Thor In Giantland Essay

The story “Beowulf” is an epic poem written by an unknown author. In the story Beowulf, our protagonist, is the strongest man in the world who has to take down three monsters and faces challenges when facing two of them. In the story lof, comitatus, and wyrd is shown in the story and plays an important part of the Beowulf’s culture.

   There are so many similarities between the hero of the poem Beowulf and The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, an Iceland saga representing 1000 years of oral traditions prior to the 1300’s when it was written, that these similarities cannot be attributed solely to coincidence.

Thor is one of the most famous of the gods in Norse mythology, well known due to his popularity. Thor is described as having a quick and hot temper, and a love for food. The enemies of the gods, the giants, were on the receiving end of

Beowulf has delighted and intrigued a wide array of people for centuries. The timeless nature is visible in modern-day extensions of this epic, through heroics and battles of good versus malevolent forces. Beowulf continues to appeal to sophisticated audiences because it tells the story of a great hero prevailing over evil, a timeless theme valued by society and portrayed by his counterparts in modern media, although these new heroes display more complex qualities.

All throughout this epic, the most prominent element of religion boiled down to Christianity, followed by a few Pagan beliefs. Christianity is first introduced in Chapter 1, where the narrator speaks of Hrothgar and his men building a hall that would reach toward heaven. References of biblical verses, and praises toward God, were emphasized in order for the characters to believe and invest in a supernatural being, that would look after their safety throughout their time on earth. Others, saw God as a being to worship, in order to receive riches in return for their loyal behavior. Heaven was also seen as a place for the characters to strive for in the afterlife. Therefore, building a hall closer to the heavens in the sky was seen as impressive and created a sense of nobility for the Danes who built the hall, Herot. A biblical reference was also included, “Almighty making the Earth, shaping these beautiful planes marked off by the oceans then proudly setting the sun and moon…” This discusses the time of creation followed by the setting of the sun and moon to glow over the land God created. This piece exemplifies and recounts a time of joyfulness and appreciation for Danish lands.

The epic poem Beowulf describes the most heroic man of the Anglo-Saxon times. The hero, Beowulf, is a seemingly invincible person with all the extraordinary traits required of an Anglo Saxon hero. He is able to use his super-human physical strength and courage to put his people before himself. He encounters many monsters and horrible beasts, but he never fears the threat of death. His leadership skills are outstanding and he is even able to boast about all his achievements. Beowulf is the ultimate epic hero who risks his life countless times for glory which to him meant eternal life.

I will be doing my source analysis paper on the prologue of the Prose Edda. I’ve read this text previously in one of my humanities classes, which is why I chose this text to do my source analysis paper on. Snorri Sturluson, a Christian who wished to preserve the knowledge of the old religion of his lands, composed the Norse creation myth, Prose Edda. I found his molding of the myth into a story featuring a contest between the King and the Old Gods interesting. Kings want to be seen and known as gods to their people and become famous in their part of the world. It seems as though there were better intentions with the Old Gods, and that there was a desire to live as a good person in a good world without the desire for money and power.

The author most likely intended for Egil’s Saga to be a historical documentation of Scandinavia, its culture, and several of its inhabitants. The tale could also be seen as a folk tale, set in a realistic setting with real people, but the events are skewed and not quite right. The epic accomplishes the first possible intention through its many characters, the use known locations, and basing the majority of the tale around two individual families that would have been well known around the time it was written. However, the tale is not entirely accurate, which strengthens the idea that it was more of a folk tale.

The unknown saga-men of Icelandic Family Sagas who wrote in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries utilized a plethora of writing techniques to portray the lives of native Icelanders from roughly 930 to 1030. Throughout this period, Family Sagas progressed from choppy, scattered life stories to literary masterpieces laced with dark humor and adventure. However, sagas sometimes stray from the truth due to the saga-men’s tendencies to romanticize the past, use interstitial expansion, and edit manuscripts to fit Christian morals.

Icelandic literature has become very valuable because historians have realized the great amount of truth that can be found in each saga. According to one historian, the sagas have proven to be

While the author of Beowulf did not initially intend for the epic to become one of the most researched and foundational works in the English language, and therefore, did not go into much detail about its setting and surrounding political structures, the unnamed writer left behind important clues regarding Scandinavian and English political, economic, geographical, and societal bodies. Although not much is known about the author, it is evident through their writing, especially in the societal structure mentioned in the epic, that they were of English descent, specifically, born in the middle of seventh and end of tenth century England, according to Seamus Heaney in the introduction to his translation of Beowulf. Societal clues are the most prominent in proving this claim, as they merge Scandinavian and Old English structures, and at its most form, Beowulf is a Scandinavian tale told through an Englishman’s persepctive.

The giants hail from Jotunheim, the fire giants from Muspelheim, the elves from Alfheim, dwarves reside in Svartalfheim, the Midgard serpent resides in Midgard, and Hel herself resides in Helheim (McCoy). The most notable monsters of mythology happen to be Loki’s own children. Fenrir is depicted as a giant wolf. He was raised by the gods in order to keep him under control. The Midgard serpent is depicted as a giant snake wrapped around the Earth with its tail in its mouth. Hel is a giantess and goddess and rules over Helheim, the realm of the dead (Norse Mythology for Smart People). These three bring about Ragnarok. Ragnarok itself is known as “the Doom of the Gods” (McCoy). The end starts with the death of Baldr by Loki. After this the realms fall into chaos. Fenrir and Loki break free of their chains and giants descend on Asgard. Thor faces a tragic end going up against Jormungand, the Midgard serpent, each slaying the other. Fenrir goes on to swallow and destroy everything in his path before Odin stepped in to stop him. Odin himself though he fought valiantly was killed by Fenrir. Fenrir was then destroyed by a lesser known son of Odin’s Vidar. After the death of Odin the end came and silence of Ginnunggagap or the anti-cosmic void was once again

     There are many similarities between the hero of the poem Beowulf and the heroes of the two Icelandic sagas, The Saga of The Volsungs and The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki. The former saga is an Icelandic saga representing oral traditions dating back to the fourth and fifth centuries, when Attila the Hun was fighting on the northern fringes of the Roman Empire; the latter is an Icelandic saga representing 1000 years of oral traditions prior to the 1300’s when it was written.

The film Thor (2011) directed by Kenneth Branagh is a piece of contemporary expressive culture that draws from many various components of Norse mythology. Of the mythological characters being used, the most prominent in the film are Thor, Odin, Frigg, Sif, and Heimdall. The contemporary depictions of these characters parallel and diverge their depictions in original old Norse mythology sources in numerous ways. These original sources include but are not limited to The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson and The Poetic Edda translated by Carolyne Larrington, both being revered and treasured by scholars and Norse fans alike. The contemporary portrayals of Norse mythological characters in the film Thor took the form they did for a variety of reasons, the foremost being Judeo-Christian influence, followed by the objective to create a film that is contemporary and relatable to a wide demographic.

In mutiple times in the movie, there was reference to the Norse Gods, Odin and Thor. Stoick the Vast, leader of the village spoke it in an expression of happiness, “OH, THOR ALMIGHTY!” At another scene, Gobber, a viking warrior missing his hand and