Introduction

Every culture has their own myths on creation, or do they? What happens when a culture leads no trace behind? Well, one needs up with conflicting stories. Perhaps you even get a scenario where none of the legends are true. What do you do then? Well, the answer is not that simple, or maybe there is no answer at all. Like many things, myths can be interpreted anyway. Whether they are correct, remains to be discussed. But, one thing remains clear, there are no shortages of stories.

Now, it should be noted that based on all research, there seems to be three different legends on how the world came to be. But only one of them is mentioned more than once. However, that doesn’t mean the other ones, to some extent, aren’t true to the myths. It is impossible to know the truth, especially since no written records survive. Although that doesn’t stop us from looking into them.

Story of Donn and Danu

One myth that explains the creation of the world is the story of Donn and Danu. The tale tells of these two gods created in a great void. And it tells of when they looked upon each other, a sacred flame burned inside their hearts. Finding love, the two embraced, never to be separated. It was love to last forever, but as usual with these tales, it didn’t last.

Just like most mythologies, the children of these two gods were caught in an interlock. The children wanted to be free, and so a plan was devised. A son of these two, named Briain, convinced his mother to let her embrace go. As a result, Briain slayed his father.

The fury from Briain was so great that he cut his father into nine pieces. Danu, horrified, broke down in tears. Because of her crying, her tears swelled into a great flood. This action caused her children to be sent to earth. The parts of Donn washed away as well. His head became the skies, brain the clouds, face the sun, mind the moon, his bones the stones, and his breath the wind. Combined with Donn’s blood and Danu’s tears, the sea’s were created.

The Tree of Life

 Another tale is called the “Tree of Life.” The story starts as follows:

In an era when there was no time, no gods or humans walked among land, there was the sea, and there was land. And where they met, a mare was born, she was white, made of seafoam and named Eiocha. A tree grew as well. It was strong and sturdy oak. On the oak a plant grew, whose seed formed from the tears of the sea. Eiocha ate the seeds, which were white berries, and they transformed within her.

She grew heavy with child, which became the god Cernunnos. The pain was too great for her, and she ripped a piece of bark. The bark was hurled into the sea, and it was transformed into the giants of the deep. Cernunnos, lonely, coupled up with Eiocha, and created the other gods after seeing the giants of the deep. From that, the tree was used to create the world.

The Giant Story

 This one, in different forms, tells that giants were the original gods. When it comes to the myth, there is not a lot of information, but it is the most common. And it goes as follows:

During the first winter, a giant was created from the “hoarfrost.” Fire emerged and melted the giant. Parts of his body then formed the universe. Body formed the world, blood flowing created the seas, mountains from his bones, trees sprung from hair, and skull the sky.

And in the heart of the earth, the gods lived on mountainous hills and below the Underworld boiled as a home for the dead.

Now, it should be noted, that this myth shares a lot with the first one. This could be as perhaps they came from a similar source. Or it is possible they took ideas from each other. But it is hard to say for sure.

Conclusion

It is clear that these myths are similar in one way or another. But that shouldn’t stop someone from researching and determining what was part of the original mythology and what was lost or influenced by other sources. Only time will tell if we learn what the truth is, and what legend came first. Or perhaps none of them are the original and they were created to fill in a gap.

Joshua Young is a professional writing student at Algonquin College. He looks to one day be a published fantasy author. He is inspired by both the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre. The books in this genre include A Song of Ice and Fire, Berserk, Dune, and the Dark Tower Series. He is a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, although he sometimes hates to admit. This is because he is afraid of getting beat up. Like any Leafs fan, he waits for them to get passed the first round of the Playoffs and win a Stanley Cup.