For more tales of mysterious children, we highly recommend “Where the Crawdads Sing” - a novel that is part murder mystery, part coming-of-age story, and part ode to the natural world. Download a free audiobook version here: www.audible.com/ted-ed
I love how when people in Mythology gets prophecies that someone's gonna kill them, they do something that makes that someone have every reason to kill them.
In the version I read it was a little more tragic for Tyr. He knew he was betraying his friend which is why he volunteered. He was punishing himself and when Fenrir knew he had been tricked he looked at Tyr with a sad expression and then Try gave him a nod as to let him know to bite his arm off so Fenrir did so reluctantly
he let his fear create his own enemies, he won against the snake, who he could've used, Hel willing went, meaning there was no stopping him from helping/using her too, and the wolf had a deep relationship with the warrior, something that could be used as well. Thanks for all the likes, didn't think it'd get this far.
This feels out of character for someone like Odin. You'd think Odin would be wise enough to not challenge fate. I'd like to think that he knew he was digging his own grave, and his actions were to serve a different purpose.
Three personifications of the unknown (and possibly the unknowable; the true nightmare). 1. Jörmungandr: the unknown of the unobservable world beyond one's field of sight. 2. Fenrir: the unknown of the natural world beyond one's ability to tame or control. 3. Hel: the unknown beyond one's death, the cessation of one's existence.
@@loki2240 only if you let fear take over you, which is what happened with Odin. He could've gotten away scot free but he chose to try and stop his supposed fate when he went into it willingly. But fate isn't something someone has already written in stone, it's what you define it as. And he was so set to thinking those children are the death of him when they're not, but he turned them into his demise. Definition of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Live by the sword, die by the sword, kinda deal.
@@xwithoutxanyxwarningx5191 - I'm not an expert on Norse mythology. But a lot of mythology (and religion) has an end of the world story. I don't think that it makes sense to think of those stories with our conceptions of free will and alternate outcomes if the the intent of the story is to explain an end of the world scenario (much like mythology and religion have creation of the world stories). They're just stories with a predetermined goal and a predetermined outcome. I think the self-fulfilling prophecy was just an interesting twist. I don't think having Odin take a different approach would've made it so that there was no Norse end of the world story, or even no end of the world story involving some or all of those children.
@@ghostderazgriz - Right. I know that Ragnarok is the end of Asgard and Midgard is supposed to be reborn. Ragnarok is an end of the world story, even if it's not the end of Midgard or humanity. It's the end of Asgard. My point is that, if the intent is to make up a story about the end of Asgard, that's going to be the end result of the story, no matter what the characters do.
@@ghostderazgriz - No, it isn't a matter for believers but rather the characters themselves. Their fate was predetermined to result in their end, regardless of what they did. I don't think it makes sense to say that Odin should've taken a different approach, as if he had free will, because he didn't have free will and his end was predetermined by the intent of the story.
I find Fenrir’s myth quite heart-breaking. He wouldn’t have agreed to play these ‘power tests’ at all if Tyr wasn’t there. And then Tyr is the only one who volunteered to offer his arm, paying the price of betrayal to his wolf friend himself.
In at least one version of the story, he says that if the gods had NOT bound him, he would have been their friend and companion and fought beside them, but now he was their enemy for all time.
If I'm not mistaken, when Ragnarok happens Fenrir breaks his constraints, eats Midgard (earth) whole, runs off to Asgard and kills Odin before being killed.
It would have happened, it is made clear in the actual story that Loki's children will bring ruin to Asgard. You could say it's about not being able to deny fate, with some allegory thrown in on the side, in the specific forms of Loki's children. This retelling barely skims the surface of the entire story.
Someone has never seen a Final Destination movie... 😜 But seriously, just because his actions contributed to those results - that doesn't mean that roughly the same results wouldn't have come about despite Odin taking other actions (including fundamentally different approaches). In such mythology, the world has to end somehow.
