Read the other Great Myths here George Bird Grinnell’s classic account (from 1892) of the origin of the Blackfoot Buffalo … Continue Reading The Great Myths #67: The Origin of the Buffalo Dance (Blackfoot)
Originally published at Bold+Italic It was one of those across the room things, even though the women were both old … Continue Reading Isis in Old Age (story)
Read the other Great Myths here from the Prose Edda: Then spoke Gangleri: ‘What information is there to be given … Continue Reading The Great Myths #63: Ragnarok (Norse)
Read the other Great Myths here Then spoke Gangleri: “It was quite an achievement of Loki’s when he brought it … Continue Reading The Great Myths #62: Loki is Captured & Punished (Norse)
Read the other Great Myths here Thor went out across Midgard having assumed the appearance of a young boy, and … Continue Reading The Great Myths #61: Thor Goes Fishing for the World Serpent (Norse)
Read the other Great Myths here Then spoke Gangleri: “Whose is the horse Sleipnir? And what is there to tell … Continue Reading The Great Myths #60: The History of Odin’s Horse (Norse)
Read the other Great Myths here Then spoke Gangleri: “You say that all those men that have fallen in battle … Continue Reading The Great Myths #59: Odin Talks About Valhalla (Norse)
Read the other Great Myths here [High said:]“There was someone called Gymir, and his wife Aurboda. She was of the … Continue Reading The Great Myths #58: The Love Story of Freyr & the Giantess Gerd (Norse)
Read the other Great Myths here High continued: “And Loki had other offspring too. There was a giantess called Angrboda … Continue Reading The Great Myths #57: Loki’s Monstrous Children (Norse)
Gandhi himself said that, “If I know Hinduism at all, it is essentially inclusive and ever-growing, ever-responsive. It gives the … Continue Reading The Endless Variety of Hinduism
When in 1937 the mythologist Joseph Campbell began dating his future wife, the dancer Jean Erdman, he gave her a … Continue Reading What To Expect When You’re in Love with a Writer
Here, Erik Hornung refutes the old cliché that ancient Egyptian religion was “death obsessed,” or that constructions like the pyramids … Continue Reading Death in Ancient Egypt
A handful of passages from one of the best books on religion I’ve ever read, Erik Hornung’s Conceptions of God … Continue Reading The Religion of Ancient Egypt
A drawing from 2015 that I suddenly found again today:
Read the other Great Myths here Then spoke Gangleri: “Where is the chief center or holy place of the gods?” … Continue Reading The Great Myths #56: The Early History of Yggdrasil (Norse)
Among the earliest sculptures of the Buddha, from Heinrich Zimmer’s Art of Indian Asia. Click on each to enlarge:
Read the other Great Myths here The Prose Edda, one of the greatest sources for Norse mythology, begins with … Continue Reading The Great Myths #55: An Island is Cut Away & the Prose Edda Begins (Norse)
Read the other Great Myths here As the compiler of this myth notes: “The Orpheus myth is also popular among … Continue Reading The Great Myths #54: A Native American Orpheus (Tachi Yokut)
Read the other Great Myths here Long ago the slaughter-gods were eating their hunting-prey in the mood for a drink, … Continue Reading The Great Myths #53: Thor Goes Fishing for the Serpent that Surrounds the World (Norse)
A piece of the beginning and end of The Hero with a Thousand Faces: Whether we listen with aloof amusement … Continue Reading Joseph Campbell’s Hero Sets Out
Read the other Great Myths here Here is Andy Orchard’s translation of the Rígsthula, where the culture hero Ríg wanders … Continue Reading The Great Myths #52: Ríg Gives Advice (Norse)
I am always thrilled to reread these two passages by Erik Hornung, and to find in them just about the … Continue Reading Understanding Religious Fundamentalism
Three passages on prehistoric religion from the book Becoming Human: One of the pervasive themes of [this book] is … Continue Reading Humanity’s Earliest Rituals
The archaeologist Jean Clottes writes that, besides the more famous paintings in the ice-age caves of France and Spain, it … Continue Reading The Archaeology & Mythology of Caves
Read the other Great Myths Here Just before his death, Gilgamesh’s friend Enkidu dreams of the Underworld. While what remains … Continue Reading The Great Myths #51: Enkidu in the Underworld (Mesopotamian)
I’d been interested in religion and mythology long before 2004, when I first read this opening page of Mircea Eliade’s … Continue Reading Understanding Religion
Read the other Great Myths Here In an immensely moving scene, after traveling to the underworld, Aeneas encounters his deceased … Continue Reading The Great Myths #50: Aeneas in the Underworld (Roman)
Read the other Great Myths Here Here are a handful of translations of verses 138-145 of the Hávamál, found in … Continue Reading The Great Myths #49: Odin Sacrifices Himself (Norse)
If forced to choose a favorite short poem of mine, one that brings together nearly everything I’m interested in, it … Continue Reading Fire Houses (poem)
Here’s one of my favorite bits from the Hindu Upanishads, chapters three and four from the Kena Upanishad. The goddess … Continue Reading The Goddess Instructs the Gods (Kena Upanishad)
