So, I was sitting in the library today, thinking... "Wow, I really haven't gotten any further in the book than last week when I posted...what on earth am I going to talk about?" And then it hit me.
Valhalla, only the coolest place in all of Asgard. And the most awesome part about Valhalla? You have to die in battle in order to go there, as an honorable warrior. Also totally worth chatting about (although I don't think they've mentioned them in the book thus far), the Valkyries. Odin's female angels of death who select the best battle-dead warriors to go to Valhalla where they'll spend their days drinking, feasting, and fighting (and really, if you're a warrior: what else would you want to spend your days doing?).
So, Valhalla. My first forage to Valhalla actually occured when I was playing Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Asgard is one of the cool places you can go in the game, and and you play as Thor, meet Loki, Odin, Valkyrie, among others in the Norse mythological universe. If you really like Norse myths, Marvel Comics have done a really awesome job of bringing some of their characters forward, not only with the Thor comics, but also in relation to some of the other Marvel characters.
Did you know that Mjolnir (MOYL-n(ee)r), Thor's hammer according to Marvel, is enscribed with the phrase: "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." Which basically means (and if you saw the Thor movie, you're familiar) that almost NO ONE can lift Thor's hammer unless they are deemed worthy by the standards of Odin. However (and this bit is cool), there are some mortals that have been able to lift it! Included here at Beta Ray Bill, Captain America, Eric Materson, and (my favorite) Rogue from the X-Men --after she absorbed Thor's life-force, but still. And outside of Marvel, it was also lifted by Superman (with some stipulations, according to the Wiki article), and Wonder Woman.
But, I'm getting sidetracked by Thor.
We're talking about Valhalla.
I found a kind of cool series of videos from Hot Facts Girls. I haven't watched ALL of their videos, so tred further with caution, but Erin seems to know her stuff. And I like her (albiet historically inaccurate) viking helmet in the second video. There is a series of six, and if I did everything correctly, the playlist should continue below.
If you don't have the patience to sit through six videos, there's some trivia here as well:
Norse Cosmology Part 1
As usual, be sure to share any links or information you have, and you're thoughts so far on the book.
Happy Reading,
Samma
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Discussion: The Sea of Trolls
Hey everyone.
So, I've been lucky enough that my summer officially started about two weeks ago. Which might explain why I've been so lazy with the blog... Oh well! Hopefully you're all looking forward to summer as well --though you've got a bit more left than us in the college crowd!
If you haven't even started THINKING about reading Sea of Trolls yet, don't worry about it. For once, I haven't really gotten all that far into it myself. I opened it, hoping it would get me psyched up for Rick Riordan's newest series (which we still have quite a while to wait for) --based on Norse Mythology, but...it hasn't really had that effect yet.
It HAS gotten me thinking about one of my other favorite, kind of goofy, series though -How To Train Your Dragon. Its one of those few instances where, I like both the book and the movie --because they're different! I don't think I would have enjoyed the movie nearly as much if it had been exactly like the book.
So far, I think one of the most interesting characters is the Bard himself. If you haven't gotten into it yet, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Bard's story may be vaguely familiar; if it isn't --trust me, it will be! The Bard, once upon a time, went to a kingdom that was ravaged by a beast called Grendel. The short-of-the-short (the epic poem is less than 100 pages) of it is, Grendel was slain by the great Warrior Beowulf. Sound familiar? There's only been about a dozen cartoons, songs, poems, re-tellings, and movies made about the guy. Well, after slaying Grendel, he found out that Grendel had a mother...who wasn't too thrilled that Beowulf had off'd her son. So, Beowulf had to do something about her too. ...Now, where Nancy Farmer get's creative is: Grendel's Mother had a SISTER, who is now seeking revenge on those responsible for killing her sister --namely: the Bard.
A "bard" is another word for what we might call a storyteller. He sings, he tells tales, epic poems, and so forth. They traveled the word with very few belongings, gathering stories to share and spread across the world. Many of the fairy tale stories we still today, like those you might recognize from the Brother's Grimm were actually passed along this way, until the authors collected them all for print.
So, back in the day, Bards actually had a really important job. Without them, we wouldn't know the awesome stories of Snow White and Rose Red, Cinderella, Beowulf, or any of the Canturbury Tales.
While looking for some good storytelling/bard examples for you guys to check out, I stumbled across this TOTALLY ADORABLE little storyteller from Hong Kong, China. She partook in a story telling competition, telling the story of Little Red Riding Hood --and don't worry, it's in english, which makes her even more adorable and impressive. And, goes to prove that you can be an ace story teller --no matter what age you are!
Also, to get you into the Norse swing of things, I found a link to the Norse Origin story of Odin and Ymir. This is a creation story, or the myth of how the world began. Creation stories are different from culture to culture. There are many different ideas of how the earth began, that have been passed along throughout time. Did you know storytelling is a world-wide past time? Almost every culture has used story telling as a way of passing along native history. What are some of the creation or other cultural stories you may know?
Be sure to share your thoughts on Sea of Trolls as well as any links and videos you may come across.
Happy reading!
Samma
So, I've been lucky enough that my summer officially started about two weeks ago. Which might explain why I've been so lazy with the blog... Oh well! Hopefully you're all looking forward to summer as well --though you've got a bit more left than us in the college crowd!
