Seaitfle Childrens Theatre
EDUCATOR RESOURCE GUIDE
Inthe
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nordic myths
HANS
Lands
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pegs by Sasuly BilasaeInthe
Northern
Lands” myths
SYNOPSIS & BOOKLIST
Mythology has always aided man in understanding the world in which they live, given them
reasons behind the forces of nature. Using incredible physicality and grand theatrical scope,
we bring to life a series of Nordic myths through which we travel to long, long ago...
... in the misty ages at the beginning of all, when the great Tree, Yggdrasill, did bind
together the Nine Worlds, people lived in oloser harmony with the gods and knew them.
Before this morning of time, great Giants, called Jotun, wielded the elements as their
fearsome weapons in their fight against man and god alike. And the gods, sought to
vanquish the Jotun and protect man from their evils. They thwarted the devious Thiazzi,
slayed the mighty frost giant Thrym, and outwitted the great wolf Fenrir. In these
earliest of days, a great value was placed on honor and bravery, for in the end, the tales
of how the gods dealt with others is all that lives after them.
For children é& young adults: For adulte working with children and young adulte:
‘The Adventure of Thor the Thunder God Norse Mythology A to Z
Lise Lunge-Larsen Kathleen N. Daly
D'Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths ‘The Norsemen
Ingri and Ragar Parin d'Aulaire Virginia Schomp
Favorite Norse Myths Scandinavian Mythology
Mary Pope Osborne Jason Porterfield
Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Norse Sagas of the Norsemen: Viking and German Myth
Leonard Everett Fisher Loren Auerbach
Roautiful plotures of artifacts and artwork Mustrate
oain's ramuy the history, culture, and mythology of the Norse people.
Neil Philip
Runemarks
Joanne Harris In the Northern Lands touches on many
‘themes and ideas. We believe the following
The Sea of Trolls will make grest Curriculum Connections:
Nanoy Farmer Nordic History; Mythology:
Epic Tales; Tricksters
Bneyolopedia Mythioa: Mythology, Folklore,
and Religion
bitemerret TEACHERS—We believe that seeing the
show and using our Educator Resource
Guide can help you meet the following
EALRs:
Reading: 2.3, 2.4, 3.1, 3.4
Communteation: 1.1, 4.1
Arte: 141,14, 2.4, 2.3
Writing: 3.2, 3.3, 2.3
History: 1.3, 2.1
Geography: 1.1, 3.1, 3.3
‘Thor's Wedding Day
Bruee Coville
‘Thialfi, the Goat Boy, must help Thor retrieve
his hammer after he inadvertently helps the
giant Thrym to steal it. A hilarious retelling
of a classic story from Norse mythology.
Prepared by Larry Wawro
King County Library System UyInthe
Northern
nordic myths
Lands WHO'S WHO AND WHAT'S WHAT
IN THE NORTHERN LANDS
ASGARD: the land where the Norse gods live. It lies at the far side of the rainbow bridge
(@itrost) from the land of men (Midgard). It is a sacred and secure place.
AESIR: the leaders of the Norse gods, including Odin, Thor, Freya, ete. They
vanquished the Vanir (another sect of gods) and are mortal enemies with the giants,
BALDUR: son of Odin and Frigg, Baldur was the god of innocence and forgiveness.
‘He was beautiful and almost universally loved. Baldur was killed by a dart, flung at
him by his blind twin brother, Hod, which Loki made from mistletoe.
BIFROST: the Rainbow Bridge that leads from Midgard to Asgard.
FENRIR: a monstrously large wolf, sired by Loki and a Frost Giantess, It is said that
Fenrir wolf will be on hand at the great battle that sees the Aesir destroyed. When he
was a pup, the Aesir kept him in Asgard watched over by Tyr, but as Fenrir grows, Deer our as tan geese
they trick him into being chained. Tyr sacrifices his right hand toward this end. ‘a bina him
FREYJA: a Vanir goddess of sex, fertility, war, and wealth, she was taken in by the Aesir. Freyja made a bargain
with the Dwarves to obtain Brisingamen, the beautiful necklace she always wears.
FRIGG: a goddess of love, fertility, marriage, and motherhood; she isOdin’s wife, making her foremost among the
Acsir goddesses. She is the mother of Baldur and Hod. It is believed that she knows everyone's destiny, but will
never reveal it, Friday is named for her.
JOTUN: also known as Giants, these are monstrous creatures who were in dominance before the Aesir even existed.
‘They oppose the rule of the gods and are their mortal enemies.
HELLA: Goddess of the Inglorious Dead and Queen of Helheim, the land of the dead, She is a daughter of Loki and
she takes the form of an ugly half-dead and rotting hag.
HERMOD: the messonger of the Gods and brother of Baldur, he journeyed to the Underworld to try and free Baldur,
‘and failed.
HOD: the blind god of darkness and winter, son of Odin and Frigg, he killed his twin brother Baldur. ‘There is
debate on whether this was intentional or the result of Loki’s deceit.
IDUNA: the keoper of the apples of youth, Iduna is the goddess of Spring, youth, and
immortality. She was abducted by Thiazzi, the storm giant, but rescued by Loki.
