Post by Mysti on Jul 7, 2007 11:00:37 GMT -5
The importance of scandinavian mythology
Although worship of the scandinavian gods ended a thousand years ago, and the myths are now exotic and forein to most people in the English-speaking world,we make inplicit reference to the gods and myths almost every day of our lives. That is because the names of the weekdays Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday all contain the names of old Scandinavian gods(Tyr, odin, Thor, and Frigg; the Old English forms were Tiw, Wodaen, Thunor, and Friija), and the choice of gods for each of these days was based on myths about them. (I treatthe subject at greater length in the entry on Interpretatio Germanica in chapter 3.)
Furthermore, when we read about ot travel in places like Odense, denmark(probably best known outsid Denmark as birth place of Hans Chrisian Anderson), we see a place-name that once bore the name of the god Oden. There are hundreds of these in Scandinavia, but they are seldom obvious, except in Iceland, were there are places with nameslike porsmork (Thor's Forest), a favorite place for hiking and camping. And if you are acquainted with or have heard ofanyone called Freyja, thor, Baldur(a not incommon name in Iceland), or anyScandinavian name beginning with Tor, you know of the persistance of the names of the gods in personnel naming systems.
The era when the Norse mythology was most known in more recent times was the Romantic period, when the gods and myths were popular souece ofinsperation. Paul Henri Mallet's Introduction a l'histoire de Dannrmarc, ou I'on traite de la religion, des loix, et des usage des anciens danois(Copenhagon: Berlin, 1755) made norse mythology widely known for its first time in the world language, and work was translated into english in 1770 as Northern Antiquities: or, A Description of The Manners, custumes,religion, and laws of the Ancient Danes, and other Northern Nations; including Thoseof our own Saxon Ancesters. With a Translation of the Ebba, or System of Runic Mythology, and Other pieces, from The ancient Icelandic Tongue (London: T. Carnan and Co., 1770). The translator was Bishop, who is famlus for his Reliques of Ancient Poetry, a collection of ballad and other pieces thatwas one of the most influential works of English Romanticism. The second volume of Mallet contained a translation of the mythilogical storys of Snorri's Edda, in a late arrangment done by Magnus Olafsson, parson at the Laufas in the early seventeenth century and therefore known as the Laufas Edda. It was at theend of the eightnth century, too, that translatations of eddic poetry began to appear in the European languages. During the eighteenth and early ninteenth centuries Norse mythology was Norse mythology was a vogue, especially in Germany andScandinavia, and many of the famous Romantic peots reworked stories fromNorse mythology into drama or verse. Romantic painters also found insperation in the Norse myths.
In a way the ultamate result of this Romantic interest in Norse myth and heroic ledgend was the opera cycle by German composer Richard Wagner entitled Der Ring des Nibrlungen( The Ring Of The Nibelung). This mighty work, originally intended to be heard over a course of just three days, consists of a prologue called Das Rheingold (The Rhine-Gold), followed by three hefty threee act operas, Die Walkure(The Valkyrie), Siegfried and Gptterdammerung (Twilight of The Gods). Wagner wrote the book as well as the music, using a kind of alliterative, archaic German that has its own strange charm, at least when sung.
He based his history loosly on the so called Burgundian cycle, that is, the heroic poems of the poetic Edda centering on Sigurd, Volsunga saga, and the medieval German epic Das Nibelungenlied (The song of the Nibelungs). The major action of the first part of the cycle Wagner took fromthe story that prefaces Reginsmal in the poetic edda, involving a cursed ring that the gods obtain and must give up. Although many of the gods make only small appearances, odin, calledeitherWotan(the German form of his name) or the Wanderer, plays an absolutely pivotal role. He leaves the stage at the end of the second act of Die Walkure, but Walhalla, the abode of the gods, is seen crumbling at the end of Gotterdammerung as the Rhine overflows its banks and cleanses the world of the cursed ring. It is a powerful music and powerful theater.
Wagner was one of Hitler's favorite composers, and Norse mythology had a sad revival in connection with Nazi ideology. Today Norse mythology every once in a while is found in connection with contemtible neo-nazi activities, but for the most part it is the stuff of either comic books or fantasy literature. Therewas a revival of
"belief in the aesir" some years ago in Iceland, which seemed to have to do at least in part with tax breakers for organized religion, although partying is also important. That revival had its counterpart in Norway,where a group of students announced themselves to be believers in th aesir. In celebration, they drink some beer and sacrificed a sausage.