No, that can only be said at the most superficial level. Like many old epics, the events that occur basically have to occur. The story illustrates, among other things, how choice can sometimes be an illusion. This retelling is so-so, but not wholly accurate taken by simply what the video showed.
@@jamaelwilliams8677 That's not how Norse mythology operates. As a kid, I used to find all the mistakes regrettable and frustrating, but the Norse put a lot of emphasis on the preordained. All of this wasn't just bound to happen, it had to happen. Ragnarok was a fate they couldn't avoid. That concept is one of the very foundations of Norse belief itself.
As an observer who isn't as familiar with Norse culture or mythology, I find it interesting how Odin immediately takes action against what are essentially 3 innocent "children" whose only mistake was being born to the wrong parent (Loki). Does this imply that it's ok to take preventive action before a "criminal" has even committed their supposed crime? Would it have been the same situation if they had been children of Thor? Or would Odin have given a chance to any child of Thor, but not with Loki? Fascinating topic and great animation!
Knowing Thor's mythology, I'd inmediately take Thor's children into custody, seeing that he is a violent drunkard, not that different from the average vikings, though considered upright by their standards (no wrong oaths and stuff).
Fate, predestination and preventative action is a theme of many myths, stories and philosophical enquiries. Whether it's Oedipus and his strange tale or the Euthyphro dilemma. Looks like everyone pondered these things for millennia.
Not sure how you got "does that mean it's ok" Preventative measures literally backfired and each of these siblings are foretold to fight the gods during Ragnorock.
@@ghostderazgriz That's only because Odin had a vision - if he didn't, who is to say his plan backfires at all? It's the case of a self fulfilling prophecy. Without the prophecy, are the same situations still true or not.
Hel should not be full of fire. A burning underworld is from Greco-Roman mythology, later adopted into Christian and Muslim imagery, but the Norse underworld is exceedingly cold.
Yes and no. Ragnarok was preordained. Norse belief is firm on this point. Prophecy, once made, is set in stone. It was always going to turn out badly for the Aesir. All Odin did was make it a personal Tragedy.
@@agnibeena8069 I think the main one is that Ragnarok basically means that all of the old gods (so Thor, Loki, Odin, etc) will die. Norse Gods are a bit different from your traditional god in which they're extremely flawed, they're selfish, break their oaths, lie, cheat and are extremely human. Odin knows the prophecies and especially here it's important, since Fenrir kills Odin at the time of Ragnarok. Since he doesn't want to die, he restrains them in order to try and escape his fate, and we know how that turns out.
I've always felt sorry for Fenrir. He only wanted to be accepted and respected by the Aesir, which was why he kept accepting chains just to show off how strong he was before the Gods. But of course that's the tragedy of his story. Had Odin not been such a paranoid wreck, Fenrir would not have had any reason to resent the Gods.
for those who were wondering: -jormungandr continued to circle the earth, and when it let go, Ragnarök would start. In one encounter, Thor fishes for Jormungand, and fails to pull him up only when the giant Hymir, terrified that this will bring about Ragnarök, severs the line, sending the snake back down to the depths. -fenrir, in another version of the myth, devours the sun and fights Odin head on during Ragnarök, which he won by swallowing Odin whole. He was later killed by Odin's son Vidar, the god of vengeance -hel. i wasnt able to find much relating to hel, but we can assume she either died in the battle of Ragnarök or stayed in hel
@@chickentikka4383 Yes, but there's other world called Niflheim which is supposed to be the land of ice. Helheim was more like the neutral underworld, akin to Hades in Greek mythology.
@@chickentikka4383 tartarus is an even deeper realm beyond hades/erebus reserved for the damned. The neutral underworld where the dead resides is hades/erebus
The only inaccurate thing in this video IS the fact Norse Hel was actually cold/mild. Depending on your role in life. If you were just a normal person who died. Hel was just a regular place, similar to our world. Mild, temperate, etc. The cold parts of Hel was Hel's home/hall and where the really bad people were sent. The really cold and dark places.
