Portal:Myths
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Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the veracity of a myth is not a defining criterion.
Myths are often endorsed by secular and religious authorities and are closely linked to religion or spirituality. Many societies group their myths, legends, and history together, considering myths and legends to be factual accounts of their remote past. In particular, creation myths take place in a primordial age when the world had not achieved its later form. Origin myths explain how a society's customs, institutions, and taboos were established and sanctified. National myths are narratives about a nation's past that symbolize the nation's values. There is a complex relationship between recital of myths and the enactment of rituals. (Full article...)
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Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms.[1] He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon,[2] but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Hurrians. Enlil's primary center of worship was the Ekur temple in the city of Nippur, which was believed to have been built by Enlil himself and was regarded as the "mooring-rope" of heaven and earth. He is also sometimes referred to in Sumerian texts as Nunamnir. According to one Sumerian hymn, Enlil himself was so holy that not even the other gods could look upon him. Enlil rose to prominence during the twenty-fourth century BC with the rise of Nippur. His cult fell into decline after Nippur was sacked by the Elamites in 1230 BC and he was eventually supplanted as the chief god of the Mesopotamian pantheon by the Babylonian national god Marduk.
Enlil plays a vital role in the ancient near eastern cosmology; he separates An (heaven) from Ki (earth), thus making the world habitable for humans. In the Sumerian flood myth Eridu Genesis, Enlil rewards Ziusudra with immortality for having survived the flood and, in the Babylonian flood myth, Enlil is the cause of the flood himself, having sent the flood to exterminate the human race, who made too much noise and prevented him from sleeping. The myth of Enlil and Ninlil is about Enlil's serial seduction of the goddess Ninlil in various guises, resulting in the conception of the moon-god Nanna and the Underworld deities Nergal, Ninazu, and Enbilulu. Enlil was regarded as the inventor of the mattock and the patron of agriculture. Enlil also features prominently in several myths involving his son Ninurta, including Anzû and the Tablet of Destinies and Lugale. (Full article...)Did you know? -
- ...that the Tigmamanukan, a Philippine mythological bird, can be a good or bad omen depending on the direction of its flight?
- ... that in Inuit mythology, an Angakkuq, or shaman, is told to be able to fly with the assistance of a spirit companion, or tuurngaq?
- ... that the origin of the Postclassic K'iche' Maya patron deity Jacawitz has been traced back to a historical event at the city of Seibal?
- ... that Xiuhcoatl was a mythological Aztec fire-serpent, viewed as the spirit form of Xiuhtecuhtli, the fire god, and was the lightning-like weapon of the god Huitzilopochtli?
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Wikiversity
Selected creature -
![Painting of Thor fighting serpent](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Johann_Heinrich_F%C3%BCssli_011.jpg/220px-Johann_Heinrich_F%C3%BCssli_011.jpg)
The stoor worm, or Mester Stoor Worm, was a gigantic evil sea serpent of Orcadian folklore, capable of contaminating plants and destroying animals and humans with its putrid breath. It is probably an Orkney variant of the Norse Jörmungandr, also known as the Midgard Serpent, or world serpent, and has been described as a sea dragon.
The king of one country threatened by the beast's arrival was advised to offer it a weekly sacrifice of seven virgins. In desperation, the king eventually issued a proclamation offering his kingdom, his daughter's hand in marriage, and a magic sword to anyone who could destroy the monster. Assipattle, the youngest son of a local farmer, defeated the creature; as it died its teeth fell out to become the islands of Orkney, Shetland and the Faroes, and its body became Iceland. (Full article...)General images
- Myths and legends of
- Jug from Lydian Treasure Usak (from
- Achilles wearing his armor (from
- Hand of God (from
- Giza pyramids (from
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Arthurian mythology (from Myth)Ballads of bravery (1877) part of
- Houyi, the God of Archery (from
- Snake and world egg of the inhabitants of Tyre (from
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cylinder seal impression showing the god Dumuzid being tortured in the Underworld by galla demons (from Comparative mythology)Ancient Sumerian
- Symbolic power: a
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Myth)Odysseus Overcome by Demodocus' Song, by Francesco Hayez, 1813–1815 (from
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Ašmodai) in bird-like form, with typical rooster feet, as depicted in Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae 1775 (from Comparative mythology)The sheyd אַשְמְדּאָי (
- Lord Vishnu took the form of Beauty Mohini and distributed the Amrita (Ambrosia, Elixir) to Devas. When Rahu (snake dragon) tried to steal the Amrita, his head was cut off (from
- Aura, a field of luminous radiation surrounding a person or object (from
- Heracles would use arrows dipped in the Hydra's poisonous blood to kill other foes during his
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Olaus Magnus' Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus (1555). To the right of the tree is a depiction of a man being sacrificed in the spring (from List of mythological objects)Image showing the sacred tree to the right of the temple, from
- "Tizona", the sword attributed to El Cid, on exhibit in the Army Museum of Madrid (from
- Claíomh Solais on an Ireland stamp printed in 1922 (from
- Goetia seal of solomon (from
- The famous sword of Excalibur painted by
- Golem and Loew (from
- Pied piper (from
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Hans Memling, c. 1470 (from List of mythological objects)Veronica holding her veil,
- The Argo (c. 1500 – 1530), painting by
- Shiva with his Trishula (from
- Yama with his famous Yama Pasha (from
- An angel (Camael) expelling Adam and Eve with a flaming sword (from
- Perillos being forced into the brazen bull that he built for Phalaris (from
- Holy Robe in Trier (from
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Edith Hamilton's Mythology has been a major channel for English speakers to learn classical Greek and Roman mythology (from Myth)
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Bilderbuch für Kinder (lit. 'picture book for children') between 1790 and 1822, by Friedrich Justin Bertuch (from Legendary creature)Several mythical creatures from
- Artist's impressions of the (unseen) Imperial Regalia of Japan (from
- Voodoo doll with pins in it, Museum of Witchcraft (from
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Väinämöinen, the wise demigod and one of the significant characters of Finnish mythological 19th-century epic poetry, The Kalevala (Väinämöinen's Play, Robert Wilhelm Ekman, 1866) (from Myth)
- Tissot Moses and Joshua in the Tabernacle (from
- Fortune Wheel (from
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Matthias Gerung, c. 1531 (from List of mythological objects)The Giving of the Seven Bowls of Wrath / The First Six Plagues, Revelation 16:1–16.
