- ASPECTS OF THE EARTH
- 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
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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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Historical Events
4/10 Eruption of Mount Tambora, Indonesia in 1815
4/12 Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space on this date in 1961 Details
4/12 Arches National Park founded in 1929
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Did you know?
Do you know the difference between meteors, meteoroids, and meteorites?Did you know that the Maya and the Aztecs were early observers of Venus?
Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day
Do you know what this word or phrase means?Plate tectonics
xPlate tectonics : The theory supported by a wide range of evidence that considers the Earth's crust and upper mantle to be composed of several large, thin, relatively rigid plates that move relative to one another.
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Research Highlights
Soil Microbes Produce Less Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Than Expected With Global Warming
Scientists have learned that microbes that live in the soil, like fungi and bacteria, don't produce more carbon dioxide when the climate is warmer. In fact, at first these microbes will produce more carbon...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.
