Ragnarok << RAG nuh ROK >> , in Teutonic (also called Norse) mythology, is a great battle between gods and giants that will destroy the world. The word means fate of the gods or twilight of the gods in Norse language. Ragnarok is known from several sources in medieval Scandinavian literature, including the Poetic Eddas and Prose Eddas of Iceland (see Edda). Ragnarok is described through future events foretold to the gods, who are aware of their own mortality and fate.
Ragnarok is a battle between the Aesir << AY sihr >> , the Norse gods, and the forces of chaos. The forces of chaos are represented by the Jotun << YOH tun >> , a race of giants who are ancient enemies of the Aesir. The Jotun are joined by other monsters and by Loki, a troublesome trickster who was born Jotun but lived with and was later imprisoned by the Aesir. Ragnarok begins when the giant Midgard serpent, called Jormungandr << YOR mun GAHN deer >> , which is coiled around the world, begins to writhe (twist about). This movement causes great ocean waves to swamp the land. The Jotun and other monsters then begin an attack on Asgard, the home of the gods. Heimdall, the guardian of Asgard, sounds the alarm, rousing the Aesir to action.
Nearly every god, giant, and monster dies in the ensuing battle. Odin, chief of the Aesir, is swallowed whole by the giant wolf Fenrir. The monster is then slain by Odin’s son Vidar << VEE dar >> . Thor, Odin’s most powerful son, slays Jormungandr when the serpent comes ashore. But Thor is poisoned by the creature’s venom, and he takes a mere nine steps backward before he dies. Loki battles his bitter enemy Heimdall, and the evenly matched opponents slay each other. The battle splits open the sky, releasing fire beings led by the giant Surt. Frey, god of agriculture and fertility, meets their attack but is killed, and soon the entire world is burning. Eventually, Asgard itself is overrun.
The events of Ragnarok are said to bring the present age to conclusion and to usher in a new age, though accounts differ about what happens after the battle. In some accounts, a green and beautiful Earth arises from the waters and a new age begins. Some children of the Aesir survive the battle, including the sons of Odin and Thor. The surviving gods meet on the ever-fertile field of Idavoll << ee DAH vul >> , which remains undamaged where Asgard once stood. In some accounts, they create the new world there. During Ragnarok, a man and woman will take refuge in a forest and sleep through the battle. Afterward, the couple will awake and begin the new race of human beings. The new world they inhabit, cleansed of evil and treachery, will endure forever.