I don't really know anything about Hel, but she hasn't done anything wrong right? So why was she even sent into the coldest place? Or maybe she had done something awful
In other tales, Hel was promoted to become the Queen of the Dead, she was described as Cold but Just, in Baldr's Death, when Baldr's Mother, Frigg, asked Hel to return her late Son's soul to the living world, Hel agreed but only if every living thing weep and mourn over his death, something that didn't happen because Loki, her father, sabotaged Friggs plan by not mourning the late god, because it was a closed deal, Hel kept Baldr's soul safe until the End of Ragnarok as he'll be resurrected.
Really makes you feel for the characters you thought were bad guys but were really the victims. Like the live action Maleficent film. I was always fascinated by Jormangandr
I am immediately reminded of an Oogway quote, "One often meets their fate after taking the path to avoid it". Odin, through his paranoia created the enemies from his nightmares.
Loki is a shapeshifter if I'm not mistaken, he can be any size. The jotnar (translated as "giants" in English) were also shapeshifters and also could be any size, some of them just preferred to be giants.
MY GOD, that ending makes me goosebumps! What a masterpiece ❤️ Edit: what makes me goosebumps, when the narrator could pass the feeling of hatred and something worse will be happened is the best part of this video
Odin lost his eye when he sacrificed it to drink from Mimir's well (The Well of Urd), so that he could gain cosmic wisdom. Given that his actions in this tale are very unwise, this could have happened before that.
@@lukemitchell5470 given that losing his eye didn't reveal to him that these three would bring about Ragnarok and how to stop them, he clearly got ripped off for the "cosmic wisdom".
Its about fear and not giving in to unrational fear and paranioa. Alot of these norse storys were children storys for when everyone sat inside during the long winter. They always has some sorth of lesson to them.
@@someguy7723 What lesson were the Norse trying to teach when they talked about Loki tying one end of a rope around his balls and the other end around a goat?
I know you guys kept some stuff out of the story to keep it short but there are some key things left out. Odin challenged Fenrir with the promise that if he couldn't free himself from the chain he would be freed. to make sure this would happen he asked that one of the gods put his arm in his mouth and no god would because they knew what would happen and they didn't want to loose an arm. so finally tyr did and lost his arm in the process. I know it's small but the promise of Odin that he would let him free is the crucial point of Fenrirs story. edit: there are a lot of variations of hel ( in the Poetic Edda it's more of a place and in the Prose Edda it's Loki's daughter ) but they all say that odin tasked hel to guide the souls and rule over the underworld. the main thing is hel's story is that she can't leave.. well until Ragnarök. there is no mention as far as I know in any Edda that she conquered the underworld.
These myths are my favourite type of TED-ED videos. The quality of the animation and narration for them are just fantastic! Please make more myth and lore videos!
I really love and appreciate that the video wrapped all the way around to show how Odin just hurt himself so much over this. Poor All-Father and his unwilling victims...
That's the whole point of the story I feel like, the girl and the wolf could have just been nurtured into somewhat harmless creatures you have to be careful around, of course the snake had to be killed (but for some reason wasn't), but the way they handled everything just made their existing problem 10x worse.
@@Ay0godd No, this version barely skims the surface of the actual story. It is made clear that Loki's children will bring ruin to Asgard, there is no salvation for Hel or Jormungandr, and Fenrir's loyalty was primarily to Tyr alone. It's better viewed as an allegory for, "What if you tried to keep a wild wolf as a pet," "What if you've got someone with leperosy hanging around," "what if you've got someone you know is going to stab you in the back." Also, Loki's children are all loyal to their Father, and there is basically no redemption for Loki by his own deeds.
@@kurtlindner But isn't that like it was fate they would ruin Asgard because the deeds Odin had done and it was also fate that Odin dreamt about them and thought they would destroy Asgard so he did all that which truly turned the children into real dangers? At the end it was all thanks to him. It could have gone other ways.
