Norse Mythology in The Lord of the Rings: Odin, Morrigan and Their Messengers

Thor, Odin, and Loki, all good marvel characters, but they didn’t originate in the minds of Stan Lee. In fact they originated nearly 1300 years earlier, in the Viking age. In that time Norse mythology was born in its entirety. The way it was shaped was an effect of the Viking way, and the Viking way was affected by their mythology. Norse mythology didn’t stay inclusive to their own gods because of their raids and trading they learned different religions. Norse mythology integrated another mythology into theirs. This in turn cause wars between those said gods, specific to this essay the Aesir-Vanir War. This affected how Vikings saw the use of Seidr and this event was directly related to them raiding and trading with other lands.

The Norse tale of Ragnarok presents an interesting example of apocalyptic literature by providing both an end and a unique beginning. The world which rises from the cosmic rubble seems to be essentially equivalent to that which the apocalypse destroyed, possessing the same creatures, features and Gods of times past. This considered, and by incorporating themes of time and fate, Snorri challenges the concepts of the past, present and future of Norse lore by providing a framework which allows for the potential reiteration of history. By reviewing The Prose Edda’s telling of the events surrounding Ragnarok, the relationship between fate, time and history provide a unique alternative to the standard eschatological timeline.

The next comparison between two stories is that of Norse mythology and Greek mythology. Both stories have very similar ideas and ways of telling their stories of how their world came into being. Norse has their giants, who gave birth to the original three gods that created Midgard. The Greeks have the Titans who bore the Greek gods who overthrew them as well to control the Earth. Both myths contain the presence of creatures in their stories, beasts who helped shape their respective worlds to move the culture’s creation stories further along. Creatures within these worlds would be the dwarves, the serpent Nidhogg, and demons of Norse myth and the Cyclopes, the furies, and Typhon of Greek origin Furthermore, the children of some of these creatures were divines, who ended up overthrowing their elders to lead the creation of their own worlds, to rule over their own creations as well. And speaking of the world, both myths have multiple layers to their

Firstly, the symbolism and the traits and attributes of the raven is used to demonstrate the selfishness of the societies. The discussion of the ravens helps the readers visualize the selfishness and supports her point of darkness and grating Canadian Aboriginal societies. For example, in the story talking raven makes comments about Jared in his backyard,

“Bellicose buggers” means that the crow is aggressive. Davy was also a bellicose person. On page 36, Davy said to his father “How many times does a dog have to bite you before you put him down?” Davy really wanted to beat them up. “Losing their balance and flapping languidly” describes that the crows had trouble staying on the branches after cawing. According to the sources online, cawing means that the crows are going to have a battle in some circumstances. Davy had trouble staying with his families after he shot Basca and Finch. And both cawing and shooting are aggressive actions. In bible, the plot of raven is similar to Davy’s situation. Genesis 8:7, Noah sent out a raven and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Davy didn’t come home and fled from Minnesota to North Dakota like the raven did. What’s more, I did some researches about the crow’s symbolism online. The crow symbolizes determination and fearlessness. Davy killed the 2 bad guys in order to protect his family and started travelling himself after he escaped from the jail. If Davy were a normal teenager, he wouldn’t have

Every country has its own mythology, bringing purpose for life. Norse and Egyptian Mythology are two excellent examples. Norse Mythology was brought up by Vikings and is told throughout areas such as, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, etc. Egyptian Mythology is told in Egypt and was brought up by Pharaohs. Norse and Egyptian Mythology are very different from one another, but are both myths that were told for centuries, and are to be told for centuries more.

As for the authors, Tolkien was well-versed and well-educated in the classics. He spoke ancient Greek fluently and would have known the works of Homer inside and out. No doubt his works were influenced by Homer in at least a minor way. Unfortunately we know very little about Homer, and in fact some scholars’ debate whether he even existed, so drawing comparisons to the two authors may be difficult. What we can consider however is the theory that Homer was a member of a group of poets called the Homeridae, which literally means hostages. These men were believed to be descendants of prisoners of war and as such, were not sent to war due to their dubious loyalties. Homer no doubt bore witness to many conflicts and used his writings to warn against the dangers of war. Similarly, Tolkien confined the Lord of the Rings after he

     The main similarity between these two is that they are the king of the gods. Another is that they both value wisdom. Zeus is more focused on law, Odin’s focus is on war.

Among other things, Tolkien was perhaps chiefly a scholar of mythology, and despite his dislike of allegory, his universe is shot through with mythological archetypes. Among Tolkien’s obvious mythological influences (Biblical, Celtic, Norse, and Arthurian mythologies, etc.), I believe Biblical held the most significant effect on The Lord of the Rings, albeit Finnish/Nordic appears more so than any other. Additionally, Tolkien wanted to publish The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings together, since he saw them as connected mythological cycles. To a degree, one’s reading of The Lord of the Rings, is deepened by a knowledge of The Silmarillion, not just on the level of setting or context, but in terms of literary theme, symbol, and characterization.

Origin myths deliver stories explaining how the world, humans or objects came to existence. Describing where the nation comes from, they are very important to the culture of given region. Therefore, each nation developed its own stories and beliefs; however, there are many similarities between myths of various religions and cultures. A good example would be Native American stories about origin and their resemblance to Greek mythology or to the Bible. Similarities can be seen in different spheres such as creation of humankind or even in the story about flood.

It is interesting to see how some folktales are similar to each other even though they can be from a different region of the world. An example of this happening is the stories of Odysseus and Sinbad. Both of these folktales have much in common but on is from the Middle East while the other from Greece. The way their travels are similar, how their adventures are being told, and how their personalities are alike prove this concept. These tales were told as entertainment and educate people about growth and perseverance.

I think Loki ate the witch’s heart because that just who he is. He was a mischief-maker. He did not fit in with the gods; he was not very nice and liked to be on the evil side of things. Loki decided that eating the witch’s hear would be a perfect way to become completely evil on the inside. The flames could not consume the heart; however Loki just simply picks up the heart. No one could stop Loki because he was on a mission to be defiant. Loki heard the whispers from Gulveig the witch. Loki’s mind had been transformed to hate the gods.

Greek Vs. Norse Mythology Assignment; Matisse Piper The myths of Thor and Zeus come from the Greek and Norse tradition. Both are Gods of lightning, thunder, and both mythological characters have been featured in spectacular movies. Thor was considered the storm and weather god of the sky as well as thunder. He is one of the most prominent figures in Norse mythology.

The representation of an epic hero is found throughout Anglo-Saxon literature. The origin of english literature comes from Beowulf, the earliest known work written in old english. Beowulf is a renowned epic that has been around for years and is the basis of epic literature. Beowulf closely relates to another epic film called The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the ring, there are certain attributes in both the film and poem that reflect the epic qualities. Just like any other epic Beowulf and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring contain qualities such as a grand journey or deed of some sort, larger than life hero(s), and divine intervention.

Neil Gaiman is not afraid to declare Norse mythology as his favourite. His first meeting with the Norse gods was Jack Kirby’s early Marvel work The Mighty Thor and it spurred him on to learn more about the Norse mythology. Norse Mythology is not Neil Gaiman’s first introduction as a writer to Nordic gods either. His fantasy novel American Gods (2001) has a lot of references to Norse Gods, so much that some people consider Norse Mythology as a prequel to American Gods.