If you haven't even started THINKING about reading Sea of Trolls yet, don't worry about it. For once, I haven't really gotten all that far into it myself. I opened it, hoping it would get me psyched up for Rick Riordan's newest series (which we still have quite a while to wait for) --based on Norse Mythology, but...it hasn't really had that effect yet.
It HAS gotten me thinking about one of my other favorite, kind of goofy, series though -How To Train Your Dragon. Its one of those few instances where, I like both the book and the movie --because they're different! I don't think I would have enjoyed the movie nearly as much if it had been exactly like the book.
So far, I think one of the most interesting characters is the Bard himself. If you haven't gotten into it yet, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Bard's story may be vaguely familiar; if it isn't --trust me, it will be! The Bard, once upon a time, went to a kingdom that was ravaged by a beast called Grendel. The short-of-the-short (the epic poem is less than 100 pages) of it is, Grendel was slain by the great Warrior Beowulf. Sound familiar? There's only been about a dozen cartoons, songs, poems, re-tellings, and movies made about the guy. Well, after slaying Grendel, he found out that Grendel had a mother...who wasn't too thrilled that Beowulf had off'd her son. So, Beowulf had to do something about her too. ...Now, where Nancy Farmer get's creative is: Grendel's Mother had a SISTER, who is now seeking revenge on those responsible for killing her sister --namely: the Bard.
A "bard" is another word for what we might call a storyteller. He sings, he tells tales, epic poems, and so forth. They traveled the word with very few belongings, gathering stories to share and spread across the world. Many of the fairy tale stories we still today, like those you might recognize from the Brother's Grimm were actually passed along this way, until the authors collected them all for print.
So, back in the day, Bards actually had a really important job. Without them, we wouldn't know the awesome stories of Snow White and Rose Red, Cinderella, Beowulf, or any of the Canturbury Tales.
While looking for some good storytelling/bard examples for you guys to check out, I stumbled across this TOTALLY ADORABLE little storyteller from Hong Kong, China. She partook in a story telling competition, telling the story of Little Red Riding Hood --and don't worry, it's in english, which makes her even more adorable and impressive. And, goes to prove that you can be an ace story teller --no matter what age you are!
Also, to get you into the Norse swing of things, I found a link to the Norse Origin story of Odin and Ymir. This is a creation story, or the myth of how the world began. Creation stories are different from culture to culture. There are many different ideas of how the earth began, that have been passed along throughout time. Did you know storytelling is a world-wide past time? Almost every culture has used story telling as a way of passing along native history. What are some of the creation or other cultural stories you may know?
Be sure to share your thoughts on Sea of Trolls as well as any links and videos you may come across.
Happy reading!
Samma
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
Hey! Long time, no see! Mostly my fault, but! It's almost summer, which means we'll all have LOTS more time for books!
We're going to kick off our summer with Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer:
(From Booklist, American Library Association) In Farmer's latest, a battle-ax-size fantasy-adventure, rampaging Northmen (the polite term for Vikings) pass through a Saxon village and enslave two of its residents: an 11-year-old apprentice mage and his 5-year-old sister. When Jack offends the Northmen's touchy queen, she threatens to kill his sister unless he reverses a misfired spell--a task that requires a journey deep into icy troll country. The subsequent bouts with troll-bears, giant spiders, and dragons are thrilling, and boys in particular will delight in Farmer's portrayal of the initially terrifying Northmen as tellers of fart jokes and singers of rowdy songs. Lighthearted moments notwithstanding, Jack's archetypal quest is a dense one, heavily draped in Norse mythology, Old English lore, and ponderings about the differences between Christian and pagan cosmologies. In addition, many readers may find it difficult to accept Jack's deepening affection for his frequently barbaric kidnappers, not to mention the oft-repeated message, "All beautiful things attract destruction"--a worldview that comes to Jack straight from the bloody saga of Beowulf. Readers captivated by slash-'em-up Viking culture will happily plunge into this celebrated author's sixth novel, but many members of Farmer's traditional audience will emerge from the experience feeling alternately dazzled and dazed.
Copies are available through MORE.
We're going to kick off our summer with Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer:
(From Booklist, American Library Association) In Farmer's latest, a battle-ax-size fantasy-adventure, rampaging Northmen (the polite term for Vikings) pass through a Saxon village and enslave two of its residents: an 11-year-old apprentice mage and his 5-year-old sister. When Jack offends the Northmen's touchy queen, she threatens to kill his sister unless he reverses a misfired spell--a task that requires a journey deep into icy troll country. The subsequent bouts with troll-bears, giant spiders, and dragons are thrilling, and boys in particular will delight in Farmer's portrayal of the initially terrifying Northmen as tellers of fart jokes and singers of rowdy songs. Lighthearted moments notwithstanding, Jack's archetypal quest is a dense one, heavily draped in Norse mythology, Old English lore, and ponderings about the differences between Christian and pagan cosmologies. In addition, many readers may find it difficult to accept Jack's deepening affection for his frequently barbaric kidnappers, not to mention the oft-repeated message, "All beautiful things attract destruction"--a worldview that comes to Jack straight from the bloody saga of Beowulf. Readers captivated by slash-'em-up Viking culture will happily plunge into this celebrated author's sixth novel, but many members of Farmer's traditional audience will emerge from the experience feeling alternately dazzled and dazed.
Copies are available through MORE.
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