Talk:Norse mythology in popular culture

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Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): McDanielMuzeyyen, SkylarEmery.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 05:23, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Purge

I'm removing some entries that seem to be insufficiently motivated or beyond the proper bounds of this article. Hopefully the decruftifying will help keep this article from being deleted. RandomCritic 13:30, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

• The Germanic gods have left many traces in modern vocabulary. An example of this is some of the names of the days of the week: modelled after the names of the days of the week in Latin (named after Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn), the names for Tuesday through to Friday were replaced with Germanic equivalents of the Roman gods. In English and Dutch, Saturn was not replaced, while Saturday is named after the sabbath in German, and is called "washing day" in Scandinavia.

This doesn't relate particularly to Norse mythology; these names were in use in English (with reference to parallel Anglo-Saxon gods) long before they had contact with the Norse or Danes.

• J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings was admitted by its author to be heavily influenced by the myths of the Northern Europeans. As that work became popular, elements of its fantasy world moved steadily into popular perceptions of the fantasy genre. In nearly any modern fantasy novel today can be found such Norse creatures as elves, dwarves, and frost giants.

Actually, there is no such "admission". Direct influence is pretty much limited to dwarf-names in The Hobbit; there are some vague allusions to other incidents, such as Sigurd and Fafnir, but these are too remote to qualify as references to "Norse mythology".

• In The Fire emblem game the sacred stones, the legendary weapons acquired throughout the course of the game are named after Norse objects or creatures (e.g.: Nidhogg, Vidofnir)
• Capcom's Mega Man series, Mega Man Zero, makes many references to Norse mythology and has characters and objects named after some Norse beasts and Gods.
• Namco's Tales of Symphonia game features a number of Norse Mythology references, including the name of the main antagonist, Mithos Yggdrasill.

If these are just uses of the names, but don't actually refer to Norse gods and heroes or episodes in the mythology as such (that is, just the name but not the character is borrowed), the connection is probably too remote.

• A number of references to Norse mythology occur in the first Max Payne game; a drug Valkyr, a nightclub Ragna Rock, buildings known as the Aesir Plaza and Asgard, a major character Alfred Woden, a mysterious Project Valhalla, and the computer network Yggdrasil.

Here it's clear that only the names are being used, not the mythology itself.

• The video game series Final Fantasy, particularly Final Fantasy VII use a number of references to Norse Mythology, primarily alternatively spelled versions of figures from the pantheon and related myths. These include the cities Midgar and Nibelheim, names of monsters such as Skoll, Nidhogg or Midgar Zolom, or the airship Ragnarok from Final Fantasy VIII. Also, in Final Fantasy V, you learn 18 spells for Black, White, and Time magic, as Odin learned 18 spells.
• The Breath of Fire video game series contains a few references to Norse mythology, most notably Yggdrasil in Breath of Fire III.
• The Creatures series of computer games borrows several names from Norse mythology. The most prominent are the three kinds of creatures you can raise, the Norns, Grendels and Ettins.
• The Zerg Broods in StarCraft are named after various Norse mythological monsters.
• The Boktai series uses names of Norse Gods for the names of the Immortals; the main enemy of the series.
• Namco's Ace Combat series has many aircraft and objects named after Norse mythology. Ace Combat 5 has two submarines named the Hrimfaxi and Scinfaxi. Ace Combat X has two aircraft named the Gliepnir and Fenrir plus a medal called the Mark of Voairr.
• The PlayStation 2 game Odin Sphere has some themes of Norse mythology apparent in the game, such as the god Odin and valkyries.

Again, the associations are too remote to meet the criteria implied by the article name.

• The Ragnarok Online universe is full of Norse mythology references.
• The Norse are a playable faction in Ensemble Studio's Age of Mythology.
• Warriors 2 is an online game loosely based on Norse mythology.
• The Xbox 360 game Too Human has heavy Norse influences
• World Of Warcraft has a lot in common with Norse mythology

These references are so vague they couldn't even be included under the broadest possible criteria for this list.

• Robert E. Howard borrowed extensively from Norse mythology in his many fantasy works, his best known creation being Conan the Barbarian, a fictional Cimmerian mercenary hero of numerous short stories and a novel.

