Posts Tagged ‘norse’

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The Saga of Snorri

by K on January 22nd, 2013
Posted In: Comics
The Saga of Snorri

Note: That is not a real quote, but rather the general impression that the works of Sturluson give the reader.

Unfortunately for Sturluson, neither the new gods nor the old ones he’d written so much about bothered to intervene on his behalf.

Despite his love of pre-Christian Norse culture, Sturluson never quite got the hang of being a viking himself, though he did try very hard. The legends of Thor and Odin, however, were just a little bit too difficult to live up to for poor Snorri. Where the gods and heroes he wrote about would have bravely faced death, perhaps even welcomed it, Sturluson died groveling in his basement. Not exactly a heroic death, but then again he wasn’t exactly a hero.

For those of you unfamiliar with the man, Stuluson is the writer of both the Prose Edda and Heimskringla and is generally attributed as the author of the Poetic Edda (though there are doubts on this point!), our primary sources for understanding much of Norse mythology and legend. Sturluson is also thought to be the writer of Egil’s Saga, but that one’s a little less clear cut. Either way, it is largely through this one man that we have come to know the stories of the Vikings as they might have told them. Archeological evidence and histories have shaped our general understanding of what the Vikings did and who they were, but Sturluson gives us tales and spirit.

Despite the rather pathetic way he died, Snorri Sturluson was a very influential figure during his life. As a native Icelander growing up in the care of a wealthy family, he often heard stories about the Old Gods and heroes. When he was young, he hoped to become a royal poet and penned a number of skaldic poems for the court but realized the art was quickly dying out. Christianity had come to Iceland two hundred years before and by the time of Sturluson, the island nation was considered a Christian one. Thankfully, it took quite some time for the old ways to fully die out. Though Snorri was, indeed, a Christian, the old stories and legends held a deep fascination for him. Unfortunately for him, the same couldn’t be said for most of his contemporaries. Skaldic poetry made many references to ancient deeds and legends, a confusing thing for Christians not familiar with the stories of their forefathers. Sturluson, knowing that prose was a more compelling choice for readers in Iceland, decided to give up his dream of becoming a royal skald and began his work on a collection of tales about the old gods and heroes he’d heard about as a boy in an attempt to familiarize his contemporaries with these near forgotten tales.

Of course, this wasn’t his only occupation. Sturluson was a lawyer and later came to power as a chief in Iceland. He even visited Norway several times and maintained connections with the king and the royal family. When he initially came into his chiefdom, he was a voice for unification with Norway and pushed his fellow Icelanders to accept the king of Norway as their own, a rather unpopular opinion. A lot of tangled history follows, too much for this blog post, but in the end, Sturluson was assassinated in a bid for power by one of his rivals. Several times, in his life, Sturluson attempted to live up to the grandeur of his heroes, writing of the need for bold and resolute action like those in the Sagas, but he never seems to have got the hang of it.

In the end, Sturluson died begging his murderers not to swing their blades. He died quite scared and alone, as many of us sadly do, but his writing has lived on. It is because of him that we have stories and not just a few deciphered rune stones or pieces of art. It is because of Snorri that the Old Gods live on. It is because of him that the Sagas continue to intrigue and inspire us today. Without him, our view of Viking culture would be entirely different.

Though he wasn’t a hero like those in his works, I like to think he was a hero of culture. So everybody (especially if you enjoy Norse myth) say thanks to Snorri Sturluson.

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After Life

by K on January 8th, 2013
Posted In: Comics
After Life

Why do they need so many cats in the Egyptian afterlife, anyway? Is it just filled to the brim with afterlife rats? It’s probably better if we don’t know the answer to that particular mystery.

One of the many interesting things about studying mythology and comparative religion is looking at the common traits of what would appear to be disparate cultures, particularly the major cultures that have helped to shape world history. The belief that one might bury the deceased with physical items and that these items would travel with the soul of the dead to the afterlife is a very widespread one, not just in terms of cultures around the globe, but also through time. The afterlife, for many millions and probably billions of people, throughout history has been both a reflection of the physical life lead by people belonging to a culture as well as a reflection of the spiritual desires of that group. While people in Ancient Greece and places as far away as China or Polynesia all possessed well developed ideas about the nature of a life after death, they had very different ideas about what that afterlife might be like. It’s hard to say which came first. Did a well developed narrative about life after death help shape growing civilizations or did growing civilizations’ ideals about this life shape the concept of an afterlife? Like many situations, it’s probably a little of both.

