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The Myths Portal

1929 Belgian banknote, depicting Ceres, Neptune and caduceus

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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Symbols of various deities, including Anu (bottom right corner) on a kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125–1104 BCE

Anu (Akkadian: 𒀭𒀭 ANU, from 𒀭 an "Sky", "Heaven") or Anum, originally An (Sumerian: 𒀭 An), was the divine personification of the sky, king of the gods, and ancestor of many of the deities in ancient Mesopotamian religion. He was regarded as a source of both divine and human kingship, and opens the enumerations of deities in many Mesopotamian texts. At the same time, his role was largely passive, and he was not commonly worshipped. It is sometimes proposed that the Eanna temple located in Uruk originally belonged to him, rather than Inanna, but while he is well attested as one of its divine inhabitants, there is no evidence that the main deity of the temple ever changed, and Inanna was already associated with it in the earliest sources. After it declined, a new theological system developed in the same city under Seleucid rule, resulting in Anu being redefined as an active deity. As a result he was actively worshipped by inhabitants of the city in the final centuries of the history of ancient Mesopotamia.

Multiple traditions regarding the identity of Anu's spouse existed, though three of them—Ki, Urash, and Antu—were at various points in time equated with each other, and all three represented earth, similar to how he represented heaven. In a fourth tradition, more sparsely attested, his wife was the goddess Nammu instead. In addition to listing his spouses and children, god lists also often enumerated his various ancestors, such as Anshar or Alala. A variant of one such family tree formed the basis of the Enūma Eliš. (Full article...)

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Chhinnamasta

  • ... that the self-decapitated Hindu goddess Chhinnamasta (pictured) standing on a copulating couple signifies that life, death and sex are interdependent?


Did you know?

Putana



  • ... that in Maya mythology, wayob were the powerful spirit forms of lords, priests and gods?


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Featured Articles:  Ahalya,  Ancient Egyptian literature,  King Arthur,  Ganesha,  Iravan,  Orion (mythology),  Vampire,  Vithoba

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Good Articles:  2012 phenomenon,  Æsir–Vanir War,  Ala (demon),  Anu,  Aphrodite,  Athena,  Ardhanarishvara,  Battle of Barry,  Bhikshatana,  Catalogue of Women,  Chamunda,  Chhinnamasta,  Consorts of Ganesha,  Cú Chulainn,  Dhumavati,  Dumuzid,  Einherjar,  Eir,  Enlil,  Fairy Flag,  Fenrir,  Gerðr,  Hel (being),  Huginn and Muninn,  Iðunn,  Ila (Hinduism),  Inanna,  Kabandha,  Kali,  Kamadhenu,  Kangiten,  Keshi (demon),  Khandoba,  Kratos (mythology)  Krishna,  Kubera,  LGBT themes in Hindu mythology,  Manasa,  Mandodari,  Matangi,  Matrikas,  Maya Sita,  Mohini,  Myrrha,  Mythology of Carnivàle,  Naraka (Hinduism),  Ninurta,  Prester John,  Prithu,  Putana,  Rati,  Ratatoskr,  Revanta,  Satyavati,  Satyr,  Sharabha,  Shashthi,  Shiva,  Sif,  Tara (Ramayana),  Troilus,  Tuisto,  Valhalla,  Valkyrie,  Vampire folklore by region,  Varaha,  Varahi,  Veðrfölnir and eagle  Zduhać

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Huginn and Muninn sit on Odin's shoulders in an illustration from an 18th-century Icelandic manuscript

In Norse mythology, Huginn (Old Norse: "thought") and Muninn (Old Norse "memory" or "mind") are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world, Midgard, and bring information to the god Odin. Huginn and Muninn are attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources: the Prose Edda and Heimskringla; in the Third Grammatical Treatise, compiled in the 13th century by Óláfr Þórðarson; and in the poetry of skalds. The names of the ravens are sometimes anglicized as Hugin and Munin, the same spelling as used in modern Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish.

In the Poetic Edda, a disguised Odin expresses that he fears that they may not return from their daily flights. The Prose Edda explains that Odin is referred to as Hrafnaguð (O.N.: [ˈhrɑvnɑˌɡuð]; "raven-god") due to his association with Huginn and Muninn. In the Prose Edda and the Third Grammatical Treatise, the two ravens are described as perching on Odin's shoulders. Heimskringla details that Odin gave Huginn and Muninn the ability to speak. (Full article...)

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