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Posted by silverfox57
Etymology: Old Norse logi "flame", possibly "tangler" Possibly the Old Norse word luka meaning "close," Indo-European -leug meaning "to break", Indo-European -luk meaning: "to close," "lock," "lid," "end," to light," and "lightning."
Pronunciation: loh'-kee
Alternate Spellings: Loge, Lokki (Faroese), Lokkemand (Danish), Loke, Lokke (Norwegian), Luki, Luku (Swedish), Lukki (Finnish), Loder, Lokkju, Lopti, Loki-Laufeyjarson
Other Names and Epithets: Hveðrungr "Roarer" (Old Norse), Loptr (Air), Loftur, "Father of Lies," "the Sly God," "the Sly One," "Sky-Traveler"
Loki is best known in Norse mythology as a trickster deity. Like any trickster figure, Loki often questions and more accurately, challenges the status quo among the gods with the trouble and chaos he often causes. At the same time, for all the trouble and mischief that Loki creates, he will also help the other gods with fixing the mess. Just even studying and looking up the mythology for Loki has been fairly difficult to pin down this figure and try to say just who he is has been somewhat difficult. I could lay it down to Loki's trickster nature and the fluid mythological change of the times as scholars try to figure out scraps of ancient sagas and runes.
Animal: Spider, Salmon, Mare, Seal, Flies
Day of the Week: Saturday
Element: Air, Fire
Plant: Birch
Sphere of Influence: Magic, Mischief, Lies, Deceit, Chaos, Thievery
Symbols: knots, loops, fishing nets
Norse Descriptions
Some sagas describe Loki as being male with a slim build with red hair. He has a curly mustache and possibly a pointed beard. Other descriptions of Loki will mention that he has a twisted smile, owing to his misadventure and encounter with some dwarves who sowed his mouth shut and tied him to a tree.
In his Gylfaginning, Snorri Sturlson describes Loki as being "beautiful and comely to look upon, evil in spirit, very fickle in habit." Well if that's not an apt descriptor of Tom Hiddleston's portrayl of Loki in the Marvel Cinema Movies.
Regional Variant?
When looking at the main sources of Norse Mythology that mention Loki, the main source is the Icelandic Scholar and Historian Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda from the 13th century. Loki shows up in some earlier Viking Sagas from the 9th to 11th century. However, tracking back to the earlier Nordic Sagas of Vafþrúðnismál and Grímnismál, Loki is absent from these tales.
A contemporary of Snorri Sturlson is Saxo Grammaticus, who in his Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes,") largely leaves out mention of Loki. This absence has been noted by scholars to point out that Loki may have only been a regional deity known among the most northern Germanic lands. Many of the other Norse deities like Odin and Thor can be found to have regional variant names and very similar corresponding myths.
What's In A Name? Lock & Key
Just what Loki's name means and which etymology to use for it has been debated for quite a while by various scholars.
Often it is suggested that the Old Norse word: logi, meaning "flame" is the source for Loki's name. The Icelandic use of Loki's name has it meaning: "knot" or "tangle."
Other Scandinavian names have put forth ranging from the Faroese Lokki, the Danish Lokkemand, the Norwegian Loke and Lokke, the Swedish Luki and Luku to the Finnish Lukki. All of these names have a commonality in the Germanic root word of luk- which corresponds with loops, especially for knots, hooks, closed-off rooms and even locks. Further etymological evidence is pointed out in the Swedish word: "lokkanät" and the Faroese word: "Lokkanet" that translate to mean "cobweb" or "Lokke's web." Even the Faroese word for Daddy-Long Leg spiders is: "lokki~grindalokki~grindalokkur." That could make sense and certainly adds a new understanding to just what Loki's name might really mean.
Another take is some of the Scandinavian dialects where the root word luk- corresponds to words like nokke and nøkkel that mean "key." Some of the Western Scandinavian words that translate to key are: loki~lokke and lykil.
What a tangled web we weave….
These etymological connections in mind, has led some to conclude that this is how Loki fits into the narrative for the events of Ragnarök. After-all, Loki creates all these problems and entanglements. So much so, that people believed Loki to cause knots, tangles and looks to occur or to be one, at least symbolically.
Germanic Origins & Worship
Loki is not a deity who was exactly worshiped among the ancient Germanic, Norse, Scandinavian tribes or others.
There is a lot of debate on just how to interpret Loki's place in Norse Mythology. Jacob Grimm introduced the idea of Loki as a god of fire in 1835. Next, Sophus Bugge in 1889 put forward the idea of Loki being a variation of Lucifer in Christianity. That aspect makes sense if you're trying to equate every trickster figure and outright evil figure in the black & white box of Christian theology.
Shortly after World War II there are four theories regarding Loki that have prevailed. The first of these is in 1956, Folke Ström who suggests that Loki is as an aspect of Odin, much like the godhead in Christianity. The second, in 1959 is from Jan de Vries that says Loki represents a trickster figure. At current, I think everyone who knows about Norse mythology pretty much agrees with that idea. Third, in 1961, Anna Birgitta Rooth made a conclusion of Loki being a spider, which seeing the etymology of the name, makes sense too. Than, in 1962, an Anne Holtsmark said that no conclusions about Loki can be made. Maybe so, if we're agreeing to the idea of a trickster figure, they can be pretty hard to pin down.
Christianity & Norse Religion
When Christianity was being introduced to Europe, many of the Nordic or Scandinavian countries, including Denmark and Sweden continued to practice their Heathenism or Paganism up until the 13th century when there was a mass forced conversion as the then King decided to convert. The process began about 900 C.E. as the Vikings began interacting with Christians and of course, while all similar, different regions and countries would have different oral or written traditions for the Norse gods.
Divine Trinity – In Christianity, many are familiar with the Godhead of God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost. Where Norse paganism and religion is concerned, those who've studied the myths and then tried to equate with Christianity seem to have come up with a Triad that's Odin, Hœnir and Loki. An idea supported in the sagas and ballads: Haustlöng, a prologue to Reginsmál and Loka Táttur. This idea works if you accept the scholar Ursula Dronke's theory that Lóðurr, the Norse deity who created the first humans is another name for Loki and that Lóðurr is a third name for Loki along with Loptr.
You're not alone if you reject this idea of Loki and Lóðurr being the same being. After all, Lóðurr is only really mentioned twice in the Völuspá and only in a couple other places where they describe Odin as "Lóðurr' friend." Still enough people have glommed on to the idea and argue that much of the Poetic Edda was forgotten around 1400 C.E. when it began to be written down and possibly poor etymology studies of trying to make similar sounding words and name mean and be the same thing.
Since a lot of the mythology has been lost, it's likely the 14th & 15th century poets, namely Snorri and Saxo were doing the best they could to preserve an oral history. Snorri followed mostly the Icelandic traditions of myths he wrote down and Saxo followed the Danish traditions of myths. A difference seen in the Death of Baldr where Snorri includes Loki's involvement and Saxo leave it out of the myth.
Worship?
Many scholars who have looked at Loki's place in Norse mythology haven't found any evidence of any cult for Loki.
Followers and Worshipers of Loki seem to be more of a modern phenomenon with modern Wicca and Pagan religions. As he is considered a Trickster deity and God of Fire, this shouldn't be done lightly or on a lark.
Parentage and Family
Father – Fárbauti ("Crue-Striker,") a frost giant or jotunn.
Mother – Laufey, a frost giant or jotunn.
In the Prose Edda, an alternate for Laufey's name is Nál, meaning: "Needle."
Angrboða – "Anguish-Boding," a jotunn, by her, Loki is the father of Hel, Fenrir the wolf and Jormungandr, the world serpent.
Sigyn – Loki's wife, with her, he is the father of Narfi or Nari.
Svaðilfari – Keeping things interesting for the time Loki turned into a mare, he is the mother of Odin's eight-legged horse Slepnir.
Býleistr ("Bee-Lightning") and Helblindi ("All Blind" or "Hel-Blinder") are brothers of Loki as given in the Prose Edda.
Fenrir – A monstrous wolf.
Hel – The goddess of the Underworld. Given the similarity of the name Hel with the Christian name Hell for the Underworld, it has been suggested that Hel is a Christian addition to the Norse myths.
Jormungand – The great world serpent.
Nari – Also spelled Narfi, meaning "corpse."
Slepnir – The famous eight-legged horse of Odin.
Váli – In the Prose Edda, Loki is mentioned as the father. This Edda also mentions Odin as the father, twice to Loki's one reference.
Hati and Skol – a pair of monstrous wolves who kill Odin and begin the events of Ragnarök.
Aesir God
Well, sort of… Loki, being the son of frost giants or jotunns isn't really a member of the Aesir tribe of gods in Norse mythology.
Blood Brother – Loki does, however, gain membership with the Aesir and is counted among their number when Odin makes him a blood brother. Also, by Loki being a blood brother, it would fit some theological views where Loki is seen as Odin's opposite or his darker half.
Outsider – Even getting accepted as an Aesir, for all the trouble and mischief that Loki causes, he is still seen as an outsider to the Norse pantheon. Mischief, problems, fights and often times he's the one who goes right in and fixes the mess he created in the first place.
God Of Air & Fire
Being a trickster deity, many people tend towards associating Loki with the element of fire as many trickster figures often are.
In Scandinavian folklore, there are a number of phrases and folk sayings such as: "Loki is reaping his oats" or "Loki is herding his goats: that refer to during springtime, when mist is raising off the ground. The mist rising in places like Jutland create a shimmering effect, especially over flat ground. The same shimmering is observed with hot steam over a kettle or fire.
Logi The Fire Giant – Thanks to Wagner's Opera and etymological confusion, many people will confuse Loki with the Fire Giant Logi. Which adds to further identifying Loki as a fire god.
They're two separate beings.
Still those who equate Loki and Logi together, will then try to add Glut to the list of spouses for Loki and add on Esia & Einmyria as two additional children and daughters of Loki's.
God Of Mischief & Trickster
Loki is most prominently known as a trickster figure in Norse mythology. Like any trickster, Loki sometimes is the cause of rather callous and malicious pranks. For as often as he causes trouble, Loki also ends up helping to resolve the messes he's created.
Hero Or Villain – Looking at the oldest known poems and sagas to mention Loki from the 9th to 11th centuries, Loki is portrayed more as a friend to the gods and helping them out on many occasions. These notable works are the Ynglingatal, Haustlǫng, Húsdrápa and Þórsdrápa.
When we get to later sagas and Snorri's Prose Edda, Loki has taken on a more malicious or evil bend who will have a leading role and part in Ragnarök.
Maybe his pranks were getting more and more out of hand to the point the gods weren't taking any more or it's a clear influence of Christianity upon the myths. Either way, Loki's tricks and cunning do go from helpful to outright malicious and evil.
Not helping of course is when numerous articles continue to glom on to the idea that a Trickster figure must be counted as evil. Or some scholars like Georges Dumézil in their studies of folklore equate Loki with a demonic figure like Syrdon from Caucasian Legends.
Fishnets & Spider Webs
As mentioned earlier, there are etymological connections of Loki's name to knots and loops. This connection makes sense that Loki is also credited as being the inventor of fishnets as these contain many knots and loops.
Spiders also get associated with the name loki, lokke, lokki, loke, luki as they spin and make spider or cobwebs.
Cunning – As a god of cunning, Loki's connection to fishnets and spider webs works very well on the metaphorical and spiritual sense for the complex, intricate, even elaborate schemes that catch everyone up in his well, mischief. He's the source in many causes of tying all the gods together and brings about their end with Ragnarok.
This aspect seems to be a staple of many trickster figures within myth. Loki is noted for having changed into a salmon, a mare, a falcon, a fly and likely an old woman by the name of Þökk (whose name in Old Norse means: "thanks.")
Loki's Children
When Loki's children with Angrboða were born, it was foretold to the Aesir how they would cause a great evil in the world. Odin decreed that Loki's children should be retrieved from Jötunheim and brought to Asgard.
Odin threw Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent into the where it would wrap itself around the whole of the earth. Jormungand would grow so big he could bit his own tail. As to Hel, Odin sent her down to the Underworld, Niflheim. Hel would create her own realm here called Helheim. The third child, Fenrir, a monstrous wolf was kept in Asgard and chained up, bound to a rock.
The Treasures of the Gods
In yet another of Loki's many pranks, he goes and cuts off all of Sif's hair while she's sleeping and leaves it in a pile on the floor. Needless to say, Sif was not amused, and neither was her husband, Thor. Promising to make up for it, Loki went to replace it with the help of the dwarves. Best not to be on Thor's bad side.
Loki sought out the dwarves, particularly the sons of Ivaldi. After Loki persuaded the dwarves to spin gold so fine to replace Sif's lost hair, the dwarves decided they didn't want to waste the fire and went on to create more treasure. They crafted the ship Skidbladnir that could be dismantled and folded down to the size of a piece of cloth for Freyr. Then they went on to craft the spear Gungnir that would never miss it's mark for Odin.
As Loki began to return towards Asgard, he decided to pay the dwarves Brokk and Eitri a visit. Loki showed off the treasures that Ivaldi and his sons had crafted and challenged the two to craft something better.
A wager this time, one that Loki staked his head on. The dwarves agreed and now the magical gold boar Gullinbursti for Freyr was created. Next came the magical gold arm ring known as Draupnir that could create 8 gold rings every ninth night. Finally, the two crafted Thor's famous hammer, Mjolnir that couldn't be broken and always returned when thrown.
Returning at last to Asgard, Brokk accompanied Loki to have the gifts judged by the gods. Odin, Thor and Freyr were all quick to agree to Mjolnir's fine craftsmanship. With that pronouncement, Brokk tried to claim Loki's head.
Not so fast Loki retorted, he had only promised his head, not any other part of his neck. Damaging his neck was not part of the deal. Fine then, Brokk responds that he can at least sew Loki's lips shut and left him tied to a tree.
At least it shut Loki for a while, probably not long enough for other's liking.
The Theft Of Idunn's Apples
Due to his penchant for mischief, Loki ends up in the hands of the jotunn, Thiaz who threatens to kill the trickster unless Loki brings him the goddess Idunn and her golden apples. Very much so looking to save his own skin, Loki agrees to the deal and brings her and the apples to Thiaz.
Needless to say, this caused an uproar among the gods who are the ones now threatening to kill Loki unless he rescues and brings back Idunn. Once more, looking to preserve his own hide, Loki agrees and transforms into a falcon to carry the goddess safely back to Asgard.
Wanting back what he deems rightfully his, Thiaz changes into an eagle and pursues the pair. As Loki and Idunn are getting closer to Asgard, Thiaz in eagle form has nearly caught up with them. The gods light a fire around the perimeter to their hall and the flames catch Thiaz, burning him up.
With Idunn safely within the halls of Asgard, Loki runs back out to help the other gods with the remains of Thiaz and rectifying the very problem he created in the first place.
Loki & Skadi
Not long after Thiazi's death, his daughter, Skadi shows up demanding restitution for her father's slaying at the hands of the Aesir. One of Skadi's demands is that the gods make her laugh. Loki accomplishes this by taking a rope and tying it to the beard of a goat and the other end to his own testicles. Both the goat and Loki bleat and cry out in terror and more pain as they try to pull away from each other. Eventually, Loki falls into Skadi's lap and she busts out laughing at the absurdity of the scene.
The Death Of Balder
This is one of the bigger, more well-known Norse stories. Balder's mother Frigg had received a prophesy concerning Balder's death. Wishing to try and avoid this fate, Frigg gets an oath from all living things that they won't harm her son. In her haste to do so, Frigg overlooked the mistletoe, believing it to be too small in consequential.
Leave it to Loki to learn of this and to test the validity of the prophesy. Depending on the source, Loki either makes an arrow or a spear out of mistletoe and hands it off to the blind god Hod, instructing him to aim it at Balder. This act doesn't seem so unusual when taken into account that many of the other gods were taking aim at Balder to test his invulnerability.
Hod then, unknowingly of Loki's true intent, fires the mistletoe weapon at Balder and impales the god who soon dies. Frigg is grief stricken and Hermod rides off on Sleipnir down to the Underworld to plead for Balder's release from Hel, how everyone loves him. The Underworld goddess replies that if this is so, then every being in the living world will weep for the slain god. If everyone does weep, then Hel will release her hold on Balder and allow him to return.
Hermod returns with the news and every creature on the earth cries for Balder. All, that is except for an old giantess by the name of Tokk (or Þökk, meaning "Thanks,") she was most certainly and likely Loki in disguise.
With this failure to have everyone weep, Balder remained in Hel's domain.
The Bjarkan Rune – Loki is mentioned in the 13th stanza of a Norwegian rune poem utilizing the Younger Futhark Bjarkan rune.
In Old Norse, the poem reads:
Bjarkan er laufgrønster líma;
Loki bar flærða tíma
In Modern English, the translation:
Birch has the greenest leaves of any shrub;
Loki was fortunate in his deceit
It has been suggested that "Loki' deceit" refers to his part in the death of Balder.
Did Loki Get Too Out Of Hand This Time?
There is an interesting view given regarding Balder's death. For one, we know that Saxo's version written from the Danish myths, doesn't include Loki's involvement in Balder, the Sun God's death.
The version that everyone is familiar with in Snorri's Prose Eddas, where Loki is seen as getting progressively more and more out of hand with his trickery and becoming more and more outright evil.
