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Michael Smith's avatar

Any guesses about why there's a recurring motif of "We almost got immortality but God intervened"?

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AH's avatar

Nice piece. I think it is worth pointing out that the Snakes in Mythology page you shared has a bit of a gap on the European/Germanic dragon myths (although Nidhogg is mentioned in the underworld section), where what are clearly winged serpents represent evil to be defeated rather than givers of wisdom. Although, one could point out that they guard valuable treasures, often underground (the realm of the dead), and their vanquishers can take their riches. Is it possible that in the dark reaches of Northern Europe the snake myth took on an adversarial and materialist element rather than a collaborative/spiritual one? The parallels to the Koryos ritual (as seen in the Northman) are obvious. There may also be implications to on how the Snake in the Garden of Eden became evil in the Germanicised Church from its near Eastern origin story.

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