A god of healing and fate: : the presence of odinic myths and attributes in the series "Vikings"
Keywords:
Vikings, Viking Age, Norse mythology, Odin, mythCopyright (c) 2020 Sergio Fernández Moreno
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Abstract
In these past few years, the presence of the medieval Scandinavian history and culture has increased in the audiovisual medium, as is shown by the release of Vikings (2013). In particular, this television series often includes references to the myths associated with Óðinn —a main deity of the Norse—, whose attributes are, in addition, reflected in some characters of this historical drama. Thus, the aim of this paper is to analyze, on the one hand, how the stories and features of that god adapt to the plot demands and, on the other hand, to explain to what extent the allusions to this deity recall the meanings which Odinic myths had in their original context. After this analysis, it will be possible to conclude that the powers which the ancient Germanic world attributed to Óðinn in relation to fate and curative magic determine the future of some Vikings main characters.
Downloads
References
Bernárdez, Enrique (2010): Los mitos germánicos, Madrid, Alianza Editorial.
Bernárdez, Enrique (2017): Mitología nórdica, Madrid, Alianza Editorial.
Edda mayor (2009), traducción al español de Luis Lerate, Madrid, Alianza editorial.
Eddukvæði (1976), edición de Ólafur Briem, Reykjavík, Skálholt.
Gunnell, Terry (2005), «Eddic Poetry», en Rory McTurk (ed.): A companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture, United Kingdom, Blackwell Publishing: 82-100. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470996867.ch6
Haywood, John (2016): Los hombres del norte. La saga vikinga (793-1241), traducción al español de Francisco García Lorenzana, Barcelona, Ariel.
Lerate, Luis (2008): notas a Edda Mayor, traducción al español de Luis Lerate, Madrid, Alianza editorial: 115-128.
Martínez Fernández, José Enrique (2001): La intertextualidad literaria, Madrid, Cátedra.
Sax, Boria (2017): Cuervo. Naturaleza, historia y simbolismo, traducción al español de Julio Hermoso, Madrid, Siruela.
Schmidt Poulsen, Grete (1986): «The complementarity of magic in Nordic mythology and in archaeological sources», en Gro Steinsland (ed.): Words and Objects. Towards a dialogue between archaeology and history of religion, Oslo, Norwegian University Press: 168-179.
Sturluson, Snorri (2008): Edda menor, traducción al español de Luis Lerate, Madrid, Alianza Editorial.
Sturluson, Snorri (2013): Heimskringla. History of the Kings of Norway, traducción al inglés de Lee M. Hollander, Austin, University of Texas Press.
The Saga of the Volsungs (1999), traducción al inglés de Jesse L. Byock, England, Penguin Classics.