What if… that weren't the case? The gods know the prophesy of Ragnarök, the end of the Norse gods. Of course, they want to prevent and prolong the inevitable. What if, Loki's killing Balder is for the greater good? A sacrifice? Odin knows the only way to really protect Balder is if he dies and goes to the Underworld, Niflheim. The only place that won't be destroyed of all the nine realms. So it is at Odin's request, that Loki sees to it that Balder is killed and to prevent his return, turns into an old woman who refuses to weep for his loss.
That way, now, when Ragnarök comes, Baldur is able to be in place to remake the world.
It's an interesting take on this myth.
The Binding Of Loki
Eventually with all of his mischief and havoc and likely with the death of Baldur, the Aesir have finally had it with Loki and decide to bind him to a massive rock deep beneath the earth in a cave. As punishment for all these misdeeds, Loki is tied by the gods using the entrails of his son Nari after turning another son, Vali into a wolf to rip apart his brother. Both the Poetic and Prose Edda mention the goddess Skaði being the one who places a serpent above Loki while he's bound. This serpent then drips venom down on Loki. Before it can hit him, Sigyn collects the venom in a bowl, the caveat is that whenever Sigyn has to empty the bowl, that is when the venom does hit Loki, causing him much pain. This pain causes Loki to writhe in such agony, it causes earthquakes.
Loki & Útgarðaloki – Many are familiar with Snorri Sturluson's take on Loki & Thor's encounter with Utgard-Loki from the Prose Edda's Gylfaginning. The medieval Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus has a different take on the story of Utgard-Loki or Útgarðaloki.
In Saxo's take, Thor does indeed travel to Jotunheim, the realm of the giants. There, Thor finds a jotun by the name of Útgarðaloki, meaning "Loki of the Utgard," who is bound fast much like the other versions for the binding of Loki. Otherwise, Loki is largely absent of Saxo's collection of Norse mythology.
It has been pointed out, that the Scandinavians may have held conflicting views on deciding if Loki were a god, a jotun or another entity altogether.
Greek Connection – Loki's being bound to a rock has been compared to other, mythological figures in Greek, namely those of Prometheus and Tantalus.
Prose Edda
In the Prose Edda, Loki is described as a: "contriver of fraud." Loki isn't mentioned very often in the Eddas, he is generally mentioned as being a member of Odin's family.
The Poetic Edda & Other Sagas
Much of what we know about Loki and the other Norse deities comes from the surviving Poetic Edda that was compiled in the 13th century C.E. It is a collection of various poems as follows: Völuspá, Grímnismál, Skírnismál, Hárbarðsljóð, Hymiskviða, Lokasenna, Þrymskviða, Alvíssmál, and Hyndluljóð. Loki only appears or is referenced in a few of these.
It should be noted that Loki, in many of these poems is often referred to as Loptr, coming from the Old Norse word lopt for "air."
Baldrs Draumar – In this poem, Odin awakens a dead völva in Hel. He questions her about the meanings of Baldr's dreams. It is in the final stanza of the poem, that the völva tells Odin to go home and be proud of himself, that no one else is coming until Loki escapes his bounds and brings about the onset of Ragnarök.
Fjölsvinnsmál – In this poem, Fjölsviðr is describing to the hero Svipdagr where Sinmara keeps the weapon Lævateinn. Loki as Lopt, is mentioned as using runes to lock Lægjarn's chest nine times, holding within it the weapon Lævateinn. There are two different translations of this poem depending on how the runes are translated.
The first translation reads:
Fjolsvith spake:
"Lævatein is there, that Lopt with runes
Once made by the doors of death;
In Lægjarn's chest by Sinmora lies it,
And nine locks fasten it firm."
The second translation reads:
Fiolsvith.
"Hævatein the twig is named, and Lopt plucked it,
down by the gate of Death.
In an iron chest it lies with Sinmœra,
and is with nine strong locks secured."
Hyndluljóð – Loki is referenced twice in this poem. Here, Loki is mentioned as the father of the wolf with the jötunn Angrboða, to have given birth to the horse Sleipnir by the stallion Svadilfari and to be the brother of Byleistr. The last child that Loki gives birth to is "the worst of all marvels." This is due to his eating the heart, the "thought-stone" of a woman and having eaten it half-cooked, Loki became pregnant by this woman and it is from this union, that all ogress on earth are descended from.
Lokasenna – Loki's Quarrel in English, in this poem, Loki enters a flyting match with the gods in Ægir's hall. Ægir is a god of the sea and he is currently holding a feast for the other gods and elves. The other gods begin to praise Ægir's servants: Fimafeng and Eldir. Hearing this, puts Loki into a right foul mood and he kills Fimafeng. In response, the other gods grab up their shields and weapons as they chase Loki out into the woods. With Loki gone, the gods then return to the hall to resume their feasting.
The poem begins properly when Loki returns from the woods and meets Eldir outside whom he entreats to tell him what the other gods are talking about. Eldir tells Loki how the other gods are discussing their weapons and prowess and how no one has anything good to say about Loki.
Loki says he will return to the feast, this time intending to incite the other gods to arguing and to put malice into their drinks. Eldir warns Loki that this isn't a good idea if all he is going to do is sow anger and resentment towards him, that it won't end well.
Undaunted, Loki heads back into the hall anyways and sure enough, all the gods fall silent on noticing the trickster enter. I can just imagine Loki smirking as he breaks the silence, saying he's thirsty and has only come for a drink.
When no one answers him, Loki calls the gods arrogant and demands they either give a seat at the table or tell him to leave. The god, Bragi is who finally addresses Loki, saying that he will not have a seat among the gods for they know whom to invite and who not to.
Turning his attention to Odin, Loki address the god, reminding him of the time when Odin and he had mixed their blood together and that Odin said he would never drink ale unless it were brought to the two of them.
Odin than asks his son, Víðarr to sit up so that the "wolf's father" (referring to Loki) can have a seat at the table and not speak of the gods. As Víðarr stands to pour Loki a drink. Before drinking, the trickster makes a toast to the gods with the exception of Bragi.
Bragi, trying to make amends and smooth things over, says he would give a horse, sword and ring for his own possessions so that Loki won't speak ill. It's really clear now that Loki is going out of his way to single out Bragi, by saying he'll always be short these things and implies that the skald deity is a coward.
Temper beginning to flair, Bragi says that if they were outside, he would have Loki's head for a trophy given all his lies. Loki taunts Bragi, calling him a "bench-ornament." At this point, Iðunn interrupts, trying to calm Bragi.
All that does is get Loki to direct his ire towards Iðunn now, calling her "man-crazy" of all of the goddess's present. Iðunn does her best not to be baited by Loki's words. Now Gefjun speaks up, asking why the two have to fight. Doesn't everyone know that Loki is jesting. Not quitting now, Loki comments that Gefjun is one to talk, having been seduced by a boy and proven to be an easy lay.
Essentially, it carries on for a quiet a bit with Odin, then Freya and most of the other gods refuting Loki, saying he has to be mad to get someone like Gefjun angry as Loki in turns just calls out the flaws and failings of each of the gods. He just keeps it up, getting them all angry with him one after the other.
Towards the end of the poem, as things get more heated, the attention is turned towards Sif, Thor's wife and Loki makes a bold claim to have slept with her. Beyla, a servant of Freyr's, interrupt and announces that since the mountains are shaking, it must mean that Thor is on his way home. Beyla continues with how Thor will bring an end to the argument. Loki responds with more insults.
Thor does arrive and tell Loki to keep quiet or else he'll rip off Loki's head using his hammer. Loki taunts Thor, asking why he is so angry, he won't be in any mood to fight the wolf, Fenrir after it eats Odin. All this is about the events of Ragnarök that have been foretold. Thor again tells Loki to keep quiet with a threat to throw the trickster god so far into the sky he would never come back down.
Not daunted in the least, Loki tells Thor how he shouldn't be bragging about his time in the east as the mighty Thor had once cowered in fear inside the thumb of a glove. Once more Thor tells Loki to keep silent with threats to break every bone in his body. Loki continues the taunts, saying he still intends to live, throwing in references to when Thor had met Útgarða-Loki.
Thor gives a fourth and final demand to Loki for silence or else he would send Loki to Hel. At this, Loki ceases his taunts saying that he will leave the hall, knowing that Thor does indeed strike.
Loki leaves at this point, going to hide behind the Franangrsfors waterfall in the form of a salmon. The gods do eventually capture Loki and bind him in his son, Nari's entrails. His other son, Narfi turns into a wolf. Skaði places a venomous snake above Loki's head that drips venom. Loki's wife, Sigyn sits nearby with a bowl to catch the venom. Every time she goes to empty the vessel, Loki writhes in such agony that it causes earthquakes.
Reginsmál – In this poem, the dwarf Regin, who is the son of the sorcerer Hreidmar and foster father to the hero Sigurd, tells of how the gods Odin, Hœnir and Loki had gone down to the Andvara-falls to fish. Now Regin had two brothers, Andvari who would swim about in the form of a pike and Otr, who would change into an otter to swim and fish.
On this particular occasion, Otr, in otter form had caught a salmon and was eating it on the river banks when the god Loki killed him with a stone, thinking it's just a normal otter. Later that evening, the gods go to stay with Hreidmar and show off the otter pelt. There's a catch of course, Hreidmar and Regin both recognize the pelt as being a dead Otr. Regin and Hreidmar seize hold of the gods and demand a weregeld for Otr's death.
The gods agreed and made a sack out of Otr's pelt that they filled with gold and covered the outside with red gold. Now just where the gods got this gold from? Loki was sent out to get and he borrowed a net from the goddess Rán. Going back to the Andvara-falls, Loki spreads out the net and captures Andvari in his pike form. Loki forces Andvari to reveal where his gold is at before releasing him.
Andvari tells Loki a little bit about himself, namely having been cursed by a "norn of misfortune" during his early days. Loki replies back, asking what does mankind get if they "wound each other with words." Andvari's response is that they get a terrible fate, being forced to wade in the river Vadgelmir.
Eventually, Andvari hands over his gold to Loki, including the ring, Andvarinaut. Back in his dwarf form, Andvari tells Loki that this gold will cause the death of two brother, conflict between eight princes and be of no use to anyone.
Taking the gold back, the gods fill the otter skin with it, with the ring Andvarinaut covering a whisker to Hreidmar's satisfaction. Loki chimes in how the gold is as cursed as Andvari and that it will be the death of Hreidmar and Regin
Hreidmar doesn't believe Loki, believing instead the curse is for those not yet born. Plus, with the gold, he's plenty wealthy now and he tells the gods to leave.
The poem does continue, and most are familiar with how it continues and connects to Sigurd in the Völsunga saga where Regin is the foster father to Sigurd. This version of Regin's story lists Fafnir and Otr being his brothers, not Andvari. Which makes far more sense to have the gold belonging to someone else that Loki steals the gold from. Not this Loki stealing Andvari, who in the Reginsmál is Regin's brother. That connection makes no sense to have Loki steal Andvari's gold and then seem to give it right back, granted to the father.
Skáldskaparmál – An episode in this saga sees Loki rather maliciously cut off all of Sif's hair. Thor threatens to break Loki's bones if doesn't put this to rights. Looking to save his own skin for the problems he often creates, Loki gets the dark elves or dwarves to craft some golden hair to replace Sif's shorn hair with.
Þrymskviða – Also known as the Lay of Trym, this comedic poem features Thor as a central figure. Thor awakens one morning to discover that his hammer, Mjöllnir is missing. Thor confides in Loki about the missing hammer and that no one knows it's missing. The two then head to Freyja's hall to find the missing Mjöllnir. Thor asks Freyja if he can borrow her feathered cloak to which she agrees. At this, Loki takes off with the feathered cloak.
Loki heads to Jötunheimr where the jotunn, Þrymr is making collars for his dogs and trimming the manes of his horses. When Þrymr sees Loki, he asks what is happening among the Æsir and elves and why it is that Loki is alone in Jötunheimr. Loki replies by telling Þrymr how Thor's hammer, Mjöllnir is missing. Þrymr admits to having taken Mjöllnir and hiding it some eight leagues beneath the earth where Thor will never get it back unless the goddess Freyja is brought to him to be his wife. Loki takes off again, flying back to the Æsir court with Freyja's cloak.
Thor enquires with Loki if he was successful. Loki tells of what he has found out, that Þrymr took Thor's hammer and will only give it back if Freyja is brought to Þrymr to be his wife. At this news, Thor and Loki return to Freyja to tell her of the news that she is to be a bride to Þrymr. Angry, Freyja flat out refuses, causing the halls of the Æsir to shake and for her famous necklace, Brísingamen to fall off.
The gods and goddess hold a meeting to debate the matter of Þrymr's demands. The god Heimdallr puts forth the suggestion that instead of Freyja, that Thor should dress as the bride as a way to get Thor's hammer back. Thor balks at the idea and Loki seconds Heimdallr's idea, saying it will be the only that Thor can get his hammer back. For without Mjöllnir, the jötnar will be able to invade Asgard. Relenting, Thor agrees to dress as a bride, taking Freyja's place. Dressing as a maid to the disguised Thor, Loki goes with Thor down to Jötunheimr.
After arriving in Jötunheimr, Þrymr commands the jötnar of his hall to make the place presentable for Freyja has arrived to be his bride. Þrymr then tells how of all of his treasured animals and objects, that Freyja was the one missing piece to all of his wealth.
Disguised, Loki and Thor meet with Þrymr and all of his jötnar. At the feast, Thor consumes a large amount of food and mead, something that is at odds with Þrymr's impressions of Freyja. Loki, feigning the part of a shrewd maid, tells Þrymr how that is because Freyja had not eaten anything for eight days in her eagerness to arrive. Þrymr decides that he wants to kiss his bride and when he lifts "Freyja's" veil, fierce looking eyes stare back at him. Again, Loki says that this is because Freyja hasn't slept either during the past eight nights.
A "wretched sister" of the jötnar arrives, calling for the bridal gift from Freyja. The jötnar bring out Thor's hammer, Mjöllnir in order to sanctify the bride as they lay it on "Freyja's" lap. Þrymr and Freyja will be handfasted by the goddess Var. When Thor sees his hammer, he grabs hold of Mjöllnir and proceeds to beat all of the jötnar with it. Thor even kills the "wretched, older sister" of the jötnar. Thus, Thor gets his hammer back.
Völuspá – In this poem, a dead völva tells the history of the universe and the future Odin in disguise about the events of Ragnarök. Regarding Loki, the völva speaks about how she sees Sigyn sitting unhappily near her bound husband, Loki. The location of this being in a grove of hot springs. Once Ragnarok begins, Loki, referred to as the "brother of Býleistr" is freed from his bounds.
The völva further describes how she sees Loki steering a boat, filled with Muspell's people (these people being from the World of Fire and seen as destroyer of worlds).
The last bit in the Völuspá is the monstrous wolf Fenrir, referred to as Loki's kinsman as he will eat Odin and then be killed by Odin's son, Víðarr.
The Prose Edda & Other Sagas
Not to be confused with the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda consists of four books: Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál, and Háttatal written by Snorri Sturluson.
In the Prose Edda, Loki is described as a: "contriver of fraud." Loki isn't mentioned very often in the Eddas. He is generally mentioned as being a member of Odin's family.
Gylfaginning
This book has various stories that feature Loki. Notably his giving birth to the eight-legged horse Sleipnir and of Loki's contest with the personification of fire, Logi. This book gives a number of epitaphs for Loki that aren't very flattering from "originator of deceits" to "the disgrace of all gods and men."
The Fortification of Asgard – This seems to be a significant story within the Prose Edda, the gods are establishing Midgard and have built "Val-Hall." An unnamed builder has offered to build a wall for the gods to keep out invaders, all he wants in exchange is the goddess Freyja, the sun and moon.
Sure, why not, the gods agree after some debate. There are some conditions to be met, such as the builder has to complete the work in three seasons without help from any man. The builder argues he needs the help of his stallion Svaðilfari and this is agreed to with, with Loki's influence.
With the aid of his horse, the builder is able to make quick work on the wall. With the deadline of Summer just three days away, the builder is nearly complete with this task. The gods hold a meeting and decide that Loki is to blame.
But the gods wanted a wall, now they blame Loki for the builder nearly being finished. Oh that's right, Loki spoke on the builder's behalf to have his horse help. Right then, the gods decide, if Loki doesn't find a way to get the builder to forfeit his payment of Freyja, the sun and moon. Loki swears that he will find a way to stop the builder.
That night, the builder and his horse, Svaðilfari head out to the forest to get more stone to finish the wall with. A mare comes running out of the forest and neighs at Svaðilfari, who realizes what kind of horse he sees and goes chasing after. The builder swears and follows after his horse. The two horses are busy all night, running around and getting it on.
The builder is of course, unable to complete the work and thus misses his deadline. Understandably, the builder flies into a rage and the gods realize that he is a hrimthurs (some type and variety of jötunn as the term can be pretty broad). The gods forget their oaths to the builder and call for Thor who comes and kills the builder, smashing his head in with his hammer.
Ya' know, don't make a deal or promises if you know you're just going to renege on them later and refuse to pay up. As to Loki, with his horsing around, he gave birth to the eight-legged horse Slepnir that Odin rides.