JOTUNHEIM: the land of the Giants.
‘Eduna boing stolen awayInthe
Northern
nordic myths
Lands WHO'S WHO AND WHAT'S WHAT
IN THE NORTHERN LANDS conr.
LOKI: cunning, sneaky, and mischievous, he is half giant, half god, and brother to Odin and father
to Fenrir wolf. Loki is a trickster and shape-shifter, god of thieves and fire. As he uses his
crafty ways more, his motives become more malicious. He and Thor often go on adventures
together. Loki is believed to have devised to kill Baldur with a mistletoe dart.
MIDGARD: the Realm of Mankind, where all humans live.
MIMIR: one of the oldest Giants and guardian of the Well of Wisdom. He knows the secrets of the
MJOLLNIR: Thor's mighty hammer, the giant killer. Mjollnir was made by the dwarves as part of a bet
with Lok.
MODGUD: guardian of the bridge that leads into Niftheim, where Hella dwells.
NIFLHEIM: the Underworld. A place of ice and frost, where all the Nine Worlds were first created.
NINE-WORLDS: the World Tree, Yggdrasil, has nine roots which lead to the nine different realms of the universe:
Helheim Cand of the dead), Niftheim (underworld and seat of existence), Jotunheim (land of giants),
Nidavellir (land of dwarves), Svartalthetm (land of dark elves), Midgard, (and of humans), Altheim
(and of light elves), Vanaheim (land of Vanir gods), and Asgard (land of Aesir gods).
ODIN: the leader of the Asgard gods, he is considered the Allfather, father of Aesir. God of war,
postry, wisdom, and death, Odin gathers slain warriors in Valhalla so they oan rise and
battle with him again. He sacrificed his eye to Mimir for more wisdom and insight. Odin
helped to shape the Nine Worlds as we've come to know them.
wnts, and all in the
RAGNAROK: the end of the world. The great battle when the gods fight the
‘Nine Worlds deal in bloodshed. The sun and moon will go dark, the earth will shudder
and quake, and the seas and skies will roil. At the end of the battle, a new and peaceful
‘world will emerge from the sea, abundant and joyous. Some of the gods will survive,
others will be reborn, but it will mark the beginning of the age of Mankind.
‘THIAZZI: « Frost Giant, he takes the shape of an eagle. Thiazzi grabbed Loki to extort him into
helping with the kidnapping of Iduna and her apples. He plunged to his death in a great
fire at the gates of Asgard. He is son of Thokk.
THOR: the thunder god and the son of Odin. He is a great favorite of mankind. The common man called upon Thor
in preference to his father, Odin. Thor's great hammer, Mjollnir, is Imown as the giant killer and the giants live
in fear of his fierce weapon. He often gets caught in adventures with Loki, who takes advantage of Thor's simple
nature. Thursday is named for him.
‘TYR: god of justice and war, Tyr is brave and bold. He is a warrior who had to relearn how to
fight once Fenrir bit off his right hand at the wrist, Many believe he was originally the leader
of the gods, but then Odin's mythos took over and ‘Tyr was relegated to a supporting role.
Others believe Tyr is a son of Odin’s. Tuesday was named for Tyr.
VALHALLA: the Hall of the Slain, presided over by Odin. Heroes who have died on battle fields are
brought to this place to await and prepare for the great battle of Ragnarok.
YGGDRASIL: the World Tree, or Tree of Life, ¥ggdrasil’s nine roots lead to the Nine Worlds. It is
the hub of the universe.Inthe
Northern
nordic myths
Lands : MYTH, MEMORY AND IMAGINATION
‘The gods and myths of the Norse are less familiar today than their Greck and Roman counterparts. Cupid, not
Frey, decorates Valentine's Day cards, and we look through telescopes at Mars, Venus, and Jupiter, not Thor,
Freya, and Odin. Powerful, long-lasting empires worshipped the Greco-Roman pantheon, and they left behind
a wealth of great literature, art, and architecture, Far scarcer are the sources for Norse mythology. Nordic
temples have rotted away and many of their legends, transmitted by word-of-mouth, have faded from memory.
As Roger Lancelyn Green puts it in his book Myths of the Norsemen:
“the wealth of literature and legend available for studying the gods of Olympus is positively
embarrassing... The gods of Asgard, on the other hand, remain strangely aloof...And when
the scanty material is collected, it is still harder to fit together the incomplete jigsaw-puzzle
which is all that remains to us.”
We do know an important difference between the Greek gods and thelr Norse counterparts. The Norse gods, unlike
the Olympians, are mortal. They know that they will die, and like Norse heroes, they seek to die in battle, without
any promise of immortality to follow. They embody the pagan Norse heroic attitude towards life and death, in which
heroes choose to fight on the side of right, though they know they will die and that final victory is impossible.
‘This sense of humanity in the divine, along with Green’s ‘incomplete jigsaw-puzzle’ gives a certain fascination and
power to the Northern gods, and though the gods of Norse mythology may have faded, their world has not. Norse gods
walk in lands where fire-breathing dragons ait on hoards of treasure, dwarves dig for gems in mysterious cavern
kingdoms, foul-tempered trolls turn to stone in sunlight, and rings of gold ive vast powers both good and evil. AIL
those things dwell also in J.F.R Tolkien's Middle Barth (‘Midgard’ in Norse) in his novels The Hobbit and The Lord of
the Rings.
