Ragnarök

Ragnarök
Performers	Aesir, children of Loki Laufeyson
Previous	Sigrid's wedding

Ragnarök was the name of the prophesized event in which Odin and Thor would be killed. Loki's story in Twilight of the Gods hinges on this prophecy and how his daughters react to it, while it also appears in a vision to Odin in "Song of Sigrid" after he sacrifices his memory to see his fate.

History

The Seid-Kona takes Memory.

Eager to know the future, Odin consulted the prophetess, Áile. In exchange for this clairvoyance, he unwillingly sacrificed his memory, personified by one of his ravens.

Thor faces Jörmungandr.

Odin's vision was marked by prophetic scenes. The first was a confrontation between his son, Thor Odinson, and Jörmungandr, the sea serpent, in a fatal battle that would end both of their lives. The second was Fenrir, the giant wolf son of Loki Laufeyson, breaking his chains and sowing destruction before turning his gaze on Odin. The final was Odin hanging from Yggdrasil, the World Tree, looking at the crucified Jesus Christ in their parallel sacrifices.

Aftermath

Odin's vision of a future without the Aesir.

The vision showed a future where mortals no longer worshiped the Aesir, and the gods eventually fell into complete oblivion. Odin witnessed the rise of a new religion, Christianity, embodied by the figure of Jesus Christ and the cross that represented him.

Deeply disturbed by this revelation, Odin reacted violently. He mortally wounded Áile, the seer who helped him obtain this vision. However, this act only accelerated the inevitable process. Aile was reborn as a divine entity, merging the powers of the Aesir received from Odin's memory and the Seidr magic of the Vanir she previously received from Freya, forming a union of the ancient forces of past and future sight.

Norse origins

The great battle of Ragnarök in Norse mythology is an event that is said to occur at some point in the future. Fenrir and Odin would battle, resulting in Odin being eaten by the giant wolf just as Fenrir was prophesized to kill Odin in Twilight of the Gods. Similarly, Thor Odinson would face Jörmungandr in battle, slaying the world serpent but inhaling too much of its poisonous breath and quickly succumbing. While the details aren't so specific in Twilight, it was said that Thor and Jörmungandr would kill each other during the battle.

There are other details involving the Norse versions of characters that are not presented in Twilight. For example, Loki and Heimdallr would also fight to the death, killing each other, and after Fenrir swallows Odin, Odin's son Víðarr (not present in Twilight) would kill the great wolf. The Vanir god Freyr, who inspired some elements of Tiwaz, is also killed during Ragnarök while facing Surtr (also not present in Twilight).

In the mythology, Surtr burns the world, which then sinks into the sea. Humanity is wiped out and Fimbulwinter, the "mighty winter," follows. Líf and Lífþrasir are the only humans to survive, which they do by hiding in Hoddmímis holt, which is typically considered by scholars to be Yggdrasil, the World Tree. When the world emerges, the land is fertile, and Líf and Lífþrasir can begin to repopulate.