Loki & Thor Versus Skrymir – This section of Gylfaginning see a reluctant Third telling the story of how Thor and Loki were out riding in Thor's chariot. The two came upon the home of a peasant and stopped there for the night. Now, Thor's chariot is pulled by a pair of goats, whom Thor killed to eat, knowing that they will be resurrected the following day. All good, no big deal for Thor.
Thor invites the peasant's family to feast on the goats with him that night. He warns the family though not to crack the bones. Loki, plotting what he thinks is harmless mischief, gets the peasant's son, Þjálfi to crack one of the bones and suck the marrow from it.
Now, when Thor goes to resurrect his goats, he finds that one of his goats has become lame. Afraid of the god's wrath, the peasant gives Thor his son Þjálfi and his daughter Röskva to be his traveling companions.
Without his goats, the small group of four continues heading east until they arrive at the forested edge of Jötunheimr. The group continued on into the forest until it becomes night. They come upon a large building and take shelter in it. During the night, there are earthquakes that awaken the group who, with the exception of Thor or afraid to fall back asleep. The building turns out to be the giant Skrymir's glove, who had been sleeping during the night and the source of the earthquakes.
The group moves out from the shelter and sleep beneath an oak tree. During the middle of the night, Thor awakens and attempts to slay Skrymir. Twice, Thor attempts to slay the giant, only to have Skrymir awaken and believe acorns have fallen on him. It is on the second attempt, that Skrymir fully awakens and advices the group not to be so cocky when they arrive at Útgarðr, to turn around and go back.
Skrymir led the group to the jotun city of Utgard where the group lost sight of Skrymir and was greeted by a group of jotun, including the king himself, Utgard-Loki, whom it turns out was Skrymir all along.
Given the general animosity between the gods and jotun, it's no surprise that Thor, Loki and their other companions were not welcomed, unless of course they could complete a series of seemingly impossible challenges.
Loki was challenged and lost an eating contest when his opponent not only ate all the meat, but the bones and plate itself. Þjálf races against Hugi, losing to him in a series of three footraces.
It now fell to Thor to fulfill three challenges. As Thor boasted he could drink anyone under the table, a large drinking horn was brought to him with the challenge to finish it all in one gulp. After taking three huge swallows, Thor had only managed to drain the horn a few inches.
With the next challenge, Thor boasted his immense strength and Utgard-Loki challenged Thor to pick up a cat off the ground. After three attempts at moving the cat, Thor was only able to succeed at moving one paw.
Enraged by this, Thor accepted the last challenge of a wrestling match with anyone willing to match strength with him. The only one who would, was an old, frail looking woman. Thinking this would be easy, once again Thor was met with defeat at the hands of a feeble opponent who easily bested the mighty god, bringing him to his knees.
After this, Utgard-Loki declared the contests over and allowed the gods to stay the night and rest before returning home in the morning.
Come daylight, Utgard-Loki led the group out of Jotunheim. Once they were well past the borders, Utgard-Loki revealed himself to have been the giant, Skrymir who lead them to the city. Utgard-Loki proceeded to reveal the secrets of all of the challenges that Thor and his companions undergone.
Loki had been competing with fire, that burns and consumes everything it touches. That Thialfi's opponent was thought, whom no one can outrun. As to Thor, the drinking horn he had drunk from was connected to the ocean and that he had succeeded in lowering the sea levels. The cat that Thor had tried lifting was none other than Jormungand, the Midgard serpent that encircles the world. As for the old woman, she was Age itself whom no one can defeat. That no matter how fiercely and bravely Thor fought her, even he would fall to her.
Before the group leaves, Utgard-Loki says that group should never return and if he knew who he had been dealing with, they would never have been allowed in. Angry at being tricked, Thor raised his hammer Mjollnir only to have the king of giants and his city vanish into thin air.
Heimskringla
This is another of Snorri Sturluson's books, written in the 13th century C.E. Loki is made mention in this text. On the Snaptun Stone, the Kirkby Stephen Stone and the Gosforth Cross, it has been suggested that Loki is the figure seen on these stone artifacts.
Loka Táttur
Also spelled Lokka Táttur, this is a Faroese tale or ballad from the late Middle Ages and more 18th century. It features Hœnir, Loki and Odin all helping a farmer and boy escape the wrath of a jötunn after he loses a bet. The ballad is notable in that it presents Loki as a benevolent god rather than the usual "evil" deity he's often seen as due to all of mischief and cunning.
A jotunn comes and snatches up a farmer's son. The farmer and his wife pray to Odin that their child may be protected. Odin comes and hides the boy in a field of wheat. The jotunn still manages to find the boy. Odin rescues the son and brings him back to his parents, saying he's done hiding the boy. Now the couple pray to Hœnir who hids their son in the neck-feathers of a swan. Again, the jotunn finds the boy. Now the couple prays to Loki who hides the child in the middle of a flounder's eggs. Once more, the jotunn finds the child and Loki tells the boy to run towards a boathouse. As the boy runs, Loki turns and faces off against the jotunn who's gotten his head stuck in the boathouse while trying to snatch the boy. Loki chops off the jotunn's leg and shoves a stick and stone into the leg stump, preventing the jotunn from regenerating. Loki takes the child home and both the farmer and his wife embrace the two.
Ragnarok – Twilight of the Gods
The final endgame of the Norse Gods, this is not exactly a happy time as a good many of the gods end up dying. Baldur's death is clearly a catalyst for setting these events in motion. Loki still bound, becomes an enemy of the Norse Gods.
When this event begins, Loki is able to break free of his bonds to fight against the Norse gods on the side of the Jotnar. He sails on a ship made of nails called Naglfar. During this battel, Loki will face off against Heimdallr and the two end up killing each other.
Christian Connection – Given that one man and woman are who survive the events of Ragnarök. The story is then seen not so much as the end of the world yet to come, but an event that has already happened. As Christianity continued to move through Europe, Ragnarök can be interpreted as the end of the Norse Gods and their worship as Christianity becomes the dominant religion.
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Richard Wagner's famous four opera cycle. Loki does make an appearance in this famous opera series. In Wagner's version, Loki is called Loge, a play on the Old Norse word of loge for fire. As Loge, he is an ally of the gods, especially Wotan. Loge views all the Norse gods as being greedy as they refuse to return the Rhine Gold back to it rightful owners. At the end of the first opera, Das Rheingold, Loge reveals a secret desire that he turns into fire and destroys Valhalla. In the last opera, Götterdämmerung, Valhalla is indeed destroyed by fire and all the gods with it.
Gosforth Cross
A stone cross dating from the mid-11th century C.E., this artifact features various figures believed to be from Norse mythology. The lower part of the western side of the cross depicted a long-haired female figure who is kneeling, holding an object above another bound and prone figure. Above and to the left of this imagery is a knotted serpent. The female figure has been interpreted by some to be Sigyn holding the bowl above the bound Loki as the serpent drips venom down onto him. The cross is located in Cumbria England.
Kirkby Stephen Stone
This artifact is part of a cross dating from the 10th century C.E. found in Stephen's Church of Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria England. It features a bound figure with horns and a beard, this image has sometimes been thought to be Loki. The stone cross was found in 1870 and is composed of a yellowish-white sandstone. A similar horned figure was found in Gainford, County Durham and rests in the Durham Cathedral Library.
Nordendorf Fibula
This is a gilded silver brooch discovered in 7th century Nordendorf, Germany. There are two lines of inscriptions on the brooch. The first line reads: "awaleubwini." This has been interpreted as "Awa" a woman's name and likely shortened of Awila. "Leubwini" has been interpreted as meaning "beloved" or "dear friend" and could mean it's from a friend of the same name.
The second line of the inscription reads: logaþore wodan wigiþonar. The last two names of Wodan and Wigiþonar are easily read as alternate names for Odin and Battle Thor as either "Holy Thunder" or "Fight Lightning." Personally, I'd go with "Holy Thunder." The first name is a little more problematic with the name Logabore. It would seem this is the name of a third deity, making for a Divine Trinity. Both deities, Lóðurr and Loki have been suggested. However, where Germanic paganism and beliefs are concerned, there's just not enough evidence and what there is, is tenuous.
One scholar, K. Düwel put forward that Logabore means: "magician" or "sorcerer" and would point to Odin and Thor as two magician deities. So we get, where this is an example of Pagan Germany slowly becoming more Christianized as the brooch is either a protective amulet against the old gods or it's meant to be more beneficial as a healing charm. It all lays in how the interpretation of "wigi" for Thor is taken.
Snaptun Stone
This is a semi-circular flat stone found on a beach near Snaptun, Denmark in 1950. The stone is composed of soapstone that originally came from either Norway or Sweden and features a carving dating back to 1000 C.E. The image shown in the carving is a face with scarred lips, which is identified with that of Loki. The scarred lips are thought to be in reference to a story found in the Skáldskaparmál where the sons of Ivaldi stitched Loki's lips closed.
A hearth stone, the Snaptun stone would have had the nozzle of a bellows placed into a hold at the front of the stone and air pushed through to feed a fire while the bellows were protected from catching fire. It's thought this stone might point out a connection between Loki, smithing and flames.
Lokabrenna
Lokabrenna or "Loki's Torch is the name of the "Dog Star," Sirius in pagan Scandinavia. The location of Útgarða-Loki's worship in Denmark, there is also mention of the Danes potentially worshipping or revering this star according to Saxo.
Place Names & Surnames
As Loki gets more associated and reviled as a villain, there aren't very many locales or surnames being named after the devious Trickster god.
The surnames in question are close enough in spelling, they may or may not be variations to Loki's name, they include: Locchi (from 12th century Northumberland, England), Locke and Luki (Sweden).
Jacob Grimm mentions a place in Vestergötland, Sweden reputed to be a giant's grave called Lokehall. Other place names are: Lockbol, Luckabol, Lockesta, and Locastum. One of the Faroe Islands is called Lokkafelli or Loki's Fell. It should be of note that the Faroe Islands are where the 18th century saga of Lokka Táttur originates.
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Also known as: Maaui-Tikitiki (Maori/New Zealand)
Alternate Spellings: Māui
Epithets: Maui-Tikitiki "Maui the Top-Knot," Maui-Tikitiki-a-Taranga "Maui the Top-Knot of Taranga," Maui-Potiki "Maui the Last Born"
In Polynesian mythology, Maui is either a trickster demigod or god and in some stories, a mere mortal man. Most of his stories and exploits are best known from the Hawaiian and Maori legends though many other Polynesian cultures such as Mangarevan, Tahitian and Tongan have their own stories regarding this trickster hero. Among the Samoans, Maui is known as Ti'iTi'i. Many of the stories involving Maui make note of him being the youngest son, thus while small, he was extremely strong for his size.
Maui is sometimes described as being ugly, quick to respond as well as quick-witted covered in tattoos. Lucky for humans, for all that Maui is known for having some vicious practical jokes, he works to help people and not the Gods.
In the Hawaiian Kumulipo, Maui is the son of Akalana and Hina-a-ke-ahi (or just Hina, a goddess).
In another Hawaiian legend, Maui's father is given as Ru.
In the Mangarevan myths, Maui is the son of Ataraga (Father) and Uaega (Mother).
In the Maori myths, Maui is the son of Makeatutara (Father) and Taranga (Mother).
Tangaroa – This Maori god of the sea is sometimes mentioned as being Maui's father with his mother being a mortal woman.
Akalana and Hina had four sons: Maui-Mua, Maui-Waena (or Maui-Hope), Maui-Ki'iki'i and Maui-a-Kalana.
In the Mangarevan myths, Ataraga has eight sons all named Maui: Maui-mua, Maui-muri, Maui-toere-mataroa, Tumei-hauhia, Maui-tikitiki-toga, Maui-matavaru, Maui-taha, Maui-roto. It is Maui matavaru or eight-eyed who is the culture hero.
In the Maori myths, Maui has four brothers: Maui-Taha, Maui-Roto, Maui-Pae and Maui-Waho.
Hinakealohaila – She is the wife to Maui-a-Kalana in Hawaiian legends.
Nanamaoa – The son of Maui-a-Kalana and Hinakealohaila in Hawaiian legends.
Manaiakalani
This is the name of Maui's great, big fish-hook. In the Hawaiian legends, it is baited with the wing of an Alae, the sacred or pet bird of Hina. This fish-hook was created from the jawbone of an ancestor of Maui's, usually given as being his grandmother.
Maui's Fish-Hook can be seen in the night-sky in the same constellation recognized by Western Culture as Scorpio.
Hawaiian Mythology
While yes, there is an island called Maui in Hawaii, it is not named for the trickster Maui. Legend holds that the island is named for the son of Hawai'iloa, a great navigator who discovered the Hawaiian Islands. Each of the islands of Kaua'i, O'ahu, and Maui are named after one of Hawai'iloa's sons.
Kupua
These were a group of heroic trickster demigods in Hawaiian legends. All kupua are shape-shifters who took the forms of either humans or various elements in nature, often an animal. Many kupua are rather malevolent and vindictive. Maui appears to be one of the more beneficial and gentler kupua in comparison.
Pulling Up The Islands
There are many variations to the story of Maui using his fish-hook to pull up all eight of the Hawaiian Islands.
Version 1 – Maui had gone out fishing one day with his brother. In typical sibling rivalry, the brother wouldn't share any of his bait with Maui. Ever the resourceful one, Maui punched his own nose and used his own blood as bait to fish. He succeeded in bringing in hauls so large, that they would become the Hawaiian Islands. Not just Hawaii, but all the Polynesian Islands were pulled up in this way.
Version 2 – Maui had gone out fishing with his brothers. While out there, Maui caught his hook on the ocean floor. Maui then told his brothers he had caught a large fish and to start paddling as hard and as fast as they can. The brothers never noticed the island rising up behind them out of the ocean. Maui of course, proceeds to do this several more times, pulling up all the Hawaiian Islands.
Version 3 – This is perhaps the more interesting version of the stories. Maui planted his fish-hook at Hamakua with the intent to pull up Pimoe, the god of fish. Maui warned his brothers not to look back as they paddled their boats or this venture would fail. Hina, shape-shifted into a bailing-gourd and Maui, not realizing it was his mother, took hold of the gourd and put it in front of his seat. Now suddenly, there appeared before them, an extremely beautiful woman and all of Maui's brothers looked back out of curiosity. Having looked back, Hina in her disguise disappeared and the line breaks, causing all of the islands that Maui was trying to unite into one giant island falls apart and he is unable to catch Pimoe.
The Theft Of Fire
Version 1 – In order to steal fire for the people of the islands, Maui transformed himself into the guise of a hawk so he could get closer the Earth-Mother. To this day, the hawk's feathers are brown in memory of Maui being burned by the flames when he brought the gift of fire.
Version 2 – In this story, Maui and his brother would go out fishing every day. Every morning they would always see a bunch of Kiawe trees smoking and flames coming up out of them. Hovering above all this were some vultures, also known as mud hens or 'alae.
Maui and his brothers constantly tried to sneak up on the vultures, thinking they were responsible for the fire. However, just before getting close enough, there would be a noise that scared them all off.
Maui came up with the idea of creating a dummy that looked like him and placed in the canoe. Now Maui had his brothers take the dummy with them as they would go one direction and Maui would come from the other as they tried to sneak up on the vultures.
Maui snuck up on the bird and grabbed it by the neck, forcing it to tell him the secrets of fire. The vulture, an 'alae told Maui to take and rub two maia peels together. When nothing happened, Maui nearly choked the bird to death, telling it to tell the truth. Finally the bird said to rub to Ti leaf stalks together. Nothing happened this time and Maui once more choked the bird who said to rub two dry kiawe sticks together.
This time, Maui had success with creating fire. He took the flaming stick and pressed it against the 'alae's forehead, making their head red and bald to remind it and other 'alae's thereafter of their selfish act.
Slowing Down The Sun
Version 1 – In this story, Maui's mother, Hina complained about how the sun moved too quickly through the sky, that she barely had time to get her kapa, bark cloth dry. Hina wasn't the only one, many people hurried to get their work such as planting, cooking or making clothing done in the few hours of daylight. There just wasn't time with how fast the Sun moved.
Deciding to help his mother and the other people, Maui hid behind a big rock at the highest peak on the island known as Haleakala, the "House Of The Sun." When the Sun passed by overhead, Maui quickly threw a rope, made from his sister's hair with his magic hook tied to the end and lassoed the Sun's rays with it. Some legends have Maui using a net to trap the Sun. The Sun demanded to be let go and Maui would only do so if the Sun would promise to move slower through the day so people could get their work done. Some versions of the story have Maui beating the Sun with his jawbone until it agreed to move slower. Added to this, Maui took one look at the sky and decided it hung too low. With a shove and heave, Maui pushed the sky up higher.
Version 2 – In this telling of the story, Hina sends Maui to a big wiliwili tree where he finds his old, blind grandmother laying out bananas. Ever mischievous, Maui starts stealing bananas from his grandmother, one by one until she catches him in the act. Maui tells his Grandmother about his mother's complaints and sending him out to the tree. After hearing the story, Grandmother decides to help him with making a rope. Maui then sits by the tree, waiting until the Sun passes by overhead and he lassos it, forcing it to agree to slow it's progress across the sky.
