This course is a further study of mythical themes and events in several Indo-European cultures. The goal is to deepen a student’s knowledge and understanding of I-E cultures’ mythologies such that s/he can understand elements and themes beyond the basic level, as well as usefully compare and contrast them. Some application of knowledge learned is required in this course.

The primary goal of this course is for students to conduct a detailed exploration of specified Indo-European mythic elements and events and apply this knowledge for the creation of original liturgical elements for ADF ritual.

Course Objectives

1. Students will increase their knowledge of specified mythological themes and events by researching and analyzing these themes and events within several different Indo-European cultures.
2. Students will utilize knowledge attained through research to compose an original piece of liturgy for the creation or (re)creation of the cosmos appropriate for use in ADF ritual and a piece describing the “winning of the waters” appropriate for use in ADF ritual.

Basic Myths

1.    Describe and compare how the cosmos is created through sacrifice in two different IE cultures. (150 words min. each culture)

The Vedic creation myth, as told in the Rg Veda, tells of a formless world in which there is neither existence nor non-existence. From that void came the life force, which may or may not have formed itself, and from this existence came the gods (Rg Veda 10.129). This one great god (who is called The Arranger in a later hymn) brings forth from the waters “the sacrifice” (10. 121.8), who is, in the next hymn, revealed to be the cosmic giant Purusa. The gods then create the world by dismembering Purusa in the ultimate Vedic sacrifice, and from his body came all the beasts in the air and the forests and in villages (10.90.8). As well, the four castes of Vedic society were created from the parts of his body: “His mouth became the Brahmin; his arms were made into the Warrior, his thighs the People, and from his feet the Servants were born.” (10.90.12) They also create the sun and moon, the gods Indra and Agni, and the Wind, as well as the various realms of the earth – his navel becomes the middle realm, his feet are the earth, and his head becomes the sky. In this one moment of ultimate sacrifice, this prime creator (who is referred to by many titles) brings the world into being.

The Norse creation myth is exceptionally similar to the Vedic, in which, in the beginning, there is a formless void – Ginnungagap – between the realms of endless fire in the South and endless ice in the North (Crossley-Holland 3). Within that void fire and ice mixed to become a mist, and from that mist the first giant Ymir is born. The first man and woman are born from under his arms, and the race of frost giants is born from his legs rubbing together. A primal cow is also there, called Audhumla, and she licks a block of ice-salt to reveal Buri, the first man. His son’s sons, named Odin, Villi, and Ve, combine to slay Ymir and to create the world from his body. His flesh became the earth, his bones the mountains, his blood the lakes and seas, and his skull the sky, held up by four dwarves. They then create the nine realms, with mild Midgard being made out of Ymir’s eyebrows. Their own realm of Asgard can be reached via the Bifrost bridge, but all of the realms are connected by Yggdrasil, the great World Tree.

In both of these myths, it is the ultimate sacrifice of the giant (Ymir or Purusa) from which the cosmos is created, and the similarities between these myths, coming as they do from opposite corners of the Indo-European world, has always been striking and remarkable to me.

 

2.    Describe the image of the Otherworld and/or afterlife in three different IE cultures. How may these images impact your understanding of your own afterlife beliefs and those of Neo-Pagans in general? (400 words min.)

The Greek myths take death – and the procedures for dealing with death – very seriously. Funeral preparations (such as coins on the eyes to pay the ferryman, Charon, to cross the river Styx into Hades) were extremely important, and it was the task of the living to ensure that the dead reached the proper realms. Once dead, there were several destinations. The truly wicked went to Tartarus, a realm below Hades, where the Titans are said to be chained up eternally. (This fate doesn’t seem to happen to many people.) Epic heroes go to the Elysian fields, where they will spend the afterlife in great comfort. Most people go to Hades, which, while reported to be dark and shadowy in some places, in others has enough light to grow a meadow of asphodels and pasture horses (Puhvel 138-9). Hades is both the name of the underworld and the name of the god who rules it.

