Tricksters, Minor Gods & World Pantheons

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

1.Which Ulster hero's battle frenzy twists him into a monster?
- A. Cuchulainn
- B. Conchobar
- C. Fergus
- D. Cú Roí
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Cuchulainn
Did you know? Cuchulainn tied himself to a standing stone to die upright.
2.Which Babylonian god slays Tiamat and molds humankind from a slain god's blood?
- A. Marduk
- B. Enlil
- C. Anu
- D. Ninurta
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Marduk
Did you know? Marduk won the tablets of destiny after slaying Tiamat.
3.Which winged goddess personifies victory?
- A. Hebe
- B. Eos
- C. Iris
- D. Nike
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Nike
Did you know? Nike, the winged goddess of victory, appears crowned with laurel wreaths.
4.Which brothers' feud over a fishhook leads to the sea god's palace?
- A. Izanagi and Susanoo
- B. Hoderi and Hoori
- C. Ninigi and Jimmu
- D. Okuninushi and his eighty brothers
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Hoderi and Hoori
Did you know? Hoori lost Hoderi's hook, sought it under the sea, and wed Ryūjin's daughter.
5.Which hero of the Persian Shahnameh performs seven trials on his warhorse Rakhsh?
- A. Kay Kavus
- B. Esfandiyar
- C. Rostam
- D. Sohrab
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Rostam
Did you know? Rostam's seven trials carried him to rescue the captive king.
6.Which Yoruba god of iron clears the forest with his machete?
- A. Shango
- B. Olokun
- C. Oshosi
- D. Ogun
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Ogun
Did you know? Ogun the hunter-smith clears the paths of iron and war.
7.Which Fomorian king's single eye burns all it looks upon?
- A. Elatha
- B. Tethra
- C. Bres
- D. Balor
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Balor
Did you know? Lugh's sling drove Balor's deadly eye through the back of his skull.
8.Which Babylonian sea goddess did Marduk split to form heaven and earth?
- A. Tiamat
- B. Ereshkigal
- C. Apsu
- D. Ishtar
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Tiamat
Did you know? Marduk halved Tiamat, her upper body roofing the sky.
9.Which youth fell in love with his own reflection?
- A. Hyacinthus
- B. Endymion
- C. Adonis
- D. Narcissus
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Narcissus
Did you know? Narcissus pined away staring at his reflection in a pool.
10.Which pillar symbol, tied to Osiris, stands for stability?
- A. The was
- B. The ka
- C. The djed
- D. The ankh
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The djed
Did you know? The djed pillar, Osiris's backbone, symbolizes endurance and stability.
11.Which young champion does Rostam unknowingly slay in single combat?
- A. His rival Esfandiyar
- B. His own son Sohrab
- C. The Turan king Afrasiyab
- D. His brother Zarasp
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His own son Sohrab
Did you know? Rostam's seal matched the token on Sohrab's arm too late.
12.Which father god owns the cauldron of plenty in the Irish tales?
- A. Manannan
- B. Lugh
- C. Nuada
- D. The Dagda himself
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The Dagda himself
Did you know? No one left the Dagda's cauldron unsatisfied.
13.In the White Hare of Inaba tale, who healed the hare's flayed skin?
- A. Ninigi
- B. Ryūjin
- C. Okuninushi
- D. Susanoo
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Okuninushi
Did you know? The brothers mocked the hare; Okuninushi's cattail pollen and water healed it.
14.Which Irish war goddess appears as crow and phantom queen?
- A. Aine
- B. Danu
- C. The Morrigan
- D. Brigid
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The Morrigan
Did you know? The Morrigan's caw announced the battle's slaughter.
15.Which blossom princess married Ninigi and whose short blooming symbolized human mortality?
- A. Iwanaga-hime
- B. Toyotama-hime
- C. Konohanasakuya-hime
- D. Uzume
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Konohanasakuya-hime
Did you know? Ninigi refused the rock-long life Iwanaga and chose blossom-fragile Sakuya.
16.Which Irish mother goddess lends her name to the gods' host?
- A. Morrigan
- B. Aine
- C. Danu
- D. Brigid
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Danu
Did you know? The Tuatha Dé Danann are "the folk of the goddess Danu".
17.Which mysterious desert beast, never fully identified, is the emblem of Set?
- A. The black jackal
- B. The desert oryx
- C. The striped hyena
- D. The Set animal, the sha
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The Set animal, the sha
Did you know? Set's emblem is the sha, an unclassifiable beast with a curved down snare tail.
18.What natural event was Geb's laughter in myth?
- A. The desert wind
- B. The flood tide
- C. The earthquake
- D. The thunder
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The earthquake
Did you know? Egyptian texts say the earthquake is Geb's laughter.
19.Which radiant bird, reborn through fire, fills the role the west gives the phoenix?
- A. The jingwei
- B. The qilin
- C. The fenghuang
- D. The yangwu
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The fenghuang
Did you know? The fenghuang pairs as sovereign bird with the dragon.
20.What is the Ogdoad of Hermopolis?
- A. The eight forms of Horus
- B. The eight judges of the Duat
- C. The eight tears of Isis
- D. Eight primordial gods of the chaos before creation
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Eight primordial gods of the chaos before creation
Did you know? Hermopolis grouped creation's powers into four pairs, the Ogdoad.
21.Which fortified city is home to the Aesir gods?
- A. Jotunheim
- B. Vanaheim
- C. Midgard
- D. Asgard
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Asgard
Did you know? Asgard, raised within Middle Earth's walls, links to Midgard by Bifröst.
22.What color was associated with Osiris as lord of rebirth?
- A. Fiery red, like the sunset
- B. Pure white, like the shroud
