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Why did Arawn choose Pwyll to fight Hafgan, king of Annwfn?
I've been reading the first branch of the Mabinogion, which details the journeys of Pwyll, lord of Dyfed. While hunting, he meets Arawn, king of Annwfn, who strikes a deal with him: The two will switch places for a year. At the end of the year,…
HDE 226868
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What is the root of ice giants in Germanic mythology?
Does the idea of ice giants stem from glaciers? They are described as both evil and good and I thought that goes back to how glaciers can grow bigger and take your land, but also can become smaller and offer you land, because not only they give new…
Entrance
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How did so many cultures come up with their own swastika?
Before two and a half hours ago, I thought the swastika was only in India and World War II. Then my art teacher put on a video about ancient Greek and Roman mosaics. In this video, I saw what was dubbed "Ancient Greek Swastica." I thought this an…
Andrew Johnson
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Did Yggdrassil exist before the world's creation
In the cosmos creation myth, Ymir is born from the clash of ice and fire that comes from Muspelheim and Niflheim. When Odin and his brothers kill Ymir and create the world using his body it sounds like the creation of midgard, but not Yggdrasil…
11
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Does the Abrahamic God smite people with lightning?
A recent question on similarities between Zeus and the Christian God, and it occurred to me God striking down sinners with lightning is a trope, but, offhand, I can't think of stories from the bible that feature this. By contrast, Zeus was famous…
DukeZhou
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How Do The Fairies In Irish Mythology Spend Their Time
I have heard that they are "merrymaking and lovemaking" the entire time. But if there is someone more familiar with the lives of fairies, I would love to learn about their culture...at least some sources about it.
Lady F
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Does Kalki appear at the end of every Kali Yuga, or just the current one?
We currently live in the Kali Yuga, at least according to the Hindu conception of time. At the end of it, Kalki is supposed to descend, destroy evil, and bring an end to this mahayuga.
But there are many Kali Yugas - one for each mahayuga. Does…
senshin
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What is the Japanese human origin myth?
How did Shinto (the traditional Japanese polytheistic religion) explain human origin?
Also, does it have a flood myth?
Andrew Johnson
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Why did the primordial deities not take an active role in Greek mythology?
The vast majority of Greek myths I'm familiar with concern the Olympians, the third generation of deities. The first generation seems to disappear from the story after their role in setting the scene is over. I have two related questions about…
Scobie
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Are there any beasts/creatures that "feed on" grief or regrets?
I'm interested in knowing if there are any creatures, monsters, spirits, etc that feed on negative human emotions- specifically grief and regret. Alternately, anything that is specifically attracted to these emotions would also be of interest to me.…
Jessie
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Why is silver in particular effective against dark creatures like vampires?
For instance, according to the supernatural wiki, silver is a metal with strong supernatural properties. But historically, why is specifically silver considered harmful to vampires? Is there a reason why it could not be gold or bronze?
Tom M
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What is the difference between Igigi and Anunnaki deities?
On Anunnaki Wikipedia page we can read:
Their relation to the group of gods known as the Igigi is unclear – at times the names are used synonymously but in the Atra-Hasis flood myth the Igigi are the sixth generation of the gods who have to work…
kenorb
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What kind of cats pulled Freya's chariot?
Everyone knows that the goddess Frejya's chariot was pulled by cats, but what kind of cats are we talking about? Are they giant sized house-cats? Were there any puma-sized cats in ancient Scandinavia?
DukeZhou
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Alternative to Tower of Babel explanations for linguistic diversity
What mythological alternatives, if any, are there to explaining the existence of multiple languages than the Tower of Babel or myths that are similar in nature?
I once came across a myth at a wildlife park near Melbourne, Australia, about animals…
Golden Cuy
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Why would Aphrodite be armed?
Pausanias tells us that the Spartans worshipped Aphrodite Hoplismeni (~armed) and Aphrodite Areia (~of Ares, warlike):
[Paus. 3.15.10] Not far from the theatre is a sanctuary of Poseidon God of Kin, and there are hero-shrines of Cleodaeus, son of…
yannis
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