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Norse Mythology

Series: Norse Mythology
4.6
(61)
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Episodes
24
Rating
TVPG
Year
2021
Language
English
Publisher
The Great Courses

About

Packed with gods, anti-gods, magical figures, human heroes, religious practices, and literary devices, Norse Mythology lays bare the reasons for our enduring fascination with Norse myths. Jackson Crawford also connects the dots between the Icelandic sagas of human heroes and the culture and worldview of the pre-modern Scandinavian peoples.

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Episodes

1 to 3 of 24

1. Meeting the Norse Gods of the Viking Age

35m

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Where did a hammer-wielding guardian of the gods, a murderer and comic sidekick, a mysterious one-eyed leader, a world-encircling serpent, a doomed final battle, and other Norse myths come from? Learn what we owe to the Poetic Edda and its adaptation in the Prose Edda for the fascinating stories you'll encounter throughout this series.

2. Fate and the Norse Worldview

25m

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Our understanding of Viking cultural values comes to us from those upheld (and broken) in the Norse myths. Focus on the profound Norse sense of fatalism and the importance of reckless courage-both of which add up to make the especially crucial concept of being a drengr: A person who, whether they live or die, is often celebrated in a saga.

3. The Norse Art of Mythic Storytelling

27m

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One way to better understand the stories of Norse mythology, and the way those stories are told, is to think about dreams. Using a key story from Norse mythology (the tale of how Odin got the mead of poetry from the gods' enemies), compare two versions that highlight the "dream logic" inherent to much of Norse mythology.

Extended Details

  • Closed CaptionsEnglish

Artists

The Great Coursesdirector
The Great Coursesproducer
Jackson Crawfordactor

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