Weeks 1-3: Dragon Slayers
1. What genres do the following texts belong to, and how do their intended period contexts, purposes, and intended audiences differ?
Voluspa, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Remember to give some examples from these texts that support your identification (for example: "Voluspa is an example of the _____ genre, as the following references to gods from the poem illustrate: "Hear my words / you holy gods' (l.1) "By Odin's Will I'll speak the ancient lore" (l.3), etc).
2. What are some possible features of residual (or "secondary") orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances?
3. Identify a central incident that happens in at least four of the above texts, and discuss how it is both similar and different in each example (remember to cite from the original texts).
4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings fantasy novels? Provide some concrete examples.
5. Discuss how Tolkien's use of "tradition" (e.g. older literary sources) differs from the techniques and agendas of modernism (see Week 7 in your Reader).
6. Identify some recent films, TV shows and/or games which have brought back some of the old gods and heroes from obscurity. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
7. How does the film Beowulf and Grendel "problematise" the hero-myth of Beowulf ? [Subject to viewing]
8. Discuss what you think any of these texts desire (in the sense of their intention, how they wish to be received, what pleasures they offer, etc).
Voluspa, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Remember to give some examples from these texts that support your identification (for example: "Voluspa is an example of the _____ genre, as the following references to gods from the poem illustrate: "Hear my words / you holy gods' (l.1) "By Odin's Will I'll speak the ancient lore" (l.3), etc).
2. What are some possible features of residual (or "secondary") orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances?
3. Identify a central incident that happens in at least four of the above texts, and discuss how it is both similar and different in each example (remember to cite from the original texts).
4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings fantasy novels? Provide some concrete examples.
5. Discuss how Tolkien's use of "tradition" (e.g. older literary sources) differs from the techniques and agendas of modernism (see Week 7 in your Reader).
6. Identify some recent films, TV shows and/or games which have brought back some of the old gods and heroes from obscurity. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
7. How does the film Beowulf and Grendel "problematise" the hero-myth of Beowulf ? [Subject to viewing]
8. Discuss what you think any of these texts desire (in the sense of their intention, how they wish to be received, what pleasures they offer, etc).
All four of the texts contain a central incident of a hero, or protagonist, fighting against monster(s) with varying degrees of success.
ReplyDeleteIn Tolkein’s The Hobbit, the hero Bard rallies the population of Dale to fight against the dragon Smaug, “cheering on the archers and urging the Master to order them to fight” (p. 27). The outcome looks bleak until the hero gets advice from a magical source, ‘an old thrush… perched by his ear and it brought him news’ (p.28). Whereon the dragon is slain but the town is left in ruins.
In Beowulf the hero Beowulf sets off to fight against ‘a dragon on the prowl’ (p.4) which is worrying the countryside, ‘threatening the night sky with streamers of fire’ (p.5). While the dragon is not fought in the extract, Beowulf eventually defeats the dragon but receives a mortal wound in the process.
In Voluspa in the description of the end of the world, the hero ‘Far-famed Thor, the son of Earth, the son of Odin, goes forth to fight the Snake’ (p.3). He defeats the monster but in the process, the Earth or Midgard is destroyed, ‘but the human race no longer has a home’ (p.3).
In Volsunga the hero Sigurd, sets out to fight the drake Fafnir. He receives advice from a magical source, ‘there came to him an old man with a long beard’ (p.9) to help him win the fight. Although in the process reveals his true name.
In all four texts, a dragon is fought by a hero. In all four the situation after the fight is not necessarily a success. The town is destroyed, the hero is poisoned and will die, Sigurd has disclosed his true name, and humanity has lost its home. Whereas, both Bard and Sigurd receive advice that turns the battle, Bard from a magical thrush, and Sigurd from Odin disguised as an old man, in the other two texts the heroes do not rely on outside aid to slay the dragon.
I also wanted to note that The Hobbit differs from the other three texts wherein all the heroes die after slaying the dragon and although in The Hobbit the town is left in ruins, the hero does not die. I believe it is not only from outside aid of knowledge but also from the communal slaying and not simply an act of stubbornness to defeat the dragon alone for fame and glory often found in Old Norse texts
Delete8.) Discuss what you think any of these texts desire (in the sense of their intention, how they wish to be received, what pleasures they offer, etc).
