Ragnarok: The End of the World of Norse Mythology

What is Ragnarok?

     Ragnarok, in Norse Mythology, means: fate of the gods. It represents Norse eschatology, marked by a series of events that would lead to the End of the World. The word means fate, referring to the last and decisive battle of the gods against their enemies. The myth was first described in the anonymous poem Völuspá, compiled in the 13th century from older traditional sources, and in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, although there are other references to eschatology throughout the Germanic region.

     The Christian influence on this pagan narrative is seen in different ways: As a purely pagan narrative, or as a narrative incorporating Christian ideas and pagan ideas, or as a pagan narrative influenced by Christian ideas.

Events resulting from Ragnarok:

     Heimdall holds the Gjallarhorn in the air and blows deep into it and Odin converses with Mím's mind. The world tree, Yggdrasil, shudders and groans. The Jötunn Hrym comes from the east, her protection before her. Midgard's serpent Jörmungandr furiously writhes, causing crashing waves.

"The eagle's cry, with its pale beak, it tears the corpse."

     And the boat Naglfar breaks freely thanks to the waves made by Jörmungandr and adjusts the sail from the east. The fire-dwellers, jötnar, of Muspelheim, arise. The völva continues that Jötunheimr, the land of the jötnar, is roaring, and that the Æsir is in council. Dwarves mourn their stone doors. Surtr advances south, his sword shining brighter than the sun. Rocky cliffs open and the jötnar woman falls. People walk on the road to Helgardh and the heavens parted.

     The gods then battle the invaders: Odin is swallowed whole and alive fighting the wolf Fenrir, causing his wife Frigg's second great grief (the first being the death of his son, the god Balder). The god Freir fights Surtr and loses. Odin's son Vidar avenges his father by tearing Fenrir's mouth apart and stabbing him in the heart with his spear, killing the wolf. The serpent Jörmungandr opens its mouth, yawning widely in the air and is encountered in combat by Thor. Thor, who is also the son of Odin and here depicted as Earth's protector, furiously fights the serpent, defeating it, but Thor is only able to take nine steps afterwards before passing out. After that, people flee their homes, the sun turns black as the land sinks into the sea, the stars disappear, steam rises and flames touch the skies.

     The völva sees the land reappearing from the water and an eagle over a waterfall hunting fish on a mountain. The Æsir survivors meet in the Iðavöllr camp. They discuss Jörmungandr, the great events of the past, and the runes. In stanza 61, on the grass, they find the golden chess game that the gods are described as having a blissfully fun occasion, playing games long ago (attested to at the beginning of the same poem). Resurrected fields grow without needing to be sown. The gods Hoder and Balder return from Helgardh and live happily together.

Shortly after:

     The völva says that the god Hoenir chooses wooden slides for the purpose of prophecy and that the children of the two brothers will inhabit the windswept world. She sees a straw hall with gold in Gimle, where the nobility will live and will live happily. Stanza 65, found in the Hauksbók version of the poem, refers to "a mighty force" that "reigns over all" and that will rise above the court of the gods (Old Norse regindómr), which has been interpreted as a Christian reference added to the poem.

     In stanza 66, the völva ends her account with a description of the dragon Níðhöggr, corpses in its jaws, flying through the air. The völva then "sinks". It is unclear whether stanza 66 indicates that the völva is referring to the present time or whether this is an element of the post-Ragnarök world.

It is always important to emphasize that Norse Mythology is different from Greek Mythology, the Hellenics were more cultured and wrote their stories and events. The Norse were "brutes", or "cavemen", so there is little information about Ragnarok.

Ragnarok recalls the Biblical Apocalypse:

     The richness of detail noted by Jean Renaud in Ragnarök is reminiscent of the Apocalypse of the Bible, for Heimdall blows his horn like angels blow the trumpet, the sun will darken, stars fall from the sky, great disasters come, monsters are unleashed in Ragnarök like the beasts. of the sea and the land that John describes.

     The gods fight the forces of disorder, as the archangel Michael went to war with the dragons and their angels. However, that dragon is the devil and Loki corresponds to Lucifer, as Satan and Loki are chained together before they are finally defeated. Ragnarök, like the Apocalypse, are followed by a universal regeneration where Balder is back, as is Christ at the Last Judgment.

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