- Norse: Freya
- Norse: Valkiries
- Chinese: Pan-ku
- Pawnee: Tirawa
- Greek: Pan
- Roman: Faunus
- African: Shango
- Japanese: Susanowo
- Aztec: Tlaloc
- Navajo: Tonenili
- Norse: Thor
- Norse: Njord
- Greek: Zephyr
- Maori: Tawhiri
- Mayan: Xib Chac
- Norse: Bifrost
- Norse: Aegir
- African: Olokun
- Greek: Poseidon
- Roman: Neptune
- Greek: Amphitrite
- Greek: Galatea
- Maori: Tangaroa
- Inuit: Sedna
- Navajo: Estsanatlehi
- Greek: Persephone
- Hawaii: Pele
Myths Related to Aspects of the Earth
Early civilizations had many myths about gods and goddesses associated with what they experienced in their daily lives at the surface of the Earth. This section provides a glimpse of myths associated with aspects of Earth - storms, precipitation, lightning and thunder, winds, clouds, rainbows, water and the seas, aurora, volcanoes and the underworld - which early civilizations used to help understand the sometimes frightening world around them.
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Explore Myths Related to Aspects of the Earth
Norse: Freya
Norse mythology associates the aurora with the beautiful goddess, Freya, daughter of Njord ...Read more
Norse: Valkiries
It has been suggested that the northern lights, the aurora, represented the reflections of ...Read more
Chinese: Pan-ku
According to a primitive Chinese myth, at the beginning of time, the universe had the shape ...Read more
Pawnee: Tirawa
According to the Pawnee, the world was created by the god Tirawa, who sent the stars to support ...Read more
Greek: Pan
Pan is the Greek god protector of shepherds, sheep, and goats. According to an account of his ...Read more
Roman: Faunus
Faunus was a Roman pastoral god. The Romans identified him with the Greek god Pan. Some times ...Read more
African: Shango
Shango was the fourth king of the ancient Oyo Empire, the West African center of culture and ...Read more
Japanese: Susanowo
Susanowo was the god of the sea and the storms according to the ancient Japanese religion Shinto, ...Read more
Aztec: Tlaloc
Tlaloc was an important deity of rain and fertility of the Aztec mythology. Aztec people were ...Read more
Navajo: Tonenili
Tonenili, who is also known as the Water Sprinkler, is the Navaho God of Water. He is responsible ...Read moreMore about Myths Related to Aspects of the Earth
- Norse: Thor
- Norse: Njord
- Greek: Zephyr
- Maori: Tawhiri
- Mayan: Xib Chac
- Norse: Bifrost
- Norse: Aegir
- African: Olokun
- Greek: Poseidon
- Roman: Neptune
- Greek: Amphitrite
- Greek: Galatea
- Maori: Tangaroa
- Inuit: Sedna
- Navajo: Estsanatlehi
- Greek: Persephone
- Hawaii: Pele
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Deadly Tonga Earthquake Revealed as Three Big Quakes
Geologists have learned that a magnitude-8.1 earthquake and tsunami that killed 192 people on September 29, 2009 in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga was in fact a triple-whammy. The 8.1 "great earthquake"...Read more
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Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information.
