14
votes
What is Loki considered to be?
I have slightly modified the following from a Yahoo! Answers question I answered sometime ago.
He is referred to as a god in the Nibelungenlied and the Völsungasaga. In the Eddas he is generally ...
- 9,772
9
votes
Accepted
Is there a kind giant named Hagrid Rubes in Greek mythology?
This sounds inaccurate.
Rowling has partly explained where she came up with the name for Hagrid.
Rubeus comes from a word for red:
Colours also played their part in the naming of Hagrid and ...
- 1,249
9
votes
Accepted
Why did giants have snake legs?
Early representations of giants actually looked normal and human. Consider this representation of Alcyoneus, the king of the giants:
(source: theoi.com) (http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/L1.2.html)
It ...
- 7,158
8
votes
How and why are Idunn and Tyr gods?
To answer briefly: Being a god was not about belonging to a specific "race".
For Idunn, we can compare with the division of the gods into aesir and vanir, where the latter were in some sense linked ...
- 6,006
6
votes
How to reconcile the size differential between giants and non-giants in Norse mythology?
Well, let's start with the obvious: where the jotuns in fact, giants?
(I will be using "jotuns" for the group throughout, to have avoid confusion).
This seems likely, on at least some level; ...
- 6,006
6
votes
What is the root of ice giants in Germanic mythology?
The last Ice age glaciers were gone at least by 5000 BCE. This is about 500 years before Proto-Indo-European is usually dated, which is about as far we can trace any shred of mythological knowledge, ...
- 6,006
4
votes
According to Biblical account, why fallen angels' offspring are giants? Or are they egg-born?
There is here and there some confusions in your question.
The Nephilims
What your are talking about in your question are the "Nephilims". Let's read the Bible (I will use the NIV as a reference text)...
- 3,501
4
votes
How to reconcile the size differential between giants and non-giants in Norse mythology?
Norse mythology doesn't, outside of a few specific instances, actually specify the size of the giants (or the Aesir, for that matter) as far as I'm aware.
As far as other giant/non-giant matches, ...
4
votes
Accepted
When and how did gigantic size become an attribute of the Titans?
Part of the confusion may derive from the "fuzziness" subject. Time is not strictly rational in the Greek myths, so why should proportion be firmly fixed? More confusion may be injected in ...
- 14.1k
3
votes
When and how did gigantic size become an attribute of the Titans?
The Titanes and the Gigantes seem to have become one in people's minds over time, perhaps because both of them fought the Olympians.
While 6th century BCE writers like Homer and Hesiod don't ...
- 5,878
3
votes
What's the difference between a giant and the "nephilim"?
Well, for one the English term "giant" is vague and generic: it merely means taller than average which is why a pro basketball player can be called giant (and none of them even make it to 8 ft.) and ...
- 31
2
votes
What's the difference between a giant and the "nephilim"?
Merriam-Webster provides the following definition:
Nephilim (noun)
a biblical race of giants or demigods
giant (noun)
1 : a legendary humanlike being of great stature and strength
2a : a living being ...
- 433
2
votes
How to reconcile the size differential between giants and non-giants in Norse mythology?
Giants are not beholden to our rules of geometry
Myths and fairy tales include all kinds of impossible things like mermaids turning into sea foam, women selling their eyes to rivers, giant castles ...
- 401
2
votes
How and why are Idunn and Tyr gods?
The poem Hrafnagaldur Óðins is a very late addition to the Norse canon, probably written in the 1600s, which puts it a long time after paganism gave way to Christianity. This might explain the many ...
- 5,878
1
vote
Are Gigantes and Gods the same?
The Giants and Gods are different! In the Greek creation myths, Gaea and Ouranos had multiple 'groups' of children. The first were creatures that had "shattering, overwhelming strength" and &...
- 111
1
vote
Is there a kind giant named Hagrid Rubes in Greek mythology?
This is not at all true. There is no such person in Greek mythology, and unless the person claiming it is can give a source for the assertion, I would dismiss it as made up.
1
vote
What is the root of ice giants in Germanic mythology?
I found a good answer in Brazilian Wikipedia and it matches with other sources, here is a piece:
"The first living being that was formed in the primeval chaos, called Ginungagap, was a giant of ...
- 415
1
vote
How and why are Idunn and Tyr gods?
Tyr & Thor were both sons of Odin, but each were raised by foster giant parents. Tyr's foster parents were the giants (jotuns) Hymir & Hroðr (sometimes named Griseldis) and Thor's foster ...
- 11
1
vote
What is Loki considered to be?
I would say he is by biology half Jotunn half Aesir. The only reasonable reason he would be called as a son of Laufey and not of Farboti is that she was a goddess most likely exiled as a result of her ...
- 11
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