Take a look at ancient Greece. Here you’ve got a civilization with a profound sense of respect for life and almost a lust for living. Almost everything about ancient Greek culture is a study on life. Their heroes are extra heroic, their art and writing were intensely focused on living humans, even their gods and goddesses were larger than life versions of their living selves. Their god of death, however, was little more than a sketch, their afterlife, a dreary, messy affair. The ghost of Achilles tells Odysseus that he would rather be a poor serf on earth than lord of all the dead in the Underworld. Though they believed that goods could pass on with the dead, the most common grave goods were just two coins laid over the eyes of the deceased for their passage over the River Styx.

Meanwhile, another great civilization across the Mediterranean took things in a different direction. The ancient Egyptians produced amazing works of art, literature, and had just as well developed stories about their gods and goddesses as the Greeks but the most impressive reminders of their civilization tend to have one thing in common: a focus on the afterlife. The Egyptian afterlife was much like the one we experience every day, but just a little bit better. Appropriate offerings for the deceased were whatever you could afford to leave with them, everything buried with a body could be taken with them into the afterlife. The afterlife was, in many ways, more important than the current one. The Egyptians buried jewels, money, clothing, furniture, and sometimes even the living with the dead so that they might bring aid and comfort to the deceased in their new existence.

They even buried sacred animals, thought to possess ka like humans. Cats, especially, were a popular animal to sacrifice and mummify or to bury with the dead.

Judging by the amount of cat remains found buried in this way, it seems pretty likely that the Egyptian afterlife is probably not a good place to visit if you’ve got a cat allergy.

At the same time, it would probably be every crazy cat lady’s dream come true.

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A Warrior’s Reward

by K on November 30th, 2012
Posted In: Comics
A Warrior’s Reward

As a warrior in Norse culture, it was your duty and your destiny to die in battle. The reward in the afterlife was great: fighting even more when Ragnarok rolled around. Until that time, you’d spend your time feasting and drinking mead and hanging out with all the other badasses that died in battle in Odin’s fabled hall, Valhalla. That is, unless you lost the metaphorical coin toss that determines your fate and got sent to Folkvangr, the fields of Freyja to sit in the grass and look at the pretty butterflies until the final battle.

By that point, who even wants to fight anymore?

A lot of people are familiar with the concept of Valhalla in the Norse version of the afterlife. Odin’s vast hall full of meat and bread and mead, shaking with the drunken partying of a hundred thousand boastful bearded warriors was but one honor given to the honored dead. To die with your sword in hand, covered in the blood of your enemy was the greatest end to life one could expect and was the key to acceptance into the halls of Odin. But did you know there was another alternative? Did you know that there was an equal chance that the brave slain warrior might end up in Folkvangr, The Field of the Host, ruled over by the goddess Freyja?

Something about lurking about in a beautiful field just doesn’t seem entirely…badass.

The idea of multiple destinations in the afterlife was nothing new to religion by the time the Norse religion began to take shape. Valhalla and Folkvangr were not even the only options for the departed spirit, but were given higher regard by this culture of warriors and poets than their alternatives. Whereas the honored warrior might be sent to Valhalla to be fed and entertained until Ragnarok, a person that dies a natural death might be sent to the realm of Hel or, in some regions, your spirit might reside in Helgafjell. The confusing bit here is why there are two destinations that are, ultimately, very similar in their function. There has been a great deal of discussion over this, some scholars believe that it has to do with initiation into different warrior clans that determines whether one is sent to reside with Freyja or Odin, though due to the cloudy nature of our knowledge of Norse religion, it’s hard to say for certain why this is.

