3 Fantasy of the top
Ragnarök (the doom of the gods) is the Norse finish of the world, clearly echoed within the Christian Armageddon. In Norse mythology, Ragnarök culminates in a last battle between gods and the demons and giants, ending within the loss of life of the gods. The world ends in hearth and ice.
It is George RR Martin’s “Winter is Coming”. The saying in Recreation of Thrones is Home Stark’s motto – it’s located within the North of Westeros and infrequently hit hardest by chilly winters – however can also be a normal warning that unhealthy issues are going to occur. And Ragnarök can also be a well-liked theme in Scandinavian loss of life steel or Viking Steel, which attracts on Norse mythology.
In Ragnarök, the older era of gods can be destroyed. “There’s an inevitability to this,” writes Larrington in her guide. “Even the soldiers in Valhalla cannot defeat the cosmic forces. After this legendary finish the world will rise once more. However the query stays, will or not it’s an enchancment on the outdated?” In her retelling of the parable, Ragnarok: The Finish of the Gods, creator AS Byatt decides that the world isn’t coming again, whereas for author Neil Gaiman in his guide Norse Mythology, there are echoes of Animal Farm. The brand new era of gods repeat the identical strikes, and historical past repeats itself. Ragnarök is each sooner or later – and previously.
4 Fantasy of the wanderer seeking knowledge
Odin, the daddy of Thor and creator of the Norse world, can also be the god of battle, poetry, runes, magic and the lifeless. However he isn’t all-knowing, and wanders each the human and divine worlds seeking knowledge. This comes at a value. When he reaches the Properly of Urd, he’s advised that to sip the water of knowledge he should sacrifice an eye fixed.
Odin the wanderer impressed JRR Tolkien’s Gandalf. He additionally lent his identify to Wednesday, from the Outdated English “wōdnesdæg”, initially from “Woden” (Odin). Within the Marvel universe, he’s at all times portrayed along with his proper eye lacking – a smart determine, with a blind spot.
“Odin shapes the best way we take into consideration persevering with to be taught, however on the similar time he’s seen as a patriarchal drive who should finally step apart, and we see this dichotomy loads in modern politics,” says Larrington. “On the finish of the Norse world, a brand new era of gods will come, with new, untested concepts. However there’s a sense that these will prevail.”
5 Myths of masculinity
There’s a paradox of masculinity within the Norse world. On the one hand, there’s the blond-haired athletic Viking hero, adventuring, buying and selling, writing poetry and carving runes, and then again there’s the raping, pillaging Berserker, destroying all in his wake.
Some reimaginings have even bestowed Vikings with an nearly cuddly high quality, as within the Twentieth-Century youngsters’s books Noggin the Nog, or have parodied them, as within the Terry Jones movie Eric the Viking. Most likely the prevailing fantasy, although, is of a heroic, adventurous band of brothers assured of their place on this planet.
But it surely’s a fantasy that’s open to disturbing reinterpretations. “Within the [mid]-Nineteenth Century, the determine of the adventurous Viking was used to underpin doctrines of Aryan superiority,” says Larrington. “At present the males exercising energy over ladies have their very own adoptees in far-right, white teams, who need ladies to ‘know their place’.” That is to not dismiss the parable as irrelevant, Larrington argues. The determine of the Viking warrior has at all times represented a wrestle and a necessity for stability: between heroic rage, private honour, braveness – and openness to like. And that battle between the concept of conventional male values and males who inhabit a world of ladies resonates as a lot now as ever.
