Ragnarök in the Bible?

You can watch the video about this subject in here: [Ragnarök Video]


Let’s start with the most obvious question: What is Ragnarök? If we want to have a shallow idea of what it is, well, it’s simply the end of the world as we know it. But of course I’m not here to give you a simple explanation.

For some people Ragnarök already happened, if we understand that after this chaotic event, a Golden Age will begin, an age of peace and compassion, the rebirth of the earth and a new prosperous world. More or less 10.000 years ago the Ice Age finally came to an end, and we progressively stopped being hunters and gatherers and began to tame the land through agriculture and pastoralism. Controlling the earth and flora and the domestication of the fauna, was a great step to the so called progress of civilization, and our dominion over the earth is leading to its destruction and the extinction of many species. In the long run, this is Ragnarök, a battle of more than 10.000 years. Humanity versus nature, and we are actually winning and accelerating our doom, but intelligent as we are, we are finding better solutions to reduce the stain upon the earth that we left, so in other words we are now progressivity walking towards a Golden Age.

This is just one perspective of what Ragnarök might be if we take a look at our nowadays reality.

Due to the popularity of Norse mythology and the history of the Viking Age, today in the movies, television, literature and games, many people who until then did not know the myths, or knew little about it, became more interested in the subject. So before I jump to something a little bit more complex, I'll first try to give you a simple and straightforward comprehension of what Ragnarök is.

First things first, Ragnarök is a myth of Nordic origins, created by the peoples of medieval Scandinavia. It might be a myth with older origins, but as it reach us today, the whole concept seems much more medieval than prehistoric. In the middle Ages, between the V and XI centuries, between the Vendel Period (V-VIII) and the Viking Era (VIII-XI), the Norse mythology took shape and was developed into the perspective we have on the written sources. The Medieval interpretation of Ragnarök refers to future events in an unspecified period of time, in which catastrophic events will occur that will profoundly change the world as we know it. All stories must have an end, but just like in every mythological account and also religious interpretations, Ragnarök isn't the end of time, rather it's an event with a purpose, a period of change.

We must not forget that the written sources we have to read about Ragnarök, were sources written in medieval Iceland during the thirteenth century, a period in Iceland's history already greatly influenced by Christianity, and the entire idea of Ragnarök seems a lot like the "End of Times" Prophecy as it is written in the Bible. So let's take a look into some similarities:
Before Ragnarök actually happens, there will be a great winter that will last three years. In here we can see the Icelandic perspective of things. A great portion of mythological accounts are shaped by the geographical realities people live in. So a world of Ice and frost is a harsh reality for Scandinavian peoples, especially during medieval times. Iceland itself all around is filled with glaciers and volcanic activity, so fire and ice is the perfect combination for the end of times in an Icelandic perspective.

But after this long winter, humanity shall rise up and fight each other, great and terrible wars, in the Bible that’s what happens before the end of days - War on a large scale (Matthew 24:7; Revelation 6:4.). If you study military medieval history, you know that the greatest fear of war during medieval times wasn’t the war itself but famine which led to an increasing of crime (Famine: Matthew 24:7; Revelation 6:5, 6.; Increase of crime: Matthew 24:12.) Before Ragnarök the survivors of the great wars will only have morning dew to feed on (Vafþrúðnismál). During this time the Prose Edda speaks of incest as one of the things that will occur, “siblings do incest”, and also in the Völuspá speaks of the sons between brothers and sisters that will stain kinship, as we also have in the Bible during the “end of days” – “Breakdown of the family, with people who have “no natural affection”” (2 Timothy 3:2, 3.). Then we have great earthquakes also in the Bible (Luke 21:11.) and in the Prose Edda as I will quote: “The whole surface of the earth and the mountains will tremble so that the trees will be uprooted from the ground, mountains will crash down”. In the Völupá a fear will quake all when Heimdall blows the great horn Ghallarhorn, and Yggdrasil itself shakes. We also have this reference to earthquakes in the Poetic Edda. I could go on with more similarities between the Bible’s “End of Days” Prophecy and the Norse Ragnarök, like that part when the dead will walk the earth again as it says in the Bible, and during Ragnarök the great ship Naglfar will come, built with the nails of the dead, and possibly bringing the dead along, because the dead from the realm of Hel will also be in great activity during these catastrophic events. And as I’ve said, mankind in its process of civilization and the attempted to control the earth is destroying the earth itself, it’s a point which isn’t referred in the Nordic sources but it’s referred in the Bible - The ruining of the earth by mankind (Revelation 11:18.).

