Begin Reading
Yüklə 0,93 Mb.
|
- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- THE NORSE WISDOM
THE CREATIONIn the Elder Edda a Wise Woman says:— Of old there was nothing, Nor sand, nor sea, nor cool waves. No earth, no heaven above. Only the yawning chasm. The sun knew not her dwelling, Nor the moon his realm. The stars had not their places. But the chasm, tremendous though it was, did not extend everywhere. Far to the north was Niflheim, the cold realm of death, and far to the south was MUSPELHEIM, the land of fire. From Niflheim twelve rivers poured which flowed into the chasm and freezing there filled it slowly up with ice. From Muspelheim came fiery clouds that turned the ice to mist. Drops of water fell from the mist and out of them there were formed the frost maidens and YMIR, the first Giant. His son was Odin’s father, whose mother and wife were frost maidens. Odin and his two brothers killed Ymir. They made the earth and sky from him, the sea from his blood, the earth from his body, the heavens from his skull. They took sparks from Muspelheim and placed them in the sky as the sun, moon, and stars. The earth was round and encircled by the sea. A great wall which the gods built out of Ymir’s eyebrows defended the place where mankind was to live. The space within was called Midgard. Here the first man and woman were created from trees, the man from an ash, the woman from an elm. They were the parents of all mankind. In the world were also DWARFS—ugly creatures, but masterly craftsmen, who lived under the earth; and ELVES, lovely sprites, who tended the flowers and streams. A wondrous ash-tree, YGGDRASIL, supported the universe. It struck its roots through the worlds. Three roots there are to Yggdrasil Hel lives beneath the first. Beneath the second the frost-giants, And men beneath the third. It is also said that “one of the roots goes up to Asgard.” Beside this root was a well of white water, URDA’S WELL, so holy that none might drink of it. The three NORNS guarded it, who Allot their lives to the sons of men, And assign to them their fate. The three were URDA (the Past), VERDANDI (the Present), and SKULD (the Future). Here each day the gods came, passing over the quivering rainbow bridge to sit beside the well and pass judgment on the deeds of men. Another well beneath another root was the WELL OF KNOWLEDGE, guarded by MIMIR the Wise. Over Yggdrasil, as over Asgard, hung the threat of destruction. Like the gods it was doomed to die. A serpent and his brood gnawed continually at the root beside Niflheim, Hel’s home. Some day they would succeed in killing the tree, and the universe would come crashing down. The Frost Giants and the Mountain Giants who lived in Jötunheim were the enemies of all that is good. They were the brutal powers of earth, and in the inevitable contest between them and the divine powers of heaven, brute force would conquer. The gods are doomed and the end is death. But such a belief is contrary to the deepest conviction of the human spirit, that good is stronger than evil. Even these sternly hopeless Norsemen, whose daily life in their icy land through the black winters was a perpetual challenge to heroism, saw a far-away light break through the darkness. There is a prophecy in the Elder Edda, singularly like the Book of Revelation, that after the defeat of the gods,—when The sun turns black, earth sinks in the sea, The hot stars fall from the sky, And fire leaps high about heaven itself, —there would be a new heaven and a new earth, In wondrous beauty once again. The dwellings roofed with gold. The fields unsowed bear ripened fruit In happiness forevermore. Then would come the reign of One who was higher even than Odin and beyond the reach of evil— A greater than all. But I dare not ever to speak his name. And there are few who can see beyond The moment when Odin falls. This vision of a happiness infinitely remote seems a thin sustenance against despair, but it was the only hope the Eddas afforded.
There lies less good than most believe In ale for mortal men. A man knows nothing if he knows not That wealth oft begets an ape. A coward thinks he will live forever If only he can shun warfare. Tell one your thoughts, but beware of two. All know what is known to three. A silly man lies awake all night, Thinking of many things. When the morning comes he is worn with care, And his trouble is just as it was. Some show a shrewd knowledge of human nature:— A paltry man and poor of mind Is he who mocks at all things. Brave men can live well anywhere. A coward dreads all things. Now and then they are cheerful, almost light-hearted:— I once was young and traveled alone. I met another and thought myself rich. Man is the joy of man. Be a friend to your friend. Give him laughter for laughter. To a good friend’s house The path is straight Though he is far away. A surprisingly tolerant spirit appears occasionally:— No man has nothing but misery, let him be never so sick. To this one his sons are a joy, and to that His kin, to another his wealth. And to yet another the good he has done. In a maiden’s words let no man place faith, Nor in what a woman says. But I know men and women both. Men’s mind are unstable toward women. None so good that he has no faults, None so wicked that he is worth naught. There is real depth of insight sometimes:— Moderately wise each one should be, Not overwise, for a wise man’s heart Is seldom glad. Cattle die and kindred die. We also die. But I know one thing that never dies, Judgment on each one dead. Two lines near the end of the most important of the collections show wisdom:— The mind knows only What lies near the heart. 