When it comes down to it, not much is really known about Folkvangr, it is mentioned only briefly in different poems and in the Prose Edda. We do know that it is a realm in the afterlife, a field or meadow ruled over by Freyja, the goddess of fertility, love, beauty, and, interestingly enough, war. We know that Freyja keeps a hall, called Sessrúmnir, here much like Odin, and we can assume that she hosts the slain warriors in the hall like her male counterpart, rather than out in the fields as I’ve shown it in the comic (but that doesn’t make for a very good joke). Other than that, we can’t really be sure of much else. We can’t even really be sure that she hosts the slain in the hall, but it seems likely that this was the notion back then. It is also possible that Freyja, as a goddess of war and as a “Chooser of the Slain”, also claimed the souls of women that died a noble death and that they too would be given the honor to join the mighty host that would fight at Ragnarok.

One thing is for certain: Folkvangr is an interesting concept and one that serves to highlight just how complicated Norse religion actually was and how much we still have to learn about this culture’s spiritual beliefs.

Luckily for modern folk, we no longer need to worry about dying with a sword in our hands in order to get into the good afterlife. Most of us would be out of luck if we did.

I wonder if kitchen knives count?

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Incredible Power

by K on July 13th, 2012
Posted In: Comics
Incredible Power

At first glance, understanding the speech of birds may seem like a phenomenal magic gift. On second or possibly third glance, maybe not so much. Sure, the starlings, the thrushes, and their ilk might make pleasant conversation but there are bound to be some species that are, well, more than a little bit creepy. I’m looking at you vultures! You guys are gross!

Sigurd, mighty hero, dragon slayer, and all around stand-up dude, is the central figure of the norse epic the Volsungasaga or The Saga of the Volsungs as it is commonly referred to in English. This sweeping tale is primarily concerned with the origins, rise, and eventual decline of the Volsung family. It was written down in the 13th century in Iceland (wonderful place, responsible for most of what we know about Norse culture today) but its origins probably lie much further back in history, though how far back we can’t be entirely sure. Though the story is said to largely concern the hero Sigurd, it doesn’t really concern itself with him personally for about half the tale, though it is still about his family.

The particular bit in today’s comic is from one of the most exciting parts, wherein Sigurd slays the mighty dragon, Fafnir, with a little help from a disguised Odin of course. After killing the wurm, Sigurd and his companion Regin roast the heart of the beast to eat but before consuming it, the young warrior gets a bit of the dragon’s blood in his mouth when he tests to see if it has been cooked properly. As the blood reaches his lips, Sigurd finds that he can suddenly understand the speech of birds which, in this case anyway, is invaluable. The birds talk amongst themselves about the treachery that Regin plans against Sigurd and about how wise it would be for Sigurd to slay the deceitful wretch before he loses his own head.

Sigurd acts first, slays Regin, and secures the heart and the dragon’s hoard of treasure for himself.

Now, why someone would immediately trust a bunch of critters with brains the size of a small nut is beyond me. How these damned birds knew what was going on is a mystery in itself. How they knew it and Sigurd didn’t is even more mysterious. I guess Sigurd was somehow less clever than animals that largely concern themselves with defecating on public spaces and eating grubs, which, it seems to me, would be topics more suitable to the creatures in the story than homicide amongst upright ape creatures.

I guess birds are just a hell of a lot more concerned with human lives than I realized. Perhaps birds are doing what millions of people around the world do when they sit down to watch their favorite reality tv shows. I mean, what else are they going to do? Take wing and move about on air currents, unfettered by the restraints of gravity? That just sounds so dull.

Luckily for Sigurd, the birds in the story weren’t like the ones I would have imagined or he’d have been lying dead in a ditch thanks to ol’ Regin. And did he even thank the birds? No. Not a single gold piece to brighten up their nests!

Sigurd, you are a jerk.

If you haven’t read the Saga of the Volsungs I highly recommend giving it a read! It has inspired tons of modern fantasy writers in one way or another. Tolkien is probably the most prominent of these and he inspired millions of others. It’s a great read, and absolutely worth your attention!

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Sage Advice

by K on May 11th, 2012
Posted In: Comics
Sage Advice

What advice can a severed head really offer you? It’s not like he can go anywhere. I guess this is just the sort of thing you do when you don’t have libraries or the internet.