So, we can see how these Nordic myths have made possible for many people today, an imaginative landscape
in which they can cast spells, swing mighty swords, transform themselves into other creatures, and go on their
own heroie journeys.
Yererdrasill
the universe of the
Nordic godsInthe
Northern
Lands nordic myths
THE BIRTH OF THE NORDIC MYTHS
bd
‘There is much mystery and debate surrounding the history and i
advent of Nordic myths. It seems that for every belief there is PROSE €000
another around the corner, waiting to contradict it. What we eo
know of Norse mythology today originates from the Poetic ICSU
Eddas, or oral literature originating in Iceland. These stories Dreamer ued)
were passed along from generation to generation by skalds
(bara-like poets).
‘There is some debate over the first written accounts of the poems.
Some believe that Saemund the Wise first wrote down the stories
around 1100 C.E. Others think that Ieelandie poet and politician.
Snorri Sturluson was the first to pen the tales, around 1200 C.E.
Certainly, if Saemund had written down the myths, Sturluson
used that written work to further his own project. Today we
know Saemund’s collection as the Poetic Edda and Snorri's as.
the Prose Edda.
‘The Poetic Rada first contained 28 poems, and fragments of 5
others, with no through-line linking the stories into one larger
pantheon of mythology. These were merely stand-alone stories
of gods and heroes with no real connection to Icelandic history.
Saemund and Snorri, both, patched up the hodge-podge collection
of fragmented poems they came across into the works we now
know. In fact, today, it is all too common to come across varied
versions of myths in different volumes.
‘Though Sturluson treated this mythology with great respect,
he was a Christian, and necessarily brought that worldview
and understanding to these polytheistic stories. However, he
was the first to attempt to pass along a greater context for this
mythology, a rational explanation for the events found in the tales.
In the Eddas, we can clearly see that whoever originated the
stories (for cortainly there were many people in many areas
telling these tales), they were truly poets and artists. The style
and structure of the poems is indeed sophisticated. It is, perhaps,
due to their very complexity and astounding artistry that so
many nations have claimed them for their own (Norway, Iceland,
Greenland, Ireland, and Germany all have scholars who make a
case for their country's birthing the original tales). But most
academics agree that it was indeed Saemund and Snorri who
brought us these works. (The word ‘Edda’ is a derivation of *
Oddi,’ the town from which both men came.)
‘The time of these writings was one of great migrations for the
Scandinavian peoples, which explains the pervasive attitude of
ownership, as well. The common contemporary belief that
Viking-era Scandinavia was a rough, uncivilized, and dis-
connected land is a misconception. Scandinavia was very much
a part of its world at the time, being visited by the same
religious fervor of the Crusades, the same growth in art and Scena
literature, and the same fears of war, both at home and abroad.
‘The Eddas, wherever they originated and by whomever they APTER SEEING THE SHOW:
were first put down on paper, are a collection of poems that has Using the charactors in the pl
had a lasting and incalculable impact on all of Western civilization. write a now story to add to theInthe
Northern
nordic myths
Lands KEN YOU COME UP WITH ONE?
HAVING FUN WITH SKALDIC KENNINGS
Skalds, the poets of the ancient Norse times, often avoided using ordinary words by devising
‘kennings.’ Kennings are like miniature two-word riddles. Instead of ‘sword’ for instance, they
would use various kennings like ‘wound-hoe’ or ‘war-leek’. See if you can figure out the
meanings of the Norse kennings listed below:
Wave Horse, Slaughter Dew, Whale Road, Sky's Jewel, Wood's Enemy
In this kind of kenning, one word is closely associated with the underlying meaning, while the
other sounds strange, but also makes sense. Wave Horse means ‘ship.’ A horse transports people
over land; a ship carries us over the waves. Slaughter Dew = ‘blood’; Whale Road
Sky's Jewel = ‘sun’; and Wood's Enemy = ‘fire’.
Kennings are still around. Here are some modern example:
Couch Potato, Sky Scraper, Cannon Fodder, Gas Guzzler,
Rug Rat, Publicity Hound
Can you think of any others? Remember one word should be associated with the underlying
meaning, while the other is surprising, but makes sense in context. Can you create any original
kennings? Here are two I came up with.
Word House (book)
Veggie Cradle (garden)
‘There is another kind of kenning that refers to specifie stories (while still using only two words).
For example:
Baldur's Bane = mistletoe (the god Baldur was killed by a dart made
of mistletoe)
Wolf's Joint = wrist (the Fenrir wolf bit off the god Tyr’s hand at
the wrist)
Can you create any kennings like this for the modern world? Here are a few
of mine.
Harry's Bane = Voldemort
Ruth's Toothpick = a baseball bat
Kennings are an example of how language lives and changes,
incorporating the history and people who use it as it does so. In two.
words they can evoke a whole world of memory and legend. They can
also be a lot of fun to find, create, and decode. Now you know how to
have fun with kennings!