Tag Archives: mythology

GEFJUN: NORSE GODDESS

GefjunBalladeer’s Blog’s previous looks at neglected deities from the Norse pantheon of gods have been pretty popular, so here’s another one.

GEFJUN – This fertility deity is one of the most misunderstood goddesses from Norse myths and that’s saying something. Gefjun is sometimes referred to as a virgin, but her four sons might disagree with that notion. (Most likely it’s another misunderstanding about how ancient goddesses were often called “virgins” simply because they weren’t married, not because they were celibate.) Those sons were the product of Gefjun mating with Jotuns (Giants). 

In the same way that the Korean goddess Halmang was a localized “Mother Earth” for just Jeju Island, Gefjun filled a similar role for Zealand, the largest island in Denmark. By one account Gefjun convinced (or tricked) the Swedish King Gylfi into granting her as much land as she could plow and cultivate for herself. Continue reading

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HITTITE MYTH OF THE MOUNTAIN GOD AND THE DEER

Hittite empireBalladeer’s Blog takes a look at the Hittite myth involving a mountain god and a deer.

Zaliyanu, the god of the mountain which bears his name, was kind enough to shelter a deer that was fleeing hunters. The pursuit had begun on a neighboring mountain whose god didn’t dare risk the wrath of the hunting god Kurunta by sheltering the terrified creature. Zaliyanu, the greatest of the mountain deities, had no such compunction. Continue reading

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VIETNAMESE WAR GOD THAN GIONG

Than GiongTHAN GIONG – Vietnamese god of war and 1 of the 4 main deities in their mythology (often called The Four Immortals). The mother of Than Giong once fell into one of the enormous footprints left from long ago by Khong Lo, the primordial giant. She thereby became pregnant (you know mythology!) and gave birth to a baby who was always silent and unmoving for the 1st several years of his life. At length during an invasion by China the reigning member of the Hung Vuong Dynasty sent messengers around the kingdom asking for any help that could be given against the invaders.
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The baby spoke for the first time, telling his parents to bring the messenger in their village, Phu Dong Village , to him. He was brought and the baby identified himself as a god who would repel the invasion. Because the child talked like an adult the messenger and the villagers believed him. The messenger went to tell the reigning Hung Vuong, while Than Giong’s parents and the other villagers obeyed the child’s instructions to bring him all the food they could find. Over the next days the child consumed enormous quantities of rice, pork, beef, fish and vegetables, growing and growing all the while.

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AEGIR AND RAN: NORSE DEITIES

AegirFor my full list of Norse deities click here: https://glitternight.com/2011/04/10/the-eleven-most-neglected-deities-in-teutono-norse-mythology/

AEGIR – The god of the sea who brewed the ale that he would share with the other Teutono-Norse deities when they would get together at his hall on the island of Hlesey. Many poetic references are made to Continue reading

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LIMPANG-TUNG: GOD OF PEGANA

Gods of Pegana

Gods of Pegana

Lord Dunsany’s 1905 book The Gods of Pegana and its 1906 followup, Time and the Gods, are forgotten masterpieces of comparative mythology which introduced the author’s pantheon of fictional deities. Though neglected today Dunsany’s work inspired authors from H.P. Lovecraft to J.R.R. Tolkein to C.S. Lewis. (But oddly, NOT e.e. cummings, A.A. Milne  or J.K. Rowling.)

LIMPANG-TUNG – The god of comedy, drama, music and all the other creative arts. Limpang-Tung thrived on providing humanity with distractions to take their minds off the inevitability of death. The sky was his canvas on which he painted forever-changing patterns of clouds and the events of the world were both a tragedy and a farce depicting the ultimate futility of human endeavor. Continue reading

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AINU GODS – THREE BROTHERS

AinuMy item about Ainu deities has proven so successful here’s a quick take on three of the lesser deities from the Ainu pantheon, the three brothers named Seremak, Urespa and Usapki.

SEREMAK – The patron god of vigor, vitality and general physical fitness. He had a flattened belly (“Six-Pack abs of the Gods!”), nine pairs of wings and wielded a sword and a spear made of mugwort. Continue reading

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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART TWENTY-SEVEN

Pele and Hi'iakaBalladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART TWENTY-SEVEN

And so, as Hi’iaka’s revenge on her sister Pele, the volcano and fire goddess, she made sure that her first coupling with Prince Lohiau, the man both goddesses loved, took place right within Pele’s sight at the base of Mount Kilauea. All of Pele’s other sisters had gathered around her to see the beautiful man named Lohiau. The fern goddess Pa’u’o’pala’e and the mortal woman Wahine, whom Hi’iaka had sent on ahead, entered Pele’s tempestuous presence. 

Pele raged at the two women, demanding to know why the quest to reach and return from Lohiau’s home of Kauai had taken so long. Pa’u’o’pala’e, as a sister goddess, replied to Pele that no matter what had caused the delay Lohiau had arrived and was at the foot of Mount Kilauea with Hi’iaka.   Continue reading

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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART TWENTY-SIX

MolokaiBalladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART TWENTY-SIX

The ship carrying Hi’iaka, Prince Lohiau and Wahine arrived at Iloli on the island of Molokai. The generally barren nature of the area prompted the trio to remain with the ship’s crew when they soon put off for Maui. Continue reading

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MOSHIRI – AINU GOD

For Balladeer’s Blog’s article on other Ainu gods and goddesses click HERE 

Ainu mapMOSHIRI – Also called Moshiri-Kara. This Ainu deity falls under the global mythological category called Divine Geographers like Inugpasug from the Inuit pantheon, Khong Lo from the Vietnamese pantheon, Halmang from the Korean pantheon and Rapeto from the Merina pantheon in Madagascar.

Moshiri was dispatched to the Earth by Kando-Koro, the sky god and supreme ruler of Kamuikando, the heavenly home of the gods. Kando-Koro sent Moshiri down to form the amorphous mass of the Earth into separate continents, then form mountains, rivers, lakes and islands. Moshiri’s crowning and most important work of geographical structuring was the lands to be inhabited by the Ainu people. (Again we see that this type of ethnic chauvinism is a universal human foible) Continue reading

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ANATBA AND KOLUBEH, GODDESSES OF CHILDBIRTH

Here are two goddesses of the Tupari people in what is now Brazil. FOR THE FULL LIST OF TUPARI GODS CLICK HERE

Tupari live near the Rio BrancoANATBA and KOLUBEH – The twin goddesses of childbirth, who began gracing humanity with children after they left the underground world. In Tupari myths the only way women can become pregnant is for these two deities to visit them at night and place a baby in the woman’s womb. Before the baby’s presence in the body of the mother it forms from the otherworldly “flesh” of Anatba and Kolubeh, sometimes linking them like the joints that link Siamese twins.

It is speculated that  Continue reading

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