In the third chapter of the original work, the protagonist Shadow dreams of a palace that is larger than the city and houses the gods that have been forgotten by the world. Not sure how this scene would be shown in the TV series.
The gods in this palace are roughly divided into two categories:
First, those who can still leave their names and images;
Second, even their names have been left behind. Forgotten.
Both types of gods are no longer harmful because they have passed away, and their divinity has been obscured or forgotten.
Quatricu's name is not mentioned in the book. Her description is:
From these descriptions, this goddess should be the Aztec goddess Quatric. Trigu, the statues we can see now at the Museum of Anthropology and History in Mexico City are a little different from the shadows we see. The word Quatrigu means "one who wears a snake as a skirt". She has a lot of snakes wrapped around her waist instead of human hands, and she is not holding a sharp knife.
Quatregu also has another name, Tēteoh īnnān. This word points out Quatregu's other identity as "Mother of the Gods". In Aztec mythology, she Her identity is similar to Gaia, the mother of earth in Greek mythology. She is the mother of the earth and all living things, both good and evil.
Just like Gaiman's description, Quattrigu's head was chopped off, and the blood from her neck turned into two opposite venomous snakes. As for her head being chopped off, there are two theories on Wiki: voluntary sacrifice, and there are two theories about how her head was chopped off because of betrayal by her own daughter.
By the way, this image is very similar to Chinnamasta, one of the ten mahavidyas in Indian Tantric Buddhism.
It is also the image of a goddess holding a sharp knife, decapitating her head, and blood pillars flying out from the broken neck, but the difference is that there are three blood pillars flying out of Jina Mast's head, one of which flies to her left hand. Holding his own severed head.
Personally, I feel that this image is much scarier than Quarterback. What do you think?
Different from the Chinese information that can be found on the Internet, the Wikipedia entry for Loctios shows that he is a Gallic Celtic god influenced by Rome, equivalent to the Roman god of war Mars. The word "Lectios" means lightning, and some people believe that he is the personification of the thunderous drums used in war.
Some scholars believe that he is the legendary Lleu Llaw Gyffes of Wales. For some interesting facts about this hero whose pronunciation is "Thunder" in Chinese, interested friends can watch the clip about him in this short video.
/RaQa4DN
In addition, the so-called image of Loctios on the Internet is wrong. The one holding a club-shaped thunderbolt and a wheel representing thunder should be another Roman Caesar. Taranis, the Ertian god, the god of thunder and storms, whose corresponding Roman god is Jupiter, the main god of thunder.
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Hub means river in Sumerian. Regarding this river, some people think it is the river of life, while others say it is from the kingdom of the dead. The Styx. In the original work, it is said that Hubu’s statue has “numerous monsters coming out between its legs.” This is probably the first theory. Some Chinese sources believe that Hubu and the Babylonian god Marduk killed the dragon-shaped giant that represents the ocean. The mother goddess Tiamat is the same deity. I personally have doubts.
The Egyptian god of the banks of the Nile, creation and harvest, characterized by a ram's head.
His other title is "Lord of the River Bank"
As mentioned in the previously translated "Egyptian Stories", in Egyptian tradition, Hesef is the god who looks after strangers. No matter who he is, as long as he seeks refuge in the temple of Josef, his enemies cannot come in to harm him; even a slave, as long as he swears to serve in front of the statue of the god, he can become a free man and become a free man from his master. There was liberated.
As Gaiman said, all that remains of these gods are names and images that appear occasionally in the course of history, and they have been forgotten. But maybe, as we read these words, these gods will be revived in this land in one way or another. JUST BELIEVE!
It stands to reason that this type of god has not even left its name, and the knowledge about them has not been handed down. But Gaiman still left some book buttons here.
In the corner of this completely forgotten god are two gods who will be mentioned later:
The name of the mammoth skull is Nunyunnini (Nuyunnini), and the atrophied arm The woman's name is Atsula, and their names will be mentioned in Chapter 13.
From Chapter 3 to Chapter 13, it takes ten chapters to solve this puzzle. Many clues seem to be mentioned casually, but they are probably part of the puzzles and answers later. This is also the reason why some books become more interesting the more you read them.
There is also a group of statues of three women linked together from the waist down. I am not sure which gods they are. I personally think they may be the three goddesses of fate that appear in many civilizations.
Although they appear in different appearances in various cultures, they all do the same thing, so their appearances have been omitted. Of course, this is just my personal opinion, and everyone is welcome to discuss it. The flightless bird-headed man with human arms was also mentioned in the last chapter and should be the incarnation of the Thunderbird.