The Rg Veda contains many different explanations of the fate of the dead. Both cremation and burial are mentioned as rituals for disposing of dead bodies (10.16, 10.18). There are also several different fates suggested for the dead, once they enter Yama’s realm (Yama is the lord of the dead). Hymn 10.14 speaks of heaven, and leaving behind all imperfections to join with those in the perfect realm. Hymn 10.16 speaks of a new body and possibly prefigures the later beliefs in reincarnation (where the body goes to the afterlife with Yama, but the soul is dispersed to the wind to join a new body, or, per Hymn 10.154, is reborn through sacred heat). There are many different groups of people addressed in the funereal hymns, including the ancestors of the dead man, who are already in heaven, the gods (particularly Yama), the dead person themself, mother earth, and Death itself.

Germanic myths send people to a variety of destinations, depending on their function in life, their relationship with their families, and (in some cases) who wrote down the myth. The halls of the dead include Folkvangr, Freyja’s hall, where she takes her first half of the warriors slain in battle, Valhalla, Odin’s great mead-hall where the Valkyries (literally “choosers of the slain”) take half of the warriors slain in battle and where they will fight and feast until the end of the world. As well, there are the halls of the dead in Helheim, deep beneath the world tree (or perhaps far away to the North), across a river, where the dead live in a sort of misty, cool world. Hela, Loki’s half-beautiful, half-decaying daughter is the guardian and lady of the halls of the dead, and she looks after the hospitality of those halls. (Crossley Holland, Introduction) Modern beliefs also take cues from the fact that the sagas often describe special relationships between mortals and the gods they serve as a suggestion that perhaps those who are close to a particular god will go to that god’s hall in death. As well, there is the possibility of becoming one of the “mound-dead” – the ancestors who live in the mound and who look out for the lines of their descendants, and who are consulted in rituals like utiseta for advice.

As to what I personally believe about the afterlife, I take most strongly after the idea of the Norse mound-dead. I want to be able to look after my family line, even after I am dead (and even though I am unlikely to have any children) – I want my wisdom to be valued and something that those who were close to me can still seek out. Of course, it’s just as likely that I will end up in a sort of grey, misty hall of the dead, or even simply cease to exist. By and large, questions of the afterlife aren’t something that have ever concerned me greatly – I’m much more interested in how I live this life, and living so that I leave behind a legacy that does not require me to have a certain afterlife, simply the fingerprints that I will leave behind on this world, as small or local as they may be.

3.    Describe the raiding of cattle by warriors (or divine reflexes of this action) in two cultures. How does this theme reflect the culture of the ancient Indo-European peoples, and is this theme relevant to modern Pagans? (300 words  min.)

In the epic tale The Cattle Raid of Cooley, the Táin Bó Cúailnge, from Irish lore, tells of the story of Queen Madb of Connaught deciding that she wants to have the Brown Bull, who is owned by Daire of Ulster. Part of the stories of the hero, Cu Chulain, the hero ends up having to defend all of Ulster against her forces as she presses her might to obtain the bull. The White Bull of Connaught and the Brown Bull of Ulster end up fighting, with the Brown Bull ending up in triumph. Neither side wins the Brown Bull in the end, and in the process many people are slaughtered, including women and children. (Dunn).

One of the Greek myth stories about Hermes is the tale of his stealing Apollo’s cows when he was just a baby.  He lured them out, making them walk backwards so that they did not appear to be leaving, and – after stealing them – he killed two of them. Their intestines were made into strings for the first lyre that he ever made, as he stretched them across a turtle shell. When accused of stealing the cows, he denied it, and then traded Apollo the lyre for the cows, thus turning stolen cows in to rightfully-owned ones (Atsma “Stories of Hermes”).

Cattle were central to many Indo-European cultures, such that they were often seen as a form of “portable wealth”. The first rune in all three of the Germanic rune poems describes cattle, and speaks of wealth and riches – but it is not the same as ancestral wealth. More, cattle are a measure of the health of the community, for cattle provide food, leather, and other goods that help a community survive. Raiding for cattle is essentially making a bid to make your community more likely to survive.  This kind of raiding needs cleverness and quick thinking to be successful, lest it become like the tale of Cooley, and become a long, drawn-out war.

In modern times, the idea of cleverness and quick thinking is still a valuable lesson, as is the idea that we ought to think more of our wealth in terms of the health of the community; certainly we ought, as members of a grove, to do our best to make sure that all of us survive together, that we may all help each other out in turn. However, the greed-grabs of the Táin Bó Cúailnge remind me more of the wealth-grabs that often play out in international politics, where oil and resources are the favored forms of movable wealth. This, I think, is forewarned against, and something we must strive not to get embroiled in, lest (many more) people be caught in the crosshairs.