Version 3 – Very similar to the story in Version 2, Maui decides to slow down the sun after a man by the name of Moemoe taunts him and says it can't be done. Just to prove him wrong, Maui sets off to slow down the sun much like he did earlier with finding his grandmother and getting her help. After Maui slows down the sun, he chases after Moemoe and beats him soundly.
Lifting The Sky
While a similar story of Maui lifting the sky is told in his quest to slow down the sun, there is another expanded version of this story.
After a while, as Maui was looking around, he could see that the sky was far too low to the ground and that people were unable to stand up straight. Being Maui, if he didn't like a thing, he went about changing it. As it just so happened to be, the sky was sinking or lowering and would have made living on the earth impossible for humans.
Maui proceeded to travel to the town of Lahaina, to enlist his father into helping him lift the sky. There, Maui laid himself on the ground and then bracing himself, pushed the sky upwards with all of his considerable strength.
At the signal, Maui's father, Ru also began pushing with all his might, aiding his son in getting the sky up high enough so people could stand upright. So there you have it, another of Maui's deeds done.
Variations – In other retellings of this story, Maui lifts up the sky when he comes across a girl complaining how the sky was too low and that she couldn't do her chores. Like any guy seeking to impress a girl, Maui decided to push up the sky for her.
Yet another variation is that Maui was busy making an earth oven when his poker got stuck up in the sky. To get his poker unstuck and to keep it from getting stuck again, Maui simply pushed the sky up higher. Again, this was all part of impressing a girl.
Defeating The Long Eel
Still one more legend of Maui's to cover in Hawaiian mythology!
After Maui finished pulling up all of the islands with his Fish-Hook, he decided to start exploring them to find out what all was there. Traveling to each of the islands, Maui discovered that they were all inhabitable. There were houses, but no one living in them, no one in the whole of all the islands.
Taking ideas from the layout and build of the houses, Maui returned home and built a new house for himself in the style of what he had seen on the islands. Finished, Maui then sought out Hinakealohaila (or just Hina, not to be confused with his mother) to marry.
Time passed and Hina went down to a nearby river bank to get some water. While down there, Hina ran into the Long Eel Tuna, who just so happened to decide that striking Hina and covering her in slime was somehow a good idea.
Hina ran back home, but didn't tell Maui of what transpired. Or at least, not yet.
The next day, Hina went back down to the riverbank and the same thing happened. The Long Eel Tuna hitting and covering her with slime again. This time, when she returned home, Hina told Maui about what happened.
Angry, Maui headed down to the river. Once down there, Maui laid out a number of traps designed to lure the Long Eel Tuna out of hiding. When the Eel Tuna emerged, Mauil used his stone axe to kill them. It seems that the Long Eel Tuna had been causing many people in the village problems. Thanks now to Maui, everyone would be safe.
Mangarevan Mythology
In this mythology cycle, the Maui known as Maui the Eight-Eyed is the hero, born from his mother's navel and raised by his grandfather, Te Rupe. This Maui has a magic staff called Atua-Tane and a hatchet called Iraiapatapata. Like the Hawaiian and Maori legends, Maui still pulls up the islands from the sea and ties up the sun with locks of hair to slow it down or hold in place.
Maori Mythology
The legend of Maui among the Maori is a long epic.
The Birth Of Maui
Maui was born the son of Taranga and Makeatutara. Considered a miraculous birth, Makeatutara had taken her premature baby and threw it into the ocean wrapped in locks of hair from her topknot. Hence, Maui is known as Maui-Tikitiki-A-Taranga. Fortunately for the infant Maui, ocean spirits found him and wrapping him in seaweed, took him to Tama-Nui-Te-Ra (or Rangi), a divine ancestor who raised the child.
It is Maori tradition, that any baby prematurely born is buried with special incantations and ceremonies least the spirit of the unborn child become a malicious spirit as they had never known any joy or happiness in life. Given what happens later in the stories with Maui, this may be why they bury the baby with rites and ceremonies instead of tossing them into the ocean. It would certainly explain all the mean spirited tricks and deeds that Maui performs.
Reuniting With His Family
Once Maui was a child and no longer a premature infant, he left the sea, going search of his mother and family. When Maui found his mother's house, he discovered four other older brothers: Maui-Taha, Maui-Roto, Maui-Pae and Maui-Waho.
Understandably, the brothers were all leery of this new comer. Maui won them all over by performing many tricks such as transforming into a number of different birds. The brothers were greatly impressed and accepted Maui.
As for his mother, Maui introduced himself to Taranga when everyone was gathered for some dancing and celebrating. Maui sat down behind his brothers, when Taranga called for her children, she discovered a fifth unknown child among her sons. Maui soon proved he was Taranga's son and he was accepted into the family.
At first, some of Maui's brothers were jealous. They were put at easy by the eldest brother telling them how they should let Maui be counted among them, that in days of peace, they should be generous to others by helping to improve the welfare of others and that in times of war, that's only when disputes should be settled with violence. The speech worked and Maui was finally welcomed home.
Maui Finding His Father
Though Maui stayed with his mother and his brothers, each morning, his mother Taranga would disappear. None of Maui's older brothers seemed concerned about their mother's disappearance each morning. This bothered Maui who wondered where Taranga would go each morning before they woke.
When nightfall came again, Taranga returned to her children, they all went to sleep as before on other nights in their house. This time, Maui stayed awake so that when everyone else had fallen asleep, he stole Taranga's clothing and hid them. Then Maui went and hid himself in the crevice of a window above the doorway so that when morning came, he could see where it was that his mother went.
After what seemed like forever, morning finally came and Taranga awoke. Upon finding she was naked, Taranga began frantically looking for her clothes, finally she gave up and began pulling off pieces of siding from the house to cover herself. Covered, she now ran outside.
Watching from his hiding spot, Maui watched as his mother reach down to some tufts of grass, revealing a hole that she disappeared into and pulling close behind her. Curious, Maui came out of his hiding spot and ran to the spot where the grass had been pulled up. Sure enough, he found the opening to a cave descending deep into the earth, to the Underworld in fact.
Covering the hole again, Maui returned to the house and woke up his brothers. He asked them about where it is that their father and mother went during the day. The older brothers answered that they didn't know. They taunted Maui saying he shouldn't worry or bother and that Rangi, the god of the sky was their father.
Little Maui responded how he had been brought up differently from his brothers, having been tossed to the sea. That he had never been nursed by their mother and how he longed to find where it was that she and father went to during the day.
Surprised by the response, Maui's brothers encouraged to try and find their parents. Maui said that he would go and demonstrated to them his ability to turn into a bird. It was only with the kereru or wood pigeon shape that his brothers were impressed. The ability to shapeshift was something that only a skilled magician with a lot magic could perform and Maui delighted in his being the youngest brother, able to do something the others couldn't.
Bidding farewell to his brothers, Maui took off in pigeon form to seek after his parents. Long Maui flew off into the forest and down to the cave his mother had disappeared into. Eventually, Maui came to a place where he saw many people gathered in a grove of trees. Among these people, Maui spotted his mother seated by whom he could only assume to be his father.
Still in bird form, Maui descended to a lower branch where he could pick off some berries growing. These berries, Maui dropped down to his father on the head with. Some of the other people at the gathering asked if the bird had dropped the berry and Maui's father, Makeatutara insisted the berry had only fallen by chance.
Once more, Maui plucked more berries and threw them down hard at both of his parents. As Maui's parents cried out, the other people gathered there, looked up to the tree and seeing only a pigeon sitting there cooing, began to throw stones at the bird. All the stones missed and it was when Maui's father threw a stone at the bird that he hit the pigeon, but only because Maui allowed it.
The pigeon fell to the ground and when the others ran up to it, it turned into a man. The others were taken aback for the eyes of the young man who now stood before them were red and fierce looking. Talking amongst themselves, the others discussed if the man standing before them was a god like Rangi and Papa-Tu-A-Nuku. Finally Taranga spoke up and said the man looked like someone knew and repeated the story of Maui's premature birth everyone to hear.
Taranga then asked the man, Maui who he was and where he came from. When she asked Maui, if he was her child Maui-Tikitiki-O-Taranga, he answered yes and Taranga welcomed him where she seemed to prophesy that he would visit his ancestor, Hine-Nui-Te-Po and conquer death.
Now a man, Maui's father Makeatutara took him down to the river to be baptized in order to cleanse and purify his son. As luck would have it, Makeatutara made a mistake during the ceremony with incantations, having skipped over parts and forgotten them. This mistake was an ill omen that would eventually lead to the death of Maui. The gods would be sure to punish this forgetfulness with Maui's eventual death.
In the meantime, however, Maui returned to his brothers to tell them he had found their parents and how to find them too.
Maui Getting Bloodthirsty
After returning to his brothers, Maui ended up slaying and carrying away his first victim, the daughter of Maru-Te-Whare-Aitu. Not long after, Maui proceeded to destroy the crops of Maru-Te-Whare-Aitu, causing them to all wither.
Maui Gaining His Jaw-Bone Weapon
His first war raid done, Maui once more visited his parents. While with them, he noticed how the other people would be carrying away some food as if it were being taken to someone.
When he asked for who, they informed Maui it was for an ancestress, Muri-Ranga-Whenua, an old chief. Maui responded with saying that he would take the food to her.
In typical trickster fashion, Maui didn't take any of the food to Muri-Ranga-Whenua. Instead he set them to the side, hiding them away. Eventually Muri-Ranga-Whenua wondered why her food wasn't coming and suspecting that something was up, she wandered down the path, sniffing.
Finally smelling something coming, Muri-Ranga-Whenua's stomach began to enlarge as she got ready to devour Maui as soon as he came close enough. Maui went up wind of the old chief so she couldn't find him. Turning westward, Muri-Ranga-Whenua finally smelled someone close to her, realizing it was a human.
Muri-Ranga-Whenua's stomach shrunk back to normal size and she greeted Maui as one of her descendants. Her next question was why Maui wasn't bring her food. Maui answered that he was seeking for Muri-Ranga-Whenua's jaw-bone to use as a weapon. The old chief consented and gave Maui the bone.
Holding Back The Sun
Similar to the story found in the Hawaiian cycle, Maui for his next quest, takes the jaw-bone of an ancestor, Muri-Ranga-Whenua to use as a weapon. He uses this jaw-bone to ensnare the Sun so it will be forced to move slower throughout the day, thus making the days longer. With the aid of his brothers, Maui lassoes the Sun and beats them soundly until the Sun agrees to move slower.
Variation – Sometimes a net is mentioned as what Maui used to catch the Sun before Maui and his brother beat the Sun senseless with his magic jawbone to the point it could limp slowly now across the sky.
Gone Fishing – Part 1
Somewhere along the line, Maui got married and had a number of wives and children to boot. When Maui and his brothers returned from the feat of Holding back and slowing down the sun, he heard the complaints of his family and how they had no fish to eat.
Maui assured his wives and children not to fret, he would soon take care of this trivial matter and they would soon enough have food to eat. He then took his jaw-bone and fashioned it into a fish-hook.
When Maui's brother headed out to go fishing, Maui jumped in the canoe. His brothers yelled for Maui to get out of the boat, claiming that his constant use of magic would cause problems. Eventually Maui got out of the canoe seeing as his brothers refused to take him.
Determined, Maui just waited until it was night when he went back to the beach and his brothers' canoe. This time he hid in the bottom, under some boards. When his brothers came at dawn, they headed out to sea, none the wiser that Maui was hidden on board.
Once they were well at sea, Maui came out of his hiding spot. Seeing him, his brothers commented that they had better return to shore. Using his magic, Maui stretched out the distance from the shore to the boat that when his brothers looked for land, it was out of view.
Maui told his brothers that they should let him come with, at the very least he could be able to bail water out of the canoe for them. The brothers consented and they paddled on towards their fishing spot. Maui wasn't content and told his brothers to paddle out further before dropping anchor, which spot would be far out of view of land.
Far out on the open ocean, the brothers now began to fish and soon, easily they had their canoe filled with fish in no time.
Pulling Up The Islands – Part 2
Continuing from Gone Fishing, this story is similar to the previously mentioned Hawaiian story of Pulling Up The Islands. Now that the brothers had filled the canoe, they wanted to return, but not Maui who now wanted a turn at fishing.
The North Island – Maui's brothers wanted to know where he got a fishing-hook from, to which he told them never mind. When he asked to borrow of their bait, his brothers refused. With no other recourse, Maui made a fist and struck his own nose, using his own blood for bait.
With that and using incantations, Maui managed to snag the porch of a carved house on the sea bed floor and pulled up not just the house with his superhuman strength, but an entire island. Witht his much land pulled up, the canoe became grounded.
With the newly pulled up land and the haul of fish that had been caught, Maui went to go make an offering of thanks to the gods. He instructed his brothers to wait until her returned before eating or cutting up any of the fish, that everyone would get a fair share.
While Maui went to get a priest to bless, consecrate and purify the land, his brothers went ahead and started to cut up the fish that were also pulled up. These fish began to writhe in agony and in their throes, the mountains, cliffs and valleys of the island were formed. It's been said if the brothers had waited for Maui to make his offerings, the island would have all been level plains and forest, making it easy for people to traverse it. The Maori call this land Te Ika-a-Maaui, the Fish of Maui or Hahau-Whenua, it is the North Island of New Zealand.
The South Island – By Maori tradition, Maui's canoe becomes the South Island. The Banks Peninsula is said to be where Maui place his foot to support himself as he pulled in his fish haul. The island is known as Te Waipounamu or Te Waka-A-Maui, the canoe of Maui.
The Secret Of Fire
The secret for the creation of fire had been lost and Maui decided to remedy that situation. Of course, if Maui didn't have it in his head to pull the stunt of putting out all of the fires for the cooking houses in the village, there would still be fire. But no, Maui puts them all out and then calls out, saying he's hungry and getting someone to come cook up some food for him and there's no fire to be had, anywhere.
When Maui's mother heard there was no fire, she implored the servants to seek out Mahu-Ika to see if she would send more fire. The servants refused, no matter how Maui's mother and others insisted they go.
Finally, Maui spoke up and said that he would go and get more fire. In order to do so, he needed to know which way to go. His parents informed Maui which path he should go, that he should let Mahu-Ika know who he was and that he shouldn't perform any of his tricks as too often, his tricks brought harm and injury to others.
Yes, they're on to you Maui!
Of course, Maui assured his folks he was only interested in bringing fire, he wasn't going to do anything else, he'd go and come back right away. Honest!
So off he goes, in search of Mahu-Ika, the goddess of fire and his ancestor. When Maui found Mahu-Ika, he was filled with wonder and awe, all he could do was stare before he finally spoke up asking her where the fire was, he had come to get some.
Mahu-Ika got up and asked who Maui was. At first, Maui wouldn't tell Mahu-Ika was, making her do a quessing game of which country he was from and which direction he had come. Finally, when Mahu-Ika asked Maui if he had come on the wind, he said yes and she recognized him as one of her descendants.
Mahu-Ika proceeded to pull out a fingernail from which fire flowed out. This she gave to Maui who was amazed by the feat. Maui took the fingernail away with him and when he was out of sight, he promptly put the fire out.
Maui returned to Mahu-Ika saying that the fire she had given him had gone out and to give him another. Once more, Mahu-Ika pulled one of her fingernails out, producing fire to give to Maui once more.
Maui managed to keep this antic up of coming back to Mahu-Ika saying the fire had gone out until he had gotten her to pull out all of the nails from her hands and feet save for the nail of her big toe. Nine times and Mahu-Ika finally catches on that Maui might be playing tricks on her.
Angry, Mahu-Ika pulled the last nail out and slamming it on the ground, she told Maui that he now had all the fire as everything around them began to catch fire. Maui made a mad dash to escape with the fire quickly gaining. Maui changed himself into an eagle (or hawk) to be fast enough to escape.
Even as an eagle, his flight wasn't enough and the fire was about to consume Maui; he called on his ancestors Tawhiri-Ma-Tea and Whatitiri-Matakatak to send rain. The ancestors answered and soon there was a heavy rain. Mahu-Ika was nearly killed in the resulting downpour before she could hide. Maui however, in his eagle form was scorched, resulting in black-tipped wings. Mahu-Ika saved some of her fire by placing it in the wood of trees.
When Maui returned from this latest stunt, his parents tried to warn him about trying to trick his ancestors and that he deserved what he got. They concluded the speech that things would end badly and likely in his death if he didn't stop his behavior. Maui taunted his parents, saying what did he care, he planned to continue. With that, Maui went off to seek out his next round of mischief.
Variation – A little simpler, Maui gained the secrets of fire by stealing a hen from heaven as fire was believed to be guarded by a celestial chicken.
Turning Irawaru Into A Dog
Shortly after his theft of fire, Maui went out fishing with his brother in law, Irawaru who had married Maui's younger sister Hinauri, Maui as per his luck, had only caught one fish while Irawaru was catching plenty of fish. Fuming his poor luck, Maui lost his cool when Irawaru's line got tangled with his. The classic two fishermen tugging on their respective lines, each in the opposite direction.
The two began arguing about how it was their fish on the line and to let go. Finally Irawaru relented and let go of his line enough that Maui was able to pull up on his end. Once the line was pulled up, Maui saw that the fish caught was indeed on Irawaru's line and that it was his line entangled with the other.
