroko (Wise Spider), Anancyi, Ananansa, Annecy (West Indian), Ayiyi, Kacou Ananzè, Ba Anansi (Suriname), Ba Yentay (South Carolina), Bra Anansi, Hapanzi, Nansi or bra spaida (Jamaica, Sierra Leone), Kompa Nanzi (Curaçao, Bonaire), Bru Nansi (Virgin Islands), Kwaku Anansi (Akan-Ashante), Nanzi, Nancy, Aunt Nancy (Gullah; South Carolina), Miss Nancy, Sis’ Nancy, Kuenta di Nanzi, Spider (Temne), Cha Nanzi (Aruba), Hanansi, Pablo Barnansi (S. Quanderer), Compé Anansi, Kompa Nanzi (Curaçao, Bonaire), Gede Zariyen, Zarenyen, or Ti Malice (Haiti)
Etymology: Spider (Akan)
Anansi is the spider trickster god of the Akan, Ashanti people in Ghana and several West African folklore and folktales. As a trickster, he is able to shape-shift into a human form. His presence as an important cultural figure has made his way into Caribbean mythology, spreading to Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, over to the Netherlands Antilles, the West Indies, Suriname, Sierra Leone and likely several other places. Like a good many trickster figures, Anansi is known for causing and getting into mischief or trouble before using his wits, cunning and guile to wheedle his way out of the troubles and problems. His stories and exploits are numerous, with many regional variations to his tales. As a trickster, Anansi is just as likely to help as to hinder someone.
As with all good stories, Anansi tales began with being told in oral traditions, survived, thrived, and made their way across the Atlantic Ocean to North America during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade era. These stories would play an important part to maintaining cultural identities for many enslaved West Africans. Many of these Anansi stories would be stories and lessons of how to rise up and outsmart those who would harm and oppress the less powerful.
Attributes
Animal: Fox, Rabbit, Spider
Day: Wednesday
Element: Water
Mineral: Spider Silk
Patron of: Storytellers,
Plant: Gourd
Sphere of Influence: Cunning, Freedom, Messages, Morals, Proverbs, Stories, Trickery, Wisdom, Wits
Symbols: Spider
Description
A trickster, Anansi is often shown in many different forms and representations depending on the artistic source. In many stories, Anansi is a spider while in other stories, he is more anthropomorphized as either a spider with a human face or a human with spider-like features. The original spider-man.
In the Southern United States, when the Anansi came and his named changed to Nancy and Aunt Nancy with anglicized spellings, he became a spider woman and female figure.
One story has Nyame becoming so angry with Anansi’ tricks and antics that he turns Anansi into his spider form.
What’s In A Name?
Letters, letters are in a name…
The name Anansi is the Akan word for spider. Where he is called Kwaku or Kweku Anansi, the word Kweku means Wednesday as that is the day that Anansi’s soul first appeared. Given that Wednesday is named for Woden or Odin, the Norse god of Wisdom, there’s a very good coincidence here for names and meanings.
Parentage and Family
Parents
Nyame – Father & Sky-God; some regional variations place Anansi as his son, others don’t.
Pronunciation: ə-NAHN-see
Ya Nsia – Mother. Asaase Yaa, the Earth Mother is also given as Anansi’s mother.
Siblings
Where Nyame is given as Anansi’s father. There’s one story where Esum the Night, Osrane the Moon, and Owia the Sun are given as Nyame’s son.
It makes sense to me that these three should be counted as Anansi’s brothers.
Consort
Okonore Yaa – Wife, she is also known by the names of Aso, Crooky, Konori or Konoro, and Shi Maria.
The name Konori likely comes from the Hausa word koki for a “female spider.”
Children
Afudohwedohwe – Pot-bellied son.
Anansewa – Anansi’s beautiful daughter, introduced in Efua Sutherland’s stories where Anansi sets out to find his daughter a proper suitor.
Nankonhwea – Son with a spindly neck and legs.
Ntikuma – Firstborn son.
Tikelenkelen – Big-Headed son.
Abosom
Singular – Obosom
In Akan Spirituality, Anansi is considered an Obosom, a minor deity and spirit. The Abosom are all considered to be children and messengers of the great creator god Nyame. They could be male, female or a mixture of both.
The term Abosom reminds me of the Greek term Daimon (not Demon!) when referring to smaller, lesser & localized gods or spirits. Especially they were likely to be tied to one place such as a river, tree, or mountain.
Abosom is also the Ashanti term for pantheon, so all the gods. Or every divine being who isn’t the great creator Nyame.
With Anansi, he isn’t necessarily revered the same way as the other Abosom in Akan Spirituality or if he’s even seen in the same light. That too can vary and can be up for debate. Which is also understandable, Anansi is a trickster figure. With many trickster figures, you are playing with fire and in Anansi’s case, that’s water that could potentially drown you if you’re not careful. When Anansi does get acknowledged, he is an Obosom of Wisdom.
Just how much of a divine being Anansi will be, varies by region and which stories about him are being told. In some, he’s a human named Spider that has done a few favors for Nyame and is granted extra powers, namely one of t hem being an extended life. He’s a son of Nyame or just one of many beings with some measure of power to separate them from being fully human. Or Anansi is the straight up animal trickster as seen in Native American lore with beings like Coyote and Raven and their stories.
Messenger
In many of the Anansi stories, the spider is often Nyame’s messenger, acting as his go-between. For many of the Abosom, this is often a role they play for either Nyame, the Sky God or Asaase Yaa, the Earth.
There is a story where Anansi’ antics grew too much for Nyame and he replaced Anansi with Chameleon to be the Sky-God’s new messenger.
Creation
Maybe, most of the stories of Anansi aren’t so much as him creating the Universe, but often setting the precedence for why things happen the way they do. Anansi is credited with having created the first man and then Nyame breathing life into them. Or Anansi is convincing Nyame that people need the rain to stop a destructive fire, setting order to the course of the day, ect. Even death if Anansi hadn’t stolen from them.
Like many tricksters, Anansi also has stories revolving around him having brought agriculture, hunting and writing to the Earth for people to use. In the story where Anansi tried to hoard all the world’s wisdom and knowledge, he found it much easier to share and disperse this knowledge for everyone’s use.
Shapeshifting
As a trickster, Anansi doesn’t just rely on his wits and cunnings to get through scrapes. One of his many tricks is the ability to shape-shift. Not just physically from spider to man but the ability to take seeming weaknesses and turn them into virtues and strengths.
Weakness To Strength
That’s a vital and important lesson to learn. In many stories, Anansi is able to overcome an opponent or situation, not just by his wits but using a seeming weakness to a strength. Similarly, he will exploit an opponent’s weakness against them.
Insatiable Greed – Finding The Angles
That seems to be a reoccurring theme with several Anansi stories, where what he has, isn’t enough and he has to find some way to get more. Oftentimes, that more is food. Anansi is often looking for the angles and finding ways to get others to bring him food or he kills the other animals for food if he’s not outright stealing it.
Sometimes, in the course of Anansi’s covetous and insatiable greed, another character is able trick Anansi instead, outwitting him. That is a classic of trickster tales, where the trickster gets outwitted instead of outwitting everyone else.
Of course, it could be I’m misremembering and thinking far too much of a particular Gargoyles episode “Mark of the Panther” in season 2.
God Of Storytelling & Knowledge
Not only is Anansi the god of storytelling, but he is also the god of knowledge. This makes a lot of sense with how early in human history, much of the history involved, lessons, wisdom and knowledge imparted is through the use of stories.
Anansesem
Meaning Spider Stories in the Ashanti language. The Anansesem stories, like many stories began as an oral tradition. Such is the prominence of the spider stories, that the term Anansesem came to include all the different fables and stories. The Jamaican version of the Anansi stories are the most preserved of the spider stories and have close ties to their Ashanti origins. Especially with how the Anansi stories end with a proverb or moral given at the end.
Anthropologists have studied and found that humans are hard-wired for stories. Stories are important, they are an integral part and parcel of the human experience. They convey who we are as a people, where we came from, morals, lessons and how things came to be.
It seems very poignant, that stories seem very central to the Anansi tales, especially for a keeping one’s cultural identity. Especially in the face of so much adversity and the dark side of history with the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The most well known of the Anansi stories are those from Jamaica.
Like all trickster tales, the Anansesem not only entertain, they are also moral stories that often highlight his greed and other flaws along with his wit. The Anansesem stories cover a wide range of stories from the mundane and the subversive. Anansi as a folk hero is both an ideal as well as a cautionary figure of downfalls to be avoided.
It seems very poignant, that one of the roles that Tricksters carry is that of Culture-Bringer. That the very first story of Anansi, or at least the one to place as chronologically first is how Anansi comes to acquire all the stories. Frequently Trickster stories tell the importance of things, how they came to be, conflicts, shenanigans and more. Without stories to tell us who we are as a people, a great many aspects of history and culture are lost. With Anansesem, all stories, regardless of genre are considered spider stories.
Anansi-Tori – This is the name for the Spider stories among the Surinam people. In the capital city of Paramaribo, the Anansi-tori are a prominent part of the death rites. It’s important that these stories are only told during the night and never during the day, lest the dead come to listen, thereby causing the death of the storyteller or their parents. The Saramaca Bush people have a tradition that during the seven days that a body lays in the village death house, they tell the Anansi-Tori to the dead as entertainment. The Anansi-tori have also come to include the dances and songs sung during these rites.
The Spider stories are called Nansi in Guyana and Kuent’i Nanzi in Curacao.
Vive La Résistance! – The importance of the Anansesem stories is seen as a symbol of resiliency with slave resistance and survival. As a trickster, Anansi is frequently able to get the better of more powerful opponents using his trickery and cunning. As such, slaves used the stories of Anansi as inspiration for finding ways to resist and gain the upper hand on plantations, to give a sense of community, connection to their past in Africa and a way to maintain their cultural identity.
Offerings
As the King of Stories, Anansi is not only the patron of storytellers, but those who live by their wits. Like many Caribbean deities, Anansi can be summoned with offerings of treats, smokes, and liquor.
Just be aware, if Anansi is bored by the story, he may not hang around for long.
A traditional opening for an Anansi story goes:
“This is my story which I have related. If it be sweet, or if it be not sweet, take some elsewhere, and let some come back to me.”
Another way to traditionally start a story is:
“We do not really mean; we do not really mean that what we are about to say is true. A story, a story; let it come, let it go.”
All The Stories!
Also known as “How the Sky God’s stories became Anansi’s stories.” It is the most retold story of all the Anansi tales.
For you see, once upon a time, there were no stories. None. There were stories, but they were all kept by Nyame, the Sky God who had them all hidden away. Some versions of the story note about here how Anansi is Nyame’s son.
For Anansi, it doesn’t sit well with him that his father should be hoarding all the stories and as the world is a boring place, Anansi decides to find a way to get stories of his own. Using his silk webbing, Anansi climbs up to the heavens where his father is at and tries to buy the stories from Nyame, but Nyame refuses, he didn’t want to share the stories with anyone. Anansi kept insisting he can afford the price for Nyame’s stories. Nyame refutes Anansi still, saying that even the great kingdoms of Kokofu, Bekwai and Asumengya couldn’t afford his stories.
A sudden thought comes to Nyame and he asks Anansi, how he, someone so small and insignificant is going to be able to afford the price where others have failed. Undaunted, Anansi persists, saying he can afford the stories, just name the price.
Amused, Nyame relents and sets as high a price as he can, hoping that these impossible tasks would finally deter the spider. As to what these tasks were to be?
Anansi was to capture four of the most dangerous creatures known in the world. Onini the Python, the Mmoboro Hornets, Osebo the Leopard and lastly, the Fairy Mmoatia.
Smiling, Anansi promises Nyame that he will bring these four back and just for good measure, he will even throw in his own mother, Ya Nsia. Nyame accepted the offer, thinking that would be the end of it and told Anansi to start his quest.
Quest in hand, Anansi returns home to his family so he can consult them about his plan. Anansi talks with his mother, Ya Nsia about his plan to capture Onini the Python first. His wife, Okonore Yaa tells Anansi that he should cut a long branch from a tree and get some vines.
Anansi returns with the branch and vines and Okonore Yaa tells him to head down to the river where Onini lives. As the two pretend to argue, Onini overhears them and comes over, listening over whether Onini’s body was longer than the branch of a tree.
Onini, on hearing what Anansi and Okonore Yaa are arguing about, he quickly agrees to stretch out next to the branch to his full length to prove that he’s longer than the branch. No sooner has Onini stretched out than Anansi takes the vines to tie the python up.
As Anansi carries Onini back to Nyame, the spider cheerfully tells Onini about the bargain that he has made. Nyame nods acknowledgement to Anansi for one task accomplished and reminds the spider that there are still three other tasks to fulfill.
Anansi returns to consult with his family for the next task, which would be capturing the Mmoboro Hornets. Okonore Yaa comes up with an idea for Anansi to get a gourd and fill it with water. Carrying that gourd with him, Anansi went off to pay a visit to the Hornets. Once he arrived, Anansi looked around the bushes where the Hornets. Soon as Anansi spotted them, he carefully sprinkled water on the Hornets and then on himself. Grabbing a palm leaf from a nearby tree, Anansi covered his head just time as the swarm of angry Hornets came his direction. Holding out the wet palm leaf, Anansi explained that it had been raining and that he too was wet.
Anansi explained that this rain would be dangerous and that the Hornets might want to hide inside the gourd he brought. The Hornets agreed and soon had all flown inside to take shelter.
Once all the Hornets were in, Anansi stopped up the mouth of the gourd and proceeded to gloat for falling for his trick. Anansi continued with telling the Hornets about his bargain with Nyame as he carried the gourd with him.
Seeing that another task was completed, Nyame accepted the Hornets. He reminded Anansi that there were still two more tasks to go. Surely one of those tasks would prove to be too much for the Spider, Nyame thought.
Once more Anansi returned home triumphant. Now the task was for Osebo the Leopard. Once more Anansi and Okonore Yaa schemed together on a plan. What’s now considered the oldest trick in the book, Okonore Yaa told Anansi to dig a deep hole in the ground and cover it. Anansi caught on quickly to Okonore Yaa’s plan and told her he could take it from there.
Anansi headed off for the parts of the jungle where he knew Osebo hung around at. There, he proceeded to dig the hole and cover with brushwood as planned. Done, Anansi headed home, knowing that eventually Osebo would wander along and be likely to fall in.
Sure enough, the next morning, when Anansi returned, he found Osebo trapped down in the hole. Feigning sympathy, Anansi asked Osebo why he was trapped down there. Was it because Osebo had been drinking again? It seems this has been a problem of Osebo’s for a while. Continuing his act, Anansi asked Osebo if he wanted help. Despite Anansi’s suspicions, Osebo assured the spider that he wouldn’t eat them.
With Osebo knocked out, Anansi made a ladder and climbed down to tie up the leopard and cart him off to Nyame. All the while, Anansi gloated to Osebo when he woke about his bargain with the Sky God. Just like before, Nyame accepted Osebo from the spider and reminded Anansi that there were still more tasks to do.
Eventually Anansi agreed to “help” Osebo and got two long sticks that he cut with a knife. Anansi told Osebo to stretch out his arms, wide. This would leave Osebo vulnerable, who was unaware of Anansi’ plan. The wily spider threw his knife at Osebo when he attempted to climb out, the hilt of the knife hitting the leopard square on the head, hard enough to knock him out.
Once more Nyame accepted the latest of Anansi’s accomplishments. Just like before, Nyame reminded the spider that there were still a couple more tasks to complete. Anansi had not forgotten the deal and set off again back home.
The penultimate task, capturing the Mmoatia, the Fairy. This one won’t be so easy and Anansi sits down to think a while on the matter. After a time, Anansi goes and carves an Akua doll and then cover it the sap of a gum tree. That done, Anansi took some yams and mashed them up to place in the doll’s hand while the rest went into a bowl. Finally, Anansi took some string to tie around the doll’s waist so he could manipulate it.
Ready, Anansi took the doll down to the Odum tree where fairies were known to gather. The wily spider set up the doll and the bowl of mashed yams and then went to hide out of sight. Soon, Mmoatia appeared, lured away from her sisters by the smell of the yams.
Believing the doll to be a real person, Mmoatia asked if she could have some of the yams. Hidden, Anansi pulled on the string, making the doll nod it’s head. Delighted, Mmoatia went back to her sisters, asking if she’d be allowed to have some of the yams.
The sisters said yes and Mmoatia soon returned to the Akua doll and began to eat all the mashed yams. When she had finished, Mmoatia thanked the doll, however this time, Anansi didn’t pull on the string, so the doll didn’t respond. Infuriated at the doll’s lack of response, Mmoatia went to her sisters to complain about the lack of response.
Mmoatia’s sisters tell her to go back and slap the person for their insolence. Back she goes and on promptly slapping the doll, Mmoatia’s hand gets stuck from the sticky sap covering the doll. Stuck, Mmoatia complains again to her sisters, with one of her sisters commenting to slap the doll with her other hand. Mmoatia does so and that hand too, becomes stuck.
There is something remarkably hysterical about this, I can see the sisters realizing what’s going on, maybe they don’t like Mmoatia for some reason and she’s too insolent and arrogant to really understand that she’s getting tricked and that at this point, the sisters are getting in on it too.
I can just see where Mmoatia complains yet again that both hands are now stuck and the sisters, incredulous to the fact that she’s listened to them and gotten stuck, tell her to hit the doll again with her whole body. This has got to be a scene of where the sisters are looking to see if Mmoatia is really going to be that arrogant, insolent, even dumb enough to listen and they want to see if she’ll do it.
And yes, Mmoatia hits the Akua doll with her whole body, getting well and thoroughly stuck. Hilarity ensues, I can see all of Mmoatia’s sisters flying off in fits of laughter as Anansi emerges from where he’s been hiding to gloat over his success.
Just like the others, Anansi tied up Mmoatia and carried her off back to Nyame. Anansi also stopped on the way home to tell his mother Ya Nsia about the last task he had told the Sky-God he would do and that was to bring his own mother. I can see Mom rolling her eyes and “Yes child, of course child” as she accompanies Anansi back to Nyame.
Impressed by Anansi’ persistence, Nyame upheld his end of the bargain, bringing all the elders, the Kontire and Akwam chiefs, the Adontem, general of his army, the Gyase, the Oyoko, Ankobea and Kyidom. Nyame told all those present of Anansi’s deeds that no one else in the kingdom had been able to do. Nyame showed off each of the four, along with Anansi’ own mother. Everyone cheered as Nyame gifts all his stories, to now be known as Spider Stories to Anansi, naming him the Keeper of Stories and God of Storytelling
Variants – There are numerous variations to this story. Some retellings will omit involving Anansi’s wife and mother in the story. In some of the Caribbean stories, it is a Tiger from whom the stories originate. Other stories, the fairy Mmoatia will be solitary or a dwarf who can turn invisible. Sometimes the task of capturing the Python isn’t mentioned. In yet other stories, Osebo, the Panther is caught, getting tangled up in Anansi’ webs when trying to climb out of the pit. Or, Anansi captures Osebo when he offers to help the panther when he lowers a long branch down and tells Osebo to tie his tail to the branch. In this one, Osebo is killed and skinned by Anansi.
Anansi And The Dispersal Of Wisdom
Now that Anansi has all the stories, you’d think he’d go spread them around to tell and pass on the wisdom that they hold. Well no…
It seems Anansi was trying to hoard all that wisdom in a pot. The knowledge he has isn’t enough and he wants even more of it, just collecting it all. After a time, Anansi decides the pot isn’t safe enough to store all this wisdom and knowledge in and takes it to hide in a tall, thorny tree in the forest. Some accounts say this tree is a Silk Cotton Tree.
Anansi’s son, Ntikuma saw his father up to something and decided to follow at a distance to find out what was up. Staying hidden, Ntikuma saw that this pot was the largest one he had ever seen. As he watched, Ntikuma watched as his father struggled with carrying the pot up. Anansi tried tying the pot in front of him to no avail.
As Anansi grew ever more frustrated by his inability to carry the pot up, Ntikuma couldn’t help himself but laugh!
“Try tying the pot behind you and then climb!” Ntikuma called out.
So frustrated with his failed attempts to climb the tree, it perturbed Anansi more to realize that his own son was right behind him. In his frustration, the pot slipped from Anansi’s grip and fell, hitting the ground with all the wisdom spilling out of it.
Making matters worse, a storm was arriving, and the rain washed all the wisdom down to a nearby river stream. From there, the currents carried the wisdom out to the sea and spreading throughout the world.
Seeing what happened, an angry Anansi chased his son, Ntikuma all the way home through the downpour of rain. When Anansi caught up with his son, the spider realized what was the use of all that wisdom if all it takes is a child to put you in your place?
As for the wisdom, because it mixed with the water, that’s why everyone has a little bit within them, but not all of it.
Variation – A minor variation is that instead of getting angry with his son, Anansi listens, carrying the pot up the tree by the means suggested. While he is sitting there, Anansi comes to the realization that try as he might to know everything, there were still things that others could teach or tell him and the wily spider comes to an epiphany to dump the pot out for everyone who has need, to be able to have access to it when the wisdom mixed with the wind and water.
How Anansi Comes To Have A Long Hind End & How His Head Became Small
In this story, a famine comes to the land and Anansi tells his family that he’s going in search of food for them. On his way, Anansi comes to a stream where there are some people who end up being spirits. It seems these spirits were draining the water in hopes of being able to catch some fish. Intrigued, Anansi asks if he could join the spirits.
The spirits invited Anansi to join them and he soon saw that they were using their skulls to drain the river. That’s interesting. The spirits asked Anansi if they could remove his own skull so that he could help drain the river.
As they drained the water, the spirits sang a song: “We, the Spirits, when we splash the river-bed dry to catch fish, we use our heads to splash the water. Oh, the Spirits, we are splashing the water.”
Anansi liked the song and asked if he could sing it with them and the spirits agreed.
And so, Anansi and the spirits sang as they drained the stream enough that they could catch some fish. The spirits gave Anansi his share of the fish in a basket to take home. As they restored Anansi’s skull, the spirits warned him not to sing the song again that day or his skull would open and fall off.
Anansi assured the spirits that he wouldn’t sing that song again as he had more than enough fish. Soon, Anansi and the spirits parted ways.
The spirits began to sing their song again. Overhearing the song, Anansi began to sing along as well and presently, his skull fell off. Just as he had been warned. Anansi picked up his skull and cried out in embarrassment to the spirits that his head had fallen off!
The spirits heard him and came back. As they listened to Anansi apologize and beg for help, the spirits agreed to help him. As they restored Anansi’s skull, they warned him not to sing the song again as they would not return to help him.
No sooner had they parted ways, than the spirits began singing and Anansi over hearing them, just couldn’t help himself and started singing along. It must have had a catchy tune.
This time, as Anansi’s skull fell, he caught it with his rear end and ran from the stream. And that, is how Anansi comes to have such a small head and huge behind, due to his hard-headedness.
Nyame’s Messenger, Anansi; Why Men Commit Evil At Night, Children Play In Moonlight, And Why Disputes Are Settled During The Day
That, is a lengthy title for a story…
The Sky-God Nyame sired three children one day; Esum the Night, Osrane the Moon, and Owia the Sun. When each of the children came of age, Nyame sent them out on their own where they founded their own village. Of these children, Owia was Nyame’s favorite and decided that they should become chief.
Nyame devised a plan, wherein he secretly harvested a yam or “Kintinkyi.” The task was, that the son who could guess what Nyame had harvested, would become the next chief. In addition, the winner would receive Nyame’s royal stool.
As Nyame set about blackening his stool, his subjects were nearby and Nyame asked if any of them could guess his thoughts. Anansi happened to be there and said that he knew. Nyame then sent Anansi to go gather his sons from their villages. The plot twist here, is that Anansi didn’t really know what Nyame’s thoughts were and decided he would try to find out.
Anansi then took feathers from every known bird and covered himself with them. Then he flew high above Nyame’s village, startling the villagers. This brought Nyame out, who didn’t recognize Anansi’s disguise.
But, Nyame thought to himself, if Anansi were present, he’d know the name of this bird as the crafty spider had known that Nyame wanted his son Owia to win his royal stool. That all they had to do was guess the name of the yam. As Nyame pondered and mused to himself, it allowed for Anansi to overhear the Sky-God’s plan.
Away Anansi flew until he was far enough away to ditch his disguise. From there, Anansi went to Esum’s village and told them that their father wished to see them. Anansi made no mention of Nyami’s plans. Esum gave Anansi roasted corn by way of thanks. Soon after, Anansi made his way to Osrane’s village, delivering the same news he had told Esum. Osrane gave Anansi yam in thanks and again, shortly after, Anansi headed for Owia’s village.
Things were different at Owia’s village when Anansi arrived, bringing the news of Nyame’s desire to see his sons. Owia mentioned to Anansi that he wished his father would know of Owia’s accomplishments. Owia decided to treat Anansi as if he were his own father come and prepared the best feast that he could with sheep. With that treatment, Anansi decided to fill Owia in on what he hadn’t told the other brothers. That being the name of Nyame’s yam that he had harvested.
Anansi then fashioned a pair of drums that would beat out the yam’s name, Kintinkyi to help Owia remember. Anansi with Owia in tow, then went to collect up the other brothers as they returned to bring them to Nyame.
