1.
Justice
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Justice is the legal or philosophical theory by which fairness is administered. The concept of justice differs in every culture, an early theory of justice was set out by the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato in his work The Republic. Advocates of divine command theory argue that justice issues from God, in the 17th century, theorists like John Locke argued for the theory of natural law. Thinkers in the social contract tradition argued that justice is derived from the agreement of everyone concerned. In the 19th century, utilitarian thinkers including John Stuart Mill argued that justice is what has the best consequences, Theories of distributive justice concern what is distributed, between whom they are to be distributed, and what is the proper distribution. Egalitarians argued that justice can only exist within the coordinates of equality, John Rawls used a social contract argument to show that justice, and especially distributive justice, is a form of fairness. Property rights theorists take a view of distributive justice and argue that property rights-based justice maximizes the overall wealth of an economic system. Theories of retributive justice are concerned with punishment for wrongdoing, restorative justice is an approach to justice that focuses on restoring what is good, and necessarily focuses on the needs of victims and offenders. Understandings of justice differ in culture, as cultures are usually dependent upon a shared history. Each cultures ethics create values which influence the notion of justice, although there can be found some justice principles that are one and the same in all or most of the cultures, these are insufficient to create a unitary justice apprehension. In his dialogue Republic, Plato uses Socrates to argue for justice that covers both the just person and the just City State, Justice is a proper, harmonious relationship between the warring parts of the person or city. Hence, Platos definition of justice is that justice is the having and doing of what is ones own, a just man is a man in just the right place, doing his best and giving the precise equivalent of what he has received. This applies both at the level and at the universal level. A persons soul has three parts – reason, spirit and desire, similarly, a city has three parts – Socrates uses the parable of the chariot to illustrate his point, a chariot works as a whole because the two horses power is directed by the charioteer. Lovers of wisdom – philosophers, in one sense of the term – should rule because only they understand what is good, if one is ill, one goes to a medic rather than a farmer, because the medic is expert in the subject of health. Similarly, one should trust ones city to an expert in the subject of the good, not to a politician who tries to gain power by giving people what they want. For Socrates, the way the ship will reach its destination – the good – is if the navigator takes charge. Advocates of divine command theory argue that justice, and indeed the whole of morality, is the command of God
2.
Norse mythology
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The cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Worlds that flank a central cosmological tree, Yggdrasil. Units of time and elements of the cosmology are personified as deities or beings, various forms of a creation myth are recounted, where the world is created from the flesh of the primordial being Ymir, and the first two humans are Ask and Embla. These worlds are foretold to be reborn after the events of Ragnarök, there the surviving gods will meet, and the land will be fertile and green, and two humans will repopulate the world. Norse mythology has been the subject of scholarly discourse since the 17th century, by way of comparative mythology and historical linguistics, scholars have identified elements of Germanic mythology reaching as far back as Proto-Indo-European mythology. In the modern period, the Romanticist Viking revival re-awoke an interest in the subject matter, the myths have further been revived in a religious context among adherents of Germanic Neopaganism. The majority of these Old Norse texts were created in Iceland and this occurred primarily in the 13th century. The Prose Edda was composed as a manual for producing skaldic poetry—traditional Old Norse poetry composed by skalds. Originally composed and transmitted orally, skaldic poetry utilizes alliterative verse, kennings, the Prose Edda presents numerous examples of works by various skalds from before and after the Christianization process and also frequently refers back to the poems found in the Poetic Edda. The Poetic Edda consists almost entirely of poems, with some prose narrative added, in comparison to skaldic poetry, Eddic poetry is relatively unadorned. Numerous further texts, such as the sagas, provide further information, the saga corpus consists of thousands of tales recorded in Old Norse ranging from Icelandic family histories to Migration period tales mentioning historic figures such as Attila the Hun. By way of historical linguistics and comparative mythology, comparisons to other attested branches of Germanic mythology may also lend insight, wider comparisons to the mythology of other Indo-European peoples by scholars has resulted in the potential reconstruction of far earlier myths. Of the mythical tales and poems that are presumed to have existed during the Middle Ages, Viking Age, Migration Period, numerous gods are mentioned in the source texts. In the mythology, Thor lays waste to numerous jötnar who are foes to the gods or humanity, the god Odin is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts. One-eyed, wolf and raven-flanked, and spear in hand, Odin pursues knowledge throughout the worlds, Odin has a strong association with death, Odin is portrayed as the ruler of Valhalla, where valkyries carry half of those slain in battle. Odins wife is the powerful goddess Frigg who can see the future but tells no one, and together they have a beloved son, Baldr. After a series of dreams had by Baldr of his death, his death is engineered by Loki, and Baldr thereafter resides in Hel. Odin must share half of his share of the dead with a powerful goddess and she is beautiful, sensual, wears a feathered cloak, and practices seiðr. She rides to battle to choose among the slain, and brings her chosen to her afterlife field Fólkvangr, Freyja weeps for her missing husband Óðr, and seeks after him in far away lands
3.
