Norse Myth | The Tale About Ragnarok

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Ragnarok is the cataclysmic destruction of the and everything in it – even the meet them and face death like heroes. The sun will be darkened, the stars will vanish, and the earth will sink into the sea.. The Ragnarök will be preceded by cruel winters and . Giants and demons approaching from all points of the compass will attack the gods, who will meet them and face death like heroes. The sun will be darkened, the stars will vanish, and the earth will sink into the sea.Afterward, the earth will rise again, the innocent will return from the dead, and the hosts of the just will live in a hall roofed with gold.

allows a number of imprisoned bad guys to roam free, according to norse-mythology.org. Loki's sons, the beasts known as the Midgard Serpent and the giant wolf Fenrir, break free. They start wreaking havoc and causing natural disasters all over the world. The ship known as Naglfar, which is made of the fingernails of the dead and contains giants led by Hrym, breaks free from its hold and ferries this army to shore. Loki, imprisoned by the other gods, also breaks free and leads an army of undead from Hel, looking for revenge. The sky then opens up and Surtr, the fire giant upon whom Surtur is based, invades with his flaming sword, leading his own army. These beasts and armies meet up and charge to Asgard across the bifrost, breaking it, and causing Heimdall to blow his horn and wake the gods, calling them to battle. Then, pretty much everyone dies.

WHAT HAPPENED IN RAGNAROK?

When wolves swallowed Sun and Moon, Midgard turned into a mess, the murder of God Baldur took place, Ragnarok was looming large. Norse Trickster and Wolf set themselves free and set off revenging the gods in Asgard. They summoned the Jotun army and had Hel's people with their side as well. Jormungand Midgard Serpent raised from the ocean and started to poison the sky with its venomous breath.

Odin the Allfather led the army of the gods. He encountered Wolf Fenrir in his last battle. But like the prophecy had foretold, Fenrir was to kill Odin in Ragnarok and he did. Fenrir swallowed the god Odin. A son of Odin, , managed to take revenge on his father's killer. Thor and Jormungandr slew each other and so did and Loki.

God Freyr without the help of his magical sword was slain by giant Surtr who then set the whole world on fire with his fire sword. Not many Norse gods survived the Ragnarok Doom of Gods. Odin himself knew this tragedy. Prior to the battle, he told his people that Gods might fall but they would fight till their last breath to slay the evil because they never allowed the evil spirits to live after them.

WHAT HAPPENED AFTER RAGNAROK?

Not all beings in the cosmos passed away in Ragnarok. There were survivors, of course. The world once engulfed in the darkness was now enlightened by the new sun. The sunlight penetrated through the leaves, spraying the cosmos with happy light. The sunlight awakened the two humans. These two humans made it through Ragnarok by hiding in the hole of Yggdrasil tree. They now stepped out and repopulated the world. They had children and their children gave birth to new generations.

There were gods who survived Ragnarok as well. Odin's brothers – Hoenir, Odin's sons – Vidar, Thor's kids – Modi and Magni were some of them. Thor's children, Modi and Magni, inherited their father's powerful weapon, the Mjolnir hammer. Other sons of Odin, Baldur, who was killed before the days of Ragnarok revived and guided his blind twin brother Hodr out of Helheim land of the dead. They assembled and told each other about tales of gods and what they knew about Ragnarok. Then the runes, holding the destiny of all beings within themselves, told the gods the place where the fire of giant Surtr did not touch. It was the place of Gimle, a heaven above Asgard. Some accounts depicted Gimle as a Holy Mountain with golden halls. And this place would welcome the righteous only after Ragnarok.

There came another glorious period of Norse gods as we can assume. The surviving materials we have today do not exactly tell what happened next. But we know that gods survived and the pantheon did not collapse. Humanity did not completely disappear and the world was full of sunlight again.

The results of battles:

Freyr vs Surtr: Freyr was unarmed, and he was killed by Surtr

Odin vs Fenrir: Odin was swallowed by Fenrir.

Víðarr vs Fenrir: Fenrir was slain following his battle with Odin

Thor vs Jormungandr: Both slew each other

Tyr vs Garm: Both slew each other

Heimdall vs Loki: Both inflicted fatal wounds on each other, but Loki refused to die until he saw the destruction of the worlds

FACTS OF RAGNAROK

The Viking's didn't believe that Ragnarok was an actual "end of times" but rather a rebirth of the world. What's more, it shows that the actions of everyone in the present affect the past, thus changing the present again in an endless and ever-changing cycle of destruction and rebirth.

The first sign of Ragnarok was the death of their beloved god Baldur at the hands of Loki.

The Second sign of Ragnarok was to present itself in the form of a severe winter, which would last for three continuous years without any summers in between known as Fimbulvetr (The Great Winter)

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