Nyame called an assembly as Anansi presented his three sons before everyone. The contest of guessing the yam’s name was then revealed to each of the sons. The eldest, Esum was allowed to guess first and he said “Pona.” Osrane, the second eldest then took his turn to guess and gave the name of “Asante.” Finally, it was Owia’s turn and remembering what Anansi had told him, said the name “Kintinkyi.” Everyone present cheered Owia’s success.
Nyame then took his eldest son, Esum and told him that as he had not paid attention when growing up, that Nighttime would be when evil deeds would be done. To Osrane, Nyame said that as he had not listened when growing up, only children would play during his time. To his youngest son, Owia, Nyame praised him and made him the chief, decreeing that any issue that needed to be settled, would be done so during the day. To protect himself from his brothers, Nyame gave Owia the rainbow.
Lastly, to Anansi, Nyame blessed the spider for knowing his inner-most thoughts and said that from then on, that Anansi would be Nyame’s messenger.
The Arrival Of Disease
Oh yes, Anansi appeared before Nyame one day asking if he could one of Nyame’s sheep, Kra Kwame and eat it. Anansi said that he would bring a maiden from one of the villages as a gift in exchange for the sheep. This seemed reasonable enough and Nyame agreed to the exchange, giving Anansi the sheep while he waited for the maiden’s arrival.
As it were, Anansi took the sheep home and prepared it for eating. Once he was done, Anansi then went in search of a maiden. In his search, Anansi found a village where only women lived. Seeing an opportunity, Anansi moved there and offered each woman some of the sheep and marrying everyone.
It’s not hard to see that Anansi broke his word with Nyame. It wasn’t long after, that a hunter stopped in the village and saw what happened. The hunter back to Nyame and reported what he had seen in the village. Nyame became furious on learning what Anansi had done and sent his messengers to the village to take every woman living there.
Off the messengers went, seizing every woman in the village except for one who was ill at the time to bring back to Nyame. Anansi pondered what to do, as his remaining wife was very ill. The wife told Anansi to bathe her and then fill a gourd with water from the bathwater. This water would hold all the diseases that afflicted the wife.
See his wife after she was bathed, Anansi saw how beautiful she was, more so than all the other wives in the village. Anansi remarried her right there on the spot. It wouldn’t take long for another hunter to pass by the village and to see Anansi and his wife together.
This hunter returned to Nyame, giving the Sky-God a report of this extremely beautiful woman. Obviously Anansi had tricked Nyame as this woman was more beautiful than all the other women that were taken.
Angry again, Nyame ordered his messengers to go take Anansi’s wife. When the messengers got there, Anansi confronted them and they told Anansi of what Nyame’s desires were. Anansi nodded and complied with the messengers, taking them to where his wife was at.
Anansi had his own plans once the messengers left. He found the gourd holding the diseased water and took a skin by which to fashion a drum. Anansi then set about to make a second drum. Done, Anansi called for his son, Ntikuma and together they began to beat the drums and dance around while singing vulgarities.
Another messenger of Nyame’s, Anene the crow saw what Anansi was doing and went back to report about what he saw. Intrigued, Nyame sent more messengers to ask Anansi to come and perform his songs for him.
Ah, Anansi said, he could only perform his song and dance if all of his wives were present. Anansi promised to perform for Nyame if he could have his wives and his drum. The messengers relayed Anansi’s message back to Nyame and he agreed.
Anansi was brough to the harem where all of his wives were being kept and he began to sing and beat his drum. Nyame soon joined in the merriment with Anansi while the wives joined in too.
However, Anansi’ last wife recognized the gourd that Anansi’s drum was made from. She suspected what mischief Anansi had planned and decided not to join in dancing. Nyame tried to coax the last wife into dancing, but before she could, Anansi cut open his drum and tossed all the water out. All the diseases that had once been washed away now returned and a sickness fell upon the tribe.
So out of revenge, Anansi brought illness and disease to the world. Though to be fair, if Anansi had kept his word with Nyame from the start and brought him a maiden as promised, none of this would have happened.
Kwaku Anansi Takes Aso To Wife & How Jealousy Arrives In The Tribe
In this story, Anansi isn’t yet married to Aso as she is married to another man, known as Akwasi-The-Jealous-One.
Fun.
True to his name, Akwasi was very possessive of Aso and forbad anyone from seeing or talking to her. Such, that Akwasi built a small village where only the two of them lived. The reason for Akwasi’s jealousy is that he is sterile and worried that Aso would be taken from him if they lived among other people.
Well hey, somebody knew or was paying attention. Nyame got tired of Akwasi’s lack of or failure to father any children with Aso. And if Akwasi isn’t siring any children, than Aso is fair game and Nyame tells the other young men in the village about Akwasi’ marriage to Aso and tells them, that the first man to successfully take Aso away and get her with child, can marry and take her to wife.
That is very much so a cultural thing. Doesn’t Aso get a say in who she’s married to and want to be with?
The challenge proves to be more difficult than expected and all the young men who’ve tried to seize Aso, all fail. Anansi was watching all this and after the latest failure from a young man, Anansi went before Nyame. The crafty spider tells Nyame that he’ll be able to accomplish this task to capture Aso.
The catch?
Just give Anansi the items he requests to help him. Specifically, medicine, rifles and and bullets.
Done!
Off Anansi goes, passing through several villages, passing out the black powder, bullets and guns, telling people how Nyame has sent those to go hunting on the god’s behalf. Sweet! Anansi says he’ll come back later to collect up the meat for Nyame.
While everyone’s off hunting, Anansi makes a basket to hold all the meat in when he returns. It’s either a basket of holding, a very large basket or there’s several small baskets to hold meat in. Either way, Anansi collects up the meat and heads off for Akwasi-The-Jealous-One’s village.
Anansi reaches the river where Akwasi and Aso get their water and he takes out some of the meat, placing it in the water. He then continues up to where Akwasi lives, carrying the basket still. Aso spots Anansi’s arrival and calls out to her husband, who is surprised that they have a visitor. Akwasi comes out to find out who this person is.
Anansi tells Akwasi that he’s been sent by Nyame to this place to rest during his journey. This pleases Akwasi as he welcomes the spider into his village. While this is happening, Aso notices the meat that Anansi left in the river and says something. Anansi tells Aso she’s welcome to it as he doesn’t need it. That she can feed it to any pets they have.
Aso comes back with the meat and shows it to Akwasi. Anansi asks Aso if she would cook some food for him and she sets about preparing a dish known as Fufu. As she is preparing the meal, Anansi tells Aso that it won’t be enough and tells her to use a bigger pot as he offers up more of the meat. The catch is, she is to cook only the thighs, of which there are 40.
With the meal prepared, everyone sits down to eat. As they’re eating, Anansi complains, saying that the fufu Aso made lacks salt. At this, Akwasi commands Aso to bring some salt. Anansi spoke up, saying that wasn’t proper, Aso is eating and that Akwasi should be the one who goes and gets the salt. When Akwasi leaves, Anansi pulls some medicine out of his pouch and puts it in Akwasi’s fufu.
Akwasi returns with the salt and Anansi announces that he’s now full and doesn’t need the salt anymore. I’m sure Akwasi may have grumbled at this, but he set down again and finished his fufu, unaware of what Anansi has done.
As he’s eating, it occurs to Akwasi that he hasn’t asked for Anansi’s name yet. Anansi responds by saying that his name is “Rise-up-and-make-love-to-Aso.” This confuses Akwasi who asks Aso if she had heard the name too. Aso assures her husband that she did and Akwasi gets up to go prepare a room for Anansi. The spider says he can’t sleep in the room, he as to sleep in a room with an open veranda as he is Nyame’s Soul-Washer. Apparently, Anansi’s parents are to have conceived him in an open room, so he can’t sleep in a closed room.
Right, so where does Anansi want to sleep then? It must be an open room in a house that belongs to Nyame and asks for a sleeping mat so he can sleep in front of their room. When Anansi was certain that the two were asleep, he pulled out his sepirewa out to play, singing: “Akuamoa Ananse, today we shall achieve something today. Ananse, the child of Nsia, the mother of Nyame, the Sky-god; today, we shall achieve something, to-day. Ananse, the Soul-washer to the Nyame, the Sky-god, today, I shall see something.” Once the song finished, Anansi went to sleep.
Anansi was awoken by Akwasi calling out for him. But as he didn’t like the name that Anansi had told him, the spider remained silent. The medicine that Anansi had put into Akwasi’s food was working. After a few more attempts to rouse a sleeping Anansi, Akwasi finally used the name “Rise-up-and-make-love-to-Aso.”
Perfect.
Now Anansi responded to Akwasi’s calls, asking what troubled him. Akwasi said he needed. Akwasi replied that he needed to leave for a moment and left.
Entering the room, Anansi saw that Aso was awake and he asked if she had heard what Akwasi said. Aso asked in turn of Anansi what Akwasi had said. So Anansi obliged with the name he’d given, implying that it was a command, not his name. Wink, wink.
The two then made passionate love with each other before going back to sleep and before Akwasi returned. The medicine or poison that Anansi used was rather potent and Akwasi would be getting up eight more times, where once again, Anansi and Aso would make love before he returned. Come the morning, Anansi was on his way.
Two moon later, Aso begins to start showing that she’s pregnant. This gets Akwasi suspicious of how his wife got pregnant given that he’s sterile and can’t father any children. Aso takes the opportunity to tell Akwasi that it was by his own commands that she had made love to Anansi and that the child is his.
Angry, Akwasi takes Aso with him to go to Nyame’s village to complain. On the way, Aso gave birth and the two took the baby with them. On hearing the story, Nyame didn’t believe the two, saying no one had left his village and asked them to point out the person to him.
Aso did so, looking around the village until she spotted Anansi sitting on a ridgepole. She told Nyame that’s the one who impregnated her. Anansi slid down the ridgepole, attempting to hide, but Aso found him again, causing Anansi to fall over and dirty himself.
Now Anansi complained, how Aso and Akwasi’s actions defiled him. That he was Nyame’s Soul-Washer and that his desires had been ignored. Hearing this, Akwasi was seized by Nyame’s other subjects for disobeying a god’s commands. That as punishment, Akwasi was to sacrifice a sheep as penance. Embarrased, Akwasi performed the sacrifice and then told Nyame that Anansi could take Aso as his wife.
Sadly, the baby that Anansi fathered with Aso was taken and killed, their remains scattered about Nyame’s village as a reminder. And that, is how Aso becomes Anansi’s wife and how jealousy entered the tribe.
Anansi’s Bald Head
Sometime after Anansi and Aso were married, when they returned from visiting a plantation outside of the village, a messenger arrived. Anansi greeted the messenger and asked why they had come. The messenger replied that Anansi’ mother-in-law had died the previous day. Anansi informed his Aso of what happened, and plans were made to go to the village to mourn.
The next morning, Anansi went down to the village, looking for some favors. He soon found: Odwan the Sheep, Okra the Cat, Okraman the Dog, Akoko the Fowl, and Aberekyie the Goat. Anansi told all of them how his mother-in-law had died and asked if they would accompany him to her funeral. They all agreed, and Anansi returned home to prepare for the journey.
Anansi prepared funeral clothing, consisting of a leopard skin hat and russet colored clothing. The day of the mother-in-law’s funeral came, and Anansi called upon those he’d asked to come. They brought several supplies with them as well, consisting of guns, drums, palm-wine, and other things that they would share with those attending as they celebrated his mother-in-law’s memory.
Soon they arrived at the village and they fired off their guns to signal that they had arrived. Then Anansi and his company went to the home of his mother-in-law for her wake. Anansi shared out everything that he had brought. Anansi also then presented his offerings to help pay for the funeral.
The next morning, as everyone ate, they invited Anansi to join them. Anansi declined, saying he was forbidden from doing so as it is his mother-in-law’s funeral, that he would not eat until the eighth day. Food was then gathered for his companions who accompanied him for the funeral before they departed back for their own village.
Days passed as Anansi fasted, finally on the fourth day he was too hungry, and he went into the house where he was staying to find food. In the kitchen, he found a fire going with beans in a pot boiling. Anansi ate those, scooping some into his leopard hat after making sure no one was watching. No sooner had Anansi placed his hat back on his head to hide the beans, then Aso entered. Thinking fast, Anansi told Aso that there was a Hat-Shaking Festival taking place at his father’s village and that he was going to go.
Now Aso was suspicious. Who wouldn’t be? Especially when married to a trickster. She asked Anansi why he hadn’t told before of this festival. She also reminded Anansi that he hadn’t eatten anything yet and that he really should wait for the next day. Anansi refused to wait and headed off.
Aso went and gathered up everyone in the village, telling them that Anansi was up to something and that they had to keep him from leaving. As Aso went back after her husband, Anansi grabbed his hat and sang: “Just now at my father’s village they are shaking hats! Saworowa, they are shaking hats! E, they are shaking hats, o, they are shaking hats! Saworowa!”
Anansi began to panic too, for the beans were hot and burning his scalp. He bid his wife and everyone goodbye, that he was leaving. However, everyone began to follow after him, knowing what Aso had told them. Paniced, Anansi told everyone to leave and he sang more: “Turn back, because: Just now at my father’s village they are shaking hats! Saworowa, they are shaking hats! E, they are shaking hats, o, they are shaking hats! Saworowa!”
Eventually, Anansi couldn’t stand the heat from the beans and he pulled them off his head with the hat. Now that everyone could see what Anansi had done, Aso and the villagers began to boo him, such that he took off running.
Anansi promised the road he would thank it if it helped him flee. The road agreed and Anansi mad his way back home and access to some sorely needed medicine for his head. Alas, Anansi’ hair never did grow back.
Why Anansi Runs When He’s On The Water’s Surface
With this story, Anansi goes to Okraman, the Dog and tells him how he plans to build a new village. That sounds sensible and Okraman agreed. Okraman would gather some rope-creepr vines and Anansi would also do the same and they would meet up again on the following Monday. They would also bring a gourd filled with water in case where they met up didn’t have any. As an added measure, Anansi put some honey into his gouard.
Anansi and Okraman met each other at the half-way point to their destination. As they continued to travel, they became tired and Okraman said they should rest a bit and drink some of the water they brought with them.
Now it gets a little weird. As the two rested, Anansi said they should play a game to pass the time while they rested. Well type of game Okraman wanted to know. A binding game, where they would take turns tie each other up. The one tied, would then have to escape. After a bit of disagreement on who would get tied up first, Anansi said he would go first.
Once Okraman had Anansi bound, he decided he was so hungry that he didn’t really want to play anymore. Instead, he picked up the trussed-up Spider and carried him away to go sell for food. When Anansi realized what was happening, he began to complain, making a ruckus until they reached a stream.
Odenkyem the Crocodile heard them and asked Okraman what was going on. Okraman was too frightened to answer and dropped the bound Anansi while he fled. Laughing, Odenkyem freed Anansi from his bounds while Anansi thanked him, asking if there were any way to repay the crocodile. Odenkyem declined, saying he didn’t want anything in return. Anansi insisted, saying if Odenkyem had any children, they come, and he would dress and style their hair. Odenkyem accepted this offer, not suspecting that Anansi would be up to any deception.
Anansi returns home, telling Aso that he needs palm-nuts and onions for a stew and that he’s going to bring back crocodile to provide the meat.
That does not sound like a way to repay someone for rescuing you.
Aso gathers up the ingredients asked for as Anansi sharpens a knife. He mashes up some eto and carries it down to the stream where Odenkyem lives. Anansi calls out for the crocodile, saying he’s got a reward for them and sets the eto in the water. Odenkyem comes, having heard Anansi and just as he’s about to take the gift; Anansi flings his knife at the crocodile.
Thinking he’s dealt Odenkyem a lethal blow, Anansi heads home. Aso notices this and asks where’s the crocodile meat? You didn’t get it? Anansi brushes her off, yelling at her and gives her the silent treatment the rest of the night.
The next morning, Aso went down to the river. There, she spoted the crocodile laying still with flies buzzing around him. Seeing this, Aso returned home to tell Anansi what she saw. Anansi explains that he used a special medicine to kill Odenkyem and it will take another day for the full effect and before he can collect up the meat. Anansi thanked Aso for confirming the kill.
Anansi headed down to the river, taking with him a long stick. Seeing the crocodile laying there still in the riverbank, Anansi carefully walked over and poked Odenkyem. As Anansi continued to poke the big crocodile with his stick and roll the body over, the Spider decided to edge closer. When Anansi got close enough and reached out to touch Odenkyem’s body with his hand, that’s when the big crocodile his own trap and snapped his jaws on Anansi’s arm.
That two wrestled for a while and eventually Anansi squirmed free of Odenkyem’s grasp and fled. Now, everytime Anansi crosses a river, he runs for it, never letting Odenkyem get a second chance.
That wouldn’t be the lesson I’d take from here though.
Note: My intention was to include all the Anansi stories that I could find. However, there are just so many variations and stories from Ghana to the Caribbean and even to North America. I could spend whole volumes and books on his stories and likely still not have found them all as he is still very much so active. So I find myself having to make a cutoff point of what do I include? Obviously, if you like Anansi want to read more of his stories or find a storyteller to tell his stories, you will do so.
And of course, the traditional ending to an Anansi story:
“This is my story which I have related. If it be sweet, or if it be not sweet, take some elsewhere, and let some come back to me.”
Proverbs
Just a few little odds & ends that I couldn’t figure out where to fit them in at.
“No one goes to the house of the spider Ananse to teach him wisdom.”
“No one tells stories to Ntikuma” refers to someone who has heard it all.
Syno-Deities
Other West African tricksters that share many similar stories to Anansi are Br’er Rabbit and Leuk Rabbit.
Br’er Rabbit – The similarities between Anansi and Br’er Rabbit, the trickster figure who originates among the Bantu speaking people of South and Central Africa. Just like Anansi, Br’er Rabbit was brought to the Americas with the slave trade where his stories thrived and became a means by which he uses his wits and cunning to outsmart larger creatures. Stories of Br’er Rabbit are found in the French-speaking islands of the Caribbean where he is known as “Compare Lapin.” The most obvious story to compare Anansi and Br’er Rabbit with is that story of Anansi and his capturing the Mmoatia fairy with the Akua doll and the story of Br’er Rabbit and the Tar Baby. The Br-er Rabbit stories were collected up into the Uncle Remus stories by the American Journalist Joel Chandler Harris between 1870 to 1906.
Gede Lwa – In Haitian Voudo, Anansi is worshipped as a loa of this name and he is the intermediary between ancestors and the living. We also see in Haitian folklore, the figures of Ti Bouki, Ti Malice or Uncle Mischief who are other variations of Anansi.
Gizo – A spider trickster-hero of the Housa. His wife is Koki. He’s been equated with Anansi stories and sometimes called the Yoruba Anansi.
Iktomi – A Native American Spider figure whom many have noted similarities with Anansi.
Nambo-Nansi – A Haitian Loa, based on the figure of Anansi.
Laverna
Other Names: Furina, Lativerna
Simply put, Laverna is the Roman goddess of Liars, Thieves, and the Underworld, more specifically, she is of Italian origins. The poet Horace makes mention of her as does the playwright Plautus where they each call Laverna a goddess of thieves.
Attributes
Colors: Black
Element: Air
Patron of: Charlatans, Cheaters, Liars, Thieves
Planet: Mercury
Plant: Wild Poppy
Sphere of Influence: Cheating, Deception, Fraud, Lies, Plagiarism, Secrets, Theft, Trickery
Time: Night
Roman Depiction
Laverna is frequently described as having a head, but nobody, or she’s a body without a head.
Worship
Laverna was a significant enough goddess in Roman to have her own sanctuary, a minor place of worship on Aventine to be named after her, near the Porta Lavernalis. There was also a grove on the Via Salaria, an ancient highway that crossed the ‘calf” part of the boot for Italy from Rome up to the Tiber River.
Libations to Laverna would be poured from the left hand. Laverna would be invoked by thieves to ensure a successful heist without getting caught. Though, in one of Plautus’ plays, a cook does call upon Laverna to seek revenge against some thieves who stole his cooking tools. So I guess it all depends on who calls upon her first if she’s going to help or hinder a would-be thief.
What’s In A Name?
While there’s some anecdotal evidence for the goddess Laverna, scholars have surmised a few different meanings for her name. The first is latere, meaning: “to lurk,” or from levare, meaning: “to relieve, lessen or lighten,” as it relates to shoplifters and pickpockets. Lastly, levator, meaning “a thief.” The word lucrum, meaning “gain or profit” is very much so connected to Laverna as a goddess of profit.
Etruscan Goddess
Very little is known about the Etruscans to begin with, so it’s likely that Laverna was an Underworld Goddess who then becomes a goddess of thieves as thieves have a reputation for working in the dark, whether actual night or a metaphor of darkness for in secret.
Plus, there are a couple of scraps of archaeological evidence to support her. One is a cup found in an Etruscan tomb with the engraving: “Lavernai Pocolom” and another fragment found in the Septimius Serenus Laverna that connects her to the di inferi.
Di Inferi?
Why yes, they were a collective group of ancient shadowy, underworld Roman gods, most of whom are death gods. Closely related are the Manes, ancestral spirits. Manes came about as a polite, euphemistic way to speak of the Inferi without really getting their attention.
Furrina – Synodeity?
Since we’re on the subject of Etruscan deities, the goddess Furrina is mentioned as an ancient Etruscan goddess of thieves and robbers, related to the element of water.
Well okay….
Except that on closer look, Furrina is a goddess of a spring with an annual summer festival of Furrinalia once held on July 25th and was likely held for staving off summer droughts.
I just don’t see the connection unless bad etymology and linguistics are going on.
Furies
Also known as the Erinyes in Greek is a trio of Underworld goddesses called upon for Vengeance. Some sources try to connect Laverna to this group. This doesn’t hold up when you know who they are, Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, and that all three punish people for committing crimes. I would think these three would be at odds with Laverna for helping people to commit them in the first place.
Aradia, Gospel of the Witches
Written by Charles G. Leland in 1899, this book has a story retold by Virgil in which he describes Laverna as being the one female who was the craftiest and knavish of them all. A thief of whom even the other gods knew little about.
Laverna’s story continues with how she tricks a priest into selling her an estate swearing by her body with the promise of building a temple on the land. She sells off everything but doesn’t build a temple. There was also a Lord whom Laverna approached, promising by her head, to pay in full for his castle and all of its furnishings. Angry at having been deceived and unable to confront Laverna, both the lord and the priest appeal to the Gods to intervene.
And intervene the Gods do, bringing Laverna before them to inquire why she hasn’t upheld her end of the bargain with the priest. In response, Laverna made her body disappear so that only her head remained visible as she said that she swore by her body and a body she has none. That she couldn’t have sworn an oath.
Gaining a round of laughter, the Gods then asked Laverna why she hadn’t paid the lord in full for his castle. This time, in reverse, Laverna makes her body appear but has no head while her voice says that she swore by her head, but she has no head. Again, that this lack thereof, she couldn’t have sworn an oath.
As much laughter as this caused all the Gods, they still demanded that Laverna make right her debts and pay them off. Further, Jupiter then commanded that Laveran become the patron goddess of dishonest people, liars, and thieves.
Kappa
Also Called: Gataro (“River Boy”), Kawako (“River Child”), Kawataro (“River Boy” or “River Tiger”), Komahiki (“Horse Puller”), Suiko (“Water Tiger”)
There are some eighty names for kappa depending on the region they’re found in. Next to the oni and tengu, kappa are some of the best known yokai found in Japan.
Some of these other names are: Dangame (“Soft-Shelled Turtle”), Enko (“monkey”), Gawappa, Kawappa, Kawaso (“otter”), Kogo, Mizuchi, Mizushi, and Suitengu.
Etymology – “River-Child” from the words kawa for “river” and wappo, an inflection of waraba meaning “child.”
In the Shinto Religion of Japan, Kappa are mischievous water spirits or yokai who will pull young children and the unwary into the river and ponds where they live and drown them. Kappa are also known for attacking travelers and animals. Even today, many towns and villages keep signs out warning of the dangers of kappa near a river.
Some of the less deadly pranks that kappa will pull are passing gas loudly and looking up women’s kimonos. They will also steal crops, flat out kidnap children and rape women.
The kappa are curious about human culture, they are not mindlessly aggressive and many can be appealed or reasoned with as they do speak Japanese. Wisemen were known to befriend kappa and learn the art of setting bones from them. It’s thought that somehow, kappa were once wise monkeys.
Kappa will also sometimes challenge people to different tests of skill such as shogi or sumo wrestling. People have been known to befriend kappa by giving gifts and offerings, often of food and especially cucumbers.
The kappa are a major folkloric figure that people have reported seeing for centuries. They have remained a staple of literature and even the tourist industry in some towns will tell visitors to be wary of kappa and to be careful.
Suijin
In Shinto, the Kappa are viewed as one of many types of Suijin or water people or even water deities. Many of these water deities or spirits are often depicted as snakes, dragons, eels, fish, turtles and kappa. It is believed that belief in kappa can be traced back to China, though much of the kappa lore is native to Japan.
With the arrival of Chinese and Koreans during the 2nd century C.E. along with the arrival of Buddhism in Japan, the imagery of kappa would be begin to take on these attributes.