We talked about Odin and Mimir and war between the Aesir and Vanir last friday. This comic was supposed to be up this Tuesday when all of that was a little bit fresher in your minds, but I had to go out to Boston for my very last appearance at school ever to make sure that I get to graduate. Turns out I do! Hooray!

If you’ve forgotten about last Friday’s blog post, refresh your memory over here.

Mimir’s head, while a little grisly to us, is a powerful symbol (though it is one among many) representing the hidden knowledge that Odin was said to possess. The head, stuck somewhere between the world of the living and the world of the dead, was able to access information from both realms of existence, a valuable tool for a god that prized knowledge and cunning over brute force. There is a great deal of this sort of thing to be found in the character of Odin. He is a figure that straddles the line between life and death, a figure steeped in secrets and riddles and magic known only to him. Stories like the tales of Mimir and of Kvasir serve to really drive that point home.

Odin was not like other Norse gods.

Though all of these deities enjoyed respect and regards in the Norse mind, Odin seems to be a little bit apart, perhaps even a little bit foreign. Respected and worshiped, but rarely loved the way some of the other gods are. Baldur, Thor, Freyja, and even Loki all seem to enjoy a little more closeness in the heart of the Norse. Odin was one to be respected but also feared.

You can’t really blame anyone for being a little scared of a dude that carries around (and talks to) a severed head, who hung himself from a tree as a sacrifice to himself, and who rides around on a coal black horse with eight legs.

There’s just something a little creepy going on there.

It’s really a wonder that anyone talked to him at all!

Anyway, we’ll get away from Mimir’s head next week, I promise!

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Head Trauma

by K on May 4th, 2012
Posted In: Comics
Head Trauma

Odin, the wise one, the cunning one, knew how to give the head of his friend the power of speech and to preserve it forever. What he, apparently, had not thought of was the kind of trauma Mimir would experience being brought back to life as only a severed head. Woops! Maybe he should have thought that one through.

Or maybe he should have at least given him some aspirin.

Today’s comic has some paraphrased text from Kevin Crossley Holland’s The Norse Myths, a really great collection of better-known (and frankly, more important) tales from Norse mythology. He manages to capture the style and flow of Norse poetry while making the stories engaging for modern readers. It’s a great book with great notes at the end and I highly recommend it as a good place to start.

Today’s comic comes from a story about the war between two factions of deities, the Aesir and the Vanir and has its roots in several fragmented tales from Norse Myth. The story begins with the coming of Gullveig, a powerful Vanir witch, to the halls of the Aesir (the group headed by Odin) where she speaks to the gods there of gold and greed. Her speech is so distasteful to Odin and the others that they throw her into the fire and pierce her body with spears. Each time they throw her into the flames she rises again, whole and unharmed and eventually she leaves the Aesir and returns to her homeland. Appalled by the treatment of one of their own, the Vanir gods ready for war with the Aesir.

Nothing escapes the wise and cunning Odin, however. He gathers the Aesir together and they too sharpen their spears and polish their shields, ready for war and blood. The factions meet on the field of battle and cause great destruction to the countryside and to each other. Seeing the devastation, the leaders of each side come together and agree to the exchange of hostages and an end to the war. The Vanir give up two of their greatest members as a show of respect to their rivals. The beautiful Freyja, goddess of beauty and fertility, joins the ranks of the Aesir as does her brother Freyr. Freyja teaches the Aesir her magic and is beloved by all.

Odin, always cunning, sends Hoenir and wise Mimir to his enemies as hostages. Hoenir, at first, appears to be an intelligent and courageous leader but it quickly becomes apparent that without the whispered words of Mimir, he cannot make important decisions on his own, always deferring to the judgments of others. It becomes clear to the Vanir that they have been tricked and have received an unfair trade. Furious, they behead Mimir and send it back to Odin who uses his charms and spells to preserve it and give it back the power of speech. He talks to Mimir, seeks his council frequently, and reaps the benefits of his knowledge.

And of course, looks extra creepy talking to a severed head.

