Old Norse gods in contemporary Norwegian novels
Old Norse gods in contemporary Norwegian novels

Summary/Abstract: Old Norse mythology is one of the most prolific fields in modern times. From a scholarly renewed interest to a more popular based reception, the old myths and gods seem to have been revived. The following article deals with the representation and role of two of the Old Norse gods, Odin and Ty, in contemporary Norwegian literature. It discusses in a comparative way the image of the Old Norse gods as presented by the written sources about the Viking mythology, The Poetic Edda and The Prose Edda, and by the contemporary novels that have them as main characters. Contemporary problems that trouble the Norwegian society seem to find their expression in literature where the old gods are presented as driven by anger and a desire to take revenge, either because they have lost their power or because they are led by a sense of duty, integrity and doing what is right. In the so called age of globalization, the Norwegian writers that use Old Norse mythology as inspiration seem to be themselves driven by a feeling of nostalgia after a time when the society was more homogenous or by a desire to promote and live by the Viking values

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