Characters like Thor and Fenris wolf in the Marvel series are famous. They belong to these myths, the Norse Myths. The Norse Myths is a myth that belongs to the North German's peoples. "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman is a book about the Norse Myths, which is modified into short stories every chapter. The book introduces the adventures and wars of the Norse gods, such as Odin, Thor, and Frey. Meanwhile, Ragnarok is the hypothetical end of the world, which is simulated in the book. “On the day the Gjallarhorn is blown, it will wake the gods, no matter where they are, no matter how deeply they sleep. Heimdall will blow Gjallarhorn only once, at the end of all things, Ragnarok.” (Gaiman, 27) Ragnarok in real life, the end of our days and our world, is close. Also, it will be worse.
First, Ragnarok in real life is close and will be worse because of the peace problem and the threat of wars such as the Israel-Gaza problem. Ragnarok also had a lot of war inside. “This will not be a normal winter. The winter will begin, and it will continue, winter following winter. There will be no spring, no warmth. People will be hungry and they will be cold and they will be angry. Great battles will take place, all over the world.” (249-250) Ragnarok in Norse Mythology started with war as well. First of all, there are many wars happening now like the Russia-Ukraine war and wars that could possibly happen like North Korea’s attack on Korea. They give no benefit to humans, but damage people and force the coming of the end of the world, Ragnarok. Currently, there are so many threats of war and threats of resources that could be used for wars, and they are used for wars. Nowadays, there are many countries that are in a war, and there are numerous countries that are affected by the wars. For example, the Russian-Ukraine War has resulted in a big damage to production capacity, and the Israel war has threats related to oil. Also, Russia is threatening the usage of gas, and says that they won’t sell gas to countries if they put too many restrictions on Russia. This is a very big potential world ‘ragnarok’ threat. Also a big war threat. Because countries are threatening and fighting with resources, the world could lead to the Ragnarok soon. Furthermore, the Doomsday Clock which ticks when the world is going closer to doomsday, ticked recently and is expected to tick more. There is a high chance the world will end in World War 3. As stated before, the world nowadays is full of war threats and wars. There are many territory fights other than the two wars that are happening now, such as Morocco-Western Sahara and North- South Korea. Moreover, most of the territory disputes and the resource fights are only making the war between the U.S. and Russia. So, world war 3 will have two major teams, the U.S. team and Russia’s team. (Or China’s team) Also, the war will be massive and affect the whole world, which means that the whole world is in a war. Since it is not simply the case like WWI or WWII, where most of the countries cannot avoid being in a war, because most of the countries are tied to each other, which means that other countries may have consequences when some country did something, right or wrong. There are many countries that have alliances with each other as well. The world will end in a possibly forced World War 3 for all the countries. The world right now is a world in which some rich countries are dominant, and they are threatening the whole world with their resources. As well, countries may get punished by trusting and relying so much on other countries. So, what will happen and what will be the consequences after World War 3 happens, and how will the world end? Humanity has a lot of deadly weapons and weapons that can cause mass destruction. Even though some weapons are prohibited in the world, some countries like Russia still have them and they use them. The threat of nuclear bombs is big, too. There are countries that have the best, and the most powerful nuclear bombs in the world, and those countries also have the technology and are making it for war. So, humans will use these weapons no matter what to win the big fight of World War 3, and- there comes the end of the world! The Earth will be massively destroyed, and even though the best possible scenario happens and the war ends and even though there are survivors at the end of the war, it will be very hard for them to live as they were. Second, Ragnarok in real life is close and will be worse because of nature. Humanity has actually destroyed a significant part of nature, and is destroying more and more every year. The major factors are pollution, (air, water, land…), overpopulation, and other similar factors. Due to greed of humans, humans have actually destroyed Earth and now it is nearly impossible to go back to the past days when there wasn’t much pollution. That’s why humans are trying to at least stop the destruction of nature to stop the humans from dying away. However, humans have a high chance to not be available to stop nature’s threats. Ragnarok had many nature threats too. “There will be snow driving from all directions, fierce winds, and cold colder than anything you’ve experienced. After that, there