Comparing and Contrasting Creation MythsThe two creation myths chosen to compare and contrast focus on the Norse culture of the Vikings of Iceland and the Genesis creation of the Hebrew origin of Christian culture. Both creation myths begin with a void where chaos or conflict develops. Norse myth tells of a conflict between the fiery kingdom of Muspell and the dark and cold kingdom of Niflheim, in the void called ginnungagap and where nothing could grow. The conflict in Genesis was between God and nothing, loneliness and the need to create something beautiful. There are specifically nine classifications of creation myths and many employ more than one motif. The cosmogonies of Genesis apply both deus faber and ex nihilo motifs. The story is often considered a myth ex nihilo, meaning "from nothing." It is the account from the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, of God's creation in six days giving birth to light and darkness, the sun and the moon, the stars and the earth. , plants and animals, as well as birds and fish. God then generates Adam in his image from dust and breathes life into him. Eve was formed from one of Adam's ribs, thus combining deus faber ("creator God") with ex nihilo patterns. Norse creation myths tend to combine accretion/conjunction, secretion, and sacrifice motifs. It features the mixture of fire and ice in a random combination of elements. When the warm breath of Muspell meets the frost of arctic Nieflheim, the ice melts and the resulting drops of water come to life, creating the evil giant Ymir. While the giant sleeps, the sweat from his armpits creates the first man and woman. These other giants grow to despise Ymir and the story of creation continues with the murder and mutilation of the vile giant. Worlds and... middle of paper ... are higher than "physical, natural, or elemental narratives." of creation by accretion, excretion, copulation, division, dismemberment or parturition” (Leonard and McClure, 2004). If, however, we are aware of our culture's assumptions about what is "normal," we see that at least as many cosmogonic myths presented creation as part of a natural process and conceived it as a exercise of divine and creative will. That is, many creation myths describe the birth of the cosmic order as an organic, natural, evolutionary process rather than an organic process. an engineering project or the act of a master magician. Classifying one type of myth as inferior or more primitive and our own myths as superior or more cultured arises from cultural bias. To study myths effectively, we need to free ourselves as much as possible. prejudices that we inherit from our cultural environment.