Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies 2018, 6(1), 1-20
DOI: 10.24411/2310-2144-2018-00005
The wolf's jaw: an astronomical interpretation of Ragnarok
Johnni Langer1
1Nucleus of Vikings and Scandinavian Studies, Federal University of Paraiba, Brazil;
E-mail: johnnilanger@yahoo.com.br
Abstract
This paper aims to explain the eschatological outbreak that occurred during the X century in Scandinavia and northern Europe, which gave rise to a great iconography of Ragnarok, stemmed primarily from the Old Norse mythology. Our basic hypothesis is that various astronomical phenomena which occurred during in the VIII and IX centuries (total eclipses of the sun and passages of comets, both related to the constellation of Wolf?s Jaw - the Hyades) have aroused in the Nordic man his eschatological fears, impelling him to create a large amount apocalyptic images close of the year 1000 AD. We identified thirteen celestial phenomena (comet passages and total eclipses of the Sun) that may have been collected in the construction of the Ragnarok image among the ancient Norsemen. Our main methodology is the Cultural Astronomy, coupled with the prospects of the cultural history of myths. Aided by several studies on medieval astronomical folklore, especially those related to comets and eclipses. We also use some recent research on the theme of celestial myths and Old Norse Astronomy developed by European and American scholars, such as Gisli Sigur?sson, Thomas DuBois, Christan Etheridge and Dorian Knight.
Keywords: Comets and eclipses, Cultural Astronomy, Folk Astronomy, Hyades, Viking Age, Norse Mythology, Ragnarok.
Full Text: Download pdf (English)
References
Aveni, A. Conversing with the planet: how science and myth invented the Cosmos. - New York: Kodansha, 1993.
Aviles, J. A. B. De la Arqueastronomia a la Astronomia Cultural. In.: Boletin de la SEA 15, 2005-2006. - P. 23-40
Avilin, T. Meteor beliefs project: east European meteor folk-beliefs. In.: WGN: Journal of International Meteor Organization, vol. 35, n. 5, 2007. - P. 113-116.
Bon, E.; Cirkovic, M.; Stojic, I., Gavrilovic, N. Astronomy and catastrophes through myth and old texts. In.: Memorie della Societa Astronomica Italiana suppl. 15(219), 2010. - P. 219-223.
Boutsikas, E.; Hannah, R. Ritual and the cosmos: astronomy and myth in the Athenian Acropolis. In.: Oxford IX International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy. Proceedings IAU Symposium 278, 2011. - P. 342-348.
Brazell, O. Astronomical observations in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. In.: Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Newsletter, Vol. 78, 1984. - P. 56-57.
Carlson, J. Review: The cosmic serpent, a catastrophic view of Earth History. In.: Archaeoastronomy n. 10, 1986. - P. 70-72.
Chatfield, C. The Dark Ages. The gallery of natural phenomena: the earth, the sea, the sky - and beyond, 2013. http://www.phenomena.org.uk/page29/page31/page31.html (accessed on 20 January 2018).
Christopher, A. Myths of the pagan North: the gods of the Norsemen. - London: Continuum, 2011.
Dall'Olmo, U. Latin terminology relating to aurorae, comets, meteors, and novae. In.: Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 11, 1980. - P. 10-27.
Delumeau, J. Historia do medo no Ocidente.- Sao Paulo: Cia das Letras, 2009.
Detienne, M. Comparing the incomparable. - Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004.
Donnelly, I. Ragnarok: the age of fire and gravel. - New York: D. Appleton, 1883.
Du Bois, T. Underneath the self-same sky: comparative perspectives on sami, finnish, and medieval Scandinavia astral lore. In: Nordic Mythologies: interpretations, intersections, and institutions. - Berkeley: North Pinehurst Press, 2014. - P. 184-260.
Etheridge, C. A systematic re-evaluation of the sources of Old Norse Astronomy. In.: Cultura and Cosmos 16, 2014. - P. 1-12.
Gomes, L.; Navarro, R. Cometas: os vagabundos do espaco. - Sao Paulo: Editora Tres, 1985.
Graslund, A.-S. Wolves, serpents, and birds: their symbolism meaning in Old Norse beliefs. In: Old Norse religion in long-term perspectives. Lund: Nordic Academic Press, pp. 124-129.
Graslund, A.-S.; Price, N. Twilight of the gods? The dust veil event of AD 536 in critical pserpective. In: Antiquity 86, 2012. - P. 428-443.
Gunnel, T.; Lassen, A. The nordic apocalypse: Approaches to Voluspa and Nordic Days of Judgement. - London: Brepols, 2013.
Henriksson, G. Solar eclipses and Encke's comet on Swedish rock carvings. In: Current studies in Archaeoastronomy: conversations across time and space. - Santa Fe, 1996. - P. 475-485.
Hense, J. (dir.). The Universe: when space changed History. Documentary film, 45 min., A&E/History Channel, 2012.
Iwaniszewski, S. De la Astroarqueologia a la Astronomia Cultural. In.: Trabajos de Prehistoria 51 (2), 1994. - P. 5-20.
Jonsson, B. Star myths of the vikings. - Manitoba: Hignell Printing, 1994.
Kelley, D.; Milone, E. Exploring ancient skies: a survey of ancient and Cultural Astronomy. - London: Springer, 2011.
Knight, D. A Reinvestigation Into Astronomical Motifs in Eddic Poetry, with Particular Reference to Odinn's Encounters with Two Giantesses: Billings M?r and Gunnlo?. In.: Culture and cosmos 17(1), 2013. - P.31-62.
Kuperjanov, A. Pseudo mythological constellation maps. In.: Folklore 32, pp. 37-62.
Langer, J. Mitos arqueologicos e poder. In.: Clio: serie arqueologica 1(12), 1997. - P. 109-125.
