Cosmic Balances In Myth

The King Arthur myths and legends are a prime example of the heroic journey. His call to adventure is some myths that start when he pulls Excalibur from a stone. It proves to be his call to adventure because he is the only one who can do it, the only one worthy of the sword because he is the son of Uther. He is the rightful king of England and only he can rule. His mentor and supernatural aid comes in the form of Merlin the druid, the Lady of the lake and his sword Excalibur. Merlin is often tied to magic and seen as a wise man in most stories and tellings with great power who educates Arthur sometimes by turning him into animals, in other tellings he is the one who created the sword Excalibur another item that in some sources seems magical or has magical properties, one being that only Arthur and can use the sword. And the Lady of the lake who in some cases also holds onto the sword for Arthur can give it to him so long as he is near some body of water, so long as he is close to a source of water he can summon the sword thanks to her help. Then you have his knights such as Percival, Lancelot, and Gawain to name a few. They are his allies in his journey, each providing some form of help to him and his cause, whether it is Percival and his strength or Gawain with his humanity. They help him along his journey and fight for him and his kingdom. Now during the time in which this story would have been originally told in an oral tradition it was during the Saxon migration from Germania to the British Isles and perhaps during the Viking age in which England was divided and didnt have a single king. This myth of a great warrior king who ruled over all England would have been seen as a rallying call, a way to unite the people against a single threat. But the moral and philosophical purpose of this myth is that all of England can be united under one banner no matter what boundaries exist and when times are at their darkest a ray of light shines through.

The myth of Sigurd and the Dragon is a very interesting myth in that it deals with a theme of greed creating evil. Which can be supported with the fact that in the myth Sigurd kills the dragon Fafnir, a dwarf who became a dragon through his greed. Fafnir is symbolic of the sin of greed, a creature turned by his desire to protect his horde at all cost so why not become a monster. By killing the dragon it proves Sigurd to be incorruptible when it comes to greed. Which is something to be expected of the character however when reading or hearing the myth Sigurds characterization makes him across as gullible or naive as in the myth he is tasked with killing the dragon by Reign, Fafnir's brother and the method in which he tells Sigurd to kill Fafnir would also result in his death as dragon blood is poisonous, and this is because Reign is after the treasure in the dragon's horde. Till Odin steps in as is a common motif in all great hero myths, divine intervention and offers Sigurd some wisdom and advice on how to kill Fafnir and survive. But after this he is still given divine intervention in a way, because he accidentally consumes dragon flesh which allows him to speak with animals. That informs him of Reign's plan to kill him in his sleep.

The creation myth of Norse mythology fits into the category of duality because in the myth there is only the endless void of ginnungagap and the realm of frost and mist (Niflheim) and the realm of fire (Muspelheim). The heat and frost from the two realms collide revealing the first being Ymir, the ancestor to the gods and giants. Already there is some duality, two realms of opposing elements fire and ice, hot vs cold, furry vs calm. One can not exist without the other and when the two meet life is created like how fire provides warmth and ice once melted can give water. Both are needed for life to thrive. Further along in the myth there is Bor son of Buri who was licked free from ice by Audhumla and Bestla a giantess, the parents of Odin, Vili, and Ve. The three brothers killed Ymir and from his corpse they fashioned the world. Yet more duality, to create a world, to create life you need death.