12/16/19 Brendan Gallo Period 8

Brendan Gallo, Period 8, Modern Mythology 2020

We started class today by reading a quote about Norse mythology: “All the best Northern tales are tragic, about men and women who go steadfastly forward to meet death, often deliberately choose it, even plan it long beforehand. The only light in the darkness is heroism.” We were then asked to give our thoughts on the quote using Padlet, which allowed everyone to see their classmates’ answers. The general consensus was that Norse mythology reflected the Norse culture and lifestyle, which revolved around invading other people. Their lives were mostly spent fighting for a cause, and because of this many of their mythological tales were stories of people fighting for a cause. 

After giving out thoughts on the quote, we did a lot of spirit reading on Norse mythology, with small discussion thrown in. In my opinion, the biggest takeaway from this reading was the lack of good vs. evil in Norse culture. Goodness wasn’t valued nearly as much as bravery and honor were. To get into Valhalla, the Norse equivalent of paradise, you needed to die violently in battle - it didn’t matter how good or evil you were as a person. Ryan brought up how in other mythologies, your fate after death is based on how you acted as a person. The idea of good vs. evil wasn’t brought to the Norse until Christianity started to spread. 

Our next major topic was how women were represented in Norse mythology and how they were treated in the culture. Unlike the Greeks, who saw women as not much more than pretty objects, the Norse valued women highly, very nearly to the same level as men. This was because the women were in charge of doing everything the men couldn’t while they were out fighting - this mainly included taking care of the children and doing housework. Women also had many rights in Norse culture - they were able to divorce their husband and volunteer to fight, things that even modern societies only recently developed. 

The final thing we discussed was whether or not we believed Signy and Brynhild entered Valhalla. After getting revenge on their husbands, they both committed suicide with the family they have killed. These acts could be considered honorable, and thus they could have entered Valhalla. Neither of the two stories clarify what happened to them after they died.

Throughout this lesson my main takeaway was how different Norse culture and mythology was to that of other regions we’ve studied so far. While both Greek and Egyptian mythology put a strong focus on good vs. evil in life, the concept didn’t really exist to the Norse. Instead of being judged on your life as a whole, you were judged on your final moments. This lesson, along with our previous project on creation stories, really helped me see how different regions of the world can have completely different mythologies and cultures. The lesson also helped me see the strong connection between mythology and society. As we’ve discussed in the past, the Greeks treated women poorly partially because of the stories that painted them in a negative light. However, Norse culture treated women as near equals to men because they were shown as nearly equal in the stories. I’m going to use my newfound knowledge to focus on the uniqueness on Norse mythology and find more connections between said mythology and society.