Thursday, September 22, 2016

          The Finnish flood myth and the Epic of Gilgamesh were very different yet similar In many ways. In the first place, both stories for the most part followed a similar plot most flood myths follow. The story started off with a heroic character like Gilgamesh named Väinämöinen. While making a boat, his axe slipped and cut open his knee. Eventually the blood from the wound flooded the entire world. The story also mentioned how the blood covered even the highest mountain peaks. This is similar to The Epic Of Gilgamesh when it mentioned how as the water receded, Utnapishtam's boat landed on top of a mountain.  There were also some differences in these two stories. One obvious difference was how in the Finnish flood myth, the world was flooded by blood where in The Epic of Gilgamesh was by water.  Also no animals were involved in the Finnish story unlike in Gilgamesh. Another big difference was how in the Finnish Flood myth Väinämöinen wasn't warned ahead of time about the flood like in The Epic of Gilgamesh, God told Utnapishtam about the flood in advance and to make an arc. But overall, the theme in both stories is that the earth was flooded by God to destroy all life and only one good and wise man was spared in a boat.















































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