Everybody talks about the Mayan Calendar and the end of time in 2012. But there exist a lot of mythologies which herald catastrophic events and a new beginning. The Edda is one of these mythologies, which has been somewhat suppressed by Christianity. The popularity of the Mayan Calendar comes certainely in part because of the specific date it gives for the change to come, but other mythologies describe very similar processes of a system collapse and a new beginning.
… But this is not all. A new and beautiful world is to rise on the ruins of the old; Baldr comes back, and “fields unsowed bear ripened fruit” (stanzas 59-66).
This is at the beginning of the Edda, beautiful nordic mythology.
Another great cultural treasure is the Nibelungenlied, which has been translated into English by George Henry Needler “with the simple purpose of placing one of the world’s great epic poems within the reach of English readers” as he writes in his introduction.
The whole “Song” is available at the Guttenberg Project.(Adress blocked by German Courts)
If you want to know more about religions and mythologies: The Godchecker
They have more Gods than you can shake a stick at. Godchecker’s Mythology Encyclopedia currently features over 3.700 deities – one stranger than the other btw…
