Hello friends how are you? My name is Arith Härger
and today I'm going to talk about the events that lead to Ragnarok and what happens during this catastrophic event
I've dedicated this first month of this new year to Ragnarok
and on the previous videos I have already given you a little bit of information
and today let's just take a look at the mythological accounts
as you know and as I've already told you, what Ragnarok describes is a cyclical end of the world
after which follows a new creation
and this keeps happening over and over again
in other words, unlike the End of Days prophecy from the Bible
which creation and destruction are opposite ends of a straight line
in the Norse mythology creation and destruction are points at opposite ends of a circle
and the story keeps going
so giving this comprehension of what Ragnarok is-
a cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth
we might understand the meaning of the term Ragnarok
"The Twilight of the Gods" as it is often heard
an idea that came from the famous composer Richard Wagner
and it's a term that it's being put aside by the scientific community
but the term actually makes sense, I'm not sure if that was Richard Wagner's idea
but Twilight can be applied because it expresses how the pre-christian Norse perceived Twilight
the end of the day, the coming of darkness
changing of seasons, every waning of the moon and another rising of the Sun
well, a constant cycle
but of course nowadays we have other interpretations
because the study of the sources and the deep meaning of mythologies keeps going
today we might understand Ragnarok as the judgment of the gods, the destiny of the gods
but this concepts tend to focus on a Christian perspective
and as I've told you on previous videos, well... there is a destiny, of course, but there is no judgment
alright so now let's take a look at the events of Ragnarok
as you know, it starts with the prophecies of what will be the destiny of the gods and the cosmos
but there isn't a specific order in the sources
some even don't include certain events while others give us a few more details
but reading all the sources we can come up with a sequence, more or less
it starts with Baldr's nightmares, the son of Odin and Frigga
a god associated with light, purity, beauty and almost perfection, a god loved by all, especially the Aesir
so Baldr dreams of his death and part of the coming events of Ragnarok
the gods arranged the protection of Baldr against all things, except the mistletoe
well, the point of this video isn't to talk about Baldr
I'll leave that for another video, but it's important to refer this aspect in the lifecycle of Baldr
because he will play the most important role of all in the end
the gods know about the prophecies and do everything to postpone their doom
and prepare themselves, of course, for the coming battle
eventually Loki deceives blind God Hoder and trick him into killing Baldr
and with this event chaos is unleashed
the gods completely lose their minds
and out of fear and despair their actions will bring their doom
blind was the God Hoder, but it was the gods that couldn't see beyond this tragic event
and their grief and hatred and thirst for vengeance, blinded them
they make one of Loki's sons kill his own brother, and with grief and madness the surviving son is driven off
the other sons of Loki such as Fenrir and Jormungandr and Hel
all had been placed either in chains or exiled or cast aside
Loki was poorly judged and was imprisoned by his actions and forced to be tortured forever
while his wife, Sigyn, out of love and loyalty also had her life completely torn apart
not only because she lost a son and the other was driven mad
but also because she had her own torture - to endure the pain of her beloved husband
the gods completely ruined Loki's household
and in all their attempts to prevent their doom
in their grieving madness they created precisely the enemies that would bring their downfall
the gods lost their ability of being wise and just and in uncontrollable rage they sealed their doom
these chains of events started the beginning of Ragnarok
The wolves, Sköll and Hati, sons of Fenrir
will devour the Sun and the Moon
the world will be consumed by utter darkness
three winters will follow with no other season in-between
three roosters will crow : The rooster Fjalar belonging to the giant Eggther
maybe referring to the world of the Giants;
the rooster Gullinkambi in Valhalla
maybe referring to the realm of the Gods;
and the final one-
the soot-red rooster from Hel, referring to the underworld
a call announcing the beginning of the end, dreadful news spread all over the cosmos
Ragnarok will occur in the so called Age of the Wolves - Vargöld
an allusion to Sköll and Hati
However, in the poem Völuspá
it is mentioned that the Age of the Wolves will be preceded by three other Ages:
the Age of the Axes (Skeggjöld);
the Age of the Swords (Skalmöld);
and the Age of the Winds (Vindöld)
these three ages will be marked by wars, disorder, immorality, all in all, desperate times
