Gods of Fire from Mythology and Folklore | Part 1

Hey, and welcome back to Wild Mythology. I welcome you to the channel with bread and salt. For today's video, I'm going to be talking about 5 Gods of Fire from Mythology and Folklore. But before we get to that, don't forget to join this month's giveaway for the 75th Anniversary Book of Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton. All you have to do is subscribe and make a comment on this video. Plus, don't forget to comment on any other video I make this May. It gives you an extra chance to Now, let's get to the Gods of Fire from Mythology. 1. Hephaestus In Greek mythology, Hephaestus is the god of fire, blacksmiths, and volcanoes, and is the son of Zeus and Hera, the king and queen of the gods. In mythology, Hephaestus was born disfigured, which disgusted Hera because she only wanted beautiful children. So Hera took Hephaestus and threw him off Mount Olympus, making one of his legs lame. Luckily, he landed in the ocean and was found by Eurynome, the mother of the Charities, and Thetis, the mother of Achilles. The two nursed Hephaestus back to health, and Hephaestus stayed in the ocean learning to craft and metalwork using ocean vents and lava. After some years, Hephaestus sent marvelous thrones to the gods of Olympus as a gift. Each god and goddess sat in their new throne and loved them. But when it was Hera's turn to sit on her throne, she found that she was stuck and could not get up. All the gods begged Hephaestus to let his mother go, but he would always reply that he had no mother. Ares, the god of war, grew angry with his brother Hephaestus and tried to force him back to Olympus, but the war god got more than he bargained for when Hephaestus burnt him from head to toe with fire. Eventually Dionysus, the god of wine, got Hephaestus drunk and dragged him back to Olympus on the back of his donkey. Waking up, Hephaestus forgave his mother and released her from the throne. He then stayed on Olympus and became the weapons crafter for the There he crafted items such as Aphrodite's girdle, Achilles' armor, and the helmet and flying sandals of Hermes. His control over fire was so refined that he could have dozens of weapons being made in multiple furnaces. Hephaestus would play important roles in other myths such as helping with the birth of Athena, becoming the husband of Aphrodite, helping the Greeks during the Trojan War, and fighting in the war against the giants. In Hawaiian mythology, Pele is the goddess of fire, volcanoes, and is the creator of the Hawaiian Islands. Pele's mother, Haumea, was the goddess of childbirth and fertility, and was the mother to many important Hawaiian gods and goddesses. In mythology, Pele once lived peacefully with her family in Kahiki. But one day, Pele came across the husband of her older sister, Namaka, a sea goddess. Being the passionate goddess that she was, Pele seduced her sister's husband, which made Namaka furious. Knowing that her sister would want revenge, Pele found a canoe and journeyed to an area of the sea where a couple of volcanoes were barely breaching the ocean's surface. The first volcano Pele reached was Kauahi, and because Pele was a deity of fire, she wanted to live within the volcano. But she did not want the entrance of the volcano to be so close to the ocean's surface, so she began to dig. After throwing lava around for a couple of hours, the volcano of Kauahi now sat upon an island. Happy with her new home, Pele was about to take a nap when her sister Namaka found her. Namaka threw a great wave of seawater at Pele and her new island. Wounded, Pele ran from her new home. This happened numerous times with Pele creating multiple new islands, only to have to run away again once Namaka found her. When Pele arrived on the final volcano known as Kilauea, Pele decided she had enough of her sister. So she flung a humongous amount of lava, making Kilauea taller and taller until it sat higher than any of Pele's previous creations. After she was done, Pele waited for the arrival of her sister. And when Namaka arrived, she tried to throw waves at Pele's home, but the ocean could not reach Pele. Pele laughed at her sister and then jumped into the volcano, celebrating her victory. Number 3. Agni In Hindu mythology, Agni is the god of fire, the guardian of the southeast, and is one of the most important deities, said to be second only to Indra, the god of storms and king of the gods. While there are different sources on who Agni's parents are, he is usually the son of Kashyapa, one of the seven legendary sages, and Aditi, the goddess of infinity, as well as the sibling of Indra and Surya, the god of the sun. In myth, Agni is depicted as having red skin, anywhere from 1 to 3 heads, 2 to 7 arms, 2 to 3 legs, and can usually be found riding a ram. Because he is associated with fire such as lightning and the heat of the sun, Agni is able to travel from the heavens to the earth in an instant, which makes Agni the perfect messenger for both the gods and mortals. When the humans wish to send a message to the gods, they must sacrifice something into a fire, such as the home's hearth. Agni will then devour the sacrifice and deliver the prayers, wishes, and messages to the chosen god. Because fire is so important to mortals, Agni is a protector of humans. He doesn't care if they are young or old, man or woman, or even rich or poor. All of those who use fire fall under his domain. It is said that because of his importance, Agni is always present at weddings, births, and deaths, where special rituals are performed for the fire god. In mythology, Agni once angered Bhrigu, one of the seven legendary sages like Agni's father. Bhrigu cursed Agni to endlessly devour everything in his presence and everything he touched. Afraid that he would destroy everything, Agni went to his great-grandfather Brahma, the god of creation. Hearing what had happened from the fire god, Brahma changed the curse to make Agni purify everything he touched. Number 4. Logi In Norse mythology, Logi is a jötunn who is the personification of fire and is the brother of the personification of the sea and the personification of the wind. In mythology, Logi shows up in the tale of Thor's and Loki's clash with the giant Jötunn Loki. In the myth, Loki claims he can eat food faster than any other being. Jötunn Loki laughs at this claim and summons Logi to challenge Loki to an eating contest. Two humongous tables, each with a mountain of meat, are put in front of the deities. Counting down, the contest begins and Logi instantly devours all the meat, defeating Loki before he could even have a second bite. Jötunn Loki then explains that Logi is fire personified and that everything is devoured by him. Number 5. Svarog In Slavic mythology, Svarog is the god of fire, blacksmithing and is the father of the Slavic gods, such as Desbolg, the god of the sun, and Perun, the god of the sky and thunder. In mythology, the first god Rhod created an egg, which held Svarog and a world tree within it. After many years, Svarog's power grew to its peak and he broke free from the egg. The world tree instantly sprung up, creating the heavens known as Praav on top of its branches, the earth known as Jav along its trunk, and the underworld known as Nav at its roots. The eggshells fell on the trunk, creating the sky and the sea. Then Svarog took the egg yolk and combined it with his power over fire to create the gods, mankind, animals, and the sun and the moon. After creation, Svarog gave his rule over to his son Perun and decided to drift off to sleep in Praav. And there it is, I give you five gods of fire. I hope you enjoyed the video. Go check out our other content and don't forget to subscribe and comment so you can enter our giveaway. Well, until next time on Wild Mythology.