@@for_kl.5574 No, it didn't matter what happened, the result had nothing to do with how it came to pass; the result is the prophecy. TED screwed up the story in their presentation, Odin's dreams weren't the cause of Ragnarok, Ragnarok was always going to ordained. Had Odin done nothing, the same end would come to pass. You should look into the actual story. Also, the perspective you're asserting, while it sounds perfectly reasonable to you or me, or most people of this era, that same is not necessarily true for people of other times in history, essentially it's viewing history through a histrocentric perspective. Interpreting ancient stories by our own worldview yields many problems in the same way as if one reads a story written in French from an English speaking perspective -everything is gibberish. You must at the very least translate the text or better yet, read the text in French; and the same is true of ancient stories. To properly interpret ancient stories like we must start from the perspective of the people and culture from whence the work comes if we want to truly understand it.
Amazingly explained with a bit of lore,suspense and well written setting.I’m sure that anyone would want to watch or read the end of this entire journey
Glad I saw this video. Recently in life, I’ve found that a lot of my anxieties and worries are self fulfilling to a point. The anxiety and worry makes me act poorly in a otherwise normal situation, and I’m glad I saw this video as a relatable message to worry less and avoid paranoia.
Fenrir, I felt bad for. Tyr and him had a good friendship. Odin should've seen this instead of living with his paranoia. Maybe he would've know that Fenrir wasn't a threat and kept him around
We already saw Hela (as Thor’s elder sister) and Fenris (as Hela’s pet?) in “Thor Ragnarok”. So we are yet to see the serpent Jormungandr in the MCU (Maybe in “Thor: Love and Thunder”?). Can’t wait!
excellent voice acting, moreso than I'm used to. I've seen many retellings of these 3, but this one is one of the best you'd make a good DM for a tabletop game
Talk about Self Fulfilling Prophecy. His attempts to avert his fate by mistreating Loki’s spawn led to the destruction of the world and the deaths of many gods, known as Ragnarok. In their defense, Loki’ children have very good reasons to hate them, 1) The snake (I can’t write his name, sorry) was acting in self defense and they throw him into the sea 2) They give Hela a thankless job and people were afraid of her because of her appearance; 3) Fenrir was betrayed by the gods, even by his best friend
Fenrir had an inherent cruelty to him but deep down he wanted to be accepted by the gods as part of their family. But Odin and the others out of fear treated him like a monster and so he became one. A self fulfilling prophecy.
I wanted to make a request, I would love to hear about writer and journalist Clarice Lispector. She really writes with love, attention, affection and her works are simply beautiful.
As a revenge for what Odin did to Loki's children, Loki plays a (maybe accidentally) deadly prank on one of Odin's children. Odin kill's Loki's 2 human/Aesir looking sons, and binds Loki to a rock, in a cave, using THE ENTRAILS OF LOKI'S SON. Odin puts a serpent over Loki, that drips painful poison on Loki. Loki's wife is left with him. With a bowl to collect the poison, but at times she has to take the bowl away to empty it. When Loki's wife takes the bowl away, Loki's screams and struggles against the entrails of their son, causing earthquakes. The day Loki is freed/ gets free, is the day his "monster" children are freed, and together they will get vengeance by attacking Odin and the Aesir, for treating them horribly. All will die in the process except young children of some Aesir. Those children will restart the cycle of creation.
Aside from Ragnarok, the only things that can be part two are bit parts; Thor went fishing with Tyr's dad and pulled up Jormungandr early. And when Baldr died, Hel would only give him back if everything in the realms wept for him.
What Odin feared became a reality trough his own actions. He created his own enemies for Ragnarok. Like Zeus in videogame created Kratos, his own doom. Pretty very strange actions coming from a wisest Nordic God that let it fear guide him.
