Supernatural Disasters
Natural Disasters in Myths and Legends
By Jodi Haynes and Christine Harvie
Natural disasters have occurred throughout history. With the technology we have
today we are sometimes able to predict the occurrence of these disasters and evacuate
people from the area in order to save lives but they still have an enormous impact when
they occur in areas where people live or work. It is easy to imagine how much larger the
affect of natural disasters would have been on people living in the past. Disasters would
occur with less warning and the devastation would be greater. The impact of natural
disasters is seen through the stories they told; in their myths and legends and in historical
accounts. The enormous impact of these disasters is seen in the way they are portrayed.
They are featured in stories of creation or the predicted destruction of the world. They are
attributed to the supernatural powers of the gods or legendary heroes. They are given
immense respect. The myths from cultures around the world show us how people living
in many places around the world and at various times in history viewed these occurrences
and explained their cause.
Greek mythology has several
explanations for volcanoes. Typhon, a
fire breathing monster, half human and
half snake, with a hundred heads is
responsible for the volcano Mt. Etna.
Typhon challenged the Greek gods.
Zeus, the leader of the gods, was the
only one who would fight the monster.
He crushed typhoon under Mt. Etna and
he remains underneath the mountain
breathing fire. Of this same mountain the Romans said the fire and smoke came from the
forge of Vulcan, who was a smith and the god of fire. In Greek mythology the Smith god
is called Hephaestus but the location of his forge is the same.
Myths about volcanoes are seen in every culture that lived near a volcano. In
Hawaii the volcano is the home of Pele the goddess of fire. She tried to build a home on
each of the other islands in turn but each time her sister, Na-maka-o-ka-ha'i, put out the
flames. On the largest island in Hawaii she found a mountain tall enough to dig a hole
where the water her sister sent could not put out the fire. In New Zealand Mount
Tarawera is said to be the home of a man eating demon who was imprisoned inside the
mountain by Ngatoro. He slept there for many years but burst from the mountain to
punish people who had not upheld the proper morals. The Klamath natives have a legend
about two chiefs fighting. Llao, chief of the Below World, and Skell, chief of the Above
World were at two different mountains. Llao was at Mount Mazama and Skell was at
Mount Shasta. They threw rocks and fire at each other. Llao was injured and fell back
into the mountain. A huge hole was left which filled with water and became Crater Lake.
Natural disasters play a large and important role in Indian mythology. It is said
that when the world ends it will be the result of many of these devastating natural events.
The myth states “Destruction is preceded by the most terrible portents. After a drought
lasting one hundred years, seven suns appear in the skies
and drink up all the remaining water. Fire, swept by the
wind, consumes the earth and then the underworld. Clouds
looking like elephants garlanded with lightning then appear
and, bursting suddenly, release rain that falls continuously
for twelve years, submerging the whole world.” This is not
unlike other myths and predictions in other civilizations.
What makes this myth particularly unique is that this
ultimate destruction is brought about by the savior of
mankind. The people of India believe that before the world
is destroyed, all will have had to come to chaos. The only
way to bring peace to the world is for Brahma to destroy
the world, using those particular disasters natural disasters.
Brahma is also the god of creation, in the Hindu religion, and it is afterwards stated that
he will recreate the world using the reverse methods. This makes it unique because it
shows that the Hindu people do not view natural disasters as things brought about by evil,
but instead they are that of renewal and rebirth.
The Norse also have a myth that, to
them, explains earthquakes. Among the Norse
Gods, there is the mischievous God Loki. In this
particular myth Loki attends a supper with the
other Gods, and gets himself banished from
their order. Loki is expelled from the realm of
the Gods and imprisoned in a cavern beneath the
earth, where he was fastened to a rock in the
center of the cave. Then the Goddess Skadi put
a serpent above Loki’s upturned head, so that
the venom would drip down onto his face. But
Loki’s wife Sigyn came to Loki’s aid and held a
bowl above his face to catch the drops of
venom. It was only when Sigyn had to turn and
empty the bowl that a single drop of venom
would touch Loki’s face, and then he would
twist and shudder with such pain that it caused
the greatest earthquakes in the entire world. It seems fitting that for a people who’s lives
are so close to the earth itself, that their explanation for such disasters as earthquakes
would be something as horrible as this.
