Nerdy Norsemen

[pffh]

If I'm not mistaken (I probably am) the norse god of love rides in the flying ship Skidbladneer that fits in her pocket and is pulled by cats.

Ouch that hurts. Freyja's (the goddess of love) wagon is indeed pulled by cats and skidbladnir is a ship that can be folded to fit in a pocket, but the ship is owned by Freyr the god of fertility and it's only powers are that it can carry almost any weight and it can sail even when there is no wind.

 

[Xanadu84]

Nerds like Norse mythology because
1) It has crazy, exotic words that sound cool and esoteric
2) It's led to far more then just a second rate video game and a few Max Payne references. More like it's the original mold for all high fantasy. Dwarves, Elves, Giants, fantastic monsters in desperate need of slaying... If Tolkien is the root of all modern fantasy, Norse mythology is the earth in which it is planted. Even the Norse word for our world means, "Middle Earth".
3) Norse mythology is pretty much designed for 11 year old boys who watch too much Wrestling. Half the myths end with the characters going, "Screw this", and Thor killing everyone in sight with his hammer. Even if they learn some subtle, enlightening lesson, they tend to ruin the moment with wholesale slaughter.

I'm not surprised people are shocked that your names Thor. It's comparable to being named Hercules, and maybe a small step down from being named Jesus.

My all time favorite Norse myth is there end of the world. They find out that the world will end if this guy, Baulder, dies. So his mom makes everything in the world promise that it will not harm Baulder (But ignores a sprig of mistletoe, because it just seems too harmless). When she lets the rest of the gods know this, there natural reaction is to start throwing pointy things, boulders, and whatever else they can get there hands on at Baulder. Loki decides to play a practical joke, and fashions a spear out of mistletoe, and hands it to a blind god, who everyone is telling to get in on the action. Blind god hurls the mistletoe spear through his chest killing him. Loki finds the end of the world hilarious. The rest of the gods, less amused, bind Loki with his own intestines.

Another good one is where a Giant puts Thor through a bunch of challenges, saying that there's things that he can't do, like drink all the water in a gourd, pick up a cat, or beat an old woman in a wrestling match. He fails at all of these seemingly simple tasks. But the giant points out that the old woman was Time, the gourd was the ocean, the cat was the serpent that circles the world (How he made this mistake is better off not thinking about). So Thor learns a very worthwhile lesson in humility and his limitations...then he bashes in the giants brain with his hammer, as well as everyone in a few mile radius.

Oh, there's also that one where Thor has to crossdress to fool this giant into thinking hes a goddess. Guess how that one ends? Hint: there's a hammer involved.

 

[Datalord]

Why are nerds so fascinated with Norse myth?

More lately than normal I feel like people a constantly talking about Norse myth. But what is it about Norse that fascinates people so? There?s Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, and Slavic to name a few. But what?s so awesome about Norse?

My name is Thor and lately I get compliments on my name left and right. This has not happened especially in the last year. Did a movie or something come out that I missed that made people get interested in Viking lore or what?

And what the hell while we're here name a favorite legend, character, or otherwise from norse mythology? Or another pantheon that you find interesting.

If your name was Set, you would get compliments and hear about Egyptian myths, if your name was Zeus, you would get compliments and hear all about greek myths, you name puts norse mythology into the front of people's minds

 

[ace_of_something]

2) It's led to far more then just a second rate video game and a few Max Payne references. More like it's the original mold for all high fantasy. Dwarves, Elves, Giants, fantastic monsters in desperate need of slaying... If Tolkien is the root of all modern fantasy, Norse mythology is the earth in which it is planted. Even the Norse word for our world means, "Middle Earth".

I'm not surprised people are shocked that your names Thor. It's comparable to being named Hercules, and maybe a small step down from being named Jesus.

Your point 2) is very likely. I hadn't thought of that. Interestingly a lot of African Americans I meet ask me if it's short for Thorton or Thornton. It's not.

If your name was Set, you would get compliments and hear about Egyptian myths, if your name was Zeus, you would get compliments and hear all about greek myths, you name puts norse mythology into the front of people's minds

It's not that it's more the compliments that confuse me, like I picked out my name. I dunno it was just a random thought.

 

[Soxafloppin]

Kratos is my favourite legend.

 

[Fraught]

Everything's been said.
Its gods are more awesome.
Its apocalypse is the coolest.

That is all.

 

[The_Prophet]

You're named Thor?
Awesome!

