...And What Happened After.
The Tale of the Great Ring, compiled by Bilbo Baggins from his own observations and the accounts of his friends. What we did in the War of the Ring as seen by the Little People."
Recently I have been reading about Norse mythology and the parallels between the gods of the Vikings and the gods of the Greeks and Romans struck me as quite interesting. The parallels between the Greek and Roman gods alone are quite well known, as the Romans adopted their religion from the Greeks, but the Vikings also have similar deities. They are all very similar, so much so that I have been able to compare them individually, as follows.
Greek Roman Viking
Zeus Jupiter Odin
Aphrodite Venus Freya
Heracles Hercules Thor
Apollo Apollo Frey/Bragi
Ares Mars Tyr
Hermes Mercury Thialfi
Dis Pluto Loki/Hela
I think that the Viking goddess Iduna could have been Artemis (Diana) or Minerva (Athene) but I am not sure. I also noted other resemblances between these mythologies. For example, in Greece, the Olympians fought constantly against the Titans. There seems to be a similarity in Norse mythology. The gods of Valhalla are also continuously waging war against the giants.
It seems that they all originated from the same source. So what was that source? Ancient documents from Herodotus, Plato and others show that the Greeks borrowed their gods from the Egyptians, and the Romans borrowed their gods from the Greeks. Perhaps Egypt was the founder of these religions. And where did Egyptian gods come from? It is believed that, possibly, the Egyptian gods were all really different traits of one god, and the priests characterized each demi-god. And who was the one main god? It seems to have been the sun. And who was the sun? Well, you can read more about this here.
Last week, I finished reading Beowulf, the tale of the daring Viking war-lord who stepped up to save the lands ravaged by Grendel, a dark and fearsome monster.The story was very gripping and exciting and the poetry was really nice. You have to read it out loud to yourself in a quiet place to really get the feel of it, though.
I think that my favorite part of this book was the fight with the dragon at the end. It was wonderfully described and I love the heroic Wiglaf who comes out to help his king just as he is about to give in. I thought it very interesting, too how the dragons wrath is aroused by the theft of one small cup from his treasure hoard, stolen by an unimportant slave. Does that incident sound familiar to any of you?
One thing about the story that was very interesting is that the poet speaks constantly about God, even though the poem was apparently written in very early times, perhaps as early as the historian Bede lived. Some critics have tried to suggest that these allusions to God were added later by monks but this seems very unlikely to me. The whole story is centers around the existence of the Wielder.
I was struck by the names used for God in the book. He is referred to as the Wielder, Father Almighty, Life-Lord of men, King, Measurer, and Shaper.It strikes me as incredible that people today suddenly have decided that they no longer need the Measurer, King and Life-Lord. They think they can make it on their own, yet all throughout history the presence of this Almighty is unmistakable. Even the natives of the most obscure races found something to worship, be it rock, tree, sky or sun. How can people today just throw out this constant Presence as though they are so much smarter than all of the ones who came before?
I think there is something about the original, though, that translation destroys, because Rebsamen has invented dozens of compound nouns as if trying to seize the feel of the work. Here is a list of some interesting ones that I had never heard before:
deathwards
hall-lounger
mindgrief
heart-thoughts
heart-strength
helpwords
mindthought
hate-words
gift-year
loan-day
spear-charge
growth-day
father-love
wonderstrength
night-slaughter
treasure-king
bloodgrief
hell-death
battle-speed
ice-stream
flesh-home
thane-warrior
greed-spell
throne-day
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes action\adventure books or poetry. I read the translation by Frederick Rebsamen but I had already read a simpler version of Beowulf first. If any of you would like to read the easier version first so that you can learn the story-line, here is a free, online edition.
Scipio Africanus, who had been given this surname in memory of his marvelous exploits, had a beautiful daughter named Cornelia. Many people admired Cornelia and told her how proud she must feel to be the daughter of Scipio but she always responded that she took the most pride in her children, Tiberius and Cauis Gracchus. Cornelia was a wonderful mother. She raised her own sons and taught them nobility and virtue. One day, a rich woman was visiting her and showing off her finery and jewels. "Where are your jewels?" she asked Cornelia in her haughty way.
Cornelia then called for her sons who came at once to her side. Turning to the rich woman, she said, "these are my jewels." Cornelia considered these sons of hers very valuable indeed and they grew to do great things for Rome and for the poor people that were so unfairly treated. In the end, though, these Gracchi brothers were cruelly killed by some of their rich enemies and Cornelia lost her "jewels."
When she died, the people, who had found her to be the loving mother of two great Roman heroes, fulfilled her dearest wish by erecting a statue of her with the inscription "Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi."
Over the past month, I have been reading about the life of Winston Churchill in an excellent book called "Never Give In" by Stephen Mansfield. Churchill was a political leader in Britain during the time of World War II and his bold speeches of freedom are famous today. I will write more about him later but for now I wanted to copy something that Henry Kissinger said about Churchill and how it applies to leaders today. Mr. Kissinger said:
"Our age finds it difficult to come into grips with Churchill. The political leaders with whom we are familiar generally aspire to be superstars rather than heroes. The distinction is crucial. Superstars strive for approbation; heroes walk alone. Superstars crave consensus. Heroes define themselves by the judgment of a future they see it as their task to bring about. Superstars seek success in a technique for eliciting support. Heroes pursue success as the outgrowth of their inner values."
