WMHSMUN XXXIV Ragnarök Background Guide “Unprecedented committees. Unparalleled debate. Unmatched fun.” Letters From the Directors Dear Delegates, Hello and welcome to WMHSMUN! My name is Lauren Wiehl and I will be your in-room director for the weekend. I am excited to meet all of you and have this opportunity! I am a senior originally from San Diego, California and I am majoring in economics and history. I ended up here from the west coast because I wanted to experience seasons for the first time, and I love Colonial American history. The seasons have not let me down! At William and Mary, I am in social sorority, the business fraternity, and a marketing group called Agency 1693. I actually did not participate in Model UN before college - freshman year, a friend convinced me to volunteer for the high school conference here at William and Mary, and I fell in love with it. Since then, I have volunteered for every conference we hold, and I am on secretariat for our college conference in April. I hope that this weekend you’ll come to love MUN as much as I have! As far as our topic, I am so incredibly excited to direct Ragnarök. I’ve done all sorts of committees, but cool crisis ones are my favorite (I recently directed a conference on the Illuminati!). Norse mythology is fascinating and acting as gods is an important responsibility. In committee, you all will be reacting to crises and battling each other and mythical creatures to save yourselves as the world ends. Be sure to read up on mythology as you research your positions and prepare to fight to the death. Obviously WMHSMUN will look a little different this year, and Catherine and I are learning alongside you guys! Let us know if you have any questions and we are happy to help you in any way we can. I am super excited to still be able to direct since WMHSMUN is my favorite time of year, and I look forward to spending the weekend (virtually) with you and assuming the roles and the most powerful gods in the world! Lauren Wiehl [email protected] Background Guide – Ragnarök Dear Delegates, Welcome to WMHSMUN XXXIV! I am honored and excited to be your crisis director this fall and am so ready to see what amazing ideas you all will bring to the table. My name is Catherine Janicki, and I am a sophomore at the College studying Sociology and Music. I’m a huge musical theatre nerd and on campus, I sing in the W&M Choir and an A Cappella group called The Accidentals! I am a vanilla iced coffee fanatic and have an affinity for the color teal. Alongside those interests, I will forever hold a soft spot in my heart for Model United Nations. Model UN was an important facet of my high school experience and I’ve previously staffed two William & Mary conferences as a crisis staffer and chair. I can’t wait to spend the weekend navigating all the directives and crises that will unfold as committee progresses. While on the topic of crises…as you all know, due to COVID-19, WMHSMUN XXXIV will be virtual. This is going to mean rediscovering Model UN in a way we haven’t before, together. Nevertheless, I’m sincerely looking forward to exploring virtual committee sessions and Ragnarök with you guys! As Norse gods, it’s your responsibility to make it out of the crisis alive with strategic plans and creative solutions. It’s going to be important to spend some time researching Norse mythology and brainstorming some fantastical elements that you can incorporate into committee. Feeling nervous and overwhelmed is incredibly valid, this year especially. As your directors, Lauren and I are here for you and are always available to talk through any concerns and answer any questions you may have. Get hyped, because this is going to be great and YOU GUYS are going to Ragna-ROCK!! I’m so excited to meet you guys! Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything. Catherine Janicki [email protected] 2 Background Guide – Ragnarök Introduction Ragnarök is the catastrophic destruction of the world and everything in it, as told by Norse mythology. This is not necessarily the world as we know it, but one entirely controlled by the gods and the powerful fire giants. Prophecies from long ago come true, and the world enters a very long and very cold winter. This sort of catastrophe is unprecedented and everything that once thrived now faces the biggest challenge in all of time. Surviving is now a battle - each scrap of food, each sip of water is a fight to the death for humankind. Meanwhile, the gods of the universe are watching as not only the world collapses, but the mythical animals that hid in the shadows emerge and unleash their powers. The wolves that hunt the moon and sun finally capture their prey, the giant serpent at the bottom of the sea is released and the earth floods with the waters of the sea. All mountains and trees fall and a ship full of giants is released to sail across the now flooded world. These giants are what cause concern for the gods, as they are the only ones that can stop the damage they have caused. The ship of giants is captained by Loki, who is a traitor to the gods. The fire giants, led by Surt, emerge from a crack in the sky and become a threatening presence on earth. This is the moment the gods have feared, as it confirms previous prophecies are coming true. What happens next is up to the gods, who must decide whether to fight to save the world or simply fight the elements to stay alive. The mythical animals are entirely under the control of the fire giants, who utilize the powers of these animals when necessary. The gods, though they have a level of control over the humans on earth and other general elements, are helpless to the advances of the fire giants unless they go to direct war with them. This series of drastic and sudden events put the gods in a very difficult spot, as they know what the prophecies say and that their control of the world could completely slip out of their grasp - not to mention the gods 3 Background Guide – Ragnarök could lose their lives in the process. What should be done to save the world and everything in it? Who will survive the deadly conflict? That is only up to the delegates now. **Disclaimer: This is not a committee about the Thor movies, as excellent as they are. Thor is based on this story, but this deals with the actual Norse myths of the battle of the gods. Topic 1: Recruiting and Maintaining Gods to Fight Though the fire giants have generally been content, their recent anger has made the world start to collapse. Wolves and other powerful animals are ravaging the earth, using their powers to destroy everything known to man. The gods must ban together to decide a course of action in this time of extreme need. They must fight a war against the fire giants. However, some gods are abandoning their counterparts and joining the fire gods, as the prophecies state that the fire giants will win. Therefore, some gods and animals believe that they are more likely to survive the war if they instead fight with the fire giants, regardless of how they might be treated afterwards. This causes great problems for the remaining gods, as they have no hope of winning the war without their full numbers and the strengths of each individual god. Attempting to reason with these gods would be a waste of time and resources, and possibly dangerous because of their new affiliation. However, it will also be much more difficult to win without the full support and power of each god. Because of the relationships between various gods, some gods abandoning their counterparts to join the other side might cause a chain reaction among other gods, which would be detrimental for everything on earth. The draw to be a part of the seemingly much more powerful side can become too strong, the gods could lose everything that is dear to them. Any effort put into the fight against the fire giants thus far must be put aside to fix this crisis. A main concern is that if the gods return to their original position, they could return as a double agent of sorts. This would both hinder the gods in that their plans would be exposed and trick them into thinking they have an additional warrior when in fact they do not. Infighting will weaken the gods and their plans, so it is better to avoid this altogether. It could be better to avoid further contact with the gods that betrayed them, but some gods disagree. The risk of a double agent could be worth obtaining more gods to fight the fire giants. They would also regain the powers of those particular gods, which could be very beneficial at any given point. It is unclear how the war will end, and it is difficult to persuade each god that it is worth fighting for their land and their power in exchange for their life. While only a few gods have left behind their powers at the moment, more gods could suddenly change sides at any moment, rendering the fight almost useless. The 4 Background Guide – Ragnarök side of the fire giants is initially compelling, as they are much more powerful than the gods.