Kevin Chen 12/16/19 Period 2 - Blog #2

12/16/19, Kevin Chen, Modern Mythology 2020 Pd. 2 

Aim: How can we introduce Norse mythology by studying their philosophies?

For our do now of the day, we were asked what we thought about the following quote. Given a Padlet link, the students typed in their responses so that others may view their thoughts.

• “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.”

One very well-written response from Padlet comes from Baizhen, who said that the Norse believed in an apocalypse which meant to them that death would come eventually and when it did it’s how they died that mattered whether that be heroically or not. He thinks that if this is their way of thinking then many wouldn’t be afraid of death. In the class discussion, Joshua was saying how if you die a hero, you would be sent to an honorable place known as Valhalla. Vice versa goes if you died a dishonorable death and didn’t accomplish much during your life, then you would end up in a much more grim and hellish destination. Ms. Fusaro summed up the discussion by saying how if you were to die, you might as well go in with guns blazing. Those who died through sickness or natural causes were believed to go to Hel rather than those who died through honorable combat, who entered Valhalla. 

After discussing the Nine Worlds, which are the homelands of the various types of beings found in the pre-Christian worldview of the Norse and other Germanic peoples, we held a whole group discussion where we were asked: “what is the point of creating a land of gods where defeat is sure?”

Gaudi said how even if you knew you were going to be defeated, it would be better to fight honorably to the end during the combat rather than not try at all during the fight. He brought up that the gods were similar to humans in a way that both knew the end was coming and death was imminent, but the way they approached death depended on the person themself. Ms. Fusaro summarized by saying how a result of the Norse living in a cold climate was that death was very common in society. If you were to survive past childhood, you had to make sure you could fight to survive. With little to eat, tribes fought each other and ensured their own survival. This can be related to Norse mythology where combat and fighting play a major role, which can explain how the Norse people lived and struggled to survive.

After, we were given the following to discuss via pair-share:

• A study in diction. Valhalla is described as the “hall of the slain.” Look up the definition of  “slay” (slain is the past-participle form) and discuss the meaning attributed to the use of that specific word for Valhalla.

The first result you acquire from Google is “kill (a person or animal) in a violent way.” Benjamin said how you couldn’t just poison someone to kill them, you had to violently kill them through combat and sword fight. Through many other points made by a few students, the general theme that was being discussed was that you either fought and died honorably in combat (to have a chance to fight for Odin in Valhalla), or you died a coward’s death and end up in Hel. Ms. Fusaro had to clarify that you couldn’t just enter Valhalla through death via any combat, the fight had to be all out. Standing still and allowing yourself to die by one’s sword rather than fighting to the end would mean you took the coward’s way out.

After that pair-share discussion, we had another whole-group discussion in which we were asked the following, “How can you elaborate on this description of women? What does it highlight about Norse philosophy?”

Unsa said how the women were important in Norse society because the Valkyries were able to decide who would die and who would live. Those who were chosen to live were sent to Folkyangr, the mead hall where Freya ruled over. Another good point brought up in the discussion was how women’s role in Norse mythology differed from that of the Greeks, where women were more subservient to men, or they either were beautiful or viewed as monsters with the most hideous traits. To wrap up the discussion, Ms. Fusaro said how women and men were pretty much equal in society, but women were on a more elevated level because they were able to bear children and serve in combat. Freya, the goddess of fertility, ruling over Folkyangr had equal importance and level of power as that of Odin ruling over Valhalla. This showed how both served the same purpose, to recruit only the most honorable soldiers to fight in Ragnarok. 

Reflection:

Today was the first day where we started to discuss Norse Mythology and there were just so many new ideas and key details to know about the Norse. We were told to read some pages of our books prior to class, but the lesson clarified some things that I was confused about. First, Ms. Fusaro made sure to get the point out that Valhalla was meant to be a mead hall where the deceased had a chance of entering, only through honorable combat, and have the opportunity to fight in honor of Odin against the imminent apocalypse, known as Ragnarok. Before class, I had the idea Valhalla was more of a heaven-like destination similarly to that of Judeo-Christianity, or that of the Egyptian field of reeds. I learned that the Norse took a great deal in honor through combat and fighting, where they knew that death was bound to happen, so they would ensure each fight they got into might as well be their last. Norse mythology takes a whole new approach as to how people viewed the world in the past, which is completely different than Greek and Egyptian mythology. In Norse society, we learned that women were viewed as equal, if not more crucial in society given that they were capable of bearing children, serving on the battlefield, and more. In other societies, things were more patriarchal where the men had more power and authority than women, who were viewed as less superior. This lesson was a great introduction to Norse Mythology and it will greatly help during upcoming lessons in the unit since many confusing issues were clarified and went over in class.