费瑞: 挪威神话故事/FERRIE: Tales from the Norse Legends

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- 费瑞: 挪威神话故事
  FERRIE: Tales from the Norse Legends
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费瑞: 挪威神话故事 / FERRIE: Tales from the Norse Legends
[ 读物介绍 ]
Edward FerrieTales From the Norse Legends The tales in this collection are selected from the Old Norsemyths and legends, but who were the Norsemen? Broadly speaking they were thepeoples of Iceland and what is now modern Scandinavia: Sweden, Denmark andNorway. These old stories explain their understanding of the world and theirvision of life. The lands where they lived were far to the north and thegeography of the region is one of extremes. Their world was a world of polaropposites — night and day, fire and ice, black and white, good and bad — andthis is reflected in the stories. Iceland in particular is a place of volcanicrock, mountains and crevasses, hot springs and geysers, where fire bursts fromthe sea.Most of the demons and monsters in the stories are born outof nature. The giants (or Jotuns) are colossal beings of ice, rock, fire andstorm, which were the natural dangers the men of those times confronted in thenatural setting they inhabited. The gods, though personalized, represent the benign aspectsof nature. The Sun and Moon give heat and light: and Odin and Thor, the skygods, send rain to irrigate crops and wind to carry the Norsemen’s ships acrossthe seas. The importance of the gods was such that the days of the week werenamed after them — Sunday (the Sun), Monday (the moon), Tuesday (Tyr, or Tuw),Wednesday (Odin, or Woden as the Anglo-Saxons called him), Thursday (Thor) andFriday (Frey). The Icelandic poets told their stories rather than writingthem down and they were passed from generation to generation as part of an oraltradition.Although the essence was unchanging, details often variedfrom telling to telling. Stories, or sagas as they were called, were used toteach history, philosophy and even religion. With the arrival of the firstChristian priests, these stories were finally written down. The result was aconfused and confusing work called the greater (or poetic) Edda. Almost acentury later, Snorri Sturlesson produced an attempt at a more rational versionof the myths and legends, which became known as the newer (or minor) Edda. The Norsemen were also known as the Vikings and were famedfor being terrible, savage fighters. Their attitude was fatalistic — they sawthe hand of the gods in nature, and knew nature could be very hostile. In thedepths of their being their greatest necessity was to be courageous. Odin despised cowards and anyone who died a coward’s deathwould never be accepted into Valhalla, the home of the dead heroes. It was aViking’s duty to be brave. Honor and the duty to offer strangers or travelershospitality were also important ideas in their code of behavior. The beliefsystem was cyclical, following what was observed in nature — birth, growth,maturity, and death. Ragnarok signified the end of life, not just for humanitybut for the gods too; yet an important part of their religion was the beliefthat after Ragnarok the world should be reborn with new gods and new people —the evil cleansed away by the fire. This may have been a religious belief takenfrom Christianity. The god Baldur (sometimes known as the White god) was to diebefore Ragnarok and the Vikings believed that he would return afterwards, justas Christians believe in the resurrection. Glossary ASGARD - The home of the Aesir; literally, the garden of thegods BALDUR - The god of the dawn, the shining one, also calledthe Whitegod. Baldur is invulnerable to all things except mistletoe. FENRIR - The monster wolf, another of Loki’s sons whosedestiny it is to killOdin at Ragnarok GARM - The hound of hell that threatens to swallow the sun. HEIMDALL - The watchman of the gods and guardian of Asgardwho standson the rainbow bridge Bifrost. His senses are so sharp he can heara leaf falling half a universe away or see into the depths of the seasat night. HEL - The underworld IDUN - The goddess of the orchard who grows the goldenapples of immortality. JORMUNGANDER - The Midgard serpent - one of Loki’s monstrous sons.A serpent so big it encircles the entire earth, destined to battle withThor at Ragnarok. JOTUNHEIM - The home of the Jotuns or giants LOKI - The god of mischief and evil who goes from being acompanion of thegods to being their greatest enemy.MIDGARD - The home of man, the earth MUSPELHEIM - The land of fire NIFFLEHEIM - The land of ice ODIN - The one-eyed god and king of the gods of Asgard. Hisbrothers wereVilli and Ve. RAGNAROK - The final conflict between good and evil, whenall are destroyed- the Twilight of the Gods. SURT - The oldest being. The fire demon, whose destiny is toconsume theworld at Ragnarok. SWARTELFHEIM - The land of the dark elves THOR - The god of thunder, defender of Asgard and scourge ofthe giants.He travels in a magical bronze chariot drawn by two enchanted ramsand wields the hammer Mjolnir the destroyer. TYR - The grim faced god of war, the bravest of the gods,who lost his handto bind the wolf Fenrir. VANAHEIM - The home of the Vanir, a different group of godsto the Aesir VIDAR - The silent god. YMIR - The first living being, the greatest of the icegiants. He is killed byOdin. Notes by Edward Ferrie Benjamin Soames Benjamin Soames trained at LAMDA. Since then he has beenactive on both stage and screen, appearing in the popular TV series Sharpe andAbsolutely Fabulous and having toured worldwide in the acclaimed Cheek by Jowlproduction of Measure for Measure directed by Declan Donnelan.