Ragnarok question

[David19]

After reading the thread by PurplePanther called 'Norse gods and homosexuality', there were some posts that talked about Ragnarok, and i've got a few questions about it.

Do you believe that Ragnarok will happen and if so, when do you think it will?.

Is there a difference between Ragnarok and other apocalypse's of other cultures?, or are they all seperate things that may happen.

Also, who, exactly, is involved, i know the Norse gods (or most of them) are killed, but who else is involved in it?.

Thanks.

[Carla O'Harris]

Loki comes with the Sons of Muspel on the ship Naglfar. Surt arrives at Vigrith. The hordes of Niflhel meet on the plain with the Aesir and Einheriar.

Njord is in Vanaheim, not participating in the battle. There is no indication that either Freya or Frigga participate in the battle (although they might).

Hoenir, Njord, Modi, Magni, Vali, & Vidar survive the battle. Balder and Hodur return from the Underworld to rule over the refreshed earth, which grows crops all on its own, and is lush with life. Lif and Lifthrasir begin a new age of mankind.

Such motifs can be found in many different cultures, but here it is specifically an Indo-European concept strictly cognate with the Zoroastrian conception from which apocalyptic Judaism and then Christianity borrowed many concepts.

[amunakht]

An interesting thing is that Thor gets killed by his enemy AFTER he kills him, Jormundgandr (the giant snake aligned with Loki). He kills Jormundgandr only the posionous blood runs down on him and kills him. Baldr becomes the supreme god after Odin.

Also, all of humanity dies except for two. After Ragnarok a little boy and girl come out from the yggdrassl (the tree that connects the worlds) to repopulate the world.

[David19]

Thanks to both of you :).

[seapearls]

I have not concentrated on Ragnarok in my studies yet so I really don't have any opinions. Only that what your told here is correct to my knowledge, I hope you find what your looking for.

[Eldred Grimm]

Sonrri is the author who pen the story of Rangrok as far as I know the Scandinavia is the only germen tribes that speck of it and the only ones were Odin and fraya collect warriors for such a battle
H.E. Ellis Davidson suggest that Snorri took fragment of stories and pieced it together she tells of the Persians also have a smeller story of a long winter and she says that there is Celtic story were all the gods fight a battle with giants and they are all killed

Ranarok is for shadowed by a grate winter cased by the wolf howling the sun then comes 3 ages sorawd age ax age and wolf age where spring never comes and the world is becomes ice and cold
Hunger sits in. a time bother kills bother and the world is becomes ice and cold
In the conflict all the high gods are killed and all the monsters with them only hoder and the sons of the gods and sturt the fire giant survive

Aw Ragnarok the Doom of the gods the epic battle of order vs. chaos, spiritual vs. material the world is crated by fire and Ice and by its wyrd is destroyed by Fire and Ice has it happened or will it happen will that is a debate that has been going for a while could it be the fight we all fight with our own personal monsters every day and it will ever manifest in the world the let come all heathen in there vigilant should be ready for what ever happens I feel that Ragnarok is an example of doing what’s right no matter what the conquest we must fight the good fight

[seapearls]

Ok I have just come across on a good section on Ragnarok in my current book Goddess of the North. And now I can answer these questions.

The story of Ragnarok is IMHO metaphorical and not to be taken literally, it is NOT a Germanic version of fatalism or an "end of the world story".

This book states:

"Ragnarok can easily be looked at as a metaphor for the yearly cycles of rebirth. The three winters of inner conflict could be the same as having "spring fever" and the tempers that fly during long winters prevail and spring fails to approach in what we deem a timely fashion. The gods dying and being replaced by their sons would be consistent with Frigg & Freyas yearly search for their lost husbands. After a long separation, the reunion with one's mate would certainly have the fluttery feeling of meeting a loved one anew."

She also goes over the goddesses in Ragnarok and what possibly happened to all those never mentioned in Ragnarok since only 3 are mentioned to die in it.

[Carla O'Harris]

People are free to interpret things however they wish. But the idea that Ragnarok is simply symbolic of the changing seasons seems silly to me. It is the end of a world-age. That does not necessarily mean the end of the world, but the end of a world-age? Definitely. If one wants to draw parallels between the passing of the eons and the passing of the seasons, that's certainly appropriate, but generally speaking the entire world is not burned and has to rise up from the oceans again, with all of humanity completely restored to the golden age, every year!

Ragnarok is like many other cosmologies, where world-ages end with some kind of catastrophe.

[seapearls]

Carla, I like that view too. Perhaps their world age pretty much ended at the hands of Christianity and we (the new modern followers of the gods) are the world born a new.

[Carla O'Harris]

Carla, I like that view too. Perhaps their world age pretty much ended at the hands of Christianity and we (the new modern followers of the gods) are the world born a new.


I like your words, but ... if we follow the implications ... we the modern followers would follow Balder above all. What would it mean to have a heathenism led by Balder?

[seapearls]

I have no clue...not much I'd guess.

[Carla O'Harris]

Well, as a preliminary, to begin with, it would :

1. Show good faith towards Balder, and not view his death as something "necessary", where Balder is viewed as some kind of "milquetoast" rather than the bold, compassionate, loving, and peace-desiring protector he was.

2. Would attempt to realize and enact the values that Balder stood for.


How all this would play out remains to be seen, but these two prerequisites would be absolutely essential.