Jiva wrote:
Scandinavian: Humanity created by Óðinn, Hœnir and Lóðurr from two bits of driftwood – man from Ash, women from Elm. Castes are later engendered by Heimdallr.
If I remember correctly Askr & Embla are not that easily translated. I think I've read that they are not sure what "embla" means -but again I don't remember where I've read this from.
To your question anyhow.
I do feel strong connection to nature, and at one point I thought I'd like to be born again as a tree. Trees are becoming more and more meaningful to me, particularly the spruce. I feel better when I'm surrounded by them. But this I guess is true to anyone (except for Nefastos who hates Pines). I guess a part of the meaningfulness of trees has to do with researching for my article which has made me understood the symbolism of certain tree types better, and helps me to place them in context and to compare the mythological stories a little bit better.
Kalevala describes the creation of Väinämöinen, but I don't know if this can be thought to be the creation of humanity, because Väinämöinen is a god-like figure. He is born from Ilmatar who descents into water and gets pregnant from waves. The world is created when a bird lays eggs on Ilmatar's knee, and as she moves the eggs fall and break, forming the world. Väinämöinen is created from the union of Ilmatar ("ilma" = air) and water. This is similar to Askr & Embla, as they too were discovered near water as pieces of driftwood. I believe you mentioned something concerning foam in your article, which just popped to mind as that would be a mixture of air and water. But I might remember incorrectly as it's getting rather late.