Although worship of the scandinavian gods ended a thousand years ago, and the myths are now exotic and forein to most people in the English-speaking world,we make inplicit reference to the gods and myths almost every day of our lives. That is because the names of the weekdays Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday all contain the names of old Scandinavian gods(Tyr, odin, Thor, and Frigg; the Old English forms were Tiw, Wodaen, Thunor, and Friija), and the choice of gods for each of these days was based on myths about them. (I treatthe subject at greater length in the entry on Interpretatio Germanica in chapter 3.)
Furthermore, when we read about ot travel in places like Odense, denmark(probably best known outsid Denmark as birth place of Hans Chrisian Anderson), we see a place-name that once bore the name of the god Oden. There are hundreds of these in Scandinavia, but they are seldom obvious, except in Iceland, were there are places with nameslike porsmork (Thor's Forest), a favorite place for hiking and camping. And if you are acquainted with or have heard ofanyone called Freyja, thor, Baldur(a not incommon name in Iceland), or anyScandinavian name beginning with Tor, you know of the persistance of the names of the gods in personnel naming systems.
The era when the Norse mythology was most known in more recent times was the Romantic period, when the gods and myths were popular souece ofinsperation. Paul Henri Mallet's Introduction a l'histoire de Dannrmarc, ou I'on traite de la religion, des loix, et des usage des anciens danois(Copenhagon: Berlin, 1755) made norse mythology widely known for its first time in the world language, and work was translated into english in 1770 as Northern Antiquities: or, A Description of The Manners, custumes,religion, and laws of the Ancient Danes, and other Northern Nations; including Thoseof our own Saxon Ancesters. With a Translation of the Ebba, or System of Runic Mythology, and Other pieces, from The ancient Icelandic Tongue (London: T. Carnan and Co., 1770). The translator was Bishop, who is famlus for his Reliques of Ancient Poetry, a collection of ballad and other pieces thatwas one of the most influential works of English Romanticism. The second volume of Mallet contained a translation of the mythilogical storys of Snorri's Edda, in a late arrangment done by Magnus Olafsson, parson at the Laufas in the early seventeenth century and therefore known as the Laufas Edda. It was at theend of the eightnth century, too, that translatations of eddic poetry began to appear in the European languages. During the eighteenth and early ninteenth centuries Norse mythology was Norse mythology was a vogue, especially in Germany andScandinavia, and many of the famous Romantic peots reworked stories fromNorse mythology into drama or verse. Romantic painters also found insperation in the Norse myths.
In a way the ultamate result of this Romantic interest in Norse myth and heroic ledgend was the opera cycle by German composer Richard Wagner entitled Der Ring des Nibrlungen( The Ring Of The Nibelung). This mighty work, originally intended to be heard over a course of just three days, consists of a prologue called Das Rheingold (The Rhine-Gold), followed by three hefty threee act operas, Die Walkure(The Valkyrie), Siegfried and Gptterdammerung (Twilight of The Gods). Wagner wrote the book as well as the music, using a kind of alliterative, archaic German that has its own strange charm, at least when sung.
He based his history loosly on the so called Burgundian cycle, that is, the heroic poems of the poetic Edda centering on Sigurd, Volsunga saga, and the medieval German epic Das Nibelungenlied (The song of the Nibelungs). The major action of the first part of the cycle Wagner took fromthe story that prefaces Reginsmal in the poetic edda, involving a cursed ring that the gods obtain and must give up. Although many of the gods make only small appearances, odin, calledeitherWotan(the German form of his name) or the Wanderer, plays an absolutely pivotal role. He leaves the stage at the end of the second act of Die Walkure, but Walhalla, the abode of the gods, is seen crumbling at the end of Gotterdammerung as the Rhine overflows its banks and cleanses the world of the cursed ring. It is a powerful music and powerful theater.
Wagner was one of Hitler's favorite composers, and Norse mythology had a sad revival in connection with Nazi ideology. Today Norse mythology every once in a while is found in connection with contemtible neo-nazi activities, but for the most part it is the stuff of either comic books or fantasy literature. Therewas a revival of
"belief in the aesir" some years ago in Iceland, which seemed to have to do at least in part with tax breakers for organized religion, although partying is also important. That revival had its counterpart in Norway,where a group of students announced themselves to be believers in th aesir. In celebration, they drink some beer and sacrificed a sausage.