All this to tell you that the perspective we have of Ragnarök was greatly influenced by Christianity, when the old pagan world started to be forgotten and a new spiritual reality was being formed, adopted by the pagans, and in most cases forced by the social, political and economic circumstances of Medieval Europe.

We humans are prone to see patterns in everything, but I must tell you, even if there are clear influences of another religion into pagan mythological accounts, we must take into account that this is a tale that was around before Christianity and even before the written word. In Christianity mythology the world will be destroyed once and for all and historical time is abolished. But in the tale of Ragnarok we see a very different message. 

The accounts of the destruction of the world in the Old Norse primary sources are immediately followed by accounts of its re-creation. There is no end of the linear history. What Ragnarok describes is a cyclical end of the world, after which follows a new creation, which will in turn be followed by another Ragnarok, and this will keep happening forever. This specific point makes all the difference between the two religious realities. Christianity that does not accept reality and there must be an end and it's all over, and the Norse paganism that accepts reality and that life will go on no matter what, but there always must exist a balance, order and chaos, creation and destruction, life and death.

The truth about Valhalla

Valhalla is the most common name heard when talking about the Norse myths or paganism and ancient Norse/Germanic beliefs, but most people don't know what Valhalla is exactly. I have heard people saying things like "Midgard is not form me! Valhalla awaits me!" or "When i die i will go to Valhalla, that is the place for me!", so this post will be just to clear that up, what Valhalla is, behind the myth, its true purpose and meaning.
 
First lets talk about Valhalla from the myths and stories, because many people don't know about it and so like that they will never understand what it is and know the truth behind every metaphor.
 
Valhalla is the great Hall of the Dead, the hall that stands in Gladsheimr in Asgard, home of the Aesir tribe of Gods.When the bravest of the breave fall in battle, they are chosen by Odin, the king of Asgard, the Allfather, and the Valkyrjes come in the form of ravens and pick them up and take them to Valhalla, the Hall where the braves of the warriors will dwell for eternity. In these great halls, warriors will fight each other every day, improving their fighting skills, they will kill one another, get wounded and even die, but at the end of each day they will be resurrected and will feast in the great banquet of the hall and have sex with women in there the entire night. In the next morning the same thing will happen, an endless circle, fighting, dying, resurrection, feasting and have sex for eternity. Figthing every day to be ready for the coming of Ragnarök, the twilight of the gods, the great war between the Aesir and the Vanir tribes agaisnt the chaotic forces, where most gods will die including Odin, but a new dawn will rise for mankind, after everything burns and the sun and the moon are devoured, the world will be a cold place, filled with ice, frost and snow, all life gone, and the great war will torn the world asunder and everything will burst into fire and flame. After the great war is over and the very few survivors are left, the world will regenerate and life will come back, a new world will be made for mankind after the chaotic destruction that ended the lifes of almost every deity and mortals.
 
Now, i will not be talking about Ragnarök and its meaning, i will leave that for another post, i will just concentrate this post on Valhalla.
 
We have take into account that the people who believed in such tales were people that lived their lifes in battle, battle agaisnt their neighbours, battle agaisnt other countries, battle agaisnt the weather and the forces of nature in the cold harsh northern countries where winter is a deadly foe, to them life was that, a constant battle and honoring the glorious dead warriors of old, singing their tales and how courageous they had been. Living a life of battle, they would turn more to the warlike gods than to the gods of agriculture or other life affairs. The Aesir gods were such a tribe of gods, warlike. It isn't as if these people didn't pray to other gods, in fact all gods were importante, but the Norse and Germanic peoples gave so much impression to the other peoples of Europe, and by the Viking age the pillaging and ravaging throughout many European countries was so great, that many were those that have written about the Vikings and their warlike gods, and warriors were no farmers, or fisherman, or anything else, they were just warriors and they spent too much time at that, and Valhalla became a word very much mentioned in their daily lifes, being the best of the best, the bravest of them all, chosen by Odin himself, such honor, such glory.
The cold North was a difficult place to reach, was more dificult to reach its people without having your head cut off, the knowledge that was left behind for many centuries, was the knowledge earned by those who say closely the horrors of battle, and the invasions of this horde of men that seemed like to come from Hell itself, lets not forget that these were the times where Christianity was spreading throughout Europe and pagan people were seen as the bringers of evil, people who worshiped the devil, so this made them even more horrific creatures. Unfortunately these were the only facts in the History of Europe that marked the Norse/Germanic peoples for too long, but enough to inspire many writers and musicians, which rapidly in modern times reached the masses through the fast communication sistems of the media. Many were and still are, those who want to achieve such glory, to be known as the best, inspired by the Norse tales, and music became the best cultural strand to spread such things and inspire the younglings.
Fortunately our minds evolve, even if nowadays seems to be a very slow process, and Archaeology, Anthropology and History helped a lot in knowing who these people were, their gods, their daily lifes, their beliefs, as a matter of fact, in the late XX century already in the 90's few things were known about the Norse people and was still believed by many that the Norse afterlife was only Valhalla, a great hall filled with undead warriors. Nowadays we know that that isn't true, and Valhalla is just a tiny needle among numerous needles in a barn, compared to the complex Nordic mythology and the Nine realms.