While the name for the most powerful Suijin in Japan is Mizu no Kamisama or Goddess or God of Water, the kappa are more accurately referred to as Kawa no Kami or River Deity reflecting a less powerful status.
The offering of cucumbers to kappa may have come from a tradition of giving the year’s first crop of cucumbers and eggplants to the local river to either appease local water deities or hungry ghosts.
Festivals – There are still some festivals held in places, twice a year during the equinoxes to placate the kappa and ensure a good harvest. These festivals also mark the time of the year when the kappa travel down from the mountains to the rivers and back up.
Kappa Odori Dance – This is a sacred Shinto dance used to pray for abundant crops. Young boys dress up as kappa and jump and bounce around in time to the humorous music as it’s played.
Jozankei Hot Springs – A local spa near the Toyohiragawa River to the southwest of Sapporo. Named after the monk who found the place, the kappa are local guardian spirits. Some 23 kappa statues stand around the area. The Kappa Pool becomes very lively in early August during the Kappa Festival. A local legend holds that the story of the Kappa Buchi occurred here.
Ancient Origins?
Ainu Folklore – The Ainu are Japan’s earliest inhabitants who live mostly on the northern island of Hokkaido. The connection here is very tentative as some believe that the kappa come from Ainu folklore. There’s just not enough known of their mythology to really make a concrete connection. What does get cited is that near the main city Sapporo on Hokkaido is an area known as Jozankei where the legends for the “Great Kappa King” and the “Kappa Buchi Legend” can be found, though these stories are not likely to be of Ainu origin and mythology.
Nihon Shoki – Chronicles of Japan – One of Japan’s earliest and official records, it was compiled sometime around 720 C.E. It is the first text to refer to kappa where it is called Kawa no Kami or River Deity in this text.
Wakan Sansaizue – Kappa don’t really take on popularity until around Japan’s medieval era, during the Edo period. The Wakan Sansaizue is a 105-volume encyclopedia dating to about 1713 C.E. and is the first to depict a kappa.
Gazu Hyakkiyagyō – Or the “Night Procession of One Hundred Demons” is a four volume text that next shows and depicts kappa within it.
From here, the popularity of kappa in continues in the Edo Period, appearing in a serial called Kasshiyawa where the kappa called Kawataro. Another document is the Mimibukuro, a 10-volume text written by Negishi Yasumori.
Portuguese Monks – When Portuguese monks arrived in Japan during the 16th century, their appearance of cloaks that hung down in back like a kappa’s shell and their shaven heads resulting in a bald head crowned with hair known as a Capa for the Portuguese word for this hair style would easily become absorbed into Japan’s Kappa lore…. After all a homophone of words Kappa and Capa sound very alike.
Drowned Monkeys – Some legends will hold that the first kappa come from monkeys. Yanagida Kunio records a story where he notes that some regions of Japan referred to kappa as enko or monkeys.
There is a famous Buddhist story from China in which a group of monkeys tried to capture the moon’s reflection. For their trouble and efforts, the monkeys were drowned.
The Monkey King Versus The Water Demon – There are a number of tales for the Indian collection of Buddha stories called Jataka. Dating from the 3rd century B.C.E. India and Sri Lanka, the story in question features the monkey kingdom under attack from a monkey-eating water demon. The wise monkey king outwitted the demon with bamboo.
So, what’s the connection? In Sanskrit, the word Kapi translates to monkey. It’s possible that Kappa is a distorted form of Kapi. It would explain some of the descriptions of kappa being monkey-like is a carry over of this distortion. Further, there is a kapi jembawan, a monkey sage in Indonesian folklore based on the Dwarka kingdom where Lord Krishna ruled. The famous Hindi poet, Tulsidas who wrote the Ramayana some 500 years ago, uses the word kapi in place of the Vanara or monkey folk in the South who help Rama defeat Ravana.
If we’re looking at linguist connections, that could all hold up.
Description
Kappa look like child-sized humanoid turtles or more often monkeys with scaly limbs and thick tortoise shells. Some kappa are depicted with ape-like faces while others are more beaked. Skin coloration ranges from green to yellow and even blue.
The most distinguishing feature of kappa are the bowl or saucer-shaped depressions on the top of their heads called a sara (meaning “dish,” “bowl,” or “plate.”) When leaving the water, kappa makes sure that the sara is kept filled with water. The sara is surrounded with scraggly hair in a bobbed hair style known as okappa-atama. Should the kappa loose this water, it loses its strength and powers, possibly even dying in this weakened state if water isn’t refilled. Some kappa are reputed to have taken to wearing a metal plate or cap to cover their sara so the water doesn’t pour or dry out, thus weakening them.
Depending on the story, the arms of a kappa are said to be connected to each such, that the kappa can slide their arm from one side to the other. I can see that trick, the kappa is wearing a shell, pull one arm in and stuff it out the other arm hole, much like a person does when wearing a t-shirt. I’m sure it’s a simple enough illusion and magic trick to pull off.
Aquatic creatures who live in ponds and rivers, Kappa also possess webbed hands and feet. People have commented that Kappa smell like fish. Some of the legends involving kappa have them spending spring and summer down in the water during autumn and winter, heading up to the Yama-no-Kami (“Mountain Deities”) mountains. While kappa can be found throughout much of Japan, they’re often found in the Saga Prefecture.
Hyosube – This is the name for the kappa’s hairy cousin. The two are identical otherwise in terms of physical attributes and what they do. The biggest distinction of the two aside from hair, is that kappa are more prone to staying outside. The Hyosube are more likely to sneak into people’s homes to cause mischief, namely to take a bath. Being so hairsute, the hyosube are known to shed hair which is deadly to those who encounter it in Japanese folklore.
Shibaten – Also called Shibatengu, is a more turtle-like kappa where the kappa can be more ape or monkey like in appearance.
Diet
The kappa feed on a diet of blood and cucumbers.
Blood – Young children are told to be wary when playing near the water’s edge of ponds and rivers. Children are a kappa’s favored meal though they’re not above eating an adult.
Eww… so what makes humans so appealing to a kappa is a shirikodama that they will suck out of a person’s anus. Alrighty then.
And the shirikodama? Depending on the source and legend, that’s a mystical ball containing a person’s life force or soul that’s found near the anus, entrails, in the blood or liver.
Cucumbers – The only thing that kappa love more than small children. Its customary for some Japanese parents to write the names of their children or themselves on a cucumber and toss it into a pond or river where the kappa are believed to dwell.
Other Food Offerings – Cucumbers aren’t the only food item a kappa will accept. Offerings of eggplant, soba noodles, natto (fermented soybeans) and kabocha (winter squash) are accepted by kappa.
Powers
Being an aquatic yokai, it goes without saying that kappa are master swimmers with a vast knowledge of water and it’s importance.
Strength – Much of a kappa’s strength is tied to the waters of the pond or river it calls home. The water that a kappa keeps in the depression on its head is a source of its strength and even life.
Flatulence – I’m not sure that I would call this a power. Suffice to say that a kappa can use a particularly noxious gas attack in self-defense much like skunks do. A kappa is known to release this gas not just as a prank but to get someone like fishermen to let it go.
Flight – So those cucumbers offered to the kappa, not only do they eat the cucumbers, the kappa uses them to fly around on like dragonflies. Okay….
Weaknesses
So how does one manage to thwart and defeat a Kappa you might ask?
Arms – If we go off the idea that the arms of a kappa are connected to each other, they can be easily pulled off. If a person manages to get a kappa’s arm, they will perform a task in order to get it back. Assuming the arm can be reattached.
Challenges – Kappa aren’t mindlessly aggressive, and a person can reason with them. If they don’t have an offering of cucumbers to give, a person can try challenging the kappa. Most challenges usually take the form of feats of strength with wrestling matches.
One challenge found in a folktale sees a Farmer’s daughter get promised to a kappa in marriage in exchange for the yokai to irrigate his land. The daughter challenged the kappa to submerge several gourds in water. When the kappa failed at this task, the daughter was freed from the marital arrangement.
Fire – Being water creatures, it stands to reason that Kappa are held to be afraid of fire and loud noises. Some villages in Japan will have fireworks festivals each year to try and scare away spirits.
Land – Kappa can’t survive for long on the land and must always keep their heads wet, especially the sara filled with water.
Etiquette – That in mind, the kappa are overly found of etiquette, so if you bow deeply to them in greeting, they will bow as well, spilling the water from their sara. With this water spilled, the kappa loses its strength and any powers, becoming weakened and possibly die if this water isn’t refilled. It must be water from their home river or pond that is poured back in. If a human is the one who refills this water, it is believed that the kappa would the human in question for the rest of eternity.
Cucumbers – Offering the Kappa a nice tasty cucumber is sure to do the trick and placate them instead of trying to haul you into the river to drown.
Instead of offering the cucumber, a person would the vegetable themselves as a means of protection before swimming. Though some will say this is sure to guarantee an attack.
Miscellaneous – There’s a variety of other items that supposedly drive away kappa. These items include ginger, iron and sesame.
A Friend For Life
Those who have successfully befriended a kappa find that they truly have a friend for life. Kappa are known to help farmers in any number of ways such as irrigating fields. The kappa are very knowledgeable in the way of medicine and have been known to teach the art of bone setting to humans.
There are shrines to kappa that have been established, especially of a particularly helpful kappa. You could trick a kappa into service via the bowing and refilling the bowl on their head with water. He’s not likely to be so nice about the help he gives then.
The kappa, like the European Fae won’t break an oath as their sense of etiquette and decorum is such, they just won’t. So yeah, a human can trick a kappa into service and get one to swear an oath to them, the kappa’s sense of honor says they will follow it through to the end.
Japanese Expressions
There are a few expressions associated with kappa.
Kappa Maki – A cucumber sushi roll named for kappa.
“Kappa-no-kawa-nagare” – This phrase translates to “A kappa drowning in a river” is used to mean that even an expert can make mistakes.
“Kappa no He” – Much ado about nothing, the literal translation is water-imp fart. This is my new favorite.
Okappa – the bobbed hairstyles that look like those kappa sport.
Koppojutsu
This is a martial arts style invented by Kappa who will sometimes teach it to humans. The name of koppojutsu translates as “attacks against bones.” It is a hard-martial art compared to another, koshijutsu that is a soft-martial art that targets an opponent’s muscles.
Kappa-Buchi
The Kappa Pool is a legend found in the Jozankei region of Japan.
A young man was out fishing in a deep pool and he ended up falling in. He never surfaced. Some months later, as his father slept, the son came to him in a dream and told his father that he was living happily with the Kappa, that he even had a kappa wife and child. Shortly after, the pool came to be known as the Kappa Buchi.
Kappa Bashi
The Kappa bridge found in Tokyo used to be farmland that was surrounded by canals prone to flooding. During the late Edo period, a raincoat dealer, Kappaya Kihachi spent his entire fortune on building a better drainage system. The work proved more difficult than expect and taking longer to complete.
Falling into despair and about to give up, the man was visited by a kappa whose life he had saved many years before. The kappa had arrived to help and in no time at all, the new drainage system was completed. Further, the story goes that those who saw the kappa were blessed with good fortune. Shortly after, the Kappa Temple was built to honor and enshrine the kappa as a local deity.
Saiyuki – Journey West
When the Chinese epic of Journey to the West arrived in Japan, the character of Sha Wujing’s name is changed to Sangojo or Sagojo. Where Sha Wujing or Sandy is often depicted as a Water Buffalo or some kind of water demon, in Japan, he is frequently identified as a kappa.
Horses & Livestock & Monkeys!
Continuing a connection of Kappa to the Journey West story, in which kappa come from drown monkeys. In Chinese lore, monkeys are shown riding horses and in Journey West, the Jade Emperor appoints Monkey or Son Goku to a position of a Stable Hand or Protector of Horses.
This connection could explain a few different folktales and stories of kappa harassing people’s horse and cattle. There is a story recorded by Lafcadio Hearn in Kawachimura where a horse-stealing kappa was captured and forced to sign an agreement never to harm any people or steal from them again. The kappa even went so far as to swear he would get his fellow kappa to swear to the oath of leaving humans alone.
Of course, it could be too much of a stretch and horses were just one of many animals and objects that kappa would try to steal from humans.
Possible Reality Behind The Myths
Drowning – It’s likely stories of kappa developed as a means to scare and warn children from wandering too close to the water’s edge at any pond or river.
Kappa are even blamed for drowning deaths and signs are still posted near bodies of water that warn of kappa dangers.
Giant Salamanders – It makes sense, that inspiration for the kappa could come from the Japanese giant salamander or hanzaki. It is a large, aggressive salamander that grow up to five feet in length that will grab its prey with powerful jaws.
Miscarriages & Leech Babies – Touching back on that idea of kappa rapping women. There is an 18th century Ukiyo-e picture by Utamaro showing a kappa rapping an ama diver while underwater. That’s a bit unpleasant. More relevant might be a belief found in Kunio Yanagita’s Tono Monogatari, in which women who were raped by kappa and became pregnant often had repulsive babies born. These babies, called Leech Babies, would be buried shortly after.
Sometimes these stillborn babies would be tossed into a river and children would be warned to stay away from the water’s edge to avoid seeing these dead babies. Sadly, sometimes a poor family might have tossed an unwanted baby into the river if they couldn’t afford to care for it.
It’s possible a woman might say she had been raped by a kappa in order to try and explain why a baby was born deformed and likely stillborn. It would provide a way of saving face to explain a stillborn and deformities. That’s my take after reading in Celtic folklore and comparing it the myths regarding Changelings and parents who have a child that dies of SIDs, you just say the fairies came and took your baby and that the one isn’t real. Because somewhere, your real baby is still alive.
Similar Folkloric Figures
There are a few other, similar figures found in other cultures from around the world that have been used to scare young children from straying too close to the water’s edge.
Kelpie – A fearsome water horse in Scottish folklore known to drown those who try to ride it.
Näkki – A water monster from Finnish folklore.
Neck – Also called Nix or Nixie, a similar shapeshifting creature to the Näkki, only from Germanic and Scandinavian folklore.
Shui Gui – Water Ghost or Water Monkey is a similar creature found in Chinese folklore.
Siyokoy – Found in the Philippin islands and known for kidnapping children. Their description is very similar to those of kappa.
Vodyanoy – A frog-like water spirit found in Slavic folklore.
Vodnik – A green humanoid spirit or creature found in western Slavic folklore, particularly in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Loki
Etymology: Old Norse logi “flame”, possibly “tangler” Possibly the Old Norse word luka meaning “close,” Indo-European -leug meaning “to break”, Indo-European -luk meaning: “to close,” “lock,” “lid,” “end,” to light,” and “lightning.”
Pronunciation: loh’-kee
Alternate Spellings: Loge, Lokki (Faroese), Lokkemand (Danish), Loke, Lokke (Norwegian), Luki, Luku (Swedish), Lukki (Finnish), Loder, Lokkju, Lopti, Loki-Laufeyjarson
Other Names and Epithets: Hveðrungr “Roarer” (Old Norse), Loptr (Air), Loftur, “Father of Lies,” “the Sly God,” “the Sly One,” “Sky-Traveler”
Loki is best known in Norse mythology as a trickster deity. Like any trickster figure, Loki often questions and more accurately, challenges the status quo among the gods with the trouble and chaos he often causes. At the same time, for all the trouble and mischief that Loki creates, he will also help the other gods with fixing the mess. Just even studying and looking up the mythology for Loki has been fairly difficult to pin down this figure and try to say just who he is has been somewhat difficult. I could lay it down to Loki’s trickster nature and the fluid mythological change of the times as scholars try to figure out scraps of ancient sagas and runes.
Attributes
Animal: Spider, Salmon, Mare, Seal, Flies
Day of the Week: Saturday
Element: Air, Fire
Planet: Saturn
Plant: Birch
Sphere of Influence: Magic, Mischief, Lies, Deceit, Chaos, Thievery
Symbols: knots, loops, fishing nets
Norse Descriptions
Some sagas describe Loki as being male with a slim build with red hair. He has a curly mustache and possibly a pointed beard. Other descriptions of Loki will mention that he has a twisted smile, owing to his misadventure and encounter with some dwarves who sowed his mouth shut and tied him to a tree.
In his Gylfaginning, Snorri Sturlson describes Loki as being “beautiful and comely to look upon, evil in spirit, very fickle in habit.” Well if that’s not an apt descriptor of Tom Hiddleston’s portrayl of Loki in the Marvel Cinema Movies.
Regional Variant?
When looking at the main sources of Norse Mythology that mention Loki, the main source is the Icelandic Scholar and Historian Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda from the 13th century. Loki shows up in some earlier Viking Sagas from the 9th to 11th century. However, tracking back to the earlier Nordic Sagas of Vafþrúðnismál and Grímnismál, Loki is absent from these tales.
A contemporary of Snorri Sturlson is Saxo Grammaticus, who in his Gesta Danorum (“Deeds of the Danes,”) largely leaves out mention of Loki. This absence has been noted by scholars to point out that Loki may have only been a regional deity known among the most northern Germanic lands. Many of the other Norse deities like Odin and Thor can be found to have regional variant names and very similar corresponding myths.
What’s In A Name? Lock & Key
Just what Loki’s name means and which etymology to use for it has been debated for quite a while by various scholars.
Often it is suggested that the Old Norse word: logi, meaning “flame” is the source for Loki’s name. The Icelandic use of Loki’s name has it meaning: “knot” or “tangle.”
Other Scandinavian names have put forth ranging from the Faroese Lokki, the Danish Lokkemand, the Norwegian Loke and Lokke, the Swedish Luki and Luku to the Finnish Lukki. All of these names have a commonality in the Germanic root word of luk- which corresponds with loops, especially for knots, hooks, closed-off rooms and even locks. Further etymological evidence is pointed out in the Swedish word: “lokkanät” and the Faroese word: “Lokkanet” that translate to mean “cobweb” or “Lokke’s web.” Even the Faroese word for Daddy-Long Leg spiders is: “lokki~grindalokki~grindalokkur.” That could make sense and certainly adds a new understanding to just what Loki’s name might really mean.
Another take is some of the Scandinavian dialects where the root word luk- corresponds to words like nokke and nøkkel that mean “key.” Some of the Western Scandinavian words that translate to key are: loki~lokke and lykil.
What a tangled web we weave….
These etymological connections in mind, has led some to conclude that this is how Loki fits into the narrative for the events of Ragnarök. After-all, Loki creates all these problems and entanglements. So much so, that people believed Loki to cause knots, tangles and looks to occur or to be one, at least symbolically.
Germanic Origins & Worship
Loki is not a deity who was exactly worshiped among the ancient Germanic, Norse, Scandinavian tribes or others.
There is a lot of debate on just how to interpret Loki’s place in Norse Mythology. Jacob Grimm introduced the idea of Loki as a god of fire in 1835. Next, Sophus Bugge in 1889 put forward the idea of Loki being a variation of Lucifer in Christianity. That aspect makes sense if you’re trying to equate every trickster figure and outright evil figure in the black & white box of Christian theology.
Shortly after World War II there are four theories regarding Loki that have prevailed. The first of these is in 1956, Folke Ström who suggests that Loki is as an aspect of Odin, much like the godhead in Christianity. The second, in 1959 is from Jan de Vries that says Loki represents a trickster figure. At current, I think everyone who knows about Norse mythology pretty much agrees with that idea. Third, in 1961, Anna Birgitta Rooth made a conclusion of Loki being a spider, which seeing the etymology of the name, makes sense too. Than, in 1962, an Anne Holtsmark said that no conclusions about Loki can be made. Maybe so, if we’re agreeing to the idea of a trickster figure, they can be pretty hard to pin down.
Christianity & Norse Religion
When Christianity was being introduced to Europe, many of the Nordic or Scandinavian countries, including Denmark and Sweden continued to practice their Heathenism or Paganism up until the 13th century when there was a mass forced conversion as the then King decided to convert. The process began about 900 C.E. as the Vikings began interacting with Christians and of course, while all similar, different regions and countries would have different oral or written traditions for the Norse gods.
Divine Trinity – In Christianity, many are familiar with the Godhead of God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost. Where Norse paganism and religion is concerned, those who’ve studied the myths and then tried to equate with Christianity seem to have come up with a Triad that’s Odin, Hœnir and Loki. An idea supported in the sagas and ballads: Haustlöng, a prologue to Reginsmál and Loka Táttur. This idea works if you accept the scholar Ursula Dronke’s theory that Lóðurr, the Norse deity who created the first humans is another name for Loki and that Lóðurr is a third name for Loki along with Loptr.
You’re not alone if you reject this idea of Loki and Lóðurr being the same being. After all, Lóðurr is only really mentioned twice in the Völuspá and only in a couple other places where they describe Odin as “Lóðurr’ friend.” Still enough people have glommed on to the idea and argue that much of the Poetic Edda was forgotten around 1400 C.E. when it began to be written down and possibly poor etymology studies of trying to make similar sounding words and name mean and be the same thing.
Since a lot of the mythology has been lost, it’s likely the 14th & 15th century poets, namely Snorri and Saxo were doing the best they could to preserve an oral history. Snorri followed mostly the Icelandic traditions of myths he wrote down and Saxo followed the Danish traditions of myths. A difference seen in the Death of Baldr where Snorri includes Loki’s involvement and Saxo leave it out of the myth.
Worship?
Many scholars who have looked at Loki’s place in Norse mythology haven’t found any evidence of any cult for Loki.
Followers and Worshipers of Loki seem to be more of a modern phenomenon with modern Wicca and Pagan religions. As he is considered a Trickster deity and God of Fire, this shouldn’t be done lightly or on a lark.
Parentage and Family
Parents
Father – Fárbauti (“Crue-Striker,”) a frost giant or jotunn.
Mother – Laufey, a frost giant or jotunn.
In the Prose Edda, an alternate for Laufey’s name is Nál, meaning: “Needle.”
Consort
Angrboða – “Anguish-Boding,” a jotunn, by her, Loki is the father of Hel, Fenrir the wolf and Jormungandr, the world serpent.
Sigyn – Loki’s wife, with her, he is the father of Narfi or Nari.
Svaðilfari – Keeping things interesting for the time Loki turned into a mare, he is the mother of Odin’s eight-legged horse Slepnir.
Siblings
Býleistr (“Bee-Lightning”) and Helblindi (“All Blind” or “Hel-Blinder”) are brothers of Loki as given in the Prose Edda.
Children
Fenrir – A monstrous wolf.
Hel – The goddess of the Underworld. Given the similarity of the name Hel with the Christian name Hell for the Underworld, it has been suggested that Hel is a Christian addition to the Norse myths.
Jormungand – The great world serpent.
Nari – Also spelled Narfi, meaning “corpse.”
Slepnir – The famous eight-legged horse of Odin.
Váli – In the Prose Edda, Loki is mentioned as the father. This Edda also mentions Odin as the father, twice to Loki’s one reference.
Grandchildren
Hati and Skol – a pair of monstrous wolves who kill Odin and begin the events of Ragnarök.
Aesir God
Well, sort of… Loki, being the son of frost giants or jotunns isn’t really a member of the Aesir tribe of gods in Norse mythology.
Blood Brother – Loki does, however, gain membership with the Aesir and is counted among their number when Odin makes him a blood brother. Also, by Loki being a blood brother, it would fit some theological views where Loki is seen as Odin’s opposite or his darker half.
Outsider – Even getting accepted as an Aesir, for all the trouble and mischief that Loki causes, he is still seen as an outsider to the Norse pantheon. Mischief, problems, fights and often times he’s the one who goes right in and fixes the mess he created in the first place.
God Of Air & Fire
Being a trickster deity, many people tend towards associating Loki with the element of fire as many trickster figures often are.
In Scandinavian folklore, there are a number of phrases and folk sayings such as: “Loki is reaping his oats” or “Loki is herding his goats: that refer to during springtime, when mist is raising off the ground. The mist rising in places like Jutland create a shimmering effect, especially over flat ground. The same shimmering is observed with hot steam over a kettle or fire.
Logi The Fire Giant – Thanks to Wagner’s Opera and etymological confusion, many people will confuse Loki with the Fire Giant Logi. Which adds to further identifying Loki as a fire god.
They’re two separate beings.
Still those who equate Loki and Logi together, will then try to add Glut to the list of spouses for Loki and add on Esia & Einmyria as two additional children and daughters of Loki’s.
God Of Mischief & Trickster
Loki is most prominently known as a trickster figure in Norse mythology. Like any trickster, Loki sometimes is the cause of rather callous and malicious pranks. For as often as he causes trouble, Loki also ends up helping to resolve the messes he’s created.
Hero Or Villain – Looking at the oldest known poems and sagas to mention Loki from the 9th to 11th centuries, Loki is portrayed more as a friend to the gods and helping them out on many occasions. These notable works are the Ynglingatal, Haustlǫng, Húsdrápa and Þórsdrápa.
When we get to later sagas and Snorri’s Prose Edda, Loki has taken on a more malicious or evil bend who will have a leading role and part in Ragnarök.
Maybe his pranks were getting more and more out of hand to the point the gods weren’t taking any more or it’s a clear influence of Christianity upon the myths. Either way, Loki’s tricks and cunning do go from helpful to outright malicious and evil.
Not helping of course is when numerous articles continue to glom on to the idea that a Trickster figure must be counted as evil. Or some scholars like Georges Dumézil in their studies of folklore equate Loki with a demonic figure like Syrdon from Caucasian Legends.
