Polytheistic peoples of many cultures have postulated a thunder god, the personification or source of the forces of thunder and lightning; a lightning god does not have a typical depiction, and will vary based on the culture. Frequently, the Thunder God is known as the chief or king of the gods, for example Indra in Hinduism, Zeus in Greek mythology and Perun in ancient Slavic religion or otherwise a close relation, for example Thor, son of Odin, in Norse mythology. In Greek mythology, The Elysian Fields, or the Elysian Plains, the final resting places of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous, evolved from a designation of a place or person struck by lightning, enelysion, enelysios.[1] This could be a reference to Zeus, the god of lightning/Jupiter, so "lightning-struck" could be saying that the person was blessed (struck) by Zeus (/lightning/fortune). Egyptologist Jan Assmann has also suggested that Greek Elysion may have instead been derived from the Egyptian term ialu (older iaru), meaning "reeds," with specific reference to the "Reed fields" (Egyptian: sekhet iaru / ialu), a paradisiacal land of plenty where the dead hoped to spend eternity.[2]
List of thunder gods[]
Ancient Near East[]
- Teshub (Hurrian mythology)
- Adad, Ishkur, Marduk (Babylonian-Assyrian mythology)
- Hadad (Levantine mythology)
Eurasia[]
- Tarhunt (Hittite/Luwian mythology)
- Zeus (Greek mythology)
- Brontes (Greek mythology)
- Jupiter, Summanus (Roman mythology)
- Taranis (Pan-Celtic); Ambisagrus, Leucetios, (Gaulish mythology)
- Þunraz (Germanic mythology; Anglo-Saxon Þunor, German Donar, Norse Þórr)
- Thor (Norse mythology)
- Perun (Balto-Slavic; Lithuanian Perkunas, Slavic Perun )
- Perendi (Albanian mythology)
- Gebeleizis (Dacian mythology)
- Zibelthiurdos (Thracian mythology)
- Ukko or Perkele (Finnish mythology)
- Horagalles (Sami mythology)
- Indra, Parjanya (Hindu mythology)
- Aplu (Etruscan mythology)
East Asia[]
- Lei Gong (Chinese mythology)
- Ajisukitakahikone, Raijin (Raiden-sama, Kaminari-sama), Tenjin) (Japanese mythology)
- Susanoo (Japanese mythology)
Americas[]
- Thunderbird (Native American mythology)
- Xolotl (Aztec and Toltec mythology)
- Chaac (Maya mythology)
- Apocatequil (Inca mythology)
- Cocijo (Mexican mythology)
- Aktzin (Mexican mythology)
- Jasso (Mexican mythology)
- [aokah (Lakota mythology)
- Tupã (Guaraní mythology, Brazil)
- Tunupã, Thunupã (Bolivian and Peruvian mythology)
- Salar (Aztec mythology)
Africa[]
- Set (Egyptian mythology)
- Shango (Yorùbá mythology)
- Oya (goddess of hurricanes, consort of Shango Yoruba mythology)
- Azaka-Tonnerre (West African Vodun/Haitian Vodou)
- Mulungu
- Xevioso (alternately: Xewioso, Heviosso. Thunder god of the So region)
- Sango (Nigerian mythology)
South Pacific[]
- Haikili (Polynesian mythology)
- Tāwhaki (Polynesian mythology)
- Kaha'i (Polynesian mythology)
- Te Uira (Polynesian mythology)
Australia[]
- Namarrkun (Aboriginal mythology)
See also[]
References[]
Sources[]
- H. Munro Chadwick, The Oak and the Thunder-God, Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (1900).
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at List of thunder gods. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. |