Hey there! Didja miss me? I’ve had a heck of a month, but then, so has anyone living in the Northeast this winter. This is the perfect season for some Norse mythology, isn’t it?

I’m a big fan of Norse mythology. There’s Loki, Thor, Tyr, Odin…what’s not to love? Okay, the names can get confusing, and pronunciation can be an issue, but we struggle through.

As I sit here on my best girlfriend’s couch—snowed in for the third time in two months, I might add—I am reminded of Ragnarok.

Ragnarok is also called Gotterdammerung, (see what I mean about pronunciation?), and translated to “Doom, or destruction, of the Gods”. The reason it springs so readily to mind for me just now has more to do with the preceding events that toll its arrival.

The first signal that Ragnarok is eminent is the advent of Fimbulvetr, the winter of winters. According to experts, snow will come from all directions, not stopping for three full seasons.

Hmmm… well, we’ve had a day or two of sunshine in between, haven’t we? I guess it’s not the end of the world just yet. I’m okay with that. On the other hand, I’ve just had to resurrect my laptop by re-installing my operating system. Isn’t that considered a natural disaster by today’s standards?

No? Okay, then, I guess I’ll go back to the Norse legends.

Experts theorize that this myth is based on the great climate change in Norse lands after 600BC. Prior to that time, the Scandinavian climate was a great deal milder overall.

That may be, but I’m forced to concede that the end of everything as we know it has not descended upon us just yet.

The tale of Ragnarok goes roughly like this:

After three bitter and horrible winters, the wolf that is forever chasing the sun will eat it and his brother will dine upon the moon. Three roosters will crow and the sentential will blow his horn, calling the Gods to the final battle. (I’m leaving out their names because they’re pretty confusing and don’t matter for this basic telling)
This is Odin fighting the wolf:

After that, all hell will break loose. The Earth will quake, releasing the wolf-monster. The great world-serpent will come out, causing awful devastation with every twist of his serpent body. After that, chaos will ensue. The fighting will devolve until it’s all over and nothing is left. Nobody will win.

This is a painting of Thor and the giant serpent:

Only two humans hiding in a secret glen will remain, unaware of all that took place, just curious and happy, getting to know the new world they’ve found themselves in.

There was a movie in 1965 called The Day of Ragnarok, but it was pretty much a sleeper. There were notes and poems of course, the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, references to Ragnarök, and then Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda quotes heavily from Völuspá. But more recently, the operas of Richard Wagner, Die Walküre especially, are said to allude to Ragnarok. There is also a Norwegian band called Ragnarok—that may be a bit of an omen, but what do I know? Even video games reflect the Ragnarok—a sword in one game, a move in another, and in Tomb Raider Underworld, Lara Croft is supposed to keep Ragnarok from occurring.

From my perspective, every culture has an end of the world legend coupled with rebirth. Is it for real? I expect so, one way or another. You just have to decide if it’s happened yet, or just about to.

Sorry for being so late this month—one catastrophe after another. Not horrible ones, but still, there were several...I'm finally back online, though it is a bit spotty. I’ll definitely get another column out before the end of this month.

How do you feel about werewolves?