Heligoland
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Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were at one time Danish and later British possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the southeastern corner of the North Sea. They are the only German islands not in the vicinity of the mainland. They lie approximately 69 kilometres by sea from Cuxhaven at the mouth of the River Elbe, in addition to German, the local population, who are ethnic Frisians, speak the Heligolandic dialect of the North Frisian language called Halunder. Heligoland used to be called Heyligeland, or holy land, possibly due to the long association with the god Forseti. Heligoland is located 46 kilometres off the German coastline and consists of two islands, the populated triangular 1 km2 main island to the west, and the Düne to the east, Heligoland generally refers to the former island. Düne is somewhat smaller at 0.7 km2, lower and it is not permanently inhabited, but is today the location of Heligolands airport. The main island is divided into the Unterland at sea level, the Oberland consisting of the plateau visible in the photographs. The Mittelland came into being in 1947 as a result of explosions detonated by the British Royal Navy, the main island also features small beaches in the north and the south and drops to the sea 50 metres high in the north, west and southwest. In the latter, the continues to drop underwater to a depth of 56 metres below sea level. Heligolands most famous landmark is the Lange Anna, a standing rock column,47 metres high. The two islands were connected until 1720, when the connection was destroyed by a storm flood. The highest point is on the island, reaching 61 metres above sea level. Although culturally closer to North Frisia in the German district of Nordfriesland, the main island has a good harbour and is frequented mostly by sailing yachts. The climate of Heligoland is typical of a climate, being almost free of pollen. Since there is no land mass in the vicinity, temperatures drop below −5 °C even in the winter. At times, winter temperatures can be higher than in Hamburg by up to 10 °C because cold winds from Russia are weakened. While spring tends to be cool, autumn on Heligoland is often longer and warmer than on the mainland, and statistically
4.