And now some notes: this story is cobbled together from a few sources including Sturlson’s Prose Edda and the Ynglinga Saga as well as the Poetic Edda (specifically the Voluspa). There are some different concepts thrown around in each of them that, when examined, make a more complete story. For example, in the Prose Edda, the gods make their truce by spitting into a jar one after the other. Instead of throwing it out when the truce is made, they use the spit to create a man called Kvasir, a wise man and a product of the peace between the factions. Later, Kvasir is killed and his blood is used to make the mead of Poetry, a major source of inspiration. In the version of the story I’ve used for the comic, Kvasir (a wise god, but not one created by the process outlined above) is sent as a hostage to the Aesir with Freyr and Freyja and it is Mimir’s severed head that acts as a source of inspiration and secret knowledge rather than the blood of Kvasir (who now plays almost no role whatsoever). Interesting stuff!

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The Affairs of Mortals

by K on August 16th, 2011
Posted In: Comics
The Affairs of Mortals

These days, bored Scandinavian gods looking to hear of the affairs of mortals may be biting off more than they can chew. We’re practically tripping over nonsense around here. You can’t turn on the TV without being assaulted by some new reality TV show, whether it’s the orange skinned lunatics of the Jersey Shore or the surly crab men of Deadliest Catch. Other humans don’t seem terribly good at determining what constitutes a quality story in the lives of mortals, I don’t expect a couple of birds are much better.

Then again, unwary gods might find themselves ensorcelled by the mysterious actions of the folks living out their lives in a strange land. Questions abound, mostly about their appearance. Do they eat a lot of carrots or something? How does their hair stay like that? Why don’t more bitches get smacked?

See, almost became interested.

I’ve never actually watched the Jersey Shore, and I like to think my wits are sharper for it, though the tips of my hair may not be. I must admit, however, that merely being alive has exposed me to the harmful radiation television programs of this nature produce. It’s kind of like the effects of the sun, without any of the positive effects of Vitamin D. Even if such programming offered life giving nourishment, I would turn away. That’s not the sort of life I’d want anyway.

I wrote a rather long tumblr post yesterday about the progression of religion and culture from being rather more environment centric to almost pure narcissism. It is sort of related to this business about reality television, though I must warn you it is quite long.

Odin’s ravens have long held fascination for me. First of all, I’m a big fan of wild birds. You may know of my obsession with owls, but this interest also includes the more intelligent Raven and Crow. There has long been an association between birds and magic, and there is no exception here with Huginn and Muninn. In the mythos of the Norse, Huginn and Muninn fly out every day to collect news of the world and every morning they fly back to Odin to inform him of the goings on in the land of mortals. Their connection with Odin is, likely, a remnant of shamanic practices from older days and is representative of the magic and wisdom of the All-Father himself. To commune with birds was long seen as one of the most magical of practices within many cultures and Odin was the god of magic and mystery within the Norse religion.

Despite being a bearer of great wisdom and intelligence, even Odin, if he is still with us somewhere, may be falling prey to reality television. It’s probably easier on the birds to sit down in front of the tube and watch some episodes rather than flying around the world all day.

Gods know there isn’t much else to watch on TV these days.

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Watchful Eyes

by K on July 8th, 2011
Posted In: Comics
Watchful Eyes

Odin is such a sentimental guy. Everyone knows that murder demands retribution, but Odin’s got class. He’ll kill someone you love, pluck out their cold dead eyes, hurl them into the night sky, and make them stars to watch over you forever.

Did I say he’s got class? I meant to say that he’s a goddamn psychopath.

The story of Thiazi and Odin is an interesting (and fairly long) one, contained within Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda (and more easily read in Kevin Crossley Holland’s The Norse Myths). The tale tells of the aging of the gods and the theft of the apples of Idunn, the fruit that gives the Gods everlasting life and one of the things that separate them from mortal men and women. The myth begins with Loki getting himself into trouble after harassing an eagle with a pole. After poking the great bird, Loki finds himself attached to it and unable to escape. It doesn’t take long for the bird to reveal that it is, in fact, the great giant Thiazi, a menace to the gods. To save his own life, Loki agrees to bring Idunn, the keeper of the apples that grant youth to the gods, as well as her store of fruit outside the walls of Asgard. The giant sets him free and Loki does as he is asked only to witness the terrifying bird abduct the beautiful young goddess and carry her off to Jotunheim, realm of the giants where Thiazi dwells.

