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Norse Mythology Research Paper

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What does every religion and culture around the world have in common? They all have some form of divinity or gods. For the Scandinavian/ Germanic people or as they were sometimes called the Vikings their particular brand of mythology is called Norse Mythology. Today almost everyone has either seen or heard of the Thor movies. Although those are great movies they do not even touch the surface of how deep and intricate Norse mythology truly is. This entire culture of myth was spread through words and stories of the Scandinavian Vikings to explain what and why things happened in their world. This mythology spanned through many other cultures. Our days of the week are even from the Scandinavian or Norse gods such as Thursday being “Thor’s day”. …show more content…

The giants hail from Jotunheim, the fire giants from Muspelheim, the elves from Alfheim, dwarves reside in Svartalfheim, the Midgard serpent resides in Midgard, and Hel herself resides in Helheim (McCoy). The most notable monsters of mythology happen to be Loki’s own children. Fenrir is depicted as a giant wolf. He was raised by the gods in order to keep him under control. The Midgard serpent is depicted as a giant snake wrapped around the Earth with its tail in its mouth. Hel is a giantess and goddess and rules over Helheim, the realm of the dead (Norse Mythology for Smart People). These three bring about Ragnarok. Ragnarok itself is known as “the Doom of the Gods” (McCoy). The end starts with the death of Baldr by Loki. After this the realms fall into chaos. Fenrir and Loki break free of their chains and giants descend on Asgard. Thor faces a tragic end going up against Jormungand, the Midgard serpent, each slaying the other. Fenrir goes on to swallow and destroy everything in his path before Odin stepped in to stop him. Odin himself though he fought valiantly was killed by Fenrir. Fenrir was then destroyed by a lesser known son of Odin’s Vidar. After the death of Odin the end came and silence of Ginnunggagap or the anti-cosmic void was once again

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