Comments on: “She’s a Killer Queen:” Mistress of the Land of Mist and Shadows http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/ Commentary, news, and rants on the evils and stupidity of belief in the big invisible daddy in the sky. Illuminating and watchdogging the widespread attempts to institutionalize the theocratic rule of the US. Making fun of believers everywhere. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:40:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Eve http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-308802 Eve Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:33:57 +0000 http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-308802 Extra-credit answer: Those who died at sea were said to have been trapped in the sea goddess' Ran's magical net and dragged down to her palace underwater, where apparently she treated them quite well. I couldn't find a reference as to what happened to them at Ragnarok; did they join the heroes of Valhalla or simply hang out in her submarine kingdom until Baldr established his new Eden? Glad you liked it, Zipi! I guess a basically warrior and seafaring culture (at least throughout part of its history; I'm a little vague on the full development of the Norse peoples) would value those kinds of deaths more than your average, ordinary citizen's passing. However, some scholars think that in the oldest mythology, all the dead, no matter how they died, simply went to the land of Hel, which sounded like the sort of neutral but boring afterlife the Greeks first envisioned for Hades, with no particular deity ruling it and not much to do while there. They point to the similarities between Ragnarok and the xian Apocalypse as indications that the latter influenced original myths of afterlife punishment and the end of the world. Since most of what we know about Norse mythology comes from the xian era in Scandinavian history, they could be right... Extra-credit answer: Those who died at sea were said to have been trapped in the sea goddess’ Ran’s magical net and dragged down to her palace underwater, where apparently she treated them quite well. I couldn’t find a reference as to what happened to them at Ragnarok; did they join the heroes of Valhalla or simply hang out in her submarine kingdom until Baldr established his new Eden?

Glad you liked it, Zipi!

I guess a basically warrior and seafaring culture (at least throughout part of its history; I’m a little vague on the full development of the Norse peoples) would value those kinds of deaths more than your average, ordinary citizen’s passing.

However, some scholars think that in the oldest mythology, all the dead, no matter how they died, simply went to the land of Hel, which sounded like the sort of neutral but boring afterlife the Greeks first envisioned for Hades, with no particular deity ruling it and not much to do while there. They point to the similarities between Ragnarok and the xian Apocalypse as indications that the latter influenced original myths of afterlife punishment and the end of the world.

Since most of what we know about Norse mythology comes from the xian era in Scandinavian history, they could be right…

]]> By: Zipi http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-308767 Zipi Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:58:09 +0000 http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-308767 I come a bit late, but this post with a cup of hot cocoa: delicious! So, in this mythology, you are condemned to Hell unless you die in war or at sea? That is kind of tough, even for a religion. I come a bit late, but this post with a cup of hot cocoa: delicious!

So, in this mythology, you are condemned to Hell unless you die in war or at sea? That is kind of tough, even for a religion.

]]> By: Eve http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-307830 Eve Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:43:24 +0000 http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-307830 <i>Feliz Dia de las Brujas</i>, GifSters! Glad you're enjoying my little tip of the horned helmet (yes, I know they didn't <i>really</i> wear horned helmets) to Halloween and the lady and place who gave English its word for "everlasting torture and horror for every and anyone who doesn't believe exactly the way <i>we</i> do." Many thanks for the pic, Star! A post just isn't complete for me without an image. RDZ, that song kept running through my head (well, the ah-ah-aaah-ah part, anyway) while I was writing this, so I just knew someone would reference it, and you were my best bet! KA, some scholars believe that the part about a new earth rising after Ragnarok under Baldr's benign rule could be a later addition to the mythology courtesy of the xian conversion of Scandinavia. Most of our best sources for the most well-known versions of these stories are from the 11- and 1200s CE, after xianity had been established as far as Iceland. Norse pagans seem to have been distinctly fatalistic and the concept of the world, gods, people, and <i>everything</i> just coming to an end, period, fits that picture we have so far of them better than the feel-good new earth consolation. By the way, for extra points: notice that the glorious dead were those who died in battle or <i>at sea</i>. Warriors who were casualties of war were brought to Valhalla in Asgard, roughly the Norse version of heaven, by the Valkyries, Odin's warrior maidens - but what happened to sailors and those drowned at sea? Feliz Dia de las Brujas, GifSters! Glad you’re enjoying my little tip of the horned helmet (yes, I know they didn’t really wear horned helmets) to Halloween and the lady and place who gave English its word for “everlasting torture and horror for every and anyone who doesn’t believe exactly the way we do.”

Many thanks for the pic, Star! A post just isn’t complete for me without an image.

RDZ, that song kept running through my head (well, the ah-ah-aaah-ah part, anyway) while I was writing this, so I just knew someone would reference it, and you were my best bet!

KA, some scholars believe that the part about a new earth rising after Ragnarok under Baldr’s benign rule could be a later addition to the mythology courtesy of the xian conversion of Scandinavia. Most of our best sources for the most well-known versions of these stories are from the 11- and 1200s CE, after xianity had been established as far as Iceland. Norse pagans seem to have been distinctly fatalistic and the concept of the world, gods, people, and everything just coming to an end, period, fits that picture we have so far of them better than the feel-good new earth consolation.