ReplyDeleteEvery text that has ever being written in one form or another has an intention. Some may be straight forward others might require you to use a magnifying glass. In any case, there’s one there.
For one, the Nordic text Voluspa has several underlining intentions which stand out once read and analysed. The first intention that sticks out is at the beginning of the text where the piece begins with the writer praising the Nordic Gods, “Hear my words, you holy gods, great men and sons of Heimdall; by Odin’s will, I’ll speak the ancient lore”. This text arguably originates back to the 10th century. It is one of the most important primary accounts of Nordic mythology. On the whole the texts main intention is to describe the basic creation of the world, stretching over to the first World War (“Midgard’s defender dies triumphant, but the human race no longer has a home”) which ended the world and killed all the gods plus everything else. Examples of this from the text include, “I know how nine roots form nine worlds, under the earth where the Ash Tree rises”.
The intention of Voluspa is to inform the readers of how the world ‘really’ came to be and end. The intention of the text was to satisfy our urging lust for greater knowledge, which has being heaved upon Odin’s shoulders. It seems the text wishes to be received in a type of divine form, as where Valhalla (the place brave soldiers go after death) is the ultimate goal of afterlife for all Nordic warriors back in that time. Mentioning this alone is a sign that the writer wants us to believe in the ancient Nordic mythology that supposedly was the source of all creation. This poem of Edda shows me sparks of a sort of holy like text, as if it is intended to be received as a type of religious text.
To conclude, Voluspa (The Song of the Volva) is a text describing the ancient Gods and the beginning of time, providing the people at the time with answers to the mystery of creation. The text itself seems to desire a certain type of devotion from its readers, to say that its almost Odin’s will for us to know the truth of the first World War, how the nine roots form nine realms, the Gods and hero’s involved with creating and fighting for the worlds back in ancient times and what certain ‘halls’ wait for different types of people at the end of their life.
Sorry, can't edit my post to make gaps for paragraphs, isn't letting me.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSolid answer couldn't have said it better myself! I do agree that this is Voluspa's primary intention but taking into consideration the key theme of the texts under the branch of “Dragon Slayers” it could be suffice to say that a textual desire can be rooted in the myth surrounding dragons and the heroes that slay them. The dragon as a mythological invention is rooted in human’s desire to create such an otherworldly beast of such strength and calibre to therein create a hero of equal or more ability to slay them. Therein lies the pleasure of aligning the human race as the superior one. But ultimately they can be seen to have the intention to be received as a moral teaching to the downfall of such strength when harnessed brashly and independently.
DeleteTaking Beowulf as example, we have a hero of “awesome strength” with heroic expeditions such as where he “bound five beasts, Raided a troll-nest and in the night-sea Slaughtered sea-brutes” (418) Beowulf is made out from the very introduction to be a man of mighty strength but also mighty boast. Throughout the course of the epic poem Beowulf defeats not only one, but three monsters successfully and with ease. However on the final battle we see his downfall as he refuses to permit to cooperation (Glenn, 1991); “this is not your adventure, nor anyone’s, save mine alone” (Glenn, 1991). It is in this line that we see the very crux of the hero’s downfall, through his own stubbornness and desire for glory and fame alone.
Ultimately, desire is a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen (Oxford Dictionaries, 2018) and to wish is to feel or express a strong desire or hope for something that cannot or probably will not happen (Oxford Dictionaries, 2018). Therefore a desire for something is often for something unachievable, such as Beowulf’s desire to defeat the dragon alone, and such is the desire of the receivers of the tale to possess such strength and calibre as far famed Beowulf.
References:
Desire [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved 18 March, 2018 from
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/desire.
Heaney, S. (1999) (trans). Beowulf: a new verse translation. Retrieved from
http://www.pelister.org/courses/topics/beowulf/beowulf.pdf
Wish [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved 18 March, 2018 from
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/wish
IGNORE my first post, this is the finalised one!
Delete8.) Discuss what you think any of these texts desire (in the sense of their intention, how they wish to be received, what pleasures they offer, etc).
Every text that has ever being written in one form or another has an intention. Some may be straight forward others might require you to use a magnifying glass. In any case, there’s one there.