There are some minimal references to Norse mythology in the Conan works (e.g. calling human realms "Asgard" and "Vanaheim") but these are more in the nature of borrowing specific names than elements from the mythology.

• J. R. R. Tolkien, in his fantasy works The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, also drew from Norse mythology.

Addressed above.

• From the same series, a collection of unnamed minor deities whose description is reminiscent of the Norse Pantheon makes an appearance at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

Too vague for inclusion.

• The name of Fenrir Greyback, the murderous werewolf in the Harry Potter novels is derived from Fenrir. Fenrir is the wolf who, according to Norse mythology, will devour Odin during Ragnarök - the end of the world.

But the werewolf is not supposed to be the same as the mythological wolf, is he?

• Gene Wolfe's The Wizard Knight is heavily influenced by Norse myth, in both the setting and the tone. There are elements of the Norse cosmology, giants much like the Jotun, and deific creatures that resemble the Æsir.

Too vague an association, depending upon a sense of "resemblance"

A.S. Byatt's Possession: A Romance includes passages form the ficticious R. H. Ash's poetry which includes an epic poem title Ragnarok.

Just the use of a name.

• Other authors drawing from Norse mythology include:
  • Robert Jordan
  • Terry Brooks
  • Raymond Feist
  • David Eddings
  • Tad Williams
  • Mickey Zucker Reichert
  • Christopher Paolini
  • Edith Pattou
  • Harry Harrison
  • Mark Anthony

Unsuitable unless specific references are adduced.

• • Kresley Cole, her Immortals After Dark series includes many creatures from Norse Myths most noticeably the main characters of most of the books are Valkyries
  • Jim Butcher, a continuing side character in the early Dresden Books is revealed to be a Valkyrie and later the main character is introduced to Odin and other characters from Norse Myth — Preceding unsigned comment added by DangerousBeauty08 (talk • contribs) 22:30, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

• The new Battlestar Galactica series, as part of the polytheistic religion of the human characters, the Colonials, combine Olympian and Roman mythology with several Norse references, such as a ship named Valkyrie and a last stand for its Colonial Fleet at the planet of Ragnar, a reference to Ragnarok.

Too remote a connection.

• The TV series Stargate SG-1 borrows parts of Norse mythology for the Asgard aliens, a benevolent race who protected humanity. To hide their alien existence, the Asgard seeded the Norse mythology into human culture, giving god and demi-god roles to many of their prominent figures. Thor, a member of the Asgard High Council, is a regularly returning character on the show.

Just name-borrowing.

Not at all, the entire religion is implemented, with a society that follows it, and a priestess of Thor who is in several episodes. It's just "revealed" that the religion was created by aliens.

• The anime series Soukyuu no Fafner has many references to Nordic/Germanic mythology.

This is a generic giant robot anime, no real connection to the mythology.

• The classic anime, Saint Seiya, devoted an entire arc to Norse mythologies. New characters were created based on the folklore of Norse mythologies, such as the Valkyrie Hilda, the giant Thor, and Siegfried himself.

The characters and their traits or myths don't seem to be borrowed, just the names.

• An anime called Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, also has many Norse influences. The main character happens to be Loki. Most of the Norse gods appear in each episode.

This is a duplicate of another included entry.

• In the 20th episode of the first season of the show Metalocalypse, Skwisgaar Skwigelf referred to the name of Odin with the sentence "What in the fucking names of Odin?!". Skwigelf also references Valhalla in the sentence "I will sees you in Valhalska."

Too remote a connection.

What are you talking about man? they are all still reference's to norse mythology! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.192.38.130 (talk) 22:38, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. One person's opinion has reduced this article to nearly a stub, and a lot of the "reasons" given are based on not knowing the show/comic/cartoon/etc in question, and as such not knowing how wide the reference is. I'd suggest restoring it and possibly pruning the list a bit, but not ripping it apart. Tales 17:37, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