Poseidon
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Poseidon was one of the twelve Olympian deities of the pantheon in Greek mythology. His main domain was the ocean, and he is called the God of the Sea, additionally, he is referred to as Earth-Shaker due to his role in causing earthquakes, and has been called the tamer of horses. He is usually depicted as a male with curly hair. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology, both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon. According to some folklore, he was saved by his mother Rhea, who concealed him among a flock of lambs and pretended to have birth to a colt. There is a Homeric hymn to Poseidon, who was the protector of many Hellenic cities, according to the references from Plato in his dialogues Timaeus and Critias, the island of Atlantis was the chosen domain of Poseidon. The form Ποτειδάϝων appears in Corinth, the origins of the name Poseidon are unclear. Walter Burkert finds that the second element da- remains hopelessly ambiguous, another theory interprets the second element as related to the word *δᾶϝον dâwon, water, this would make *Posei-dawōn into the master of waters. There is also the possibility that the word has Pre-Greek origin, Plato in his dialogue Cratylus gives two alternative etymologies, either the sea restrained Poseidon when walking as a foot-bond, or he knew many things. If surviving Linear B clay tablets can be trusted, the name occurs with greater frequency than does di-u-ja. A feminine variant, po-se-de-ia, is found, indicating a lost consort goddess. Poseidon carries frequently the title wa-na-ka in Linear B inscriptions, as king of the underworld, the chthonic nature of Poseidon-Wanax is also indicated by his title E-ne-si-da-o-ne in Mycenean Knossos and Pylos, a powerful attribute. In the cave of Amnisos Enesidaon is related with the cult of Eileithyia and she was related with the annual birth of the divine child. During the Bronze Age, a goddess of nature, dominated both in Minoan and Mycenean cult, and Wanax was her companion in Mycenean cult. It is possible that Demeter appears as Da-ma-te in a Linear B inscription, in Linear B inscriptions found at Pylos, E-ne-si-da-o-ne is related with Poseidon, and Si-to Po-tini-ja is probably related with Demeter. Tablets from Pylos record sacrificial goods destined for the Two Queens, the Two Queens may be related with Demeter and Persephone, or their precursors, goddesses who were not associated with Poseidon in later periods. The violated Demeter was Demeter Erinys, in Arcadia, Demeters mare-form was worshiped into historical times. Her xoanon of Phigaleia shows how the local cult interpreted her, a Medusa type with a horses head with snaky hair, holding a dove and a dolphin, probably representing her power over air and water
5.
Amber
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Amber is fossilized tree resin, which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects and it has also been used as a healing agent in folk medicine. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents, because it originates as a soft, sticky tree resin, amber sometimes contains animal and plant material as inclusions. Amber occurring in coal seams is also called resinite, and the term ambrite is applied to that found specifically within New Zealand coal seams, the English word amber derives from Arabic ʿanbar عنبر via Middle Latin ambar and Middle French ambre. The word was adopted in Middle English in the 14th century as referring to what is now known as ambergris, in the Romance languages, the sense of the word had come to be extended to Baltic amber from as early as the late 13th century. At first called white or yellow amber, this meaning was adopted in English by the early 15th century, as the use of ambergris waned, this became the main sense of the word. The two substances conceivably became associated or confused because they both were washed up on beaches. Ambergris is less dense water and floats, whereas amber is too dense to float. The classical names for amber, Latin electrum and Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον, are connected to a term ἠλέκτωρ meaning beaming Sun, according to myth, when Phaëton son of Helios was killed, his mourning sisters became poplar trees, and their tears became elektron, amber. Earlier Pliny says that an island of three days sail from the Scythian coast called Balcia by Xenophon of Lampsacus, author of a fanciful travel book in Greek, is called Basilia by Pytheas. It is generally understood to be the same as Abalus and it is assumed that there were well-established trade routes for amber connecting the Baltic with the Mediterranean. Pliny states explicitly that the Germans export amber to Pannonia, from where it was traded further abroad by the Veneti, the ancient Italic peoples of southern Italy were working amber, the most important examples are on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Siritide to Matera. Amber used in antiquity as at Mycenae and in the prehistory of the Mediterranean comes from deposits of Sicily. Besides the fanciful explanations according to which amber is produced by the Sun, Pliny cites opinions that are aware of its origin in tree resin. Amber is produced from a marrow discharged by trees belonging to the genus, like gum from the cherry. This is confirmed by the recorded Old High German glas and Old English glær for amber, in Middle Low German, amber was known as berne-, barn-, börnstēn. The Low German term became dominant also in High German by the 18th century, the Baltic Lithuanian term for amber is gintaras and Latvian dzintars. They, and the Slavic jantar or Hungarian gyanta, are thought to originate from Phoenician jainitar, Early in the nineteenth century, the first reports of amber from North America came from discoveries in New Jersey along Crosswicks Creek near Trenton, at Camden, and near Woodbury
6.
