Ragnarok
Published: Thu, 12/20/12
Scott, writing on the Runic Tradition group set off some discussion
on the theme of Ragnarok. It is just before 7am here I have about
half an hour before we have to get ready for a removal van to
collect my Mother's furniture as she is moving today. Anyway,
what is the significance of Ragnarok? The gods die in battle with
Loki and the forces of chaos and destruction. In particular Odin
is swallowed by the Fenris wolf and only Vidar survives having
destroyed the wolf by wrenching its jaws apart. Does that mean
Odin survives and is released? It doesn't say so, I think the
implication is more that the evil threat is opened up to view by
someone being prepared to literally step into the jaws of death and
open them up. Only Vidar can do this for three reasons, firstly he
is immensely strong, secondly he is blameless himself and thirdly
he is equipped for the task with a special boot which enables him
to step on the bottom jaw and force it down.
One way of seeing Ragnarok is as the crunch point when all the
mistakes, compromises and easy options that we are always tempted
to make come back to collect with interest. In the mythology Loki
provides opportunities which seem to be too good to miss but have
to be paid for later. The rebuilding of the walls of Asgard is
achieved by making a false deal with the giant mason, Loki
convinces the rest of the gods that they can get the job done for
nothing and Thor kills the giant when he is angry at being tricked.
Another mistake is bringing the Fenris wolf to Asgard at all with
serious consequences for Tyr and if you go through the stories you
can see plenty of other examples.
We are facing our own versions of Raganarok personally all the
time, the sooner we confront the situation, pay the price needed
then the sooner we can move on with our lives. The longer we are
in denial about problems the bigger will be the cost of resolving
them. But even then dealing with our own personal Ragnoroks is
just practice for becoming stronger and more aware people. We have
to be aware of our wider society and the extent to which it faces
Ragnarok on a massive scale and presents a risk to all of us. The
financial crisis is one example and senseless violence as we saw
last week in Connecticut is another. It gets tempting to just
accept another government solution to the problem, print more
money, ban assault weapons and then something has been done so it
is all okay. Ragnarok suggests that it isn't that easy, the
cost of compromises and mistakes doesn't just go away with
another gesture, it needs to be really faced up to and a full price
paid. It also means looking deep into the wolf and seeing what one
is really dealing with.
For ourselves we need to learn from Vidar and cultivate our
strength and vitality, be genuinely honest and virtuous and be
equipped to engage with the wolf in all its forms.