4.    DESCRIBE INSTANCES OF “FREEING” OR “WINNING” THE WATERS IN TWO DIFFERENT IE CULTURES. HOW CAN THIS THEME BE USED TO REINFORCE OUR CURRENT PRACTICES AND COSMOLOGY? (300 WORDS MIN.)

Vedic mythology provides a very straightforward example of the winning of the waters. In the Rg Veda, Indra battles with Vrtra to free the waters and win them back for all of the people. Vrtra, the dragon in the mountain, was hoarding it for himself and for his kin. Then Indra, the God of Thunder, struck the mountain with his thunderbolt, slew Vrtra and his kin, and released the waters, letting them flow forth freely to the sea (Doniger 1.32). This is a fairly simple story – the blessed waters were being hoarded, Indra wins them and lets them free to flow to the Earth and provide everyone with access to the waters.

In the Skáldskaparmál, Snorri tells us of the creation of Kvasir – a man formed from the spit of the gods, whose name means “to squeeze until the juice flows”. Kvasir was very wise and traveled the world, teaching and sharing his wisdom with humanity. Eventually he was invited to the home of two dwarves, who killed him and drained his blood, mixing it with honey and making it into mead. This mead of wisdom is then stolen from the dwarves by the giant Suttung. Odin finds out about this mead of wisdom and decides to take it back. He uses all of his cunning to get into the mountain, sleep with Suttung’s daughter (who is guarding the mead), and then flies back to Asgard with the mead in his mouth. Odin spits the mead into three vessels, which the gods keep and share with mortals when they are pleased. This mead, known as the Mead of Poetry or Inspiration is gifted to those with mastery of words. (Sturlusun)

In ADF’s cosmology, when we think of freeing or winning the waters, we’re speaking usually of the waters of blessings that return to us the blessings of the Kindreds in our rituals. This is the Kindreds side of the relationship – the return flow – expressed as sacred waters that we all share in each time we do ritual together. This maintains the relationship of reciprocal hospitality, of *ghosti, that we value so highly in our practices. It is important when we enter into this relationship to know what gifts we are receiving (what are the blessings), how they are received (through the waters), and why they are special and sacred. These are more than “just” water, though all waters are sacred – these are the waters of blessing, the waters of inspiration, the waters of life.

5.    Show two examples in one IE culture of a deity engaging in actions that are unethical or unvirtuous, and speculate on why the deities sometimes engage in this type of behavior. (min. 100 words per example)

There are many examples of unethical and unvirtuous behavior among the deities, so this question wasn’t so much a difficulty in coming up with examples but of which examples to choose. In the end, I’ve chosen two from Greek mythology, because I think they both had implications for humanity that were larger than just “the dealings of the gods”.

First, there is the example of Eris and her golden apple, addressed “To the fairest of all”. Angry at not being able to attend a wedding, Eris throws in a beautiful trinket and sets off Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all squabbling over who should get this apple. They go to Paris of Troy for him to make the decision, each promising a different boon should she be chosen; Hera, wealth; Athena, skill and knowledge; Aphrodite, the hand of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris, being fairly vain and shallow himself, chose Aphrodite, Helen of Troy was abducted and the Trojan war started on the whim of a goddess angry about an invitation to a wedding. (Atsma “The Judgment of Paris”)

Zeus’ marital indiscretions are myriad, but the story of Antiope also had implications for humanity. In this story, Zeus falls in love with Antiope, the mortal daughter of Asopos. She is cast out for her pregnancy, and along the way as she flees gives birth to two sons, Amphion and Zethos, who are exposed to the elements. They are found and raised by shepherds, while Antiope is eventually returned to her father to be punished. Set free (presumably by Zeus), she later comes to find them, and through her they return to Thebes, triumphant, where they expand the city walls to make it even more spacious. (Atsma “Zeus Loves: Antiope”)

There are many reasons why humans enjoy the stories of the gods acting unvirtuous. The first could simply be that we enjoy a good dramatic story to explain why things are the way they are. Both of the myths above impacted humanity, and though they show the gods acting in ways that are questionable, give concrete answers to how terrible (the Trojan war) or amazing (the expansion of Thebes) things happened. As well, they show that our gods are limited – they have wants and desires, needs, passions, and foibles just like humans. They are more powerful than we are, but they are still bound by fate (or wyrd), and they are still capable of great acts of emotion and pettiness. This makes them relatable, even in their power. These stories may also act as a sort of warning, as a reason to stay “on the good side” of the gods, despite their foibles, as a way of protecting ourselves from the long-term impacts of their dalliances.

