Norse mythology in popular culture

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Norse mythology has left a lot of influences in popular culture, common elements of daily life in many countries, in literature and modern fiction and particularly in fantasy role-playing games.

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[edit] Language

The Germanic gods have left many traces in modern vocabulary. An example of this is some of the names of the days of the week: modelled after the names of the days of the week in Latin (named after Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn), the names for Tuesday through to Friday were replaced with Germanic equivalents of the Roman gods. In English, Saturn was not replaced, while Saturday is named after the sabbath in German, and is called "washing day" in Scandinavia.

[edit] Reintroduction to popular culture

Norse mythology also influenced Richard Wagner's use of literary themes from it to compose the four operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings was admitted by its author to be heavily influenced by the myths of the Northern Europeans. As that work became popular, elements of its fantasy world moved steadily into popular perceptions of the fantasy genre. In nearly any modern fantasy novel today can be found such Norse creatures as elves, dwarves, and frost giants.

[edit] Germanic neopaganism

Main article: Germanic neopaganism

More recent have been attempts in both Europe and the United States to revive the old Germanic religion as Germanic Neopaganism, variously under the names of Ásatrú, Odinism, Wotanism, Forn Sed or Heathenry. In Iceland, Ásatrú was recognized by the state as an official religion in 1973, which legalized its marriage, child-naming and other ceremonies. It is also an official and legal religion in all the Nordic countries, though it is still fairly new.

[edit] Depictions in modern popular culture

Although often barely recognizable to their source of inspiration, many references to Norse mythology appear in modern popular culture.

[edit] Comics

  • In the Marvel Universe, the Norse Pantheon and related elements play a prominent part, especially Thor who has been one of the longest running superheroes for the company.
  • The Norse Pantheon heroes are the main characters of the Japanese anime Matantei Loki Ragnarok.
  • Odin, Thor and Loki, and several other beings and places in Norse mythology have recurring roles in Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novel series, most notably in the Season of Mists and The Kindly Ones story-lines.
  • Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki is a webcomic featuring Yuuki, a boy turned into a Valkyrie by Hermod(the god of messengers in the Norse pantheon) to stand against Surt and the Giants. It features many representations of norse mythological figures in a modern-day setting.
  • The three Norns, Urd, Skuld, and Verthandi (whose name is transliterated into "Belldandy") are three of the main characters in the popular manga series Aa! Megami-sama (aka "Oh My Goddess!"), which also features Yggdrasil as a computer program that runs the universe.
  • The Danish comic book series Valhalla is based entierly upon the Norse myths.

[edit] Games

  • In The Fire emblem game the sacred stones, the legendary weapons acquired throughout the course of the game are named after norse objects or creatures (e.g.: Nidhogg, Vidofnir)
  • Capcom's Mega Man series, Mega Man Zero, makes many references to Norse mythology and has characters and objects named after some Norse beasts and Gods.
  • Namco's Tales of Symphonia game features a number of Norse Mythology references, including the name of the main antagonist, Mithos Yggdrasill.
  • Many Fantasy role-playing games, including Dungeons and Dragons, have elements from Norse mythology.
  • A number of references to Norse mythology occur in the first Max Payne game; a drug Valkyr, a nightclub Ragna Rock, buildings known as the Aesir Plaza and Asgard, a major character Alfred Woden, a mysterious Project Valhalla, and the computer network Yggdrasil.
  • The video game series Final Fantasy, particularly Final Fantasy VII use a number of references to Norse Mythology, primarily alternatively spelled versions of figures from the pantheon and related myths. These include the cities Midgar and Nibelheim, names of monsters such as Skoll, Nidhogg or Midgar Zolom, or the airship Ragnarok from Final Fantasy VIII.
  • The Breath of Fire video game series contains a few references to Norse mythology, most notably Yggdrasil in Breath of Fire III.
  • The Creatures series of computer games borrows several names from Norse mythology. The most prominent are the three kinds of creatures you can raise, the Norns, Grendels and Ettins.
  • The tri-ace role-playing games Valkyrie Profile is based on Norse Mythology, though it does deviate at some points. The main character is a Valkyrie named Lenneth, whom many have thought to represent Brenhild. Lenneth has been commanded by Odin to gather souls of dead warriors for the upcoming battles of Ragnarok. Depending on the path the player chooses, Lenneth will face either Surt, lord of the fire giants; or Loki, in combat.
  • The Zerg Broods in StarCraft are named after various Norse mythological monsters.
  • The Ragnarok Online universe is full of Norse mythology references.
  • The Boktai series uses names of Norse Gods for the names of the Immortals; the main enemy of the series.
  • The Norse are a playable faction in Ensemble Studio's Age of Mythology.
  • Warriors 2 is an online game loosely based on Norse mythology.
  • The Xbox 360 game Too Human has heavy Norse influences

[edit] Literature

[edit] Television

  • The TV series Stargate SG-1 borrows parts of Norse mythology for the Asgard aliens, a benevolent race who protected humanity. To hide their alien existence, the Asgard seeded the Norse mythology into human culture, giving god and demi-god roles to many of their prominent figures. Thor, a member of the Asgard High Council, is a regularly returning character on the show.
  • The anime series Soukyo no Fafner has many references to Nordic/Germanic mythologic references
  • The classic anime, Saint Seiya, devoted an entire arc to Norse mythologies. New characters were created based on the folklore of Norse mythologies, such as the Valkyrie Hilda, the giant Thor, and Siegfried himself.
  • An anime called Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, also has many Norse ifluences. The main character happens to be Loki. Most of the Norse gods appear in each episode.

[edit] See also

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