Norse Mythology In Today’s Culture Despite being proved totally scientifically implausible, and being roughly 1,000 years old, Norse myths continue to affect our lives to this day. These ancient stories continue to impact us by constantly showing up in popular culture and showing up in everyday objects and sayings. All of these examples contribute to the fact that the Viking’s ancient religion is still very much a part of everyday life, a millenium later.
When looking for examples of norse mythology in modern pop culture, one of the most obvious examples is music. More specifically, according to Dr. Karl Seigfried, “there are many rock bands from Northern Europe and Scandinavia that focus exclusively on mythology, history and legend as the focus of their lyrics, album art and stage shows” http://www.norsemyth.org/2013/05/norse-mythology-in-popular-culture.html. These bands, such as Bathory, Amon Amarth, and Manowar , incorporate themes from norse mythology such as Valhalla and Ragnarök. Valhalla is, in a sense “heaven” for the vikings. It is where warriors who died a noble death in battle go when they die. Valhalla means “the home of the gods”. Ragnarök, meaning “the end of the gods” is the viking’s version of the Apocalypse. During Ragnarök, several major battles ensue, resulting in the death of many gods and Valhalla being consumed by fire. Another example of norse mythology in rock music is Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin. In the song there are lyrics such as “the hammer of the gods will drive our ship to a new land”, and “Valhalla I am coming” (AZ Lyrics). These are reference to Thor’s hammer, and Valhalla, respectively. Although very different from the previous two examples, Wagner’s opera Der Ring des Nibelungen is based entirely on norse mythology. The most famous song from the opera, “Flight of the Valkyrie” describes the Valkyrie http://www.viking-mythology.com/valkyies.html, an angel like race who chose which vikings got to go to Valhalla, and then took them there on their flying horses. Clearly, many parts of the music industry were affected by norse mythology.
Another example of norse mythology in modern media is video games. An example of this is Too Human, a game where players recreate many norse myths in a futuristic world http://www.ign.com/games/too-human/xbox-360-748783. A more subtle example of norse mythology in video games includes the series Halo, in which one of the characters, Master Chief, has armor called Mjölnir, a reference to the god Thor’s hammer, which is said to have been forged from the heart of a dying star. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/386562/Mjollnir. Also, in the video game League Of Legends, there is a character named Olaf, and one of his spells is called Ragnarok. http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Olaf. Yet another media outlet where the influence of norse mythology is evident is in movies. The most obvious example of this are the Marvel movies Avengers and Thor. Both movies feature the super hero “The Mighty Thor”. Thor is portrayed to be immensely strong and arrogant, but also very kind at heart. Thor fights evil with his hammer Mjölnir and by summoning lightning, since he is also the god of thunder. He is also one of the first gods to contact the humans in a thousand years, or since the vikings. Thor’s sworn enemy is his adopted brother Loki, the god of trickery and deception, who thinks that if Thor becomes king he will drive Asgard to ruin. Thor is also seen fighting the fearsome ice giants. In Avengers Thor fights amongst many other superheroes to save earth from an alien invasion organized by