The reason why I am not very satisfied with the TV series version of "American Gods" is precisely because of their modification of the history of the Vikings' discovery of America in the original book. In addition to the very old-fashioned Viking costumes and barbaric actions, there is almost nothing to connect them with the Vikings and Norse mythology. (Being blinded does not count)
Although the original book does not explicitly mention that they are Vikings, we can recognize them from many details.
In the original book, this group of warriors accidentally drifted into unfamiliar waters and experienced an extremely painful voyage. Some crew members felt desperate, thinking that they had reached the edge of the world and that they would be forgotten by the gods. And their leader inspired them with the myth of Odin's creation of the world.
Ymir is the first creature that appears in Norse mythology. He was born from melting frost, so he is called the Frost Giant. When Ymir slept, more Frost Giants were born from his sweat, so he is the ancestor of all Frost Giants.
Later, a cow named Audumla was born from the melted prehistoric frost. Ymir made a living by drinking this milk, and Audumla himself licked the milk. Eating salty ice cubes for a living.
One day, Odemra licked a giant piece of ice and licked out a beautiful man named Buri (BURI means producer), the ancestor of the gods. The male god gave birth to a son through asexual reproduction, named Bor.
Baur did not continue to reproduce asexually, but married Bestla, the daughter of the frost giant Bolthorn, and they gave birth to three sons, who are Odin. ), Vili and Ve, this is the main Nordic god, the origin of the Asaph clan.
So in terms of generation, Odin, who is half Frost Giant, really wants to call Ymir his grandfather.
Odin, Willy and Vi later attacked Ymir together and caused the great flood that destroyed the world in Norse mythology. After that, the three Odin brothers dismembered Ymir's body and used the dismembered pieces to create the current world.
The clever thing about Gaiman is that he didn’t mention Odin’s name once, but let people know that the “Almighty Father” mentioned by the pirates is Odin.
When I introduced Ymir just now, I mentioned Odin’s origin. The later deeds of Odin are sung by the bard in the book: how he sacrificed himself to himself, how he hung upside down on the World Tree for nine days and nine nights, how he was pierced, and how he mastered the runes. Runes and magic etc.
There are also some small details, such as when they tricked the Indians they found into sacrificing to Odin, the four of them lifted the poor victim, the eight-legged horse mentioned, It's Odin's eight-legged horse. Including the method of using the gallows for sacrifice (rather than burning in the play), the hanging tree and the appearance of two ravens (the two angels beside Odin), they are all closest to Odin's identity. This kind of writing is much better than the TV series.
The special thing about Tyr as the God of War is that he only has one hand. This is actually related to Loki, the God of Lies. One of the many monsters Loki gave birth to was the one who eventually swallowed the Lord God Odin. Fenrir, the giant wolf, the gods have always been afraid of this terrible giant wolf, hoping to trap it, but even the chains made by Thor are not enough.
In the end, the dwarf craftsmen who were good at forging forged six rare things: the roots of the mountain, the steps of the cat, the breath of the fish, the beard of the woman, the Achilles tendon of the bear and the saliva of the bird. An invisible magical chain called "Gleiphir" whose root name cannot be severed.
The gods pretended to test Fenrir's power and wanted him to wear this magic chain, but the cunning Fenrir refused to be easily fooled. He asked to let a great god put his hand on him. mouth as insurance. When the gods hesitated, Tyr bravely stood up and put his hand in the giant wolf's mouth.
In this way, the relieved giant wolf was locked by the chain of Greyfaye and could not break free. Finding that Fenrir had been fooled, he bit off Tyr's hand in anger. From then on, Tyr He became a one-armed god of war.
By the way, Thiel’s representative day is Tuesday.
Brother Hammer is one of the most popular Nordic gods in ancient and modern times. He has explosive martial arts and is the first fierce god of the Asa clan. Because thunderstorms are closely related to agriculture, he is also the protector of agriculture. , but also the protector of loyalty and oaths.
This may explain why, in Gaiman's writing, during the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s, this straightforward good god could not survive in the United States and eventually had to commit suicide by taking a gun.
There are many legends about him. The Thor's hammer in his hand is also often used to name super weapons in science fiction movies, so I won't go into details here.
The gods that appear in Chapter 4 are probably:
The three Zoyas (goddess Aurora) in Slavic mythology and the monster Simargl they guard
The Black God and the White God
A lot of British folklore appears in the section about coming to America, some of which I am not familiar with, so I will read them bit by bit.