Fishnets & Spider Webs
As mentioned earlier, there are etymological connections of Loki’s name to knots and loops. This connection makes sense that Loki is also credited as being the inventor of fishnets as these contain many knots and loops.
Spiders also get associated with the name loki, lokke, lokki, loke, luki as they spin and make spider or cobwebs.
Cunning – As a god of cunning, Loki’s connection to fishnets and spider webs works very well on the metaphorical and spiritual sense for the complex, intricate, even elaborate schemes that catch everyone up in his well, mischief. He’s the source in many causes of tying all the gods together and brings about their end with Ragnarok.
Shape-Shifter
This aspect seems to be a staple of many trickster figures within myth. Loki is noted for having changed into a salmon, a mare, a falcon, a fly and likely an old woman by the name of Þökk (whose name in Old Norse means: “thanks.”)
Loki’s Children
When Loki’s children with Angrboða were born, it was foretold to the Aesir how they would cause a great evil in the world. Odin decreed that Loki’s children should be retrieved from Jötunheim and brought to Asgard.
Odin threw Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent into the where it would wrap itself around the whole of the earth. Jormungand would grow so big he could bit his own tail. As to Hel, Odin sent her down to the Underworld, Niflheim. Hel would create her own realm here called Helheim. The third child, Fenrir, a monstrous wolf was kept in Asgard and chained up, bound to a rock.
The Treasures of the Gods
In yet another of Loki’s many pranks, he goes and cuts off all of Sif’s hair while she’s sleeping and leaves it in a pile on the floor. Needless to say, Sif was not amused, and neither was her husband, Thor. Promising to make up for it, Loki went to replace it with the help of the dwarves. Best not to be on Thor’s bad side.
Loki sought out the dwarves, particularly the sons of Ivaldi. After Loki persuaded the dwarves to spin gold so fine to replace Sif’s lost hair, the dwarves decided they didn’t want to waste the fire and went on to create more treasure. They crafted the ship Skidbladnir that could be dismantled and folded down to the size of a piece of cloth for Freyr. Then they went on to craft the spear Gungnir that would never miss it’s mark for Odin.
As Loki began to return towards Asgard, he decided to pay the dwarves Brokk and Eitri a visit. Loki showed off the treasures that Ivaldi and his sons had crafted and challenged the two to craft something better.
A wager this time, one that Loki staked his head on. The dwarves agreed and now the magical gold boar Gullinbursti for Freyr was created. Next came the magical gold arm ring known as Draupnir that could create 8 gold rings every ninth night. Finally, the two crafted Thor’s famous hammer, Mjolnir that couldn’t be broken and always returned when thrown.
Returning at last to Asgard, Brokk accompanied Loki to have the gifts judged by the gods. Odin, Thor and Freyr were all quick to agree to Mjolnir’s fine craftsmanship. With that pronouncement, Brokk tried to claim Loki’s head.
Not so fast Loki retorted, he had only promised his head, not any other part of his neck. Damaging his neck was not part of the deal. Fine then, Brokk responds that he can at least sew Loki’s lips shut and left him tied to a tree.
At least it shut Loki for a while, probably not long enough for other’s liking.
The Theft Of Idunn’s Apples
Due to his penchant for mischief, Loki ends up in the hands of the jotunn, Thiaz who threatens to kill the trickster unless Loki brings him the goddess Idunn and her golden apples. Very much so looking to save his own skin, Loki agrees to the deal and brings her and the apples to Thiaz.
Needless to say, this caused an uproar among the gods who are the ones now threatening to kill Loki unless he rescues and brings back Idunn. Once more, looking to preserve his own hide, Loki agrees and transforms into a falcon to carry the goddess safely back to Asgard.
Wanting back what he deems rightfully his, Thiaz changes into an eagle and pursues the pair. As Loki and Idunn are getting closer to Asgard, Thiaz in eagle form has nearly caught up with them. The gods light a fire around the perimeter to their hall and the flames catch Thiaz, burning him up.
With Idunn safely within the halls of Asgard, Loki runs back out to help the other gods with the remains of Thiaz and rectifying the very problem he created in the first place.
Loki & Skadi
Not long after Thiazi’s death, his daughter, Skadi shows up demanding restitution for her father’s slaying at the hands of the Aesir. One of Skadi’s demands is that the gods make her laugh. Loki accomplishes this by taking a rope and tying it to the beard of a goat and the other end to his own testicles. Both the goat and Loki bleat and cry out in terror and more pain as they try to pull away from each other. Eventually, Loki falls into Skadi’s lap and she busts out laughing at the absurdity of the scene.
The Death Of Balder
This is one of the bigger, more well-known Norse stories. Balder’s mother Frigg had received a prophesy concerning Balder’s death. Wishing to try and avoid this fate, Frigg gets an oath from all living things that they won’t harm her son. In her haste to do so, Frigg overlooked the mistletoe, believing it to be too small in consequential.
Leave it to Loki to learn of this and to test the validity of the prophesy. Depending on the source, Loki either makes an arrow or a spear out of mistletoe and hands it off to the blind god Hod, instructing him to aim it at Balder. This act doesn’t seem so unusual when taken into account that many of the other gods were taking aim at Balder to test his invulnerability.
Hod then, unknowingly of Loki’s true intent, fires the mistletoe weapon at Balder and impales the god who soon dies. Frigg is grief stricken and Hermod rides off on Sleipnir down to the Underworld to plead for Balder’s release from Hel, how everyone loves him. The Underworld goddess replies that if this is so, then every being in the living world will weep for the slain god. If everyone does weep, then Hel will release her hold on Balder and allow him to return.
Hermod returns with the news and every creature on the earth cries for Balder. All, that is except for an old giantess by the name of Tokk (or Þökk, meaning “Thanks,”) she was most certainly and likely Loki in disguise.
With this failure to have everyone weep, Balder remained in Hel’s domain.
The Bjarkan Rune – Loki is mentioned in the 13th stanza of a Norwegian rune poem utilizing the Younger Futhark Bjarkan rune.
In Old Norse, the poem reads:
Bjarkan er laufgrønster líma;
Loki bar flærða tíma
In Modern English, the translation:
Birch has the greenest leaves of any shrub;
Loki was fortunate in his deceit
It has been suggested that “Loki’ deceit” refers to his part in the death of Balder.
Did Loki Get Too Out Of Hand This Time?
There is an interesting view given regarding Balder’s death. For one, we know that Saxo’s version written from the Danish myths, doesn’t include Loki’s involvement in Balder, the Sun God’s death.
The version that everyone is familiar with in Snorri’s Prose Eddas, where Loki is seen as getting progressively more and more out of hand with his trickery and becoming more and more outright evil.
What if… that weren’t the case? The gods know the prophesy of Ragnarök, the end of the Norse gods. Of course, they want to prevent and prolong the inevitable. What if, Loki’s killing Balder is for the greater good? A sacrifice? Odin knows the only way to really protect Balder is if he dies and goes to the Underworld, Niflheim. The only place that won’t be destroyed of all the nine realms. So it is at Odin’s request, that Loki sees to it that Balder is killed and to prevent his return, turns into an old woman who refuses to weep for his loss.
That way, now, when Ragnarök comes, Baldur is able to be in place to remake the world.
It’s an interesting take on this myth.
The Binding Of Loki
Eventually with all of his mischief and havoc and likely with the death of Baldur, the Aesir have finally had it with Loki and decide to bind him to a massive rock deep beneath the earth in a cave. As punishment for all these misdeeds, Loki is tied by the gods using the entrails of his son Nari after turning another son, Vali into a wolf to rip apart his brother. Both the Poetic and Prose Edda mention the goddess Skaði being the one who places a serpent above Loki while he’s bound. This serpent then drips venom down on Loki. Before it can hit him, Sigyn collects the venom in a bowl, the caveat is that whenever Sigyn has to empty the bowl, that is when the venom does hit Loki, causing him much pain. This pain causes Loki to writhe in such agony, it causes earthquakes.
Loki & Útgarðaloki – Many are familiar with Snorri Sturluson’s take on Loki & Thor’s encounter with Utgard-Loki from the Prose Edda’s Gylfaginning. The medieval Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus has a different take on the story of Utgard-Loki or Útgarðaloki.
In Saxo’s take, Thor does indeed travel to Jotunheim, the realm of the giants. There, Thor finds a jotun by the name of Útgarðaloki, meaning “Loki of the Utgard,” who is bound fast much like the other versions for the binding of Loki. Otherwise, Loki is largely absent of Saxo’s collection of Norse mythology.
It has been pointed out, that the Scandinavians may have held conflicting views on deciding if Loki were a god, a jotun or another entity altogether.
Greek Connection – Loki’s being bound to a rock has been compared to other, mythological figures in Greek, namely those of Prometheus and Tantalus.
Prose Edda
In the Prose Edda, Loki is described as a: “contriver of fraud.” Loki isn’t mentioned very often in the Eddas, he is generally mentioned as being a member of Odin’s family.
The Poetic Edda & Other Sagas
Much of what we know about Loki and the other Norse deities comes from the surviving Poetic Edda that was compiled in the 13th century C.E. It is a collection of various poems as follows: Völuspá, Grímnismál, Skírnismál, Hárbarðsljóð, Hymiskviða, Lokasenna, Þrymskviða, Alvíssmál, and Hyndluljóð. Loki only appears or is referenced in a few of these.
It should be noted that Loki, in many of these poems is often referred to as Loptr, coming from the Old Norse word lopt for “air.”
Baldrs Draumar – In this poem, Odin awakens a dead völva in Hel. He questions her about the meanings of Baldr’s dreams. It is in the final stanza of the poem, that the völva tells Odin to go home and be proud of himself, that no one else is coming until Loki escapes his bounds and brings about the onset of Ragnarök.
Fjölsvinnsmál – In this poem, Fjölsviðr is describing to the hero Svipdagr where Sinmara keeps the weapon Lævateinn. Loki as Lopt, is mentioned as using runes to lock Lægjarn’s chest nine times, holding within it the weapon Lævateinn. There are two different translations of this poem depending on how the runes are translated.
The first translation reads:
Fjolsvith spake:
“Lævatein is there, that Lopt with runes
Once made by the doors of death;
In Lægjarn’s chest by Sinmora lies it,
And nine locks fasten it firm.”
The second translation reads:
Fiolsvith.
“Hævatein the twig is named, and Lopt plucked it,
down by the gate of Death.
In an iron chest it lies with Sinmœra,
and is with nine strong locks secured.”
Hyndluljóð – Loki is referenced twice in this poem. Here, Loki is mentioned as the father of the wolf with the jötunn Angrboða, to have given birth to the horse Sleipnir by the stallion Svadilfari and to be the brother of Byleistr. The last child that Loki gives birth to is “the worst of all marvels.” This is due to his eating the heart, the “thought-stone” of a woman and having eaten it half-cooked, Loki became pregnant by this woman and it is from this union, that all ogress on earth are descended from.
Lokasenna – Loki’s Quarrel in English, in this poem, Loki enters a flyting match with the gods in Ægir’s hall. Ægir is a god of the sea and he is currently holding a feast for the other gods and elves. The other gods begin to praise Ægir’s servants: Fimafeng and Eldir. Hearing this, puts Loki into a right foul mood and he kills Fimafeng. In response, the other gods grab up their shields and weapons as they chase Loki out into the woods. With Loki gone, the gods then return to the hall to resume their feasting.
The poem begins properly when Loki returns from the woods and meets Eldir outside whom he entreats to tell him what the other gods are talking about. Eldir tells Loki how the other gods are discussing their weapons and prowess and how no one has anything good to say about Loki.
Loki says he will return to the feast, this time intending to incite the other gods to arguing and to put malice into their drinks. Eldir warns Loki that this isn’t a good idea if all he is going to do is sow anger and resentment towards him, that it won’t end well.
Undaunted, Loki heads back into the hall anyways and sure enough, all the gods fall silent on noticing the trickster enter. I can just imagine Loki smirking as he breaks the silence, saying he’s thirsty and has only come for a drink.
When no one answers him, Loki calls the gods arrogant and demands they either give a seat at the table or tell him to leave. The god, Bragi is who finally addresses Loki, saying that he will not have a seat among the gods for they know whom to invite and who not to.
Turning his attention to Odin, Loki address the god, reminding him of the time when Odin and he had mixed their blood together and that Odin said he would never drink ale unless it were brought to the two of them.
Odin than asks his son, Víðarr to sit up so that the “wolf’s father” (referring to Loki) can have a seat at the table and not speak of the gods. As Víðarr stands to pour Loki a drink. Before drinking, the trickster makes a toast to the gods with the exception of Bragi.
Bragi, trying to make amends and smooth things over, says he would give a horse, sword and ring for his own possessions so that Loki won’t speak ill. It’s really clear now that Loki is going out of his way to single out Bragi, by saying he’ll always be short these things and implies that the skald deity is a coward.
Temper beginning to flair, Bragi says that if they were outside, he would have Loki’s head for a trophy given all his lies. Loki taunts Bragi, calling him a “bench-ornament.” At this point, Iðunn interrupts, trying to calm Bragi.
All that does is get Loki to direct his ire towards Iðunn now, calling her “man-crazy” of all of the goddess’s present. Iðunn does her best not to be baited by Loki’s words. Now Gefjun speaks up, asking why the two have to fight. Doesn’t everyone know that Loki is jesting. Not quitting now, Loki comments that Gefjun is one to talk, having been seduced by a boy and proven to be an easy lay.
Essentially, it carries on for a quiet a bit with Odin, then Freya and most of the other gods refuting Loki, saying he has to be mad to get someone like Gefjun angry as Loki in turns just calls out the flaws and failings of each of the gods. He just keeps it up, getting them all angry with him one after the other.
Towards the end of the poem, as things get more heated, the attention is turned towards Sif, Thor’s wife and Loki makes a bold claim to have slept with her. Beyla, a servant of Freyr’s, interrupt and announces that since the mountains are shaking, it must mean that Thor is on his way home. Beyla continues with how Thor will bring an end to the argument. Loki responds with more insults.
Thor does arrive and tell Loki to keep quiet or else he’ll rip off Loki’s head using his hammer. Loki taunts Thor, asking why he is so angry, he won’t be in any mood to fight the wolf, Fenrir after it eats Odin. All this is about the events of Ragnarök that have been foretold. Thor again tells Loki to keep quiet with a threat to throw the trickster god so far into the sky he would never come back down.
Not daunted in the least, Loki tells Thor how he shouldn’t be bragging about his time in the east as the mighty Thor had once cowered in fear inside the thumb of a glove. Once more Thor tells Loki to keep silent with threats to break every bone in his body. Loki continues the taunts, saying he still intends to live, throwing in references to when Thor had met Útgarða-Loki.
Thor gives a fourth and final demand to Loki for silence or else he would send Loki to Hel. At this, Loki ceases his taunts saying that he will leave the hall, knowing that Thor does indeed strike.
Loki leaves at this point, going to hide behind the Franangrsfors waterfall in the form of a salmon. The gods do eventually capture Loki and bind him in his son, Nari’s entrails. His other son, Narfi turns into a wolf. Skaði places a venomous snake above Loki’s head that drips venom. Loki’s wife, Sigyn sits nearby with a bowl to catch the venom. Every time she goes to empty the vessel, Loki writhes in such agony that it causes earthquakes.
Reginsmál – In this poem, the dwarf Regin, who is the son of the sorcerer Hreidmar and foster father to the hero Sigurd, tells of how the gods Odin, Hœnir and Loki had gone down to the Andvara-falls to fish. Now Regin had two brothers, Andvari who would swim about in the form of a pike and Otr, who would change into an otter to swim and fish.
On this particular occasion, Otr, in otter form had caught a salmon and was eating it on the river banks when the god Loki killed him with a stone, thinking it’s just a normal otter. Later that evening, the gods go to stay with Hreidmar and show off the otter pelt. There’s a catch of course, Hreidmar and Regin both recognize the pelt as being a dead Otr. Regin and Hreidmar seize hold of the gods and demand a weregeld for Otr’s death.
The gods agreed and made a sack out of Otr’s pelt that they filled with gold and covered the outside with red gold. Now just where the gods got this gold from? Loki was sent out to get and he borrowed a net from the goddess Rán. Going back to the Andvara-falls, Loki spreads out the net and captures Andvari in his pike form. Loki forces Andvari to reveal where his gold is at before releasing him.
Andvari tells Loki a little bit about himself, namely having been cursed by a “norn of misfortune” during his early days. Loki replies back, asking what does mankind get if they “wound each other with words.” Andvari’s response is that they get a terrible fate, being forced to wade in the river Vadgelmir.
Eventually, Andvari hands over his gold to Loki, including the ring, Andvarinaut. Back in his dwarf form, Andvari tells Loki that this gold will cause the death of two brother, conflict between eight princes and be of no use to anyone.
Taking the gold back, the gods fill the otter skin with it, with the ring Andvarinaut covering a whisker to Hreidmar’s satisfaction. Loki chimes in how the gold is as cursed as Andvari and that it will be the death of Hreidmar and Regin
Hreidmar doesn’t believe Loki, believing instead the curse is for those not yet born. Plus, with the gold, he’s plenty wealthy now and he tells the gods to leave.
The poem does continue, and most are familiar with how it continues and connects to Sigurd in the Völsunga saga where Regin is the foster father to Sigurd. This version of Regin’s story lists Fafnir and Otr being his brothers, not Andvari. Which makes far more sense to have the gold belonging to someone else that Loki steals the gold from. Not this Loki stealing Andvari, who in the Reginsmál is Regin’s brother. That connection makes no sense to have Loki steal Andvari’s gold and then seem to give it right back, granted to the father.
Skáldskaparmál – An episode in this saga sees Loki rather maliciously cut off all of Sif’s hair. Thor threatens to break Loki’s bones if doesn’t put this to rights. Looking to save his own skin for the problems he often creates, Loki gets the dark elves or dwarves to craft some golden hair to replace Sif’s shorn hair with.
Þrymskviða – Also known as the Lay of Trym, this comedic poem features Thor as a central figure. Thor awakens one morning to discover that his hammer, Mjöllnir is missing. Thor confides in Loki about the missing hammer and that no one knows it’s missing. The two then head to Freyja’s hall to find the missing Mjöllnir. Thor asks Freyja if he can borrow her feathered cloak to which she agrees. At this, Loki takes off with the feathered cloak.
Loki heads to Jötunheimr where the jotunn, Þrymr is making collars for his dogs and trimming the manes of his horses. When Þrymr sees Loki, he asks what is happening among the Æsir and elves and why it is that Loki is alone in Jötunheimr. Loki replies by telling Þrymr how Thor’s hammer, Mjöllnir is missing. Þrymr admits to having taken Mjöllnir and hiding it some eight leagues beneath the earth where Thor will never get it back unless the goddess Freyja is brought to him to be his wife. Loki takes off again, flying back to the Æsir court with Freyja’s cloak.
Thor enquires with Loki if he was successful. Loki tells of what he has found out, that Þrymr took Thor’s hammer and will only give it back if Freyja is brought to Þrymr to be his wife. At this news, Thor and Loki return to Freyja to tell her of the news that she is to be a bride to Þrymr. Angry, Freyja flat out refuses, causing the halls of the Æsir to shake and for her famous necklace, Brísingamen to fall off.
The gods and goddess hold a meeting to debate the matter of Þrymr’s demands. The god Heimdallr puts forth the suggestion that instead of Freyja, that Thor should dress as the bride as a way to get Thor’s hammer back. Thor balks at the idea and Loki seconds Heimdallr’s idea, saying it will be the only that Thor can get his hammer back. For without Mjöllnir, the jötnar will be able to invade Asgard. Relenting, Thor agrees to dress as a bride, taking Freyja’s place. Dressing as a maid to the disguised Thor, Loki goes with Thor down to Jötunheimr.
After arriving in Jötunheimr, Þrymr commands the jötnar of his hall to make the place presentable for Freyja has arrived to be his bride. Þrymr then tells how of all of his treasured animals and objects, that Freyja was the one missing piece to all of his wealth.
Disguised, Loki and Thor meet with Þrymr and all of his jötnar. At the feast, Thor consumes a large amount of food and mead, something that is at odds with Þrymr’s impressions of Freyja. Loki, feigning the part of a shrewd maid, tells Þrymr how that is because Freyja had not eaten anything for eight days in her eagerness to arrive. Þrymr decides that he wants to kiss his bride and when he lifts “Freyja’s” veil, fierce looking eyes stare back at him. Again, Loki says that this is because Freyja hasn’t slept either during the past eight nights.
A “wretched sister” of the jötnar arrives, calling for the bridal gift from Freyja. The jötnar bring out Thor’s hammer, Mjöllnir in order to sanctify the bride as they lay it on “Freyja’s” lap. Þrymr and Freyja will be handfasted by the goddess Var. When Thor sees his hammer, he grabs hold of Mjöllnir and proceeds to beat all of the jötnar with it. Thor even kills the “wretched, older sister” of the jötnar. Thus, Thor gets his hammer back.
Völuspá – In this poem, a dead völva tells the history of the universe and the future Odin in disguise about the events of Ragnarök. Regarding Loki, the völva speaks about how she sees Sigyn sitting unhappily near her bound husband, Loki. The location of this being in a grove of hot springs. Once Ragnarok begins, Loki, referred to as the “brother of Býleistr” is freed from his bounds.
The völva further describes how she sees Loki steering a boat, filled with Muspell’s people (these people being from the World of Fire and seen as destroyer of worlds).
The last bit in the Völuspá is the monstrous wolf Fenrir, referred to as Loki’s kinsman as he will eat Odin and then be killed by Odin’s son, Víðarr.
The Prose Edda & Other Sagas
Not to be confused with the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda consists of four books: Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál, and Háttatal written by Snorri Sturluson.
In the Prose Edda, Loki is described as a: “contriver of fraud.” Loki isn’t mentioned very often in the Eddas. He is generally mentioned as being a member of Odin’s family.
Gylfaginning
This book has various stories that feature Loki. Notably his giving birth to the eight-legged horse Sleipnir and of Loki’s contest with the personification of fire, Logi. This book gives a number of epitaphs for Loki that aren’t very flattering from “originator of deceits” to “the disgrace of all gods and men.”
The Fortification of Asgard – This seems to be a significant story within the Prose Edda, the gods are establishing Midgard and have built “Val-Hall.” An unnamed builder has offered to build a wall for the gods to keep out invaders, all he wants in exchange is the goddess Freyja, the sun and moon.
Sure, why not, the gods agree after some debate. There are some conditions to be met, such as the builder has to complete the work in three seasons without help from any man. The builder argues he needs the help of his stallion Svaðilfari and this is agreed to with, with Loki’s influence.
With the aid of his horse, the builder is able to make quick work on the wall. With the deadline of Summer just three days away, the builder is nearly complete with this task. The gods hold a meeting and decide that Loki is to blame.
But the gods wanted a wall, now they blame Loki for the builder nearly being finished. Oh that’s right, Loki spoke on the builder’s behalf to have his horse help. Right then, the gods decide, if Loki doesn’t find a way to get the builder to forfeit his payment of Freyja, the sun and moon. Loki swears that he will find a way to stop the builder.
That night, the builder and his horse, Svaðilfari head out to the forest to get more stone to finish the wall with. A mare comes running out of the forest and neighs at Svaðilfari, who realizes what kind of horse he sees and goes chasing after. The builder swears and follows after his horse. The two horses are busy all night, running around and getting it on.
The builder is of course, unable to complete the work and thus misses his deadline. Understandably, the builder flies into a rage and the gods realize that he is a hrimthurs (some type and variety of jötunn as the term can be pretty broad). The gods forget their oaths to the builder and call for Thor who comes and kills the builder, smashing his head in with his hammer.
Ya’ know, don’t make a deal or promises if you know you’re just going to renege on them later and refuse to pay up. As to Loki, with his horsing around, he gave birth to the eight-legged horse Slepnir that Odin rides.
Loki & Thor Versus Skrymir – This section of Gylfaginning see a reluctant Third telling the story of how Thor and Loki were out riding in Thor’s chariot. The two came upon the home of a peasant and stopped there for the night. Now, Thor’s chariot is pulled by a pair of goats, whom Thor killed to eat, knowing that they will be resurrected the following day. All good, no big deal for Thor.
Thor invites the peasant’s family to feast on the goats with him that night. He warns the family though not to crack the bones. Loki, plotting what he thinks is harmless mischief, gets the peasant’s son, Þjálfi to crack one of the bones and suck the marrow from it.
Now, when Thor goes to resurrect his goats, he finds that one of his goats has become lame. Afraid of the god’s wrath, the peasant gives Thor his son Þjálfi and his daughter Röskva to be his traveling companions.
Without his goats, the small group of four continues heading east until they arrive at the forested edge of Jötunheimr. The group continued on into the forest until it becomes night. They come upon a large building and take shelter in it. During the night, there are earthquakes that awaken the group who, with the exception of Thor or afraid to fall back asleep. The building turns out to be the giant Skrymir’s glove, who had been sleeping during the night and the source of the earthquakes.