Pytheas
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Pytheas of Massalia, was a Greek geographer and explorer from the Greek colony of Massalia. He made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe in about 325 BC, in this voyage he circumnavigated and visited a considerable part of Great Britain. He is the first person on record to describe the Midnight Sun, the theoretical existence of a Frigid Zone, and temperate zones where the nights are very short in summer and the sun does not set at the summer solstice, was already known. Similarly, reports of a country of perpetual snow and darkness had reached the Mediterranean some centuries before, Pytheas is the first known scientific visitor and reporter of the Arctic, polar ice, and the Germanic tribes. He introduced the idea of distant Thule to the geographic imagination, Pytheas may have also reached Iceland. Pliny says that Timaeus believed Pytheas story of the discovery of amber, Strabo says that Dicaearchus did not trust the stories of Pytheas. That is all the information that survives concerning the date of Pytheas voyage, some would give Timaeus an extra 5 years, bringing the voyage down to 325 BC at earliest. If one presumes that Pytheas would not have written before reaching age 20, he would have been a contemporary, as they read his writings he must have written toward the earlier years of the window. As is common with ancient texts, multiple titles may represent a source, for example. The mainstream today recognizes periplus as a genre of literature and concedes that there was only one work, on the Ocean. Diodorus does not mention Pytheas by name, the connection is made as follows, Pliny reports that Timaeus says there is an island named Mictis … where tin is found, and to which the Britons cross. Diodorus says that tin is brought to the island of Ictis, the last link is supplied by Strabo, who says that an emporium on the island of Corbulo in the mouth of the Loire was associated with the Britain of Pytheas by Polybius. Assuming that Ictis, Mictis and Corbulo are the same, Diodorus appears to have read Timaeus, who must have read Pytheas, Pytheas was the first documented Mediterranean mariner to reach the British Isles. The start of Pytheass voyage is unknown, the Carthaginians had closed the Strait of Gibraltar to all ships from other nations. Some historians, mainly of the late 19th century and before, therefore speculated that he must have traveled overland to the mouth of the Loire or the Garonne. Others believed that, to avoid the Carthaginian blockade, he may have close to land and sailed only at night. An alternate theory holds that by the 4th century BC, the western Greeks, in 348 BC, Carthage and Rome came to terms over the Sicilian Wars with a treaty defining their mutual interests. Rome could use Sicilian markets, Carthage could buy and sell goods at Rome, Rome was to stay out of the western Mediterranean, but these terms did not apply to Massalia, which had its own treaty
7.
Baldr
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Baldr is a god in Norse mythology, who is given a central role in the mythology. His precise function is, however, disputed and he is often interpreted as the god of love, peace, forgiveness, justice, light or purity, but he was not directly attested as a god of such. He is the son of Odin and the goddess Frigg. His twin brother is the blind god Höðr, jacob Grimm in his Teutonic Mythology identifies Old Norse Baldr with the Old High German Baldere, Palter, Paltar and with Old English bealdor, baldor lord, prince, king. Old Norse shows this usage of the word as an honorific in a few cases, as in baldur î brynju and herbaldr, both epithets of heroes in general. Grimm traces the etymology of the name to *balþaz, whence Gothic balþs, Old English bald, Old High German pald, all meaning white, but the interpretation of Baldr as the brave god may be secondary. Baltic has a word meaning the white, the good, in continental Saxon and Anglo-Saxon tradition, the son of Woden is called not Bealdor but Baldag and Bældæg, Beldeg, which shows association with day, possibly with Day personified as a deity. This, as Grimm points out, would agree with the shining one, white one. Grimms etymology is endorsed by modern research, according to Rudolf Simek, the original name for Baldr must be understood as shining day. One of the two Merseburg Incantations names Baldere, but also mentions a figure named Phol, considered to be a byname for Baldr and this interpretation is linked to the presupposition that the figure in question is a companion of Wodan, the upper god. In a different interpretation, phol is just another form of folon mentioned in the next line, in the Poetic Edda the tale of Baldrs death is referred to rather than recounted at length. Among the visions which the Völva sees and describes in the known as the Völuspá is one of the fatal mistletoe, the birth of Váli. Yet looking far into the future the Völva sees a vision of a new world. The Eddic poem Baldrs Dreams mentions that Baldr has bad dreams which the gods then discuss, Odin rides to Hel and awakens a seeress, who tells him Höðr will kill Baldr but Vali will avenge him. In Gylfaginning, Baldur is described as follows, Apart from this description Baldr is known primarily for the story of his death and his death is seen as the first in the chain of events which will ultimately lead to the destruction of the gods at Ragnarök. Baldr will be reborn in the new world, according to Völuspá and he had a dream of his own death and his mother had the same dreams. Since dreams were usually prophetic, this depressed him, so his mother Frigg made every object in every realm vow never to hurt Baldr, all objects made this vow except mistletoe. When Loki, the mischief-maker, heard of this, he made a spear from this plant
8.
