Norse Mythology :: essays research papers fc

The set aside entitled "NorseMythology" by Karl Mortensen, is the book I chose to read for my firstbook report for this semester. The book was translated from the Danishby A. Clinton Crowell. Karl Mortensen was a doctor of philosophy whom attended the University of Copenhagen.The first part of the book isthe general introduction. Here, you find the conditions meaning of "Norsemythology" and where he got his information. He says,By "Norse mythology" we mean the informationwe have concerning the religious conceptions and usagesof our heathen forefathers, their faith and manner of worshipping the gods, and also their legends and songsabout the gods and heroes. The importation of Christianity drove out the grey heathen faith, butremnants or memories of it long endured in the superstitiousideas of the common people, and can even be tracedin our own day.In the general introduction, the author tells us why we teach Norse mythology. He tells us that for us, Norse mythologyhas in any case the advantage of being the religion of our own forefathers,and finished it we learn to know that religion. This is necessary if wewish to understand the history and poetry of our antiquity and to comprehendwhat good characteristics and what faults Christianity encountered whenit was proclaimed in the North. Finally, it is necessary to know themost important points of the heathen faith of our fathers in order to appreciateand enjoy many of the words of our best poets."Norse Mythology"is comprised of four main divisions. The first section contains the creationmyth, which is extremely confusing because it talks about brothersaunts cousins children from jiffy marriages and what importance theywere in those golden times. Its quite hard to understand, and I hadto read it over double to make sure I understood. The second part of thefirst section discusses the creation of the gods and the stories oftheir lives. And the last part is entitled Ragnorak, whic h stands for theenemies of the gods. All of this was quite interesting to read.The second section of the book talks about common popular belief. It saysthat our forefathers, like other heathen people, found one of the plainestproofs of the souls independence of the body and its ability to calculate ahand in the affairs of living men in the nightmare and dream, as theylacked all other means of explaining those things. They therefore tookit for granted that they were spirits, normally in the form of animals or men.