I'm another person who gets these really bizarre ideas while in strange circumstances. My job as a machine operator is boring, monotonous and tedious (did I leave anything out?), and my mind begins to wander on a regular basis.
I've been thinking about the Janus/Valefor thing ever since it was first mentioned here a couple of weeks ago. The original poster (not the thing you hang on the wall -- oh, never mind) mentioned that he suspected that Janus and Valefor were in reality Loki, the trickster god of the Norse.
I had a problem with that, and voiced this opinion, and Arch Beth seemed to agree: Loki is usually associated with fire, not wind. This would seem to preclude him from being an Archangel of "Wind".
But yesterday (I would have posted this yesterday, but I've been having problems finding my SMTP host... grrr!) it seemed as if I were struck by a bolt of lightening: Janus/Valefor isn't *Loki* (sorry, Kurt), but *Odin*. Let me explain:
The Odin of the mythologies is nothing like you see in Thor comics. In fact, he is quite the opposite. He rarely sits on a "throne"--in fact, in the original myths, he's rarely standing still for very long. He constantly wanders the Nine Worlds. (Does this sound like Janus or Valefor's description yet?)
The Trickster part? How about this: one myth has him in a contest of wits with a giant named "All-wise". The pattern should be familiar to those who have read _The_Hobbit_: they were trading riddles with each other. Odin pulled a fast one on "All-wise" by asking, "What did Odin whisper in Balder's ear as his son lay on the funeral boat?" Up until that point, All-wise had no idea whom he faced. After that question, though, All-wise was shamed. This is somewhat similar to Bilbo asking, "What do I have in my pocket?"
There are other (and better) examples of Odin's trickery in the Eddas and the Sagas, but that is the one that sticks out for me.
Janus/Valefor is Odin. Now all I need is a motive. I don't think he sold out to Heaven or Hell, but who knows?
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Elizabeth McCoy <arcangel@prismnet.com>
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