Langer, J. A morte de Odin? As representacoes do Ragnarok na arte das ilhas britanicas. In.: Medievalista 11, 2012. - P. 1-30.
Langer, J. Eram os vikings astronomos? Uma revisao critica dos mapas celestes da Etnoastronomia Escandinava. In.: X Encontro Internacional de Estudos Medievais, 2013a. - P. 27-35.
Langer, J. O ceu dos vikings: uma interpretacao etnoastronomica da pedra runica de Ockelbo (Gs 19). In.: Dominios da Imagem 6(12), 2013b. - P. 97-112.
Langer, J. O zodiaco viking: reflexoes sobre Etnoastronomia e mitologia escandinava. In.: Historia, imagem e narativas16, 2013c. - P. 1-32.
Laoupi, A. The Divine Fires of Creation: Homeric Hephaistos as a Comet/Meteor God. In.: International Symposium on Science and technology in Homeric epics, Grecia, 2006. - P. 1-15.
Laoupi, A. The Sirius' Cult in Ancient Greece: Aristaios and the Formation of the Attico-cycladic Substratum. In.: Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 6(3), 2006. - P. 129-142.
Laoupi, A. The greek myth of Pleiades in the Archaeology of natural disasters: decoding, dating and environmental interpretation. In.: Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 6(2), 2006. - P. 5-22.
Laoupi, A. Fires from Heaven: Comets and diseases in circum-Mediterranean Disaster Myths. In.: Conference of Quantavolution, Franca, 2010. - P. 1-18.
Laoupi, A. Gods in heaven, havoc in earth: Ancient Greek and sanskrit parallels of comets/meteor gods. In.: Conference of Quantavolution, Atenas, 2011. - P. 1-32.
Lindow, J. Norse Mythology: a guide to the gods, heroes, rituals, and beliefs.- Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Lopes, A.M. Ethnoastronomy as an academic field: a framework for a South America program. In.: Oxford IX International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy. Proceedings IAU Symposium278, 2011. - P. 38-49.
Lubienietz, S. Theatrum cometicum, duabus partibus constans. Amsterdam, 1668. - 464 p.
Mardon, E.; Mardon, A. The eleven observations of comets between 687 AD and 1114 AD recorded in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle. In.: Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, 1991.- P. 385-393.
Marez, A. Anthologierunique.- Paris: Belles Lettres, 2007.
Mccarthy, D.; Breen, A. An evaluation of astronomical observations in the Irish Annals. In.: Vistas in Astronomy, vol. 41, n. 1, 1997. - P. 1-23.
Mourao, R. de Freitas. Introducao aos cometas. - Belo Horizonte: Itatiaia, 1985.
Ogier, J. Eddic constellations. International Medieval Congress, Western Michigan University, 2002. Kalamazoo MI, May 3. http://webapps.roanoke.edu/forlangweb/ogier/EddicConstellations.htm (accessed on 20 January 2018).
Persson, J. Norse Constellations. http://www.digitaliseducation.com/resources-norse.html (accessed on 20 January 2018)
Pearson, M.P. The origins of Old Norse ritual and religion in European perspective. In: Old Norse religion in long-term perspectives. - Lund: Nordic Academic Press, 2004. - P. 86-91.
Pluskowski, A.G. Lupine apocalypse: the wolf in pagan and Christian cosmology in medieval Britain and Scandinavia. In: Cosmos 17, 2001. - P. 113-131.
Pluskowski, A.G. Apocalyptic monsters: animal inspirations for the iconography of medieval North European devourers. In: The Monstrous Middle Ages. - Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2003. - P. 155-176.
Pluskowski, A.G. The tyranny of the Gingerbread house: contextualizing the fear of wolves in medieval Northern Europe through material culture ecology and folklore. In.: Current Swedish Archaeology 13, 2005. - P. 141-160.
Pluskowski, A.G. Wolves and the wilderness in the Middle Ages. - London: Boydell Press, 2006.
Polcaro, A.; Polcaro, V.F. Man and Sky: problems and methods of Archaeoastronomy. In: Archeologia e Calcolatori 20, 2009. - P. 223-245.
Price, N. Archaeologies of the Ragnarok: A Sixth-Century Climate Disaster and its Geomythological Legacy. In: The Aarhus Old Norse Mythology Conference at Harvard: Old Norse Mythology in its Comparative Contexts. - Harvard, 2013.
Reuter, O.S. Skylore of the North (original: Germanische Himmelskunde, 1934). In: Stonehenge Viewpoint, 1982. n. 47-50.
Ridpath, I. Astronomia. - Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2011.
Ruggles, C. Ancient Astronomy: an encyclopedia of cosmologies and Myth. Oxford: ABC Clio, 2005.
Serrano, M.L.C.; Caderot, G.R. Arqueoastronomia: una perspectiva en la investigacion arqueologica. In: Complutum 20, 2009.- P. 11-21.
Sigur?sson, G. Go?sogur Snorra Eddu: Lysing a raunheimi me? a?fer?um sjonhverfingar einnar. In: Rannsoknir i felagsvisindum X. - Reykjavik: Felagsvisindastofnun Haskola Islands, 2009. - P. 851-861.
Sigur?sson G. Snorri?s Edda: the sky described in mythological terms. In: Tangherlini, T. (Ed.). Nordic Mythologies: interpretations, intersections, and Institutions. Berkeley: North Pinehurst Press, 2014, pp. 184-260.
Simek, R. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. - London: D.S. Brewer, 2007.
Stephany, T.J. Ancient Skies of the Northern Europe: stars, constelattions, and the Moon in Nordic mythology. 2006.
Verdet, J.-P. O ceu: misterio, magia e mito. - Sao Paulo: Objetiva, 1987.