The Sun Sets into the Sea The sun sets into the sea with a hiss and rises with … Continue Reading The Sun Sets into the Sea (poem)
The Making of an Irish Goddess Ceres went to hell with no sense of time. When she looked back all … Continue Reading “The Making of an Irish Goddess,” by Eavan Boland
Daedalus & Icarus The old craftsman came to Cumae after a long life of art and flight, love and theft, … Continue Reading Daedalus & Icarus (poem)
Those Images What if I bade you leave The cavern of the mind? There’s better exercise In the sunlight and … Continue Reading “The harlot and the child”: 2 Late Poems from W. B. Yeats
Odin & Baldr The High One heard the lowest prophecy: already riddled with the worst of dreams, his boy Baldr … Continue Reading Odin & Baldr (poem)
Two chapters from the Tao Te Ching, and each in three different translations, on the limitations of even the best … Continue Reading The Great Myths #47: Sacred Language & the Limitation of Words (Taoism)
Here are two passages from Homer’s Odyssey featuring the common household bard of prehistoric Greece. The first poet, the description … Continue Reading The Great Myths #46: Sacred Language & Homer’s Poets (Greek)
Four stories from the great Jewish tradition of the sacredness of the Torah, of Hebrew, and of the letters of … Continue Reading The Great Myths #45: Sacred Language Creates the World (Jewish)
Rig Veda 10:71: The Origins of Sacred Speech Bṛhaspati! When they set in motion the first beginning of speech, giving … Continue Reading The Great Myths #44: Sacred Language & Two Hymns to Speech (Hindu)
One of the longer myths I’ll post here, the following story is well worth it, and is indeed a master-class … Continue Reading The Great Myths #43 Sacred Language & the Story of Gwion Bach & Taliesin (Welsh)
A brother of the monastery is found to possess God’s gift of poetry [A. D. 680] In this monastery of … Continue Reading The Great Myths #42: Sacred Language & the Story of Caedmon (Christian)
…And Aegir went on: “How did this craft that you call poetry originate?” Bragi replied: “The origin of it was … Continue Reading The Great Myths #41: Sacred Language & the Mead of Poetry (Norse)
One of the greatest stories of a person “living in nature” becoming “civilized” is perhaps the earliest one. Also here … Continue Reading The Great Myths #40: Enkidu Comes of Age (Mesopotamian)
After the Cheyenne had received their corn, and while they were still in the north, a young man and woman … Continue Reading The Great Myths #39: Arrow Boy (Cheyenne)
Two bits of old Norse, first poetry & then prose, on the death of Odin’s son, Baldr: All at once … Continue Reading The Great Myths #38: Baldr’s Dreams, Baldr’s Death (Norse)
But Daedalus was weary; by this time, he’d been exiled in Crete too long; he pined for his own land; … Continue Reading The Great Myths #37: Icarus Falls (Ovid & Virgil)
The sad early life of Parzival is narrated here. His father having died while out on crusade, his mother, Herzeloyde, … Continue Reading The Great Myths #36: Parzival Grows Up & Leaves Home
My poetry collection Bone Antler Stone—a panorama of ancient Europe from the painted caves of Lascaux to contact with Greece … Continue Reading On “Bone Antler Stone”: Ancient Europe, the Narrow Book & Finding Poetry Again
One of the great characters in Greek myth who never actually speaks is Astyanax, the son of Hector and the … Continue Reading The Great Myths #35: A Child During the Trojan War (Greek)
As usual with such stories, childhood is synonymous with the dangers of being children: The Swahili version of a very … Continue Reading The Great Myths #34: A Hausa and Swahili Story of Childhood (African)
When Culand the smith offered Conchubur his hospitality, he said that a large host should not come, for the feast … Continue Reading The Great Myths #33: The Child Cúchulainn Gets His Name (Celtic)
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas 2:1-6: When this boy, Jesus, was five years old, he was playing at the ford … Continue Reading The Great Myths #32: The Childhood of Jesus (Christian)
One day when Rāma and the other little sons of the cowherds were playing, they reported to his mother, “Kṛṣṇa … Continue Reading The Great Myths #31: The Child Krishna & the Universe in His Mouth (Hindu)
The story of the Holy Grail’s appearance to a young man named Perceval/Parzival/Parsifal, is told in many places, and goes … Continue Reading The Great Myths #30: The Holy Grail Appears (Middle High German)
The poet/shaman Väinämöinen, in need of new poems and spells in order to build a boat, goes through an ordeal … Continue Reading The Great Myths #29: Learning Poetry in the Giant’s Stomach (Finnish)
Odysseus and friends land on the island “of the lawless outrageous Cyclopes,” one-eyed giants who know nothing of planting and … Continue Reading The Great Myths #28: Odysseus Outsmarts the Cyclops
From the Miwok tribe of California, who are now “practically extinct”: Bear’s sister-in-law, Deer, had two beautiful fawn daughters. Bear … Continue Reading The Great Myths #27: The Monster Bear & the Making of Thunder (Miwok)
What is the reason for gold being called otter-payment? It is said that when the Aesir went to explore the … Continue Reading The Great Myths #26: Sigurd Kills the Monster Fafnir & Understands the Language of Animals (Norse)
