Ragnarok

[SGuilfoyle1966]

Guys, the introduction to The Real Story has a huge section on how the Gap stories related to Wagnerien takes on Norse mythos.
But as I read that intro, I was amazed how much of it seemed to also relate to Thomas Covenant and this series.
Read it again. I'm going to. I think he's plumbing this again.
We're dealing with Ragnarok. The Twilight of the Gods. (Notice the sun going out at the end.)
The only way this ends is in the destruction of the Earth.
But in Norse mythos, it is cyclical. Some of the gods return, indlucing Balder, the god of Light, and Honer (sp), the blind god who tricked by Loki into killing Balder. A couple three of Thor's sons. One or two of Odin's.
The Staff of Law, the original one, is too much a parallel to Odin's Staff Gugnir, in which he inscribes the bargains he makes. It is carved out of the World Tree.
Anyway, the other parallel I quickly see is that in Ragnarok, Jormungand comes and kills Thor, but is killed by Thor.
Jormungand is the Midgard Serpent, the world serpent.
The Worm.

[Vraith]

think you're pretty much correct.
i see a bit of difference in approach: the Gap books seem to follow more structurally, the Chron's more symbolically/mythically, but the parallels are certainly there. [I think there are actually a bunch of posts somewhere about the similarities/differences concerning the Staff and Worm and the Norse...I don't recall if it was anywhere in them...but Norse and Chron's both have a Rainbow thing, too.]

[Fist and Faith]

Yeah, this is fun stuff. I just bumped a thread for you in the First and Second Chrons forum.

[SGuilfoyle1966]

I saw that thread. I was wondering , hey, who stole my idear??

[Frostheart Grueburn]

Since Norse mythology parallels threads exist in neither the ROTE nor the FR forums, I shall try resurrecting this one.

I wrote a few lines about a possible connection between the Ur-viles and Norse Svartálfar here. Not claiming it's correct, but when I read about the fetters the U-crowd had forged for Esmer, this reminded me of Gleipnir, a fetter/binding fashioned for Fenrisúlfr. Note: while some sources talk of dwarves undertaking this task, one has to keep in mind that in Norse myths they do not necessarily resemble Tolkien's cheerful bearded fellows with a grudge for elves, but are synonymous with Svartálfar (a brand of elves themselves) and thus represent something more otherworldly.

Giant names in the 3rd chrons: SRD's inspirational sources grow even more obvious (see also the link above). The Jötnar aka Hrímthursar abundantly sport names relating to snow, frost, and general gelidity. To name a few, Snær hinn gamli and his daughters, Þorri, Hrímgrímnir. While these probably were created mainly to describe their personal attributes, Hrím = Rime and Frosti = Frostheart still do have that certain clang, taking in account the very Ragnarökkr-ish atmosphere gained by the end of AATE (Mentioned yet in another post how the Jötnar play a major part in the Twilight of the Gods; this trope could be subverted in the LC by not making them the main destructive force.)

Longwrath also mildly reminds me of Loki--a Giant escaping his bindings on the brink of Ragnarökkr, leading the Jötnar into battle in the helm of the Giant-ship Naglfari. Longwrath does something similar more or less involuntarily--certainly the Swordmainnir now take part in the crucial Last Battle or whatever SRD has in store for us.

If anyone is interested in comparing AATE to the major poem from Edda describing Ragnarökkr--Völuspá--an English translation can be found here.

If the author indeed follows the cyclical pattern of the Norse legends even loosely, TLD might just end with a re-creation of the Land/the universe containing it, perchance somewhat according to these verses:

59. Now do I see | the earth anew
Rise all green | from the waves again;
The cataracts fall, | and the eagle flies,
And fish he catches | beneath the cliffs.

60. The gods in Ithavoll | meet together,
Of the terrible girdler | of earth they talk,
And the mighty past | they call to mind,
And the ancient runes | of the Ruler of Gods.

64. More fair than the sun, | a hall I see,
Roofed with gold, | on Gimle it stands;
There shall the righteous | rulers dwell,
And happiness ever | there shall they have.


Thoughts/arguments?

[Seeker of Truth]

perhaps Covenant becomes the Creator of a new Land?