6.    Explain the monomyth (aka “hero cycle”) and show how it applies to a single hero from the IE culture of your choice. (150 words min.)

In narrative and comparative mythology, the monomyth, hero cycle, or hero’s journey, “is the common template of a broad category of tales that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, and in decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home transformed” (“Hero’s Journey”). The study of hero myth narratives dates back to the late nineteenth century, but was made most popular in the works of Joseph Campbell, who was influenced by Carl Jung’s view of myth. Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces describes the overarching pattern of this type of hero story, which can be applied to many heroes throughout the ages.

Campbell describes seventeen stages in the monomyth, divided into three sections: Departure, Initiation, and Return. We can follow this story in the Anglo-Saxon story of Beowulf, as set forth in the epic poem of that name, as a sort of great pattern to the hero story. Beowulf does not always follow all of these steps, nor does he seem particularly interested in following them in order, but I found this exercise fascinating as I looked at an Epic Hero from my own chosen Hearth Culture.

Departure:

• The Call to Adventure – Beowulf hears that the Danes are in trouble with the monster Grendel
• Refusal of the Call – Beowulf refuses to become King after the death of Hrothgar
• Supernatural Aid – Beowulf is granted a giant-made sword Hrunting
• Crossing the First Threshold – When Beowulf first steps onto Danish lands after the guard allows him to pass
• Belly of the Whale – Beowulf sinks to the bottom of the lake

Initiation:

• The Road of Trials – Beowulf faces three great evils – Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, and the Dragon
• The Meeting with the Goddess – He fights Grendel’s Mother
• The Woman as Temptress – (This one doesn’t seem to apply to Beowulf, who is much more interested in fighting things with his mighty sword than he is in women, who barely grant any mentions in this story beyond Mead-bearer.)
• Atonement with the Father – Hrothgar warns Beowulf against having too much pride
• Apotheosis – The Danes think Beowulf is Dead
• The Ultimate Boon – After killing Grendel’s mother, Beowulf cuts off Grendel’s head and returns with it.

Return

• Refusal of the Return – (This also does not seem to apply directly to Beowulf’s story, though he is supposed to return at various points to the Danes, he keeps leaving again to do more heroic things.)
• The Magic Flight – The return home to Gretland with all of his treasures (though not expressly magical)
• Rescue from Without – Wiglaf helps Beowulf kill the dragon
• The Crossing of the Return Threshold – Beowulf crosses over the water – a difficult threshold – to return home
• Master of Two Worlds – Whether home is in Denmark or in Gretland, Beowulf is the master and hero to all, a great and mighty example
• Freedom to Live – (Unfortunately Beowulf doesn’t get the freedom to live, as he is mortally wounded in his final battle against the dragon, and ultimately is cremated and dies a hero’s death.)

(Goldsmith)

 

Applications

7.    Using your answer to question 1 above (cosmos creation), create a piece for use in ritual that describes the process of cosmos creation through sacrifice. (no min. word count)

At the beginning there was nothingness that existed between fire and ice; a primordial nothingness, the gap between things, in which the world had not yet been made. Mist swirled – formless and yet forming and unforming as it moved, as fire licked at the edges of the ice, revealing a giant. Ymir he is called, and from his body they create the worlds. His skull becomes the sky. His bones become the mountains. His blood is the waters that run down to the dark salty seas. His breath becomes the wind. And so through the great act of sacrifice, the world itself comes into being.

Here at the sacred center, in that place that was once formless, but is now fully formed, we find the great tree that spans all worlds, that upholds and supports us, that stretches deep into the earth and high into the sky, and we say: Sacred Tree, Grow within us!

Sacred Tree, Grow within us!

Here at the sacred center, in the place that was once formless but is now fully formed, we find the well of wisdom. These icy waters that melted away to reveal the giant, and which now mingle with his blood to surround us form the mists that encircle our grove, and we say: Sacred Well, Flow within us!

Sacred Well, Flow within us!

