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.

1 Language
2 Reintroduction to popular culture
3 Germanic neopaganism
4 Depictions in modern popular culture
5 See also

[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 and Dutch, 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] Music

The album Gods of War (Manowar album) by Manowar tells about the Norse mythology, and Odin in particular.

[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 entirely 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. Also, in Final Fantasy V, you learn 18 spells for Black, White, and Time magic, as Odin learned 18 spells.
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
World Of Warcraft has a lot in common with Norse mythology

[edit] Literature

Various Norse gods are referenced in the book the Ballad of the White Horse, these include Odin and Thor.
Robert E. Howard borrowed extensively from Norse mythology in his many fantasy works, his best known creation being Conan the Barbarian, a fictional Cimmerian mercenary hero of numerous short stories and a novel.
J. R. R. Tolkien, in his fantasy works The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, also drew from Norse mythology.
Author Douglas Adams, writer of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and subsequent books, referenced to the Norse god, Thor in his book Life, the Universe, and Everything. Thor was very large, and threw lightning bolts. From the same series, a collection of unnamed minor deities whose description is reminiscent of the Norse Pantheon makes an appearance at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Odin and Thor also appear in The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, one of two novels by Adams about protagonist Dirk Gently.
Odin, Loki, and several other Norse mythological figures are major characters in Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods.
The name of Fenrir Greyback, the murderous werewolf in the Harry Potter novels is derived from Fenrir. Fenrir is the wolf who, according to Norse mythology, will devour Odin during Ragnarök - the end of the world.
Diana Wynne Jones's novel, Eight Days of Luke is an allegory of the Norse gods. Loki, Thor, Odin, Frey and Freya are characters in the story. Several other characters from Norse mythology such as Siegfried, Brunhilde, Baldur and Sigyn are mentioned as well (though not all by name).
Norse mythology plays heavily into the Everworld series of fantasy by K.A. Applegate, Loki and Hel being perhaps the two most notable Norse characters.
In the novel, The Incomplete Enchanter by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, the protagonist finds himself in Asgard, where he allies himself with the Æsir as Ragnarök approaches.
Gene Wolfe's The Wizard Knight is heavily influenced by Norse myth, in both the setting and the tone. There are elements of the Norse cosmology, giants much like the Jotun, and deific creatures that resemble the Æsir.

A.S. Byatt's Possession: A Romance includes passages form the ficticious R. H. Ash's poetry which includes an epic poem title Ragnarok.

Other authors drawing from Norse mythology include:

[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 new Battlestar Galactica series, as part of the polytheistic religion of the human characters, the Colonials, combine Olympian and Roman mythology with several Norse references, such as a ship named Valkyrie and a last stand for its Colonial Fleet at the planet of Ragnar, a reference to Ragnarok.
The anime series Soukyo no Fafner has many references to Nordic/Germanic mythology.
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 influences. The main character happens to be Loki. Most of the Norse gods appear in each episode.
In the 20th and last episode of the show Metalocalypse, Skwisgaar Skwigelf referred to the name of Odin with the sentence "What in the name of Odin were we just riding on?"
Several of the Norse gods feature prominently in the Danish miniseries, "Jul i Valhal," and many of the Norse myths are referenced as well. Loki, in particular, is a major character.