Norse mythology: The creation of the world.

[thetrooper]

Do you mean Peter Madsen's Valhalla?
I haven't seen any of them for a while, but as far as I know album nr.13 in the series is planned to be released right now.

Seems to be correct.

The last one I read (some 10 years ago) was about Thor and Loke!

 

[Richard Cribb]

Seems to be correct.

The last one I read (some 10 years ago) was about Thor and Loke!

You might also want to check out Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series if you haven't already done so. Odin, Loke and Tor figures in a couple of those, like Season of Mists.

 

[thetrooper]

Thanks for the tip!

I've been thinking about the remnants of Norse mythology in modern day society (let's skip obscure cults and such):

Names still in use: Odin, Tor/Thor (Ask and Embla; more or less eccentric though).
Mountain range in Norway: Jotunheimen.
Works by Tolkien: Midgard, (Shadowfax?) and several others.
A football team: Mjølner.
A football field: Alfheim (in Troms&#248.

+++

 

[Rambuchan]

I've been thinking about the remnants of Norse mythology in modern day society (let's skip obscure cults and such):

Here are two more:

Wednesday and Thursday.

 

[thetrooper]

Hmm...

I get Thursday (Torsdag for us Norwegians).
Wednesday (Onsdag, that's supposed to be derived from Odinsdag?).

Never thought about that actually.

 

[Rambuchan]

Wednesday = Wodin's day.
Thursday = Thor's day.

 

[Verbose]

Tuesday - tisdag - Tyr's day (one handed god of war).

Friday - fredag - Freitag - Frey's day (god of fertility)

 

[Verbose]

Since the Vanir iare typically fertility-gods, they are often by experts associated with the elves, by a couple even assumed to be identical.
Or, they could indeed by just closely related to the Aesir and have a common offspring.
Since this is about the trickiest question I could fathom, I would be grateful for any assistance.

I've seen them referred to as an obscure group of gods (possibly predating the Aesir) associated with fertility, death (other sid of the coin) and water.

 

[Rambuchan]

Tuesday - tisdag - Tyr's day (one handed god of war).

You mean like the drummer from Def Leppard?

Sorry couldn't resist that one.

I knew there were other days derived from Norse myths but I couldn't remember the exact derivations. Thanks!

 

[thetrooper]

Tuesday - tisdag - Tyr's day (one handed god of war).

Fenris was the culprit?

I hope we don't spoil luceafarul's next party...

 

[Verbose]

Now, I just want to spend a short while explaining how significant mythology is today and how much of it we imbibe without realising it. It is worth mentioning the following, because there are quite a few CFC posters who write fiction and drama here and many more who love their movies. So....

Interesting post. I've only read Campbell of that lot.

Have you ever had a look at the anthropological structuralists?
People like Vladimir Propp, Claude Lévy-Strauss and Tzetvan Todorov.

They also analyze mythology, folktales etc., but are usually a bit less heavy on the psychoanalytical stuff than a lot of their English speaking counterparts.

 

[Rambuchan]

Interesting post. I've only read Campbell of that lot.

That post is a whole load more interesting if you print out those three diagrams and sit down with just about any Hollywood movie. Try it and you will see why I've lauded mythology's significance so much. Also, try charting your own life through those diagrams and see how truly they ring out.

Campbell is an absolute don, so I am not surprised he gets picked out. The others are more for people in that entertainment industry. I would say the Syd Field is a bit too specialised to be of 'layman' interest but McKee is profound for anyone.

Have you ever had a look at the anthropological structuralists?
People like Vladimir Propp, Claude Lévy-Strauss and Tzetvan Todorov.

They also analyze mythology, folktales etc., but are usually a bit less heavy on the psychoanalytical stuff than a lot of their English speaking counterparts.

Levy-Strauss for sure. For colonial history analysis also. Roland Barthes is pretty good on myths too.

 

[Richard Cribb]

I've seen them referred to as an obscure group of gods (possibly predating the Aesir) associated with fertility, death (other sid of the coin) and water.

Thanks for completing me, that is also a possibility.
It seems like we all we need for a theological debate already...
Just from the top of my head a few more names from the mythology still used:
Names: Magne, Vidar, Siv (Sif) and Gerd are rather common. Narve, Loke and Hermod is also in use. I even think I have seen the names Balder and Trym a couple of times as well.
Oceanic oil and gas-fields have often used mythological names, such as Sleipner, Valhall, Frigg, Heimdall etc.
A prestigious Norwegian literary prize is called after Brage.
Other names on sports clubs includes Tjalve and Frigg.
And you can even find a literary magazine with the name Ratatosk.

