Emma Cheung 1/3/20 Period 2 - Blog #2

•The period was shortened due us taking the vocab quiz.

Aim: After studying Ragnarok and Book of Revelation, how does humanity's perspective on the apocalypse reflect its feelings about the present and future?

• Do Now: What are the characteristics of the apocalypse in different mythologies?

We discussed that the apocalypse throughout different mythologies and cultures all involved violence, done at the hands of nature and the elements. Fire, water, earth, disease, natural catastrophe. What gave us life will be what takes it away. We also discussed the idea that it is a rebirth.  It is cleansing the world of sin and evil, where brother kills brother, fathers kill sons, and humanity has undoubtedly become corrupt. It is then that the world will end, and like a phoenix rising from the ashes, be started anew. It wouldn't be a complete rebirth - the universe isn't being created again - but the remnants will rebuild, free of the corruption that brought their end.

• Ragnarok video

• Voluspa, the Witch's Prophecy:

This is the first and most well known poem in the Poetic Edda. There's a brief overview of the beginning of the world and the several tales of different gods (Odin's quest for knowledge and Loki's killing of Baldr for example) but it puts most of its emphasis on Ragnarok. It details the chronology of Ragnarok and the main battles between the gods and the monsters.

Extra Notes:

-The Nordic monsters are there to combat and balance the gods. They are not meant to fight humanity.

-Humanity does not have the right to judge itself. (Eugenics is humans judging humans and genocide stems from the arrogant idea that humanity can do so).

-There is an emphasis on balance: the gods with the monsters, the pure and the sinful in humanity.

-The apocalypse is not the absolute end. There is hope where there is despair, and the survivors will bring about a new beginning.

-Song is a form of communication that has been used for centuries and effective in how easy it is for us to remember.

  • Reflection:

I understood the rebirth and cleansing aspects of ragnarok but didn't quite consider balancing to be a theme as well. The Nordic idea that even the gods and monsters are not exempt from the end is interesting in that it's somewhat different from other apocalypses but still ties into the whole rebirth theme. It was also interesting to see how this also ties into eugenics and genocide a bit; it's another perspective I didn't consider. Overall, this was very interesting how humanity in general had similar beliefs about the end and the hope that will arise after.