Nanna (Norse deity)
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In Norse mythology, Nanna Nepsdóttir or simply Nanna is a goddess associated with the god Baldr. Accounts of Nanna vary greatly by source, in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, Nanna is the wife of Baldr and the couple produced a son, the god Forseti. After Baldrs death, Nanna dies of grief, Nanna is placed on Baldrs ship with his corpse and the two are set aflame and pushed out to sea. In Hel, Baldr and Nanna are united again, spurred by their mutual attraction to Nanna, Baldr and Höðr repeatedly do battle. Nanna is only interested in Höðr and weds him, while Baldr wastes away from nightmares about Nanna, the Setre Comb, a comb from the 6th or early 7th century featuring runic inscriptions, may reference the goddess. The etymology of the name Nanna is a subject of scholarly debate, scholars have debated connections between Nanna and other similarly named deities from other cultures and the implications of the goddesss attestations. The etymology of the name of the goddess Nanna is debated, some scholars have proposed that the name may derive from a babble word, nanna, meaning mother. Scholar Jan de Vries connects the name Nanna to the root *nanþ-, scholar John Lindow theorizes that a common noun may have existed in Old Norse, nanna, that roughly meant woman. Scholar John McKinnell notes that the mother and *nanþ- derivations may not be distinct, in the Poetic Edda poem Hyndluljóð, a figure by the name of Nanna is listed as the daughter of Nökkvi and as a relative of Óttar. This figure may or may not be the same Nanna as Baldrs wife, in chapter 38 of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, the enthroned figure of High explains that Nanna Nepsdóttir and her husband Baldr produced a son, the god Forseti. Later in Gylfaginning, High recounts Baldrs death in Asgard at the hands of his blind brother. Baldrs body is taken to the seaside and, when his body is placed unto his ship Hringhorni and her body is placed upon Hringhorni with Baldr, the ship is set aflame, and the god Thor hallows the pyre with his hammer Mjölnir. Sent by Baldrs mother, the goddess Frigg, the god Hermóðr rides to the location of Hel to resurrect Baldr, Hermóðr finally arrives in Hel to find Baldr in a hall, seated in the seat of honor and with his wife Nanna. Hermóðr bargains with Hel, the being, for Baldrs resurrection, Hel and Hermóðr come to an agreement and then Baldr and Nanna accompany Hermóðr out of the hall. Baldr gives Hermóðr the ring Draupnir, which the god Odin had placed on Baldrs pyre, Nanna presents to Hermóðr a series of gifts, a linen robe for Frigg, a golden ring for the goddess Fulla, and other unspecified items. In the first chapter of the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, Nanna is listed among 8 goddesses attending a feast held in honor of Ægir, in chapter 5 of Skáldskaparmál, means of referring to Baldr are provided, including husband of Nanna. In chapter 19, means of referring to Frigg are provided, in chapter 75, Nanna is included among a list of goddesses. In chapter 18, the skald Eilífr Goðrúnarsons work Þórsdrápa is quoted, in book III of Gesta Danorum, Nanna is not a goddess but rather a daughter of the mortal King Gevar
9.