Here at the sacred center, in that place that was once formless, but is now fully formed, we find the fire of sacrifice. For sacrifice drives the cosmos, with its licking tongues of fire and its ever growing warmth. This sacred fire that evaporated the ice to form the mists that encircle our grove, to which we say: Sacred Fire, Burn within us!

Sacred Fire, Burn within us!

And so the sacrifice is made, and the cosmos formed, and we – the sacred grove – stand tall as we seek to speak into these many worlds which surround us.

8.    Using your answer to question 4 above (winning the waters), create a piece for use in ritual that describes the winning of the waters. (no min. word count)

Children of the Earth, we have sent forth offerings into the many realms – our voices have risen with the fire, our voices have resounded in the well. Together we spoke through the gates into the otherworld, and now we ask for the blessed waters to be returned to us, that our efforts may bring blessings and wisdom into our lives. Waters are, by nature, sacred, and so we call to the kindreds to release the waters to us, pouring them into this horn of drink, that we may be blessed.

 

You among the Mighty Dead, ancestors to us all,

We ask that you bless these waters so we may share in the serenity of your great wisdom!

The gifts of the Ancestors for the people of the Ancestors! Ancestors, give us the waters!

 

ALL: Ancestors, give us the waters!

 

You of land, sea, and sky; both mortal and spirit alike, you who are the Nature Spirits,

We ask that you bless these waters so we may share in the comfort of your great kinship!

The gifts of the Nature Spirits for the kin of the Nature Spirits! Nature spirits, Give us the waters!

 

All: Nature spirits, Give us the waters!

 

You among the divine, shining gods and goddesses,

We ask that you bless these waters so we may share in the warmth of your great light!

The gifts of the Gods for the children of the Gods! Shining ones, Give us the waters!

 

All: Shining ones, give us the waters!

A Horn of Drink is lifted and a spiral is made over it, saying:

The great waters of wyrd’s well, we waited to witness,

Gathering here in the glory of the gods

Giving gift for gift, great ones all.

Words were willed and runes were read,

Wyrd was revealed, and now we ask:

 

With these sacred waters let the blessings flow…

Pause, then Elevate Cup

Children of Earth, do you accept the blessings in these waters?

All: We do!

(With Vigor) BEHOLD, THE WATERS OF LIFE!

All: Behold the Waters of Life!

 

Works Consulted

Atsma, Aaron J. The Theoi Project : Greek Mythology. 2011. Web. 11 May 2016. <http://www.theoi.com/&gt;.

Crossley-Holland, Kevin. The Norse Myths. New York: Random House, 1980. Print.

Dunn, Joseph, and David Nutt. “The Cattle-Raid of Cooley (Táin Bó Cúalnge).” Internet Sacred Text Archive. 1914. Web. 26 Feb 2018. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/cool/&gt;.

Ellis, Hilda Roderick. The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature. New York: Greenwood, 1968. Print.

Goldsmith, Nytedra. “The 17 Stages of Beowulf’s Monomyth.” Prezi. 2014. Web. 26 February 2018.
< https://prezi.com/ghypmdw-0oyy/the-17-stages-of-beowulfs-monomyth/&gt;.

Gundarsson, Kveldulf. Our Troth, Volume I. North Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing, 2006. Print.

–. “Hero’s Journey.” Wikipedia. The Wikimedia Foundation. Web 26 February 2018.
< https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey&gt;.

Mallory, J. P. In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology, and Myth. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1989. Print.

–. The Poetic Edda. Trans. Carolyne Larrington. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Print.

–. The Poetic Edda. Trans. Lee M Hollander. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1990. Print.

Puhvel, Jaan. Comparative Mythology. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989. Print.

–. Rg Veda. Trans. Wendy Doniger. New York: Penguin Books, 1981. Print.

The Sagas of the Icelanders. Ed. Ornolfur Thorsson. New York: Leifur Eiriksson Publishing Ltd., 1997. Print.

Serith, Ceisiwr.  Deep Ancestors. Tucson, AZ: ADF Publishing, 2007.  Print.

Squire, Charles. Celtic Myth and Legend. London: Dover Publishing, 2003. Print.

Sturlson, Snorri, and Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur. The Prose Edda. Internet Sacred Text Archive. 1916. Web. 26 February 2018. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/pre04.htm&gt;.