Norse by Norsewest

Norse Mythology goes far back into the strands of my enthusiasms, though not, perhaps, as far back as Arthurian themes. The Norse had fallen into some cultural suspicion, largely because it had become associated with the Nazis, stemming from Hitler’s enthusiasm for Wagner and his famous ‘Ring Cycle.’ As Tolkien later put it in a letter: “I have in this War a burning private grudge—which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler (for the odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will). Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light.”

Well, maybe not ‘for ever.’ The ‘northern spirit’ nudged its way back into popular culture in a rather indirect way as ‘private grudges’ began to get modified, and people could start to eat ‘sauerkraut’ rather than ‘liberty cabbage’ again. It was still mostly Wagner that was referenced, and often in a mocking way (“Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!”), but even Thor could become a comic book hero without suspicion that he was a crypto-Nazi.

But discounting these rather fringe cultural references, I reckon my first ‘real’ encounter with Norse mythology was when I was in middle school, and I read The Children of Odin by Padriac Colum. Was this before or after I began reading Tolkien? I couldn’t really say. They were both part of the heady stew that was bubbling inside me, which included elements as disparate as King Arthur and Charlie Brown. But I somehow knew or sensed the connection with Tolkien’s work; at least I knew it was giving me the same vibes.

In this little ‘gathering’ I am not including works such as American Gods or The Complete Enchanter, which use Norse Mythology as a kind of ‘thickener’, an element of the story among other ingredients. And I’m not including Beowulf, which is not exactly Norse and has its own gathering. Also, though I have many more Sagas, I’m only including some of the big ones; sagas are mainly involved with human stories and not gods and mythology as such. No Northern collections of folk or fairy tales. And I have no book particularly on Wagner’s Ring Cycle, although I do have a run of the Marvel Thor comic that is basically a retelling of the same!

Thor comes to Hobbiton?