Along with their truly awe-inspiring heroism, these men of the North had delightful common sense. The combination seems impossible, but the poems are here to prove it. By race we are connected with the Norse; our culture goes back to he Greeks. Norse mythology and Greek mythology together give a clear picture of what the people were like from whom comes a major part of our spiritual and intellectual inheritance. Genealogical Tables The Principal Gods 
Descendants of Prometheus 
Ancestors of Perseus and Hercules 
Ancestors of Achilles 
The House of Troy 
The Family of Helen of Troy 
The Royal House of Thebes and the Atreidae 
The House of Athens 
Illustrations The Greeks, unlike the Egyptians, made their gods in their own image Olympus The rape of Persephone (Proserpine) Pandora lifted the lid and out flew plagues and sorrows for mankind The rape of Europa Psyche gazed at the sleeping Cupid Pygmalion and Galatea The Harpies and the Argonauts Bellerophon on Pegasus killing the Chimaera Perseus holding Medusa’s head The Minotaur in the Labyrinth Hercules carrying Cerberus Atalanta and the golden apples The Judgment of Paris The wooden horse Odysseus and Circe Aeneas and the Sibyl enter Charon’s boat Clytemnestra and Orestes Oedipus and the Sphinx Athena appears to Creüsa and Ion Glaucus and Scylla Brynhild on a couch surrounded by fire Thank you for buying this e-book, published by Hachette Digital. To receive special offers, bonus content, and news about our latest ebooks and apps, sign up for our newsletters.         Sign Up
Or visit us at hachettebookgroup.com/newsletters
Contents Welcome Preface Introduction to Classical Mythology The Mythology of the Greeks The Greek and Roman Writers of Mythology Part One: The Gods, the Creation, and the Earliest Heroes Chapter I: The Gods The Titans and the Twelve Great Olympians The Lesser Gods of Olympus The Gods of the Waters The Underworld The Lesser Gods of Earth The Roman Gods Chapter II: The Two Great Gods of Earth Demeter (Ceres) Dionysus or Bacchus Chapter III: How the World and Mankind Were Created Chapter IV: The Earliest Heroes Prometheus and Io Europa The Cyclops Polyphemus Flower-Myths: Narcissus, Hyacinth, Adonis Part Two: Stories of Love and Adventure Chapter I: Cupid and Psyche Chapter II: Eight Brief Tales of Lovers Pyramus and Thisbe Orpheus and Eurydice Ceyx and Alcyone Pygmalion and Galatea Baucis and Philemon Endymion Daphne Alpheus and Arethusa Chapter III: The Quest of the Golden Fleece Chapter IV: Four Great Adventures Phaëthon Pegasus and Bellerophon Otus and Ephialtes Daedalus Part Three: The Great Heroes before the Trojan War Chapter I: Perseus Chapter II: Theseus Chapter III: Hercules Chapter IV: Atalanta Part Four: The Heroes of the Trojan War Chapter I: The Trojan War Prologue: The Judgment of Paris The Trojan War Chapter II: The Fall of Troy Chapter III: The Adventures of Odysseus Chapter IV: The Adventures of Aeneas Part One: From Troy to Italy Part Two: The Descent into the Lower World Part Three: The War in Italy Part Five: The Great Families of Mythology Chapter I: The House of Atreus Tantalus and Niobe Agamemnon and His Children Iphigenia Among the Taurians Chapter II: The Royal House of Thebes Cadmus and His Children Oedipus Antigone The Seven against Thebes Chapter III: The Royal House of Athens Cecrops Procne and Philomela Procris and Cephalus Orithyia and Boreas Creüsa and Ion Part Six: The Less Important Myths Chapter I: Midas—and Others Aesculapius The Danaïds Glaucus and Scylla Erysichthon Pomona and Vertumnus Chapter II: Brief Myths Arranged Alphabetically Part Seven: The Mythology of the Norsemen Introduction to Norse Mythology Chapter I: The Stories of Signy and Sigurd Chapter II: The Norse Gods The Creation The Norse Wisdom Genealogical Tables Illustrations Newsletters Copyright Copyright Copyright © 1942 by Edith Hamilton Copyright renewed © 1969 by Dorian Fielding Reid and Doris Fielding Reid Illustrations by Chris Wormell Cover design by Susan Zucker; cover art: Bernard Picart, Atlas Supports the Heavens on His Shoulders (engraving, 1731), © Bridgeman Art Library / Private Collection / The Stapleton Collection Cover copyright © 2013 by Hachette Book Group, Inc. All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. Little, Brown and Company Hachette Book Group 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017 hachettebookgroup.com twitter.com/littlebrown First ebook edition: June 2012 The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher. The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to hachettespeakersbureau.com or call (866) 376-6591. ISBN 978-0-316-03216-2 Yüklə 0,93 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
|