d' aulaire's norse gods and giants

I grew up with D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths, a wonderful book full of fabulous interpretations of the wild lives of the gods, complete with illustrations by the talented husband and wife children's book team, Ingri and Parin D'Aulaire. I spent hours reading and re-reading these stories, trying to draw Aphrodite, Dionysus and the other gods and goddesses that the D'Aulaires portrayed in their distinctive lithographs.

I remember seeing their book on the Norse Gods when I was a kid. I must have taken it out of the library, but I frankly don't remember it at all. When I was with the kid at the library the other day and saw D'Aulaire's Norse Gods & Giants (reprinted recently as D'Aulaire's Book of Norse Myths) again I grabbed it, figuring it would be like my favorite Greek myth book. Well, sorta. The illustrations are as wonderful as one would expect. But the stories — they are so very, very different from the Greek myths. The Norse pantheon, although it shares a superficial resemblance to the Greeks, with creation stories and Odin as the head of the gods, is full of very distinct and different personalities from Zeus and his brother and sister gods and goddesses.

Battling a frost giant

Ygdrassil

Loki plans his next trick

The D'Aulaires seem to be having a great time telling stories about the world of the Norse gods, including the world tree, Ygdrassil, Valhalla, and the gods' ultimate destiny, Ragnarokk. Fans of comic books and recent superhero moves will recognize some of the main players — Odin the all father, hammer-wielding Thor, the god of thunder, and the shape shifting trickster, Loki, as well as the lovely Freya and the Valkyrie. The D'Aulaires' books are geared towards children, but their retelling of these classic stories are dense and layered and could be equally enjoyed by adults. I'm glad I got a chance to find this book again.

thank god it's frigg's day

With all of the rapturous talk going on about tomorrow, Saturday, it's got me thinking about our American "Christian" culture and how it's not really that Christian at all.

The days of the week, for instance.

Do most bible-thumpers even realize that pagan cultures are a huge part of our everyday lives? When they were the predominant world culture, the Greek and Romans gave names to the days of the week, after their gods and celestial bodies. When the Anglo-Saxons invaded, they substituted their own god names.

So we have:

Sunday: Named after that big old star the Sun.

Monday: Named after the Moon.

Tuesday: Tiw's Day named after Tyr, a Norse god of war, equivalent to Mars — Martedì in Italian, Mardi in French, Martes in Spanish.

Wednesday: Woden's Day. Woden, or Odin, was the most powerful of the Norse gods. Take that, hump day. The Greeks and Romans originally honored Mercury on this day, hence Mercoledì in Italian, Mercredi in French, Miércoles in Spanish.

Thursday: Thor's Day, that Norse god with the big hammer. The romance language equivalent is for Jupiter, by Jove: Italian Giovedì, Spanish Jueves, French Jeudi.

Friday: Frigg's Day, the most powerful of the Norse goddesses. Thank God it's Frigg's day. The Romans felt the same way about this being the best day of the week, naming it after their lovely Venus: Venerdì in Italian, Vendredi in French, Viernes in Spanish.

Saturday: Named after the god and planet Saturn.

So if you're still scrambling, trying to make some end of days plans for tomorrow — Saturnalia, anyone?