Norse Mythology: Difference between revisions

*** Most adaptations (probably thanks to Marvel) tend to set up Thor and Loki as arch-enemies. While they butted heads once in a while (Sif's hair was certainly a [[Berserk Button]] for Thor), they were more friends than enemies, and often traveled together.

* [[Artifact of Doom]]: The Ring Andvaranaut a.k.a. the [[The Ring of the Nibelung|Ring of the Nibelung]], from the ''[[The Saga of the Volsungs|Volsunga Saga]]''.

* [[Badass Normal]]: In the incident where Thor and his companions are tricked by the giant Utgard-Loki into competing in rigged contests of strength, one of those companions is a seemingly normal human who does fairly well in a race against a ''thought from Utgard's mind''.

** That would be Thjalfi, who also killed a [[Golem|clay giant]] [[Kaiju|nine leagues wide across the chest]] in single combat, and easily at that.

** Some might say though that the way [[Those Wacky Nazis|the Third Reich]] ended bore a rather odd resemblance to Ragnarök.

** C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, both of whom were very fond of Norse mythology and no fans of the Nazi regime, complained extensively in letters to each other that the Nazis had no idea what the were talking about whenever they talked about Norse myth.

* [[Scars Are Forever]]: And when they are the gods, that's really forever. Both Odin and Tyr suffer under this.

* [[Sea Monster]]: The [[Kraken and Leviathan|Kraken]] is originally from Norse myth, but the standout example is Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent - a sea serpent so huge it encircles ''the whole world''.

** [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]

* [[Trickster Mentor]], Odin, occasionally.

** And long after the first occurrences of dragons and their slayers: [[The Hobbit (novel)|Smaug]] is a Norse in-joke. It's also worth noting that the name the Norse gave to the world in which they lived, Midgard, literally means [[The Lord of the Rings|"Middle Earth"]].

* [[Two-Faced]]: Hel. In many stories, the left half of her body is beautiful, the right half is [[Depending on the Writer|either aged and decrepit or skeletal]]. Could count as [[Fridge Brilliance]] as well: the decrepit side is the "this is the reality of death", while the beautiful is "it is nothing to be afraid of".