Hello everyone! This is Casimir with The Skald’s Circle again. Today we’ll be talking about ancient myths and folklore in general, and how their interpretation and translations can change how we view them.
I write this article as a follow up to a fascinating discussion I had with one of our fans a week ago. The discussion had to do with whether or not, according to the myths, if Loki was less a god of chaos and tricks, but instead a god of balance. I will fully admit that when I immediately heard it, I was a little skeptical. However, almost immediately after, I put some thought to it. Loki has a habit of causing mischief, yes, but he also equally had a habit of not only fixing his own mischief, but he would also help solve problems that he didn’t even cause. Our fan mentioned a specific example that I said I would check out, and I did. The specific example was in the death of Baldr. The reason that this was mentioned is because Loki knew that the gods were not meant to be unkillable, and that they are meant to die. Baldr was unable to die, so he was upsetting the balance. That is why Loki then sought out a way to kill Baldr and so on and so forth as we all know. I went through multiple translations of the Eddas to attempt to get a clear answer to our fan’s question. What I found out was, well, that the answer depends on where you’re looking. There was no “correct” answer to the question, however, I could easily see how that interpretation could be made. I told our fan that was that case, and because of the ability to make subjective interpretations of the myths, or by preferred translations, I felt giving a clear answer either way would be dishonest. However, this brings up another really interesting, to me, thought. That question is, how much of the ancient stories are left to our interpretation?
Warning: What follows is my opinion.
We will never know the original myths. The original myths have been forgotten when they were retold, and then retold again, and so on and so forth, until they were finally written down. The words themselves have changed, the verbiage changed, even their language changed. However, the meaning behind the stories are more timeless and ephemeral than the stories themselves. Each story that has survived this long has done so for a reason. Just as they do now, when they were written down they made someone feel… something. Just as they made someone feel something when they passed it down to their successor, and to theirs, this went on for generations. The stories change with the translations, and with individual interpretation, because the stories make each of us feel something different. What stays the same though is the magnitude of what they make us feel. I feel passionately about this. The stories that we tell today carry the same power and magic behind them as when they were told by our ancestors around the fire. The only difference between now and then is that since we have decided to write them down, people try to assign concrete meaning to the stories, and while that’s helpful for passing them down, it’s important to note that it is the act of passing them down to be remembered that is important. We don’t all need to stick to a single interpretation. More importantly, don’t let anyone tell you that you are wrong or that these stories aren’t yours to tell or interpret. They made you feel something – real emotion – that is what matters.
I hope you have enjoyed this discussion on stories with The Skald’s Circle. If you’d like to perhaps discuss it with me I’m always more than willing. You can contact us on our site or on Facebook, we are always ready to talk. Also, if you have something you would like us to research, please let us know! Also if you learned something new, give us a like on Facebook, and let us know; we really appreciate being noticed. Until then, I’ll be back next week with another fascinating topic. This is Casimir, signing off, and remember, always check your sources!