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FACULTY of EDUCATION and BUSINESS STUDIES Department of Humanities FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND BUSINESS STUDIES Department of Humanities FATE ACCORDING TO THE PROSE EDDA NARRATION OF RAGNAROK A Theological contemplation, elaboration and insight to the Norse pagan concept of fate Miralem Mehanović 2021 Master thesis, Advanced level, 30 credits Master Programme in Religious Studies, RVA 800 Supervisor: Stefan Larsson Examiner: Olov Dahlin Abstract The Prose Edda chapter, Ragnarok as recorded by Snorri, was taken as a pivotal point for exploring fate according to the Norse mythology. The eschatological concept of collapsing gods and destruction of the world was explored through the logical and theological fatalist theory, diverging the orientation from the standard textual exploration. The thesis examines the concept by employing the methodology of hermeneutics to scrutinise the text. The analysis derived results confirmed the existence of belief in fate embedded in the text; the logical fatalism that polarises statements by their truthfulness, even though it was not found or indicated textually, provided a strong contrast to theological fatalism, evidenced throughout the text. The weak theological fatalism (determinism) was suggested in the findings based on the Ragnarok text, by which the inexorable change of aeons as set-in motion by the Universal Force (predicted by the three Volvas), does not entirely compromise the Aesir’s free will; such as the cosmic order includes the free will in its mechanism; while Aesir’s voluntary choice was dependent on God’s forescience, it was still free to operate within the remit of its emission, unperturbed within the cosmic design. The Nietzschean concept of Amor Fati (Love for Fate) in accepting the inevitable, through the cyclicality of time, and as it appears with a reason that is to keep one happy, additionally illuminated our understanding of fate in Ragnarok. To counterbalance this idea and bring it into equilibrium, I reflected upon the notion of "Designer of Destiny", whereby human beings are assumed to run the entirety of their destiny, soon to learn that this human urge clashes with their biology (over which they do not have complete control) and the cosmic power that has already predetermined the human path. 2 Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Etymology and Meaning of Ragnarok ........................................................................ 8 On Snorri Sturluson and the Prose Edda .................................................................. 10 Norse Pantheon of Gods and Giants ......................................................................... 11 The Universal Story of Ragnarok ............................................................................. 14 Brief History of the Vikings (The Viking Age) ......................................................... 15 Definitions of the Most Important Theological Concepts for the Norse Religion ......... 18 Polytheism .................................................................................................................. 18 Fatalism Determinism and Pre-determinism ............................................................ 20 Dualism ...................................................................................................................... 21 Fate and Destiny ........................................................................................................ 22 Freedom and Free Will .............................................................................................. 24 History of Fatalism ........................................................................................................................ 26 Greek and Roman Thoughts on Fate ........................................................................ 26 Christian Position on Fate ......................................................................................... 30 Muslim Explanation of Fatalism ............................................................................... 32 Positivist Thought on Fate and Free Will ................................................................ 35 Hermeneutics as a Methodology to Explore the Ragnarok Myth ....................................... 36 The Theory for the Concept of Fate in Ragnarok .................................................................. 39 Logical Fatalism ......................................................................................................... 39 Theological Fatalism ................................................................................................. 40 The Research Question Hypotheses .......................................................................................... 41 Analysis of the Raganarok Text ................................................................................................. 42 Language and Translation ......................................................................................... 47 Historical Context ...................................................................................................... 51 Literary Context ........................................................................................................ 52 Form, Structure, Movement ...................................................................................... 55 Detailed Analysis ....................................................................................................... 56 Synthesis ..................................................................................................................... 62 Intertextuality of the Ragnarok ................................................................................. 63 Reflection .................................................................................................................... 66 The Summary of Results ............................................................................................ 69 Discussion ........................................................................................................................................ 72 Reliability and Validity of the Analysed Ragnarok ................................................... 73 Amor Fati and Ragnarok ........................................................................................... 77 Designer of Destiny ................................................................................................... 79 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 82 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................... 86 3 Note on citations and spelling: The names of gods in Norse mythology are spelt differently in the master’s thesis depending on the sources where they have been mentioned. The most frequent examples of this spelling variegation include r controlled syllables, shortened and extended such as Balder or Baldr, Hoder or Hodr, shortened r ending syllables such as Surtr or Heimdallr and the r omitted Surt or Heimdal) as well as the open syllable (ending with a vowel and having a long sound) in the name e.g. Loke or Loki, including the Edda’s collector’s name Snorre or Snorri. Depending on the historical exactness of the ancient text, some scholars of Norse mythology used only shortened r controlled syllables in the spelling of Norse gods’ names while others allowed themselves to be facilitated with the extended r ending syllable or omitting it completely in their English translations; the same case goes with the open ending syllable whereby a modification has been made in replacing i with an English e without a change in pronunciation. In this thesis, I use both the extended and omitted version of the r syllable as well as the i ending open syllable where necessary, which seems to have become established in the popular modern English literature except in the citations where a quoted author used shortened/omitted/open ending syllable versions for Norse gods’ names. 4 Introduction The story of Ragnarok as mentioned in the Norse mythology is an intriguing topic which includes a transactional chain of events comprising the great battle, natural disasters, and submersion of the world in the water before the land re-emerges and regenerates again with a couple of humans who should repopulate the earth. It refers to the destruction of the world, including the gods. It powerfully makes images and colourfully portrays the battle between the Norse gods and giants which outwardly is the ultimate battle between the forces of good and evil. According to the story and on the first sight, this destruction appears to be a maleficent thing although the battle of Ragnarok as described in the Eddas, brings about the change and the necessary regeneration to the world. Observed from this perspective, Ragnarok is the event born out of necessity for it shows the time in a cyclical manner just as are the rotations in the natural world such as a repeated shift of day to night, emphasising endless recurrence of combat between the forces of good and evil generating a renewal of the world. There are different stories about the Norse gods and their adventures described in the Eddas but none of them, it appears, attracts as much attention as Ragnarok. Thus in 2017, Marvel Cinematic Universe produced the film “Thor: Ragnarok” whereby
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