For one, the Nordic text Voluspa has several underlining intentions which stand out once read and analysed. The first intention that sticks out is at the beginning of the text where the piece begins with the writer praising the Nordic Gods, “Hear my words, you holy gods, great men and sons of Heimdall; by Odin’s will, I’ll speak the ancient lore”, (Voluspa, 1997). According to (Young, 2010) this text arguably originates back to the early 13th century. It is one of the most important primary accounts of Nordic mythology. On the whole the texts main intention is to describe the basic creation of the world, stretching over to the first World War (“Midgard’s defender dies triumphant, but the human race no longer has a home”), (Voluspa, 1997) which ended the world and killed all the gods plus everything else. Examples of this from the text include, “I know how nine roots form nine worlds, under the earth where the Ash Tree rises”, (Voluspa, 1997).
The intention of Voluspa is to inform the readers of how the world ‘really’ came to be and end. The intention of the text was to satisfy our urging lust for greater knowledge, which has being heaved upon Odin’s shoulders. It seems the text wishes to be received in a type of divine form, as where Valhalla (the place brave soldiers go after death) is the ultimate goal of afterlife for all Nordic warriors back in that time. Mentioning this alone is a sign that the writer wants us to believe in the ancient Nordic mythology that supposedly was the source of all creation. This poem of Edda shows me sparks of a sort of holy like text, as if it is intended to be received as a type of religious text. The text also includes a few words that stand out, these being “the ancient lore”. What stuck out to me, whilst reading Ong’s, (1982) work, he said that orality follows cultural conservatism. This shows how Ong’s work intertwines with some of the main themes of Voluspa.
To conclude, Voluspa (The Song of the Volva) is a text describing the ancient Gods and the beginning of time, providing the people at the time with answers to the mystery of creation. The text itself seems to desire a certain type of devotion from its readers, to say that its almost Odin’s will for us to know the truth of the first World War, how the nine roots form nine realms, the Gods and hero’s involved with creating and fighting for the worlds back in ancient times and what certain ‘halls’ wait for different types of people at the end of their life.
References:
Desire [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved 18 March, 2018 from
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/desire.
Ong, W. (1982) Orality and Literacy: the technologizing of the word. London: Methuen
Terry, P. (n.d.). Voluspa. Retrieved March 16, 2018 from
https://lordsofrpg.x10host.com/thor/voluspa/terry.htm
Young, S. n.d.The book of edda called voluspa. Sueyounghistories. Retrieved from http://sueyounghistories.com/archives/2010/04/18/the-book-of-edda-called-voluspa/
Great comment Alexandra! Awesome input. Nice point referring to the 'Heroes that slay the dragons', i haven't thought about that one! The placement of dragons within human history is something that's never popped into my head. Also, the point you made about how throughout history we created the overwhelmingly powerful 'dragon', thus to enable us to create a fellow human hero to slay the dragon, just to reinforce our dominance as a species is a great point. I'm really thinking about that one and applying it to a couple other folk tale myths. What do you think about humans creating myths and ultimately powerful beings for the task of giving us a comforting meaning to the big jungle out there?
DeleteCompletely agree! In the era of creation for mythology there would have been no scientific explanations therein creating myth and powerful beings was in a sense a quasi science in order to reinforce the mystery and fear of the unknown. Good point!
DeleteVöluspá is a mythological poem. Mythological poems deal with gods and Völuspá references gods throughout: “Hear my words / you holy gods” (1.1); “Then the holy gods / met to give judgement” (1.22); “Odin gave life’s breath / Hoenir gave mind, / Lodur gave hair / fairness of face” (1:33/34). Völuspá is a creation myth explaining the origins of the world to its audience, as well as giving an explanation of the world’s ending.
ReplyDeleteVölsunga Saga is an example of a saga. It tells the narrative of the Völsunga clan through episodic stories. The excerpted text describing the tale of Sigurd and his killing of the drake Fafnir.
Beowulf is an epic or heroic poem which follows a hero. In this case, the narrative follows the exploits of the hero Beowulf.
The Hobbit is an example of high fantasy and a children’s novel. High fantasy contains alternative fictional worlds rather than a real world setting. The locations in The Hobbit such as “the lake-town Esgaroth” (p.233), “Lonely Mountain” (p.233), and the “Misty Mountains” (p.241). As a children’s book its intended audience from the broader audience of the other texts.
Would you say then that Voluspa's purpose as a mythological poem also achieves to confirm divine beings to the audience? And to what purpose?