I loved mythologies and how they are so eager to prevent the prophecies by dealing with them which is the first step on how the prophecy can come true...is this some sort of an ancient paradox
0:40 this reminds me of a quote in Neil Gaiman’s “Norse Mythology” book. In the books retelling of the time Loki cut off Sif’s hair Thor says “When something’s wrong I always assume it’s Loki. It saves a lot of time” lmao
I love this bit in Gaiman's Norse Mythology, his voice rings in my ears as I hear it here too. There are bits that are different also (hel was merely a child in Gaiman's version) , maybe due to the videos length or else, it's gorgeous nevertheless
For the people wondering about the rope, the rope is an explanation to why certain things don't exist, because they used it to make the impossible rope, a few ingredients i remember are: a womans beard, the roots of a mountain, the breath of a fish, the milk of a bird
3:50 A: We found the materials! But they're so weird... How do you build a piece of armour out of something so... so... B: Nunya? A: Nunya? B: None 'ya fuckin' business.
For more tales of mysterious children, we highly recommend “Where the Crawdads Sing” - a novel that is part murder mystery, part coming-of-age story, and part ode to the natural world. Download a free audiobook version here: www.audible.com/ted-ed
hi
Bye
TED-ED can you do a History On Trial of Ruhollah Khomeini.
TED-ED can you do a History On Trial of Puyi.
lol
I love how when people in Mythology gets prophecies that someone's gonna kill them, they do something that makes that someone have every reason to kill them.
it kinda serves to tell people that fate is fixed
Pfp sauce?
"One often meets his fate on the path he takes to avoid it"
It makes the story interesting ig
Mythos are usually told with morals to teach in mind. So if something did not go wrong on a myth, then something is wrong.
also... nice pfp.
In the version I read it was a little more tragic for Tyr. He knew he was betraying his friend which is why he volunteered. He was punishing himself and when Fenrir knew he had been tricked he looked at Tyr with a sad expression and then Try gave him a nod as to let him know to bite his arm off so Fenrir did so reluctantly
That was Neil Geiman’s Norse Mythology, I read the same passage. It was quite heartbreaking, especially because Odin didn’t have to do this
@@kevinteschner5839 yes sir it was. Great book
@@JaqenHghar. Every book by Neil Gaiman is a good read
@@alstroemeria2466 Yes
@@alstroemeria2466 he did some comics for both DC and Marvel. I've never read any but I've heard good things. So yeah, dudes legit
he let his fear create his own enemies, he won against the snake, who he could've used, Hel willing went, meaning there was no stopping him from helping/using her too, and the wolf had a deep relationship with the warrior, something that could be used as well.
Thanks for all the likes, didn't think it'd get this far.
I click the 'replies' button thinking I'm gonna see some deep insight on this or even a 'yea lol' and I'm only even more disappointed in humanity
Yea lol
This feels out of character for someone like Odin. You'd think Odin would be wise enough to not challenge fate. I'd like to think that he knew he was digging his own grave, and his actions were to serve a different purpose.
@@othamneil8958 it's almost like...and forgive me, I'm just speculating...but it's almost like Odin isn't real
@@gamecokben (Gasp) Whaaaat? Nooooo
“A child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.”
The arch-illager would agree.
Naruto could have done that
@@sage4365 I believe it is an African proverb.
Thank you very much for asking.
@@vishnusolanki7792 oh that wld be cool villain arch tho
Three personifications of the unknown (and possibly the unknowable; the true nightmare).
1. Jörmungandr: the unknown of the unobservable world beyond one's field of sight.
2. Fenrir: the unknown of the natural world beyond one's ability to tame or control.
3. Hel: the unknown beyond one's death, the cessation of one's existence.
Well I learned something new today, cessation is a word lmao
"beyond one's ability to tame or control"
Tyr: *Am I am joke to you?*
@@anirbanhasan8988 Odin: yes
I love this analogy
@@harlowitter3060 Thanks.
In a way this story serves as a reminder not to let fear and paranoia guide your actions
In another way, it suggests that our fates are sealed and free will is an illusion. 😂
@@loki2240 only if you let fear take over you, which is what happened with Odin. He could've gotten away scot free but he chose to try and stop his supposed fate when he went into it willingly. But fate isn't something someone has already written in stone, it's what you define it as. And he was so set to thinking those children are the death of him when they're not, but he turned them into his demise. Definition of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Live by the sword, die by the sword, kinda deal.
