Scandinavian Folklore in Popular Media
The creatures, symbols, and themes of Scandinavian folklore can be seen readily in the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R Tolkien. For example, the "one ring" comes from folklore, such as the famous legend, The Volsunga Saga. In this story, a magic ring owned by a dwarf named Andvari is stolen. When Loki, the god of Fire, steals the ring, Andvari shouts "I curse you for this! The ring will carry my curse forever. All who possesses the ring will be destroyed!" This only leads to death and destruction, and later Fafnir morphs into a serpent of sorts, whose outer body matches his inner evil created by the ring. This theme seems to carry over into the story behind the character Gollum. Also, there is a parallel between the Nordic legend of Frotha-Firth who stood as a peacemaker, and Frodo, the seeker of peace.
Other symbols of Scandinavian folklore can be seen in the Swedish film Marianne. At the heart of this film is a Mare that sits on the chest of victims, suffocating them.
The manga series Oh My Goddess! by Kōsuke Fujishima contains many elements of Scandinavian folklore, most notably the three leading female characters, who are named after the Norns, and many Scandinavian creatures are present to an extent, such as Sleipnir, Fenrir, and Garmr.
In 2010, the French composer Kentin Jivek releases an album called "Ode to Marmæle" inspired by the myth of the same name and norwegian folklore.
Read more about this topic: Scandinavian Folklore
Famous quotes containing the words folklore, popular and/or media:
“Someday soon, we hope that all middle and high school will have required courses in child rearing for girls and boys to help prepare them for one of the most important and rewarding tasks of their adulthood: being a parent. Most of us become parents in our lifetime and it is not acceptable for young people to be steeped in ignorance or questionable folklore when they begin their critical journey as mothers and fathers.”
—James P. Comer (20th century)
“I do not see why, since America and her autumn woods have been discovered, our leaves should not compete with the precious stones in giving names to colors; and, indeed, I believe that in course of time the names of some of our trees and shrubs, as well as flowers, will get into our popular chromatic nomenclature.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The media network has its idols, but its principal idol is its own style which generates an aura of winning and leaves the rest in darkness. It recognises neither pity nor pitilessness.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)