Frigg is related to another earlier Germanic goddess, named Frea, and her name is the source of the word "Friday."

Heimdall Known as "world brightener," Heimdall is god of dawn and another of Odin's sons. He is famed for his acute hearing and vision-he can hear grass grow and see for hundreds of miles, day or night-and serves as the lookout on Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge that leads to Asgard, ready to blow a horn signaling that the battle Ragnarok is to begin. Heimdall is also credited with creating social order among humans during his visits to Midgard. In one tale, Heimdall sleeps in a poor man's hovel and is given meager food. Nine months later, a woman gives birth to Thrall, the first of the race of serfs, or slaves. Next, he sleeps in a farmhouse, where the hardworking people treat him well and he fathers Karl (source of the word "churl"), first of the race of free peasants. Finally, he sleeps in a fine hall, where he is well treated and fathers Jarl (source of the word "earl"), first of the race of noblemen.

When the Battle of Ragnarok finally comes, Loki steals his sword, but Heimdall manages to kill the trickster before dying of his wounds.

Hel The daughter of Loki and a giantess, Hel is the sinister goddess of death and the underworld, who is said to be half-black and half-white. She is cast into the cold regions by Odin, who decrees that she will rule over those who die of sickness or old age. Hel is also the sister of the monstrous wolf Fenrir and the serpent Jormungand, the other creatures who lead the final battle against the gods.

Hel rules the land of the dead, which bears her name. According to descriptions of it, the road to the Norse Hel is a freezing river filled with blocks of ice and weapons, its entrance guarded by a mighty dog similar to the Greek Cerberus.

Idun Wife of Bragi, Idun is goddess of immortality and keeps the golden apples of youth that preserve the gods' eternal youth. When Loki is coerced into luring Idun away from Asgard so a giant can steal the apples and weaken the gods, Odin and the other gods begin to wither with age. Using a magical falcon skin and citing the secret words-the runes-Loki becomes a bird and flies to the giant's palace and returns with Idun and the apples, rescuing the gods after having put them in peril in the first place.

Loki The supreme trickster god of uncertain parentage, Loki might be the offspring of the giants-the sworn enemies of the gods. But he is a frequent companion of the gods Odin and Thor. At times destructive and mischievous, Loki is also an appealing god who helps the other deities out of difficulties-usually the very ones he has created.

In the Eddas of Snorri Sturluson, Loki is described as "pleasant and handsome in appearance, wicked in character and very changeable in his ways. He had much more than others that kind of intelligence that is called cunning and stratagems for every eventuality. He was always placing the Aesir into the most difficult situations; and often extracts them by his wiles."

In a typical story, Loki taunts Odin, who wants to sleep with Freyja after she has bedded the four hideous dwarves in exchange for the marvelous "necklace of the Brisings." Turning into a fly, Loki finds Freyja asleep, so he next turns into a flea and bites her breast When the goddess rolls over, Loki undoes the clasp on the necklace and takes it to Odin, who agrees to return it to Freyja only if she will stir up a war among men.

As time goes by, Loki becomes so bitter at the gods' dislike and mistreatment of him that he triggers Ragnarok. This great battle is set in motion after Loki brings about Balder's death by learning how to harm him with mistletoe. Loki's punishment for this crime is to be secured to three rocks with the intestines of his own son, which harden like metal to bind him. A snake is then placed above Loki's head and drips poison on his face until the day Loki breaks free and leads the giants in the apocalyptic Battle of Ragnarok. During the fight, Loki's offspring, the monstrous wolf Fenrir, swallows the sun and bites the moon while another of Loki's children, the venomous serpent Jormungand, which swims in the great ocean surrounding the world, stirs up the ocean depths and fights with Thor.

Odin Also known as Woden or Wotan, Odin is derived from an earlier Germanic god, and is chief among the Norse pantheon. The father of Thor, Balder, and other gods, Odin lives and rules in Asgard, the home of the gods.

In order to learn the secret knowledge of the runes, Odin pierces himself with his own spear and then hangs from the World Tree, Yggdrasil. After nine days and nights of pain and self-sacrifice, Odin learns all the hidden knowledge and casts off death. An old myth recorded after Christian times, this story would clearly connect Odin with the figure of Jesus, who also is pierced by a spear and dies hanging on a wooden cross often referred to as a tree before being resurrected.

Associated with battle, magic, poetic inspiration, and known as the protector of kings and heroes, Odin is a one-eyed god who had traded his other eye for a drink from the spring that provides clairvoyance. When the time comes for a warrior to die, Odin dispatches the Valkyries to the battlefield to select who will be brought to Valhalla, the Hall of the Slain in Asgard. His most devoted warriors are known as "Berserkers," which probably means "bear shirt," to describe those who wore bear or wolf pelts into battle. The Berserkers were renowned and feared for their ecstatic state of battle frenzy, possibly brought on by hallucinogenic mushrooms. The battle ecstasy also connects Odin to the state of inspiration that was believed to grip poets in their artistic frenzy. At the climactic Battle of Ragnarok, Odin is killed and swallowed by the monstrous wolf Fenrir. His Germanic name, Woden, is the source of the word "Wednesday."

