Creation, Floods & Transformations

38 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.What is the name of Chang'e's cold lunar palace?
- A. The Guanghan Palace
- B. The Hall of Falling Osmanthus
- C. The Palace of a Thousand Mirrors
- D. The Silver Orchard
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The Guanghan Palace
Did you know? Chang'e dwells in the Guanghan, the "Vast Cold" palace of the moon.
2.What did the primeval cow Audhumla reveal by licking the salty ice?
- A. Búri, the first god and Odin's grandfather
- B. The seeds of the world tree
- C. The first dwarf, Modsognir
- D. The sun hidden in the glacier
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Búri, the first god and Odin's grandfather
Did you know? Audhumla's licking freed Búri from the rime, ancestor of Odin's line.
3.In the Greek flood tale, what "bones of the mother" did Deucalion and Pyrrha throw?
- A. Twigs of the oak
- B. Grains of wheat
- C. Stones of the earth
- D. Shells of the sea
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Stones of the earth
Did you know? The stones Deucalion and Pyrrha threw became the reborn human race.
4.What does Ra's crew do to Apophis's body each night?
- A. They bury it in the desert
- B. They bind it with Ma'at's cord
- C. They cut it apart and burn it
- D. They seal it in the Duat's gates
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They cut it apart and burn it
Did you know? Each night the sun god's crew dismembers and burns Apophis, yet he revives.
5.What did Chang'e do with the elixir of immortality?
- A. She poured it into the river
- B. She swallowed it and rose to the moon
- C. She gave it to the poor
- D. She buried it under a peach tree
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She swallowed it and rose to the moon
Did you know? Chang'e drank the elixir and floated up to the lunar palace.
6.Who was the first frost giant, whose body became the world?
- A. Mimir
- B. Ymir
- C. Thrym
- D. Bergelmir
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Ymir
Did you know? The gods slew Ymir and built earth, sea and sky from his flesh, blood and bones.
7.Which Mesopotamian flood hero rides out the great deluge in the Epic of Gilgamesh?
- A. Utnapishtim
- B. Manu
- C. Atrahides of Berossus
- D. Deucalion
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Utnapishtim
Did you know? Utnapishtim and his wife survived the flood and won immortality as the only mortals made deathless.
8.How many hours of the night does Ra's barque pass through?
- A. Nine
- B. Seven
- C. Twelve
- D. Three
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Twelve
Did you know? Ra's night journey crosses twelve hours, each through its own gate.
9.Which giant survived the flood of Ymir's blood on a raft?
- A. Bergelmir
- B. Geirrod
- C. Thrym
- D. Hrungnir
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Bergelmir
Did you know? All giants drowned in Ymir's blood except Bergelmir and his wife on a lumber raft.
10.By what grander name is Ra's solar barque styled?
- A. The Ship of Ten Thousand Sails
- B. The Vessel of Eternity's Waters
- C. The Egg of Dawn
- D. The Barque of Millions of Years
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The Barque of Millions of Years
Did you know? Egyptian texts call Ra's barque the Barque of Millions of Years.
11.What happens at the twelfth hour of Ra's night journey?
- A. He rests at Mimir's well
- B. He is reborn from Nun as the morning sun
- C. He mourns the dead of the day
- D. He battles Apophis for the first time
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He is reborn from Nun as the morning sun
Did you know? At the twelfth hour the aged sun sinks into Nun and emerges reborn at dawn.
12.How did Isis learn Ra's true secret name?
- A. She poisoned him with a clay-made serpent and bargained for the cure
- B. Thoth taught it to her in secret
- C. She stole it from his night barque
- D. She overheard him whispering to Nut
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She poisoned him with a clay-made serpent and bargained for the cure
Did you know? Isis's serpent bite forced Ra to surrender his secret name, giving her his power.
13.Which two personified powers ride in Ra's barque with him?
- A. Sia, perception, and Hu, utterance
- B. Shu and Tefnut
- C. Duamutef and Qebehsenuef
- D. Geb and Nut
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Sia, perception, and Hu, utterance
Did you know? Sia the perception and Hu the command accompany Ra on his journey.
14.Which festival retells Chang'e's flight to the moon?
- A. The Double Ninth Festival
- B. The Mid-Autumn Festival
- C. The Dragon Boat Festival
- D. The Lantern Festival
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The Mid-Autumn Festival
Did you know? Moon cakes and full-moon viewing mark Chang'e's tale at Mid-Autumn.
15.From what did the gods create the first human pair, Ask and Embla?
- A. Seeds of the world tree
- B. Clay from a riverbank
- C. Two trees, an ash and an elm
- D. Stones from the shore
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Two trees, an ash and an elm
Did you know? Odin, Hoenir and Lodurr gave Ask and Embla breath, sense and warmth.
16.Which rainbow-colored water giver arcs through Australian Aboriginal tales?
- A. The quinkan
- B. The Rainbow Serpent
- C. The yowie
- D. The bunyip
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The Rainbow Serpent
Did you know? The Rainbow Serpent's tracks shaped the waterholes and hills.
17.Which Theban god merged with Ra as the empire's chief deity?
- A. Amun
- B. Sobek
- C. Montu
- D. Ptah
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Amun
Did you know? Amun of Thebes rose to become Amun-Ra, king of the gods.
18.Which companion pounds the elixir of immortality on the moon?
- A. The Golden Toad
- B. The Jade Rabbit
- C. The Osmanthus Woodcutter
- D. The Moon Maiden
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The Jade Rabbit
Did you know? The Jade Rabbit pounds the elixir under the cassia tree beside Chang'e.
