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Did you know that the word volcano comes from the island Vulcano which is off the coast of Italy?

Centuries ago when people worshiped gods like the Roman god Jupiter (same as Zeus in Greek mythology), they looked upon a mountain that emitted red hot fragments and clouds of dust. They believed that this was a chimney for the blacksmith Vulcan. The Roman legend said that Vulcan would work at his furnace crafting thunderbolts for Jupiter and weapons for Mars (the god of war). What they were really looking at was the volcano, Vulcano!

Native Americans of the Northwest had their own story for the angry mountains that resided near them. These mountains now known as Mount St. Helen’s, Mount Hood and Mount Adams were thought of as people. According to their legend, Mount St. Helen’s was once a beautiful maiden named Loowit. Two brothers, Wyeast and Klickitat fell in love with Loowit, but she couldn’t choose between them. The brothers fought over her by spewing fire over forests and villages. So angry was their father that he turned all three into mountains. Because Loowit was so beautiful, her mountain was the most perfect in shape and color. Wyeast’s mountain (Mount Hood) looks up at her in pride and Klickitat’s mountain (Mount Adams) bows his head and gazes on Mount St. Helen’s.

Perhaps one of the most famous group of volcanoes is in Hawaii. In fact, by their nature, the islands that make up Hawaii are volcanoes. Each island is made up of at least one primary volcano, although many of the islands are more than one. In Hawaiian legend, Pele is the Hawaiian Goddess of the Volcanoes. She was a beautiful goddess but had quite a temper. She was known to cause earthquakes by stamping her feet and could cause volcanic eruptions by digging into the mountain with her magic stick. Legend says that she had a very bitter argument with her sister and the fierce argument led to the creation of the chain of volcanoes that are now the islands of Hawaii.