DeleteVolsunga Saga was composed in the late 13th Century and can be further categorised as a Generational Saga wherein Sigurd is the strongest of his predecessors shown through his slaying of Fafnir. He does also however die in the process and there lies the common trope projected to the audience that we all die someday, even someone as strong as Sigurd.
Beowulf was composed circa 975-1025 and as an epic poem follows the narrative of a human hero. Beowulf's strength can be seen as an epitome of of man's greatness which could be seen as one of the text's purpose.
All three of these texts were composed more than 1000 years ago so we cannot be certain of the intended purposes and audiences. However as the primary surviving texts from this period we can get a glimpse through comparing them of what people from that era valued or desired.
The Hobbit (1937) has the intended audience of children therefore the primary purpose would be to entertain. Tolkein however takes myths from Old Norse and Old English and subtly translates them into something more digestable for the modern reader therefore keeping these texts alive.
The Lord of the Rings (1937-1949) following on stylistically from The Hobbit would also be categorised as high fantasy however the intended audience is more for adults. Again the purpose would be to entertain but also to present these Old Norse and Old English texts again to the reader.
Hi, Mike
DeleteDo you think the Hobbits intended audience is pointed toward the group age of teenagers and not for children? As violence is included in the story.
Voluspa retains evidence of its primarily oral creation and reception regardless of its chirography which may pertain external influences morphing the original version to the currently accessible. Ong (1982) outlines multiple features of primary orality which is evident in Voluspa.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, Ong (1982) explains that orality is “additive rather than subordinative”; “aggregative rather than analytic” meaning that meaning is reinforced by repetition and is formulaic in order to retain the story into memory. Although the chirographed Voluspa follows standard rhythmic poetic stanzas this is more so of a interpretation of when a pause or breath may have taken place. Furthermore, this line follows that the oral world is more of a story world using episodic construction rather than hierarchical logic ordered on a page.
Ong (1982) describes a feature of primary oral cultures is that they have an intimate relationship with each other and their environment. Voluspa, through personifying the “ash tree- its name is Yggdrasil” exemplifies this feature. It also extensively describes features of the environment; “a tall tree watered from a cloudy well dew falls from its boughs down to the valleys; ever green it stands beside the Norn’s spring” compared to the relatively compressed action within Voluspa for example Thor’s death compressed into the two words “dies triumphant”.
Ong (1982) typifies primary oral cultures pertain a feature of empathy and participation with the spoken word. Voluspa features the former through the poem being sung in the first person by the volva who sings that “I’ll speak” and “I remember” and “I know”. This highlights the volva’s empathy with the spoken word as if she were there “when time began”. The latter is exemplified through the volva beckoning the audience, including the “holy gods, great men and humble sons of Heimdall”, to “hear my words” and continuously prompts ”seek you wisdom still?”
Finally, Ong (1982) preserves that orality is homeostatic and follows cultural conservatism. Voluspa is example of this through “the ancient lore” itself being an inherited body of text which is further projected to the audience as “the oldest of all”.
Ultimately, using Ong’s (1982) parameters of primary oral features and applying it Voluspa it can be noted that the preservation of primary orality remains within the text albeit in discordant forms.
References:
Ong, W. (1982) Orality and Literacy: the technologizing of the word. London: Methuen
Terry, P. (n.d.). Voluspa. Retrieved March 16, 2018 from
https://lordsofrpg.x10host.com/thor/voluspa/terry.htm
Question 1- What genres do the following texts belong to, and how do their intended period contexts, purposes, and intended audiences differ?
ReplyDelete1. Voluspa – is a Mythological genre it’s defined as a body or collection of myths belonging to people an addressing their origin, ancestors and heroes.
2. Beowulf- Beowulf belongs to the genre, Epic genre. Beowulf was the earliest literary texts which appeared in the 8th and 19th centuries (p.24).
3. The hobbit- is a high fantasy/ Novel/- its intended audience are children, which I think it’s a bit hard for children to understand some of the words in the book and the movie. An example is the word sorcerous meaning magical according to (Palsberg, J) in his Hobbit dictionary for children. The movie also shows a lot of fighting scene where I think it’s too violent for a children’s book.
