In warfare his mere presence could strike the enemy blind, deaf, and impotent. Through his powers of wisdom, poetry, and magic Odin was of much use to men. In this manner he renewed his youth, but he also became the master of the magic runes, inscriptions that could accomplish any mortal purpose, whether beneficial or baneful. He freely wounded himself with his own spear and hung himself for nine days from the cosmic tree Yggdrasil, which was shaken by winds. However, Odin chose a different, harder way. The gods were subject to aging, and they rejuvenated themselves by eating magic apples kept by the goddess Idun. Then he flew back to Asgard as an eagle, destroying Suttung in the process, and dispensed the potion to human poets. Odin then entered the dwelling as a snake, changed back into human shape, made friends with Suttung the Giant, who owned the potion, seduced the Giant's daughter, and obtained the mixture from her. Having determined to obtain the potion, Odin put himself in bondage to a Giant, whom he persuaded to blast a hole to the underground dwelling where the substance was kept. Odin also went to great lengths to acquire the art off poetry, which was contained in a magic potion that was kept in a Giant's underground caldron. He gained most from his uncle Mimir, who guarded the Well of Knowledge, but he had to sacrifice an eye to drink from the Well.

Merlin, King Arthur, Gawain, Launcelot, Geraint, Tristram, Percivale, the Grail Quest, and the Passing of Arthur's Realmįrom the first Odin had a desire for knowledge and wisdom, and he consulted all living things to obtain them.

Summary and Analysis: Arthurian Legends.

The Norse Gods - Odin, Thor, Balder, Frey, Freya, and Loki.

Love Tales - Pyramus and Thisbe, Baucis and Philemon, Pygmalion, Vertumnus and Pomona, Hero and Leander, Cupid and Psyche.

Patriotic Legends - Aeneas and Romulus and Remus.

The Trojan War - The Preliminaries, The Course of the War, The Fall of Troy, and The Returns.

The Tragic Dynasties - Athens: The House of Erichthonius.

The Tragic Dynasties - Thebes: The House of Cadmus.The Tragic Dynasties - Mycenae: The House Of Atreus.The Tragic Dynasties - Crete: The House Of Minos.The Heroes - Perseus, Bellerophon, and Heracles.The Beginnings - Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hermes, Demeter, and Dionysus.The Beginnings - Prometheus and Man, and The Five Ages of Man and the Flood.Summary and Analysis: Babylonian Mythology.Summary and Analysis: Egyptian Mythology.

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