The Indian legend of the “Face of Glory” begins, like that of the Man-Lion, with the case of an infinitely … Continue Reading The Great Myths #25: The Monster Kirttimukha & the Face of Glory (Hindu)
In one of the great gymnastic feats of world literature, Dante and Virgil climb the body of Satan, located as … Continue Reading The Great Myths #24: The Monster Satan (Dante)
Then from the moor under misty hillsides, Grendel came gliding girt with God’s anger. The man-scather … Continue Reading The Great Myths #23: The Monster Grendel (Anglo-Saxon)
Gilgamesh and his companion Enkidu face Humbaba, the guardian of the cedar forests of Lebanon. The tablets where the story … Continue Reading The Great Myths #22: The Monster Humbaba (Mesopotamian)
Then anon they heard cracking and crying of thunder, that them thought the place should all to-drive. In the midst … Continue Reading The Great Myths #20: The Holy Grail Appears (Middle English)
From a dialogue about the beginning of the world; at one point, a giant called Ymir is mentioned: “Where did … Continue Reading The Great Myths #19: The Sacrifice of Ymir Made into the World (Norse)
And it happened after these things that God tested Abraham. And He said to him, “Abraham!” and he said, “Here … Continue Reading The Great Myths #18: The Sacrifice of Isaac (Jewish)
The cow came in from the field, and the companions of great-hearted Telemachos came from beside their fast black ship, … Continue Reading The Great Myths #17: A Sacrifice for the Feast (Greek)
The first evening is devoted to preparation for the rite. The kam (shaman), having chosen a spot in a meadow, … Continue Reading The Great Myths #16: A Siberian Horse Sacrifice, and the Shaman’s Ascent to the Sky (Altaic)
Rig Veda 1:162 – The Sacrifice of the Horse Mitra, Varuṇa, Aryaman the Active, Indra the ruler of the Ṛbhus, … Continue Reading The Great Myths #15: The Horse Sacrifice (Hindu)
Around the year 627, when King Edwin of Northumbria and his advisors were discussing the possibility of converting to Christianity, … Continue Reading The Great Myths #14: The Sparrow in Northumbria (Christian)
One of the many preludes to the great Irish epic, The Táin: What caused the two pig-keepers to quarrel? It … Continue Reading The Great Myths #13: The Two Men Who Became Bulls (Irish)
When Kloskurbeh, the All-maker, lived on earth, there were no people yet. But one day when the sun was high, … Continue Reading The Great Myths #12: The Corn Mother (Penobscot)
& he’s brought out & led down a dim hallway to a small room & a little table to sit … Continue Reading The Great Myths #11: The Holy Grail Comes to the Civil War (To the House of the Sun)
In the clear light Of the fire, [Perceval] could see, behind him, The page in charge of his weapons And … Continue Reading The Great Myths #10: The Holy Grail Appears (Old French)
In ancient Thebes, the king, Pentheus, has refused to worship the god Dionysus; the god in turn has driven the … Continue Reading The Great Myths #9 Wild With Divinity (Greek)
This whole world is to be dwelt in by the Lord, whatever living being there is in the world. So … Continue Reading The Great Myths #8: This Whole World is Dwelt in by the Lord (Hindu)
God has a tree of flowering souls in Paradise. The angel who sits beneath it is the Guardian of Paradise, … Continue Reading The Great Myths #7: The Tree of Souls (Jewish)
[Amid the long illness that leads to Enkidu’s death:] As for Enkidu, his mind was troubled, he lay on his … Continue Reading The Great Myths #6: Enkidu in the Underworld (Mesopotamian)
After Thorolf died, a good many people found it more and more unpleasant to stay out of doors once the … Continue Reading The Great Myths #5: A Ghost Story (Icelandic)
[Before the crucifixion] Jesus told us to form a circle and hold each other’s hands, and he himself stood in … Continue Reading The Great Myths #4: The Round Dance of the Cross (Christian)
Wuraka came from the west, walking through the sea. His feet were on the bottom but he was so tall … Continue Reading The Great Myths #3: A Kakadu Creation (Australian)
Óengus was asleep one night when he saw something like a young girl coming towards the head of his bed, … Continue Reading The Great Myths #2: The Dream of Óengus (Irish)
Somewhere at a place where the prairie and the Maka Sicha, the Badlands, meet, there is a hidden cave. Not … Continue Reading The Great Myths #1: The Old Woman & the End of the World (White River Sioux)
After receiving an email from a reader interested in the mythology surrounding bears, I remembered my own obsession with the … Continue Reading Don’t Be Such a Boar
Buy the book here Visit the publisher’s website here Signed copies are now available at a steep discount, directly from the publisher—only $14.95. Order them from Amazon here, and choose S4N Books as the seller. December 16 The poet and … Continue Reading To the House of the Sun: A Poem by Tim Miller
Going through my computer the other day, I found the .pdfs of these classic book sets, and thought to post … Continue Reading Classic Jam Hits
One of my favorite stories from Hinduism comes from the Bhagavata Purana, on the childhood of Krishna: ….One day when … Continue Reading Young Krishna & the Universe in His Mouth
