While the Mimisbrunnr.info project primarily focuses on approaching the historic record associated with ancient speakers of Germanic languages, we now and then also touch on modern topics, including contemporary symbols inspired by the ancient Germanic record. In this entry, we take a hard look at symbols used (or mistakenly thought to have been used) by Nazi Germany and related contemporary groups.
Read MoreOur first Godshapes entry focuses on a lesser known figure, one of the most difficult figures in the corpus to conceptualize: a god by the name of Hœnir. Hœnir’s case is a curious one. In the body of Old Norse narratives that come down to us today, the god generally lurks in the shadows, a quiet companion to other gods. While the record strongly implies that Hœnir was an important figure, what we are told seems cryptic and obtuse and lacks the clarity to confidently place his characteristics in context.
Read MoreOn this day in 1785, Jacob Grimm was born in Hanau, Germany. While today Jacob and his brother Wilhelm are best known for the highly successful—and widely varying—editions of their folktale retellings, their work played a crucial role in the development of a variety of academic fields, ranging from folkloristics to philology and well beyond.
Read MoreThis marks the third installment of JH Roberts's regular column Popular Resonances. Popular Resonances examines references to ancient Germanic culture and Germanic mythology in modern popular culture as it happens. For more information on the feature, please see Roberts's introductory post here. This installment includes Thor: Ragnarok, Jotun: Valhalla Edition, Great Whale Road game, The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo, and much more.
Read MoreIn the seventh interview of Mimisbrunnr.info's Six Questions series, we interview Odinson, an American strength athlete and professional wrestler inspired by Germanic and Norse mythology. Odinson's character is a mixture of traditional, Marvel, and Mad Max: Fury Road Norse elements.
Read MoreAlvíss and Þrúðr by Lorenz Frølich, 1895. Wikimedia Commons.
American Gods is a novel by author Neil Gaiman. As the title suggests, the characters are mostly gods, but from many different pantheons (it is pan-pantheistic, if you will). The characters include several Germanic deities and figures, appearing in their American manifestations: Thor, Loki, Odin, Eostre, Alviss, the Norns, Yggdrasil, and Ratatoskr.
These gods are American because they live in the minds of people who traveled to America; from their minds, the gods took root and grew into American manifestations; as such, we see both the American and Icelandic manifestations of Odin in the novel.
Gaiman's conception of national deities resembles recent work by scholars such as Eric O. Scott, in that there is not a static manifestation of “Odin,” but rather different versions in Iceland and Norway.[i] Additionally, Gaiman’s conception of these gods as “American” allows him to use them in ways that might be offensive if the gods were their traditional manifestations. From the postcolonial perspective, however, this conception of America as a static entity, even in eras well before current borders were established, is problematic. Canada must be included as “America,” as Odin arrived in Canada, and then became American. It is unclear, however, if Mexico or any countries further south are American.
As a popular manifestation of Old Norse myth, Gaiman provides an interesting take on these characters, as well as the evolution of religious traditions through the ages. His reflections on the waning influence of pagan deities in the modern age are apt, and some specific details he includes (such as Loki's scarred lips), show he is very familiar with the source material.
[i] Scott, Eric O. “Pagan Sympathy as Political Resistance in Two Sagas of Icelanders.” Presented at the 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, 2016
Popular Resonances is a new feature here at Mimisbrunnr.info overseen by myself, JH Roberts. Popular Resonances explores manifestations of ancient Germanic myth and history in popular culture.
I call these instances "resonances" following Wai Chee Dimock's definition of literary resonances: "frequencies received and amplified across time, moving farther and farther from their points of origin, causing unexpected vibrations in unexpected places" (1061).
The "unexpected places" include books, comic books, movies, video games, music, television, and sometimes even professional wrestling – I hope to find as many manifestations of Germanic myth as possible. This feature will include monthly reports and occasional Throwback Thursday features.
Please send any resonances you come across to jhrobert [AT] uga [DOT] edu.
NOTE: I won't talk much about Marvel's Thor comic series, as a simple report of "there was another issue of Thor this month" would not be very interesting.
References
* Dimock, Wai Chee. "A Theory of Resonance." PMLA 112.5 (1997): 1060-071. Web.