after these events- and mind that the order I chose here is not the correct order
in some accounts... the the order of events vary
but in the long run this is what happens
anyway after these events the Giants march against the gods
Loki will lead the army of the dead, the wolf Fenrir is set loose
the world serpent will make the earth shake, in its own accord will bring destruction upon the world
the giant Surtcomes out of Muspelheim
and leads his own army against the gods, so in other words there is no turning back
the gods are powerless and surrounded
and they must fight
the god Heimdall will sound the great horn Gjallarhorn
announcing the inevitable conflict
Odin will visit Mimir's well to ask for guidance and counsel
and it's interesting this aspect because being the king of the gods
the all-powerful and wise
he is the desperate and no longer knows what to do
and must seek wisdom in others
the very God whose decisions to bring the downfall of Loki's household
were made by impulse
rage and despair clouded his judgment and he ended up bringing doom to himself and all the gods
bringing precisely what he so hard tried to prevent
an interesting account
where we can see the pre-christian concept of the god Odin
because he only became the god associated with wisdom and kingship after Christianity
so in this account we can still see the remnants of a pagan past
when he wasn't as wise as the tales say
but just another God which in his own imperfection we see ourselves reflected
Odin knows that he will meet death in the battlefield
but he goes all the same
he fights the great wolf Fenrir and dies
he doesn't cower behind walls or behind his army, he goes forward into battle to meet his death
now this is the true god of war and death
he is aware of his destiny
and if this is going to be his final battle, well... let's make it memorable!
Vidar son of Odin kills the great wolf
avenging his father
Thor fights the great world serpent and kills it
but dies because of the creature's poison
Freyr fights against Surt and dies, and this account is interesting because-
in another mythological account Freyr had a wonderful sword which fought by itself
but he gave away this sword when he got in love with his soon-to-be wife
the story of losing his sword because he is in love and wants the woman of his dreams
and actually gives away the sword for her
may be an indication of old traditions concerning marriage in northern Europe
giving away a precious object as a wedding gift
the sword that could have saved his life
he gave it away for love... after all he is the god of love, sex and fertility
quite romantic, but he was destined to fight Surt and die
another God that no matter what, he would have to face his destiny
there is no escaping and even owning a powerful sword it was inevitable losing it so he could die at Ragnarok
all the other gods meet their match and die
Tyr fights the wolf Garm, Hel's wolf
Heimdall fights against Loki and both died
and much like the New Year's Eve after a few drinks:
the stars will fall from the sky, great confusion and chaos, everything burns and utter darkness remains
but in the end...
it's not really the end of everything, remember that Ragnarok is a continuous cycle
so after darkness the world regenerates itself from the catastrophes that have occurred
the waters will descend, the plants will grow again
the Eagles will return to fish among the cliffs and life sprouts once again
humans will come forth once again
the surviving gods make council
to bring harmony and order into the world and Baldr returns from the underworld
bringing a new light upon the world, and set himself as King of the gods
now remember when Baldr died and after death he was sent to the underworld? And there remain protected?
what if that was the plan all along?
what if Odin in his seemingly madness and clouded judgment he was actually wise and orchestrated Baldr's death
so his son could be really protected in the underworld until the end of Ragnarok
and thus Odin ensured that the cycle of life continued by letting Baldr reign
what if this was Loki's plan and he was actually concerned about the cycle of life?
in other accounts we see that Loki isn't order or chaos
but something in between which keeps the balance
and his job was precisely to create chaos so that order could come again in the end
what if this was a plan by Odin and Loki and remained a secret between the two gods?
it might be the hidden truth of all these stories
because like all the other mythological accounts Ragnarok shows us that there must always exist order and chaos
and forces in-between to keep the balance
and to keep the cycle of all things running
all right friends thank you so much for watching and I hope you have enjoyed this video
this was the last video about Ragnarok
you are probably tired of this subject already
so let's move on to another subject on the next video of course
all the links to my social media are down below at the description
hank you so much for watching and see you on the next video
tack för idag!
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