That aside - Norse gods probably appeal due to the fact they're disfunctional and far more whacky than other pantheons, you'd never find the christian God dressing up as a woman in order to get his hammer back by marrying the Giant King, would you?

This pretty much sums it up.

 

[iron codpiece]

I personally like the stories I was told as a child. Few still believe them but they provided me with a unique set of stories few others get to hear. I'm Ponca by the way.

Kratos is my favourite legend.

Wait, fuck that. I wanna change my answer.

 

[El Poncho]

I'm moe into the greek mythology atm but the norse myths are awesome and for the record your name is the best name in the world.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I'm more into Greek and Celtic mythology myself but that's just me really depends on whatever floats your long boat(see what I did there).

Also most Gods interbreed which I find a tad disturbing but thats just me I don't know what you all think.

 

[similar.squirrel]

I think it's a heavy metal thing. Or maybe it's something to do with Marvel. I don't know. Can't stomach Norse mythology myself.
I'm an Inca person.

 

[clicketycrack]

Because Norse gods are wacky enough to be in a fucking sitcom. They steal, kill, and screw all the time so they're pretty much the forrunner for soap operas. And also, my God would never do any funny or crazy shit like that because he's too busy tryin' to protect the Jews and telling people not to masterbate.

 

[Lonewolfm16]

Because they haves myths in which the world is created when one guy kills a giant the size of the world and uses his body to create the entire world and makes people from some trees, plus the stories of ragnarok are the best ever.

 

[Phasmal]

All I know about Norse mythology is that they were super fun to play as in Age of Mythology, and the big-ass wolves rocked as units.

But myths are a fun thing in general, I don't discriminate with myths. If they're awesome, doesn't matter where they come from.

 

[Nickolai77]

1)"Nerds", in the OP's context probably refers to nerds living in the English speaking world, that means North America, Austalia/NZ, UK, Ireland and some other parts of Western Europe. Western nerds are going to be most interested in mythologies from their own culture- that's going to be Greco/Roman mythology, Celtic or Norse. And not so much Arabic, Hindu or Chinese.

2)Greco-Roman or "High classical culture" arguably started to go out of fashion in the 18th century with the rise of Romanticism, which was more interested in Norse mythology- e.g- the Oprah's of Wagner, and a lot of the cultural stuff which came from that era is the basis for our modern culture today.

3) Norse mythology is relatively well recorded because it lasted as a functioning religion right up until around the 10th/11th century. This means we know quite a bit about it, more so than say, Celtic mythology.

4)Because Norse mythology has survived so well, a lot of it became the basis for Western fantasy novels such as Tolkiens Lord of the Rings (Which was in turn inspired by Wagner) which nerds can directly relate to.

 

[Hagi]

Why has nobody mentioned the Avengers yet?

You know, one of the biggest movies ever featuring a character named Thor?

The overly obvious cause of him receiving compliments on his name?

 

[hazabaza1]

Why has nobody mentioned the Avengers yet?

You know, one of the biggest movies ever featuring a character named Thor?

The overly obvious cause of him receiving compliments on his name?

This thread was made 3 years ago.
OT: Norse gods are fucking cool, man.

 

[Hagi]

Why has nobody mentioned the Avengers yet?

You know, one of the biggest movies ever featuring a character named Thor?

The overly obvious cause of him receiving compliments on his name?

This thread was made 3 years ago.
OT: Norse gods are fucking cool, man.

Ah, my bad then.

Hadn't counted on someone necroing threads that old lol.

 

[hazabaza1]

Why has nobody mentioned the Avengers yet?

You know, one of the biggest movies ever featuring a character named Thor?

The overly obvious cause of him receiving compliments on his name?

This thread was made 3 years ago.
OT: Norse gods are fucking cool, man.

Ah, my bad then.

Hadn't counted on someone necroing threads that old lol.

Seems to be happening a lot recently, it's kind of weird.

 

[BeeGeenie]

Egyptian gods never DO anything. They're kind of boring really.
Greek and Roman gods were pretty kinky and fun... but they weren't very heroic.
Chinese? Slavic? They haven't gotten nearly as much publicity as Norse.
People tend to focus on the big three: Egyptian, Greco-Roman (because lets face it, the Romans were really into Greek culture, and their myths tend to blend together), and Norse.
They were the most influential on Western Culture, so they're what Western cultures are most familiar with and use most often.

I like to read folktales from other countries though. Japan's got some good stuff. The Chinese ones I read were less memorable (probably something lost in translation).