The group moves out from the shelter and sleep beneath an oak tree. During the middle of the night, Thor awakens and attempts to slay Skrymir. Twice, Thor attempts to slay the giant, only to have Skrymir awaken and believe acorns have fallen on him. It is on the second attempt, that Skrymir fully awakens and advices the group not to be so cocky when they arrive at Útgarðr, to turn around and go back.
Skrymir led the group to the jotun city of Utgard where the group lost sight of Skrymir and was greeted by a group of jotun, including the king himself, Utgard-Loki, whom it turns out was Skrymir all along.
Given the general animosity between the gods and jotun, it’s no surprise that Thor, Loki and their other companions were not welcomed, unless of course they could complete a series of seemingly impossible challenges.
Loki was challenged and lost an eating contest when his opponent not only ate all the meat, but the bones and plate itself. Þjálf races against Hugi, losing to him in a series of three footraces.
It now fell to Thor to fulfill three challenges. As Thor boasted he could drink anyone under the table, a large drinking horn was brought to him with the challenge to finish it all in one gulp. After taking three huge swallows, Thor had only managed to drain the horn a few inches.
With the next challenge, Thor boasted his immense strength and Utgard-Loki challenged Thor to pick up a cat off the ground. After three attempts at moving the cat, Thor was only able to succeed at moving one paw.
Enraged by this, Thor accepted the last challenge of a wrestling match with anyone willing to match strength with him. The only one who would, was an old, frail looking woman. Thinking this would be easy, once again Thor was met with defeat at the hands of a feeble opponent who easily bested the mighty god, bringing him to his knees.
After this, Utgard-Loki declared the contests over and allowed the gods to stay the night and rest before returning home in the morning.
Come daylight, Utgard-Loki led the group out of Jotunheim. Once they were well past the borders, Utgard-Loki revealed himself to have been the giant, Skrymir who lead them to the city. Utgard-Loki proceeded to reveal the secrets of all of the challenges that Thor and his companions undergone.
Loki had been competing with fire, that burns and consumes everything it touches. That Thialfi’s opponent was thought, whom no one can outrun. As to Thor, the drinking horn he had drunk from was connected to the ocean and that he had succeeded in lowering the sea levels. The cat that Thor had tried lifting was none other than Jormungand, the Midgard serpent that encircles the world. As for the old woman, she was Age itself whom no one can defeat. That no matter how fiercely and bravely Thor fought her, even he would fall to her.
Before the group leaves, Utgard-Loki says that group should never return and if he knew who he had been dealing with, they would never have been allowed in. Angry at being tricked, Thor raised his hammer Mjollnir only to have the king of giants and his city vanish into thin air.
Heimskringla
This is another of Snorri Sturluson’s books, written in the 13th century C.E. Loki is made mention in this text. On the Snaptun Stone, the Kirkby Stephen Stone and the Gosforth Cross, it has been suggested that Loki is the figure seen on these stone artifacts.
Loka Táttur
Also spelled Lokka Táttur, this is a Faroese tale or ballad from the late Middle Ages and more 18th century. It features Hœnir, Loki and Odin all helping a farmer and boy escape the wrath of a jötunn after he loses a bet. The ballad is notable in that it presents Loki as a benevolent god rather than the usual “evil” deity he’s often seen as due to all of mischief and cunning.
A jotunn comes and snatches up a farmer’s son. The farmer and his wife pray to Odin that their child may be protected. Odin comes and hides the boy in a field of wheat. The jotunn still manages to find the boy. Odin rescues the son and brings him back to his parents, saying he’s done hiding the boy. Now the couple pray to Hœnir who hids their son in the neck-feathers of a swan. Again, the jotunn finds the boy. Now the couple prays to Loki who hides the child in the middle of a flounder’s eggs. Once more, the jotunn finds the child and Loki tells the boy to run towards a boathouse. As the boy runs, Loki turns and faces off against the jotunn who’s gotten his head stuck in the boathouse while trying to snatch the boy. Loki chops off the jotunn’s leg and shoves a stick and stone into the leg stump, preventing the jotunn from regenerating. Loki takes the child home and both the farmer and his wife embrace the two.
Ragnarok – Twilight of the Gods
The final endgame of the Norse Gods, this is not exactly a happy time as a good many of the gods end up dying. Baldur’s death is clearly a catalyst for setting these events in motion. Loki still bound, becomes an enemy of the Norse Gods.
When this event begins, Loki is able to break free of his bonds to fight against the Norse gods on the side of the Jotnar. He sails on a ship made of nails called Naglfar. During this battel, Loki will face off against Heimdallr and the two end up killing each other.
Christian Connection – Given that one man and woman are who survive the events of Ragnarök. The story is then seen not so much as the end of the world yet to come, but an event that has already happened. As Christianity continued to move through Europe, Ragnarök can be interpreted as the end of the Norse Gods and their worship as Christianity becomes the dominant religion.
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Richard Wagner’s famous four opera cycle. Loki does make an appearance in this famous opera series. In Wagner’s version, Loki is called Loge, a play on the Old Norse word of loge for fire. As Loge, he is an ally of the gods, especially Wotan. Loge views all the Norse gods as being greedy as they refuse to return the Rhine Gold back to it rightful owners. At the end of the first opera, Das Rheingold, Loge reveals a secret desire that he turns into fire and destroys Valhalla. In the last opera, Götterdämmerung, Valhalla is indeed destroyed by fire and all the gods with it.
Gosforth Cross
A stone cross dating from the mid-11th century C.E., this artifact features various figures believed to be from Norse mythology. The lower part of the western side of the cross depicted a long-haired female figure who is kneeling, holding an object above another bound and prone figure. Above and to the left of this imagery is a knotted serpent. The female figure has been interpreted by some to be Sigyn holding the bowl above the bound Loki as the serpent drips venom down onto him. The cross is located in Cumbria England.
Kirkby Stephen Stone
This artifact is part of a cross dating from the 10th century C.E. found in Stephen’s Church of Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria England. It features a bound figure with horns and a beard, this image has sometimes been thought to be Loki. The stone cross was found in 1870 and is composed of a yellowish-white sandstone. A similar horned figure was found in Gainford, County Durham and rests in the Durham Cathedral Library.
Nordendorf Fibula
This is a gilded silver brooch discovered in 7th century Nordendorf, Germany. There are two lines of inscriptions on the brooch. The first line reads: “awaleubwini.” This has been interpreted as “Awa” a woman’s name and likely shortened of Awila. “Leubwini” has been interpreted as meaning “beloved” or “dear friend” and could mean it’s from a friend of the same name.
The second line of the inscription reads: logaþore wodan wigiþonar. The last two names of Wodan and Wigiþonar are easily read as alternate names for Odin and Battle Thor as either “Holy Thunder” or “Fight Lightning.” Personally, I’d go with “Holy Thunder.” The first name is a little more problematic with the name Logabore. It would seem this is the name of a third deity, making for a Divine Trinity. Both deities, Lóðurr and Loki have been suggested. However, where Germanic paganism and beliefs are concerned, there’s just not enough evidence and what there is, is tenuous.
One scholar, K. Düwel put forward that Logabore means: “magician” or “sorcerer” and would point to Odin and Thor as two magician deities. So we get, where this is an example of Pagan Germany slowly becoming more Christianized as the brooch is either a protective amulet against the old gods or it’s meant to be more beneficial as a healing charm. It all lays in how the interpretation of “wigi” for Thor is taken.
Snaptun Stone
This is a semi-circular flat stone found on a beach near Snaptun, Denmark in 1950. The stone is composed of soapstone that originally came from either Norway or Sweden and features a carving dating back to 1000 C.E. The image shown in the carving is a face with scarred lips, which is identified with that of Loki. The scarred lips are thought to be in reference to a story found in the Skáldskaparmál where the sons of Ivaldi stitched Loki’s lips closed.
A hearth stone, the Snaptun stone would have had the nozzle of a bellows placed into a hold at the front of the stone and air pushed through to feed a fire while the bellows were protected from catching fire. It’s thought this stone might point out a connection between Loki, smithing and flames.
Lokabrenna
Lokabrenna or “Loki’s Torch is the name of the “Dog Star,” Sirius in pagan Scandinavia. The location of Útgarða-Loki’s worship in Denmark, there is also mention of the Danes potentially worshipping or revering this star according to Saxo.
Place Names & Surnames
As Loki gets more associated and reviled as a villain, there aren’t very many locales or surnames being named after the devious Trickster god.
The surnames in question are close enough in spelling, they may or may not be variations to Loki’s name, they include: Locchi (from 12th century Northumberland, England), Locke and Luki (Sweden).
Jacob Grimm mentions a place in Vestergötland, Sweden reputed to be a giant’s grave called Lokehall. Other place names are: Lockbol, Luckabol, Lockesta, and Locastum. One of the Faroe Islands is called Lokkafelli or Loki’s Fell. It should be of note that the Faroe Islands are where the 18th century saga of Lokka Táttur originates.
Jólasveinar
Other Names: Jólasveinar, Yule Lads, Yuletide-Lads, Yulemen
These mischievous pranksters are the present bringers in Iceland, not Santa Claus. Not one Santa Claus, it’s thirteen! How exciting is that!
Though, the Yule Lads didn’t always start off so friendly. These lads used to work for their mother, Grýla to help her hunt down naughty children as well as wreak all sorts of havoc and mischief during the long, dark winter days. The oldest versions and stories of the Yule Lads come from East Iceland.
Dimmuborgir
This is reportedly the home of the fierce some Grýla and the Yule Lads. It is a labyrinth field of lava in North Iceland.
Reykjavik – This is another place that the Yule Lads can be spotted around in December. This place serves more a tourist destination where there’s a game to find all the Yule Lads and visit the local Troll Garden to sit in Grýla’s cauldron.
Descriptions
The descriptions of the Yule Lads have varied over time. In their pre-Christmas descriptions, they are troll-like beings who have no torsos.
Later, when they became more associated with Christmas, the Yule Lads would dress much like the American and European Santa in all red garments. Another push was made to have the Yule Lads dress in a more traditional medieval Icelandic garments in an effort to push away from the often overly commercialized versions of Santa and Christmas that are seen.
Family
Grýla – The infamous Icelandic Christmas Ogress or Trolless is the mother of the Yule Lads, it would explain so much of their behavior. Grýla is known for eating misbehaving children and goes out in search of them at Christmas time.
Leppalúði – He is Grýla’s current husband and the father of the Yule Lads. Leppalúði is known for being very lazy. He lives in their cave found in the Dimmuborgir lava fields. Aside from the Yule Lads, Grýla and Leppalúði also have twenty other children.
Leppalúði had an affair with a girl by the name of Lúpa while Grýla was very ill and bedridden for an entire year. The girl, Lúpa was to play nurse to Grýla while she was sick. It’s no small wonder then, that when Grýla finds out that Leppalúði and Lúpa had an affair, resulting in a son by the name of Skröggur, that the trolless would become enraged and drive the girl and her son off from the cave.
The last children Grýla had with Leppalúði, when she was 50 years old, were twins. The twins died very young, still needing a crib.
Dark Winter Spirits
This ties into why Grýla is said to have so many children. As it concerns the Yule Lads, in the beginning their number varied wildly. The Yule Lads and their mother, Grýla in their pre-Christmas traditions, represented the dark, dangerous and capricious spirits of Winter. This time of the year, the weather is colder, the nights longer and it’s just more treacherous to go out into the wilderness if one is not prepared or wary.
Jól – The midwinter holiday that predates the modern Christmas, marks a time of people gathering together to feast and celebrate family both living and deceased. This older holiday is generally darker as elves, trolls and other mystical creatures that inhabit the Icelandic countryside are also out and would sometimes come to visit homes and farms, often as masked figures.
The Yule Lads at this time were portrayed as being trolls with no torso who would come down to the various villages and towns to cause havoc and chaos with their pranks or to outright carry off naughty children to their mother to feast on. The Yule Lads were just some of the many dangerous, unpredictable spirits and supernatural entities that wandered the countryside during winter.
Christianity – This religion was introduced to Iceland around 1000 C.E. after the King of Norway made a decree that everyone should convert to Christianity and sent out missionaries to the island nation. As with many ancient customs and traditions, the people weren’t that ready and willing to give up all their beliefs. As the Icelandic traditions and those of the introduced Christianity began to merge, one of the many points of note was a change to the calendar that shifted from the old Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar.
Sometime during the 1500’s and up to the 1700’s, the Julian Calendar was beginning to fall out of step and the celebration of the Winter Solstice was occurring on December 13th. As more European countries made the shift to the Gregorian Calendar, it placed the Winter Solstice back to the 21st. The change of calendars also so some 13 to 14 days getting removed.
For Iceland, many people didn’t like this and still wanted to celebrate December 13th as the Winter Solstice or Jól. To have the two traditions Iceland and Christianity merge more easily, the thirteen days of Christmas with the Yule Lads coming to visit began to form, starting from the eve of December 12th and stretching out all the way to the 25th and beyond to January 6th with Epiphany as the Yule Lads come visiting and then depart, back up to the mountains.
In the 16th century, a law was put into place that: “All disorderly and scandalous entertainment at Christmas and other times and Shrovetide revels are strongly forbidden on pain of serious punishment.” Parents still used the stories of Grýla and the Yule Lads coming to carry away naughty children during Wintertime and at Christmas. Things got so bad that in 1746, parents were forbidden and banned from using these stories to scare their children. It’s shortly after this, that the imagery of the Yule Lads would begin to further change.
Huldufólk – According to folklorist, Skarphéðinsson, the Yule Lads are the Huldufólk or the hidden people who live in Iceland right along humans, just another dimension that can’t be seen.
If you go for the Christian connection to religion and folktales, the Huldufólk were the dirty, strange and unusual children of Eve that she hid from God. When they were discovered, these children were sent to another world or dimension. Other ideas are that the Huldufólk are actually Fallen Angels.
Christmas Associations
Once the Yule Lads began to be associated with the celebration of Christmas, their image softened so that instead of being more malicious troll spirits that cause havoc and chaos, they became more benevolent. They’re still pranksters and the imagery saw them become more humanized to be half-troll figures.
The Thirteen Days Of Christmas – Yes, instead of one day of presents, children in Iceland get eight thirteen crazy nights!
The Yule Lads arrive during the thirteen days of Christmas, coming one at a time. Once December 25th comes, the Yule Lads depart back to their mountain home in the order that they arrived until the last day of January 6th, Epiphany.
Borrowing from Dutch tradition, children place a shoe out on their window sills during the thirteen nights of Christmas leading up to Christmas Day. In the hopes of receiving a gift or treat, children leave out small snacks for the Yule Lads such as laufabrauð (“leaf bread”), this is a thin, crisp flatbread. If a child has been good, they will receive a present or treat in their shoe. If a child has been particularly naughty, they will receive a rotten potato in their shoe.
If you ask me, that’s much better than getting carted away to their mother, Grýla to be eaten.
The Thirteen Yule Lads
The number of Yule Lads has varied over the years with as many as 82 and in more recent times with the 20th century, that number settled on there being thirteen. As the stories go, the Yule Lads live up in the mountains and come down in December during the Thirteen Days of Christmas. As there are thirteen of these lads, the various names they possess also speak of their particular quirk, feature or talent they have.
Jólasveinarnir – The Yule Lads Poem was written by the poet, Jóhannes úr Kötlum in 1932, this poem is still a popular piece recited each year in many homes and schools during December. This poem is where the Thirteen Yule Lads were made cannon for Iceland’s Christmas Tradition. The English translation of the poem is done by Hallberg Hallmundsson.
The sections below in italics are Kötlum’s poem in English.
Stekkjastaur – Sheep-Cote Clod (Or Stiff Legs)
Arrives: 12 December
Leaves: 25 December
The first of them was Sheep-Cote Clod.
He came stiff as wood,
to prey upon the farmer’s sheep
as far as he could.
He wished to suck the ewes,
but it was no accident
he couldn’t; he had stiff knees
– not too convenient.
Giljagaur – Gully Gawk
Arrives: 13 December
Leaves: 26 December
The second was Gully Gawk,
gray his head and mien.
He snuck into the cow barn
from his craggy ravine.
Hiding in the stalls,
he would steal the milk, while
the milkmaid gave the cowherd
a meaningful smile.
Stúfur – Stubby
Arrives: 14 December
Leaves: 27 December
Stubby was the third called,
a stunted little man,
who watched for every chance
to whisk off a pan.
And scurrying away with it,
he scraped off the bits
that stuck to the bottom
and brims – his favorites.
Þvörusleikir – Spoon-Licker
Arrives: 15 December
Leaves: 28 December
The fourth was Spoon Licker;
like spindle he was thin.
He felt himself in clover
when the cook wasn’t in.
Then stepping up, he grappled
the stirring spoon with glee,
holding it with both hands
for it was slippery.
Pottaskefill – Pot-Scraper
Arrives: 16 December
Leaves: 29 December
Pot Scraper, the fifth one,
was a funny sort of chap.
When kids were given scrapings,
he’d come to the door and tap.
And they would rush to see
if there really was a guest.
Then he hurried to the pot
and had a scraping fest.
Askasleikir – Bowl-Licker
Arrives: 17 December
Leaves: 30 December
Bowl Licker, the sixth one,
was shockingly ill bred.
From underneath the bedsteads
he stuck his ugly head.
And when the bowls were left
to be licked by dog or cat,
he snatched them for himself
– he was sure good at that!
As a side note, askur is a type of dish that Icelanders would eat from and keep under the bed as a means of storing it.
Hurðaskellir – Door-Slammer
Arrives: 18 December
Leaves: 31 December
The seventh was Door Slammer,
a sorry, vulgar chap:
When people in the twilight
would take a little nap,
he was happy as a lark
with the havoc he could wreak,
slamming doors and hearing
the hinges on them squeak.
Skyrgámur – Skyr-Gobbler
Arrives: 19 December
Leaves: 1 January
Skyr Gobbler, the eighth,
was an awful stupid bloke.
He lambasted the skyr tub
till the lid on it broke.
Then he stood there gobbling
– his greed was well known –
until, about to burst,
he would bleat, howl and groan.
Skyr is a type of yogurt found in Iceland.
Bjúgnakrækir – Sausage Swiper
Arrives: 20 December
Leaves: 2 January
The ninth was Sausage Swiper,
a shifty pilferer.
He climbed up to the rafters
and raided food from there.
Sitting on a crossbeam
in soot and in smoke,
he fed himself on sausage
fit for gentlefolk.
Gluggagægir – Window-Peeper
Arrives: 21 December
Leaves: 3 January
The tenth was Window Peeper,
a weird little twit,
who stepped up to the window
and stole a peek through it.
And whatever was inside
to which his eye was drawn,
he most likely attempted
to take later on.
Gáttaþefur – Doorway Sniffer
Arrives: 22 December
Leaves: 4 January
Eleventh was Door Sniffer,
a doltish lad and gross.
He never got a cold, yet had
a huge, sensitive nose.
He caught the scent of lace bread
while leagues away still
and ran toward it weightless
as wind over dale and hill.
Ketkrókur – Meat-Hook
Arrives: 23 December
Leaves: 5 January
Meat Hook, the twelfth one,
his talent would display
as soon as he arrived
on Saint Thorlak’s Day.
He snagged himself a morsel
of meat of any sort,
although his hook at times was
a tiny bit short.
I’m a told a favorite meat is lamb. The 23rd is also St. Thorlak’s Day, the patron saint of Iceland.
Kertasníkir – Candle Beggar (Or Candle Stealer)
Arrives: 24 December
Leaves: 6 January
The thirteenth was Candle Beggar
– ‘twas cold, I believe,
if he was not the last
of the lot on Christmas Eve.
He trailed after the little ones
who, like happy sprites,
ran about the farm with
their fine tallow lights.
Candles at this time, were once made of tallow and thus edible. It is little wonder that Candle Beggar is often the most favorite of the Yule Lads and seen as being the most generous as he comes on the last day just before Christmas. Some children will leave a candle out for Kertasnikir next to their shoe.
Lost Yule Lads & Lasses
More recent times sees the Yule Lads numbering as thirteen in all. This wasn’t always so and there were a few others, that were once part of their number.
Flórsleikir – His name translates as “dung channel licker.” Luckily this has something to do with the channel in the cowshed.
Flotsokka – One of two sisters who would place a piece of fat on a half-knitted sock or stuff a piece of fat up her nose. Eww!?!
Flotnös – The second of two sisters who would place a piece of fat on a half-knitted sock or stuff a piece of fat up her nose. Eww!?!
Lampshadow – He would go and put out all of the lights.
Litlipungur – His name translates to mean “small balls”. What he did, I’m not sure I want to know.
Lungnaslettir – Or Lung Flapper, he gets his name from his penchant for walking around with a set of still wet sheep lungs and hitting anyone who gets in his way.
Smoke Gulper – He would sit on the roof and swallow the smoke coming from the chimney.
Bunch of weirdos.
Maui
Also known as: Maaui-Tikitiki (Maori/New Zealand)
Alternate Spellings: Māui
Epithets: Maui-Tikitiki “Maui the Top-Knot,” Maui-Tikitiki-a-Taranga “Maui the Top-Knot of Taranga,” Maui-Potiki “Maui the Last Born”
In Polynesian mythology, Maui is either a trickster demigod or god and in some stories, a mere mortal man. Most of his stories and exploits are best known from the Hawaiian and Maori legends though many other Polynesian cultures such as Mangarevan, Tahitian and Tongan have their own stories regarding this trickster hero. Among the Samoans, Maui is known as Ti’iTi’i. Many of the stories involving Maui make note of him being the youngest son, thus while small, he was extremely strong for his size.
Description
Maui is sometimes described as being ugly, quick to respond as well as quick-witted covered in tattoos. Lucky for humans, for all that Maui is known for having some vicious practical jokes, he works to help people and not the Gods.
Parentage and Family
Parents
In the Hawaiian Kumulipo, Maui is the son of Akalana and Hina-a-ke-ahi (or just Hina, a goddess).
In another Hawaiian legend, Maui’s father is given as Ru.
In the Mangarevan myths, Maui is the son of Ataraga (Father) and Uaega (Mother).
In the Maori myths, Maui is the son of Makeatutara (Father) and Taranga (Mother).
Tangaroa – This Maori god of the sea is sometimes mentioned as being Maui’s father with his mother being a mortal woman.
Siblings
Akalana and Hina had four sons: Maui-Mua, Maui-Waena (or Maui-Hope), Maui-Ki’iki’i and Maui-a-Kalana.
In the Mangarevan myths, Ataraga has eight sons all named Maui: Maui-mua, Maui-muri, Maui-toere-mataroa, Tumei-hauhia, Maui-tikitiki-toga, Maui-matavaru, Maui-taha, Maui-roto. It is Maui matavaru or eight-eyed who is the culture hero.
In the Maori myths, Maui has four brothers: Maui-Taha, Maui-Roto, Maui-Pae and Maui-Waho.
Consort
Hinakealohaila – She is the wife to Maui-a-Kalana in Hawaiian legends.
Children
Nanamaoa – The son of Maui-a-Kalana and Hinakealohaila in Hawaiian legends.
Manaiakalani
This is the name of Maui’s great, big fish-hook. In the Hawaiian legends, it is baited with the wing of an Alae, the sacred or pet bird of Hina. This fish-hook was created from the jawbone of an ancestor of Maui’s, usually given as being his grandmother.
Maui’s Fish-Hook can be seen in the night-sky in the same constellation recognized by Western Culture as Scorpio.
Hawaiian Mythology
Hawaiian Islands
While yes, there is an island called Maui in Hawaii, it is not named for the trickster Maui. Legend holds that the island is named for the son of Hawai’iloa, a great navigator who discovered the Hawaiian Islands. Each of the islands of Kaua’i, O’ahu, and Maui are named after one of Hawai’iloa’s sons.
Kupua
These were a group of heroic trickster demigods in Hawaiian legends. All kupua are shape-shifters who took the forms of either humans or various elements in nature, often an animal. Many kupua are rather malevolent and vindictive. Maui appears to be one of the more beneficial and gentler kupua in comparison.
Pulling Up The Islands
There are many variations to the story of Maui using his fish-hook to pull up all eight of the Hawaiian Islands.
Version 1 – Maui had gone out fishing one day with his brother. In typical sibling rivalry, the brother wouldn’t share any of his bait with Maui. Ever the resourceful one, Maui punched his own nose and used his own blood as bait to fish. He succeeded in bringing in hauls so large, that they would become the Hawaiian Islands. Not just Hawaii, but all the Polynesian Islands were pulled up in this way.
Version 2 – Maui had gone out fishing with his brothers. While out there, Maui caught his hook on the ocean floor. Maui then told his brothers he had caught a large fish and to start paddling as hard and as fast as they can. The brothers never noticed the island rising up behind them out of the ocean. Maui of course, proceeds to do this several more times, pulling up all the Hawaiian Islands.
Version 3 – This is perhaps the more interesting version of the stories. Maui planted his fish-hook at Hamakua with the intent to pull up Pimoe, the god of fish. Maui warned his brothers not to look back as they paddled their boats or this venture would fail. Hina, shape-shifted into a bailing-gourd and Maui, not realizing it was his mother, took hold of the gourd and put it in front of his seat. Now suddenly, there appeared before them, an extremely beautiful woman and all of Maui’s brothers looked back out of curiosity. Having looked back, Hina in her disguise disappeared and the line breaks, causing all of the islands that Maui was trying to unite into one giant island falls apart and he is unable to catch Pimoe.
