Yam,+Henry

**//__Introduction__//**

1. “Where heat and cold met appeared thawing drops, and this running fluid grew into a giant frost ogre named Ymir.” 2. “ Out of this chaos the first being came into existence from the drop of water when ice from Niflheim and fire from Muspelheim met. This first being was [|Ymir], a primeval giant. The frost-giants called him Aurgelmir, but everyone else called him Ymir. Ymir became father of a race of [|frost-giants].” 3. [] 4. “…with dry sinking air capping a surface marine layer of varying humidity and making rainfall impossible or unlikely except for the occasional thunderstorm” 5. “2000 BC, probably [|Ur Kaśdim] or [|Haran]” 6. “The creation story in Genesis relates the geographical location of both Eden and the garden to four rivers ([|Pishon], [|Gihon], [|Tigris], [|Euphrates]),…” 7. “Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.”
 * //__Research Question__//**: Were the creation myths and cultural myths shaped heavily by the circumstances and environment around them?
 * //__General Message__//**: To answer the question if the environment of a culture influenced its creation myths.
 * //__Organization__//**: Introduction paragraph, examples of creation being influenced by surroundings and environment, and conclusion.
 * //__Primary source quotes__//**:

-Wikipedia was used for the general knowledge such as climate and common stories.


 * //__Analysis__//**: In Essay
 * //__What did I learn__//**: The creation myths were very probable in being influenced by the culture’s surroundings. I made connections between the settings of the creation myths to modern-day settings. It’s important in today’s world because it can be used to learn more about the culture’s reasons for events that have happened to them.

 People around the world before technology started to spring up have wondered how the world had begun its existence. These people started to formulate creation myths and cultural myths to explain their existence in the world and revolutionary events that happened. The Vikings explained that the world was formed from the death of a giant; the Greeks thought that they were living in the space between Gaia and Uranus after they were created from the great Chaos. Finally, Christians think that the universe was created by an almighty being, God. An interesting question about all three of the religions’ creation myths is were the creation myths and cultural myths shaped heavily by the circumstances and environment around them. 

According to the Norse creation myths, before the world existed, there was chaos. This chaos was called Ginnungagap. Out of this chasm, the first being, Ymir, came into existence. Ymir was supposedly a frost giant formed out of lava and ice. According to [|http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/creation.html], “Where heat and cold met appeared thawing drops, and this running fluid grew into a giant frost ogre named Ymir.” Also, from [], “ Out of this chaos the first being came into existence from the drop of water when ice from Niflheim and fire from Muspelheim met. This first being was [|Ymir], a primeval giant. The frost-giants called him Aurgelmir, but everyone else called him Ymir. Ymir became father of a race of [|frost-giants].” This reflects the Vikings’ surroundings because their culture was always chaotic and it wasn’t surprising to see an eruption and icy landscapes there.

However the Greeks, although having a similar view of how the world was a vast chaos, have a different view of how the world began. They believed that the world was originally a giant world of chaos. However, Eurynome created Gaia, the earth, and Uranus, the sky. It lead to Chronus’ and Zeus’ births and eventually Zeus overthrew Chronus, his father. This resulted in the birth of other gods including Hephaestus, the gods’ blacksmith who always works in a volcano and Poseidon, who was the god of earthquakes and the seas. The connection between these gods and the actual environment of Greece is that these gods were probably imagined because the actual climate of Greece is very similar to the gods’ attributes. According to [], Greece has been plagued with earthquakes, which reflect why Poseidon is the god of earthquakes. Also, Greece occasionally has thunderstorms according to [], which shows the nature of Zeus who would have a moody temperament. Christianity and Judaism believed that Abraham, originally Abram, was the patriarch of the modern-day Christian and Jew. It was believed that Abraham was born in Haran, present-day southern Turkey. Turkey is a country that is very near the river Euphrates and Tigris. During the creation of the world, according to Christianity, there was a garden named Eden. Eden was supposedly within the proximity of the rivers Tigris, Euphrates, Gihon, and Pishon. The creation myths show that they were affected by the geographical locations of the Tigris and Euphrates because Abraham, an important figure of Christianity was born in Haran.

Christianity and Judaism perceived that Moses lead the Jewish peoples out of Egypt. The story tells us that Moses met God in a village/oasis in the desert and saw him as a burning bush that wouldn’t completely burn. Not only that, after Moses lead the Jews out of Egypt, he was led by a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night through a desert. This all took place in the arid environment of the area between Israel and Egypt. Assumptions can be made that Moses may have been seeing a mirage of the burning bush and the pillars of cloud and fire.

People are fond of forming creation myths to explain natural phenomena that they are unsure of. The Vikings decided to explain their environment was frigid cold by creating the myth of Ymir, a frost giant. The Greeks, puzzled by their climate, came up with Zeus, the chief god who used lightning bolts for spears, and Poseidon, the god of earthquakes. They created these myths using the environment that they were placed in to keep their curiosities at bay and give them a sense of security that some things just can’t be explained.

Works Cited: [|http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/creation.html] [] [] [] Bible [] []