Mad, Maui said they should return to shore and the two began paddling. Once back to shore, Maui had Irawaru lift up the canoe to his back as part of pulling it in. No sooner had Irawaru gotten the canoe up onto this back than Maui jumped on it, forcing the whole weight down on his brother-in-law, nearly killing him.
Nearly dead, Maui continued to trample Irawaru's body, twisting and forming him through the use of magic into a dog. Maui completed the job by force feeding Irawaru some dung.
That done, Maui went back to the village, acting like nothing had happened. It's then, that Maui's little sister Hinauri on seeing him, ran up to asked where her husband Irawaru was. Maui responded with that he had left Irawaru back with the canoe. Well how come the two of them didn't return together? Oh, well that's because Irawaru wanted Hinauri's help with bringing back the fish. So you had better hurry and if you don't see him, just call out "Mo-i, mo-i, mo-i."
Hinauri hurried down to the beach looking for her husband. Not seeing him, she called Irawaru's name and when there was no response, then she called as Maui had told her to with the "Mo-i, mo-i, mo-i."
Irawaru, now in his dog form, recognized his wife and barked back. He followed her all the way back to the village wagging his tail. Seeing what had happened to her husband, Hinauri became very distraught with grief to the point that she threw herself into the sea.
As to Maui, that antic seems rather petty to have done, but no different from say the Greek gods taking it out on mortals. Maui was now at a point that he found it best to leave the village and once more return to the Underworld where his parents lived.
Variation – Sometimes the story of Maui turning Irawaru into a dog is told that they were on their way to another village not far away. As they were headed on the return trip home, Maui had asked Irawaru to carry some food for them. Irawaru said there was no need to, they had just eaten a meal and it was only a short ways home.
This angered Maui and he used his magic to make the journey home take longer than it should have. As they continued to walk on the seemingly endless road, both Maui and Irawaru grew tired and hungry.
As they sat down, Maui pulled the food he had brought for himself after all and proceeded to eat right in front of Irawaru.
If it had been me, I would have left it at that.
Not Maui, after finishing his meal and not offering anything to Irawaru, Maui asked his brother-in-law to clean and dress his hair. Irawaru supposed that was harmless enough and did the job for Maui. When he had finished, Maui offered to clean and dress Irawaru's hair for him. Thinking nothing of it, Irawaru allowed Maui to do so. Maui put Irawaru into an enchanted sleep and with further magic, changed Irawaru into a dog.
Either way, in Maori legends, Irawaru is the progenitor of all dogs.
The Death Of Maui
Version 1 – In this version of Maui's death, people got tired of all his antics and decided to kill him. As a result, Maui's blood is what creates rainbows and is responsible for the color of shrimp.
But that's not a very exiting end for a hero and trouble maker.
Version 2: The Quest for Immortality! – This one is more exciting and noteworthy.
Following the events of a botched baptismal ceremony, Maui takes it on himself to go win immortality for humankind. Maui's father, Makeatutara tries to dissuade him of the notion, that he will fail and that someone will kill him.
Of course, since Maui's last antics involved turning Irawaru into a dog, he's looking to leave the village anyways. He's certainly gotten more than enough people upset with him, Maui heads off for the Underworld where his parents are at.
After staying with his folks for some time, Maui's father, Makeatutara makes mention of how they have heard of Maui's deeds up in the living world, but being down here in the Underworld, he's sure to be defeated at some point. Makeatutara is also remembering the botched baptismal ceremony, knowing that Maui will come to a bad end.
Maui scoffs at this notion of someone defeating him, who after all would do that? Makeatutara says it would be Maui's ancestor, Hine-Nui-Te-Po, the goddess of the Night. Undaunted, Maui boasts of his many previous deeds with pulling up the islands and slowing down the sun, saying that it won't be possible to beat him.
Makeatutara relents and tells Maui to go find his ancestress who lives far on the horizon. After asking what she looks like, Makeatutara told Maui his ancestor, Hine-Nui-Te-Po looks human but with greenstones for eyes and sea kelp hair, barracuda mouth and that the red flashing of light came from her.
Unfazed, Maui set off towards the west with companions towards the home of Hine-Nui-Te-Po. In some versions of the stories, these companions of Maui are birds such as the tomtit, robin, warbler and fantail. In other versions, these companions are Maui's brothers.
Eventually, Maui finds Hine-Nui-Te-Po asleep with her legs spread apart. Maui and his companions were quick to note rows of sharp obsidian and greenstones between Hine's legs.
Maui now informed the others of his master plan, telling his companions not to laugh and to save it for after. Maui planned to enter Hine-Nui-Te-Po's vagina, in a reverse birth process and to exit out her mouth. This, according to Maui was to gain him immortality.
Maui's companions tried to dissuade him, saying he would be killed. Maui was again undaunted, insisting if his friends did laugh, waking Hini-Nui-Te-Po, then yes, he would die, but if he successfully passed through her, he would live and that she would be the one to die.
This of course is where the companions just shut up and let Maui do his thing as he readied himself, tying a rope that held his battle club around his waist and thrusting off his clothes. Ready, Maui began to climb in, very much the image of reverse birth as his companions did their best not to laugh.
As it happens with these type of stories, the one task you're not supposed to do, happens and one of the companions couldn't hold it in anymore and began laughing. One version of the story says it's the fantail who begins laughing and wakes Hine-Nui-Te-Po who opens her eyes and quickly closes her legs tight, cutting Maui in half.
Instead of immortality, Maui becomes the first person to die, bringing death to the world. Hine-Nui-Te-Po maintained her post as the Goddess of the Underworld the portal to which all humans must pass through on death.
Variation – When Maui set off to gain immortality for humankind, he did so by changing into a worm in order to enter the vagina of Hine-Nui-Te-Po and leaving through her mouth. This stunt didn't work out so well as Hine-Nui-Te-Po crushed Maui in her sleep with the obsidian teeth in her vagina.
Maui And Rohe
We're not quite done with Maui! In a few stories, Maui is married to the goddess Rohe whom he ends up mistreating in some rather cruel and unusual means.
Wow, really?
What happens, is that Maui wished to trade faces with Rohe as she is very beautiful and he on the other hand is rather ugly.
Rohe refused to trade faces and when she was asleep, Maui used an incantation to make the trade and switch for faces. When Rohe woke up and realized what happened, she left the living world and departed for the Underworld, becoming the Goddess of Death.
Good one Maui.
Samoan Mythology
In Samoan mythology, the character of Ti'iti'i is very similar to that of Maui. Many of the stories are similar to those of Maui from other Polynesian cultures. One striking similiarity is the story of Ti'iti'i's theft of fire from the earthquake god, Mafui'e. In this story, Ti'iti'i breaks off one of Mafui'e's arms, forcing them to reveal the secret of fire and how to rub sticks together for friction to create it.
For the Samoans, the loss of Mafui'e's arm means that he is unable to create even bigger earthquakes.
Tahitian Mythology
Among the Tahitians, Maui was a prophet or priest who later becomes deified.
He had once been at a sacred place known as a marae busy with some task or other. When the sun began to set before he was finished, Maui grabbed hold of the sun's rays and halted the movement of the sun so he could complete his task.
Maui became known as Ao-ao-ma-ra'i-a after he discovered fire and passed on his knowledge to others to create it by the use of friction with wood. Before this, people would eat their food raw.
As a final bit of lore, Maui is the one responsible for earthquakes.
Tongan Mythology
Among the Tongans, the Maui stories tell how he pulled up the Tongan islands from the depths of the ocean, starting first with Lofanga, then the other Ha'apai islands and finishing up with Vava'u. That task finished, Maui lived on the island of Tonga. The village of Houma located on the main island of Tongatapu is noted for being the place where Maui's fish-hook got caught.
In these stories, Maui has two sons: Maui-Atalanga, the eldest and Maui-Kisikisi, the younger. In other sources, there are listed three Maui brothers: Maui-Motu'a (old Maui), Maui-Atalanga and Maui-Kisikisi (dragonfly Maui). It is Maui-Atlanga who discovered the secret of fire and taught others how to cook with it. Maui-Motu, like Atlas from Greek mythos, holds the earth up on his shoulders. Whenever Maui-Motu starts to nod off, he causes earthquakes and people will stomp the ground in order to wake him up. The god, Hikule'o who rules the underworld of Pulotu is Maui-Motu's youngest son.
Maui-Kisikis is known for being a trickster. He gained the name of Maui-Fusi-Fonua or Maui Land Puller after Maui-Kisikisi begged for a magic fish-hook from an old fisherman by the name of Tongafusifonua. The old man would only allow the fish-hook to be taken on the condition that Maui be able to find it in his collection of hooks. Tongafusifonua's wife, Tavatava told Maui the secret of how to find the hook and Maui was able to succeed at picking it out from all the other hooks. With this hook, Maui-Kisikisi was able to pull up the coral islands from the bottom of the sea as these volcanic islands were believed to have fallen from the heavens.
Movie Time – Moana!
So of course, the movie came out in 2016, featuring the famous Maui of Polynesian mythology. Since I was curious, I of course wanted to know how much of the mythology and stories that the movie gets right.
It is of course, a new story and the Maui seen in the movie pulls and combines many of the aspects of him found primarily in Hawaiian and Maori legends. Much of which is confirmed during the song: "You're Welcome" and a quick montage of all of Maui's deeds that he's done that have earned him a new tattoo to commemorate the event.
The character of Te Fiti in her darker aspect as Te Ka was originally referred to as Te Po, based on the Maori goddess Hine-Nui-Te-Po, the goddess of night, death and the underworld. Others have noted a strong similarity between Te Ka and the Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele.
Interestingly, while the movie was being developed and written, it incorporates the history of Polynesian people as voyagers who just abruptly ceased and then a thousand years later, start sailing again. Why? No one knows. However, the story of Moana certainly provides an interesting what if story to it.
Posted in Ancestors, Anger/Temper, Baptizism, Bird, Birth, Brothers, Chicken, Children, Consort, Constellations, Death, Deity, Demigod, Dog, Eagle, Earthquake, Eel, Evil, Family, Father, Fire, Fish, Fish-Hook, Fishing, Grief, Hawaiian, Hawk, Heroes, Immortal, Islands, Jaw-Bone, Kupua, Magic, Mangarevan, Maori, Miracle, Mother/Motherhood, Murder, New Zealand, Ocean, Polynesian, Premature, Priest, Prophecy, Punishment, Purification, Samoan, Scorpion, Shape-Shifter, Sky, Storms, Strength, Sun, Tahitian, Thief, Tongan, Trickery/Cunning, Trickster, Underworld, Vulture, Youth
Etymology – "Youth," "Flower of Youth" or "Prime of Life"
Pronunciation: hee'-bee
Other Names and Epithets: Ἡβη, Basileia (Princess), Dia, Ganymeda, Juventas (Roman)
Hebe is the goddess of Youth in Greek mythology. She had also been the cup bearer to the gods before being replaced by the youth, Ganymede. In Pindar's Nemean Odes, he notes how Hebe is one of the most beautiful goddesses in Olympus.
Animal: Chicken, Eagle
Festivals: Kissotomoi
Month: June
Patron of: Sinners, Former Prisoners and Slaves, Young Brides
Plant: Ivy, Lettuce
Sphere of Influence: Youth, Vitality, Forgiveness
Symbols: Chalice, Fountain of Youth, Wings
Greek Depictions
In Grecian art, Hebe is frequently shown as a young woman wearing a crown of flowers and a sleeveless dress or partially nude. Many ancient vases show Hebe in either her role as cup-bearer or as Heracles' bride. Occasionally, Hebe is shown to have wings like Iris or Nike.
There is a lost, though famous statue of Hebe made of gold and ivory that was sculpted by Naucydes during the 5th century B.C.E.
Hebe was worshiped in Phlious and Sicyon. There she was known by the name of Dia. They would pardon or forgive supplicants who came to her temple to pay respects and reverence.
Kissotomoi – Also known as Ivy-Cutters, this was a yearly festival held in secret dedicated to Hebe as Dia.
Hebe was also worshiped in Athens where she had an alter near an alter dedicated to Heracles in the Cynosarges.
Zeus – King of the Olympian Gods is Hebe's father.
Hera – Queen of the Olympian Gods is Hebe's mother.
Another version for Hebe's parentage is that her mother, Hera became pregnant when she ate some lettuce while dining with the god Apollo.
Siblings –
Some sources list only a couple of siblings for Hebe, namely Ares and Eileithyia. Regardless of how many siblings that Hebe is noted to have, she was regarded as being the youngest of all of the Olympian gods residing on Mount Olympus.
Aeacus, Angelos, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Dionysus, Eileithyia, Enyo, Ersa, Helen of Troy, Heracles, Hephaestus, Hermes, Minos, Pandia, Persephone, Perseus, Rhadamanthus, the Graces, the Horae, the Litae, the Muses, the Moirai
In some of the myths, Hebe is the wife of the Greek hero Hercules after he became deified. It's also kind of wrong given they're half siblings.
With Heracles, Hebe bore two children, Alexiares and Anicetus.
Cup-Bearer To The Gods
As cup-bearer to the gods on Mount Olympus, Hebe's duties were to fill the gods' chalices with the nectar of the gods, that would keep them all youthful and invigorated. In addition to the nectar, Hebe also served the ambrosia.
Some stories have Hebe being replaced by Ganymede to become the cup-bearer to the gods, other stories have where the youth is just one of two cup-bearers.
Most people seem to be familiar with the story of Hebe having been clumsy and either accidentally having a wardrobe malfunction or spilling the nectar. Either way, Apollo or Zeus fired Hebe on the spot and replaced with Ganymede.
Another version has Hebe leaving her post as cup-bearer to the gods when she marries Heracles and that's why Ganymede ultimately takes over the divine position as cup-bearer.
Goddess Of Beauty
Sometimes, albeit briefly and in passing, Hebe is mentioned as a goddess of Beauty. For this, I can see Hebe sometimes being mentioned as one of Aphrodite, the goddess of love's attendants.
Goddess Of Pardons & Forgiveness
As previously mentioned under worship, Hebe was the goddess of pardoning. In Hebe's sanctuary in Phlius, she had a grove where freed prisoners would hang their former chains before going to live a free life.
Goddess Of Youth
This function pretty much goes hand in hand with Hebe's role as cup-bearer for she was responsible for the vitality of youth and bestowing it on the other gods with dispensing and filling their cups with the nectar of the gods.
Fountain of Youth – In Greek myths, the fabled Fountain of Youth is a fountain from which the waters that flowed would keep one youth forever or restore one's youth. As the goddess of Youth, Hebe guarded over these waters and they could only be found and used by her.
Young Brides – As Hebe's mother is Hera, the goddess of marriage, as her daughter, Hebe is a handmaiden to Hera and the goddess of young brides. Other goddesses that Hebe would accompany for overseeing weddings are: Aphrodite, the Charities or Graces and Harmonia.
Spring – As a goddess of Youth, Hebe is sometimes seen as a goddess of the springtime.
Immortality – According to Euphronios in his writings, Hebe as a goddess of Youth is also the goddess of Immortality. Many have often pointed out over the years, what good is immortality if you don't also have the strength, vitality and youth to go with it?
There's a metaphor, from the Bacchylides where receiving the Basileia ("the Princess") of heaven, one could gain or win immortality.
Granting Youth – When Heracles nephew, Iolaus grew old, he prayed to Hebe to be young again before he went off to fight Eurystheus. Hebe granted Iolaus' request on Heracles' behalf for the day. This episode is shown in Euripidies' play Heracleidae.
In Ovid's The Metamorphoses, there is an episode where after Hebe grants this guerdon or boon, that Themis, the goddess of Justice says to grant it this once is fair. After which there was a great discussion among that other gods and it was agreed not to allow any further gifts of restored youth.
Marriage To Heracles
When Heracles became deified and ascended to Mount Olympus, there was a marriage between the mighty hero and Hebe. This marriage was held to try and reconcile the problems between the mighty hero and Hera, Hebe's mother.
Ancient Greek Traditions & Responsibilities
Aside from being the cup-bearer, Hebe would also help her mother, Hera when preparing her chariot. She has also been known to draw the bath for Ares after a battle.
It seems a bit odd at first some of these other servant-like tasks that Hebe held. She was the youngest of all of the Olympian gods and her role reflects the ancient Greek custom where the daughter helps and assists around the house and serving guests.
Deific Counterparts
Previously mentioned, Ganymedes served as Hebe's male counterpart in her role as being cup-bearer to the gods.
As the goddess of youth, Hebe's counter was Geras, the goddess or personification of Old Age.
Hebe is sometimes seen as being the counterpart or similar to Pandeia, the daughter of the moon goddess Selene.
Juventas – Roman Goddess
The Romans are very famous for taking and equating their gods with those of the Greeks or flat out renaming them. It is no different with Hebe, her Roman name and counterpart is Juventas.
In Rome, Juventas held a temple on the Capitol and Terminus long before there was one built for Jupiter. There was another temple for Juventas at the Circus Maximus.
The Month of June – This story is found more in the Roman myths as there's a minor spat and disagreement over which goddess gave their name to the month of June, Juno or Juventas. It's a minor footnote of a story as Juventas has a discussion with her husband, Hercules about wanting only her honor and acknowledgment for the month of June. Most people default to assuming Juno gave her name for the month of June.