What i have just written about is the scientific and historical explanation of this subject, now lets decode the metaphor and see Valhalla in spiritual perspective.
 
Fighting for eternity and dying, to be resurrected to do it over and over again, would soon became too painful, and lets go into a christian prespective, it would become an Hell rather than a Paradise. People would become dull, sad, ignorant, brutes and stupid, they would only know how to fight and make battle, and if you ever delve into the all Norse subjects, the myths, stories etc. you will see that the mind of the Norse people was actually very concerned with gaining knowledge, being wise, you just have to read The Hávamál if you don't want to go with all the trouble of Reading every story and myth, and you will see a thousand of good, wise and very intelligent advises to be taken in ones life to achieve a better life, to be humble, brave, intelligent, cunning, watchful, good, courteous, gracious, respectful, hardworking, honorable and so on. This is what Valhalla is, and not just Valhalla, but the other Halls of other deities and all the other places of the Nine realms in which one must go to achieve diferente kinds of knowledge about many subjects.
Valhalla in truth is a place where we and our soul/spiritual form, will continue to evolve, to improve, become better, a place where we can extend our knowledge into different areas and be more attentive, and less selfish, to become wise and have better opinions, to differentiate the good from wrong, put aside the preconceptions and evolve our spirit, our mind, our very essence.
Valhalla isn0t the first place to enter to earn these things, or to improve, the more ignorant one might be, the more wrong that has been done, the less the person is able to go into Valhalla or anyother place similar, the more far away one might get, and will be likely to go into other places, step by step until the person evolves, think of this as your own life, you don't start by going to college or straight to work, you will start earning knowledge by what your parents and other family members do, you will slowly build your personality, each book you read, each movie, is a step further to be wiser or not, it depends on your actions, your choices, what you do in life will be reflected in what places you will be visiting in the afterlife.

Now seeing Valhalla in a shamanic prespective, which is a subject that has attracted the attention of many and its study has evolved a lot and has helped to better understand the connections we have with each other and with the natural world and the deities, is also a good way to know what Valhalla really is, unfortunatelly those who practice Norse shamanism, Seiðr, or Shamans, rarely have seen how Valhalla really looks like, in Shaman journeys when coming to Asgard and actually reaching Gladsheimr, people only stick with the surroundings of Valhalla, but the few that have really seen it or had a Glimpse of how it looks like, Valhalla is actually a city, one of a kind that you haven't seen before, beautiful and well arranged, with a great Hall also called Valhalla, you really have the feeling that that is exactly the place to achieve greater knowledge, like an huge library filled with countless food for the brain.

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Fenrir the god of destruction

We are use to judge things just by what we hear or what is told to us, this happens with all things in life because it is a rarity in the human nature to delve deep into any subject, trying to understand the meaning of things, to see all the sides of something, seldom anyone goes through the "trouble" of studying the true nature, essence and meaning of a variety of subjects, this is why i will be writing about Fenrir today. Those familiar with the Norse myths and stories know well who Fenrir is, it is one of the names often heard especially when the subject is Ragnarök, but do they know full well who this Fenrir really is and his purpose?