4. Lord of the rings- High fantasy/ Novel
Reference
Palsberg, J. Hobbit Dictionary for Children. Retrieved from https://web.cs.ucla.edu/~palsberg/hobbit-dictionary.html
Dictionary. (2018). Mythology. Retrieved from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/mythology
Tolkein’s admiration of the native and Northern tradition greatly impacted on the creation of his works and his heroes and major debts owe to this tradition (Shippey, 2000). Firstly however, as with all novels the very genre of Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings originates from the tradition of Old Norse Sagas such as The Volsunga Saga. Concurrently, Tolkein used the literary method the ‘mythical method’, (Sperens, 2013) creating a constant parallel between modern and ancient times as part of structure and a key feature (Sperens, 2013) to his texts, inclusively the Norse myths such evident in Voluspa. Furthermore, it is a collective agreement that the Old English poem Beowulf, which Tolkien translated, has had an influence on his texts.
ReplyDeleteTaking Beowulf and The King of the Golden Hall chapter in The Two Towers one can draw direct parallels between Beowulf’s arrival at Heorot and Meduseld and the company’s arrival at the court of Rohan. Directly, we can take The Lord of the Rings Meduseld meaning mead hall in Old English, such is the same hall Beowulf arrived to in Denmark. There they meet King Theoden, a direct translation of Old English ‘lord’, in the settlement of Edoras, meaning “court” in Old English, in Rohan (Tolley, n.d.). Taking passage for passage we can see precise points of similarity, namely in the passage from Beowulf “[1] ‘What kind of men are you who arrive [2] rigged out for combat in coats of mail, [3] sailing here [4] over the sea-lanes [5] in your steep-hulled boat? [6] I have been stationed as lookout on this coast for a long time. My job is to watch the waves for raiders, any danger to the Danish shore. [7] Never before has a force under arms disembarked [8] so openly – not bothering to ask if the sentries allowed them safe passage or the clan had consented. [9] Nor have I seen a mightier man-at-arms on this earth than the one standing here:” and The Lord of the Rings “[1] Who are you that [3] come [8] heedless [4] over the plain thus [2] strangely clad, [5] riding horses like to our own horses? [6] Long have we kept guard here, and we have watched you from afar. [7] Never have we seen other riders so strange, [9] nor any horse more proud than is one of these that bear you.” (Tolley, n.d.) Ultimately, Tolkien gathered great influences from the Old English text Beowulf and modernised it for the modern day reader to celebrate these texts.
At an alternative level, Tolkien drew from Beowulf in his novel The Hobbit by developing the protagonist Bilbo Baggins as an alternative to the Beowulfian hero whom he greatly criticised (Glenn, 1991). Tolkein’s hero replaces the Beowulfian might with wit, as exemplary with Bilbo’s interaction with Gollum in the cave where “Bilbo's final (and unorthodox) question in the riddle game is originally not intended as a riddle: "He was talking to himself, but Gollum thought it was a riddle” (Glenn, 1991). This contrast can also be seen within the dragon slaying scene where a casual chain slaying with an arrow represents the notion that “all by himself” acts don’t slay dragons (Glenn, 1991). That is, the dragons in these old texts are often slain but to the downfall of the heroes and their communities. Bilbo’s chance knowledge of the dragon’s weak spot from, ‘an old thrush… perched by his ear and it brought him news’ (p.28) is utilised not by him in the act of slaying but someone else, therein outlining him as the anonymous hero. Thus Tolkien creates an alternative to the heroic hierarchy of Northern story with the warrior substituted by the adventurer and the hero substituted by the leader as an answer to the defects of the Beowulfian hero (Glenn, 1991).
Overall there are both direct influences and indirect responses to Old Norse and Old English texts in Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings that contemporises and honours these traditions.