will come the time of the great earthquakes.” (250) “There will be flooding, too, as the sea levels rise and surge onto the land. “ (251) Global warming has developed seriously in the past few decades. Since the 1980s, each decade has had a higher temperature, and global warming causes a lot of severe effects that may actually destroy the Earth. Global Warming causes higher sea levels, more severe storms, increased droughts, warming sea, species loss, loss of food, and other factors that have bad effects on humanity. All of these devastating effects could potentially lead to an end of the world. Nature is the most important and the first thing humans need to live. Water, shelter, food, fire, and more. Nature is also the source of all the things humans can do, and all the technologies. Even though humans have earned many good technologies from nature, humans are destroying their own shelters, and their own source of development. Development can be made when humans have nature, because without nature, our technologies are useless because the source is gone. So, humans' doomsday, the Ragnarok, will also happen because of nature. So, how will nature end the people? Unlike the wars (World War 3) nature will give an end to humans slowly and painfully, As developing without looking at the crisis of nature, some parts of the world will experience massive hurricanes, and some other parts of the world will experience devastating droughts. Food will be destroyed, and water will be very rare. Like Ragnarok. The glaciers in the North and South ends of Earth will slowly, but all melt.Then, some parts of the world will go below the sea level, including important parts of the world like Busan and New York. However, compared to so little land left, humans have been overpopulating and the world will have so many people. The Earth can’t bear them. Some people say the forests will also be completely destroyed by 2050. A study by WWF shows that humans have destroyed over ⅓ of the world in the past 3 decades. The study also suggests that extra planets similar to the size of Earth will be needed in 2050 due to the lack of resources. Third, Ragnarok in real life will be similar, but worse than the ragnarok in Norse Mythology. Norse Mythology’s Ragnarok starts off with an abnormally long and cold winter. However, Ragnarok in real life will also start off with very bad weather but this time, with climate change and all the bad effects that were mentioned earlier, such as higher sea levels, and droughts and floods. Yes, like the Ragnarok, people will be hungry and great battles will take place all over the world, and will become World War 3. As in the book, humans will be no better than wild creatures, doing beastly and inhumane things. Then, in Norse Mythology’s Ragnarok, there is an eternal winter afterwards, known as the Fimbulwinter. “This will be the time of the terrible winter that will not end, the Finbulwinter.” (250) Then a big earthquake follows. However, humanity’s doomsday will be worse. First great rains and droughts, then, rise of sea levels and air pollution, smog… and this will destroy every single life and land like the winter and earthquakes. Then, Fenris Wolf is unleashed. One of the biggest threats to humans. This destroys all of the land with fire. What also destroys land and makes them useless? Nuclear Bombs. The great battles also result in nuclear wars, and this will destroy land. Also, with very, very bright light and loud noises. So, Fenris Wolf may symbolize nuclear weapons. Not everybody’s bodies will die, their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears will also die, and this will make most of the people in the world die. In Norse Mythology, the Midgard Serpent also rises. This means there is no more life in the oceans. In real life, this is happening right now. So, by the time when Doomsday happens, there will be no more life in the ocean, and the ocean will be greatly polluted, and could make a lot of people die from that as well. Then, in Norse Mythology, the fire giant comes and the great battle starts once again. Then the biggest battle starts. In real life, it will be worse since there will be almost only humans left on Earth. Moreover, they will be battling each other for more food, and to live. This is a natural phenomenon, and this battle will be similar with the Hunger Games, where everyone is hungry. One by one, people will die off, similar to the gods falling down. Then, there will be one dominant team of people left in the world. However the peace does not last long, they all die of not much resources. Then, everything will end, every creature will die, and that is the end. Then the game begins anew. To conclude, Ragnarok in real life is close, and Ragnarok in real life, which means humanities’ Doomsday, will actually be similar, but worse than the Norse Mythology’s Ragnarok. Ragnarok is unavoidable, and it is devastating. So, it is crucial to at least make humanities’ Doomsday happen later. Also, before the tragic Ragnarok happens, the world should address some problems and make the Ragnarok less tragic, and less painful for humans.
Works Cited Gaiman, Neil. Norse Mythology. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018