Posted in Air, Ambrosia, Beauty, Boon, Chicken, Cup-Bearer, Deity, Eagle, Family, Forgiveness, Fountain Of Youth, Freedom, Greek, Immortal, Ivy, Lettuce, Marriage, Princess, Roman, Sinner, Slavery - Slave, Spring, Tradition, Uncategorized, Vitality, Youth
Other names: Catamitus (Latin), Ganymedes
Etymology: The etymology of the name Ganymede is rather uncertain with many people and sources giving different meanings. A possible Latin meaning is "Gladdening Prince" that takes from the Greek words of ganumai meaning "gladdening" and mêdon or medeôn which means "prince." As this last word likely has a double meaning, another translation is "genitals." In which case, Ganymede's name is meant to have a deliberate double-meaning.
Plato gives forth the meanings of "Ganu," meaning: "taking pleasure," and "med," meaning: "mind."
Robert Graves in his "The Greek Myths" says that Ganymede comes from the words: ganyesthai and medea, meaning "rejoicing in virility."
Pronunciation: [gan-uh-meed]
The story of Ganymede is one that is some three thousand years old and dates from the pre-Hellenic and Aegean myths. It's important to note too, that Ganymede is Trojan and has his place first in the Anatolian myths before his story later becomes part of the classical Greek and Roman legends.
Ganymede's story and myth is one that has changed too over the millennia. Later Cretan and Minoan additions to the story come some many hundreds if not a thousand years before the Greek version of the story. For many modern day readers, the Hellenic version of the story is the most familiar and well-known.
Ganymede was the son of King Tros of Dardania and who is the basis for the kingdom of Troy in Phrygia from Greek mythology. An exceptionally beautiful youth, Ganymede had caught the attention of Zeus when he was out watching over his father's flock of sheep on Mount Ida. Now, depending on the versions of the story being told, Zeus, either in the guise of an eagle or sending his eagle Aquila, comes and carries him off to Mount Olympus.
Now, when King Tros heard of his son's disappearance, he grieved so much that Zeus sent the messenger god Hermes to deliver two storm-footed horses as compensation. Other versions state that Zeus gave Tros a golden vine crafted by the god Hephaistos in addition to the two horses. These horses were said to be so fast that they could run over water. The legendary Heracles would ask for these same horses later as payment for destroying the sea monster sent by the god Poseidon when he attacked the city of Troy. Hermes was tasked too with assuring Tros that Ganymede would become immortal and have a place of great honor among the gods as Zeus' cup-bearer.
Once he arrived in Olympus, Ganymede faced the wrath of Hera, the wife of Zeus. She was angry and very likely jealous that her husband had taken such a fancy to a young boy. In addition to this, Hera was also angry that Zeus intended for Ganymede to replace Hebe, her daughter as the cup-bearer, after an incident where Hebe had accidentally spilled some of the nectar of the gods.
Eos Kidnapping Ganymede & Tithonus
Another version of this myth says that it was Eos, the goddess of the Dawn who carries off Ganymede to Mount Olympus. At this same time, Eos had also kidnapped another, Tithonus. Zeus succeeded at snatching Ganymede away from Eos while making a bargain with her for Tithonus to become immortal. In her bargaining, Eos forgot to ask for Tithonus to also remain youthful. As a result, everyday Eos watched Tithonus grow older until she locked him in a room as she could no longer bear the sight of him so old or he turned into a grasshopper.
Ganymedes' Lineage – Divine Heritage
While Ganymede is listed as the son of Tros, ruler of Dardania that would become known as Troy and Callirrhoe, the daughter of the river god Scamander.
Tros and Callirrhoe had two other sons: Assaracus and Ilus.
In Pseudo-Apollodorus' Bibliotheca, he mentions that Tros and Callirrhoe also had a daughter, Cleopatra, a rather common name and not necessarily any of a line of Egyptian Queens.
It should be noted in some versions, Tros is the son of Erichthonius, who in turn is himself the son of Astyoche the daughter of the river god Simoeis. Following the lineage back through Tros' grandfather of Dardanus, you find a connection to Zeus in the way of his being the great grandfather to Tros.
Ultimately, that makes Zeus Ganymede's' Great-Great Grandfather.
Sometimes, the genealogy of Ganymede gets confused and instead of Tros as his father, it is another king of Troy, Laomedon who is mentioned as the youth's father. It can get rather confusing, as the genealogy will place Laomedon as a nephew to Ganymede with Ilus II as his father and thus Tros as grandfather to him. The overall story of Ganymede is still pretty much the same regardless of who's mentioned as the father.
Regardless of the versions of the story told, Ganymede does become the cup-bearer to the gods and basically serves them their wine. Further variations of this story tell how Ganymede would ride Zeus' eagle Aquila, accompanying this god on his travels. Both the Aquila constellation near Aquarius and the constellation of Crater, said to be Ganymede's cup, are near the Aquarius constellation to complete this story.
Ganymede also becomes deified as he was given immorality and eternal youth by Zeus and ends up being the one responsible for the annual Nile River flooding and the life-giving waters of rain. Some scholars have pointed out that like the story of Capricorn, the Greeks are borrowing from other older stories and cultures as well as coming up with their own stories to explain the images and what the constellations mean.
In Roman times, the name Ganymede was sometimes used for handsome slaves who served as cupbearers. Furthering this, many have pointed out that the story of Ganymede is a clear indication and precedence for homosexuality in Greek culture. Others, like in Plato's writings of dialogues between him and Socrates, say that it wasn't homosexuality. Instead, they point out the meaning of the name Ganymede for "taking pleasure of the mind." That Zeus loved Ganymede non-sexually for his mind. Still, other sources point out that this is where the Latin word for catamite originates.
Homosexuality Within Greek Myths
There is a line of thought that points out that all of Zeus' romantic affairs have some sort of allegorical meaning. The primary one with the story of Ganymede being that of homosexuality in Greek culture.
Before the story of Ganymede and Zeus became popular, the only mention of this type of behavior is found within the worship of the goddess Cybele. Her male followers and devotees would try to attain unity with her through castration and dressing as women.
Early Versions Of The Myth – As previously stated, the earliest retellings of Ganymede's story have no erotic overtones. It isn't until the fifth century B.C.E. that any sort of sexual relationship between Ganymede and Zeus is mentioned. There has been found a number of Attic vases showing the erotic relationship between the two.
Pederasty – Becoming popular around 7 B.C.E. in ancient Greece, the social acceptance of pederasty appears very suddenly and the first mention of it is on a Cretan brass plaque. Even the famous philosopher Plato makes mention of pederasty having Cretan origins. Pederasty is the relationship between an older man and a younger man, often in his teens. Ancient Greek social customs say this relationship was consensual.
Plato had Socrates deny Ganymede as the catamite of Zeus. Plato goes on to say that Zeus loved the youth non-sexually and for his mind or psyche. Further, of all of Zeus' lovers, Ganymede is the only one who is given immortality. Though this is likely overlooking the genealogy of Ganymede's and that he's given immortality as he's a descendant of Zeus'. At the same time, it makes sense for Zeus to love Ganymede's mind or intellect when he's just bringing home a descendant of his in whom he might see a lot of potential and wants to preserve it with immortality.
Once pederasty became popular, some scholars point out that it is or was part of an initiation ritual and in line with entering into the military and the worshiping of Zeus. There would be the presenting of gifts to the youth after his being abducted and taken to the country side. When the youth returned later, he would sacrifice a bull to Zeus.
Among the different regions of ancient Greece, pederasty was viewed and seen differently. Among the Spartans and Megarians, their cultures didn't allow for the practice. In Athens, it was a practice reserved only for the aristocracy. Thebans and Boeotians used the practice as an educational means for young boys and to curb their more aggressive tendencies. The Dorians practiced it as well.
For those who have analyzed the myth of Ganymede, they have noted that in many Greek Coming-Of-Age stories for homosexuality, such pederastic relationships didn't take place without the father's approval or supervision.
Artistic & Poetic Symbolism – In poetry, Ganymede is used to symbolize an attractive young male drawn towards homosexual desires and love. He is not always shown as such though. In Apollonius' Argonautica, Ganymede gets upset with a young, god Eros when he's cheated at a game of chance with dice. Aphrodite, goddess of Love proceeds to chastise her son Eros for cheating a beginner.
The poet Virgil uses the imagery of Ganymede's abduction with the youth's elderly tutors trying uselessly to pull him back to earth while his hounds howl pathetically up towards the heavens.
Fifth century Attic vases frequently show Ganymede and Zeus' sexual relationship. Ganymede is shown as a handsome youth. In his abduction scenes, he's shown with a rooster (a lover's gift), a hoop (a boy's toy) or a lyre. In these scenes, he is either being carried off by an eagle or offering food to an eagle from a patera. When Ganymede is shown as the cup-bearer to the gods, he is usually shown as pouring nectar from a jug.
Sculptures and mosaic art often shows Ganymede with a shepherd's crook and wearing a Phrygian cap.
God Of Homosexuality
Despite what the early myths may show and as stories do change and evolve over time, Ganymede does become the god of Homosexuality. Ganymede is often shown as a companion and playmate to the other gods of love, Eros (Love) and Hymenaios (Marital Love). Plato referred to Ganymede as Himeros (Sexual Desire).
The Trojan War
Hera had once been the patron goddess of Troy and her hatred of Ganymede as another lover in a long line of Zeus' many affairs, has been used by poets and writers to explain why in the story of the Trojan War there is a sudden shift in alliances and support by the gods.
In Quintus Smyrnaeus' "Fall of Troy" Ganymede is horrified by the invasion of his homeland and pleads with Zeus as he mentions their relationship as kinsmen not to be allowed to see the destruction of Troy. Persuaded by Ganymede's tears, Zeus veils the city of Priamos in a fog bank that stopped the Greeks fighting.
Patriarchy Versus Matriarchy
The ancient historian and mythographer Apollodorus has taken the stance that the story of Ganymede shows the triumph of the patriarchy over the matriarchy. That men didn't need women or their attentions.
The famous philosopher Plato used the story of Ganymede to justify his sexual feelings with his male students. That is, loving someone for their intellect.
That certainly seems to be evident with Zeus taking in interest in Ganymede and having him replace Hebe as the cup-bearer to the gods in the accounts that remember Zeus' and Ganymede's genealogy and relationship to each other.
Cretan & Minoan Connection – Possible Reality
First, it helps to remember and know that the Minoan culture and civilization predates the Classical Greek culture by some two thousand years. In the Cretan accounts of the story of Ganymede, it is either Tantalus or Minos who abducts the youth. While they were chasing after Ganymede, he is killed and they end up burying him up on Mysian Olympus.
There is a story of King Minos' brother, Rhadamanthus who loved the youth Talos. Some scholars have speculated that this may be the source of Cretan traditions and customs of homosexuality.
In Plato's Timaeus, he has no problems blaming the Cretes for coming up with the story of Ganymede as being a lover of Zeus in order to justify their own practices of homosexuality and saying they were only following an example set out by Zeus and his laws. Many Greek authors beyond Plato tended to agree on the practices of pederasty being introduced to the Greeks from Crete.
In the Byzantine Suda, King Minos of Crete on hearing of Tros' fame in Phrygia, he went to the city of Dardanos to stay as a guest of Tros. While there, Minos and Tros exchanged gifts with each other. After a while, Minos asked to see Tros' sons, so that he could give them gifts too. Tros informed Minos that his sons were out hunting. Hearing that, Minos wanted to go hunting with the youths too. Tros sent an attendant out to meet his sons where they were hunting near the Granikos river. Minos however, had already sent his ships ahead of the hunting party. Minos had seen the youth Ganymede and fallen in love with him. So he had given orders to his men to the youth. Ganymede however, to escape the pain of his captivity, killed himself with a sword and Minos had him buried in a temple. From there of course, comes the later, more familiar story of Zeus abducting Ganymede and making him immortal.
Egyptian Connection
Ganymede, far as Greek myths goes, is viewed as the source of the Nile river and its life sustaining waters. In Egyptian legend, this god is Hapi, who is responsible for dispensing the life sustaining waters and making the Nile valley fertile.
Mesopotamian Connection
The story of Ganymede seems to be related or taken from a Sumerian story of Etana, who descended to the heavens with the help of an eagle while looking for a plant of birth that in turn leads to the birth of his son, Balih.
Roman Connection
In the Roman telling of the myth, before Ganymede replaced Hebe's role as cup-bearer, they held a competition to see who would have the honor of serving the gods. Naturally, Ganymede won, replacing Hebe and taking his place as a favorite companion to Jupiter. Apuleius, in his 2nd century C.E. novel The Golden Ass refers to Ganymede as being a country-lad rather than a prince of Troy.
A catamite in Roman usage is the younger, passive partner of a pederastic relationship between an older man and a youth. Now days in more modern slang, catamite has come to mean an effeminate homosexual man. The Latin word Catamitus comes from the Etruscan word catmite. Though the word has lost many of the mythological connections to the Greek myth. While many vulgar Latinizations of the name Ganymede change it to Catamitus or Catamite, Ovid in his Metamorphoses continues to use Ganymede's Greek name.
Thracian Connection
Similar to the Cretan connection, a possible real world reality involves King Tantalus of Thrake mentioned in the Byzantine Suda. After Tros had won over all the local rulers or conquered them, he sent his son Ganymede with some 50 men to go out and make sacrifices in thanks to Zeus. Tantalus, certain that Ganymede was there to spy on his kingdom, sent his own men to intercept the youth. Once Tantalus, learned the truth of Ganymede's mission, the king of Thrake tried to nurse the youth back to health. Unfortunately, Ganymede died from illness and Tantalus sent messengers to inform Tros of his son's death. According to this account, it is later poets who are responsible for changing the story so that Zeus kidnapped Ganymede and became immortal.
Ganymede In Astronomy
Moon – In what should be no surprise to anyone, the seventh and largest moon of the planet Jupiter (the Roman counterpart to Zeus), is named Ganymede after the myth. Ganymede is the second largest moon in the Solar System and the ninth largest object as well.
Its discovery is attributed to Galileo Galilei on January 7th, 1610. However, Chinese astronomical records dating to 365 B.C.E. have a Gan De detecting with the naked eye, a moon of Jupiter. This moon is most likely to have been Ganymede.
Astrology – To commemorate Ganymede's place among the gods and his story, Zeus placed his eagle, Aquila up into the heavens to become the constellation of the same name, along with the Aquarius Constellation representing Ganymede and the constellation Crater, representing the cup holding the nectar of the gods in it. None of which I can imagine sat well with Hera that Zeus seems to rub it into her face his new favorite mortal.
Posted in Anatolian, Ancestors, Beauty, Crete, Cup-Bearer, Death, Deity, Demigod, Eagle, Egyptian, Etruscan, Father, Flood Myths, Greek, Grief, Homosexuality, Horse, Immortal, Jealousy, Kidnapping, King, Love, Matriarchy, Mesopotamian, Minoan, Mountain, Murder, Patriarchy, Rain, Roman, Sacrifice, Serve-Servant, Sheep, Spy, Thracian, Trojan War, Water, Youth
Pleiades Part 3
Pleiades Star Lore Around The World Continued
Mesopotamian Mythology
In Babylonian mythology and astronomy, the Pleiades are called MUL.MUL or "star of stars" in their star catalogues. The Pleiades are at the top of a list of stars along the ecliptic and close to the time of the Vernal Equinox around the time of the 23rd century B.C.E. A group of deities known as Zappu also represent the Pleiades star cluster.
Middle Eastern Mythology
Arabic – The Pleiades are known as al-Thurayya, they are mentioned in Islamic literature. The star, Aldebaran, meaning "the Follower" which is part of the Taurus constellation is seen as forever chasing al-Thurayya across the night sky.
Iran – In the Persian language, the Pleiades are known as Parvin. The name Parvin is also a very popular given name in Iran and neighboring countries.
Islam – Some Islamic scholars have thought that al-Thurayya might be the star mentioned in the sura Najm in the Quran. Muhammad is said to have counted 12 stars within the star cluster as found in Ibn Ishaq. This was in a time before telescopes and most people could only see six stars. The name al-Thurayya has been used as a female given name in Persian and Turkish culture. As seen in names such as Princess Soraya or in Iran and Thoraya as Obaid.
Judeo-Christian – In the Bible, the Pleiades are identified as being Kimah, meaning "cluster," which is mentioned three times in relation to the constellation of Orion. Specifically in Amos 5:8; Job 9:9; and Job 38:31. In the New Testament, there is an indirect reference to this asterism found in Revelations 1:16.
The Talmud says that the Pleiades has about 100 stars. This is with the understanding that the word כימה as כמא (Kimah and pronounced as: ke' me-ah) means just that, "about one hundred" in the Hebrew language.
The Talmud Rosh Hashanah tells that when God became with mankind's wickedness, he went and remade Kimah, removing two of its stars and caused that this star cluster would rise with the dawn and out of season. This event is what precipitated and causes the Biblical Flood of Noah.
Pakistan – Much like Iran, the name Parvin is also a popular given name, especially for women. In recent decades the name hasn't had as much use. In the Urdu language, the name Parvin and the stars it represents is a symbol of beauty.