My post was too long for the references
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Glenn, Jonathan A. (1991). "To Translate a Hero: The Hobbit as Beowulf Retold." PAPA 17: 13-34
Shippey, T. (2000). J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. London, HarperCollins
Sperens, J. (2013). Yeats, Myth and Mythical Method. Retrieved from https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:691595/FULLTEXT01.pdf\
Tolkien, J.R.R. (1997; 1937). The Hobbit, London: HarperCollins
Tolkien, J.R.R. (1993;1954). The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. London, HarperCollins
Tolley, C. n.d. Old English influence on The Lord of the Rings. Retrieved from http://catalogue.pearsoned.co.uk/assets/hip/gb/uploads/M02_NORT6036_02_SE_C02.pdf
Question 6- Identify some recent films, TV shows and/or games which have brought back some of the old gods and heroes from obscurity. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
ReplyDelete- Gods of Egypt is about Egyptian mythology that tells a story of gods living amongst man in Egypt. Horus, son of Orisis is about to be crown the next king but jealous brother Set seizes the throne and declares a new regime. Set took off Horus source of power his “eyes”. A year later, to get back the throne an immortal (Bek) made a deal with Horus to bring back Zaya (Beks lover) from the dead for an exchange of his eye that Bek stole from Sets pyramid. Horus agrees then slowly got his power back this was the start of regaining back Egypt and defeating Set.
Old Myths in the modern wold today, is now being use as entertainment to keep the reader or the audience interested. Old Myths are there to explain traditions, beliefs or values in every culture. According to Goodman (1984) he claims that “old myths represent the wisdom of our race”. Which all people from different back grounds carry mythical stories with them as a reminder of their origins.
- God or war (2018) is a video game that just release recently. The game is about Greek mythology involving Athena, Ares and Zues etc.
Goodman, W. (1984). Writers Discuss Theme of Myths in Modern Life. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/13/arts/writers-discuss-theme-of-myths-in-modern-life.html
7. How does the film Beowulf and Grendel "problematise" the hero-myth of Beowulf ? [Subject to viewing]
ReplyDeleteComparing the film Beowulf and Grendel, to the actual story, problematizes Beowulf’s reputation as a hero. In the primary text, Beowulf was someone who was fearless and victorious. He tells his stories of defeating giants and sea monsters and was on his way to kill Grendel, a troll terrorizing and destroying the Danes. When Beowulf does come across Grendel he defeats him by ripping off his arm and Grendel bleeds to death, making himself a hero to the danes.
The film stays true to the initial text in the sense that it followed the same story line throughout the film with the king seeking help, Beowulf killing Grendel, Grendels mother seeking revenge and the awakening of the dragon, but in other ways it was demeaning as it had a twist on the film, like most films nowadays.
One of the problems was how the language in the film was used. The dialogue was not written in the language Beowulf spoke (Old Norse), it lacked the proper translation of the myth, looking into it further the dialogue was modernized. Including profanity used on a day to day basis, came nothing close to how you would curse in Norse. E.g. "Gamla lombungr, sugandi toti tik madr." Which translates “Thou art morons, sucking at the teat of your bitch dog mother.” This did little justice to the story of Beowulf, as a story that has been around for a long time, could have put more effort into it and that’s where one of the issues arose of Beowulf’s hero-myth.
Secondly, the film generally toned down the strength of Beowulf, compared to the original epic poem where he is portrayed extremely strong. This challenges the viewers of the film to see Beowulf intended reputation as the hero that he is initially in the written text.
Reference:
Jebu, N. (n.d.). How to Curse in Norse. Retrieved from
http://www.housebarra.com/EP/ep04/12norsecurse.html
Identify some recent films, TV shows and/or games which have brought back some of the old gods and heroes from obscurity. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
ReplyDeleteIn the present day entertainment industry, one of the main and most popular film types is the fantasy action genre. This genre has made a very heavy footstep in the world of entertainment in the past few years. Generally around 2010 this genre skyrocketed in every aspect of financial and enjoyment levels. The leaders in this category are undoubtedly ‘The Avengers” film series. There has being two Avengers films released, and they are both well within the top 10 list of the highest grossing movies in the history of film (Newsday.com). These films compile certain ‘heroes’ which group together to form ‘The Avengers’. One of the members of the group is the ancient Nordic god ‘Thor’. Thor adds an extra tad of spice to this earthly fighting crew, bringing with him destructive power and wisdom (being the son of Odin and all). Being the popular figure he is, Thor has conjured up his own film series with marvel. These are also on the cusp of being billion dollar movies, this being just one example of their extreme popularity within the masses. Another old god of which has being brought back into the mainstream light, is the almighty Odin. Odin is the ruler of Asgard and the father of Thor, of whom makes many meaningful appearances in the Thor films.
