北欧神话是什么?

北欧神话是什么?
北欧神话是什么?

北欧神话是什么?
北欧神话是被遗忘了很久的神话,古代北欧人的后裔将这份瑰宝弃而不顾,已有好几个世纪之久.
北欧神话中英雄的后裔,即今斯堪地那维亚半岛及德意志东北低地的日耳曼民族.他们生长在荒凉苛虐的自然环境中,养成勇武彪悍的个性.
流浪、战斗和狩猎是他们日常的生活方式,他们经常在大胆进取的首领率领下,远征他国,并从异国赢得在本土所无的地位与财富.
这些战胜国原有的文化,未必优於被他们征服的国家,武器和装备也不一定能胜过对方.但他们拥有不知恐惧的冒险精神和视死如归的勇气,这是日耳曼民族所以能侵扰整个欧洲的重耍原因.
这些不怕死的日耳曼勇士,逐渐扩大了远征的范围.西元400年,他们以莱茵河、多瑙河为界,与罗马帝国相邻.到了罗马国势渐衰,他们便不断侵扰罗马帝国的领土.
到第五世纪中叶,日耳曼民族从东西和北面受到芬族（即被汉帝国打败西迁的北匈奴）的压迫,於是,引起怒涛般的民族大迁徙.这就是日耳曼人所谓的英雄时代,北欧传奇中的主人翁大多是这时代的英雄.
这次大迁徙的结果,东至俄罗斯,西迄法国海岸、布列登岛,南至西班牙、意大利半岛、西西里、北非,都受到日耳曼人的侵袭,甚至远至格陵兰和部份美洲大陆都留有他们的足迹.
流传至今的北欧神话就是这民族的产物.但神话的记录在今天的日耳曼国家中都已不复存在.反而是在北海中满布火山与冰河的孤岛—冰岛上保存了下来.
日耳曼诸神完全被日耳曼民族遗忘,其中最重要的原因当推与罗马帝国的接触,以及经由接触而受到的基督教之同化.再加上天灾人祸,尤其是西元1618-1648的「三十年战争」,使日耳曼固有文化残缺荒废,可贵的文献传说,都坠入遗忘的深渊,尘封於漫长的岁月.
而当时只有基督教的教士识字,他们既掌管记录,保管文献,对於异教传说、抄本、歌曲等自然深恶痛绝,清扫乾净；只有少数资料幸存：英国的「贝欧武夫」-Beowulf、德国的「尼伯龙根之歌」-Nibelungenlied和一些断简残篇-Saga（英雄传说）,以及两部冰岛神话诗集「爱达经」-Edda.再加上日耳曼民族认为原先所使用的古文字-鲁纳（Runenschrift）,是带有魔力的咒文,如果将语言定形为文字,等於将神秘力量授予敌人.因此,今日不只是古日耳曼人的信仰,甚至是生活方式,也都难以考证.
Norse mythology
Norse or Scandinavian mythology comprises the pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people, including those who settled on Iceland, where the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. However, it is important to note that Finnish mythology forms a separate creed, although it shares some similarities with Norse mythology. It is the best-preserved version of the older common Germanic mythology, which also includes the closely related Anglo-Saxon mythology. Germanic mythology, in its turn, had evolved from an earlier Indo-European mythology.
Norse mythology is a collection of beliefs and stories shared by Northern Germanic tribes. It was not a revealed religion, in that it was not a truth handed down from the divine to the mortal (although it does have tales of normal persons learning the stories of the gods from a visit to or from the gods), and it had no scripture. The mythology was orally transmitted in the form of long, regular poetry. Oral transmission continued through the Viking Age, and our knowledge about it is mainly based on the Eddas and other medieval texts written down during and after Christianisation.
In Scandinavian folklore, these beliefs held on the longest, and in rural areas some traditions have been maintained until today. Others have recently been revived or reinvented as Germanic Neopaganism. The mythology also remains as an inspiration in literature (see Norse mythological influences on later literature) as well as on stage productions and movies.
介绍一下本人觉得不错的
资料一http://www.answers.com/topic/norse-mythology
资料二http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_mythology