Persian – The Pleiades are known as Nahid. Another name for the Pleiades that is shared by the Persiand and Urdu languages is Parvin, Parveen or Parween. It is a genderless or unisex given or family name used not just the Middle East, but Central Asia, South Asia and Azerbaijan. The name Parvin means star and is the name for the Pleiades asterism.
Native American Mythology
Several tribes have stories regarding the Pleiades star cluster.
Blackfoot – The Lost Boys – This is a story in which the Pleiades are a group of orphaned boys not taken care of by anyone, so they ended up becoming stars. Sun Man was angered by the boys' neglect, so he punished the people with a drought, causing the buffalo to leave. The wolves, the only friends the boys had ever had, intervened for the people to have the buffalo return. Sadden by their lives on earth, the boys asked the Sun Man to allow them to play up in the heavens where they became the Pleiades. In addition, to remind the tribe of their neglect of the children, they hear the howling of the wolves calling for the friends up in the heavens.
The story represents more the time of the year and season in which the Blackfoot gather to hunt the buffalo. The buffalo herds don't appear while the Lost Boys or Pleiades asterism is in the sky and this marks when the hunters would set out to their hunting grounds.
Another name for the Pleiades star cluster in Blackfoot legends is the Bunched stars. Instead of being orphans, the boys' family were so poor that they couldn't afford buffalo robes worn by other boys in the tribe. Out of grief and shame, the six boys went up into the sky to become stars.
Cheyenne – A Cheyenne legend, "The Girl Who Married a Dog," tells how the Pleiades stars represent puppies that a Cheyenne chief's daughter gave birth to after being visited by a dog in human form. The daughter had fallen in love with the dog-being and vowed that: "Where you go, I go."
Cherokee – Both the Cherokee and Onondaga tribes tell a similar story about a group of seven boys who refused to any of their sacred responsibilities and only wanted to play. They ran around and 'round the village's ceremonial circle until all seven of the boys rose up into the sky. Only six of the boys reached the heavens where they became the Pleiades star cluster. The seventh boy was caught by his mother and pulled back to the earth so hard that he sunk into the ground, becoming a pine tree.
Crow – The Crow military societies have many songs that use a play on words referencing the Pleiades constellation. Many of the words are often difficult to translate and the stories range from stories of bravery and high ideals to many amusing or comical stories.
Hopi – The Hopi built many underground places called kivas that would get used for a variety of purposes. The most important of these kivas that was used for ceremonial meetings could only be accessed through a ladder in a small hole at the roof. During some ceremonies, the appearance of the Pleiades or Tsöösöqam, over the opening hole marked when to begin the ceremony. The Pleiades have been found shown on one wall in a kiva.
Inuit – Nanook, the Inuit Bear God was identified with the Pleiades. In the early days, a great bear threatened all of the people. This bear was chased up into the heavens by a pack of dogs where they continue to chase after the bear in the form of the Pleiades.
Kiowa – There is a legend told about how seven maidens were being chased by giant bears. The Great Spirit created Mateo Tepe, the Devil's Tower and placed the maidens up on it. Still the bears pursued the maidens, clawing at the sides of the sheer cliffs. Such claw marks are said to be the vertical striations of the rock formation. Seeing that the bears were relentless in pursuit of the maidens, the Great Spirit placed the seven maidens up into the sky to become the Pleiades.
Lakota – There is a legend that links the origin of the Pleiades with Devils Tower. This constellation is known as Cmaamc, an archaic plural form of the noun cmaam, meaning "woman." The stars are seven women who are giving birth.
Additionally, the Lakota hold a similar legend to the Kiowa about Mato Tipila, "Bear Tower" or Devil's Tower to European settlers. A tribe was camped beside a river and seven of their young girls were playing nearby. The area at this time had a number of bears living there and a bear began chasing the girls. The girls started running back to the village. Just as the bear was about to catch them, the girl leaped up onto a rock. They cried out: "Rock, take pity on us; Rock, save us." The rock heard their cries and began to rise up high out of the bear's reach. The bear clawed at the sides of the rock, its claws breaking off. The bear kept jumping at the rock until it rose higher and higher to the point that the girls reached the sky where they became the Pleiades. The claw marks of the bear can still be seen on Mato Tipila or Devil's Tower.
Mono – The Monache tell a story how the Pleiades are six women who loved onions more than their husbands. They were thrown out of their homes by their angry husbands and found their way up to the heavens. When the husband grew lonely and tried to find their wives, it was too late.
Navajo – The Navjo story of The Flint Boys, after the Earth had been separated from the Sky by the Black Sky God, he had a cluster of stars on his ankle. These stars were the Flint Boys. During the Black God's first dance, with each stamp of his foot, the Flint Boys would jump up further on his body. First to the knee, then the hip, to his shoulder and finally up to his forehead. There they remained as a sign that the Black God was Lord of the Sky. The seven stars of the Pleiades or Flint Boys are shown on ceremonial masks for the Black God, sand paintings and ceremonial gourd rattles.
Nez Perce – They have a myth about Pleiades that parallels the ancient Greek myth and the Lost Pleiades. In this myth, the Pleiades are a group of sisters and one of the sisters falls in love with a man. When he died, she was so grief stricken, that she finally told her sisters about him. The other sisters mocked her, telling her how foolish she is to mourn the death of a human. This sister continued to grow in her sorrow, to the point she became ashamed of her own feelings that she pulled a veil over herself, blocking herself from view in the night sky. The Nez Perce use this myth to explain why only six of the seven stars is visible to the naked eye.
Onondaga – Their version of the story surrounding Pleiades has it the stars represented lazy children who wanted to dance instead of doing their chores. All the while as they ignored the warnings of the Bright Shining Old Man. Eventually, light headed and dizzy from hunger, the children rose up into the heavens to become the Pleiades.
Pawnee – Among the Skidi Pawnee, the Pleiades are seen as seven brothers. They observed this star cluster along with the Corona Borealis, the Chiefs through a smoke hole in Pawnee lodges in order to keep track of the time of night.
Shasta – In their stories, the Pleiades are the children of Raccoon who are killed by Coyote while avenging their father's death. After death, they rose up to become the Pleiades star cluster. The smallest star in the asterism is seen as Coyote's youngest child who helped Raccoon's children.
Zuni – They used the Pleiades as an agricultural calendar. Among the Zuni, the Pleiades were known as the "Seed Stars." When the Pleiades disappeared on the western horizon during spring, it was time for planting seeds as the danger of frost had pass. The Zuni also knew to finish all of their planting and harvesting before the Pleiades returned on the eastern horizon with the return of colder autumn weather and frost.
New Age, Western Astrology & Occult Connections
Astrology – In Western astrology, the Pleiades have come to represent coping with sorrow. In Medieval times, they were viewed as a single set of fixed stars and associated with fennel and quartz. In esoteric astrology, there are seven solar systems that revolve around Pleiades.
New Age – There's a belief that the Sun and the Earth will pass through a Photon belft from the Pleiades star cluster. This will cause a cataclysm or a time of spiritual transition that is referred to as a "shift in consciousness," the "Great Shift" and "Shift of the Ages."
Occult – The Pleiades are mentioned as an astrological sign in "Three Books of Occult Philosophy" by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. It has a publication date of 1533, but may have appeared earlier in 1510.
Theosophy – It is believed that the seven stars of the Pleiades act as a focus for the spiritual energy of the Seven Rays from the Galactic Logos to the seven stars of the Great Bear, from there the star Sirius, on to the Sun and then to the god of the Earth, Sanat Kumara and finally that energy goes through the seven Masters of the Seven Rays to everyone else.
Ufology – Some people have described a race of Nordic aliens known as Pleiadeans who come from the Pleiades star cluster. A man by the name of Billy Meier claims to have had contact with and met these aliens.
The Pleiades were seen as the goddess Freyja's hens. Their name in many older European languages refer to this star cluster as a hen with chicks.
The name of Hen and Chicks for Pleiades is found in Old English, Old German, Czech, Hungarian and Russian.
Philippine Mythology
The Pleiades are known by various names such as Moropóro, Molopólo or Mapúlon. Christian Filipinos know this star cluster as Supot ni Hudas (Judas' pouch) or Rosaryo (Rosary).
Polynesian Mythology
Hawaiian – The Pleiades are known as Makali'i. It's rise shortly after sunset marks the beginning of the Hawaiian New Year known as Makahiki. This is four month period of peace honoring the god Lono. The Hawaiian New Year's celebration is similar to the Maori New Year's observances.
Maori – Among the Maori of New Zealand, the Pleiades are known as Matariki, "eyes of god" or Mata rikie, "Little Eyes", she is a goddess who is accompanied by her six daughters: Tupu-a-Nuku, Tupu-a-Rangi, Wai-Tii, Wai-Ta, Wai-puna-Rangi, and Uru-Rangi.
From June 20 to June 22, known as Maruaroa o Takurua, marks the middle of winter. This time period comes right after the rise of the Pleiades or Matariki and is the beginning of the New Year. Tradition holds that the Sun starts his northward journey with his winter-bride Takurua, represented by the star Sirius and will make his southward journey later with his summer-bride, Hineraumati.
Another story involving Matariki, tells that one day Ranginui, the sky father and Papatūānuku, the earth mother were separated by their children. The wind god Tāwhirimātea ripped out his eyes in rage and flung them up into the heavens where they became a star cluster.
Polynesian – According to Polynesian legends, the Pleiades were once one star and had been the brightest in the night sky. The god Tane hated this star so much as it had boasted of its own beauty. The legend goes on to say that Tane proceeded to smash this star into pieces, creating the Pleiades star cluster.
Rome Mythology
The Pleiades in Rome are called The Bunch of Grapes and The Spring Virgins. Another name for these stars is Vergiliae as this asterism begins to rise after Spring and considered a sign of Summer before setting later in the Winter months. In modern day Italy, the Pleiades began rising around the beginning of May and would set around the beginning of November.
South American Mythology
Andes – Among the people of the Andes Mountains, the Pleiades were associated with abundance as this star cluster was seen as returning every year during the harvest season. Among the Quechua, the Pleiades are known as collca' meaning storehouse.
Inca – The Pleiades were called the "Seed Scatter" or "Sower." Another name for the Pleiades are the "Little Mothers." The Incas held festivals when this asterism appeared in the night sky.
Paraguay – The Abipones tribe worshipped the Pleiades, believing them to be their ancestors.
Peru – The season of Verano, roughly meaning summer or Dry Season. There is a ritual coinciding with the Pleiades during the Summer Solstice. A Peruvian cosmological chart from 1613 C.E. appears to show the Pleiades asterism. An Incan nobleman, Pachacuti Yamqui drew the chart in order to show objects depicted in the Cusco temple. He added Spanish and Quechua notations to his chart.
Thai Mythology
The Pleiades are known as Dao Luk Kai in Thailand. The name translates to the "Chicken Family Stars" in English, it is name that comes from Thai folklore.
An elderly couple living in a forest of Thailand were raising a family of chickens; a mother hen and her six chicks. One day, a monk arrived at the couple's home during his Dhutanga journey. Fearful of not having anything good enough to offer for a meal, the couple considered cooking the mother hen. The mother hen overheard the couple's conversation, hurried back to the coup to say goodbye to her chicks. The mother hen told her chicks that they would need to take care of themselves from now on. After that, the mother hen returned to the elderly couple so they could prepare their meal for the monk.
When the mother hen was killed, her chicks threw themselves into the fire to die alongside her. The god, Indra was impressed by their great love and in remembrance, raised the chickens up into the heavens as stars.
Depending on the version of the story being told, if only six chicks are mentioned, then the mother is included as being among the stars of Pleiades. Otherwise, it is usually seven chicks who make up the stars in Pleiades.
Turkish Mythology
In Turkey, the Pleiades are known as Ãlker or Ülker. According to legends, mankind was suffering a lot of suffering and evil. The creator god, Tangri Ulgen met with the Sky Spirits of the West, the Ãlker. A decision was reached and they sent an eagle, the first Shaman down to the earth to ease these afflictions and problems. The nomadic tribes of Turkey see the Pleiades as a source of both solace and the area of the heavens where the gods reside.
Kaşgarlı Mahmud. An 11th century lexicographer, the term ülker çerig refers to a military ambush. Where the word cerig means: "troops in battle formation." The term ülker çerig has been used as a simile for the Pleiades asterism.
Ukrainian Mythology
There are a few different names that the Pleiades are known as in traditional Ukrainian folklore. Some of these names are Stozhary, which can be traced etymologically to the word stozharnya, meaning "granary," "storehouse for hay and crops" or it can be reduced to it's meaning of sto-zhar, meaning "hundredfold glowing." Other names for the Pleiades are Volosozhary and Baby-Zvizdy.
With the names Volosozhary, which means "the ones whose hair is glowing" and 'Baby-Zvizdy which means "female-stars," the Pleiades star clusters refers to a group of female tribal deities. In Ukrainian legend, long ago, there lived seven maids who danced their traditional dances and sing songs to honor the gods. After their death, the gods turned the seven maids into water nymphs and took them up into the Heavens where they became the now familiar star cluster. The symbol of this star cluster was used as a women's talisman.
Posted in Agriculture, Ancestors, Andes, Arabian, Astrology, Autumn, Bear, Beauty, Birth, Bison-Buffalo, British, Brothers, Calendar, Cataclysm, Chase, Chicken, Children, Christian, Constellations, Coyote, Czech, Dance, Death, Deity, Dog, Drought, Eagle, Energy, Equinox, Evil, Femininity, Fennel, Fertility, Festival/Holiday, Flood Myths, German, Grapes, Grief, Harvest, Hawaiian, Hungarian, Inca, Inuit, Islam, Journey/Travel, Judaism, Love, Maori, Marriage, Medieval Age, Mesopotamian, Military, Monk, Mother/Motherhood, Mountain, Native American, Neglect, New Age, New Year, Norse, Nymph, Occult, Onion, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peace, Persian, Peru, Philippine, Polynesian, Prosperity, Punishment, Quartz, Raccoon, Roman, Russian, Sacrifice, Shaman, Sisters, Sky, Solstice, South American, Spring, Storehouse, Suffering, Summer, Talisman, Temple, Thai, Theosophy, Transition, Tree, Turkish, Ufology, Ukrainian, Virgin, Winter, Wolf
Etymology – The Eagle
Pronunciation: There are a few different variations – ˈækwɨlə, əˈkwɪlə and ˈækwɨli
Also known as: Αετός Δίας (Aetos Dios), Aquila Jovis, the Bird of Zeus and the King of Birds
The constellation Aquila, the Eagle has been recognized as early as 1,200 B.C.E. The Euphratean uraanographic stone, dating from the Mesopotamian cultures, depicts this constellation. The constellation lies just a few degrees north of the celestial equator. Many ancient cultures such as the Persians, Hebrews, Arabs, Greeks and Romans all saw an eagle represented in this constellation.
The constellation is seen first with a straight line of three stars that symbolize the wings. The tips of the wings are seen to extend out further to the southeast and northwest. The head of the eagle is seen as stretching out towards the southwest. In older depictions of this constellation, the Eagle is sometimes shown carrying the youth Ganymede.
Western Astronomy
The constellation known as Aquila is one of 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy in his book, Almagest. Aquila is also mentioned by Eudoxus in 4th century B.C.E. and by Aratus in 3rd century B.C.E. Today it remains as one of the 88 current or modern constellations. It is a large constellation, ranking 22nd in size.
Constellations bordering with Aquila are: Aquarius, Capricornus, Delphinus, Hercules, Ophiuchus, Sagitta, Sagittarius, Scutum, and Serpens Cauda. The best time to spot Aquila is during the month of August in the Northern Hemisphere.
Antinous – Obsolete Constellation
The astronomer Ptolemy catalogued nineteen stars altogether in Aquila and Antinous. The now obsolete Antinous constellation had been named during Emperor Hadrian's rule in 132 C.E. Sometimes the cataloging of stars is erroneously attributed to Tycho Brahe who cataloged twelve stars in Aquila and seven stars in Antionus. A Hevelius cataloged some twenty-three stars in Aquila and nineteen in Antionus.
Arabic Astronomy
Among the Arabs, Aquila has been known as the Flying Eagle, Crow or Raven. The Persians knew Aquila by the names: the Falcon and the Flying Vulture. The Turks referred to this constellation as the Hunting Eagle.
Chinese Astronomy And Mythology
There is a rather famous and well known love story found in Chinese mythology that is related to the constellation of Aquila, or rather several of its stars. It's a story that is also similar to the love story connected with the Cygnus constellation.
In Chinese astronomy, the modern day constellation of Aquila lies in the area of the heavens known as Běi Fāng Xuán Wǔ, the Black Tortoise of the North and the Three Enclosures or Sān Yuán that divides the night sky of the Chinese Heavens.
The star Zeta Aquilae is located in a part of the night sky seen as Tiān Shì Yuán or the Heavenly Market Enclosure. The rest of Aquila's stars are found in the area of the night sky ruled by Běi Fāng Xuán Wǔ, the Black Tortoise of the North.
In modern day, Aquila is known by the name of Tiān Yīng Zuò, which means: "the heaven eagle constellation."
Hegu – The Battle Drum
The star Altair and the two stars to either side of it, Beta and Gamma Aquilae form the asterism known as Hegu, a battle drum.
