creation of the 27 true runes linked to norse mythology

[Xavier_ the_wanderer]

alright this is my first topic, so please be nice. I hope this is the first anyone has written about this. I didn't see it anywhere else on this page.

My theory is that most of the Legend of the birth of the 27 true runes was direved from the norse creation story.

Norse Creation stroy
in the begining there was nothing. no sand no sea, no cool waves. no earth no heaven. the sun knew not her dwelling, nor the moon his realm. the stars had not their places. but the chasm of darkness did not spread everywhere. to the north was the city of the dead niflheim and to far south was muspelheim, the land of fire. from niflheim came twelve rivers that flowed into the chasm freezing to ice. from muspelheim came fiery clouds that turned the ice to mist. from the mist drops of water fell to form the ice maidens and ymir the first giant.. he had two sons, odin and odin's brother. (they don't give a name ><). the brothers killed ymir and from his body made the earth and sky, the earth from his body the sky from his skull. from his blood the ocean. they took the sparks from muspelheim and placed them in the sky as the sun the moon, and the stars. it goes one from there but thats where the similarites end.


Birth of the 27 true runes
In the begining, there was darkness. The darkness lived for a long, long time. the darkness suffered from loneliness for too long a time. so finaly a tear dropped. from the tear were born two brothers. they were the sword and the shield. the sword said it could cut through anything, and the shield replied that it would not allow anything to be wounded. And so, the two began fighting. the fight lasted for 7 days and 7 nights. the sword slashed through the shield and the shield shattered the sword. the sword's fragments rained down and became the sky, and the shield's fragments rained down and became the earth. the sparks of the fight became the stars. And so, the 27 precious gems decorating the sword and shield became the 27 true runes, and they began to move the world

the similarities being everythign began with nothing.then from a drop something was created.there were two brothers. they fought in a battle, and in doing so created the sky, earth and stars.

another small note that i'm sure others have noticed, the 7 days and 7 nights mentioned in the birth story could easily have been derived from the bible creation story.

[Michael Easton]

That was a very interesting read as Norse mythology has always interested me. I wonder if the creation of the 27 True Runes resembles any other legends or mythology from other cultures?

[Night]

I have always wondered why the fixed on the number 27 for the amount of True Runes.

[Judgement of Lorelai]

This is the creation myth in Ancient Greece, had similarities too..

In the beginning there was an empty darkness. The only thing in this void was Nyx, a bird with black wings. With the wind she laid a golden egg and for ages she sat upon this egg. Finally life began to stir in the egg and out of it rose Eros, the god of love. One half of the shell rose into the air and became the sky and the other became the Earth. Eros named the sky Uranus and the Earth he named Gaia. Then Eros made them fall in love.

Uranus and Gaia had many children together and eventually they had grandchildren. Some of their children become afraid of the power of their children. Kronus, in an effort to protect himself, swallowed his children when they were still infants. However, his wife Rhea hid their youngest child. She gave him a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he swallowed, thinking it was his son.

Once the child, Zeus, had reached manhood his mother instructed him on how to trick his father to give up his brothers and sisters. Once this was accomplished the children fought a mighty war against their father. After much fighting the younger generation won. With Zeus as their leader, they began to furnish Gaia with life and Uranus with stars.

Soon the Earth lacked only two things: man and animals. Zeus summoned his sons Prometheus (fore-thought) and Epimetheus (after-thought). He told them to go to Earth and create men and animals and give them each a gift.

Prometheus set to work forming men in the image of the gods and Epimetheus worked on the animals. As Epimetheus worked he gave each animal he created one of the gifts. After Epimetheus had completed his work Prometheus finally finished making men. However when he went to see what gift to give man Epimetheus shamefacedly informed him that he had foolishly used all the gifts.

Distressed, Prometheus decided he had to give man fire, even though gods were the only ones meant to have access to it. As the sun god rode out into the world the next morning Prometheus took some of the fire and brought it back to man. He taught his creation how to take care of it and then left them.

When Zeus discovered Prometheus' deed he became furious. He ordered his son to be chained to a mountain and for a vulture to peck out his liver every day till eternity. Then he began to devise a punishment for mankind. Another of his sons created a woman of great beauty, Pandora. Each of the gods gave her a gift. Zeus' present was curiosity and a box which he ordered her never to open. Then he presented her to Epimetheus as a wife.

Pandora's life with Epimetheus was happy except for her intense longing to open the box. She was convinced that because the gods and goddesses had showered so many glorious gifts upon her that this one would also be wonderful. One day when Epimetheus was gone she opened the box.

Out of the box flew all of the horrors which plague the world today - pain, sickness, envy, greed. Upon hearing Pandora's screams Epimetheus rushed home and fastened the lid shut, but all of the evils had already escaped.

Later that night they heard a voice coming from the box saying,

ÒLet me out. I am hope.Ó

Pandora and Epimetheus released her and she flew out into the world to give hope to humankind.

[Chris_Lightfellow]

Indian (not Native American, the actual country) mythology has a similar story. I quote from "Mythology for Dummies"

"For example, in one Vedic hym the primal being Purusha was sacrificed and his dismembered body parts became all the aspects of the universe: the Vedic gods, the atmosphere, heaven, earth, animals, and humans. The parts that were left over constituted immortality in heaven"

The last sentance, to me, sound kinda like the true runes and the immortality they grant.

[Judgement of Lorelai]

where is the Indian account of Creation? You should cite it so we could see the similarities.

[Chris_Lightfellow]

where is the Indian account of Creation? You should cite it so we could see the similarities.

The book that I have says there is no one creation story like there is in Greek mythology, instead there are several. My book only gives 2 examples, one of which I previously posted. The other is very disturbing and has nothing in common with Suikoden. If you want it ask, otherwise I'm not going to post it.

[koriand'r]

alright this is my first topic, so please be nice. I hope this is the first anyone has written about this. I didn't see it anywhere else on this page.

My theory is that most of the Legend of the birth of the 27 true runes was direved from the norse creation story.

Funny you should say that, LOTR is heavily based on Norse culture and in the film Gimli's helmet has a symbol that is almost a direct copy of the blinking rune. Concidence?