Focused Aim

I was watching some History channel the other night and they were doing one of their end of the world specials. One of their topics was Ragnarok. Ragnarok means “final destiny of the gods”. It is a Cataclysmic series of events with a great battle resulting in the death of Odin, Thor, Freyr, Heimdall and Jotunn Loki. Other events include major changes in the environment and a re-birthing of a fertile new world.

Does this sound familiar to you? Sounds exactly like Cataclysm to me. It seems that Blizzard is directly copying Norse Mythology.This should not be a surprise as many popular outlets use this story line to their advantage. It is popular in many books evolving elves and dwarves including “The Lord of the Rings”. It is also prevalent in heavy metal lyrics.

Ragnarok is referenced in the poetic Edda poem Völuspá from stanzas 40-58.

Excerpt:

It sates itself on the life-blood

of fated men,

paints red the powers’ homes

with crimson gore.

Black become the sun’s beams

in the summers that follow,

weathers all treacherous.

Do you still seek to know? And what?

Check it out for yourself. The complete poem is found here. This shows the events leading up to the battle and the aftermath. While reading and translating take a listen to this. This is “Eddan – the invincible sword of the elf-smith”. It’s a chronological reconstruction of the myths. Basically a road map of everywhere we have been and where we will end up in a grand symphonic suite. I would not recommend listening to the entire suite in one sitting as it is a bit long… 16 hours. Great music for work or grinding tho.