Ragnarok
The end of days and the destruction of the world is a very common theme in a number of religions and mythologies
Often involving a period of civilization sliding into chaos before an apocalyptic event
Some ideas of the end times are based on the end of linear history with irrevocable changes
Whereas others are based on cycles
reoccurring periods of creation and destruction
Norse mythology while some believe it to be cyclical as well seems to be based around a single catastrophic event
followed by a rebirth of the world
Ragnarok is one of the most important events within Norse mythology
Although that doesn't exactly mean we know everything about what the Norse peoples believed
this video will go over what is meant to occur during Ragnarok as well as the build-up and aftermath
Ragnarok meaning doom of the gods
Twilight of the gods or more generally the final destiny of the gods
Is clearly an event revolving around the gods rather than mankind?
Not that the decline of civilization isn't an aspect of Ragnarok, but it's largely about the inevitable fate of the gods
Odin's attempts to change his fate and their deaths
Odin is a principal figure in the tale of Ragnarok and it's his determination to both know and
Change the future that leads him to a wise woman
this seer discussed past
present and future with Odin
Taunting him with her knowledge and it's from this discussion that we learned what has to happen during Ragnarok?
Odin fearing the coming death and destruction that would befall him and his family of gods
Would go on to relentlessly pursue knowledge in the hopes of changing his fate in
The end however, despite personal sacrifice and a continual pursuit. Odin was helpless against the tides of fate
The build-up to Ragnarok revolves around the fate of Balder beloved son of Odin
This tale was more fully explored in my video discussing Loki, but I'll summarize here
Balder the most loved of the Gods
Began to have ominous and dark dreams. He began to worry
Discussing these dreams with the other gods they too began to worry and so Odin went to ask another wise woman what these dreams meant
Going to hell and raising her from the dead
Dreams were often taken very seriously in Norse culture and Odin feared the worst
The seer confirmed his fears saying that hell was being prepared for Boulder's arrival
after attempting to get more info from the seer
Odin returns to Asgard and the gods fret at the news
Frigg, Odin's wife, goes to everything in the cosmos and asks each thing to swear an oath not to harm Balder
After doing so the gods amuse themselves by throwing weapons at Balder and watching them bounce off of him harmlessly
Loki, god of trickery, grows spiteful and jealous at the display and goes to Frigg in disguise
asking her if there was anything she didn't get an oath from
Brig admits that she didn't ask the mistletoe, thinking it too small and too innocent to hurt anything
Loki goes off to find some mistletoe and returns to the gathering. He approaches Hoder,
Balder's blind brother and convinces him to throw the mistletoe at his brother
The mistletoe Pierce's Balder killing him instantly and the gods weep
The goddess Hel agrees to return Balder to Asgard if everything in the cosmos weeps for him
But Loki in disguise says that Hel can keep what she has
The gods track Loki down and bind him in a cave
But Odin knows that this sequence of events heralds the beginning of Ragnarok
Even though Odin spent a great deal of time effort and sacrifice to try and change the future
He also planned for the coming battle
among the warriors on Midgard
Those that died bravely in combat and are chosen by the Valkyries
Servants of Odin are taken to Valhalla
Here they enjoy a warrior's paradise fighting every day and feasting every night
they repeat this routine keeping themselves combat ready until
the day of Ragnarok when they will form the army of the gods to fight against the Jotun army
Ragnarok will first come with an extreme winter lasting for three seasons during which mankind will turn on one another
Brothers will fight and kill each other and the world will be a hard place to live in where no man has mercy on another
Will be an axe age and a sword age a storm and wolf age
This period of harsh winter is followed by a time of even harsher winter
When the Sun and Moon will be devoured and the stars in the sky will wink out of existence
Finally a massive earthquake will shake the cosmos breaking all bonds and shackles
Fenrir the dread wolf and tomb of Odin will break free and his brother the Midgard serpent
Will rise up out of the ocean around Midgard
poisoning the sea and sky as he does, so
Loki will be freed from his bonds as well
He will stand at the bow of the ship of the dead Naga far made from the untrimmed nails of the dead
Traveling with him will be the forces of the Jotun are and all the enemies of the gods will gather on a great field
100 miles in every direction
Also traveling there is Surtr a fiery figure carrying a sword brighter than the Sun
followed by the sons of Muspell, also called fire giants
Surtr and his followers will break the Rainbow Bridge that connects Asgard in Midgard and
Heimdallr The Watcher will blow his horn to awaken the gods
Yggdrasil will shake and tremble as the gods in the Einherjar prepare for the great battle as
The Einherjar charge to fight the yotan are the gods will face off against their greatest foes
Odin against the wolf Fenrir, Thor against the Midgard serpent
Freyr against Surtr and
Heimdallr against Loki
Odin will quickly fall to Fenrir being devoured by the massive wolf
But his son Vidar will immediately step in to avenge his father
Vidar will step on the lower jaw Fenrir with his massive boot made from the discarded trimmings of people's shoes
And will tear his mouth apart
Killing the great wolf
Thor will duel against the massive Midgard serpent while in a rage
Slain the snake with his hammer, but not before the serpent manages to poison him
The Midgard serpent venom is so potent that the Mighty Thor will only manage to take nine steps before dropping dead
The god Freyr was once in possession of a magical sword that was capable of fighting on its own
Freyr gave the sword away when he got married, and without it he will stand little chance of fighting the Great Fire giant
Heimdallr and Loki will be the death of one another as Surtr covers the world in flames and the
Raging inferno rises high enough to scorch the heavens
Death and destruction will consume the cosmos and the great void will reign once again as it did in the beginning
This will not be the end, however
The earth will rise up out of the great sea flush with green grass
flowing waterfalls and birds in the sky
Balder will be freed from his tragedy and will return along with his brother Hoder
They will gather on a field along with the sons of Thor and other a seer gods that survived the devastation
They will discuss Ragnarok and the wisdom of Odin
they will also discover the golden game pieces lying in the field that the gods used to play with in the earliest days in
Addition to these gods two humans will have survived the destruction and will repopulate the earth
Odin's two surviving sons will rebuild Asgard and
Thor's sons will inherit his mighty hammer Mjolnir
All will be merry and this world will be even greater than the previous cosmos
However, the seer telling Odin of this coming future ends the discussion with a final vision
She says that the dark dragon need Hawk will come flying down from the dark mountains
bearing corpses in his wings
Whether this means need hog will survive Ragnarok or has some other meaning is unclear
This depiction of ragnarok comes from our two main sources of information on Norse mythology
Which were unfortunately written after the spread of Christianity in the Norse regions
The concept of the end times in the afterlife is obviously a pivotal part of religion. So it's unknown exactly
How much influence Christian beliefs had on these writings?
Well, I've described all the events of Ragnarok is happening sometime in the future
It's likely that Christian missionaries used the concept of Ragnarok in order to convert people to a new belief
By saying that Ragnarok had already occurred and mixing in elements of the Christian creation narrative
They could more easily change people's way of thinking
There is another manuscript that mentions the arrival of a powerful mighty figure that rules over everything
The influence of Christianity is certainly something to consider in our understanding of Norse beliefs and
academics continue to debate over what exactly the Norse peoples believed
Regardless of your thoughts on Ragnarok and the destruction and rebirth of the world. However
It's undeniably a vivid and beautiful depiction of the end times