The Theft Of Fire
Version 1 – In order to steal fire for the people of the islands, Maui transformed himself into the guise of a hawk so he could get closer the Earth-Mother. To this day, the hawk’s feathers are brown in memory of Maui being burned by the flames when he brought the gift of fire.
Version 2 – In this story, Maui and his brother would go out fishing every day. Every morning they would always see a bunch of Kiawe trees smoking and flames coming up out of them. Hovering above all this were some vultures, also known as mud hens or ‘alae.
Maui and his brothers constantly tried to sneak up on the vultures, thinking they were responsible for the fire. However, just before getting close enough, there would be a noise that scared them all off.
Maui came up with the idea of creating a dummy that looked like him and placed in the canoe. Now Maui had his brothers take the dummy with them as they would go one direction and Maui would come from the other as they tried to sneak up on the vultures.
Maui snuck up on the bird and grabbed it by the neck, forcing it to tell him the secrets of fire. The vulture, an ‘alae told Maui to take and rub two maia peels together. When nothing happened, Maui nearly choked the bird to death, telling it to tell the truth. Finally the bird said to rub to Ti leaf stalks together. Nothing happened this time and Maui once more choked the bird who said to rub two dry kiawe sticks together.
This time, Maui had success with creating fire. He took the flaming stick and pressed it against the ‘alae’s forehead, making their head red and bald to remind it and other ‘alae’s thereafter of their selfish act.
Slowing Down The Sun
Version 1 – In this story, Maui’s mother, Hina complained about how the sun moved too quickly through the sky, that she barely had time to get her kapa, bark cloth dry. Hina wasn’t the only one, many people hurried to get their work such as planting, cooking or making clothing done in the few hours of daylight. There just wasn’t time with how fast the Sun moved.
Deciding to help his mother and the other people, Maui hid behind a big rock at the highest peak on the island known as Haleakala, the “House Of The Sun.” When the Sun passed by overhead, Maui quickly threw a rope, made from his sister’s hair with his magic hook tied to the end and lassoed the Sun’s rays with it. Some legends have Maui using a net to trap the Sun. The Sun demanded to be let go and Maui would only do so if the Sun would promise to move slower through the day so people could get their work done. Some versions of the story have Maui beating the Sun with his jawbone until it agreed to move slower. Added to this, Maui took one look at the sky and decided it hung too low. With a shove and heave, Maui pushed the sky up higher.
Version 2 – In this telling of the story, Hina sends Maui to a big wiliwili tree where he finds his old, blind grandmother laying out bananas. Ever mischievous, Maui starts stealing bananas from his grandmother, one by one until she catches him in the act. Maui tells his Grandmother about his mother’s complaints and sending him out to the tree. After hearing the story, Grandmother decides to help him with making a rope. Maui then sits by the tree, waiting until the Sun passes by overhead and he lassos it, forcing it to agree to slow it’s progress across the sky.
Version 3 – Very similar to the story in Version 2, Maui decides to slow down the sun after a man by the name of Moemoe taunts him and says it can’t be done. Just to prove him wrong, Maui sets off to slow down the sun much like he did earlier with finding his grandmother and getting her help. After Maui slows down the sun, he chases after Moemoe and beats him soundly.
Lifting The Sky
While a similar story of Maui lifting the sky is told in his quest to slow down the sun, there is another expanded version of this story.
After a while, as Maui was looking around, he could see that the sky was far too low to the ground and that people were unable to stand up straight. Being Maui, if he didn’t like a thing, he went about changing it. As it just so happened to be, the sky was sinking or lowering and would have made living on the earth impossible for humans.
Maui proceeded to travel to the town of Lahaina, to enlist his father into helping him lift the sky. There, Maui laid himself on the ground and then bracing himself, pushed the sky upwards with all of his considerable strength.
At the signal, Maui’s father, Ru also began pushing with all his might, aiding his son in getting the sky up high enough so people could stand upright. So there you have it, another of Maui’s deeds done.
Variations – In other retellings of this story, Maui lifts up the sky when he comes across a girl complaining how the sky was too low and that she couldn’t do her chores. Like any guy seeking to impress a girl, Maui decided to push up the sky for her.
Yet another variation is that Maui was busy making an earth oven when his poker got stuck up in the sky. To get his poker unstuck and to keep it from getting stuck again, Maui simply pushed the sky up higher. Again, this was all part of impressing a girl.
Defeating The Long Eel
Still one more legend of Maui’s to cover in Hawaiian mythology!
After Maui finished pulling up all of the islands with his Fish-Hook, he decided to start exploring them to find out what all was there. Traveling to each of the islands, Maui discovered that they were all inhabitable. There were houses, but no one living in them, no one in the whole of all the islands.
Taking ideas from the layout and build of the houses, Maui returned home and built a new house for himself in the style of what he had seen on the islands. Finished, Maui then sought out Hinakealohaila (or just Hina, not to be confused with his mother) to marry.
Time passed and Hina went down to a nearby river bank to get some water. While down there, Hina ran into the Long Eel Tuna, who just so happened to decide that striking Hina and covering her in slime was somehow a good idea.
Hina ran back home, but didn’t tell Maui of what transpired. Or at least, not yet.
The next day, Hina went back down to the riverbank and the same thing happened. The Long Eel Tuna hitting and covering her with slime again. This time, when she returned home, Hina told Maui about what happened.
Angry, Maui headed down to the river. Once down there, Maui laid out a number of traps designed to lure the Long Eel Tuna out of hiding. When the Eel Tuna emerged, Mauil used his stone axe to kill them. It seems that the Long Eel Tuna had been causing many people in the village problems. Thanks now to Maui, everyone would be safe.
Mangarevan Mythology
In this mythology cycle, the Maui known as Maui the Eight-Eyed is the hero, born from his mother’s navel and raised by his grandfather, Te Rupe. This Maui has a magic staff called Atua-Tane and a hatchet called Iraiapatapata. Like the Hawaiian and Maori legends, Maui still pulls up the islands from the sea and ties up the sun with locks of hair to slow it down or hold in place.
Maori Mythology
The legend of Maui among the Maori is a long epic.
The Birth Of Maui
Maui was born the son of Taranga and Makeatutara. Considered a miraculous birth, Makeatutara had taken her premature baby and threw it into the ocean wrapped in locks of hair from her topknot. Hence, Maui is known as Maui-Tikitiki-A-Taranga. Fortunately for the infant Maui, ocean spirits found him and wrapping him in seaweed, took him to Tama-Nui-Te-Ra (or Rangi), a divine ancestor who raised the child.
It is Maori tradition, that any baby prematurely born is buried with special incantations and ceremonies least the spirit of the unborn child become a malicious spirit as they had never known any joy or happiness in life. Given what happens later in the stories with Maui, this may be why they bury the baby with rites and ceremonies instead of tossing them into the ocean. It would certainly explain all the mean spirited tricks and deeds that Maui performs.
Reuniting With His Family
Once Maui was a child and no longer a premature infant, he left the sea, going search of his mother and family. When Maui found his mother’s house, he discovered four other older brothers: Maui-Taha, Maui-Roto, Maui-Pae and Maui-Waho.
Understandably, the brothers were all leery of this new comer. Maui won them all over by performing many tricks such as transforming into a number of different birds. The brothers were greatly impressed and accepted Maui.
As for his mother, Maui introduced himself to Taranga when everyone was gathered for some dancing and celebrating. Maui sat down behind his brothers, when Taranga called for her children, she discovered a fifth unknown child among her sons. Maui soon proved he was Taranga’s son and he was accepted into the family.
At first, some of Maui’s brothers were jealous. They were put at easy by the eldest brother telling them how they should let Maui be counted among them, that in days of peace, they should be generous to others by helping to improve the welfare of others and that in times of war, that’s only when disputes should be settled with violence. The speech worked and Maui was finally welcomed home.
Maui Finding His Father
Though Maui stayed with his mother and his brothers, each morning, his mother Taranga would disappear. None of Maui’s older brothers seemed concerned about their mother’s disappearance each morning. This bothered Maui who wondered where Taranga would go each morning before they woke.
When nightfall came again, Taranga returned to her children, they all went to sleep as before on other nights in their house. This time, Maui stayed awake so that when everyone else had fallen asleep, he stole Taranga’s clothing and hid them. Then Maui went and hid himself in the crevice of a window above the doorway so that when morning came, he could see where it was that his mother went.
After what seemed like forever, morning finally came and Taranga awoke. Upon finding she was naked, Taranga began frantically looking for her clothes, finally she gave up and began pulling off pieces of siding from the house to cover herself. Covered, she now ran outside.
Watching from his hiding spot, Maui watched as his mother reach down to some tufts of grass, revealing a hole that she disappeared into and pulling close behind her. Curious, Maui came out of his hiding spot and ran to the spot where the grass had been pulled up. Sure enough, he found the opening to a cave descending deep into the earth, to the Underworld in fact.
Covering the hole again, Maui returned to the house and woke up his brothers. He asked them about where it is that their father and mother went during the day. The older brothers answered that they didn’t know. They taunted Maui saying he shouldn’t worry or bother and that Rangi, the god of the sky was their father.
Little Maui responded how he had been brought up differently from his brothers, having been tossed to the sea. That he had never been nursed by their mother and how he longed to find where it was that she and father went to during the day.
Surprised by the response, Maui’s brothers encouraged to try and find their parents. Maui said that he would go and demonstrated to them his ability to turn into a bird. It was only with the kereru or wood pigeon shape that his brothers were impressed. The ability to shapeshift was something that only a skilled magician with a lot magic could perform and Maui delighted in his being the youngest brother, able to do something the others couldn’t.
Bidding farewell to his brothers, Maui took off in pigeon form to seek after his parents. Long Maui flew off into the forest and down to the cave his mother had disappeared into. Eventually, Maui came to a place where he saw many people gathered in a grove of trees. Among these people, Maui spotted his mother seated by whom he could only assume to be his father.
Still in bird form, Maui descended to a lower branch where he could pick off some berries growing. These berries, Maui dropped down to his father on the head with. Some of the other people at the gathering asked if the bird had dropped the berry and Maui’s father, Makeatutara insisted the berry had only fallen by chance.
Once more, Maui plucked more berries and threw them down hard at both of his parents. As Maui’s parents cried out, the other people gathered there, looked up to the tree and seeing only a pigeon sitting there cooing, began to throw stones at the bird. All the stones missed and it was when Maui’s father threw a stone at the bird that he hit the pigeon, but only because Maui allowed it.
The pigeon fell to the ground and when the others ran up to it, it turned into a man. The others were taken aback for the eyes of the young man who now stood before them were red and fierce looking. Talking amongst themselves, the others discussed if the man standing before them was a god like Rangi and Papa-Tu-A-Nuku. Finally Taranga spoke up and said the man looked like someone knew and repeated the story of Maui’s premature birth everyone to hear.
Taranga then asked the man, Maui who he was and where he came from. When she asked Maui, if he was her child Maui-Tikitiki-O-Taranga, he answered yes and Taranga welcomed him where she seemed to prophesy that he would visit his ancestor, Hine-Nui-Te-Po and conquer death.
Now a man, Maui’s father Makeatutara took him down to the river to be baptized in order to cleanse and purify his son. As luck would have it, Makeatutara made a mistake during the ceremony with incantations, having skipped over parts and forgotten them. This mistake was an ill omen that would eventually lead to the death of Maui. The gods would be sure to punish this forgetfulness with Maui’s eventual death.
In the meantime, however, Maui returned to his brothers to tell them he had found their parents and how to find them too.
Maui Getting Bloodthirsty
After returning to his brothers, Maui ended up slaying and carrying away his first victim, the daughter of Maru-Te-Whare-Aitu. Not long after, Maui proceeded to destroy the crops of Maru-Te-Whare-Aitu, causing them to all wither.
Maui Gaining His Jaw-Bone Weapon
His first war raid done, Maui once more visited his parents. While with them, he noticed how the other people would be carrying away some food as if it were being taken to someone.
When he asked for who, they informed Maui it was for an ancestress, Muri-Ranga-Whenua, an old chief. Maui responded with saying that he would take the food to her.
In typical trickster fashion, Maui didn’t take any of the food to Muri-Ranga-Whenua. Instead he set them to the side, hiding them away. Eventually Muri-Ranga-Whenua wondered why her food wasn’t coming and suspecting that something was up, she wandered down the path, sniffing.
Finally smelling something coming, Muri-Ranga-Whenua’s stomach began to enlarge as she got ready to devour Maui as soon as he came close enough. Maui went up wind of the old chief so she couldn’t find him. Turning westward, Muri-Ranga-Whenua finally smelled someone close to her, realizing it was a human.
Muri-Ranga-Whenua’s stomach shrunk back to normal size and she greeted Maui as one of her descendants. Her next question was why Maui wasn’t bring her food. Maui answered that he was seeking for Muri-Ranga-Whenua’s jaw-bone to use as a weapon. The old chief consented and gave Maui the bone.
Holding Back The Sun
Similar to the story found in the Hawaiian cycle, Maui for his next quest, takes the jaw-bone of an ancestor, Muri-Ranga-Whenua to use as a weapon. He uses this jaw-bone to ensnare the Sun so it will be forced to move slower throughout the day, thus making the days longer. With the aid of his brothers, Maui lassoes the Sun and beats them soundly until the Sun agrees to move slower.
Variation – Sometimes a net is mentioned as what Maui used to catch the Sun before Maui and his brother beat the Sun senseless with his magic jawbone to the point it could limp slowly now across the sky.
Gone Fishing – Part 1
Somewhere along the line, Maui got married and had a number of wives and children to boot. When Maui and his brothers returned from the feat of Holding back and slowing down the sun, he heard the complaints of his family and how they had no fish to eat.
Maui assured his wives and children not to fret, he would soon take care of this trivial matter and they would soon enough have food to eat. He then took his jaw-bone and fashioned it into a fish-hook.
When Maui’s brother headed out to go fishing, Maui jumped in the canoe. His brothers yelled for Maui to get out of the boat, claiming that his constant use of magic would cause problems. Eventually Maui got out of the canoe seeing as his brothers refused to take him.
Determined, Maui just waited until it was night when he went back to the beach and his brothers’ canoe. This time he hid in the bottom, under some boards. When his brothers came at dawn, they headed out to sea, none the wiser that Maui was hidden on board.
Once they were well at sea, Maui came out of his hiding spot. Seeing him, his brothers commented that they had better return to shore. Using his magic, Maui stretched out the distance from the shore to the boat that when his brothers looked for land, it was out of view.
Maui told his brothers that they should let him come with, at the very least he could be able to bail water out of the canoe for them. The brothers consented and they paddled on towards their fishing spot. Maui wasn’t content and told his brothers to paddle out further before dropping anchor, which spot would be far out of view of land.
Far out on the open ocean, the brothers now began to fish and soon, easily they had their canoe filled with fish in no time.
Pulling Up The Islands – Part 2
Continuing from Gone Fishing, this story is similar to the previously mentioned Hawaiian story of Pulling Up The Islands. Now that the brothers had filled the canoe, they wanted to return, but not Maui who now wanted a turn at fishing.
The North Island – Maui’s brothers wanted to know where he got a fishing-hook from, to which he told them never mind. When he asked to borrow of their bait, his brothers refused. With no other recourse, Maui made a fist and struck his own nose, using his own blood for bait.
With that and using incantations, Maui managed to snag the porch of a carved house on the sea bed floor and pulled up not just the house with his superhuman strength, but an entire island. Witht his much land pulled up, the canoe became grounded.
With the newly pulled up land and the haul of fish that had been caught, Maui went to go make an offering of thanks to the gods. He instructed his brothers to wait until her returned before eating or cutting up any of the fish, that everyone would get a fair share.
While Maui went to get a priest to bless, consecrate and purify the land, his brothers went ahead and started to cut up the fish that were also pulled up. These fish began to writhe in agony and in their throes, the mountains, cliffs and valleys of the island were formed. It’s been said if the brothers had waited for Maui to make his offerings, the island would have all been level plains and forest, making it easy for people to traverse it. The Maori call this land Te Ika-a-Maaui, the Fish of Maui or Hahau-Whenua, it is the North Island of New Zealand.
The South Island – By Maori tradition, Maui’s canoe becomes the South Island. The Banks Peninsula is said to be where Maui place his foot to support himself as he pulled in his fish haul. The island is known as Te Waipounamu or Te Waka-A-Maui, the canoe of Maui.
The Secret Of Fire
The secret for the creation of fire had been lost and Maui decided to remedy that situation. Of course, if Maui didn’t have it in his head to pull the stunt of putting out all of the fires for the cooking houses in the village, there would still be fire. But no, Maui puts them all out and then calls out, saying he’s hungry and getting someone to come cook up some food for him and there’s no fire to be had, anywhere.
When Maui’s mother heard there was no fire, she implored the servants to seek out Mahu-Ika to see if she would send more fire. The servants refused, no matter how Maui’s mother and others insisted they go.
Finally, Maui spoke up and said that he would go and get more fire. In order to do so, he needed to know which way to go. His parents informed Maui which path he should go, that he should let Mahu-Ika know who he was and that he shouldn’t perform any of his tricks as too often, his tricks brought harm and injury to others.
Yes, they’re on to you Maui!
Of course, Maui assured his folks he was only interested in bringing fire, he wasn’t going to do anything else, he’d go and come back right away. Honest!
So off he goes, in search of Mahu-Ika, the goddess of fire and his ancestor. When Maui found Mahu-Ika, he was filled with wonder and awe, all he could do was stare before he finally spoke up asking her where the fire was, he had come to get some.
Mahu-Ika got up and asked who Maui was. At first, Maui wouldn’t tell Mahu-Ika was, making her do a quessing game of which country he was from and which direction he had come. Finally, when Mahu-Ika asked Maui if he had come on the wind, he said yes and she recognized him as one of her descendants.
Mahu-Ika proceeded to pull out a fingernail from which fire flowed out. This she gave to Maui who was amazed by the feat. Maui took the fingernail away with him and when he was out of sight, he promptly put the fire out.
Maui returned to Mahu-Ika saying that the fire she had given him had gone out and to give him another. Once more, Mahu-Ika pulled one of her fingernails out, producing fire to give to Maui once more.
Maui managed to keep this antic up of coming back to Mahu-Ika saying the fire had gone out until he had gotten her to pull out all of the nails from her hands and feet save for the nail of her big toe. Nine times and Mahu-Ika finally catches on that Maui might be playing tricks on her.
Angry, Mahu-Ika pulled the last nail out and slamming it on the ground, she told Maui that he now had all the fire as everything around them began to catch fire. Maui made a mad dash to escape with the fire quickly gaining. Maui changed himself into an eagle (or hawk) to be fast enough to escape.
Even as an eagle, his flight wasn’t enough and the fire was about to consume Maui; he called on his ancestors Tawhiri-Ma-Tea and Whatitiri-Matakatak to send rain. The ancestors answered and soon there was a heavy rain. Mahu-Ika was nearly killed in the resulting downpour before she could hide. Maui however, in his eagle form was scorched, resulting in black-tipped wings. Mahu-Ika saved some of her fire by placing it in the wood of trees.
When Maui returned from this latest stunt, his parents tried to warn him about trying to trick his ancestors and that he deserved what he got. They concluded the speech that things would end badly and likely in his death if he didn’t stop his behavior. Maui taunted his parents, saying what did he care, he planned to continue. With that, Maui went off to seek out his next round of mischief.
Variation – A little simpler, Maui gained the secrets of fire by stealing a hen from heaven as fire was believed to be guarded by a celestial chicken.
Turning Irawaru Into A Dog
Shortly after his theft of fire, Maui went out fishing with his brother in law, Irawaru who had married Maui’s younger sister Hinauri, Maui as per his luck, had only caught one fish while Irawaru was catching plenty of fish. Fuming his poor luck, Maui lost his cool when Irawaru’s line got tangled with his. The classic two fishermen tugging on their respective lines, each in the opposite direction.
The two began arguing about how it was their fish on the line and to let go. Finally Irawaru relented and let go of his line enough that Maui was able to pull up on his end. Once the line was pulled up, Maui saw that the fish caught was indeed on Irawaru’s line and that it was his line entangled with the other.
Mad, Maui said they should return to shore and the two began paddling. Once back to shore, Maui had Irawaru lift up the canoe to his back as part of pulling it in. No sooner had Irawaru gotten the canoe up onto this back than Maui jumped on it, forcing the whole weight down on his brother-in-law, nearly killing him.
Nearly dead, Maui continued to trample Irawaru’s body, twisting and forming him through the use of magic into a dog. Maui completed the job by force feeding Irawaru some dung.
Eww…
That done, Maui went back to the village, acting like nothing had happened. It’s then, that Maui’s little sister Hinauri on seeing him, ran up to asked where her husband Irawaru was. Maui responded with that he had left Irawaru back with the canoe. Well how come the two of them didn’t return together? Oh, well that’s because Irawaru wanted Hinauri’s help with bringing back the fish. So you had better hurry and if you don’t see him, just call out “Mo-i, mo-i, mo-i.”
Hinauri hurried down to the beach looking for her husband. Not seeing him, she called Irawaru’s name and when there was no response, then she called as Maui had told her to with the “Mo-i, mo-i, mo-i.”
Irawaru, now in his dog form, recognized his wife and barked back. He followed her all the way back to the village wagging his tail. Seeing what had happened to her husband, Hinauri became very distraught with grief to the point that she threw herself into the sea.
As to Maui, that antic seems rather petty to have done, but no different from say the Greek gods taking it out on mortals. Maui was now at a point that he found it best to leave the village and once more return to the Underworld where his parents lived.
Variation – Sometimes the story of Maui turning Irawaru into a dog is told that they were on their way to another village not far away. As they were headed on the return trip home, Maui had asked Irawaru to carry some food for them. Irawaru said there was no need to, they had just eaten a meal and it was only a short ways home.
This angered Maui and he used his magic to make the journey home take longer than it should have. As they continued to walk on the seemingly endless road, both Maui and Irawaru grew tired and hungry.
As they sat down, Maui pulled the food he had brought for himself after all and proceeded to eat right in front of Irawaru.
If it had been me, I would have left it at that.
Not Maui, after finishing his meal and not offering anything to Irawaru, Maui asked his brother-in-law to clean and dress his hair. Irawaru supposed that was harmless enough and did the job for Maui. When he had finished, Maui offered to clean and dress Irawaru’s hair for him. Thinking nothing of it, Irawaru allowed Maui to do so. Maui put Irawaru into an enchanted sleep and with further magic, changed Irawaru into a dog.
Either way, in Maori legends, Irawaru is the progenitor of all dogs.
The Death Of Maui
Version 1 – In this version of Maui’s death, people got tired of all his antics and decided to kill him. As a result, Maui’s blood is what creates rainbows and is responsible for the color of shrimp.
But that’s not a very exiting end for a hero and trouble maker.
Version 2: The Quest for Immortality! – This one is more exciting and noteworthy.
Following the events of a botched baptismal ceremony, Maui takes it on himself to go win immortality for humankind. Maui’s father, Makeatutara tries to dissuade him of the notion, that he will fail and that someone will kill him.
Of course, since Maui’s last antics involved turning Irawaru into a dog, he’s looking to leave the village anyways. He’s certainly gotten more than enough people upset with him, Maui heads off for the Underworld where his parents are at.
After staying with his folks for some time, Maui’s father, Makeatutara makes mention of how they have heard of Maui’s deeds up in the living world, but being down here in the Underworld, he’s sure to be defeated at some point. Makeatutara is also remembering the botched baptismal ceremony, knowing that Maui will come to a bad end.
Maui scoffs at this notion of someone defeating him, who after all would do that? Makeatutara says it would be Maui’s ancestor, Hine-Nui-Te-Po, the goddess of the Night. Undaunted, Maui boasts of his many previous deeds with pulling up the islands and slowing down the sun, saying that it won’t be possible to beat him.
Makeatutara relents and tells Maui to go find his ancestress who lives far on the horizon. After asking what she looks like, Makeatutara told Maui his ancestor, Hine-Nui-Te-Po looks human but with greenstones for eyes and sea kelp hair, barracuda mouth and that the red flashing of light came from her.
Unfazed, Maui set off towards the west with companions towards the home of Hine-Nui-Te-Po. In some versions of the stories, these companions of Maui are birds such as the tomtit, robin, warbler and fantail. In other versions, these companions are Maui’s brothers.
Eventually, Maui finds Hine-Nui-Te-Po asleep with her legs spread apart. Maui and his companions were quick to note rows of sharp obsidian and greenstones between Hine’s legs.
Maui now informed the others of his master plan, telling his companions not to laugh and to save it for after. Maui planned to enter Hine-Nui-Te-Po’s vagina, in a reverse birth process and to exit out her mouth. This, according to Maui was to gain him immortality.
Maui’s companions tried to dissuade him, saying he would be killed. Maui was again undaunted, insisting if his friends did laugh, waking Hini-Nui-Te-Po, then yes, he would die, but if he successfully passed through her, he would live and that she would be the one to die.
This of course is where the companions just shut up and let Maui do his thing as he readied himself, tying a rope that held his battle club around his waist and thrusting off his clothes. Ready, Maui began to climb in, very much the image of reverse birth as his companions did their best not to laugh.
