Ragnarök: The Doom Of The Gods

Ragnarök literally means “destiny of the gods”, it is also often referred to as “the twilight of the gods”. In general terms, Ragnarok is the final conflict between Good and Evil, represented by the Aesir, the gods, and the Jutuns, the giants of the cold. Curiously, the Nordic myths, contrary to what happens with any other apocalyptic legends, affirm that Evil will be the winner of the Great Universal Battle, although hope will continue in the figure of the revived god: Balder.

Many speak of Ragnarok as this being a precise moment, an instant of clash between two opposing powers, but the truth is that Ragnarok is something much more complex than that. It not only gives us a vision of the future, but also an understanding of the past, of its people and their beliefs. Below we will give an account of the sequence of events that herald Ragnarok, and in part a description of the conflict itself.
But to understand the depth and poetic beauty of this myth, it is essential that we say a couple of things about its creators.

How can Good be defeated by Evil? The Nordic answer would be: Because it must be so for the other to be.

The Norse mentality of old encouraged death in battle by pointing it out as something admirable, and even pleasing in the eyes of the gods. To die by the sword was the highest dignity available to mortal man. A mental and social construction like this was translated into a pantheon of gods that are not eternal, nor immortal, nor oblivious to pain and sadness.
The Norse gods are not indifferent to their fate. They know they will die, and they consider it an honor.

The sinister sequence of events of Ragnarok has numerous sources. Among them, the Völuspá and the Eddas. The exquisite thing about the Ragnarok myth is that the gods know the prophecy, they know exactly the destiny that awaits them, and that destiny is immovable. It only remains to face it with the greatest integrity possible.

The word Ragnarök comes from the genitive of regin, “gods” or “rulers”, and röekr, “darkening”, although here it appears in a poetic way, indicating a kind of declension that cannot be avoided.

Without further preludes, let’s discover together the amazing events that start Ragnarok.

Ragnarok will be heralded by the Fimbulvetr, the Winter of Winters, three relentless periods of cold that follow each other without summers in between. Here comes the end of humanity as we know it. Only a handful of braves will survive to witness the fight between the gods and the giants.

After a chase that began at the dawn of time, the starving wolf Sköll and his brother Hati will devour the sun and the moon. The stars will go out in the sky leaving the universe in shadow.
There will be tremors. The Earth will shake so violently that trees will be uprooted and mountains will fall like pillars of sand. Gadgets thought of by the gods will lose their magic. Loki emerges from his prison and the chains that hold Fenrir’s ravenous jaws shut will snap. His jaw will open in such a way that the lower part will rend the earth and his snout will shatter the sky. Two volcanoes in flames will shine in his eyes, immense as encompassing all the mountains of the Earth, and rivers of lava will flow from his nostrils.

The watchman of the Jutuns, Eggthér, will sit on his grave and play his harp, smiling with his huge mouth. Fjalar, the red rooster, will summon the Giants of the cold, while Gullinkambi, the golden rooster, will sing to the gods. A third infernal-looking bird will raise the dead that inhabit Hel with its call.

The Midgard Serpent, named Jörmundgander, will toss in his sleep on the ocean floor and crawl toward dry land, writhing madly. The seas will boil with his fury and crash against their shores in a series of waves of cyclopean proportions. With each exhalation, Jörmundgander will saturate the air with a poisonous vapor.
The armies of the Jotun, commanded by Hrym, will leave Jötunheim aboard the shocking Naglfar, that portentous ship made from the nails of the dead.

Taking advantage of the general flood, the dead are released from the underworld and go to the battlefield, called Vigrid.

From the dark north a second ship of black sails will arrive. Loki commands the helmsman, taking aboard the hideous hosts of Hel.

There will be conflicts throughout the Earth. The thunder of steel will be heard from every corner, and all the non-human creatures of the world will feel the step of infinite marching boots.

From the forges of Muspelheim the armies of Surt will advance, occupying the south and breaking the stability of the sky. Uncontrollable fires rise in its wake.

The hosts of Evil are heading towards the Bifrost, the rainbow that joins Earth to Heaven, which will break once they have crossed.

Garm, the Hound of Hell, will finally be unleashed, joining the Giants on their march to Vigrid.
In Vigrid, a vast field of one hundred and twenty circular leagues, is filled with the armies of Evil.

Heimdall is the first god to arrive at the rendezvous. Seeing his enemies assembled from him will blow his horn, Gjallarhorn, whose call will be heard throughout the Nine Worlds.

All the gods will wake up and gather in council. Odin will mount Sleipnir, the six-legged horse, and will fly like the wind to the abode of the dwarf Mimir to consult him on the fate of men.

Yggdrasil, the tree of the universe, will tremble from its roots to its highest leaves.
432,000 Einherjers, humans who have died under the sword, will dress for war and will leave Valhalla at the rate of squads of 800 men for each of the 540 gates of the heavenly palace.

Odin rides at the head of his army of heroes, wearing a shining helmet and wielding Gungnir, his spear forged since ancient times.
The battle begins.

Odin will throw himself against the wolf Fenrir. To his right marches Thor, the god of thunder, busy tearing the serpents Jörmungandr to pieces. Freyr will face Surt, the commander of the armies of the south, in single combat, and will be the first god to fall, since, concerned for the safety of his servant Skimir, he had previously given him his sword. Tyr will tear Garm the hellhound apart, but he will be wounded so badly that he will not survive. Heimdall will fight Loki, and they will both kill each other.

Thor will break Jörmungandr’s head into a thousand pieces with the hammer Mjölnir, but the poisonous saliva of the serpent will reach him when he walks nine steps away from his huge corpse, and he will die after a terrible agony. Odin and his spear, Gungnir, will charge at Fenrir, but he will be devoured by the beast’s insatiable jaws. Vidar, mute son of Odin, seeing the death of his father, throws himself against the wolf and crushes his head with his leather boots, created with all the sandals of the dead heroes throughout history. Unable to open his jaw, Fenrir’s head is pierced by Vidar’s sword.
Surt will raise dark fires throughout Vigrid. Foul, unbreathable vapors descend on the few gods left standing. The whole sky is on fire. Below, land and sea meet in a lethal embrace.

The heroes have died and the gods have fallen.

But not all is lost. Good and Evil are not absolute, and are often confused with each other, rubbing against or mixing in a way that is disconcerting to man. Ragnarok is over, but the Battle of Battles is only the prelude to an even greater event: a rebirth, if you will, a reordering of all causes and effects.

Ragnarok is over, and with it our article; so we withdrew, sad and despondent, from the now bloody fields of Vagrid; but with the promise of returning soon to narrate this almost unknown second stage that happens after Ragnarok; an uncertain moment, fugitive, about which the Prophet has said very little, perhaps because her destiny has not yet been written.

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