The Doom of the Gods

Did you know that Norse mythology actually spells out it's own ending? All the Norse gods are slain in a future event called Ragnarok. It is the doom of the gods. Odin himself is killed by a wolf called Fenrir. Thor kills, and is killed by, a giant snake called Jormungandr (who is Loki's son, btw). Everybody dies.



The story is old, but there is an amazing (and short) little book by A.S. Byatt called Ragnarok: The End of the Gods that retells the story. It's faithful to the Norse stories but it's wildly pretty and poetic.


There's also an amazing book called Poems of the Vikings which is really just the Norse Poetic Edda -- Also highly recommended.

Yggdrasil

The tree that Shadow hangs from is Yggdrasil, the World Tree. Yggdrasil is central to Norse mythology. It holds together the 9 worlds and really it's right in the middle of everything. Odin himself hung from Yggdrasil in order to gain understanding and command of the runes.

I know that I hung on a windy tree

nine long nights,

wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,

myself to myself,

on that tree of which no man knows

from where its roots run.

Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yggdrasil

Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Let me just say that I'm a dummy and I know a lot of people really like this book. But, the more I think about it, the less I like it. I'm just going to complain a little bit here.

There may be some mild spoilers after the jump.

American Gods coming to TV

HBO is planning on turning American Gods into 6 seasons of premium television goodness.  See details here.

Some interesting thoughts on casting too.


Unrelated: Here are some cool takes on Mr. Jacquel (Anubis) and Mr. Ibis (Thoth).

Some Thoughts at the Halfway Point

Hi, I'm back.

So, what is this book about? New Gods versus Old Gods, yeah?

A god can only exist if that god is believed in. As belief wanes, a god's power is diminished. If a god is forgotten, that god is dead and gone as if it never existed. For some reason, Gaiman's gods have physical bodies, and can be physically killed, which seems a little (VERY) inconsistent with the whole idea of this book, but let's put that aside for now.

So the old gods (Odin, Loki, Kali, etc.) are languishing in an unbelieving modern America. New gods are rising (The Internet, TV, Media, Celebrity, Drugs) and seeking to wipe out the old.

• By the way, here is a great guide to each character and the god they represent: http://www.frowl.org/gods/gods.html

It's interesting to note that Gaiman is English and the book seems very cautionary and subtly anti-american. The old gods (mostly Norse, European, and Eastern) are shown as the wise old gods of tradition. The new American Gods are shown as immature, young, cocky, violent things. Wednesday (Odin) says "this country needs it's legends" meaning "this country is worshiping the wrong gods and forgetting about the right ones."

I'm halfway through the book. It's an interesting idea and obviously Gaiman did his homework on a huge number of myths, gods, dwarves, elves, leprechauns, and other spirits. I just don't know if he can pull it all together. It feels like he is playing WAY too lightly with big heavy ideas. I want to say he's completely out of his depth here but maybe the rest of the book will prove me wrong.

Selection for September/October

American Gods

by Neil Gaiman

"I," she told him, "can believe anything.

You have no idea what I can believe."