As it happens with these type of stories, the one task you’re not supposed to do, happens and one of the companions couldn’t hold it in anymore and began laughing. One version of the story says it’s the fantail who begins laughing and wakes Hine-Nui-Te-Po who opens her eyes and quickly closes her legs tight, cutting Maui in half.
Instead of immortality, Maui becomes the first person to die, bringing death to the world. Hine-Nui-Te-Po maintained her post as the Goddess of the Underworld the portal to which all humans must pass through on death.
Variation – When Maui set off to gain immortality for humankind, he did so by changing into a worm in order to enter the vagina of Hine-Nui-Te-Po and leaving through her mouth. This stunt didn’t work out so well as Hine-Nui-Te-Po crushed Maui in her sleep with the obsidian teeth in her vagina.
Maui And Rohe
We’re not quite done with Maui! In a few stories, Maui is married to the goddess Rohe whom he ends up mistreating in some rather cruel and unusual means.
Wow, really?
What happens, is that Maui wished to trade faces with Rohe as she is very beautiful and he on the other hand is rather ugly.
Rohe refused to trade faces and when she was asleep, Maui used an incantation to make the trade and switch for faces. When Rohe woke up and realized what happened, she left the living world and departed for the Underworld, becoming the Goddess of Death.
Good one Maui.
Samoan Mythology
In Samoan mythology, the character of Ti’iti’i is very similar to that of Maui. Many of the stories are similar to those of Maui from other Polynesian cultures. One striking similiarity is the story of Ti’iti’i’s theft of fire from the earthquake god, Mafui’e. In this story, Ti’iti’i breaks off one of Mafui’e’s arms, forcing them to reveal the secret of fire and how to rub sticks together for friction to create it.
For the Samoans, the loss of Mafui’e’s arm means that he is unable to create even bigger earthquakes.
Tahitian Mythology
Among the Tahitians, Maui was a prophet or priest who later becomes deified.
He had once been at a sacred place known as a marae busy with some task or other. When the sun began to set before he was finished, Maui grabbed hold of the sun’s rays and halted the movement of the sun so he could complete his task.
Maui became known as Ao-ao-ma-ra’i-a after he discovered fire and passed on his knowledge to others to create it by the use of friction with wood. Before this, people would eat their food raw.
As a final bit of lore, Maui is the one responsible for earthquakes.
Tongan Mythology
Among the Tongans, the Maui stories tell how he pulled up the Tongan islands from the depths of the ocean, starting first with Lofanga, then the other Ha’apai islands and finishing up with Vava’u. That task finished, Maui lived on the island of Tonga. The village of Houma located on the main island of Tongatapu is noted for being the place where Maui’s fish-hook got caught.
In these stories, Maui has two sons: Maui-Atalanga, the eldest and Maui-Kisikisi, the younger. In other sources, there are listed three Maui brothers: Maui-Motu’a (old Maui), Maui-Atalanga and Maui-Kisikisi (dragonfly Maui). It is Maui-Atlanga who discovered the secret of fire and taught others how to cook with it. Maui-Motu, like Atlas from Greek mythos, holds the earth up on his shoulders. Whenever Maui-Motu starts to nod off, he causes earthquakes and people will stomp the ground in order to wake him up. The god, Hikule’o who rules the underworld of Pulotu is Maui-Motu’s youngest son.
Maui-Kisikis is known for being a trickster. He gained the name of Maui-Fusi-Fonua or Maui Land Puller after Maui-Kisikisi begged for a magic fish-hook from an old fisherman by the name of Tongafusifonua. The old man would only allow the fish-hook to be taken on the condition that Maui be able to find it in his collection of hooks. Tongafusifonua’s wife, Tavatava told Maui the secret of how to find the hook and Maui was able to succeed at picking it out from all the other hooks. With this hook, Maui-Kisikisi was able to pull up the coral islands from the bottom of the sea as these volcanic islands were believed to have fallen from the heavens.
Movie Time – Moana!
So of course, the movie came out in 2016, featuring the famous Maui of Polynesian mythology. Since I was curious, I of course wanted to know how much of the mythology and stories that the movie gets right.
It is of course, a new story and the Maui seen in the movie pulls and combines many of the aspects of him found primarily in Hawaiian and Maori legends. Much of which is confirmed during the song: “You’re Welcome” and a quick montage of all of Maui’s deeds that he’s done that have earned him a new tattoo to commemorate the event.
The character of Te Fiti in her darker aspect as Te Ka was originally referred to as Te Po, based on the Maori goddess Hine-Nui-Te-Po, the goddess of night, death and the underworld. Others have noted a strong similarity between Te Ka and the Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele.
Interestingly, while the movie was being developed and written, it incorporates the history of Polynesian people as voyagers who just abruptly ceased and then a thousand years later, start sailing again. Why? No one knows. However, the story of Moana certainly provides an interesting what if story to it.
Thor
Etymology: Originating in the Old Norse, Þórr or þunraz, meaning: “Thunder.”
Pronunciation: thor
Alternate Spelling: Þórr (Old Norse), ðunor (Old English), Thorr, Thunor, Thonar, Donar (Old High German/ Teutonic), Donner, Thur, Thunar (Old Saxon), Thuner (Old Frisian) or Thunaer
Other Names and Epithets: Thor is known by a number of names and epithets in Norse mythology, poetry and literature.
Tor, Ásabragr (Asabrag, Æsir-Lord), Ása-Þórr (Asa-Thor Æsir-Thor), Atli (The Terrible), Björn (Bjorn, Biorn Bear), Einriði (Eindriði, The One who Rides Alone, The One who Rules Alone), Ennilangr (Ennilang, The One with the Wide Forehead), Harðhugaðr (Hardhugadr, Strong Spirit, Powerful Soul, Fierce Ego, Brave Heart), Harðvéurr (Hardveur The Strong Archer), Hlóriði (Hlórriði, The Loud Rider, The Loud Weather-God), Öku-Þor (Oku-Thor, Ukko-Thor, Cart Thor, Driving Thor), Rymr (Rym, Noise), Sönnungr (Sonnung, The True One), Véþormr (Vethorm, Protector of the Shrine), Véuðr (Véuðr, Véoðr, Veud, Veod), Véurr (Veur, Guard of the Shrine, Hallower), Vingþórr (Vingthor, Battle-Thor, Hallower), The Thunderer and many others
Thor, the Germanic god of Thunder is found in many Germanic mythologies such as the Teutonic and Norse mythos! Much as I love the Marvel version, what follows will be the proper mythological versions of the legend.
Among the Norse, Thor was a very popular deity who even surpassed the worship of his father Odin. As a god of thunder, strength and war, Thor protected both gods and mortals against evil.
Attributes
Animal: Goat
Color: Red
Day of the Week: Thursday
Element: Air, Earth
Instrument: Drums
Metal: Iron
Patron of: Farmers, Sailors, Common Man, Warriors
Planet: Jupiter
Plant: Oak
Rune: Thurisaz
Sphere of Influence: War, Protection of Mankind, Sky, Rain, Strength, Fertility, Hallowing, Healing, Thunder, Lightning, Storms
Symbols: Hammer, Swastika
Norse Depictions
Not the Marvel comic character of Thor who is blonde and muscular.
In Norse mythology, Thor is described as a large man with red hair and beard that gives off sparks when he’s angry. Further, he is described as having a wide forehead and fierce looking eyes. Thor is also known for not being very smart and having an insatiable appetite, he however, is always dressed for battle.
Another important aspect to Thor is that he is known for being able to change his size. Due to how hot and heavy he is, Thor is unable to cross the Bifrost bridge. He has to wade through the Northern Sea and enter Asgard the long route.
While Thor is known to be overly hasty in his judgments, is a reliable friend and battle companion who will have people’s backs.
What’s In A Name? – Syno-Dieities!
For one, the Romans, as they did with many other cultures that they encountered would equate their gods with those, whom they had in many cases, just conquered. In the case of Thor, while the Norse may not have ever been fully conquered, the Romans saw their god, Jupiter, a god of lightning and thunder in Thor. If the Romans weren’t equating Thor with Jupiter, they were equating Thor with Hercules. Other Indo-European gods equated with Thor have been the Celtic god Taranis, the Baltic Perkunas, the Estonian Taara, the Finno-Ugric Tiermes and Tordöm or Torum, the Slavic Perun and even the Hindu god Indra.
There were several Germanic cultures with incredibly similar mythologies throughout Europe at the time. So many of the deities were often extremely similar in function and myths. The Anglo-Saxons knew Thor by the name of Thunor. In Old English, Thor is known as Þunor where it becomes Donar in the Old High German or Teutonic mythos. Donar is thought to originate from the Common Germanic word Þunraz, meaning “thunder.”
During the Viking Age, many personal names using some form of Thor began to appear and be recorded with increasing frequency. It’s thought that the increased usage for the name Thor was in direct response to the growing Christian religion and resistance to it.
Donar – This is the South German or Teutonic name for Thor. The first record of this name was found on a piece of jewelry dating from the 7th century C.E. during the Migration Period of the Germanic people.
Donar Oak – In the 8th century C.E., there is an account how the Christian missionary, Saint Boniface knocked down an oak tree dedicated to “Jove” in Hesse, Germany.
Indra – A Hindu god, many have pointed towards both Thor and Indra having red hair and Scholars have compared the slaying of Vrita, a demon serpent by Indra with Thor’s battle with Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent.
Thunor – this is the Anglo-Saxon storm god and name for Thor.
Germanic Origins & Worship
Thor finds his roots in the Proto-Indo-European religion. He is a very prominent god who is mentioned many times throughout the history of the Germanic peoples from the Bronze Age, to the times of Roman occupation, to their expansions during their Migration Period, to seeing the height of his popularity during the Viking Age and persisting even during the Christianizing of Scandinavia.
Even into modern times, Thor is still found in the rural folklore in many Germanic regions. Many Nordic personal and place names often contained Thor’s name.
A hypothesis put forward by Georges Dumézil for the old Indo-European religion says that Thor represented strength when comparing him to the Hindu god Indra. However, it’s noted that many of Indra’s functions have been taken over by Odin.
Scholars have taken note of Thor’s association with fertility, especially as seen in later folklore where Thor is referred to as Sami Hora galles, the “Good-man Thor.” The equation is made as peasants seeing the side-effects of Thor’s aerial battles in the heaven that bring rain. Which makes sense when seeing Thor as a storm god, fertility would be a side-effect. Further proof is pointed in Thor’s marriage to Sif of whom not much is known about, but may very well be a memory for the divine marriage between the primary Sky God and Earth Goddess.
I’m not sure how much I agree with, but when you’ve got people wanting to connect everything, okay….
What is more practical and pointed out is Thor’s primary and principle function as the god of the second class, common man. Archaeological evidence points towards a three-tiered social hierarchy among the Norse. The first being the nobility and rulers, second being the warriors and the third being the farmers, commoners and everyone else. Thor was primarily the god of warriors and due to his being a storm god, easily stood for the farmers and commoners. As a result, Thor became the most important of the Norse gods, especially during the Viking Age as the lines between the second and third classes began to blur as social changes among the Germanic peoples.
Odin, who was the principle god for the first class appealing to the nobles, rulers, outcasts and anyone who was considered elite. Odin was often seen at odds with Thor as seen in many of the Eddas. One episode has Odin taunting Thor how Odin’s warriors are the nobles who fall in battle and that the thralls who fall in battle belong to Thor. Another episode has Odin blessing a favored hero of his, Starkaðr. For every blessing that Odin would impart, Thor gave a matching curse for Starkaðr.
Thunor’s Mound
This is an example of place names containing the name for Thor, but later forgotten as Christianity replaced the older Pagan religions.
In Kentish royal legends from about the 11th century C.E., there is a story of a reeve of Ecgberht of Kent known as Thunor. He was seen as being so wicked that he was swallowed up by the earth at a place known as þunores hlæwe or “Thunor’s Mound.
Bilskirnir
Thor’s hall of Bilskirnir is found in the region of Thrudheim (or spelt Thruthheim and Þrúðheimr), meaning: “Land of Strength.” Another place known as Þrúðvangr is mentioned as one of Thor’s abodes.
Uppsala
One of Thor’s temples located in Gamla Uppsala, Sweden, here, there is a statue showing Thor wielding a mace with Odin and “Fricco” standing to his right. Uppsala was replaced by a Christian church in 1080 C.E. Priests were appointed to each of the gods who offered up sacrifices. Sacrifices to Thor were only made during times of famine and plague.
Parentage and Family
Grandfather
Borr
Parents
Odin – Not just Thor’s father, Odin is also The All Father in Norse Mythology
Jord – Mother and Earth Goddess
Sometimes, Thor is said to the son of either Fjorgynn, also an Earth Goddess or Hlodyn.
Frigg – Thor is sometimes portrayed as Frigg’s stepson.
Consort
Sif – Wife, a fertility goddess
Jarnsaxa – “Iron Cutlass,” A Jötunn and Thor’s Mistress. I guess that means Thor was in a polyamory relationship.
Siblings
Thor is the oldest of several brothers.
Baldr, Höðr, Víðarr, Váli, Hermóðr, Heimdallr, Bragi, Týr
Children
Thrud – Also spelled as Þrúðr. She is likely a Valkyrie. Thor’s daughter with Sif
Magni – Thor’s son with Járnsaxa
Modi – Thor’s son with an unknown mother.
Ullr – Thor is the stepfather to this god of hunting.
Attendants of Thor
Thialfi – Not only Thor’s servant, but the messenger for the gods.
Þjálfi and Röskva – A pair of mortals, brother and sister who accompanied Thor as they ride around in his chariot.
Aesir Versus Vanir
The Aesir gods and Vanir gods of Norse mythology were two different tribes of gods who at first fought each other then started working together.
Thor belongs to the Aesir tribe of gods.
Thursday – Eight Days A Week!
In Western culture, the fourth day of the week is called Thursday or Thor’s Day, named after and for Thor himself. In Old English, this name is Thunresdaeg or Thunor’s Day. In German, the name of this day was known as Þonares dagaz or Donnerstag, meaning: Donar’s Day. Others believe the name of Thursday derives from Jupiter Tanarus, the Thundering Jupiter. In this case it’s taking the name of a Celtic deity and attaching them to a Roman god.
Interpretatio Germanica – This was a practice used during the time of the Romans when the Germanic people adopted the Roman weekly calendar and simply replaced the names of the Roman gods with their own. It easily explains how the Roman calendar and Dies Iovis, “Day of Jupiter” becomes Thursday, “Thor’s Day.”
God Of Thunder & Lightning
Thor is best known as a god of the sky and thunder among the Norse. Since thunder & lightning often mean rain, Thor is also the god of agriculture and fertility.
The 19th century scholar Jacob Grimm wrote how a number of phrases in the Germanic languages refer to Thor. Phrases such as: Thorsvarme meaning “Thor’s Warm” in Norwegian used to describe lightning; godgubben åfar meaning “The good old fellow is taking a ride” in Sweden along with tordön, meaning: “Thor’s rumble” or “Thor’s thunder” to describe when it thunders. According to Montelius, thunderbolts were known as Thorsviggar.
In Scandinavia, there is a folk belief that lightning will frighten away trolls and jötnar. This is likely a reflection of Thor’s pen chance for fighting giants. The evidence for a lack of trolls and ettins in Scandinavia is given that it is due to Thor’s accuracy and proficiency with his lightning strikes.
Swastika
Once upon a time, this symbol was a protective religious symbol. While many who are already familiar with the history of this symbol are familiar with the sun or solar wheel. The swastika was also associated with Thor as this symbol was thought to represent Mjollnir or lightning.
As a protective sigil, it had been worn by women and archaeological searches have found the swastika depicted on many women’s graves. It’s thought to have been used by warriors too as it represented Thor’s lightning and used alternatively with a hammer symbol when going into battle. The symbol has been found on many memorial stones throughout Scandinavia next to inscriptions for Thor and a sword was found with an image of the swastika on the pommel. This symbol appears in many places on many Germanic artifacts dating from the Migration Period and Viking Ages.
Note: With the passage of time and WWII, this symbol is not acceptable anymore, though a few try do to cling to it. Just not cool. It’s become a modern symbol of hatred, division and terror.
God Of Craftsmanship
As a god of craftsmanship, it also made him the common man’s god from farmers to sailors.
God Of Healing
A Canterbury Charm dating from the 11th century C.E. has a runic inscription calling upon Thor to heal a wound by banishing a þurs or thurs.
In the Elder Futhark, the rune ᚦ or Thurs may have likely referred to dark magic or an evil spirit often called trolls or nisse.
God Of Protection & Strength
For the Germanic peoples, Thor represented the very archetype of the loyal and honorable warrior that warriors would aspire to. He was the defender of Asgard and the Aesir gods, protecting them from the jotuns, their enemies.
Going hand in hand with his role as protector is Thor’s great strength. Without his strength, power or even courage, Thor would not have been able to do his job as a protector of the gods, Asgard and Midgard. Sure Odin and Loki have the brains, it was often Thor with his brawn leading the way to muscle past faceless hordes of jotuns, ogres and trolls to defend everyone while the brains of the operations got their plans working.
A Kvinneby amulet dating from the 11th century C.E. has a runic inscription invoking protection from both Thor and his hammer.
As a weather god, Thor would also protect sailors traveling over the seas.
Hallowing
I find it interesting that Thor specifically is a deity noted for hallowing, that is to make something or someplace sanctified, sacred or holy. I suppose any deity can and do so, just not so explicitly like this.
As many called on Thor for protection and defense, for comfort, it does make a certain sense that he does bless items and places. A number of runic inscriptions found at many archeological sites all testify this. Even weddings were blessed by Thor as seen in the use of a hammer placed on a bride’s lap during marriage ceremonies. Early Icelandic farmers were known to call upon Thor to bless their plot of land before they built or planted crops.
Often Thor’s hammer, Mjollnir was used for blessing and hallowing just as often as he would use it to destroy. So, if he is seen as having the power to banish or destroy, having the power for just the opposite of hallowing is a given.
Thor’s Birthday
Interesting, some sources cite December fifth or even December 25th as the day for Thor’s birth. Imagine that, the same day for Saint Nicholas’ Day (December fifth) and Christmas (December 25th).
Mjollnir – Thor’s Hammer
Meaning “Destroyer” or “Crusher,” Mjollnir is represented as a stylized hammer. Whenever Thor threw Mjollnir, lightning would flash. The hammer would return to Thor’s hand after being thrown, a move symbolic of lightning. The myths describing Mjollnir say it could crush mountains. Mjollnir was crafted for Thor by the dwarven brothers Sindri and Brokkr.
In addition, Mjollnir held another power, that of returning the dead to life. In connection to Thor’s association to fertility and life, there was an old Nordic tradition of placing a hammer in a bride’s lap at her wedding and that of raising a hammer over a newborn.
Mjollnir’s Origins – Loki, the Norse god of trickery was in a rather mischievous mood, deciding it would be a good idea to cut off all of Sif’s hair. With Sif being Thor’s wife, the might god of thunder was not amused one bit. He swore to break every bone in Loki’s body to defend Sif’s honor and Loki pleaded with Thor to let him go to the caves of the dwarves to see if they could help fix the problem of Sif having no hair.
Loki went to the dwarven home where he implored the dwarf, Ivaldi to fashion some new hair for Sif. Ivaldi’s sons crafted a wig composed of the finest strands of gold. In addition, the dwarves made two other gifts, a ship that could easily fold down into a person’s pocket and would always have wind to move it and a magnificent, yet deadly spear.
Seeing these, Loki made a wager with two dwarven brothers, Sindri and Brokkr, betting his own head that the brothers couldn’t craft three gifts of their own for the gods that would be greater than what Ivaldi’s sons had crafted.
As the brothers began working at their forge, Loki shape-shifted into a fly as he attempted to interrupt their work to try and win the bet. While crafting the last gift, a hammer, Loki succeeded at interrupting the brothers enough that the handle of the hammer was too short. Despite this, the hammer was still considered the best of all of the gifts created and it was presented to Thor as he was the only one capable of welding it.
Holy Symbol – This major symbol of Thor’s has appeared in a many archaeological sites in iron, silver and other metal. Hammer shaped amulets were worn as necklaces by worshipers and followers of Thor, even during the Christianizing of Scandinavia as a means of defiance to the incoming religion. Both crosses and hammer shapes have been found side by side at archeological and burial sites.
Megingjard – Belt Of Strength
Meaning “Strength Increaser,” this is another of Thor’s mystical items and regalia. This belt doubled his already considerable strength while wearing it.
Járngreipr – Iron Gloves
These gloves were given to Thor by the female Jotunn Gríðr to defend himself against the giant Geirröd. These gloves were needed when Thor wielded Mjollnir.
Gríðarvölr
An unbreakable staff provided by the female Jotunn Gríðr to defend himself against the giant Geirröd.
Thor’s Chariot
Thor rode around the heavens in a chariot pulled by two goats. These goats’ names are: Tanngnjostr (Teeth-Grinder) & Tanngrisnir (Teeth-Barer or Gap-Tooth.) Thor would kill and eat these goats, after which, they would be resurrected by placing their bones back within their hides. The Old English expression of: þunnorad (“thunder ride”) is likely an allusion to Thor riding around in his chariot.
Thor Versus Giants
The giants or Jotun lived in Jotunheim, one of the nine worlds of Norse mythology. The Jotun of were the main enemies of Thor whom he would strike down by hitting them on the head. While many of the dealings between the gods and Jotun were often civil, the fights and battles were frequent. Thor would lead the charge against the Jotun as he rode his chariot and swinging around his mighty hammer. The lightning and thunder seen during storms were believed to be Thor fighting the Jotun on behalf of the mortal realm of Midgard.
In Norse mythology, the jotun represented the forces of chaos, destruction and entropy that would destroy all of Midgard and the Cosmos if Thor and the other gods didn’t keep them in check.
Half-Giant – Well… more like three-quarters giant really. It seems a little odd that for all that Thor is the protector of the Aesir and Asgard, that Thor is three-quarters giant himself. Odin, his father is a half-giant and his mother, Jord is a giant herself. Despite that lineage, it doesn’t stop Thor or any of the other gods from getting along and standing against the jotuns.
Thor Versus Geirrod – In this story, Loki had been flying around in the form of a falcon when got captured by the jotun, Geirrod. The jotun refused to release Loki unless he could find a way to get Thor to come to his court. Thor did agree, thinking that this would be a peaceful invitation and came without his hammer, Mjollnir.
Along the way, Thor stopped at the home of a friendly female jotun by the name of Grid. She warned Thor how Geirrod really intended to kill Thor. Grid loaned Thor her unbreakable staff, Gríðarvölr.
Finally arriving at Geirrod’s court, Thor was taken to a room where he sat in the only chair present. When Thor sat, the chair began to raise towards the ceiling. Just as Thor was about to be crushed to death, he braced Grid’s staff against the ceiling and pushed his way back to the floor. There were two loud cracks and screams that followed. When Thor looked to see the source, he saw Geirrod’s two daughter laying there in pain as Thor had broken their backs when forcing himself back to the floor as they had been lifting the chair.
Geirrod rushed into the room in a rage, throwing a molten iron rod at Thor. Undaunted, Thor caught the rod easily and Geirrod in a panic, hid behind a pillar. When Thor threw the rod at the pillar, it not only pierced the pillar, but continued through to impale Geirrod, killing him.
The Sun, The Moon & Freyja – One such story has Asgard, the home of the Norse gods getting damaged during a war between the gods. One of the Jotun offered to help rebuild the walls for Asgard, vowing to get it done in a short span of time. The gods accepted this offer, believing it would be an impossible task. The gods promised the Jotun a reward of the sun, the moon and the hand of Freyja in marriage. This Jotun nearly finished the task in the stated time period. However, to prevent having to fulfill the gods end of the bargain, Thor killed the Jotun.
Defeated By Utgard-Loki
This is a story that has two parts to it, beginning easily enough one winter when the jotun were causing huge blocks of ice to fall from the sky down into Midgard into people’s homes and causing vast amounts of snow to cover the fields to prevent planting any crops. As the defender and champion of humanity, Thor journeyed to the realm of Jotuneim with Loki and a couple of other companions.
Part One – Thor Versus Skrymir – In this first part, Thor and Loki met the Jotun known as Skrymir. This giant was so immense, that Thor and his companions mistook him for a hill. There was an oddly shaped mansion that the group found and decided to sleep in for the night. In the morning the group discovered that this mansion was actually one of Skrymir’s gloves. When the group awoke n the morning, they realized what they had taken for a hill was actually the giant, Skyrimir still asleep. Thor tried to crush in the Jotun’s skull with his hammer, Mjollnir. In response, Skrymir merely brushed the blow away as if it were nothing but a fly or leaf.
Despite the efforts of Thor to murder Skyrimir in his sleep, when the giant awoke, he offered to lead the group on their way to Utgard, a city of the jotun.
Part Two – Visiting Utgard – Skrymir led the group to the jotun city of Utgard where the group lost sight of Skrymir and was greeted by a group of jotun, including the king himself, Utgard-Loki. Given the general animosity between the gods and jotun, it’s no surprise that Thor, Loki and their other companions were not welcomed, unless of course they could complete a series of seemingly impossible challenges.
