Norse Creation and the Book of Genesis
Philosophy of the Human Person
First Writing Assignment
Norse Creation and the Book of Genesis When asked how everything in the world was created and formed the beginning of life, many people will turn to the Book of Genesis in the Bible. This story explains to Christians exactly how God created the world and man. However, this has not always been the go-to response to answer the question of our beginning. Creation myths spring from almost each and every type of civilization and each one brings different ideas and support to back up their theories. The differences between Eastern and Western creation myths are very easy to spot, but what makes them interesting is the fact that they are all trying to explain the same thing. For the ancient Viking folk from the Eastern continents, it was normal to believe in Norse mythology. Before the stories from the Book of Genesis and Norse creation myths can be remotely compared, there must be one key distinction between the two. People of the Norse believed in a polytheistic religion, meaning that they believed in multiple gods. After making this distinction, the stories become more and more different as they try to explain each separate phenomena of the world. The Book of Genesis explains the creation of the world in a fairly simple way. To put it bluntly, God created everything. He fashioned the world in six days and rested on the seventh. (Linder) All in all, this creation myth has a little more detail to it but is very simple and concise. Contrary to the Book of Genesis’ creation story, the story of creation in Norse mythology is much more elaborate and magical. As the Book of Genesis is to the Christian faith, The Prose Edda is the book that contains the stories of Norse creation. In the beginning, the first world to ever exist was named Muspell. This world is covered in fire, lava, and volcanoes all over. This planet contained so much heat on its surface that even the space around the planet was too hot for any
First Writing Assignment
Norse Creation and the Book of Genesis When asked how everything in the world was created and formed the beginning of life, many people will turn to the Book of Genesis in the Bible. This story explains to Christians exactly how God created the world and man. However, this has not always been the go-to response to answer the question of our beginning. Creation myths spring from almost each and every type of civilization and each one brings different ideas and support to back up their theories. The differences between Eastern and Western creation myths are very easy to spot, but what makes them interesting is the fact that they are all trying to explain the same thing. For the ancient Viking folk from the Eastern continents, it was normal to believe in Norse mythology. Before the stories from the Book of Genesis and Norse creation myths can be remotely compared, there must be one key distinction between the two. People of the Norse believed in a polytheistic religion, meaning that they believed in multiple gods. After making this distinction, the stories become more and more different as they try to explain each separate phenomena of the world. The Book of Genesis explains the creation of the world in a fairly simple way. To put it bluntly, God created everything. He fashioned the world in six days and rested on the seventh. (Linder) All in all, this creation myth has a little more detail to it but is very simple and concise. Contrary to the Book of Genesis’ creation story, the story of creation in Norse mythology is much more elaborate and magical. As the Book of Genesis is to the Christian faith, The Prose Edda is the book that contains the stories of Norse creation. In the beginning, the first world to ever exist was named Muspell. This world is covered in fire, lava, and volcanoes all over. This planet contained so much heat on its surface that even the space around the planet was too hot for any
Cited: Linder, Doug. (2004), "The History of Genesis and the Creation Stories." UMKC School of Law. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. <http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/gen1st.htm>. Ashliman, D.L.. "The Norse Creation Myth." University of Pittsburgh. N.p., 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. <http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/creation.html>. Lemmen, Kainen. "Norse Creation Myth." Angelfire. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2012. <http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/IsisShrine/Norsemyth.html>.