- Rectangular tablets passed down by the
- Dietrich von Bern and Hildebrand fight against dragons (from
- 14th century
- Fig trees often represent talismans with the udumbara (from
- Joan of Arc with her famous sword (from
- Killing of Ravana Painting by Brahmstra of Arrow of Brahma (from
- Ahimelech giving the sword of
- Shield of Achilles (illustration) (from
- Vishnu with his Panchajanya (from
- The fall of Icarus (from
- Hanuman fetches the herb-bearing mountain, in a print from the Ravi Varma Press, 1910's (from
- Longinus with his famous Spear (from
- Thor wearing the magic belt Megingjörð (from
- The Shrine of the Three Kings in
- Jason returns with Golden fleece (from
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Hop-o'-My-Thumb stealing the Seven-league boots from the Ogre, by Gustave Doré (from List of mythological objects)
- The Stone of Destiny (Lia Fáil) at the Hill of Tara, once used as a coronation stone for the High Kings of Ireland (from
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allegorical figure Eterna (Eternity) (from List of mythological objects)The Crown of Immortality, held by the
- The Celestial Chariot, Pushpaka Vimana from Ramayana (from
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Gustave Doré's illustrated edition of the Bible. Based on the story of Noah's Ark, this engraving shows humans and a tiger doomed by the flood futilely attempting to save their children and cubs. (from Comparative mythology)The Deluge, frontispiece to
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Shinto used to raise the primordial land-mass, Onogoro-shima, from the sea (from List of mythological objects)Amenonuhoko (天沼矛 or 天之瓊矛 or 天瓊戈, "heavenly jeweled spear") is the name given to the spear in
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Mabinogi myths from the Red Book of Hergest (written pre-13c, incorporating pre-Roman myths of Celtic gods):Opening lines of one of the
Gereint vab Erbin. Arthur a deuodes dala llys yg Caerllion ar Wysc...
(Geraint the son of Erbin. Arthur was accustomed to hold his Court at Caerlleon upon Usk...) (from Myth) -
Prometheus (1868) by Gustave Moreau. In the mythos of Hesiodus and possibly Aeschylus (the Greek trilogy Prometheus Bound, Prometheus Unbound and Prometheus Pyrphoros), Prometheus is bound and tortured for giving fire to humanity. (from Myth)
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Sampo, a magical artifact of indeterminate type constructed by Ilmarinen that brought riches and good fortune to its holder, in the Finnish epic poetry Kalevala (The Forging of the Sampo, Joseph Alanen, 1911) (from List of mythological objects)
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bestiaries, the lynx in this late 13th-century English manuscript is shown urinating, the urine turning to the mythical stone Lyngurium (from List of mythological objects)As is usual in
- Lichas bringing the garment of Nessus to Hercules (from
- The Honest Woodcutter, also known as Mercury and the Woodman and his famous Golden Axe (from
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Chinese God with his spear (from List of mythological objects)Erlang Shen (二郎神), or Erlang is a
- Adam's Bridge also called as Rama Setu (from
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Azoth, a universal medicine or universal solvent sought in alchemy. (Medieval legend) (from List of mythological objects)
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Elmer Boyd Smith and the ring Draupnir is visible among other creations by the Sons of Ivaldi (from List of mythological objects)The third gift — an enormous hammer (1902) by
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Minerva and Neptune (c. 1689 or 1706) by René-Antoine Houasse, depicting the founding myth of Athens (from National myth)The Dispute of
- Jacob blesses Joseph and gives him the coat of many colors (from
- The Flying Dutchman (from
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Bartolomeo di Giovanni relates the second half of the Metamorphoses. In the upper left, Jupiter emerges from clouds to order Mercury to rescue Io. (from Myth)This panel by
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Cathedral of Maria Saal showing the infant twins Romulus and Remus being suckled by a she-wolf (from Comparative mythology)Ancient Roman relief from the
- Fountain of Youth (from
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- Vishnu holding his legendary sword Nandaka (from
- Golden cosmic egg Hiranyagarbha by Manaku (from
- Riding a Flying Carpet, an 1880 painting by
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Litr onto Baldr's Hringhorni, illustration by Emil Doepler (ca. 1905) (from List of mythological objects)Thor kicks
- Greek God Kronos/Saturnus with sickle (from
- King Svafrlame Secures the Sword Tyrfing (from
- Early Hebrew Conception of the Universe (from
- The Ash Yggdrasil by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine (from
- A 19th-century drawing of Sun Wukong featuring his staff (from
- Surya on His Celestial Chariot (from
- seven angels with seven trumpets (from
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Lucas Cranach the Elder and the Tree of Knowledge is on the right (from List of mythological objects)"The Fall of Man" by
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- ^ Coleman & Davidson 2015, p. 108.
- ^ Kramer 1983, pp. 115–121.