 

[thetrooper]

Names: Magne, Vidar, Siv (Sif) and Gerd are rather common. Narve, Loke and Hermod is also in use. I even think I have seen the names Balder and Trym a couple of times as well.

Trym Bergmann.

Oceanic oil and gas-fields have often used mythological names, such as Sleipner, Valhall, Frigg, Heimdall etc.

Åsgård.

And you can even find a literary magazine with the name Ratatosk.

Ratatosk, my favourite.

 

[Richard Cribb]

Trym Bergmann.

Ah yes, the football player. Kongsvinger, Hammarby, Sandefjord; what more ? Did he ever play for Norwich City?
And, if my memory doesn't play a trick on me, I seem to remember that it was in fact a chess player from Fredrikstad with the name Odin!?

Åsgård.

Of course. How typical of me to forget the most obvious.

Ratatosk, my favourite.

The magazine is quite interesting as well.

 

[Rambuchan]

And if we start going into the other myths that have made it into modern day useage we'd never stop. Here is a little dip into the subject:

Nike - Ancient Greek Goddess of Victory (ie. Pre-Olympian), now gracing many feet around the world.

Hermes (Mercurius/Mercury (Roman)) - Son of Zeus and the nymph Maia. Herald of the Gods. Now a fashion label.

Rama - Generally heroic Hindu God. A general greeting in India is 'Ram Ram-ji'. Also the name of many companies in India.
http://www.webonautics.com/mythology/avataar_rama.html

Avatar - Basically an incarnation of a Hindu god. Krishna for example appeared in many avatars. Now gracing many usernames personalisation options on forums.

Like I say, we'd never stop.....

@ Verbose: Can you recommend any titles for Vladimir Propp and Tzetvan Todorov please?

 

[jonatas]

@ Verbose: Can you recommend any titles for Vladimir Propp and Tzetvan Todorov please?

Ram, if you're interested in exploring Structuralism, Yves Bonnefoy (major 20th C French poet and visionary) edited a huge 2 volume work called Mythologies, originally written in French but translated under the direction of Wendy Doniger from the University of Chicago. She herself is a distinguished translator of Sanskrit IIRC. Any the volumes are loaded with structuralist articles from all around the world. Tons of stuff from India, Asia in general, Oceania, Indigenous peoples, Classical Greece and Rome, Iran, Africa etc. They consciously avoided all Monotheistic religions too. It has structuralist articles on Mythology on everything you could imagine and more. It even gets into interpretations of mythology in literature. It's a memorable work, not exactly intended for the layman. However I'm sure everyone could find something that interests them in it. I'm sure you could find it at a Cambridge university library.

 

[Rambuchan]

@ Jonatas: Thanks funk boy. I'd like to know when I'm going to get round to reading all this stuff you're recommending. I devoured all of the Iberian History you've passed on. Now this Structuralism reminds me that I have actually studied much of this material way back in the day. What I'm trying to say is thanks.

@ Luc: Looking forward to the next instalment.

 

[Verbose]

And if we start going into the other myths that have made it into modern day useage we'd never stop. Here is a little dip into the subject:

Oooh!

My favourite mythological survival as a personal name is the Italian "Onnofrio".

Like the in the American actor Vincent d'Onnofrio's (Full Metal Jacket etc.) name.

What it means?

It's a latinization of the ancient Egyptian "Wen-nefer", "The Beautiful Name", which is one of the god Osiris' appelations.

Ram:
I'd check out Jonatas suggestion. Sounds like an interesting recent update of the stuff I mentioned. Haven't read it, but I just might...

 

[thetrooper]

Ah yes, the football player. Kongsvinger, Hammarby, Sandefjord; what more ? Did he ever play for Norwich City?

I don't think he played for Norwich?

And, if my memory doesn't play a trick on me, I seem to remember that it was in fact a chess player from Fredrikstad with the name Odin!?

I know a man called Svein Odin!

Of course. How typical of me to forget the most obvious.

What about Tryvann?

@ Luc: Looking forward to the next instalment.

Ditto. Any teasers for us?