So what does all that mean? In our world, people often confuse superstars with heroes. It's all very well to be a superstar but most superstars rely on popularity, fame, good looks and being cool. We can't trust in these things because they don't last long and they don't give us enough. Heroes are different. They stand alone even if nobody else will stand with them. They rely not on the crowd but on their beliefs that they value and fight for. Of course, it's easier and more exciting to be a superstar but in the long run, heroes win!
Jocelyndixon is hosting a contest on her weblog. The question is: "Of the signers of the Declaration Of Independence, which do you most admire and why?" Be sure to drop by and take a look! Here is my entry to the contest.
I have always liked John Hancock for his boldness even though I did not know much about him. Last night, though I did some serious research on his life and was even more moved by his story.
John Hancock was a wealthy merchant living in Boston. He went to college at Harvard and, therefore, received a good education. In his early life he had no particular opposition to the British but when he heard of the Stamp Act, he became enraged at the injustice. The Stamp Act was a tax on the American colonies that had been decided upon without their consent. Like many others, John did not feel that this was fair. After the Stamp Act came out, he worked wholeheartedly to abolish it. He lost much of his wealth and estate because of his opposition to the king. Several of his ships were burned as well by the British loyalists but he refused to give up fighting for freedom. John Hancock is famous today for signing the Declaration Of Independence first and in the largest handwriting. This put him in great danger as his name could be easily seen and recognized. John did not care. When questioned about his bold actions, John responded, I write so that George III may read without his spectacles and thus double his price for five hundred pounds on my head. Let Boston burn and John Hancock become a beggar!
I admire John Hancock because he was not afraid to stand up for what he believed even though he knew that it might cost him his life. He was willing to give up all of his riches for this cause.
Athens had long been a leader in Greece. After all, it was the Athenians that had formed the Delian League for the protection of all the Grecian cities; and Athens that had fought off the Persian invaders. It could not be denied by any who had ever seen it that Athens was a truly impressive city. She was beautiful, strong and lovely, full of rich temples and marvelous buildings and statues. But Athens was only a city. The Athenian people were very proud of their city and of themselves but they were slowly losing their virtues and diligence to which they owed their beautiful city, and becoming a careless people. They had seventy public festivals in their year and held many holidays. With their love for parties and feasting, grew their pride in their city and soon they were quite conceited.
Slowly, bit-by-bit, Athens was beginning to lose her power and position. When another war broke out with Sparta, the Athenians lost. This was a terrible loss, indeed, to them. Sparta and Athens had long been rivals but the Spartans had never really completely subdued the Athenians. Now, it was different. The very walls of Athens were destroyed and, although in time, she rebuilt these walls and threw off the Spartan yoke, Athens was never again the great city that she had once been.
Wars broke out frequently in the following years but they revolved around Macedon and Persia and the great young conqueror, Alexander The Great. The Athenians just refused to be roused to the danger they faced against these new powers until it was too late. Then, once again, Athens was conquered and ever after, she was only a bystander in the complex history of the world.
Just a quick note we thought might interest you all. Strider (our dad) found out that the word Middle Earth, was used by the Vikings. They used it to talk about the real earth, meaning that it was the "Earth in the middle", there being, as they believed three "worlds" the upper world or Valhalla, the "kingdom of the gods," the "Underworld," something like we envision Hell to be and the "middle world" or "the land of men" where we live at present. Arwen (our mom) said she thought it quite comforting that there was "nothing new under the sun."
We thought it might interest you all to know that fact.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us..." GANDALF
The purpose of this blog is to record the ideas that are
most important to us. We are two sisters who choose to go by the names of
Frodo and Legolas. You will find poems and quotes,
narrations and pictures from our favorite sources that
have inspired us to use the time that has been given to
us to the best of our ability. We hope you will enjoy
the journey there and back again....
The Birth of Britain
The Brendan Voyage
Beautiful Girlhood
The Lay of the Land
Ivanhoe
Trial and Triumph
Age of Chivalry
Fearfully And Wonderfully Made
How to Read a Book
The Story of Painting
Life of Nicias by Plutarch
The Silmarillion
The Final Quest
A Taste of Chaucer
Joan of Arc by Twain
Idylls of the King
Much Ado about Nothing
A Wrinkle In Time
Life of the Spider
How the Heather Looks
Pursuit of God
Daughter of Time
In Freedom's Cause
Lilith
David Copperfield
Legolas is Reading...
The Silmarillion
Halliburton's Book of Marvels: The Occident
Age of Fable
Life of Nicias by Plutarch
The Story of the Greeks
Augustus Caesar's World
The Sea Around Us
Hittite Warrior
Animal Farm
Magician's Nephew (in Turkish)
Archimedes and the Door of Science
Swiss Family Robinson
What Katy Did
Unfinished Tales
Where the Red Fern Grows
Follow My Leader
Penrod
Story of the Romans
Along Came Galileo
Jack and Jill
Never Give In
Valley of Thorns (in Turkish)
Ben Hur
"The value of the myth is that it
takes all the things we know and
restores to them the rich
significance which has been hidden
by the veil of familiarity . . .
By putting bread, gold, horse, apple
or the very roads into a myth,
we do not retreat from reality:
we rediscover it. As long as the
story lingers in our mind,
the real things are more themselves.
[The Lord of the Rings]
applies the treatment not only
to bread or apple but to good and evil,
to our endless perils, our anguish
and our joys. By dipping them in myth
we see them more clearly. I do not
think [Tolkien] could have done it
in any other way.
- C.S. Lewis
The Music
INTO THE WEST by Yulia
The Movie
LORD OF THE RINGS The Return of the King
'When the seas and mountains fall
And we come to end of days
In the dark I hear a call
Calling me there
I will go there
And back again'
