Gordon Liang | Period 1
January 9, 2020
Today, Team 4 presented the lesson today focusing on the stories "Thor’s Journey to the Land of the Giants," and "The Apples of Immortality." Pages 155-197 of Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology
Aim: How is magic used to deceive nature and people in Norse Mythology?
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| "I am the giant Skrymir" (1902) by Elmer Boyd Smith. |
Do Now: Think about a time you were good at something, but someone else proved that they were better at it. How do you think this applies to what we read?'
One said that he used to think he was really good at a video game, but later on he would lose to better players and soon realizes that he is actually not the best. Based on what we read, Thor, Loki, and Thialfi were challenged on what they do best. They thought no one could beat them, but in the end, no matter how hard they try, they lost the challenges. Many people would think they are the best at one thing, only to find someone better at it. This would usually result in people improving themselves to strive higher.
The Story of Thor
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| Thor's Fight with the Giants (1872) by Mårten Eskil Winge. |
• Thor is the Norse God of thunder, the sky, and agriculture. He is the son of Odin, the chief of the Gods.
• Thor is the defender of the Asgard, the realm of the Gods, and Midgard, the realm of the humans.
• Most depictions of Thor are of him slaying giants in order to protect those realms.
• Many of Thor's tales are of him fighting off the Midgard Serpent, Jörmungandr.
• Thor is doomed to die in Ragnarök to the poison of the serpent after he killed it with Mjollnir.
Thor's Journey to the Land of the Giants
• The names of Thor's goats are Snarler and Grinder.
• Thor tells Thialfi and his family to not eat the bones of the goats
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| Thor notices that one of his goats has a lame leg in an illustration (1895) by Lorenz Frølich |
Pair-Share: Discuss why Thor told the family to not eat the goats' bones. Who ate the bone and why did they eat the bone?
Thor shares with the family the meat of his goats. As the god of mischeif, Loki will of course play tricks on others. In this case, Loki lied to Thailfi that if he ate the bone, he will become as strong as Thor. He sucks the marrow from a leg bone from one of the goats. When Thor resurrects the goats the next morning, he finds that one of the goats is lame in the leg. Eating the bones apparently would not give you powers, but instead would result in a limp leg when the goats are brought back to life.
Utgardaloki
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| [The] Giant Skrymir and Thor (c. 1891) by Louis Huard |
• His name literally means "Loki of the Outyards", distinguishing him from the Loki we know as Thor's companion.
• Along the journey. Thor and company have a hard time keeping up with this ruler, aka skymir, and the crew eventually settles down but is unable to retrieve their items from the giant's knapsack.
• Thor tries to deal damage to skymir with Mjollnir, but he is unfazed by any of Thor's strikes.
• Once again trickery and deception is used by Utgardaloki in challenges that the crew could not complete and our left standing in an open field instead of the castle where their feast was.
• The whole time Skymir was Utagardaloki utilizing the recurring theme of deception in Norse mythology once again.
VIDEO
The myth of Thor's journey to the land of giants - Scott A. Mellor
Discussion
1. What was the end result of all three challenges?
Even though they tried their hardest, Thor, Loki, and Thialfi were deafeated. However, they were able to impact the world and improve themselves and the world around them.
2. Why were these the end challenges?
These were end challenges because it was impossible to beat. For example, in Thialfi's case, Thought will always be faster than action. These challenges were able explain certain phenomenons such as shifting tides when Thor was drinking the ocean and formations of valleys from Thor's blows
3. What lessons can be learned from this and how can they show the differences between Greek mythology?
Even if you lose, you can still have an impact. Similar to Greek mythology, hubris can be seen in the story. Thor, Loki, and Thialfi were so prideful and confident that they were the best in one talent. In Greek mythology, hubris will usually lead to downfall. However in this story, with hubris, the three were able to better themselves and be more humbled.
The Illusions of Their Journey
Loki's Eating Challenge:
• Loki claimed to be the world's fastest eater
• Although he consumed a lot of food, Loki was not able to beat his opponent, the King's servant.
• Loki's opponent was actually Wildfire
Thialfi's Race:
• The human could outrun anything in the wild.
• But he could not outrun the King's other servant
• His opponent was actually Thought
Thor's Three Challenges:
1. To drain a giant drinking horn with two attempts
• The horn was filled with the ocean, Thor lowered the ocean levels
2. To pick up the King's giant cat
• The cat was the Midgard serpent; moving the "cat's paw" is the moving of earth
3. To wrestle to old woman
• The woman symbolizes old age (old age is supposed to weaken people till death, but Thor was not debilitated to a great extent
The giant they met along the way was actually the king in disguise, and the hammer blows created rifts and valleys.
Apples of Immortality
• Idunn, the goddess of spring or rejuvenation, is the wife of Bragi, the god of poetry.
• Idunn was the keeper of the magic apples of immortality
• Gods would eat the apples to preserve their youth
• One day, Loki passed by Idunn and told her that he needed one of her apple of immortality because he feels age upon him.
• When Idunn gives Loki a golden apple, Loki responds that he thought that Idunn would have better apples than that.
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| Iðunn is carried off by Þjazi in this artwork by Harry George Theaker, 1920 |
• Normally gods talked about the perfection of flavor and how good it was to feel young again.
• Loki convinced Idunn that there was apples in the forest that were finer than her apples.
• As they walk into the forest to compare those finer apples with her own apples, Idunn realizes that there is only a tall pine tree with an eagle in it.
• It was no eagle, but rather the giant Thiazi in eagle shape to claim the beautiful Idunn. It soon seized Idunn and her box of apples.
• As the gods began to age, they forced Loki to retrieve Idunn back with her apples
• Thiazi chased after Loki after realizing that he had taken Idunn, but he flew into the flames prepared for him and Thor's hammer parted Thiazi from his life.
• Skadi went to Asgard to avenge her dead father. To which they compromised that first Skadki would be given a husband (Balder), second the gods would make her laugh again, and finally, the gods would make sure her father would never be forgotten.
Group Discussion: Why did Loki trick Idunn to go into the forest to meet Thiazi? Do you think his reason justifies his actions?
Loki threw a spear at Thiazi, but while Loki was still clinging to the other end, Thiazi flew up into the sky bringing Loki with him. Loki begged the eagle to release him, but the eagle refused to do so until Loki swore an oath to bring him Idunn and her apples. Loki was not justified because he could have find a way to trick Thiazi or to ignore it. He brought this to himself and it is wrong to risk an innocent life for his own good. However, there was nothing Loki could really do about it because his life was at risk.
Connection to Real World
The Apples of Immortality:
• This myth can be connected to the religions of Christianity and the Celts as both have a somewhat similar representation of the apple.
• When Christ is portrayed holding the apple, he represents the Second Adam who brings life, It is similar to how the apples allow the gods to preserve their youthful appearance.
• During Allantis, people give polished Allan apples to their friends and family as tokens of good luck
• The Vikings formulated their views on the gods based on how they saw divinity (what specific things they do/have done, instead of how they are a god)
• They also have similar attributes to humans:
⤷ Hunger, pain, death
⤷ Physical weakness
⤷ Determination, Hubris, Humility
⤷ Deceit
Lessons Learned
Thor's Journey to the Land of the Giants:
☆ Nothing is as it seems
☆ Continue past the belief of defeat
☆ Fire destroys everything in its path
☆ Thought is always faster than action
☆ Old age weakens everyone eventually
☆ You should take a humble approach to everything
☆ Even gods have limitations
☆ Determination has its rewards
The Apples of Immortality:
☆ To not be too greedy
☆ Laughter is a better solution than anger and violence
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