Other cultures explain earthquakes in a variety of ways. In Mongolia and China
they said the Earth was on the back of a frog and earthquakes were caused by the frog
moving. In Mexico they thought earthquakes were caused by El Diablo who would tear
open the ground to make a shortcut to visit the earth. In Peru they said earthquakes were
the footsteps of a god counting the people on the earth. The people would run outside and
shout “I’m here.” This myth not only explains the cause of the earthquake but teaches
practical knowledge about leaving buildings when there is an earthquake.
At least as common in myth and legend
as earthquakes were stories of floods. Atlantis
was an Egyptian legend written down by Plato.
In reality though, this legend had been written
down and referred to by many other cultures
long before Plato. He wrote of a large Atlantic
island or continent that was inhabited by an
extremely advanced civilization. It is also
widely known that in this legend the island of
Atlantis sank beneath the ocean. Plato wrote:
“Zeus, the god of gods, who rules according to
law, and is able to see into such things,
perceiving that an honorable race was in a
woeful plight, and wanting to inflict punishment on them, that they might be chastened
and improve, collected all the gods into their most holy habitation, which, being placed in
the centre of the world, beholds all created things. And when he had called them together,
he spake as follows…” although the rest of the text is absent, it is assumed that here is the
place where Zeus would have commanded the gods to destroy the island of Atlantis. The
destruction started with a volcanic eruption, which lead to huge earthquakes. Both of
these things did incredible damage, but it was the tsunamis, which were caused by the
massive earthquakes, that ultimately destroyed the island city by sinking it beneath the
water. Here, the natural disasters are being portrayed as being acts of the Greek gods, and
are obviously done in wrath.
Many of the floods in historical accounts or myths refer to a great flood, such as
the flood in the old testament of the bible, which covered the whole world and drowned
all but a few people. In Siberia they tell a story of a flood covering the world in very early
history. A few people survived on rafts of tree trunks and used stones on straps as
anchors. In Samaria there is a myth
about a flood that covered the
world for 7 days and nights when
the gods chose to destroy the
human race. The god Enil warned
Ziusudra and told him to make a
boat and carry animals upon it.
Then rains came and wind. As
reward for saving the animals
Ziusudra was given eternal life. In
China there is a myth about a great
flood that was caused by a crab
trying to gain revenge on a kite that had pecked a hole in his skull. He made “the waters
reach the sky”. The flood lasted 7 days and nights. A brother and a sister survived in a
huge chest with pairs of many animals. When the flood abated they had eaten all the rice
but a black ant brought them two grains of rice and the whole plain grew rice. In
Lithuania there is a myth about a great flood sent by the god Pramzimas to destroy
humans because the world was full of war and injustice. He sent wind and water (Wandu
and Wejas) to destroy the world. He looked down after 20 days and nights and threw
down shells from the nuts he was eating. One landed on the tallest mountain and the
people there survived the flood in a boat made of the nutshell. After the flood the people
went in many directions but one aging couple stayed in the place the boat had landed.
Pramzimas told them to “jump over the bones of the earth nine times”. Nine other
couples sprang up. They are the ancestors of the nine tribes in Lithuania.
The stories of beliefs from around the world tell us about natural disasters from
the perspective of the people and the culture. Not only do they tell us that natural
disasters, similar to today, have occurred throughout history but they show us that people
in the past, like people today, tried to explain the world around them to the best of their
abilities. People throughout history tried to come to terms with the destruction and loss of
life caused by natural disasters. Even with today’s technology we are unable to prevent
disasters from occurring. We are nearly as powerless against these disasters as the people
in the myths and the people who told them. Natural disasters play the same role in our
lives causing immense destruction.
References:
Ions, Veronica. Indian Mythology.
1968 The Hamlyn publishing group limited.
Elli, Elli “The Story of Atlantis” Visions of Time.
http://ca.msnusers.com/visionsoftime/atlantis.msnw (April 26, 2003)
Unknown. “Earthquake Myths and Folklore” Earthquake Myths and Folklore.
http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/public/myths.shtml (Last modified: Sep 18, 2001)
Isaak, Mark. “Flood Stories from Around the World” The Talk. Origins Archive.
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html (April 27, 2003)
Gill, N.S. “Mythology and Ancient Gods and Goddesses” Ancient/Classical History
Guide. http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_myth_index.htm (April 24, 2003)
Shiloh, Tamar. “Etna: The stuff of myths” Etna: The stuff of myths.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1460293.stm (April 28, 2003)
Hamby, Vickie. “Ancient Hawaii” Ancient Hawaii, and the myths of Pele and Maui.
http://www.create.org/myth/11myth.htm (April 26, 2003)