Norse Mythology :: essays research papers fc

The carry entitled "ScandinavianMythology" by Karl Mortensen, is the book I chose to read for my first offbook 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 authors meaning of "Norsemythology" and where he got his information. He says,By "Norse mythology" we mean the informationwe have concerning the sacred conceptions and usagesof our pagan forefathers, their faith and manner of worshipping the gods, and also their legends and songsabout the gods and heroes. The importation of Christianity swarm out the old heathen faith, butremnants or memories of it long endured in the superstitiousideas of the common people, and can even be tracedin our consume day.In the general introduction, the author tells us why we teach Norse mythology. He tells us that for us, No rse mythologyhas in any case the prefer of being the religion of our own forefathers,and through it we learn to know that religion. This is needed if wewish to understand the history and poetry of our antiquity and to comprehendwhat practiced 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 oral communication of our best poets."Norse Mythology"is comprised of four main partitions. The first section contains the groundworkmyth, which is extremely confusing because it talks about brothersaunts cousins children from second marriages and what importance theywere in those golden times. Its quite hard to understand, and I hadto read it over in two ways 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 par t is entitled Ragnorak, which stands for theenemies of the gods. All of this was quite raise to read.The second section of the book talks about common everyday belief. It saysthat our forefathers, like other heathen people, found one of the plainestproofs of the souls independence of the proboscis and its ability to take ahand in the affairs of life-time men in the nightmare and dream, as theylacked all other agent of explaining those things. They therefore tookit for granted that they were spirits, usually in the form of animals or men.