By the way, for extra points: notice that the glorious dead were those who died in battle or at sea. Warriors who were casualties of war were brought to Valhalla in Asgard, roughly the Norse version of heaven, by the Valkyries, Odin’s warrior maidens - but what happened to sailors and those drowned at sea?

]]> By: Revenant http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-307806 Revenant Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:42:23 +0000 http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-307806 <blockquote>And RDZ’s comment reminds me of my (Swedish/Irish) Viking roots…(sips some wolf blood)</blockquote> And here I thought it was from Led Zeppelin II ;)

And RDZ’s comment reminds me of my (Swedish/Irish) Viking roots…(sips some wolf blood)

And here I thought it was from Led Zeppelin II ;)

]]> By: ChuckA http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-307802 ChuckA Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:48:58 +0000 http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-307802 HARR!...Excellent post (as usual), Eve... And RDZ's comment reminds me of my (Swedish/Irish) Viking roots...(sips some wolf blood) [OK...I lie...actually; akin to Stardust's #2 reference...it's really only black coffee.] And, indeed...Happy Halloween, fellow GifSters! What!...Another (annually "ACCEPTABLE") day to Trick or Treat our fellow earthlings? "Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha...HARR"? :shock: (Yeah...you're right!... I'm being very silly...as per usual!) HARR!…Excellent post (as usual), Eve…
And RDZ’s comment reminds me of my (Swedish/Irish) Viking roots…(sips some wolf blood)
[OK...I lie...actually; akin to Stardust's #2 reference...it's really only black coffee.]

And, indeed…Happy Halloween, fellow GifSters!
What!…Another (annually “ACCEPTABLE”) day to Trick or Treat our fellow earthlings?
“Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…HARR”?
:shock:
(Yeah…you’re right!…
I’m being very silly…as per usual!)

]]> By: Stardust http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-307795 Stardust Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:26:46 +0000 http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-307795 <em>Even her sinister siblings’ imprisonment will not last eternally, for the Wolf will one day burst his bonds and swallow the sun, and the Serpent will rise flinging the ocean over the land.</em> Love how every mythology has its own version of the "end of times" prophecy. Humans have always known that life and the world will not last forever, and are quite creative and interesting in their representations of things they have absolutely no control over which will inevitably happen in the future. And these stories always reflect a hopeful wish that life will magically go on after their demise. Good post, Eve. Even her sinister siblings’ imprisonment will not last eternally, for the Wolf will one day burst his bonds and swallow the sun, and the Serpent will rise flinging the ocean over the land.

Love how every mythology has its own version of the “end of times” prophecy. Humans have always known that life and the world will not last forever, and are quite creative and interesting in their representations of things they have absolutely no control over which will inevitably happen in the future. And these stories always reflect a hopeful wish that life will magically go on after their demise.

Good post, Eve.

]]> By: Raindogzilla http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-307734 Raindogzilla Wed, 31 Oct 2007 04:32:41 +0000 http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-307734 <i><b>"Ah ah-aaaaahh ah! We come from the land of the ice and snow, From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow. The hammer of the gods, will drive our ships to new lands, To fight the horde, singing and crying: 'Valhalla, I am coming!' On we sweep with threshing oar, Our only goal will be the western shore. Ah, ah, We come from the land of the ice and snow, From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow. How soft your fields so green, can whisper tales of gore, Of how we calmed the tides of war. We are your overlords. On we sweep with threshing oar, Our only goal will be the western shore. So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins, For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing."</b></i> Skraelings! Skraelings! Everywhere I look, Skraelings! Vinland the Good, I dream of the Ice, snug in my <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserker" rel="nofollow">Bear Shirt</a>. “Ah ah-aaaaahh ah!
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods, will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: ‘Valhalla, I am coming!’

On we sweep with threshing oar, Our only goal will be the western shore.

Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
How soft your fields so green, can whisper tales of gore,
Of how we calmed the tides of war. We are your overlords.

On we sweep with threshing oar, Our only goal will be the western shore.

So now you’d better stop and rebuild all your ruins,
For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing.”

Skraelings! Skraelings! Everywhere I look, Skraelings!

Vinland the Good, I dream of the Ice, snug in my Bear Shirt.

]]> By: Krystalline Apostate http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-307725 Krystalline Apostate Wed, 31 Oct 2007 02:59:38 +0000 http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2007/10/30/%e2%80%9cshe%e2%80%99s-a-killer-queen%e2%80%9d-mistress-of-the-land-of-mist-and-shadows/#comment-307725 Eve - lovely, lovely post. <blockquote>Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods, will end this world in darkness, and blood, and devouring fire – only to give way to the fresh, new world that will arise from the destruction.</blockquote> Hmmm...that sounds <i>achingly</i> familiar...where have I seen/heard/read this before, I wonder? ;) Eve - lovely, lovely post.

Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods, will end this world in darkness, and blood, and devouring fire – only to give way to the fresh, new world that will arise from the destruction.

Hmmm…that sounds achingly familiar…where have I seen/heard/read this before, I wonder? ;)

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