The reason that I chose these reflections to revise and include in this ePortfolio was that throughout the semester I felt that I should reread them and make the changes that were pointed out by Professor Brown and also to read through them to see anyway to improve them by removing and adding more information that I learned, that could make the reflections more reader friendly. The other reason being that they relate to the topic that I chose, which was myths about creation, that helped me understand that the personalities of the distinct gods and deities, reflected their actions and how they approached different situations that they would come across. Also learning their personalities made it easier to understand the actions they did in their respective myths, by allowing me to identify the emotions that the gods were feeling and it made the myths more enjoyable to read through.

The Wise, The Strong, and The Mischievous

             Have you ever wondered how mythological gods became who they are? The book “Norse Mythology” by Neil Gaiman, tells the myths of how the Norse gods came into existence and how they shaped the world for people to live in. It tells about the fits of how they rose to power or tell stories of how they behaved in situations that they might be in. It shows how their personalities differ from one another, how they see the world around them, and how their personalities would affect the actions that they would display that showed the personality that dominated their actions. The three gods that these myths are focused on are Odin, Thor, and Loki. Although, they are gods they have different personalities and different ways of expressing them.

            The main god that is talked about is Odin. He is the most powerful of them all. His thirst for knowledge and wisdom, knows no bounds even sacrificing a part of him to get it. For his pursuit of wisdom, he searched for Mimir, who has a well that if you drink from it, you become wiser. “Your eye is my price” (Gaiman 46) said Mimir to Odin. This shows a side of his personality that not many have, willing to sacrifice a part of him for power. He was also willing to sacrifice his life for power, “He hung from the world-tree, Yggdrasil, hung there for nine nights” (Gaiman 21). The gains of power that he has acquired from willing to sacrifice himself for it, this makes him stand out from all the gods, and speaks a lot about his personality. Power was something important to Odin, but not enough important as for Thor.

            Thor is the son of Odin, and has a unique personality, which is the pursuit of strength and strength only. He prides himself as being the strongest of the gods, “His might is increased by his belt of strength, Megingjord; when he wears it, his strength is doubled” (Gaiman 25). Strength is the thing that motivates him the most and keeps him testing his strength, by leading wars and proving he is the strongest. Along his pursuit of strength, he came by his weapon by chance. He uses a hammer called Mjolnir. That upon hearing what it was capable of, he was “actually smiling. And the thunder god did not often smile” (Gaiman 63). Signifying that with the hammer his pursuit of strength would be fulfilled. Different to Thor, Loki on the other hand enjoys causing trouble.

            Loki is the god of mischief, and this is his drive. He enjoys experiencing success by instigating others, “Loki makes the world more interesting but less safe” (Gaiman 24). Instigating wars and getting involved in things that do not involve him and doing so to satisfy his personality. Due to his personality, he tends to get into unnecessary trouble, that he makes for himself. In one of his many adventures, he managed to get into a situation that backed fired. Due to Loki losing a bet, he was unable to talk, “The pain of being unable to talk hurt even more than the pain of having his lips stitched into the leather” (Gaiman 66). He could not stand being silenced, as he used his words to often escape from an unfavorable situation.

            Even though their personalities may be different, they always find it that being with each other sometimes brings the best in them. Having these unique personalities makes them really stand out from all the other gods. Therefore, more is known from these gods than any of the others, as they are always involved with each other’s rise and falls. Even though they are powerful, they always pursue their interests to feel accomplished.

They Come in Pairs

            “Myths and Legends of Japan” by Davis F. Hadland, tells the myths of how the world was created and the different deities and heroes that derive from the Japanese culture. The myths introduced in this book focus on telling the story of the deities and what makes them stand out from the myths from other cultures. Japanese myths begin in a unique way, that most myths have two deities that contrast one another. One can learn the different personalities that these deities have, what characteristics of their personalities stand out and lead their actions.

            The deities from Japanese myths that come in pairs and makes it compare them unique are Izanagi and Izanami, Ama-terasu and Tsuki-yumi and Hoderi and Hoori. The beginning of the myth “Ama-terasu and Susa-no-o”, depict the first gods to oversee creating the world, Izanagi, and Izanagi, become responsible to create the lands that other live in. They made this lands out of curiosity when they “inquired of each other if there were a country far, far below the great Floating Bridge” (Davis 22). Izanagi and Izanami decided to become wed to one another, thus giving birth to the other gods. Which came Ama-terasu, the god of the sun and Tsuki-yumi, the god of the moon. Like other myths of brother and sister fighting for being completely opposite from one another. These two get into a fight and as stated by Ama-terasu she deemed Tsuki-yumi a “wicked deity. I must not see thee face to face” (Davis 23). And thus, out of them fighting the day and night cycles were created. The other two brothers, born from fire, Hoderi the great fisherman and Hoori the great huntsman. Like Thor and Loki, who were not blood related, Hoderi and Hoori come from a different culture, but share the same trait of competing, leading to quarrelling that makes their interactions with one another a contrast in their personalities. As they were competing, they exchange tools with each other to see if they could do what the other was best at, causing Hoori to lose Hoderi’s favorite hook. Hoori offered Hoderi many hooks but was not satisfied with them telling Hoori that “these are not my old fish-hook: thought they are many, I will not take them” (Davis 35). Even though it was an accident, Hoderi was mad at Hoori, just like how Thor would get mad at Loki.

             Although Japanese myths come from another culture, one can tell that many of the myths that we have read have many similarities to the Native American and Greek myths. Making comparisons between different myths of the different cultures has led to keeping all these myths alive through the different generations. Many of them have lessons that are told to people, as examples to study the different events that although not as mystic, can happen to people depending on the personalities that they have. Besides the fact that these myths are from different cultures, with the many similarities that they share, one can help to wonder if all these myths could come from one place but as timed passed, they began to change to fit the culture that these myths derive from.