In contrast with Marvels juggernaut films of late, we have ‘Valhalla rising’ and ‘Vikings’, both of which have small elements and undertones of Nordic mythology. ‘Vikings’ is a very successful television series, which started in 2013 and is still running. On the other hand, we have ‘Valhalla rising’. This film received good reviews, relatively high ratings, (Mads Mikkelsen for crying out loud) but plummeted at the box office. The film costed $5.7 million to make, whilst its revenue in whole was $732,000 (The Numbers).
CONT -
DeleteThese two astronomical revenue differences raise many questions to me. Putting aside the huge marketing influence Marvel has, the gigantic sum put into making the movie and the immense power of the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, with these factors in play they can’t really not make hundreds of millions of dollars, but why. Both films are relatively good, have developed plots, and an attractive story. In the end people need to be interested in it to watch it. According to Ong, (1982), technology pushes us away from greater meaning. Taking into account the year we’re in and the progress our species has made scientifically, I think the old myths have a sort of grounding effect on people. According to Wilkum, et.al, (2010) god comforts those in distress, and offers a grounding feeling that nothing else can provide. The thought of a higher power (exciting ones in fact), is comforting in a sense. With technology, what we see is what we get. This can be seen as a room with no door. That does not deliver a comfy cushion on your doorstep. Whilst, whether it’s the powerful gods of the Nordic culture, the Greek heroes, or the exotic Egyptian gods, they’re exciting. The ‘unexplainable’ powers they possess and the epic battles are, well, comforting. The slight thought that this is what people prayed too and looked up to (literally), is interesting. With science nowadays offering an explanation or theory for most everything, the alternative is enchanting.
One of the reasons these films (The Avengers) and (Valhalla rising) have such a large revenue gap (over $1,500,000,000), could may well be that the ‘Avengers’ (fantasy action) film excites the dry grey masses of people out there, whilst the almost realistic ‘Valhalla rising’ does not provide (as much) the divine unexplained alternative to the ultimate question of gods and power. ‘The Avengers’ hits us in the face with it, whilst ‘Valhalla rising’ gives us just a little slap to ignite some interest. Interesting us enough to stand up and go see infinity wars.
References:
Ong, W. (1982) Orality and Literacy: the technologizing of the word. London: Methuen
n.d.The biggest box office hits of all time. Newsday. Retrieved from https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/the-biggest-box-office-hits-of-all-time-1.5369007
n.d.Valhalla Rising. The Numbers. Retrieved from https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Valhalla-Rising#tab=summary
Wilkum, K., & MacGeorge, E. L. (2010). Does God Matter? Religious Content and the Evaluation of Comforting Messages in the Context of Bereavement. Religious Content and the Evaluation of Comforting Messages in the Context of Bereavement., 37(5).
Apologies about the references! If need be I can re format them, but when I format them properly in apa6, and past them in here they change.
DeleteVery interesting post Reade, I think Doctor Who the television show about time travelling would also be a good addition to you post as it has quite a few mythological references. I like the blog very informative.
DeleteWhat genres do the following texts belong to, and how do their intended period contexts, purposes, and intended audiences differ?
ReplyDeleteVoluspa is best known for poem for Poetic Edda, it talks about the creation of the world coming to an end and is aimed towards those studying Norse mythology. Dealing with gods etc. Its intended audiences are to those who like who are curious with norse mythology, as the TV series Vikings uses some of Voluspa’s stanza as battle chants during war, almost like praying.
Volsunga Saga is a legendary saga, which tells the story of love and betrayal, tragedy, expanding over several generations.
Beowulf is under epic poetry or epic heroic poetry.
The Hobbit genre is high fantasy. It is set in made up worlds like middle earth which generally resembles medieval europe, rather than using real world settings. This is aimed towards children, as Tolkien used to tell his children before bedtime.
Lord of the Rings is also an epic high fantasy, which takes place in middle earth. Tolkien goes into great detail to make sure we believe in such high fantasy, he creates complete mythology for his realms of middle earth, genealogies of characters, languages, calendar, histories etc.
These text genres vary and so do their intended audiences.
Reference:
TV Tropes. (n.d.). Literature/ Poetic Edda. Retrieved from
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/PoeticEdda
Wikipedia. (2018). Voluspa. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Völuspá
D, Boyles. (n.d.). The Hobbit Genre: The Hobbit and Juvenile Fantasy. Retrieved from
https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-hobbit-genre.html
Tolkein Gateway. (2018). The Lord of the Rings. Retrieved from
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings