Ragnarok Is Coming

According to some calculations, the Norse doomsday Ragnarok is scheduled for Febuary 22, 2014.

Appropriately, the Doom of the Gods follows a bitter winter. It doesn’t get any more bitter than the weather there right now. Wind chills tuesday are predicted to get to 40 below.

As the story goes, the gods and their enemies fight a final, cataclysmic battle, in which few survive. Odin will be swallowed by the Fenrir wolf, and while Thor kills the Midgard Serpent, he is himself poisoned by the beast. Numerous natural disasters are unleashed; earth and sky are poisoned; the sea rises up. Humanity is destroyed.

Of the gods, only a few survive or are reborn: Baldr, Höðr, plus Odin’s sons, Víðarr and Váli, and Thor’s sons, Móði and Magni. Two humans,  Líf and Lífþrasir are left to repopulate the earth.

I’ve loved the Norse Myths since reading D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths as a kid.

D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths