Ragnarok

Ragnarök (Ragnarok) was the doom of the gods and men, and heralded the destruction of the Nine Worlds. To the Germans, Ragnarök was called Götterdämmerung (Gotterdammerung).

Nothing will escape the coming destruction, whether you live in heaven or on earth. The war will be waged between good and evil. Those on the side of good would be the Aesir, led by Odin, ruler of the gods. Those on the side of evil would be the giants and monsters, led by Loki.

Yet the strangest thing about Ragnarök was that the gods already knew what was going to happen through a prophecy: who will be killed and by whom, who would survive, what would happen to those in the other world and so forth.

Despite, knowing their fates, the gods will still defiantly face their destiny, as brave as any hero in a saga. The Norse gods knew what was to come, and knew they could not do anything to prevent this prophecy coming to pass.

The following articles were derived from two main sources, the Poetic Edda (1250), and Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda (1222-23). The Prose Edda had more detail and was easier to understand, while Ragnarok appeared in a number of allusions from several poems of the Poetic Edda.

• Monsters Bound

• Death of Balder

• Portents of Destruction

• Final Battle

• Birth of New Age

Monsters Bound

The Aesir knew that most of them would die during Ragnarök, because their destinies were known from the prophecy. The main enemies of the Aesir were the frost giants from Jötunheim, the world of giants. However three creatures were born, and they were the signs that the doom of the gods was approaching.

To delay the coming of their doom, they decided to confine three of the most evil and powerful creatures, the offspring of Loki and the giantess Angerboda: Fenrir, Midgard Serpent and Hel.

The gods had confined Hel in the Norse Underworld known as Niflheim. Hel became the goddess of the dead. The name Niflheim and Hel were used interchangeably to describe the world of the dead (just like Hades and the Underworld were used interchangeably). Hel's control over the Underworld was more absolute than the Greek god Hades.

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The Midgard Serpent was the largest serpent in the universe. Its name was either Jörmungand (Jormungand) or Jörmungandr. The moment of its birth, the Aesir abducted Jörmungand and Fenrir. Odin threw Jörmungand into the sea. Jörmungand grew so long that its body encircled the entire world (Earth), which was why it was called the Midgard Serpent ("World Serpent").

Thor once tried to kill Jörmungand with his mighty warhammer, Mjollnir, but failed to harm the serpent. Thor immediately threw the Midgard Serpent back into the sea. Thor would later meet his death at Ragnarök, when he would succumb to the deadly venom of Jörmungand.

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Fenrir, Jörmungand's much smaller sibling, was a gigantic wolf. As a pup, it grew larger each day, at such an alarming rate that the gods feared the monster.

The Aesir told Fenrir they wanted to play a game, seeing if the wolf could break whatever material was used to bind the wolf. Fenrir was still like a playful pup, but it was not stupid enough to allow the gods to confine him. Fenrir agreed to play their game, provided that one of the gods was willing to place his or her hand in its maw, as a pledge of good will and an assurance that the gods did not really want to bind him permanently.

All of the gods feared to lose their hand, within monster's powerful jaw. Only one god was braver than the rest. Tyr, the war god, was willing to sacrifice his hand in order to bind the giant wolf. Tyr fearlessly placed his hand in Fenrir's mouth.

The Aesir found that almost nothing could confine Fenrir. No matter how strong the magic rope or chain was, Fenrir could easy break out of them. Finally a dwarf created a fetter. The fetter was called Gleipnir, and it was thinner than a silken ribbon. It was made of

'...the sound of a cat's footfall and the woman's beard and the mountain's roots and the bear's sinews and the fish's breath and bird's spittle.'

Prose Edda,
Snorri Sturluson

When they bound Fenrir with the Gleipnir, the wolf could not break free. Fenrir realised he was trapped, and closed his maw with a deafening snap. Tyr lost one of his hands. Thereafter, Tyr became known as the one-handed god.

Death of Balder

Another sign that the end of the world was coming, was the death of Balder (Baldr).

Portents of Destruction

When Ragnarök comes, winter and cold weather will last for three years, with no summer in between the winter seasons. This was known as fimbul-winter or "mighty winter", snowing from all directions.

Throughout the world, great battles would be fought; all taboos would be broken, brothers killing one another, and sons would murder their fathers too, mostly out of greed. No kinship would be sacred; adultery and incest would increase exponentially. This period would be known as the age of axes, age of swords, age of wolves and age of winds.

The two giant wolves, Skoll will swallow up sun (Sol), while Hati shall devour the moon (Moon or Mani). Stars will fall out of the heaven.

The giant worm or dragon Nidhogg that had been gnawing at one of roots of Yggdrasill (Niflheim) would succeed in eating away the root that supported Niflheim.

Loki, who was confined in a cavern and punished for his involvement with Balder's death, will escape from his imprisonment, and lead the giants, and his monstrous offspring, to destroy the gods and mankind. Fenrir will escape from his magic binding, while the Midgard Serpent named Jörmungand (Jormungand) will escape from his confinement in the sea.

Frost giants and mountain giants will leave their home in Jötunheim, and sail toward Plain of Vigrid in a ship called Naglfar; while the fire giants led by Surt will leave their fiery home of Muspelheim. Vigrid would be the field of the final battle. Vigrid is an immense plain, a hundred leagues in every direction.

Final Battle

Heimdall will warn the gods of Aesir of Ragnarök by sounding his horn Gjallahorn. It would be the sound of doom. The gods will arm themselves for the war, even though they knew that they couldn't win. All the slain heroes (Einherjar) who lived in Valhalla will accompany them. These heroes will now assist the gods in a hopeless war.

Of the Aesir gods, it was said in the Vafthrudnismal (Lay of Vafthrudnir) that Njörd will return home to Vanaheim, home of the Vanir deities.

The battlefield will be fought upon the plain of Vigrid. Freyr, without his magical sword and totally unarmed, would be the first god to fall to the fire-giant Surt's flaming sword.

The one-handed Tyr managed to kill the hellhound Garm, but Tyr was so severely wounded that he died shortly after the hound. The contest between Loki and Heimdall was so evenly matched that both died from the other's weapon.

The thunder-god Thor smashed the Midgard Serpent to death with his mighty Mjollnir, but the conflict exacted a heavy toll on the god. Thor will succumb from the searing venom of Jörmungand (the Midgard Serpent).

Odin fought with his mighty spear Gungnir against the monstrous wolf Fenrir. Eventually, Odin fell, devoured by Fenrir. Silent Vidar, seeing his father fall to the giant wolf, bound upon Fenrir and tore the wolf's jaws apart with his bare hands.

Surt then set the world ablaze with his flaming sword. None of the nine worlds escaped from the fire. The earth tried to sink into the sea to avoid the scorching heat. Gods and men, giants and dwarves will all perish in the fire - fire that reaches high as heaven. The sun will darken and the stars will vanish from heaven.

Birth of New Age

Well, not all life will cease to exist. Okay, I was wrong about all the gods dying in the final battle. So I went overboard describing Ragnarök. Give me a break will you.

With Ragnarök ended, new life began as the earth rose from the sea. The earth would be green and fertile. A new sun would rise and travel across the sky; the chariot would be driven by the daughter of Sol or Alfrodul ("Sun").

Not everything was destroyed after Ragnarok. The Gimle continued to exist. It was a place of plenty food and drink. Gimle was described as the Norse heaven. There are two other heavens. Other pleasure can be found in Brimir, a hall made out of red gold, and situated in Nidafioll. The third heaven is Sindri, the abode for good and virtuous men.

Vili (or Hoenir as he was often known as) and many of the younger gods who took part in the war, survived. Vidar and Vali, the two sons of Odin, survived Ragnarok, as did the two sons of Thor, Modi and Magni, who would wield Mjollnir, their father's mighty hammer.

According to the Valfthrudnismal (Lay of Valfthrudnir) from Poetic Edda, the giant Valfthrudnir says that on the day of Ragnarok, Njörd returned to his original home in Vanaheim. This is only place to suggest the fate of Njörd, that he may survive the twilight of the gods, and that Vanaheim possibly would survive with him, the conflagration of heaven and earth.

None of the goddesses were mentioned in various accounts of Ragnarok, except Sol (Sun) swallowed by the giant wolf Garm before the battle, but there is an assumption that Frigg, Freyja and the other goddesses survived.

Balder, the dead god of beauty, and his blind brother Hod, will be reborn in the New Age.

Two mortals, Lif and Lifthrasir, escaped the destruction of Ragnarök, because they had hid themselves at Hoddmimir's wood (Hoddmimir was probably a giant); they will repopulate Midgard.

A new era had come where the gods and men will live in peace, with no wickedness and abundant of food.

In reality, an impossible dream and an unachievable paradise.

Related Pages

• Norse Creation

• Search for Wisdom

Fact and Figures

• The Norse Way