Willibrord
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Willibrord was a Northumbrian missionary saint, known as the Apostle to the Frisians in the modern Netherlands. He became the first Bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach and his father, named Wilgils or Hilgis, was styled by Alcuin as a Saxon of Northumbria. The king and nobles of the district endowed him with estates until he was at last able to build a church, Willibrord grew up under the influence of St. Wilfrid, Bishop of York. He spent the years between the ages of 20 and 32 in the Abbey of Rathmelsigi, in Ireland, which was a centre of European learning in the 7th century, both of these trips to Rome have historical significance. As Bede tells us, Willibrord was not the only Anglo-Saxon to travel to Rome. The way in which he described the visit and its purpose is important, unlike all the others, Willibrord was not on the pilgrimage to the graves of the apostles Peter and Paul. As such he came to the not as a pilgrim. The second time he went to Rome, on 21 November 695, in the Church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, Pope Sergius I gave him a pallium and consecrated him as bishop of the Frisians. He returned to Frisia to preach and establish churches, among them a monastery at Utrecht, Willibrord is counted the first Bishop of Utrecht. After Hugobert died, Irmina founded a Benedictine convent at Horren in Trier, when a plague threatened her community, she gained the help of Willibrord, and when the pestilence passed by the convent, she gave Willibrord the lands for his abbey in Echternach. Pepin of Heristal died in 714, in 716 the pagan Radbod, king of the Frisians, retook possession of Frisia, burning churches and killing many missionaries. Willibrord and his monks were forced to flee, after the death of Radbod in 719, Willibrord returned to resume his work, under the protection of Charles Martel. Winfrid, better known as Boniface, joined Willibrord and stayed for three years, before travelling on to preach in Germanic territory, Willibrord died on 7 November 739 at the age of 81, and according to his wish, was buried in Echternach. He was quickly judged to be a saint, Willibrord wells, which skirted his missionary routes, were visited by the people, to solicit the healing of various nervous diseases, especially of children. In the Roman Catholic Church his feast day is celebrated on 7 November outside England, in the Church of England, he is celebrated on 7 November. Numerous miracles and relics have been attributed to him, at Gravelines, where Willibrord is said to have landed after crossing the Channel on his mission to the Frisians, the church in the old town is dedicated to him. Gravelines grew up after ca.800 around the chapel commemorating Willibrord’s mission, there is a 13th-century chapel dedicated to Willibrord at Wissembourg Abbey, where Willibrords benefactress Irmina of Oeren was also venerated. A Life was written by Alcuin and dedicated to the Abbot of Echternach, Alcuin probably made use of an older one written by a British monk, which is now lost
10.
Charlemagne
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Charlemagne or Charles the Great, numbered Charles I, was the King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774 and Emperor of the Romans from 800. He united much of Europe during the early Middle Ages and he was the first recognised emperor in western Europe since the fall of the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state which Charlemagne founded was called the Carolingian Empire, Charlemagne was the oldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. He became king in 768 following his fathers death, initially as co-ruler with his brother Carloman I, carlomans sudden death in 771 in unexplained circumstances left Charlemagne as the undisputed ruler of the Frankish Kingdom. He continued his fathers policy towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy and he campaigned against the Saxons to his east, Christianising them upon penalty of death and leading to events such as the Massacre of Verden. Charlemagne reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Old St. Peters Basilica. Charlemagne has been called the Father of Europe, as he united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire and his rule spurred the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of energetic cultural and intellectual activity within the Western Church. All Holy Roman Emperors considered their kingdoms to be descendants of Charlemagnes empire, up to the last Emperor Francis II and these and other machinations led to the eventual split of Rome and Constantinople in the Great Schism of 1054. Charlemagne died in 814, having ruled as emperor for thirteen years and he was laid to rest in his imperial capital of Aachen in what is today Germany. He married at least four times and had three sons, but only his son Louis the Pious survived to succeed him. By the 6th century, the western Germanic Franks had been Christianised, Francia, ruled by the Merovingians, was the most powerful of the kingdoms that succeeded the Western Roman Empire. Following the Battle of Tertry the Merovingians declined into powerlessness, for which they have dubbed the rois fainéants. Almost all government powers were exercised by their chief officer, the mayor of the palace, in 687, Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, ended the strife between various kings and their mayors with his victory at Tertry. He became the governor of the entire Frankish kingdom. Pepin was the grandson of two important figures of the Austrasian Kingdom, Saint Arnulf of Metz and Pepin of Landen, Pepin of Herstal was eventually succeeded by his illegitimate son Charles, later known as Charles Martel. After 737, Charles governed the Franks in lieu of a king, Charles was succeeded in 741 by his sons Carloman and Pepin the Short, the father of Charlemagne. In 743, the brothers placed Childeric III on the throne to curb separatism in the periphery and he was the last Merovingian king. Carloman resigned office in 746, preferring to enter the church as a monk, Pepin brought the question of the kingship before Pope Zachary, asking whether it was logical for a king to have no royal power
11.
