Culture has always reflected the moods and trends of modern society. By studying its history, you can understnd what moods people had at that moment. In this regard, the influence of Scandinavian culture on the various cultural heritage of subsequent eras is of great importance. Even in modern society, one can observe what was invented by the Scandinavians thousands of years ago.
In modern society, only the shell of the entire Scandinavian culture is often used. These are the names of heroes, essential and crucial events, magical items. But the time and content are modern. That is, in the modern society, we are familiar with the names of heroes, their images, characters, but they exist in a completely different universe and have nothing to do with the exploits and legends of the ancient Scandinavians.
And as a rule, this synergy of cultures affects exclusively the mass direction. High culture contains only modern trends.
So, where can we find Scandinavian mythology in the modern society.
- Movies. At the moment, the box office hits are superhero films. Most of these films are made by the Marvel company. And almost half of the heroes of this universe directly or indirectly draw their images from the Scandinavian mythology. And so, what modern films, both from Marvel and other companies, are relevant to the topic of our review:
- Thor (2011) The film is named after one of the most influential Scandinavian gods. He is not alone in the film. With him Odin and Loki and others.
- Max Payne (2008). In this film, both the names and characters are a direct reference to the Scandinavian heroes.
- The Mask (1994). Unexpectedly, one of the most famous films is directly connected with the ancient Scandinavians. The mask that the main character found is Loki’s mask.
- Outlander (2008). Even from the name it is clear what awaits us in this movie. The action takes place in Norway during the Viking age.
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009). This film is a direct reference to Ragnarok, the doomsday of all ancient Scandinavians.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). This movie and the novel itself has already become a modern classic. Tolkien invented the whole universe. But this universe is based on the Scandinavian mythology. So, the wargs in the movies are a reference to the Scandinavian wolves, the children of Odin. The prototype of Gandalf was Odin himself, who wandered through the land of people in the image of an old man.
- King Fury (2015). The main character finds himself in the Viking world, accidentally getting here on a time machine.
- Adult films very often use Scandinavian themes, because half of the myths about the ancient Vikings are permeated with sex and love affairs.
- Computer games. One of the most interesting and financially successful projects in this genre has always been and will be hero games:
- Valhalla Chronicles. In this game you will have to solve the mysteries while in the sacred Valhalla.
- Tomb Rider: Underworld. This game is completely dedicated to the Scandinavian theme. Here are heroes, events, and magical items – a complete and accurate description of the Scandinavian myths.
- Viking: Battle for Asgard. This game is a story about the events in the Scandinavian Midgard.
- The whole company that is engaged in the production of gaming slots is called Yggdrasil Slots. For the Scandinavians, Yggdrasil is the whole universe. Therefore, this company is famous for a huge variety of slots.
As we can see, a huge layer of modern culture is reflected in the Scandinavian culture. This is not a complete list of all modern works based on myths and legends about Thor, Odin, and so on. Even the modern names of the days of the week from Monday to Friday are named after the Old Norse gods.