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Norse Gods
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Norse Gods
EliseKRasha > June 26th, 2019, 02:13 PM
I find the Norse gods to be a fascinating subject. I've done a tad bit of delving over the years (thank you, Marvel, for sparking that particular love), and I have found that, when it comes to writing, they can be quite talkative! I have books in the works that feature various Norse gods because of that, and, yes, Loki likes to pop up in almost everything I write. He's certainly his own muse! -
RE: Norse Gods
Michael > July 13th, 2019, 12:08 PM
Norse mythology was one of my favorite subjects when growing up. Not sure what drew me to it. I remember reading "Beowulf" on a filmstrip book when I was in the 4th grade. I am pretty sure there was also a filmstrip book about Thor's adventure in Jotunheim. Although "Beowulf" is not a Norse story (and I did not know this at the time), it comes from the same northern culture as the Norse myths. The Norse myths were mostly preserved in Icelandic literature but we have found many remnants of ancient dedications to the Norse deities across Europe. They and their Germanic cousins carried their beliefs far and wide.
The sense of adventure in the old stories may be what kept them alive for so long. Like "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey", the stories were entertaining and more exciting than mere mundane adventures. They were larger than life stories.
For that reason I think they'll continue to be a source of inspiration for story-telling for many generations to come. -
RE: Norse Gods
EliseKRasha > July 13th, 2019, 07:42 PM
I've come to understand that "Beowulf" is of Norse origin. There are definitely some strong ties to the culture at least, as you've noted. I'm just thinking of the animated feature they did where Anthony Hopkins voiced the king who sent for warriors to slay Grendel. They reference Odin. Even one of the older poem pieces I've found makes a reference to Odin. I know "Beowulf" gets credited as being a piece of English literature as they were the first ones to actually record it. -
RE: Norse Gods
Michael > July 18th, 2019, 01:42 AM
I'm not sure the scholars would quite agree with "Norse", although I haven't read recent literature. "Beowulf" dates from a time when the northern peoples (Scandinavians and Germans) spoke dialects of the same Germanic language, not separate languages. There was a phonetic shift that occurred (if memory serves me) sometime in the 600s-700s, and that resulted in the Scandinavian languages breaking off from the Germanic languages. They then came back to influence English, helping to pull it away from other Germanic languages (although English is still considered a Germanic language).
So, allowing for the possibility that current linguistic theory has changed since I last reviewed it, I would say (on the basis of my somewhat dated knowledge) that "Beowulf" is a Northern European composition, dating from a time when there was essentially one "common" language in the northern world. There are a few other poems (much shorter) from the same period that, like "Beowulf", would have been heard in the same form and language in Angle-land, Dane-land, Scandia, etc. Two names that come to mind are "Widsith" and "The Wanderer" but there are a few others. -
RE: Norse Gods
august > July 18th, 2019, 01:34 PM
Yep, I've just always considered it to be an Old English poem/epic, based on myths and folk tales from earlier Nordic/northern European traditions. So like if I wrote my own version of Pinocchio, and retained all the Italian names and settings and references, kept the same plotline, but wrote it in contemporary American English - it would seem like a new American story, but also an old Italian one. -
RE: Norse Gods
EliseKRasha > July 18th, 2019, 02:48 PM
(July 18th, 2019, 01:42 AM)Michael Wrote: I'm not sure the scholars would quite agree with "Norse", although I haven't read recent literature. "Beowulf" dates from a time when the northern peoples (Scandinavians and Germans) spoke dialects of the same Germanic language, not separate languages. There was a phonetic shift that occurred (if memory serves me) sometime in the 600s-700s, and that resulted in the Scandinavian languages breaking off from the Germanic languages. They then came back to influence English, helping to pull it away from other Germanic languages (although English is still considered a Germanic language).
So, allowing for the possibility that current linguistic theory has changed since I last reviewed it, I would say (on the basis of my somewhat dated knowledge) that "Beowulf" is a Northern European composition, dating from a time when there was essentially one "common" language in the northern world. There are a few other poems (much shorter) from the same period that, like "Beowulf", would have been heard in the same form and language in Angle-land, Dane-land, Scandia, etc. Two names that come to mind are "Widsith" and "The Wanderer" but there are a few others.
I'm not sure when that particular feature was released, the one with Anthony Hopkins lending his voice. I'm simply going by a movie and something else that I prefer to keep to myself.
Beowulf does make for an interesting discussion, to be sure.
(July 18th, 2019, 01:34 PM)august Wrote: Yep, I've just always considered it to be an Old English poem/epic, based on myths and folk tales from earlier Nordic/northern European traditions. So like if I wrote my own version of Pinocchio, and retailed all the Italian names and settings and references, kept the same plotline, but wrote it in contemporary American English - it would seem like a new American story, but also an old Italian one.
If you did that, that would be so awesome.
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RE: Norse Gods
august > July 19th, 2019, 08:16 AM
Interestingly, I haven't, but I've seen some people who did! -
RE: Norse Gods
badlands > January 3rd, 2020, 06:58 PM
I always thought of it being from a tribe called Danes. Most of it was written by a monk’s point of view. -
RE: Norse Gods
august > January 5th, 2020, 03:04 AM
ummm.... I don't recall any monk characters. I think it's from a sort of limited omniscient point of view. But no, it's about adventures in a kingdom of people called Danes. -
RE: Norse Gods
EliseKRasha > January 5th, 2020, 01:34 PM
(January 5th, 2020, 03:04 AM)august Wrote: ummm.... I don't recall any monk characters. I think it's from a sort of limited omniscient point of view. But no, it's about adventures in a kingdom of people called Danes.
I don't recall any monk characters, either. It might have been a monk who translated it into the English language, thus preserving it, but no monks in the actual story itself.
I wonder how the original, pre-Christian narrative reads. -
RE: Norse Gods
Michael > January 6th, 2020, 02:27 PM
(January 5th, 2020, 03:04 AM)august Wrote: ummm.... I don't recall any monk characters. I think it's from a sort of limited omniscient point of view. But no, it's about adventures in a kingdom of people called Danes.
Perhaps badlands was referring to the theory that "Beowulf" was rewritten or heavily edited to include Christian ideas. Contemporary scoholarship seems to agree that the story we have today passed through at least one revision.
And we don't even know if we have the final version of the tale. That could have been lost. -
RE: Norse Gods
august > January 6th, 2020, 10:40 PM
Yep, just about anyone literate enough to transcribe and copy the story would have been a monk or priest.
It's been so long though since I've read it - are there some specific Christian motifs hidden in there?