The purge was ridiculous, especially removing the Tolkien sections. 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of The Rings' are two of the most famous works of literature that take inspiration from, and indead reference Norse Mythology. We have the names of the names of the Dwarves, some 'powers' from the world such as Yngwe (obviously derived from the Norse 'Ingve' also known as Frey). The plot of the wyrm (Smaug)leaving his home and rampaging through Lake Town was inspired by the Anglo-Saxon poem 'Beowulf' which is strongly connected to Norse Mythology in itself and is from the common Teutonic Faith of old. Tolkien did in fact admit that his works drew inspiration from amongst other things Norse Mythology...RandomCritic obviously knows little of the subjects here and thus removed them. Some of the other removed bits should be put back forewith! I shall add some back into the article! - Sigurd —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.154.188.201 (talk) 15:43, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

I definitely believe that the "Tales" series of games should be mentioned, especially since a piece of armour in Halo in mentioned.. I mean come on. I could name many things from the Tales series that relate to Norse Mythology. Yggdrasil (character + location), Midgar, Asgard, Thor, Heimdall, Niflheim, all appear as locations (and more I'm sure). As well as Valkyries and references to Odin. SuperLink9 (talk) 13:27, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Armageddon =/= Ragnarök

"The game depicts many aspects of Norse mythology, such as the Armageddon - standing for the Ragnarök" - Okay, yes, Armageddon and Ragnarök both involve the end of the world, but one is Christian, the other Norse. I don't se how one can "stand for" the other unless they're used as synonyms in the game. And this: "the Aesir and the Vanir (Valkyries and Fairies) fighting over the control of the land": Are all four terms (aesir, vanir, valkyries and fairies) used? Because Aesir and Vanir are not equivalent to valkyries and fairies in the mythology... Checked the main article on the game, but I can find neither aesir nor vanir there. Hoping someone can clear this up for me. Tales (talk) 10:28, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

D&D reference

D&D's under the video games section, which is completely inaccurate. I'm not sure what a proper category would be, so I'll leave it up to your august expertise. Also, it might be worth specifically mentioning Tyr- he's been in for longer than the specific Norse pantheon and he's not identical to the Norse god of the same name (but definitely based on him). MorkaisChosen (talk) 12:50, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

@Morkaischosen: Long time to deal with that: For lack of something better I have moved it to "in other media" and expanded and sourced it. I'll leave it to others to deal with the question of Tyr. Daranios (talk) 14:24, 22 September 2023 (UTC)

Film Industry

The Norse Mythology is present in some of the largest grossing films in history. The film industry has tapped into the stories from this mythology to sell and entertain people all over the world. Comic companies’ step into the film industry has made these stories an even bigger attraction than ever before. They have built their own universe based off the many mythological stories passed down or written in previous texts to create their own story. In these cases, they did not stay in accordance with all the truth when telling these stories. They did veer off the path and create their own way to be able to reach the interest of the public. Even though their stories differ and didn’t stay to the exact depictions passed down via word of mouth or literature this has not detracted from their sales and the public’s interest.

An example is Marvel changed many of its characters to conform to what they believed would be more marketable to the public. Some of the key differences would be the language and the hair color, such as Thor being blonde haired and not red haired. Marvel has also created their own story lines for these characters that never truly happened or ever was told to have happened. This is mainly due to the fact that they have taken the mythological stories and expanded on them to create their fictional universe. Marvel has been very successful and have actually added to the public’s interest in the Norse mythology, which can either have people believe what Marvel presents is truth or will have them research into the actually Norse Mythology history.There is alot more to the norse mythology. As the stories survive in the written record, these present the gods as very complicated individuals. Reducing each of them to a single epithet (“god of thunder,” for example) really oversimplifies the history of the Norse Gods. In fact it dilutes the truth and creates false versions of the history of the Gods and the culture built upon these myths. — Preceding unsigned comment added by McDanielMuzeyyen (talk • contribs) 20:34, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

References

white supremacy influence section request

I noticed Norse mythology has influenced White Supremacists. I think this topic needs to be included in the article as its own section and could appropriately be titled "Influence on White Supremacy". For instance, the mass shooter/murderer in New Zealand on 3/15/19 wrote, “…if I don't survive the attack, goodbye, godbless and I will see you all in Valhalla!” The first link I have provided as a reference shows this quote.

I think denying this information a place on the article would reflect a bias. Can anyone help develop a section on the article?

2600:1700:7A51:10B0:B1ED:B440:CA68:E8D9 (talk) 16:36, 24 March 2019 (UTC)

References