Myths and Legends: Journeys Through Time
Rainbows
“Somewhere over the rainbow,
Way up high, there’s a land
That I heard of once
In a lullaby…”
Somewhere Over The Rainbow as sung by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz.
Roy G. Biv. We all know him right? We learned about him in probably second or third grade, earlier or later depending on when, how and where you were taught or lived. Who is is? Well..maybe he’s an artist. Perhaps he’s a painter. It’s also possible that he’s related to the Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain guy. Better yet..both of them, Roy and Richard are mnemonics. A mnemonic is a trick, tool or technique used to jog the memory about something. For example..if you’re having trouble remembering which months of the year have 31 days…simply count off the months on your knuckles. Every raised knuckle is a month that has 31 days. What are Roy and Richard a mnemonic for specifically? The answer to that is easy…a rainbow! All of the letters in Roy’s name and the first letter of every word in Richard’s battle stance represent a color in the rainbow. Seven letters or words for seven colors; R is for red, the first color. O is for orange the second color. Y is for yellow, the third color. G is for green which is color number four, B is for blue which is color number five, I for indigo color number six and V…v is for the color violet lucky number seven. Interestingly enough in between each odd numbered color, the even color is a mix of the two odd colors surrounding it. For example..red and yellow, colors number 1 and 3 make orange..which is color number 2. Colors 3 and 5, yellow and blue make green which is color number 4. etc. What’s this have to do with mythology is the question you’re most likely asking yourself right now. In a sense..nothing. In another sense well… nothing. It’s really just information leading up to the subject of the myth. Rainbows..a meteorological phenomenon that not only astounds but makes people everywhere happy. What is a rainbow? Well in today’s scientific world we know it’s a visible spectrum of colors produced by the sun shining through raindrops, or water droplets at a specific angle. The sun hitting the drops of water, splits what we think of as a solid colored light into what we perceive as seven different colors. Go back a couple hundred years or more though, and the meaning of a rainbow is vastly different depending on who you asked. See in Norse mythology the rainbow represented the Bifrost Bridge. It was the only way for the gods to get from Asgard to Middle Earth (which is what they called our residence in the universe.). Heimdallr (also spelled Heimdalr, Heimdali,Heimdall or Heimdall. The last two being anglicized versions of the Norse or Germanic name.) guarded the Bifrost bridge. The only ones allowed to use the Bifrost were the Gods and those who died in battle. Unfortunately when Ragnarok happened…the Bifrost collapsed underneath the weight of the war. It also doesn’t help that Heimdal was killed by Loki..but not before being killed by Heimdal. In Celtic specifically Irish mythology…rainbows mean leprechauns! Those wonderful but greedy little shoemakers who are all decked out in green and grant wishes…if you can catch them. It’s said that at the end of a rainbow is a leprecaun’s pot of gold. If you take the pot of gold it’ll help you to catch the leprechaun because he’ll come looking for it and then you trade it back for three wishes. However..do be careful what you wish for…Leprechauns are part of the fair folk and they can be a bit well..tricky. For the Greeks the rainbow was a representation orf Iris…a messenger to the Gods. Ironic really…as beautiful as a rainbow is, and as joyous a feeling it inspires in somebody..Iris’ messages were rarely about good fortune or peace. If you delve into religion…technically any religion but primarily Judeo-Christian and Catholic religion, then the rainbow is a promise. When the Great Flood happened, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Everything was flooded and all the animals were wiped out..essentially the slate was wiped clean. Except for Noah’s Ark and the animals and people he had on it. After the Great Flood, God sent the rainbow as a promise that he’d never again flood the earth nor kill life via floodwater. There are many cultures and religions that hold the rainbow in high regard. Native America, Celtic as mentioned (Irish and Gaelic), Germanic, Armenian, Korean….in some way shape or form, pretty much every culture believes that a rainbow is in some way a path or gateway to the Gods and the Heavens above.
For further reading check out these links!
http://www.colours-of-the-rainbow.com/legends.html
http://naturalmagickshop.com/articles/rainbow.html