When the gods realize what has happened, they too threaten the life of Loki who promises to make everything right if they would just spare him. Without the apples of Idunn, all the gods would age, including Loki, so there’s a bit more to his offer than selfless heroics here. In the end, Loki retrieves Idunn and her apples from Thiazi and carries her away as a great falcon, but not before Thiazi realizes and gives chase as an eagle. Seeing Loki and Idunn in trouble, the gods lay a trap, waiting for Loki to fly over the walls into Asgard. After the two are safely within the walls, they light fire to wood they’ve stacked against the wall. Thiazi, in his eagle shape, is incinerated, his wings are burnt off, and he comes crashing to the ground where the gods easily slay him.

Later, the giantess Skadi, a strong and beautiful huntress, arrives at the walls of Asgard and demands compensation for the murder of her father. This is, to my knowledge, something that actually happened in Norse culture. Murder and violence happened and the perpetrators were expected to pay for their crimes, often literally. The gods, being proper Norse figures, agree to a number of conditions including allowing Skadi to choose her husband from among the Aesir (the gods) themselves. Being tricky bastards, they obviously throw in a caveat: she must choose her husband by his feet. All the eligible male gods are lined up and veiled but for their feet and Skadi picks the man with the most beautiful extremities thinking they must belong to the totally gorgeous Balder. Unfortunately for her, the man she chooses is Njordr, a really swell guy and a fairly attractive one as well, but her heart was set on the one man the gods would never give her.

As an additional gift to help heal the damage between the giantess and the Aesir, Odin plucks her father’s eyes out and sets them in the sky to watch over her.

I’m sure the whole thing was meant to be nice, but there’s just something eerie about throwing a dead man’s eyes into the night sky.

I guess this goes to show, you don’t go messing around with Norse gods. Nothing good comes of it. You end up with a husband you don’t love and your father creepily staring down at you forever.

Girls with overbearing parents, you think your dad is annoying and weird? Try being in Skadi’s position!

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Functional AND Stylish

by K on January 14th, 2011
Posted In: Comics
Functional AND Stylish

Fashion (nowadays) typically trumps practicality. I’ve seen dudes in jeans that they, realistically, should not have been able to get into. I’m forced to assume that they, like some kind of human snake, shed this outer layer as they grow, with the cycle beginning all over again. So on the one hand you’ve got form, things that look good but may not be practical, and then you’ve got function, things that may not look good but get the job done. Where the hell does Vidar’s legendary boot fit into the spectrum, then? I guess he’s like one of those punk rock kids who choose neither to be fashionable nor to be functional.

There’s always someone that’s got to go against the grain. But hey, at least it comes in handy down the road! Even a busted clock is accurate twice a day, right?

The story of Ragnarok is an almost surreal meta-concept that is both heart wrenching and exciting. There have been scholarly debates on the topic wondering why someone would write the story of their gods’ demise and several theories have arisen. The first is that a Christian wrote the story to reflect some of the ideas of the Biblical apolocalypse and to slowly ease the heathen Norsemen into Christianity. While this is sort of an exciting and dramatic idea, it isn’t necessarily the only reasonable explanation. Both the Biblical apocalypse and Ragnarok have some similarities, but the portents, signs, and events in the story of Ragnarok written by the unknown poet of the Voluspa, aren’t anything a Norseman couldn’t have thought of. The other interesting fact here is that, while the Gods suffer terrible losses, some of them survive and the world begins anew. The story isn’t sneering at the Gods at all, it’s almost as if the poet is trying to share a loss with the world, the loss of his own spiritual beliefs.

This brings us to the second possible reason behind the story of Ragnarok: the poet lived during the time that Christianity was beginning to overtake Iceland and the old gods were, in a very real sense, dying out. As people left Odin for Jesus, the shape of Norse culture began to change slowly but surely. No longer would people look to Odin for wisdom or Thor for strength, no longer would the old stories be looked at with the same respect. It seems only reasonable for one of the individuals resisting the change in spiritual beliefs to write a story like Ragnarok. The Gods go out fighting and there is a seed of hope for us to hold on to in the end.

