As of December 2019, when I finished my last class at the local two-year college, I had been a teacher for 52 years. Now, a bit more than a year later I miss it, but I have to admit that it was time to hang it up. It's still part of me, so I'm tempted to try something. During my university years (70s and 80s), I taught a class in Germanic Mythology. It was an elective course in that it didn't count for the German major. It was a fun class to teach. I might also add that it came into being in that one of the professors on the committee that had to approve of new classes was of Norwegian descent and had been studying it for years. He sat in on the first semester I taught it and we became personal friends. His feedback was most helpful. If I follow through with what I'm about to propose, could I depend on feedback???? So here goes: if I posted a “lesson” here periodically, would there be interest, and more important, would I get feedback?
As long as I don't need to know more German than Ja, nein, scheiße, bitte ein Bit, und bitte halb hähnchen mit kartoffelsalat, I'd love to see a thread like that. Thanks for offering.
Everything will be in English. I'll provide a list of translations available online. Most everything we know comes from Scandinavian sources. (Do I see Scandinavian heritage in the name 'Dottir?')
I performed a comparative study of Greek and Norse philosophy which coincided with some Norse / Germanic mythology so the subject would probably be one of interest to me. It’s a given that there are no guarantees how far a thread will go but if you do not present your material you will never know. I’ve been on a few forums and have seen brilliant threads go for a page or two and downright idiotic threads go for numerous pages. Sometimes it’s just a crap shoot so give it try and see who bellies up to the table.
Yes, altho indirectly. It's true that I am an Ellyn's daughter, but D'Ellyn Dottir is a pen name I use for various online purposes. Nonethless I do have several similar names in my geneaology: Ragnhild Hrolfsdatter, Thyra Eysteinsdatter, Ingegard Olafdotter, Thora Sigurdsdatter, and a few others.
My irish/scot background would probably be an impediment, and lack of education, maybe but I'd sit in, give it a decent try. Regardless, I'm for it, and bedleave clearning is a life long experience.
Hum, well i will try almost anything at least once. Sad to say, i had to look this up, as never heard of this. Interesting, will participate if needed. Might I ask the purpose of this experiment @James Hintze
Wow I am reading up on a bunch of stuff from reading about Germanic mythology .. Very interesting indeed.
The purpose? As I stated above, I've been a teacher for my whole career, until Dec.19. I guess it's part of me. My wife has kicked me under the table several times when I take off on telling friends about, language, history, and other stuff I've studied or read about. I hope that you and others find this interesting enough to stick with me here. I might also add that I like to discuss things, so don't hesitate to ask me to clarify or ad to my "lessons." And above all, I will state my opinion often enough. If you disagree, please PLEASE PLEASE call me out. A good teacher always learns stuff from his/her students.
FIRST "LESSON" Since this is a “course” about Germanic Mythology, and the “teacher” tends to go off on tangents about things that have to do with the mythology but aren't part of it, he will start out with perhaps the most important Myth in the whole mythology, considering the influence it has on other myths and stories across the ages. This myth is known as Otter's Ransom or Andvari'sRing. It starts on page 99 of this translation of Snorri's Prose Edda, the source of much of what we know about Germanic Mythology. If the hyperlink doesn't work: http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/EDDArestr.pdf. I might suggest that you download a copy and start reading, as we will refer to it frequently. More about him later, but here is my paraphrasing: Odin, Loki, and Hoenir are exploring. (More about the individual gods later.) The three come upon a waterfall, and see an otter enjoying a freshly caught salmon. Since they are hungry, they kill the otter, and with it and the fish, continue their journey. A short time later they approach farmer Hreidmar's residence. They ask for shelter for the night, but explain that they don't need food, since they have an otter and its catch. Hreidmar quickly recognized the otter as his third son (Shape changers occur often enough.), and summon his other sons, Fafnir and Regin. (The names should ring a bell.) They take the gods into captivity, who then offer to pay a large ransom. The deal is that the hide of the otter is spread out and has to be filled and covered with enough gold so that none of it is visible. Loki is sent to the World of dark elves, where he comes upon the elf Andvari. The elf was in a fish shape when Loki seizes him and forces him to give over his gold stash. He does, but Loki sees that he is holding back a ring. Andvari pleads with him not to take the ring, since he could use it to get another stash of gold. Loki insists, and as he is leaving with the gold and the ring, the elf puts a curse on it. It will destroy anyone in its possession. Loki returns and covers the otter skin, successfully, except for a hair sticking out. Hreidmar sees it, and demands that it, too, must be covered. Loki had given the ring to Odin, who surrenders it. The ransom having been paid, the gods leave. Loki, being Loki, mentioned the curse. Which took effect immediately. When Fafner and Regin asked father for some of the gold, father, of course refused, which cost him his life. Regin, asked brother for some of the gold, but Fafnir put on father's 'helmet of terror,' and chased Regin away. Fafnir then took the gold out on to the heath, prepared a lair, stashed the gold, turned himself into a dragon and flopped down onto the gold. Sound familiar? If not, it will. So here ends the first “lesson.” Please post questions, comments, and whatever. If nothing I wish you would 'check in' so that I can see the interest. And do download Snorri's Prose Edda.
While I can't cite much less recite any specific examples, this tale reminds me of the sort from Native American culture that I've see performed at Tillicum Village in Puget Sound. The universality of telling tales by way of shapeshifting beings is fascinating to me. @James Hintze , if I could make a suggestion -- paragraphs longer than 3-5 lines on a computer screen or phone are hard to read. If you break you posts into more frequent paragraphs you might get more readers.
Sorry, I have down-loaded the download, have read some of it. Doesn't seem to be my cup of tea and I can't generate any interest in this subject matter.