Fenrir is the god of destruction in the Norse pantheon, he is the son of Loki and Angrboda and he is father to Hati and Skoll, the two wolf brothers who chase the Sun and the Moon. Fenrir takes the form of a great black wolf and he is imprisoned in a cave, bound by a magical chain, locked away because he desires to devour all things, including the world of mortals and everything in it.
His mother, Angrboda, is the wolf mother, and as a leader of the wolf clan in Iron Wood, most of her children are giant werewolves. Her eldest son with Loki was fiercer, larger, wilder than all the other children she had, when he grew to adulthood, he began to kill and devour everything in his path, no one nor anything could restrained him or stop him, he was too strong and too large. The Aesir gods tried to hold him in a magical chain called Laeding and then with another one called Dromi, but both were broken. The Aesir called upon the Duergar ( Dwarves ) for forge a chain out of gold melted along with six impossible things ( the roots of a mountain, the footfall of a cat, the beard of a woman, te nerves of a bear, the breath of a fish and the spittle of a bird ), in this way they would chain Fenrir. The rest of the story of how he was chained we know, or at least we have heard of many times and it can be found anywhere, suffice to say that he now lies in a cave under a mountain on Lyngvi's Island located in the Lake Amsvartnir in Niflheim. There he waits for the day he can fee himself again and have his revenge.

It is easy to fear such a thing, however, Fenrir isn't a monster nor a demon as the Christians wanted people to believe, Fenrir is a deity of tremendous power, and because all things are sacred in their manner, also the nature of Fenrir is sacred. We are too used to divide the world into bad things and good things as each gives us certain feelings and emotions, we separate what gives us pain and sorrow into the group of bad and evil, and what gives us pleasure and happiness into the group of the good side and we tend to creat a perfect world with all the good things but we forget that without the bad things there couldn't be any good at all, for we must taste sadness and pain in order to give the proper importance to all that is good, like all things in nature are balanced, good and evil cannot life without each other, so this is why people don't understand the true nature of Fenrir, because his nature alone is already a mystery, not easy to comprehend, and if one goes in mind that he is all evil and must be put aside and forgotten, it will be even harder to understand. To understand his purpose, we have to look at nature and how it works. Nature isn't all about beautiful things and happy stuff, nature has its cruel side and a terrible destructive power, in order to create life, the eternal balance between chaos and order. We must took at Fenrir as the personification of that natural destruction, the symbolism of chaos, as a volcano spitting fire and lava, killing, burning creating wastes of dust and black earth, but a great fertilizer for the soil, and life will sprout out of that ground, in this way the world was created, think of Fenrir as the great sea waves that devour the land and take lifes but it is a natural happaning to create new lands, clean and wash away dirt, think of Fenrir as the great stars that burst releasing an enormous power, or even galaxies, like our own that will desintegrate some day in order to create new stars, worlds and life. This is a good way to start understanding the naure of Fenrir, the terrifying side of nature, beautiful sometimes, majestic, magnificent, imposing respect, but also with a benevolent side. Fenrir exists so we may never forget that we are part of nature and we are bound to its laws, and we aren't above nature, nor can we escape from its terrible powers. Often the powers of the devine are reflected on nature, in its beauty and also in its cruelty, not that the divine are cruel, but these actions in nature must exist once again in order to balance all life, to take it away and replace it with new life. Fenrir is the destruction that must be chained, but some day will come out and devour the world, the symbolism that this world will come to an end when nature is ready for it, and there isn't nothing you can do to stop it, nor it will have any compassion for you, nor it will make a special exception for you, nature is as it is, like Fenrir is what he is, nothing will change it, that is his own nature, you have to accept the way things are, but new life will be created again, as our own world was created, by fire and ice, with dust and bits of worlds that exploded. This is Ragnarök also, or at least a part of its true meaning, but about that i will write a post just for Ragnarök and its full meaning.
The world isn't easy, it isn't black and white, even if we try to hid that fact or forget the not so much pleasant side of nature, we need to understand things, we have the power to make our own choices and make our own fates, but when it comes to the nature's laws, we aren't above it and we must accept how it works.
Fenrir in nature is very much like us mortals, with both good and bad, capable of living naturally but containing the beast within, because some times we want to burst in anger, but we need self control, but we also need to release that in some way, and Fenrir teaches us to do so, not only if one might speak with him and learn his wisdom, but just by reading his story and understanding the full meaning of it.

It is with Fenrir and his story that we can find a meaning for Baldr's death. Fenrir and Baldr are both sacrificed gods, in one way or another. The Aesir sacrificed the god of destruction, the darkest deity of them all, in order to save all living beings from his wrath and terrible destructive powers and on the other hand, Loki and Hella arranged a well planned scheme in which Odin might had known and played his part, to sacrificed Baldr the brightest of all the gods, the exact opposite of Fenrir, again in order for all living creatures survive after Ragnarök, where it is said that he will rule. Each one of them was sacrificed in his own manner to safeguard the future, one will bring the end of things and the other will bring the new beginning, the renewal of life after a chaotic destruction, just as it happens in nature.

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