Thor Second in importance in the Norse pantheon after Odin, Thor is ruler of the sky, the god of lightning and thunder. He causes thunder with his great ax-hammer, Mjolnir, "the destroyer," a weapon of such devastating power that it can destroy giants and mountains with a single blow. When Thor throws the hammer, it magically returns to his hand like a boomerang. He is probably derived from an older Germanic god named Donar, and has also been associated with the Celtic thunder god Taranis. (See above.)

Immense in stature, with a great red beard, Thor has flaming eyes and a huge appetite. He is the most popular Viking god, because his life reflects the values of Viking warriors. A generous and gentle giant, he flies into a great rage when provoked.

In one popular tale, a giant steals Thor's hammer and will only return it in exchange for Freyja, the goddess, as a bride. Thor and Loki go to the giant disguised as Freyja and a handmaiden with the massive Thor hidden beneath a bridal veil. At the wedding feast, Thor almost reveals his identity when he eats and drinks in his usual insatiable way-he was capable of drinking an ocean-but Loki cleverly explains that "she" hasn't eaten in eight nights in anticipation of the wedding. The "bride to be" asks to see the fabled Hammer of Thor, which he then uses to crush the giant's skull and then shows no mercy on the wedding guests.

During Ragnarok, Thor dies by drowning in the venom that pours out of his victim, the dying World Serpent, Jormungand.

Thursday was named after Thor.

Who is the most important hero in Norse myth?

The quintessential Norse warrior Sigurd was a King Arthur of the Northern world, a figure with a possible historical origin who became the magnet for many stories, as Norse-myth authority Kevin Crossley-Holland describes him. Son of a warrior and grandson of a great king favored by Odin, Sigurd was a handsome, stately dragon-slayer and rescuer of women-a mortal with possible divine ancestors. He ranks as the most important human hero in Norse mythology-more than half of the Poetic Edda are about him-and the stories of his exploits had an impact well beyond the Viking myths. Tolkien clearly borrows much from these heroic tales of a gold ring made by dwarves, which increases the wealth of its owner but comes with a dreadful curse. The stories of Sigurd also became the model for the mythical German hero Siegfried, who appears in the Nibelungenlied ("Song of the Nibelungs"), a famous German epic composed around 1200, which, in turn, served as the basis for Wagner's opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung (18691876).*

The stories about Sigurd probably originated in Germany around the Rhine in the 400s CE and reached Scandinavia, where they were given poetic treatment in the Elder Edda, the collection of poems composed in Iceland between 1000 and 1100. The prose Saga of the Volsungs, written in Iceland during the 1100s or 1200s, tells the stories more fully.

According to these myths, Sigurd is born after his father, Sigmund, is murdered. As he is dying, Sigmund predicts that his unborn son will accomplish great deeds and his name will never be forgotten. Raised by a king, Sigurd is tutored by the dwarf Regin, who gives him a magical horse and forges a wondrous sword, Gram, from the shards of his dead father's sword-a gift from Odin-which he then uses to avenge his father's death.

The central story in Sigurd's adventures is his killing of the dragon Fafnir. At first a powerful, greedy, and violent man with magical powers, Fafnir is the son of a farmer who also had magical skills. Fafnir and his brother Otr are both shape-shifters. One day, while out with the other gods, Loki kills an otter, which is actually Otr (source of the word "otter") in the animal's shape. When Otr's father realizes what has happened, he demands compensation from the gods, and Loki agrees to fill the otter skin with gold. Conveniently, the trickster finds a nearby dwarf with a large treasure, including a gold ring, which Loki commandeers. Stripped of his treasure, the dwarf curses the ring, dooming whoever possesses it. Once given the treasure, the farmer is first to die when Fafnir kills his father, steals the gold, and then turns himself into a dragon, spending the rest of his life hoarding the treasure. (Readers of Tolkien will surely recognize these themes as similar to the tale of the Ring of Power, jealously guarded by whoever possesses it.) Eager to take the treasure for himself, Fafnir's brother Regin, the dwarf who tutors Sigurd, instructs the young warrior in how to kill Fafnir, planning all the time to kill Sigurd after Fafnir is dead. As a dragon, Fafnir only leaves his lair and the treasure hoard occasionally to drink from a nearby river. Sigurd digs a hole in the path that leads to the river and hides inside. When Fafnir passes over the hole, Sigurd stabs Fafnir in the heart. Having killed Fafnir, Sigurd roasts the dragon's heart, as Regin had instructed, but he accidentally burns his fingers and puts them in his mouth. After tasting the dragon's magical juice, Sigurd is able to understand the language of some nearby birds, who warn him that Regin plans to kill him. Sigurd lops off Regin's head, drinks some of his blood, eats more of the dragon's heart, and then discovers Fafnir's lair and the ring of gold.

