Archetype

 //**Truer than true ... How can this be?**//

Stories that are myths may reflect universal fears and wishes. A character may represent every person's struggle with sibling rivalry or abandonment or other vast concern. //

Here are a few common characters who appear in myths from around the world ... //

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**The Hero** ..... as found in **__Marriage of the ice maiden__**, a Norse myth ======

In this myth, a servant becomes the hero by assisting his master. The master fell in love with a giantess, or "ice maiden." The servant gets the ice maiden for his master resulting in him becoming a hero. The idea of him as a hero came from the fact that he set out on a quest and came back with something someone else thought was impossible to get. -VS


 * The Usurper** ... as found in _

 as found in __
 * The overlooked or abandoned one who returns to triumph... **

= The Trickster... **as found in several Norse myths** =

[[image:http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CiARj4w8LEk/SZuMT002Y6I/AAAAAAAAAXU/SkFqLivZ6C4/s400/Thor_and_loki_in_drag.jpg width="172" height="235" align="left"]] **__ The Giant's Bride __**
Thor dresses up as Freya, at the suggestion of Loki and Heimdall', to present himself to Thrym, the Frost Giant who has stolen his Magic Hammer. Thrym is convinced that Freya herself has come to be his bride, and presents "her" with the Magic Hammer as a gift. Thor immediately leaps to his feet and starts slaying giants! This myth employs the trickery of disguise, and is humorous in several ways. The idea of tricking the giants into lowering their guard and then attacking them in their own feast hall is similar to the Trojan Horse of ancient Greece, which was concocted by Odysseus as a "gift" to gain entrance through the impenetrable walls of Troy. The idea of a powerful and mighty god disguising himself as a lovely maiden is ridiculous, and still plays out every Halloween as some young people choose opposite-gender costumes. The ludicrousness is helped along by the wordplay between Loki and Thrym, as Thyrm says, "Have you ever seen a maiden eat more?!.," and "Her eyes burn like fire!" with Loki attributing these appetites to "Freya's" eagerness for the wedding.

**__The Magic Stallion__**
When a stranger comes to work on the Asgard Wall for the gods, he asked in exchange for the sun, moon, and the goddess Freya. When the gods heard this they had a council. The stranger also asked if he could have his stallion help. Loki,Thors brother, said,"Of course, Why not? The help of this builders stallion will make little difference." The gods decided to give the stranger from the first day of summer to the first day of winter to finish the wall. The stallion hauled many stone blocks that night. The gods were horrified at how far the stranger got when it was three days untill the first day of winter. The gods blamed Loki for letting him use the stallion. Loki came up with a plan to stop the stranger. He turned into a mare out to get the stallion. The stallion broke free from the harness and ran away with the mare. The same thing happened the next two days.The giant flew into a rage and threatened to destroy Asgard. Thor got home and killed the giant. And miraculassly, Loki gave birth to a colt. This myth employs the trickery of wordplay, and is very funny. The stranger asked if he could use his stallion, not his MAGIC stallion. If he did, the gods would surely say NO WAY and kill him. That doesn't sound very good, does it?

​The Dancing Maiden

Stone Teeth

The Earth Mother

The Death Mother (Wise Woman, Crone)

The Magician ~ The Seer ~ The Minstrel

The King

The Warrior

The human/animal dual identity, as in selkies or the animal bridegroom