Asatru in Popular Culture

[von bek]

While talking of modern fantasy, let us never forget Michael Moorcock. (Since I call myself von bek, I'm sure you understand I'm a fan of his work! )

 

[Sees]

Psst---Saxons!

After Christianization took it's toll they lost some mojo...

Much mojo?

 

[vaguelyhumanoid]

Tolkien may have been a devout Catholic, but Northern European paganism was his greatest love in life. I feel like Oðinn was basically *the* reason why the idea of a wizard is so tied to a long beard and a pointed hat. Gandalf is basically a manifestation of Oðinn in fiction. George R.R. Martin also draws on Heathen influences, though not as obviously (his biggest inspiration is high/late medieval history). With A Song of Ice and Fire, the Heathen elements are right there in the name. The Northern culture in the series features a mixture of Norse and Celtic influences, best showcased with Bran's storyline. And much like LOTR, ASOIAF has a very Oðinn-like character, known as Bloodraven. He hasn't had much page time yet, but he's set up to be a major player next book.

Video games with Heathen/Ásatru themes are also an interesting topic. Skyrim is the obvious pick, being very, very Norse. There's also a lot of Heathen imagery and terminology in Dark Souls (as well as some vaguely Catholic architecture/interior design and themes that feel pretty Buddhist to me). That game really captures the feeling of wandering the worlds of Yggdrasil and squaring off against jötunn imo.

btw, there are Celtic influences in Tolkien's worldbuilding, but they're mostly linguistic. He was trying to make a specifically English mythology, not a broader British one. He was not only wary of the British Empire, but the UK himself - he'd rather have lived in either a stateless society or a feudal Kingdom of England.

 

[Riverwolf]

Tolkien may have been a devout Catholic, but Northern European paganism was his greatest love in life. I feel like Oðinn was basically *the* reason why the idea of a wizard is so tied to a long beard and a pointed hat. Gandalf is basically a manifestation of Oðinn in fiction. George R.R. Martin also draws on Heathen influences, though not as obviously (his biggest inspiration is high/late medieval history). With A Song of Ice and Fire, the Heathen elements are right there in the name. The Northern culture in the series features a mixture of Norse and Celtic influences, best showcased with Bran's storyline. And much like LOTR, ASOIAF has a very Oðinn-like character, known as Bloodraven. He hasn't had much page time yet, but he's set up to be a major player next book.

Martin's use of language, too. I honestly stopped liking the ASOIAF books after 4 and 5 bored me to apathy (I don't remember this "Bloodraven" character at all), but one thing I've ALWAYS liked was his use of language. A lot of the terms he's used are borrowed from many Heathen elements, such as "Frey". Many of the chapters written from the perspective of Northerners also seem to have a kind of Heathen bent to their vernacular; one of these days, I kinda wanna study the books from a language perspective, so I can see what's going on.

The culture of the Wildlings also reminded me of what I imagine a lot of early Nordic Tribes, as well as the Celtic Picts, might have been like.

 

[vaguelyhumanoid]

Book 4 is a bit slow but I loved book 5. Look up Bloodraven, the mythic parallels are huge.

Also, I love the wildling culture; Mance Rayder is one of my favorite characters. There's also some Heimdallr-like imagery with the Night's Watch and their horns.

 

[Riverwolf]

There's also some Heimdallr-like imagery with the Night's Watch and their horns.

I actually didn't notice that, but now that you mention it, totally! ^_^