Sagbigsal,Noel.

Hugin and Munin
Fly every day
Over all the world;
I worry for Hugin
That he might not return,
But I worry more for Munin. In Norse mythology, Odin; father of the gods and ruler of Asgard; had a pair of ravens named Huginn and Muninn. Their job was to fly around the world during the day and return to Odin in the evening with news of what was happening on Earth (Midgard). Their names mean “thought” and “mind” (or “memory”) respectively, and it’s believed that they represented these aspects of Odin’s daily meditation. While the lord of gods meditated, his thought and mind ventured out to open his consciousness to the goings on of the world under his protection. Huginn and Muninn also represent the ideas of the fylgia; a supernatural companion that takes animal form in order to accompany a person in relation to their fate or fortune; and hamingja; the personification of the good fortune of a person or family, often in shape-shifting animal form as well. This ties the connection together ni...

As a seven-year-old boy, Finn Mac Cuhaill met on the banks of the Boyne with a seer called Finneigeas. Finneigeas had dedicated the past seven years of his life to catching the Salmon of Knowledge, which swam in the river and would impart the knowledge of the world on the first person to taste it. While Finn was there, Finneigeas caught the salmon, and with much joy put it on the spit to cook, entrusting the cooking to Finn but warning him not to taste it. After a time, Finn went to see if the fish was cooked, however, he touched it with his thumb and burnt himself, leaving a blister. To ease the pain, he put his thumb in his mouth, and thus became the first person to taste the salmon. When Finneigeas looked at the boy’s face, he saw the wisdom shining in it, and knew that the salmon was no good to him. Ever after that, if Finn needed to know something, he put his thumb into his mouth and the knowledge came to him.

The Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie, as it has been nicknamed, is among the most well-known urban legends of modern times and it is among the greatest points of interest for cryptozoologists – scientists who study animals that have not been proven to exist. The first documented sighting of Nessie was in the year 565 when Saint Columba saved a swimmer from becoming its dinner. For nearly 1500 years following, the Loch Ness Monster had appeared in stories, but it is unknown which ones were eyewitness accounts and which ones were invented solely for entertainment purposes. Legends of the monster lived on as they were passed from generation to generation, but the creature’s popularity reached an unprecedented height in 1933. That year, a new road was constructed beside the loch. Travelers reported more sightings than ever before. Later that year the infamous Surgeon’s Photo was published, depicting what appeared to be a head and long neck stretching out of the loch water. In 1994, one of the ...

Close to Telemark, Norway, is a Lake called Seljordsvatnet. It is twelve miles long and one and a half miles wide.Like Loch Ness is was formed by glaciers during the last ice age. There have been reports of a large creature living in the lake since the 1750’s.Eyewitness reports, generally describe the creature, dubbed Selma by the locals, as a 30 to 45 foot serpent like creature. A documented account of an encounter with the creature dates back to 1880 when Bjorn Bjorge, and his mother Gunhild, were said to have cut a creature that attacked them in half. According to the document the lower portion of the creature squirmed back into the lake while the front half was left to rot on the shore. In the summer of 1918, Karl Karlsson walked down to the bridge at Sandnes to fish.Suddenly he saw an animal in the water. It came very close ,moving very fast and Karl Karlsson became frightened and ran away ,leaving his fishing rod.. He described the head of the animal as being like a horse. It hel...

Sigurd was a member of the royal family of Denmark and a descendant of the god Odin. He was raised by a blacksmith named Regin, who made him a special sword from pieces of a sword owned by Sigurd’s father. Sigurd used his sword to kill the dragon Fafnir and so acquire its golden treasure. When Sigurd roasted and ate the beast’s heart, he was able to understand the language of the birds around him. They warned him that Regin was going to betray him, so Sigurd beheaded the blacksmith. Sigurd took the treasure and put a ring on his finger. He was unaware that the ring bore a curse, which brought misfortune to its wearer. After slaying Fafnir, Sigurd came upon a castle where he awakened the warrior maiden Brunhilde, whom Odin had cast into a deep sleep. Sigurd gave his ring to Brunhilde and promised to return to marry her. But during his journey Sigurd was given a magic drink that made him forget Brunhilde, and he married the princess Gudrun instead.

Melusina is said to have been the wife of the founder of Luxembourg, Count Siegfried. When they married, she had one particular request, namely that Siegfried must leave her alone for one full day and night every month, and that he should not ask or try to find out what she was doing. Of course, Melusina was such a beautiful girl, that Siegfried could not refuse her this one small wish, and all went well for years and years, when on the first Wednesday of the month, Melusina would retire into her chambers in the “Casemates,” a network of caverns underneath the city, not to be seen again until early light on Thursday. But one day, Siegfried’s curiosity got the better of him. Wondering what on earth she might be doing alone all the time, he peeped through the keyhole, and was shocked to see that Melusina was lying in the bathtub, with a fishtail hanging over the rim. As you all know, mermaids like Melusina, have a very keen sixth sense, which tells them instantly that they are being watc...

William Tell, who originally came from Bürglen, was known as a strong man, mountain climber, and an expert shot with the crossbow. In his time, the Habsburg emperors of Austria were seeking to dominate Uri. Albrecht (or Hermann) Gessler, the newly appointed Austrian Vogt of Altdorf, raised a pole in the village’s central square, hung his hat on top of it, and demanded that all the townsfolk bow before the hat. On 18 November 1307, Tell visited Altdorf with his young son and passed by the hat, publicly refusing to bow to it, and so was arrested. Gessler—intrigued by Tell’s famed marksmanship, yet resentful of his defiance—devised a cruel punishment: Tell and his son would be executed, but he could redeem his life by shooting an apple off the head of his son, Walter, in a single attempt. Tell split the apple with a bolt from his crossbow. But Gessler noticed that Tell had removed two crossbow bolts from his quiver, not one. Before releasing Tell, he asked why. Tell replied that if he had...