Michael Chen, Period 7, 2/1/2023

Literacy & Learning

Reading from pages (442-452) 300-307 of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology

I find it intriguing that the Norse gods aren’t all that strong: they have no way to win against the evils. In most religions I know, the gods are the most powerful being. Nothing can touch them. Yet here, even though the gods know that destruction will come, they will still lose. A loss is inevitable. The most interesting part of this is that the people look to their death. They want to become like the gods. To die as a hero and not give up. I guess this isn’t that strange at all when the Norseman are connected or are the Vikings because the Vikings usually never have a permanent settlement. Therefore, they raid villages to meet their needs, meaning they must fight often. They must make way for the people to feel honorable to die in the raids.

I find it ironic that the Christian priest practices persecution against paganism because didn’t Christianity also face persecution itself initially? One possibility that I thought about was the potential that the Catholic Church was getting more power-hungry, and in the end, corruption took over. However, the other fact was that Christianity just wanted to spread its roots to the whole continent, but why was it so forceful to delete all the historical records?  

The Stories of Signy & Sigurd made me in awe, especially The Story of Signy, although both stories are crazy. What in the right mind would Signy’s husband want to kill her family? It is even crazier for Signy to plot revenge on her husband by mating with her brother. Her revenge is long and painful. I guess the lesson to be learned is to choose the right partner for marriage. The Story of Sigurd on the other hand also left me puzzled. Why just go through the fire and leave the girl behind again? The talk of the old man seems to put everything together. That although Sigurd is not unfaithful, he will still be killed by it. Hero’s luck will be with him, but he will fall if he is too nice of a person. The lesson here I guess is to not believe in everything a person says.

From all of this, I should spend more time reading or reading fairy tales because it is fun to see the twists and turns of the ending. Fairy tales are a fun way to get into the habit of reading, and I only read when I’m forced to read, such as for homework. Reading fairy tales is also a way to take a dive into the beliefs of people back then. I get to see what they value, what they think is the norm, and what they think is right and wrong.