Loki was challenged and lost an eating contest when his opponent not only ate all the meat, but the bones and plate itself. Thialfi, one of the companions with the group, lost a series of three footraces.
It now fell to Thor to fulfill three challenges. As Thor boasted he could drink anyone under the table, a large drinking horn was brought to him with the challenge to finish it all in one gulp. After taking three huge swallows, Thor had only managed to drain the horn a few inches.
With the next challenge, Thor boasted his immense strength and Utgard-Loki challenged Thor to pick up a cat off the ground. After three attempts at moving the cat, Thor was only able to succeed at moving one paw.
Enraged by this, Thor accepted the last challenge of a wrestling match with anyone willing to match strength with him. The only one who would, was an old, frail looking woman. Thinking this would be easy, once again Thor was met with defeat at the hands of a feeble opponent who easily bested the mighty god, bringing him to his knees.
After this, Utgard-Loki declared the contests over and allowed the gods to stay the night and rest before returning home in the morning.
Come daylight, Utgard-Loki led the group out of Jotunheim. Once they were well past the borders, Utgard-Loki revealed himself to have been the giant, Skrymir who lead them to the city. Utgard-Loki proceeded to reveal the secrets of all of the challenges that Thor and his companions undergone.
Loki had been competing with fire, that burns and consumes everything it touches. That Thialfi’s opponent was thought, whom no one can outrun. As to Thor, the drinking horn he had drunk from was connected to the ocean and that he had succeeded in lowering the sea levels. The cat that Thor had tried lifting was none other than Jormungand, the Midgard serpent that encircles the world. As for the old woman, she was Age itself whom no one can defeat. That no matter how fiercely and bravely Thor fought her, even he would fall to her.
Angry at being tricked, Thor raised his hammer Mjollnir only to have the king of giants and his city vanish into thin air.
Thor Versus Hrungnir – One day Odin was out wandering near Jotunheim when he meets the jotun, Hrungnir. Odin challenged the jotun to a horse race back to Asgard. While Odin still won the match, he invited the jotun, Hrungnir to stay for dinner. During the dinner, Hrungnir gets drunk and boasts about how he could destroy Asgard and keep the goddesses as his concubines, including Thor’s own wife, Sif.
Needless to say, Thor didn’t take too well to this boasting and challenged Hrungnir to a fight. The jotun agreed and as Hrungnir had brought no weapons, they went back down to meet up near Jotunheim.
Before getting there, the other jotuns crafted a huge clay figure, some 30 miles high and 10 miles wide whom they brought to life. This clay figure would be Hrungnir’s right-hand man during the upcoming fight.
When Thor arrived, he was unfazed by seeing Hrungnir’s massive clay figure fighting beside him. Using his own trickery, Thor sent his own servant to keep the clay figure busy while Thor battled Hrungnir. When Hrungnir threw a giant whetstone, Thor responded with hurling his hammer, Mjollnir that broke the stone in half before continuing through to smash in Hrungnir’s head.
The Poetic Edda & Other Sagas
Much of what we know about Thor and the other Norse deities comes from the surviving Poetic Edda that was compiled in the 13th century C.E. It is a collection of various poems as follows: Völuspá, Grímnismál, Skírnismál, Hárbarðsljóð, Hymiskviða, Lokasenna, Þrymskviða, Alvíssmál, and Hyndluljóð.
Alvíssmál – In this poem, Thor manages to trick the dwarf, Alviss. When the story starts, Thor meets the dwarf, Alviss who is talking about marriage. Finding the dwarf to be ugly and repulsive, Thor comes to realize that it is own daughter, Thrud who is to be married. Further angered, Thor learns that this marriage was arranged by the other gods while he was away. Alviss however, must still seek Thor’s consent.
In order to get Thor’s permission, Alviss must tell Thor all about the worlds that he has visited. It becomes a rather long question and answer session as Alviss goes into detail about the terrains, different languages of various races and a goodly amount of cosmology.
This long question and answer session is nothing more than a delay tactic by Thor. While Thor comments that he has never met anyone with more wisdom, he has succeeded in delaying Alviss long enough that when the Sun rises, it turns him to stone. Now Thor’s daughter won’t be marrying someone he doesn’t approve. Of course, Thor could have made it easier by simply denying Alviss’ request, but it might have been more problems.
Grímnismál – In this poem, Odin is disguised as Grimnir wherein he is tortured, starved and thirsty. In this state, Grimnir tells a young Agnar about the cosmology of Norse believes, that Thor lives in Þrúðheimr and every day, Thor wades through the rivers Körmt and Örmt and the two Kerlaugar. At the base of the world tree, Yggdrasil, Thor sits as a judge.
Hárbarðsljóð – In this poem, Thor is the central figure. After having traveled “from the east,” Thor comes to an inlet where he tries to get a ride from a ferryman by the name of Hárbarðr (Odin in disguise). The ferryman shouts at Thor from the inlet, being rude and obnoxious. Thor takes this all-in stride at first, keeping his cool. As Hárbarðr becomes more and more aggressive, the two eventually fall into a flyting match.
Flyting? Epic Rap Battles way back in the day. As the match continues, it is revealed that Thor has killed several jötnar (giants) in the east and berserk women in Hlesy (the Danish island of Læsø). Thor loses the match to Hárbarðr and finds himself forced to walk.
It should be noted that the name of Hárbarðr or Harbard means Greybeard.
Hymiskviða – In this poem, Thor is the central character. After the gods have been out hunting and finished eating their prey, they begin to drink. As they drink, the gods decide to “shake the twigs” and interpret what is said. The gods then decide that they will find some cauldron’s at Ægir’s home. Thor gets to Ægir’s home and tells the other god how he needs to prepare a feast for the gods. Annoyed by this, Ægir informs Thor that he and the other gods will need to bring him a suitable cauldron in which to brew some ale in. Searching to no avail, Thor and the other gods are unable to locate such a cauldron. Tyr tells Thor that there may be a proper cauldron to use at Hymir’s place over east in Élivágar.
Stabling his goats, Thor and Tyr head to Hymir’s hall for a large enough cauldron to meet Ægir’s demands. When they arrive, Tyr see his nine-hundred-headed grandmother and his gold-clad mother who welcomes the two with a drinking horn. Hymir comes in and he’s not happy to see Thor. Tyr’s mother helps with finding a large enough cauldron for Ægir’s need for brewing. Thor in the meantime, eats a huge meal consisting of two oxen (while the others only have one) and then falls asleep.
In the morning, Thor awakens and tells Hymir that he wants to go fishing, intending to catch a lot of fish, but he will need bait. Hymir has Thor get bait from his pasture. Thor does so, going out and rips the head off of Hymir’s best ox. I can see why Hymir isn’t happy with seeing Thor.
There’s a break in the poem and it picks up with Thor and Hymir out at sea in a boat, fishing. Hymir manages to catch a few whales. Thor goes and baits his line with the head of the ox and when he throws it out, it is Jörmungandr, the monstrous sea serpent that takes the bait. Undaunted, Thor pulls the serpent up and slams Jörmungandr’s head with his hammer. Jörmungandr lets out a mighty shriek.
There is another break in the poem. However, other sources have commented that what is likely to have happened, is that Hymir cut the line holding Jörmungandr and he slipped back down into the ocean. This incident is also probably the source of the enmity between Thor and Jörmungandr at Ragnarok when the two kill each other.
The poem picks back up with Hymir completely unhappy and quiet as the two row back to shore. Back at shore, Hymir tells Thor to help him carry one of the whales back to his farm. Thor’s response is to pick up the boat, whales and all to carry them back to the farm.
Back at the farm, Thor smashes a crystal goblet that he throws at Hymir’s head at the suggestion of Tyr’s mother. Thor and Tyr are given the cauldron that they came looking for and while Tyr is unable to lift it, Thor is able to at least roll it along.
After leaving Hymir’s place and getting some distance from the farm, Thor and Tyr are attacked by an army of multi-headed creatures all led by Hymir. Thor kills all of the attacking creatures and presumably Hymir. One of Thor’s goats ends up lame, however Thor and Tyr are successful at bringing back a large enough cauldron for Ægir who is able to brew enough ale for everyone. Clearly the feast is enough of a success that the gods return every winter to Ægir’s place for more ale.
Hyndluljóð – In this poem, Freyja offers the jötunn woman, Hyndla a blót or sacrifice to Thor so that she can be protected. The comment is made that Thor doesn’t care much for jötunn women. Which begs the question of why make the offer? Unless because it was Freyja making the offering, knowing that Thor would honor it?
Lokasenna – In this poem, Loki enters a flyting match the gods in Ægir’s hall. Thor isn’t present for this incident. Towards the end of the poem, as things get more heated, the attention is turned towards Sif, Thor’s wife and Loki makes a bold claim to have slept with her. Beyla, a servant of Freyr’s, interrupt and announces that since the mountains are shaking, it must mean that Thor is on his way home. Beyla continues with how Thor will bring an end to the argument. Loki responds with more insults.
Thor does arrive and tell Loki to keep quiet or else he’ll rip off Loki’s head using his hammer. Loki taunts Thor, asking why he is so angry, he won’t be in any mood to fight the wolf, Fenrir after it eats Odin. All this is about the events of Ragnarok that have been foretold. Thor again tells Loki to keep quiet with a threat to throw the trickster god so far into the sky he would never come back down.
Not daunted in the least, Loki tells Thor how he shouldn’t be bragging about his time in the east as the mighty Thor had once cowered in fear inside the thumb of a glove. Once more Thor tells Loki to keep silent with threats to break every bone in his body. Loki continues the taunts, saying he still intends to live, throwing in references to when Thor had met Útgarða-Loki.
Thor gives a fourth and final demand to Loki for silence or else he would send Loki to Hel. At this, Loki ceases his taunts saying that he will leave the hall, knowing that Thor does indeed strike. The segment of the poem containing Thor ends here, but continues on.
Skírnismál – In this poem, Freyr’s messenger, Skirnir threatens the lovely Gerðr with whom Freyr is in love with. Skirnir’s many threats and curses include those of having Thor, Freyr and Odin himself be angry with her if she doesn’t return Freyr’s advances. I would hope that Gerðr held her ground and said no.
Þrymskviða – Also known as the Lay of Trym, this comedic poem features Thor as a central figure. Thor awakens one morning to discover that his hammer, Mjöllnir is missing. Thor confides in Loki about the missing hammer and that no one knows it’s missing. The two then head to Freyja’s hall to find the missing Mjöllnir. Thor asks Freyja if he can borrow her feathered cloak to which she agrees. At this, Loki takes off with the feathered cloak.
Loki heads to Jötunheimr where the jotunn, Þrymr is making collars for his dogs and trimming the manes of his horses. When Þrymr sees Loki, he asks what is happening among the Æsir and elves and why it is that Loki is alone in Jötunheimr. Loki replies by telling Þrymr how Thor’s hammer, Mjöllnir is missing. Þrymr admits to having taken Mjöllnir and hiding it some eight leagues beneath the earth where Thor will never get it back unless the goddess Freyja is brought to him to be his wife. Loki takes off again, flying back to the Æsir court with Freyja’s cloak.
Thor enquires with Loki if he was successful. Loki tells of what he has found out, that Þrymr took Thor’s hammer and will only give it back if Freyja is brought to Þrymr to be his wife. At this news, Thor and Loki return to Freyja to tell her of the news that she is to be a bride to Þrymr. Angry, Freyja flat out refuses, causing the halls of the Æsir to shake and for her famous necklace, Brísingamen to fall off.
The gods and goddess hold a meeting to debate the matter of Þrymr’s demands. The god Heimdallr puts forth the suggestion that instead of Freyja, that Thor should dress as the bride as a way to get Thor’s hammer back. Thor balks at the idea and Loki seconds Heimdallr’s idea, saying it will be the only that Thor can get his hammer back. For without Mjöllnir, the jötnar will be able to invade Asgard. Relenting, Thor agrees to dress as a bride, taking Freyja’s place. Dressing as a maid to the disguised Thor, Loki goes with Thor down to Jötunheimr.
After arriving in Jötunheimr, Þrymr commands the jötnar of his hall to make the place presentable for Freyja has arrived to be his bride. Þrymr then tells how of all of his treasured animals and objects, that Freyja was the one missing piece to all of his wealth.
Disguised, Loki and Thor meet with Þrymr and all of his jötnar. At the feast, Thor consumes a large amount of food and mead, something that is at odds with Þrymr’s impressions of Freyja. Loki, feigning the part of a shrewd maid, tells Þrymr how that is because Freyja had not eaten anything for eight days in her eagerness to arrive. Þrymr decides that he wants to kiss his bride and when he lifts “Freyja’s” veil, fierce looking eyes stare back at him. Again, Loki says that this is because Freyja hasn’t slept either during the past eight nights.
A poor sister of the jötnar arrives, calling for the bridal gift from Freyja if she cares anything at all for the jötnar. The jötnar then bring out Thor’s hammer, Mjöllnir in order to sanctify the bride as they lay it on “Freyja’s” lap. Þrymr and Freyja will be handfasted by the goddess Var. When Thor sees his hammer, he grabs hold of Mjöllnir and proceeds to beat all of the jötnar with it. Thor even kills the poor sister of the jötnar. Thus, Thor gets his hammer back.
Völuspá – In this poem, a dead völva tells the history of the universe and the future to Odin in disguise about the death of Thor. The völva foretells how Thor will battle with the Midgard serpent during the great mythical battle known as Ragnarok. How after slaying the serpent, Thor will only be able to take nine steps before dying from the serpent’s venom.
After the battle, the sky turns black before fire envelops the world, the stars vanishing, flames dancing across the sky, steam rising and the world becoming covered in water before it raises again, once more green and fertile.
The Prose Edda & Other Sagas
Not to be confused with the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda consists of four books: Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál, and Háttatal written by Snorri Sturluson.
In the Prose Edda, Thor is a prince of Troy, the son of King Memnon by Troana, the daughter of Priam. In this account, Thor is also known as Tror who is to have married the prophetess Sibyl, identified with Sif. It continues that Thor was raised in Thrace by the chieftain Lorikus whom Thor later kills and takes on the title: King of Thrace. Like later Marvel versions of Thor, this version of Thor also has blonde hair.
Snorri Sturluson explains how the name of the Aesir gods means: “men from Asia” and that Asgard was an “Asian City” that is, Troy. Given that Troy is located anciently in Tyrkland (Turkey) and is part of Asia Minor, that explanation works. So Asialand or Scythia is where Thor is to have founded a new city by the name of Asgard. Odin in this version is a descendant of Thor by twelve generations, who leads an expedition across Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
If Snorri can play around with Thor’s mythology, so can Marvel comics.
Heimskringla
This is another of Snorri Sturluson’s books, written in the 13th century C.E. Statues attributed to Thor are found mentioned in a number of different sagas. Namely the Ynglinga saga, Hákonar saga góða, Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar, and Óláfs saga Helga sagas. In the Ynglinga saga, Thor is described as having been a pagan priest who was given by Odin, another powerful, magic using chieftain to the East, a place in the mythical place of Þrúðvangr, that is now Sweden. A number of popular names for Thor likely originate from the Ynglinga.
Ragnarok – Twilight of the Gods
The final end game of the Norse Gods, this not exactly a happy time as a good many of the gods end up dying.
Jormungand – On the day of Ragnarok, Thor would kill the Midgard Serpent known as Jormungand and then die in turn from the serpent’s poison. Thor’s sons, Magni and Modi would inherit the hammer. Though just how they would split it between them is unknown.
Norse Versus Christianity
Dating from the 800’s C.E., there’s a story how a bunch of priests of Thor had shown up at a Christian monastery of monks. Apparently, word had gotten around and the priests of Thor weren’t happy with how the monks their God were transgressing on Thor’s territory.
The priests of Thor were considering wiping out all of the monks, but knew if they did that, more monks and followers of Christianity would soon arrive.
Thor’s priests then decided on a pretty clever plan, let the gods fight it out for who would be the supreme deity. Thor’s priests were very confident that Thor would show up, leaving the Christian monks to have their God show up. The monks declined the challenge.
It’s an interesting story of people so certain in the reality of their faith and deities.
Old Saxon Baptismal Vow
This codex dating from the 9th century C.E. has the names of three Old Saxon gods, UUôden (Old Saxon “Wodan”), Saxnôte, and Thunaer, listed as demons to be renounced by the Germanic pagans converting to Christianity.
Holtaþórr
This is a specific breed of fox found in Iceland. The name translates to “Thor of the Holt” and receives the name due to their red coats.
Thorwiggar – Thor’s Wedges
In Swedish folklore, these are smooth, wedge-shaped stones that were thrown by Thor at a troll.
In a similar vein, meteorites are considered memorials to Thor due to how heavy they are.
Thorbagge
On the Swedish island of Gotland, this is the name of a beetle named after the god Thor. It is believed that when this beetle is found upside down, that a person can gain Thor’s favor by flipping the beetle back over.
Unfortunately, in other parts of Sweden, this beetle has become demonized with the Christinization of Europe as seen in the name of Thordedjefvul and Thordyfvel, both of which mean “Thor-Devil.”
Zmeu
Other names: smeu, zmei (plural) and zmeoaică or zmeoaice (feminine)
Etymology – Dragon, Snake or Serpent
The Zmeu is a draconic being found in Romanian folklore and is often compared to other supernatural creatures such as the balaur, a type of dragon and the vârcolac, a werewolf. Due to the similarity of names, the Zmeu resembles the Slavic dragons, Zmej in their ability to fly and breathe fire.
Unlike other dragons, the Zmeu is often described as having anthropomorphic features as it is very human-like having arms and legs and is able to use or create human-like tools. It is also anthropomorphized due to the Zmeu’s desire to marry human maidens.
Dacian Etymology, Origins & Disputes
The biggest problem with trying to prove a connection to the Dacian-Thracian languages is due to a lack of written language from them and only a handful of words are known for certain. And it gets argued that Zmeu is not of Dacian origins. Instead, the word “Zmei” or “Zmeu” is of Russian, Bulgarian and Serbian origins. In all of these languages, “Zmei” means “snake.” The argument further continues that “Zmei” is of Slavic origin and comes from the Slavic word for earth, “Zemia.” The Proto-Slavic root is “zm” or “zum” So Zmei means a snake or an animal that lives close to the ground or earth, “Zemia.”
Paliga – The linguist, Sorin Paliga, believes that the word Zmeu and the very similar Slavic word Zmey may have come from the Dacian language. He even tries extensively to connect the word to the Romanian word for Earth and Subterranean features. Since then, Paliga’s idea have become contested and disputed.
English – Not really a linguist connection other than how the word translates. The name Zmeu is sometimes translated to refer to a type of ogre or giant due to the Zmeu’s tendency to kidnap a young maiden to be his wife in an otherworldly realm.
Romanian – Another source for the etymology of Zmeu is suggesting a relation to the Romanian word zmeura, meaning “raspberry.” It has been suggested that this may indicate a double meaning for the name Zmeu and is indicator of its true nature and color as a red colored dragon. Additionally, the name Zmeu also refers to a children’s kite. The folklore for Zmeu is also very similar to folklore found in Bulgaria.
Folklore And Legend
In many of the Romanian and Bulgarian stories, the Zmeu is a fierce being known for its cunning, intelligence and dangerous, destructive levels of greed and selfishness. Some of the stories told about the Zmeu, they appear in the sky like a dragon, flying and breathing out a gout of fire. Other stories make mention of the Zmeu having a magical gemstone in its head that shines as brightly as the sun. Aside from its tremendous supernatural strength, the Zmeu is also capable of great feats of magic that can allow it to steal the sun and moon from the sky.
The stories also go on to tell how the Zmeu can shapeshift into human form or as various, different animals. The Zmeu’s natural form is that of a dragon, specifically an anthropomorphized dragon man.
Like many dragons in European folklore, the Zmeu is particularly fond of beautiful young maidens, whom it kidnaps and carries way to its otherworldly realm. And also like in much of European folklore, the maiden is often rescued by a brave prince or knight-errant who manages to defeat the Zmeu.
Many Romanian stories depict the Zmeu as the destructive forces of greed and selfishness incarnated. The Zmeu will steal something of immense value that only the Romanian “Fat-Frumos” or “Prince Charming,” a literal translation is “handsome youth” who will be the only one who that can retrieve this valuable object back through his acts of great, selfless bravery. Often times, the Zmeu lives in an otherworldly realm, Celalalt Tarâm where Fat-Frumos must travel to in order to battle with the Zmeu. With descriptions of the Zmeu’s lair being dark, its often thought to imply that the Zmeu lives underground.
Ballad Of The Knight Greuceanu – In this story, the Zmeu steals the sun and moon from the sky and thus envelopes all of the earth and humankind under a cloak of darkness.
Prâslea The Brave And The Golden Apples – In this story, the Zmeu robs a king of his golden apples. This story that has been remarked to bear similarities to the German Fairy Tale of “The Golden Bird,” the Russian story of “Tsarevitch Ivan, The Fire Bird And The Gray Wolf” and the Bulgarian folktale of “The Nine Peahens And The Golden Apples.” In the later stories, the thief is a bird, though in some retellings of the Romanian tale, the Zmeu transforms into a bird in order to steal the apples.
Moldavian Vampire!?!
In Moldavia, the Zmeu is a vampiric or Incubus type figure. It will take the form of a flame and enter the room of a young woman or widow. Once in the room, the flame then becomes a man who seduces the woman.
Tartalo
Other names: Alarabi, Tartaro
There’s a lot of ancient Basque mythology that didn’t survive the arrival of Christianity between the 4th and 12th centuries C.E. Most of what is known and has survived is from the study of place names and the scant historical references of pagan rituals practiced by the Basques.
In Basque mythology, Tartalo is a giant, cyclops being much like the one-eyed giants of Greco-Roman mythology. In Biscay, he is known as Alarabi. Depending on the story of Tartalo being told, he may be described as being a hunter or a shepherd who lives up in the mountains. Sometimes he is described as a monstrous animal or spirit.
Like many giants, Tartalo is known for being incredibly strong and fearsome. He makes his home in the mountain caves where he will catch young people in order to eat them. Aside from humans, Tartalo will also eat sheep.
The Greek Connection
There is speculation that the name Tartalo may be related to the Greek name for the underworld of Tartaros. Which could make sense as caves in many folklore and legends around the world are entry ways to the underworld and Tartalo is known for living in them. There’s also a chance that it is coincidence for the similarity of the Basque and Greek words without any actual linguistic connection.
Tartalo’s Story
One of the stories related to Tartalo seems to be inspired by and come from the Odyssey. Further, Wentworth Webster seems to feel there is an element of Celtic themes in the stories of Tartalo, as seen in a talking ring he will offer his victims. In many of the stories, Tartalo is often beaten by being outwitted and trickery.
In one legend, two brothers were out hunting up in the moutains when a storm rolled in. They decided to take shelter in a cave in order to wait out the rain. Unknown to the brothers, this particular cave belong Tartalo.
Shortly after, Tartalo returned with his flock of sheep, also seeking to get out of the rain and storm. On seeing the two brothers Tartalo called out: “Bat gaurko eta bestea biharko!” Which translates into English as: “One for today and the other for tomorrow!”
Tartalo proceeded to roll a huge stone in front of the cave in order to trap the brothers. The night, Tartalo took the eldest brother and skewered him on a spit to roast over his fire before eating him. His grisly meal done, Tartalo went to sleep.
If you ask me, in both versions of the story, this is where Tartalo made a mistake. He should have caged the younger brother or tied him up. But, even if he had done so, there would still be a portion of the story where the younger brother manages to escape his bonds.
While Tartalo is sleeping, the youngest brother steals Tartalos’ ring and then proceeds to take the roasting spit and jams it into Tartalo’s eye, blinding him. Screaming and in a rage, Tartalo starts flailing about, searching for the boy.
The youngest brother hid himself among Tartalo’s sheep and used a sheep skin to make it more effective. Either way, hiding from Tartalo now wasn’t hard to do with the now blinded giant.
Morning finally arrives and Tartalo decides to remove the huge stone from his cave entrance. He has the idea that as he would call his sheep out for the day, that’s when he would catch the younger brother. Tartalo stood at the entrance of the cave, his legs spread apart, making it so that the only way out from the cave was underneath him.
Variation Including Tartalo’s Ring
The younger brother was still wearing the sheep skin and knelt down to all fours, hoping to still elude the giant. The plan worked, that is until, in the versions of the story where the ring is involved, it started calling out: “Hemen nago, hemen nago!” The English translation of this phrase being: “Here I am, here I am!”
Hearing the ring, Tartalo took off in hot pursuit of the younger brother. The younger brother found he was unable to take off the ring once he had it on to escape the giant. When he got to the edge of a cliff, there in desperation, he cut off his own finger and threw it over the edge of the cliff. Still chasing after the sound of his ring, Tartalo fell off the cliff to his death.
Variation Without Tartalo’s Ring
As mentioned before, the younger brother was still wearing the sheep skin and knelt down to all fours, hoping to still elude the giant. The plan worked until Tartalo realized the younger brother was getting away. The giant chased after him, following the sound of the younger brother’s footsteps.
The younger brother came to a Well where he proceeded to leap in and swim to his safety. Tartalo on the other hand, could not swim and he ended up drowning when he tried to follow the younger brother in.
Brickthology 