The gods' "personal" stories

[Jainarayan]

I know I overthink, but something I've noticed about Norse mythology that seems to be lacking or maybe missing due to the break in the lore, is more in-depth stories about the gods' personal lives. For example, a story of Thor's birth, his growing up, was he ever a child or was he born full grown? Greek and Hindu mythology have extensive stories of the births, origins, or appearances of the gods, even some of the lesser know or obscure deities. Everyone knows how Zeus and Krishna came to be born. But as far as I've seen, precious little is written about the Norse deities' personal lives.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

I know I overthink, but something I've noticed about Norse mythology that seems to be lacking or maybe missing due to the break in the lore, is more in-depth stories about the gods' personal lives. For example, a story of Thor's birth, his growing up, was he ever a child or was he born full grown? Greek and Hindu mythology have extensive stories of the births, origins, or appearances of the gods, even some of the lesser know or obscure deities. Everyone knows how Zeus and Krishna came to be born. But as far as I've seen, precious little is written about the Norse deities' personal lives.

just based on knowledge of the history, it is likely that there were many such stories, probably in multiple versions, that did not get written down, or if they did get written down, did not survive. I think it likely that many of the childhood stories of the gods were probably not taken as serious mythology by the monks and others who first wrote down the Norse tales. The Greeks, Hindus, etc., started writing things down many millennia ago, while for the Norse it was only about 1000CE, and then by the people who brought writing to the area. I'll note that while the Chinese started writing things down about 5,000 years ago, it is believed that a great many of the early writings were lost during several periods of disorder and several Imperial book burnings throughout history. And who knows what was lost in the burning of the library at Alexandria?

 

[Jainarayan]

Yeah, I think it's probable that since most of the stories were initially passed on orally, and there was only a short time in which they could be compiled to be written, that's the reason for the dearth of stories. And that's a pity because I'll bet the stories would be as colorful and meaningful as any. Snorri Sturluson was Christian, and not entirely reliable with the Prose Edda.

 

[Nietzsche]

I know I overthink, but something I've noticed about Norse mythology that seems to be lacking or maybe missing due to the break in the lore, is more in-depth stories about the gods' personal lives. For example, a story of Thor's birth, his growing up, was he ever a child or was he born full grown? Greek and Hindu mythology have extensive stories of the births, origins, or appearances of the gods, even some of the lesser know or obscure deities. Everyone knows how Zeus and Krishna came to be born. But as far as I've seen, precious little is written about the Norse deities' personal lives.

I wonder if this is due to the stories simply not being written down/passing from oral tradition or if it's another sign that the Aesir & Vanir genuinely do just live their own lives, and so we don't get as many stories because they're busy.

 

[Jainarayan]

Maybe a little bit of both... they don't give interviews.

 

[Riverwolf]

Seeing as there were likely multiple birth stories of the various Gods, I personally think it's fine for us to create some of our own, based on our own perceptions.

 

[Jainarayan]

Hmm... I never thought of that.