19.Which two primordial realms of fire and ice frame Norse creation?
- A. Jotunheim and Vanaheim
- B. Muspelheim and Niflheim
- C. Alfheim and Svartalfheim
- D. Asgard and Midgard
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Muspelheim and Niflheim
Did you know? Muspelheim's flames met Niflheim's ice in the void to birth the first life.
20.Which semi-divine serpent beings guard treasure in Indian epic texts?
- A. The Rakshasas
- B. The Gandharvas
- C. The Nagas
- D. The Yakshas
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The Nagas
Did you know? Naga kings kept jewels and wisdom beneath rivers and roots.
21.Which giant serpent attacks Ra's barque every night?
- A. Renenutet
- B. Apophis
- C. Wadjet
- D. Meretseger
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Apophis
Did you know? Apophis, the chaos serpent, threatens to swallow the night barque in the Duat.
22.What does Midgard mean?
- A. Middle enclosure, the world of humans
- B. Iron yard, realm of dwarves
- C. Bitter yard, land of giants
- D. Green garden, home of the Vanir
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Middle enclosure, the world of humans
Did you know? Midgard, the middle yard, is the human world fenced against the giants.
23.Which beetle-headed god pushes the morning sun into the sky?
- A. Atum
- B. Ra
- C. Khepri
- D. Horus
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Khepri
Did you know? Khepri, the scarab god, rolls the newborn sun up from the horizon each dawn.
24.Which three brothers slew Ymir and shaped the world?
- A. Odin, Hoenir and Lodurr
- B. Thor, Balder and Tyr
- C. Odin, Loki and Hoenir
- D. Odin, Vili and Vé
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Odin, Vili and Vé
Did you know? Odin and his brothers Vili and Vé turned Ymir's body into the world.
25.What was the Aten during Akhenaten's reign?
- A. The barque of the setting sun
- B. The visible sun disk elevated as the sole god's form
- C. A sacred scarab kept in Amarna
- D. The hidden name of Amun
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The visible sun disk elevated as the sole god's form
Did you know? Akhenaten worshipped the Aten, the sun disk itself, at his new capital.
26.What was Ginnungagap?
- A. The yawning void between fire and ice before creation
- B. The gate of the dwarf realm
- C. The storm that ends the world
- D. The chasm below Hel
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The yawning void between fire and ice before creation
Did you know? From Ginnungagap's meeting of Muspelheim's sparks and Niflheim's rime came Ymir.
27.How does Ra change across the day?
- A. He wears a different crown each hour
- B. He changes color with the seasons
- C. He grows stronger all day
- D. He ages from morning child to evening old man
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He ages from morning child to evening old man
Did you know? Ra is Khepri at dawn, Ra at noon, and the aged Atum at dusk.
28.Which woodcutter is doomed to chop an ever-healing cassia tree on the moon?
- A. Houyi
- B. Kuafu
- C. Gun
- D. Wu Gang
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Wu Gang
Did you know? Wu Gang's axe strokes close as the cassia heals, an endless punishment.
29.Which bird did Utnapishtim send out that never returned, proving dry land?
- A. The raven
- B. The dove
- C. The eagle
- D. The swallow
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The raven
Did you know? The raven that found no footing to return told Utnapishtim the waters had sunk.
30.Which Vedic serpent of drought does Indra split with his thunderbolt?
- A. Naga
- B. Takshaka
- C. Shesha
- D. Vritra
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Vritra
Did you know? Indra's bolt freed the pent rivers when Vritra fell.
31.In which vessels does Ra travel through the hours of day and night?
- A. The golden egg of creation
- B. The reed skiff of Hapi
- C. The day barque Mandjet and the night barque Mesektet
- D. The twin solar sleds
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The day barque Mandjet and the night barque Mesektet
Did you know? Ra sails Mandjet by day and switches to Mesektet for the twelve dark hours.
32.In the Hindu flood account, which fish tows Manu's boat to safety?
- A. Narasimha
- B. Varaha
- C. Matsya
- D. Kurma
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Matsya
Did you know? Matsya the fish towed Manu's vessel over the rising waters.
33.Which never-sleeping dragon guards the Golden Fleece?
- A. Python
- B. Ladon
- C. Fafnir
- D. The Colchis dragon
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The Colchis dragon
Did you know? Medea's potion put the Colchis dragon to sleep for Jason's theft.
34.Which serpent god coils around Ra's barque as protection?
- A. Apophis
- B. Kebechet
- C. Wadjet
- D. Mehen
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Mehen
Did you know? Mehen coils about the solar barque, shielding Ra with his coils.
35.Which Hawaiian couple, guided by a rainbow, survived the great flood?
- A. Hina and Maui
- B. Pele and Namakaokahai
- C. Wakea and Papa
- D. Nuu and his wife
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Nuu and his wife
Did you know? Nuu entered his vessel as the rainbow arched, the Hawaiian flood sign.
36.Which storm dragon does the Hittite god Tarhunna battle each year?
- A. Vritra
- B. Illuyanka
- C. Yam
- D. Tiamat
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Illuyanka
Did you know? Tarhunna's victory over Illuyanka renewed the spring storms.
37.Which god spears Apophis to defend the night barque?
- A. Set
- B. Horus
- C. Sobek
- D. Thoth
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Set
Did you know? Set stands at the prow spearing Apophis so the sun may rise.
38.Which hoard-keeping dragon was once the dwarf Fafnir of the Norse tale?
- A. Fafnir
- B. Nidhoggr
- C. Smaug
- D. Jormungandr
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Fafnir
Did you know? Greed for the cursed gold turned Fafnir into a fire-breathing worm.

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