- C. Deep blue, like the sky
- D. Green or black, like fertile growth
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Green or black, like fertile growth
Did you know? Osiris's green or black skin signals vegetation's rebirth and fertile soil.
23.What does Odin's arm ring Draupnir do every ninth night?
- A. It drips eight rings of equal weight
- B. It turns any metal to gold
- C. It shows omens of Ragnarok
- D. It summons the einherjar
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It drips eight rings of equal weight
Did you know? Draupnir, the dripper, self-produces eight new rings every ninth night.
24.What does the ankh symbol represent?
- A. The sun
- B. Death
- C. Life
- D. The Nile
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Life
Did you know? The ankh, a looped cross, signifies life and is held to the dead's lips.
25.In Utgard-Loki's hall, whom did Thor unknowingly wrestle?
- A. Old age, the crone Elli
- B. The giant king's strongest warrior
- C. A fire spirit in disguise
- D. Loki's daughter Hel
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Old age, the crone Elli
Did you know? Thor's drinking drained the sea and his wrestling toppled old age itself.
26.From which high seat does Odin gaze across all the worlds?
- A. Valaskjalf's gate
- B. Lidskialf of Freyr
- C. The throne of Hel
- D. Hlidskjalf
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Hlidskjalf
Did you know? From Hlidskjalf Odin sees all worlds and all deeds.
27.What parting gifts did Ryūjin give Hoori when he left the sea palace?
- A. A ship that never sinks
- B. A chest of coral and pearls
- C. A sword and a bow
- D. The tide jewels of rising and ebbing
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The tide jewels of rising and ebbing
Did you know? Ryūjin armed Hoori with the tide jewels that won his feud on land.
28.Which weekday keeps Thor's name in English?
- A. Tuesday
- B. Friday
- C. Thursday
- D. Wednesday
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Thursday
Did you know? Thursday derives from Thor's Day.
29.In the Distant Goddess tale, who lures the raging lioness home from Nubia?
- A. Geb, with promises of land
- B. Horus, with a falcon escort
- C. Set, with a war chariot
- D. Thoth, with stories and song
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Thoth, with stories and song
Did you know? Thoth charmed the lioness goddess back, and her bath in the Nile turned her red-gold.
30.Why do day and night follow separately forever in Japanese myth?
- A. The moon refused to share the sky
- B. Izanagi cursed the two siblings
- C. Amaterasu broke with Tsukuyomi after he killed the food goddess
- D. Susanoo stole the moon's palace
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Amaterasu broke with Tsukuyomi after he killed the food goddess
Did you know? Tsukuyomi slew Ukemochi, the food deity, and the sun goddess vowed never to see him.
31.Which taboo did Toyotama-hime break in childbirth, ending her marriage?
- A. She ate the elixir of the sea
- B. She left the palace at night
- C. She let Hoori watch her true dragon form
- D. She named the child before the gods
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She let Hoori watch her true dragon form
Did you know? Caught watching, Hoori saw the wani-dragon she truly was, and she left in shame.
32.Which dragon god of the sea owns the tide-controlling jewels?
- A. Ryūjin
- B. Kagutsuchi
- C. Yamata-no-Orochi
- D. Susanoo
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Ryūjin
Did you know? Ryūjin's tide jewels raise and still the waves from his coral palace.
33.What is the "Eye of Ra", sent out as a fierce punisher?
- A. The blue gem in Ra's crown
- B. The falcon eye of Horus
- C. The mirror of the moon
- D. The sun's female counterpart, as Sekhmet or Hathor
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The sun's female counterpart, as Sekhmet or Hathor
Did you know? The Eye of Ra manifests as lioness Sekhmet or cow Hathor when it acts.
34.Which three-legged crow guided Emperor Jimmu through the mountains?
- A. The tengu
- B. The yangwu
- C. The fenghuang
- D. Yatagarasu
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Yatagarasu
Did you know? The sun-crow Yatagarasu led Jimmu's army to Yamato.
35.Whose embalmed head does Odin consult for counsel?
- A. Mimir
- B. Kvasir
- C. Njord
- D. Bragi
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Mimir
Did you know? Odin preserved Mimir's head with herbs and charms, and it speaks hidden things.
36.Which firstborn child of Izanagi and Izanami was set adrift in a reed boat?
- A. Hiruko
- B. Kagutsuchi
- C. Ninigi
- D. Tsukuyomi
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Hiruko
Did you know? Hiruko, born unfinished, drifted to sea and became the luck-bringer Ebisu.
37.Which knot-shaped amulet, the "Blood of Isis", protects the dead?
- A. The wedjat
- B. The ankh
- C. The tyet
- D. The djed
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The tyet
Did you know? The tyet, Isis's knot of red jasper, was laid on the dead as her blood.
38.Which shieldmaiden Valkyrie was punished by Odin with sleep inside a ring of fire?
- A. Svava
- B. Brynhildr
- C. Sigrun
- D. Gondul
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Brynhildr
Did you know? Brynhildr slept on Hindarfjall behind a wall of flame until Sigurd came.
39.Which two wolves accompany Odin in Valhalla?
- A. Geri and Freki
- B. Huginn and Muninn
- C. Vidar and Vali
- D. Sköll and Hati
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Geri and Freki
Did you know? Odin gives all his meat to the wolves Geri and Freki, living on wine alone.
40.Whose death does Amaterasu never forgive, sundering day from night?
- A. Toyotama-hime
- B. Ukemochi, the food goddess
- C. Kagutsuchi, the fire god
- D. Izanami
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Ukemochi, the food goddess
Did you know? After Tsukuyomi slew Ukemochi, the sun and moon parted ways in the sky.

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