@@xwithoutxanyxwarningx5191 - I'm not an expert on Norse mythology. But a lot of mythology (and religion) has an end of the world story. I don't think that it makes sense to think of those stories with our conceptions of free will and alternate outcomes if the the intent of the story is to explain an end of the world scenario (much like mythology and religion have creation of the world stories). They're just stories with a predetermined goal and a predetermined outcome.
I think the self-fulfilling prophecy was just an interesting twist. I don't think having Odin take a different approach would've made it so that there was no Norse end of the world story, or even no end of the world story involving some or all of those children.
@@ghostderazgriz - Right. I know that Ragnarok is the end of Asgard and Midgard is supposed to be reborn. Ragnarok is an end of the world story, even if it's not the end of Midgard or humanity. It's the end of Asgard.
My point is that, if the intent is to make up a story about the end of Asgard, that's going to be the end result of the story, no matter what the characters do.
@@ghostderazgriz - No, it isn't a matter for believers but rather the characters themselves. Their fate was predetermined to result in their end, regardless of what they did. I don't think it makes sense to say that Odin should've taken a different approach, as if he had free will, because he didn't have free will and his end was predetermined by the intent of the story.
I find Fenrir’s myth quite heart-breaking. He wouldn’t have agreed to play these ‘power tests’ at all if Tyr wasn’t there. And then Tyr is the only one who volunteered to offer his arm, paying the price of betrayal to his wolf friend himself.
442 👍
In at least one version of the story, he says that if the gods had NOT bound him, he would have been their friend and companion and fought beside them, but now he was their enemy for all time.
If I'm not mistaken, when Ragnarok happens Fenrir breaks his constraints, eats Midgard (earth) whole, runs off to Asgard and kills Odin before being killed.
According to another comment, another version of the story says that Tyr realized what Odin had done, and volunteered himself as punishment.
Honestly he should have asked for prins head to be in his mouth
Odin had a rare case of self-fulfilling prophecy. None these would have happen if he didn’t act based on a dream.
Exactly
It would have happened, it is made clear in the actual story that Loki's children will bring ruin to Asgard. You could say it's about not being able to deny fate, with some allegory thrown in on the side, in the specific forms of Loki's children.
This retelling barely skims the surface of the entire story.
Oedipus' story is another case. He would have never killed his own father and married his own mother if they hadn't abandoned him first.
this just proves you can't escape fate, even for the gods
Someone has never seen a Final Destination movie... 😜
But seriously, just because his actions contributed to those results - that doesn't mean that roughly the same results wouldn't have come about despite Odin taking other actions (including fundamentally different approaches). In such mythology, the world has to end somehow.
The fact that atleast Fenrir's fate could've been easily avoided by a bit more trust is quite sad, especially with the wolf's friendship with Tyr.
Yeah if it wasn't for his paranoia and fear all this could have been avoided
@@jamaelwilliams8677 - That's a common theme in Greek mythology, too.
@@loki2240 oh yeah the stories and myths with them or too many to count
No, that can only be said at the most superficial level. Like many old epics, the events that occur basically have to occur. The story illustrates, among other things, how choice can sometimes be an illusion. This retelling is so-so, but not wholly accurate taken by simply what the video showed.
@@jamaelwilliams8677 That's not how Norse mythology operates. As a kid, I used to find all the mistakes regrettable and frustrating, but the Norse put a lot of emphasis on the preordained. All of this wasn't just bound to happen, it had to happen. Ragnarok was a fate they couldn't avoid. That concept is one of the very foundations of Norse belief itself.
As an observer who isn't as familiar with Norse culture or mythology, I find it interesting how Odin immediately takes action against what are essentially 3 innocent "children" whose only mistake was being born to the wrong parent (Loki). Does this imply that it's ok to take preventive action before a "criminal" has even committed their supposed crime? Would it have been the same situation if they had been children of Thor? Or would Odin have given a chance to any child of Thor, but not with Loki? Fascinating topic and great animation!
