1/7/20 Paulina Mastryukov PD1

1/7/20 Modern Mythology 2020 Period 1 Paulina Mastryukov 

Aim: How does Norse mythology illustrate the theme of vengeance?

Do Now: What is vengeance and do you think it is justified? For something on a smaller scale without long term consequences possibly, but generally, while it may be cathartic and understandable, all it does is cause a vicious cycle that is hard to break. People who seek vengeance usually are thinking with anger rather than logic and reason, so naturally they tend to make less than wise decisions.

Loki was originally husband of Sigyn, with whom he had two sons Narfi and Vali. However, he started spending time with Angrboda, with whom he had three children: Jormungandr, Fenrir, and Hel.

Jormungandr

Literary translating to “enormous monster,” he is the first child of Loki who is an enormous serpent that spits black venom. The gods tossed him into the ocean because he just wouldn't stop growing, and eventually grew large enough to encircle Midgard

Hel

She is the Goddess of the underworld and death. She controls the balance of life and death, ruling over the dead who died “inglorious” deaths such as old age, childbirth, etc. She is depicted with one side being that of a beautiful woman, but her other side looking like that of a rotting corpse. With a single touch, she can either kill, or bring the dead back to life.

We discussed about Hel’s duality, in which her literary split nature reflects how she is a true neutral, but still rules the realm of what the Norse viewed as the “inglorious dead”

Fenrir

The last thing Odin saw in his dreams of a dark future were Fenrir’s teeth and eyes. He was a wolf who grew larger and stronger with each day he lived. Out of all the gods, Tyr was the only one who didn't distrust Fenrir, taking care of him and playing with him. The gods decided to chain Fenrir, but he managed to break every chain. Soon, they asked the dwarves to create an unbreakable bond, which looked like a gossamer, silken ribbon called Gleipnir. Fenrir stated he would only be bound if one of the gods put their hand in his mouth, with Tyr being the only one willing to do so. When the binds wouldn't break, he bit Tyr's hand off, and to keep him bound the gods tied Gleipnir to a rock driven into the Earth and wedged his mouth open with a sword.

The Unusual Wedding of Freya

Thor woke up one day to find that his hammer Mjolnir had been stolen, prompting him to ask help of Loki. Loki, with the help of Freya, proceeded to search for the hammer, finding it in the possession of the chief of Giants Thrym. The giant said that he would return the hammer in exchange for Freya’s hand in marriage. The Goddess vehemently refused to this, thus Loki concocted a plan: Thor would disguise himself as Freya in a bridal costume, with Loki shapeshifting into a handmaiden. They traveled to Jotunheim for the wedding, in which Thor nearly blew their cover with his voracious appetite and horrible manners. When Thrym had placed Mjolnir in Thor-disguised-as-Freya's lap as an act of consecration, Thor proceeded to grab his hammer and laying waste to Thrym and all the wedding attendants.  

Both these stories have an underlying theme of vengeance, with the gods taking vengeance on Loki’s children for their future actions as prophesied by Odin in the first story, and in the second story Thor took vengeance on Thrym and the Giants. Arguably, Loki’s children were least deserving of their fates because they were essentially punished for things that they had not done yet, things that probably only occur due to the neglect and abuse of the Aesir    

• What did I learn? That Norse myths, some more subtly than others, all contain a theme of vengeance. Though like with most stories involving this theme, it is highly debatable from tale to tale how justifiable it was to gain it. 
• Why did I learn it? It was the main theme of the entire lesson, having several different discussions about it over the course of the lesson, at the end the class being upfront “do you think the vengeance sought was justified.” 

How will I use what I learned? I will be sure to apply it and keep this lesson in mind as we continue to read Norse myths, specifically to better understand the flow of the stories and make wiser speculations about the reasons for certain events.