Tianfu – Celestial Drumsticks
The Chinese have an asterism comprising of the stars 62 Aquilae, 58 Aquilae and Eta Aquilae that they call the Celestial Drumsticks.
Youqi – Banner Flags
The stars Delta, Iota, Mu and Sigma form a banner flying to the right of Hegu.
The stars from Sagitta in the north represent a banner to the left side of Hegu.
The Three Generals
Altair, Beta and Gamma Aquilae are also known as the Three Generals with Altair representing the commanding officers with this two subordinates.
Tiabian – Trade Officials
The stars Lambda and 12 Aquilae along with the stars in the constellation Scutum represented a team of Trade Official overseeing the organization of the markets. An area of the heavens that includes the Hercules, Ophiuchus and Serpens constellations. The officials were located just outside of the market walls.
The star Zeta Aquilae formed part of this wall.
Lizhu – The Empress's Pearls
An L-shaped pattern formed by the stars 1, 69, 70 and 71 Aquilae represent four pearls worn by the Empress. These same stars are also astrologically connected to the Emperor's harem.
Qi Xi – The Princess And The Cowherd (Herd-Boy And Weaver-Girl)
This is a rather old story that dates as far back as at least the 6th century B.C.E. where it first appears in a collection of stories called the Book of Songs or Shih Ching. The book was possibly compiled and put together by Confucius. However, this book was later destroy a few centuries later by the emperor, Shih Huang Ti who is remembered more for his burning books instead of the construction of the Great Wall of China.
Chih Nu, identified with the star Vega was the daughter of the Sun-God. Chih Nu was known for being very good and skilled with weaving, especially her creation of tapestries. On one particular day, Chih Nu was looking out the palace window and spotted one of her father's herdmen, Ch'ien Niu. For these two, it was love at first sight and Chih Nu's father, the King was very happy when he discovered the news.
All started off well, for it was considered a good match, given how Ch'ien Niu was known for being a hard worker and took care of the royal flock with due diligence.
A wedding was planned in which Chih Nu wove her own wedding dress out of starlight. All started off well and the newly married couple were very happy and deeply devoted to each.
It would seem that this deep devotion was also the source of a problem, for it didn't take long for everyone to realize that Chih Nu's and Ch'ien Niu's duties and responsibilities were becoming neglected. Chih Nu's loom stood forgotten and gathering dust in a corner while the royal cattle that Ch'ien Niu was to tend, began wandering out, straying far across the heavenly plains.
Chih Nu's father, the Sun-God and King gave the two lovers repeated warnings and still they failed to follow through with their respective obligations and responsibilities. Things got bad enough that the Sun-God finally took measures, the first of which was to banish Ch'ien Niu to the other side of the Heavens to tend the royal cattle there.
Once Ch'ien Niu had crossed the only ford, T'ien-tsin, the Sun-King then ordered that both borders of the ford be closed off so that neither lover could cross. Chih Nu begged her father, but he would not relent on his royal decree.
Eventually, Ch'ien Niu had pleaded her case to the magpies who took pity on her. They decided that once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh monty, that they would help the parted lovers. On this day, all the magpies across China would fly up to the Heavens and create a bridge with their wings. This way the two lovers can cross and be together. On this day, Chih Nu cries, at first it is tears of joy that come down as soft, gentle rain. As the day progresses and starts to end, Chih Nu's tears become a down pour of rain as she knows the two lovers must part ways for another year.
Their task done, the magpies fly away again back to their fields. The next day, when people see the magpies, they take heart knowing that the magpies have done their duty by the way their feathers look trampled. If the magpies' feathers aren't trampled, then the people say that bad weather has prevented from flying up to the heavens to form their bridge. Children are also believed to throw stones at any magpies found on the seventh day of the seventh month as these birds are seen as neglecting their duty to go with the others to form the bridge for the two lovers.
Qi Xi Variations
This story is told in China, Korea and Japan, so there are a few different names and variations to the story of Qi Xi. In one version, the star Altair is identified as Niu Lang and his two children are identified as Beta and Gama Aquilae who become separated forever from their wife and mother Zhi Nu, who is identified with the star Vega, in the Cygnus constellation. This separation is represented by the river, the Milky Way.
Another version places the Herd-Boy as an orphan who observes Weaver-Girl among some seven Weavers who descend from the heavens to bathe in a nearby stream. By snatching Weaver-Girl's robe, Herd-Boy compels her to marry him and ends up sharing her immortality.
Much like the previous version, the two slack off in their duties and it is Weaver-Girl's grandmother, a Queen of the Heavens who separates the two. The rest of the heaven's take pity on the young lovers and they are allowed to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month with magpies forming a bridge for them to cross.
In Greek Mythology, there are a few different myths regarding the Aquila constellation. Generally, Aquila is seen as a large golden eagle who serves as Zeus' messenger and companion animal.
Periphas' Metamorphosis
Periphas was a priest of the god Apollo, he lived in Attic at the time and was an autocthon, one of the Earth-Sprung Rock. He was considered so virtuous and beloved by the people that they made him a king and began to honor him like a god.
This angered the god Zeus who was ready to strike down this insolent mortal with one of his thunderbolts. The god Apollo intervened and requested that Zeus instead transform Periphas into an eagle. Zeus went into Periphas' house and transformed him while Periphas was with his wife. As she didn't want to be separated from her husband, Zeus also transformed her into a bird, a vulture, represented by the constellation of Lyra, the heavenly vulture.
As Periphas had shown piety and honors to the god Apollo while he had been mortal, Zeus made him the king of birds and tasked him with guarding the sacred scepter and thunderbolts. For Periphas' wife, Zeus made her a sign and image of good luck regarding all the matters of humankind.
Titanomachy
During the ten-year war that Zeus and the other gods held against the Titans, Zeus had an eagle who carried the thunderbolts that he used to hurl at the Titans. In gratitude for the eagle's service and loyalty, it was given a place up in the heavens as the constellation Aquila.
In other accounts, Zeus adopted the eagle as his bird when it first appeared to him before the Titan War as a sign of good omen while making sacrifices.
The constellation of Aquila is also tied to the story of Ganymede, Zeus' cup-bearer.
Ganymede was the son of King Tros of Dardania and the basis for the kingdom of Troy in Greek mythology. An exceptionally beautiful youth, Ganymede had caught the attention of Zeus when he was out watching over his father's flock of sheep. Now, depending on the versions of the story being told, Zeus, either in the guise of an eagle or sending the eagle Aquila, came and carried him off to Mount Olympus. As compensation to King Tros, Zeus gave him some horses.
Once there, Ganymede faced the wrath of Hera, the wife of Zeus, who was angry and very likely jealous that her husband had taken such a fancy for a young boy. In addition to this, she was also angry that Zeus intended for Ganymede to replace Hebe, Hera's daughter as the cup-bearer after an incident where Hebe had accidentally spilled some nectar of the gods. And it couldn't have set well with Hera that Zeus immortalized Ganymede in the constellation of Aquarius in addition to immortality and eternal youth.
Another version of this myth says that it was Eos, the goddess of the Dawn who carries off Ganymede to Mount Olympus and then Zeus took him from her to be the cup-bearer.
Regardless of the versions of the story told, Ganymede does become the cup-bearer to the gods and basically serves them their wine. Further variations of this story tell how Ganymede would ride Zeus' eagle Aquila, accompanying this god on his travels. Both the Aquila constellation near Aquarius and the constellation of Crater, said to be Ganymede's cup are near Aquarius to complete this story.
In Roman times, the name Ganymede was sometimes used for handsome slaves who served as cupbearers. Furthering this, many have pointed out that the story of Ganymede is a clear indication and precedence for homosexuality in Greek culture. Others, like in Plato's writings of dialogues between him and Socrates say that it wasn't homosexuality; instead, they point out the meaning of the name Ganymede for "taking pleasure of the mind." That Zeus loved Ganymede non-sexually for his mind. Still, other sources point out that this is where the Latin word for catamite originates. Additionally, the Roman poet Ovid says that Zeus who turned into an eagle to go retrieve the youth Ganymede.
Aquila Guarding The Arrow of Eros
Another minor story of Aquila that is more attached to the constellation of Sagitta. In this one, Aquila is seen guarding the arrow of Eros that has hit the god Zeus and caused him to become love-struck.
Zeus And Nemesis
During one of Zeus' many exploits with chasing after and raping other women, he is to have somehow enlisted the aid of the goddess of love, Aphrodite.
In this story, Aquila represents Aphrodite as she's disguised herself as an eagle, pretending to chase after Zeus who is in the guise of a Swan. All this so he can get the goddess Nemesis to offer him shelter. It is only afterword, when Nemesis has gone to sleep that she learns the swan she thought she had rescued is really the god Zeus in disguise and he rapes her.
To commemorate this conquest, Zeus places the image of the Eagle (Aquila) and the Swan (Cygnus) up into the heavens. Really?
In Hindu mythology, the constellation of Aquila is seen as being Garuda, a half-eagle, half-human deity. Garuda is sometimes depicted as being the mount for the Hindu god Vishnu and to have been large enough to block out the sun. He is the sworn enemy of the Naga serpent race. He is a symbol of violent force, speed, and martial prowess in battle.
Alternatively, the line of three stars that also includes Altair is seen as being the footprints of the god Vishnu.
The Greek constellation of Aquila is very likely based on the Babylonian constellation of MUL.A.MUSHEN, the Eagle. The Babylonian's constellation is also located in the same area of the night sky as the Greek's constellation. The author, Gavin White in his book Babylonian Star-Lore, says that the Eagle carried the constellation called the Dead Man or LU.USH in its talons. It's a story that carries a lot of connections for later Greek and Roman stories of Antinous and Ganymede.
There is a Sumerian story of the hero Etana, who descended to the heavens with the help god Shamash's eagle while looking for a plant of birth to help ease his wife's labor pains for the birth of their son, Balih. This plant could only be found in the higher reaches of heaven where Anu lived.
While riding on the back of the eagle, Etana noticed how the earth began to look smaller and smaller the higher they flew. This caused him to become nervous or scared and loose his grip on the eagle's back.
One version of this story has Etana living for 1,560 years and having only two children. Another version of the story has Etana falling to the earth for daring to try and enter the realm of the god Anu. There is some thought too, that the plant in question, may refer to Mountain Arnica, which is poisonous, but when taken in the right doses, can ease labor pains during birth.
This story seems to have been the inspiration behind the Greek story of Ganymede.
There are several different myths and stories regarding Aquila among the Polynesians.
Futuna – Aquila is known as Kau-amonga, which means the "Suspended Burden." The name is in reference to the Futunan's name for Orion's belt and sword, Amonga.
Hawaii – Among the Hawaiins, the star Altair is called Humu, as in the humu humu fish. The whole of the Aquila constellation is called Humu-ma, the "Humu cluster." The Humu-ma constellation is believed to influence astrologers.
Marquesas Islands – Here, Aquila is known by the name of Pao-toa, meaning the "Fatigued Warrior."
Māori – The Māori of New Zealand called Altair by the name of Poutu-te-rangi, meaning "Pillar of the Sky." Due to this star's position in the heavens, it has been used in different Māori calendars. In one, Poutu-te-rangi is the ruling star for the months of February and March. In another calendar, it is the ruling star for March and April. Poutu-te-rangi is also the star that rules over the annual sweet potato harvests.
Pukapuka – Aquila is known by the name of Tolu, meaning "three" and comprises of the stars Alpha, Beta and Gamma Aquilae. The star Altair is known by the name of Turu and was used for navigation.
Tuamotus – Aquila is known by the name of Tukituki, meaning to "Pound with a hammer." The star Beta Aquilae is called Nga Tangata, meaning "The Men."
Many of the Roman myths regarding the Aquila constellation are very similar to the Greek stories from which they took, borrowed or stole. There are a few additional myths and stories that can be found.
Aetos Dios
To start with, the eagle represented in the constellation is thought to be Aetos Dios, the golden eagle who serves Jupiter.
Interestingly, the constellation Aquila is known as Vultur volans, the flying vulture by the Romans. This name shouldn't be confused with the name Vultur cadens, the Roman's name for the constellation Lyra.
Aetos Dios & Prometheus
Keeping in mind that the Romans called Aquila a vulture, it then ties in with the story of Prometheus and his being chained and bound to the top of a mountain where a large vulture would come and eat his liver every day as punishment.
In the Greek and Roman mythology, Prometheus is the titan who took pity on humankind and gave them the gift of fire after all the other gifts had been given out. Enraged by this act, the god Zeus had Prometheus chained and bound to a mountain. Every day Prometheus would be attacked by a giant vulture or eagle who ate his liver every day as it would grow back by the next. Being immortal, Prometheus suffered a lot as his wounds would heal every day. Eventually after many years, the hero Hercules comes along and frees the mighty titan after slaying the vulture. After it's death, the god Zeus placed the vulture up into the heavens to become the constellation Aquilla.
Aetos Dios & Psyche
A Roman novel dating to the second century C.E., The Golden Ass and written by Apuleius, there is an incidence in which the goddess Venus sends Psyche to go get a pitcher of water from the river Styx.
Given the deadly nature of the river Styx, the bird Aetos Dios, of his own freewill and his past services to Cupid, comes to aid Psyche in getting water so she wouldn't come to harm. What seems a little odd in the story given here is that Aetos Dios lies to Psyche, claiming that Venus had sent him to come help her and mentions nothing at all about acting on his own violation, either way, Psyche has the water and returns to Venus with it.
Hercules Family
The constellation of Aquila, along with 18 other constellations of: Ara, Centaurus, Corona Australis, Corvus, Crater, Crux, Cygnus, Hercules, Hydra, Lupus, Lyra, Ophiuchus, Sagitta, Scutum, Serpens, Sextans, Triangulum Australe, and Vulpecula.
All of these constellations have some connection to the overall legend and myth of the Grecian hero Hercules. They are the largest grouping of constellations found in the Western Hemisphere.
Aquila, along with the other avian constellations of Cygnus and Vultur cadens form a part of a significant myth of the Stymphalian Birds and one of the Twelve Labors of Hercules.
Summer Triangle
Aquila's alpha star, Altair forms part of an asterism known as the Summer Triangle. It is the southern point of the Summer Triangle. The other stars, Deneb, found in the constellation of Cygnus, is the triangle's northeastern point and Vega, found in the constellation of Lyra to the northwest.
Stars of Aquila
Alpha Aquilae – Also known as Altair, is the brightest star within the Aquila constellation and the 12th brightest star overall in the night sky. Altair's name comes from the Arabic phrase: "al-nasr al-tair," meaning "the flying eagle" or "vulture." Ptolemy named this star Aetus, the Latin word for "eagle." Both the ancient Babylonians and Sumerians referred to Altair as "the eagle star."
Beta Aquilae – Also known as Alshain, it is a yellow star. Alshain's name comes from the Perso-Arabic word: aš-šāhīn, which means "the falcon."
Gamma Aquilae – Also known as Tarazed, it is an orange giant. Tarazed's name comes from the Arabic phrase: "shahin-i tarazu," meaning "the balance" or "the beam of the scale."
Epsilon Aquilae – This star, along with Zeta Aquilae have an Arabic name of Deneb al Okab, meaning: "the eagle's tail." To differentiate Epsilon Aquilae from Zeta Aquilae, Epsilon Aquilae is frequently referred to as Deneb el Okab Borealis as it is north of Zeta Aquilae.
Zeta Aquilae – This star, along with Epsilon Aquilae have an Arabic name of Deneb al Okab, meaning: "the eagle's tail." To differentiate Zeta Aquilae from Epsilon Aquilae, Zeta Aquilae is frequently referred to as Deneb el Okab Australis as it is south of Epsilon Aquilae.
Eta Aquilae – Also known as Bezek, is a yellow-white supergiant star. Bezek's name comes from the Hebrew word bazak which means: "lightning."
Theta Aquilae – Also known as Tseen Foo, is a binary star. Tseen Foo's name comes from the Mandarin word tianfu, which means: "the heavenly rafter" and "drumsticks."
Iota Aquilae – Also known as Al Thalimain, it is a blue-white star. Al Thalimain's name, along with Lambda Aquila, in Arabic means: "the two ostriches."
Lambda Aquilae – Also known as Al Thalimain, it is a blue-white star. Al Thalimain's name, along with Iota Aquila, in Arabic means: "the two ostriches."
Rho Aquilae – Also known as Tso Ke, is a white dwarf. Tso Re's name comes from Mandarin and means: "the left flag." As of 1992, this star is no longer part of the Aquila constellation and has since moved into the Delphinus constellation.
Glowing Eye Nebula
Also known as NGC 6751, this nebula is one of many found within the borders and star field that makes up Aquila.
Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall
Aquila is home to one of the largest single mass concentration of galaxies in the Universe found so far. It is referred to as the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall. It was first discovered in November of 2013 and has a size of about 10 billion light years.
Two major novae have been observed within Aquila. The first one was recorded in 389 B.C.E. and said to have been as bright as Venus. The other novae observed as the Nova Aquilae in 1918 which briefly shone brighter than Altair.
Aquilids
There are a couple of meteor showers associated with this constellation. They are the June Aquilids and the Epsilon Aquilids.
The June Aquilids meteor shower has only been studied by radar and are most active on June 2nd and 3rd.
The Epsilon Aquilids meteor shows is active in mid-March and is best seen using optical aids such as telescopes.
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