The German communities had respect of their distinguished warriors. The soldiers were supposed to display acts of brevity in the fields. The warriors would provide protection to their lord in return of receiving gifts such as land. Myths developed among the Germans of how heroic warriors had places prepared. The German religious transformation included movement from paganism to Christianity. Ethos was observed by the Germans up to the period of interaction with the Christians. The ethos was presented in the Germans poetic work.
One of the German mythologies is the Nose mythology, which depicted the Germans passage from paganism to Christianity. The mythology is a combination of stories of different heroes who led the German people into wars emerging victorious. Thor, the one eyed god is represented within this myth. Thor is presented as the god who seeks knowledge on behalf of his people. The other god is Freyja who rode to battle to seek revenge. Thor was the most famous god during the Viking year. Thor was associated with thunder, with one hand holding a hammer. Thor is believed to have married a beautiful goddess and maintained friendship with the humans. The Valkyrie was depicted as one who would choose those soldiers who would die in the battlefield and those to live. The Valkyrie brought the chosen soldiers to the afterlife hall. The Valkyrie were believed to respect heroes of the war and mortals. Their respect of heroes and ethos reflected the ethos that provided respect for heroes and mortals. They appeared in German poems and literature work where they are represented ascending from the sky to protect the world (Goethe and Wolfgang 46).
Valhalla was a hall within the nose myth that was designed for the heroes who were dead. It was built by the Odin and had multiple doors that allowed entry of many dead soldiers at the same time. The doors were wide to allow soldiers to move out quickly during times of battles with gods. The hall had such things as meat readily available for the Vikings and dead soldiers. The availability of food in the hall was to ensure that soldiers were of good health all the time. The soldiers were provided with time to practice in order to improve their military skills. The Germans referred to the hall as the hall of the Slan.
Ragnarok marked the end of the cosmos in the Nose mythology. The period was marked with three consecutive winters leading to nations rising against each other. The wars would mark an end to morality among the living on earth. At this period, the wolf Skull would devour the Sun and Hati. The eradication of the sun would bring total darkness on earth accompanied by the disappearance of the stars. The three cocks would crow to awake the giants, gods, and the dead. The awakening of the giants will lead to Heimdall calling all the heroes to the war. The battle between the demons, heroes, gods, and giants will take place in the land of shaker. The god Thor will kill the serpent while the god of thunder will die out of serpents poison. The end period the earth will be its sinking it into the sea. The earth will be reborn with some of the gods surviving. The earth would have eradicated misery and wickedness (Micha).
The continental Germanic mythology arose during the 8th and 9th century within Europe. The myth is associated with a period when Christianity was spreading in Europe. The myth continued its existence to the middle ages. The myth had stories associated with sacred background mostly about gods. The myth has most of the gods named similar to the modern English weekdays. Some of the words are Wednesday, Tuesday, and Friday. Tuesday was associated with the god named Tis while Friday was associated with Frige god. The Osses god was associated with carrying the dead by the Saxons. The myth had a god named Thunor who ruled sky and storms. Frige was a goddess associated with love and was wife to Woden. The myth has a god of fertility who was referred to Wunor. The god of fertility was believed to provide the ability to the crops and animals in order to produce abundantly. Frea provided wealth to the people in the form of precious stones(Michael 215).
The Romans trial to modernize Europe failed after a period of five hundred years. The failure led to them leaving Europe to unruly tribes. The migration of Saxons who were German descendants into Britain brought a new form of religion that was paganism. The Anglo Saxon myth is depicted with a period when paganism was widely practiced in Europe between the 4th and 6th century. The Saxons believed in worship of deities. The deities were represented in wooden from leading to most modern society referring to religion as wodenism. Some of the prominent gods of the period included Tiw and Thunor. The deities provided ways of naming of modern English week days. The Anglo Saxons myth had a believer in supernatural powers that came to be prohibited after the introduction of Christianity in Europe. The myth provided usage of magic to solve problems. The myth also provided on myths on deaths and births among the humans (Leeming 67).
Works Cited
Goethe, Johann and Wolfgang, von. "On German Architecture." Essays on Art and Literature. Ed. John Gearey. Trans. Ellen von Nardroff and Ernest H. von Nardroff. Princeton, NJ: University of Princeton, 1986. Print.
Leeming, David A. Creation myths of the world an encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2010. Print.
Micha, Lindemans. Ragnarok. Retrieved http://www.pantheon.org/articles/r/ragnarok.html, Print. 30th April 2013.
Michael, SPeider .Ancient Germanic warrior’s style from Trojans. New York: Routledge, 2002. print.