Bragi
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Bragi is the skaldic god of poetry in Norse mythology. Bragi is generally associated with bragr, the Norse word for poetry, the name of the god may have been derived from bragr, or the term bragr may have been formed to describe what Bragi does. A connection between the name Bragi and Old English brego chieftain has been suggested but is now discounted. A connection between Bragi and the bragarfull promise cup is sometimes suggested, as bragafull, a form of the word. Snorri Sturluson writes in the Gylfaginning after describing Odin, Thor, and Baldr, One is called Bragi, he is renowned for wisdom, and most of all for fluency of speech and skill with words. He knows most of skaldship, and after him skaldship is called bragr, and from his name that one is called bragr-man or -woman, in Skáldskaparmál Snorri writes, How should one periphrase Bragi. By calling him husband of Iðunn, first maker of poetry, and the long-bearded god and that Bragi is Odins son is clearly mentioned only here and in some versions of a list of the sons of Odin. But wish-son in stanza 16 of the Lokasenna could mean Odins son and is translated by Hollander as Odins kin, Bragis mother is possibly the giantess Gunnlod. In that poem Bragi at first forbids Loki to enter the hall but is overruled by Odin, Loki then gives a greeting to all gods and goddesses who are in the hall save to Bragi. Bragi responds that if they were outside the hall, he would have Lokis head, when Bragis wife Iðunn attempts to calm Bragi, Loki accuses her of embracing her brothers slayer, a reference to matters that have not survived. It may be that Bragi had slain Iðunns brother, the meaning of this is obscure. The first part of Snorri Sturlusons Skáldskaparmál is a dialogue between Ægir and Bragi about the nature of poetry, particularly skaldic poetry, Bragi tells the origin of the mead of poetry from the blood of Kvasir and how Odin obtained this mead. He then goes on to discuss various poetic metaphors known as kennings, Snorri Sturluson clearly distinguishes the god Bragi from the mortal skald Bragi Boddason, whom he often mentions separately. Compare the appearance of the Welsh Taliesin in the branch of the Mabinogi. Legendary chronology sometimes does become muddled, whether Bragi the god originally arose as a deified version of Bragi Boddason was much debated in the 19th century, especially by the scholars Eugen Mogk and Sophus Bugge. In the poem Eiríksmál Odin, in Valhalla, hears the coming of the dead Norwegian king Eric Bloodaxe and his host, Bragi is then mentioned, questioning how Odin knows that it is Eric and why Odin has let such a king die. In the poem Hákonarmál, Hákon the Good is taken to Valhalla by the valkyrie Göndul and Odin sends Hermóðr, in these poems Bragi could be either a god or a dead hero in Valhalla. Attempting to decide is further confused because Hermóðr also seems to be sometimes the name of a god and that Bragi was also the first to speak to Loki in the Lokasenna as Loki attempted to enter the hall might be a parallel