Analysis aside, the best part of the story, to me anyway, is when Vidar, son of Odin, uses his mighty boot to hold down the lower jaw of Fenrir while lifting his upper jaw, tearing the beast in half. In this moment, Vidar avenges his father, who had just been devoured by the wolf, and saves his brother and the other survivors from the terrible beast. Both Vidar and Vali make it out of the fight alive and go on to live happy and peaceful lives thanks to the courage and strength of Vidar and the protection (and weight) of his ridiculous frankenstein boot.

I imagined, as I read, his brother making fun of him (as brothers so often do) for wearing such a stupid looking thing. I bet he was eating his words as he watched Fenrir being torn apart.

That’s the way things often go. We sneer at something that seems absolutely ridiculous only to realize the value of it later on. I used to mock my brother all the time but now we’re best friends. I’m not saying my brother is like a boot stitched together from the scraps of a million other boots, I’m just saying that sometimes family members may remind you of mythological footwear and for that, you should appreciate them.

I think that’s what I was getting at, anyway.

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The Odd Couple (Part 1)

by K on November 30th, 2010
Posted In: Comics
The Odd Couple (Part 1)

NOTE: I’ve created a new icon on the left sidebar for Books and Links. There you can find comic and music links and suggested reading relating to myths, monsters, and folklore. It’s a bit sparse right now but I’ll flesh it out more soon!

Loki and Thor are, without a doubt, the original odd couple. Where would the state of television detective series and buddy movies be without them? Probably up a creek without a paddle. Starsky and Hutch? Ripoff. Jake and the Fat Man? Unoriginal. Harold and Kumar? Infringement. The Odd Couple haven’t got anything on Loki and Thor.

Norse myth is rife with comedic, yet strangely enough, elegantly written poetry about the travels of thick headed Thor and the irascible Loki. Even then, writers knew that what really sells in comedy is oppositional personalities forced together for wacky adventures. In this particular tale, the fabled Mjollnir is stolen from Thor by the Giant, Thrym, whilst he sleeps. We’re one sentence in and already it is ridiculous. How does a GIANT sneak into the Halls of the Gods themselves and steal a hammer? I wish it were covered in the tale, but alas. Anyway, Thor wakes up, finds his hammer gone, and flies into a rage. Loki borrows a cloak to turn him into a bird and flies off in search of the weapon that defends the home of the Gods, finding it with Thrym who vows never to release it until he is given the hand of beautiful Freyja in marriage. Freyja, of course, would never agree to this prostitution so it is up to Loki to formulate a plan. Naturally, he asks the other Gods and Heimdall comes up with the brilliant idea to dress Thor (a large bearded man) up as a woman and trick Thrym into thinking he’s Freyja! Imagine Thor’s feelings about THIS turn of events!

It’s at this point that Loki chimes in, volunteering his services to be dressed up as a woman to accompany Thor.

Nobody even had to ask him.

Take from that what you will.

The story, as I mentioned, is a comedy as well as a tale of adventure. In its original form, it is part of a larger poetic work that is way too elegant given its subject matter. It is also one of the few stories I’ve ever read that has ridiculously clear phallic symbolism. You see, Thor’s hammer is one of the most potent phallic symbols in all of Norse Mythology. The hammer of Thor, when lost, represents the loss of his manhood, one of the things he held most dear. Thor is, in essence, the ultimate symbol of manhood. Strong, muscular, immensely bearded, thick headed, and rash, he had courage and a temper. He was all the positive and negative traits of the male members of Norse society. When he loses his manhood, he is powerless, useless in his society without his hammer, and he is, eventually, forced into drag.

He has, at that moment, become a woman.

Kind of a funny idea when you really think about it.

As serious as that all sounds, it’s clear from the wording and the way the story plays out that it’s not meant to be a serious thing. It’s turning things upside down for the sake of entertainment and it works, it’s one of the most amusing tales in mythology.

There will be more Thor and Loki on Friday. Three more strips, in fact, just like this!

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