Possessed of the ring, Sigurd also falls under its curse. He is loved by a Valkyrie, Brynhild (Brunhilde in the Wagnerian version), whom he promises to marry, but who is imprisoned in a ring of flame for offending Odin-a la Sleeping Beauty. Sigurd rescues her, but does so to give Brynhild to another man. When Brynhild discovers that she has been tricked, she has Sigurd killed before immolating herself in his funeral pyre.

The gold ring and the rest of the treasure are then hidden in the Rhine, where it has been ever since.

MYTHIC VOICES.

The two humans who hid themselves deep within Yggdrasill will be called Lif and Lithrasir.... Lif ("Life") and Lifthrasir ("thriving remnant") will have children. Their children will bear children. There will be life and new life, life everywhere on earth. That was the end; and this is the beginning.

-from The Norse Myths, Kevin Crossley-Holland

BRIDGE TO THE EAST.

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat; But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the ends of the earth!

-RUDYARD KIPLING, "The Ballad of East and West"

T.

he stories, legends, and myths of northern Europe, the Mediterranean world, and the ancient Near East are mostly tales of long-dead religions. True, some of their gods, rituals, concepts, and theories remain alive today, borrowed by later faiths, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and kept alive in traditional celebrations and superstitions. A trendy but powerful New Age "revival" of goddess worship, Wicca, and "neo-druidism" has also attempted to resuscitate ancient mythic beliefs, worship, and other "old ways." But it is fair to say that most of the mythologies of Europe and the ancient Near East are, well, ancient history. When we come to Asia, however, the story is a very different one-especially in India, China, Japan, and other places where Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shintoism are vigorous, widely practiced religions, deeply rooted in the myths of a very distant past. Nearly as old as Egypt and Mesopotamia, the civilizations of India and China, in particular, retain aspects of mythical systems that were born in the deep mists of prehistory. While understanding these ancient traditions-seemingly so "foreign" to Western experience-has always been intriguing and important, the need to gain a firmer grasp of the beliefs that form the soul of so much of Asia is greater now than ever before.

The reasons why should be fairly obvious. For one thing, our world is changing. Fast. Travel has made the globe smaller. Technology has made it spin more rapidly. When you call your bank or computer maker's "tech support" from New York, the phone may be answered in New Delhi. The decisions made in Beijing and Bombay-more than ever before-affect people in Boise, Buenos Aires, Berlin, and the Bronx. The clashing ideologies of East meeting West have complicated our lives. And sophisticated weaponry has made it all the more dangerous.

Yes, "East is East and West is West." But the twain now meet in cyberspace, on telephone call centers, and, certainly, in superstores, where Western shelves are loaded largely with Eastern-manufactured consumer goods.

Then there are the simple, raw numbers-populations are shifting and exploding. Though currently the world's most populous nation, with more than 1.3 billion people in 2003, China will eventually be surpassed for that dubious distinction by India, which passed the 1 billion mark in 1999. Together, these two countries already account for nearly one-third of the planet's population. And their ranks are swelling rapidly, even as Western birth rates slow or shrink.

Historians are often asked what the most important event at any given moment might be. Although it is impossible to answer definitely, it would be safe to guess that some of the most important things happening in the world in the early years of the twenty-first century won't be happening in the capitals of Europe or America. Chances are they will happen in India, China, or elsewhere in Asia, where booming populations and economies are changing global realities. Viewed not so long ago as developing "third-world" nations, these countries are quickly industrializing and taking the lead in science and engineering. Like the Western superpowers, they possess nuclear arsenals and have ambitions in space. And with a very old tradition as innovators in science and technology, they will gain economic strength and vie for a leadership role in the world.

So where does myth fit into the geopolitical picture? Arguably, front and center. To understand where the world is going, we need a better understanding of where this part of the world has been. How better to gain some insight than to know their myths and see how these myths reveal some part of their collective soul?

CHAPTER SIX.

THE RADIANCE OF A THOUSAND SUNS.

The Myths of India If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst forth at once in the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One.

-Bhagavad-Gita For certain is death for the born And certain is death for the dead; Therefore over the inevitable Thou shouldst not grieve.

-Bhagavad-Gita If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most deeply pondered over the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions to some of them which well deserve the attention of those who have studied Plato and Kant-I should point to India. And if I were to ask myself what literature...is most wanted in order to make our inner life more perfect, more comprehensive, more universal, in fact more truly human a life, again I should point to India.

-MAX MuLLER How do we know what the ancient Indians believed?

What role did myth play in ancient India?

If it's all an endless cycle of birth and destruction, where does the Hindu Creation begin?

How do you get ten gods in one?

Who's Who of Hindu Gods What kind of hero doesn't want to fight?

Why would a hero banish his loving wife?

What is Nirvana?

MYTHIC MILESTONES.

India Before the Common Era c. 4500 Introduction of irrigation techniques in Indus Valley region in northwestern India.

Rice is cultivated south of Ganges River.