Jedidiah Brandon Professor Jacqueline Jones Honors Composition II March 11, MMXIII

In this Thesis, we will explore the effects that the natural environment has had on creation myths in manners of the relationships between man and god(s) and the struggles that man goes through for the god(s). By addressing the climate, region, ecosystem and wildlife that the people who created these myths lived in, we will see a correlation between their writings and their environment and how one was affected by the other. By using the Norse and Mayan creation myths, the relationship between physical environment and the myths created by the people in these environment will be apparent. Cold and Ice are some of the more prominent features associated with the region occupied by the countries of the Netherlands, northern Germany, and Iceland. The Norse people that occupied the land in the mid-13th century A.D. had many hardships and adaptations they had to endure to be able to live there. A dangerous land with little vegetation and wildlife, land and resources were limited and coveted and war was a major part of the Norse people. Weather for this region took a drastic change in the 13th century. With storms on such a grand scale to where they received names as Grote Mandrake, or the great drowning of man (Goldberg, pg3), its possible to see how the Norse people would have had great fear of the environment. One of the most important gods, Thor, was the maker of thunder and lightning and these two things are indicators and precursors to rain, floods and torrential storms. It could be viewed that the Norse

took one of their biggest threats, as well as one of their biggest bringers of food and life, rain, and gave it a human persona of caretaker as well as life taker. Gods were feared and loved at the same time such as weather. With the understanding we have today of weather patterns, ocean currents, earth tilt and rotation, and other meteorological attributes that cause these major shifts in climate, we see them for what they are but the people living during this era had no knowledge of these factors so in turn attributed them to the one thing they knew the most, humans. Each part of the Norse environment such as trees, the ocean, the sky, the earth, love, sex, birth and death had a god that was associated with it. Also another aspect to point out to support my thesis is the fact that with the Norse having large tribes and also experiencing war with other tribes on regular bases, it would only seem natural that their gods would have very human persona with human emotions and problems. The Norse gods and goddesses have all the characteristics of largerthan-life human beings (Myths Encyclopedia). When we apply this same thesis to the Mayan creation myth, we see a different outcome due to the entirely different environment and climate. In The Creation (World mythology), begins by describing a vast ocean in which land will rise from. They describe that Grass and trees, stones, caves, and ravines, birds and fish, crabs, animals, and humans had yet been created (The Creation, pg.597). These are all features that were and are prevalent within Central America and would have been a major part of the life of the Mayan people for centuries. In the myth, The Creators were disappointed with the creatures they created due to the fact that they were unable to praise them, so they set out attempting to create humans. They used a variety of different materials such as mud and wood, which were the preferred building materials used to create Mayan architecture. After not being satisfied with these creations and attempting to destroy them, the creators used corn to successfully construct the perfect human that had all the

capabilities to praise them properly (The Creation, pg, 598). Not only was corn a major part of this region, it is believed that the strain of Maze that we know today, was first cultivated and produced in this area (Authentic Maya). Within the myth, Its states that the creators used the creatures and wildlife to help find the perfect medium to construct their humans. The Mountain Cat, the Coyote, the Crow, and a small Parrot came before the creators and told them of yellow ears and white ears of corn that grew nearby (The Creation, 598). All four of these animals are prevalent in the region the Mayans dwelled. By reviewing these facts, it is possible to see how the surrounding climate and environment had a major effect on the construction of these myths. This same thesis can be applied to all creation myths and religions and would demonstrate the same effect. Whether a person dedicates their lives and believes to any particular one, is of no consequence to the fact that each one reflects the surrounding of the writer and is a major influence in characters, hardships, rewards, commandments, gods and lessons. In closing, Its necessary to understand that these were written in a time when no quick communications nor media was available to relay information between cultures. When a major flood would engulf a massive part of a region that was occupied by a civilization, it would appear that the world had indeed flooded. So in turn, thats how they would write it. An icy and cold region wouldnt have civilizations that would write about Palm Trees or Parrots and a civilization living in a tropical and warm region would most likely night include ice monsters in theirs. The environment creates its God(s), not the other way around.