Knowing Thor's mythology, I'd inmediately take Thor's children into custody, seeing that he is a violent drunkard, not that different from the average vikings, though considered upright by their standards (no wrong oaths and stuff).
Odin is a seer with ravens for eye balls I think he takes his visions seriously
Fate, predestination and preventative action is a theme of many myths, stories and philosophical enquiries. Whether it's Oedipus and his strange tale or the Euthyphro dilemma.
Looks like everyone pondered these things for millennia.
Not sure how you got "does that mean it's ok"
Preventative measures literally backfired and each of these siblings are foretold to fight the gods during Ragnorock.
@@ghostderazgriz
That's only because Odin had a vision - if he didn't, who is to say his plan backfires at all? It's the case of a self fulfilling prophecy. Without the prophecy, are the same situations still true or not.
Hel should not be full of fire. A burning underworld is from Greco-Roman mythology, later adopted into Christian and Muslim imagery, but the Norse underworld is exceedingly cold.
That is a pretty interesting concept.
A cold underworld.
that’s interesting, considering the climates that the myths came from
Makes sense that a culture that existed in Norway should be more afraid of the cold than of the heat.
interesting
Greek Mythology's Underworld wasn't on fire either. Heaven was also down there, after all
I love how his actions created the monsters.
The wolves of norse mythology:
Fenrir
Garmr
Skoll
Hati
Villain origin stories are pretty similar.
Yes and no. Ragnarok was preordained. Norse belief is firm on this point. Prophecy, once made, is set in stone.
It was always going to turn out badly for the Aesir. All Odin did was make it a personal Tragedy.
@@Bluecho4 If the prophecy was set in stone, why did they try to stop it? A genuine question as I'm not too familiar with it
@@agnibeena8069 I think the main one is that Ragnarok basically means that all of the old gods (so Thor, Loki, Odin, etc) will die. Norse Gods are a bit different from your traditional god in which they're extremely flawed, they're selfish, break their oaths, lie, cheat and are extremely human. Odin knows the prophecies and especially here it's important, since Fenrir kills Odin at the time of Ragnarok. Since he doesn't want to die, he restrains them in order to try and escape his fate, and we know how that turns out.
I've always felt sorry for Fenrir. He only wanted to be accepted and respected by the Aesir, which was why he kept accepting chains just to show off how strong he was before the Gods. But of course that's the tragedy of his story. Had Odin not been such a paranoid wreck, Fenrir would not have had any reason to resent the Gods.
Yes, because he felt betrayed.
Considering his friendship with Tyr, Fenrir could have even been of use to the Gods...
@@ATLACEDES Indeed. At the end of the day, Odin was a coward, and his cowardice was what brought about the destruction of the Aesir and Asgard.
Fenrir was friendly. Even Hel didn’t fight her captors. Jormungandr was the only one they needed to worry about.
for those who were wondering:
-jormungandr continued to circle the earth, and when it let go, Ragnarök would start. In one encounter, Thor fishes for Jormungand, and fails to pull him up only when the giant Hymir, terrified that this will bring about Ragnarök, severs the line, sending the snake back down to the depths.
-fenrir, in another version of the myth, devours the sun and fights Odin head on during Ragnarök, which he won by swallowing Odin whole. He was later killed by Odin's son Vidar, the god of vengeance
-hel. i wasnt able to find much relating to hel, but we can assume she either died in the battle of Ragnarök or stayed in hel
he double hockey sticks
Fenrir's sons Sköll & Hati will swallow the Sun & Moon respectively.....
And then the cycle restarts
Fun fact: many norse people believe that Fenrir is the father of another two giant wolves from norse mythology: skoll and hati
Vidar, or Vitharr, doesn’t get enough love.
One small minor correction about Hel's dwelling of Helheim, it is not fiery so much that it is only a place of darkness and misery.
Is it not supposed to be extremely cold aswell?
@@chickentikka4383 yep yep!
@@chickentikka4383 Yes, but there's other world called Niflheim which is supposed to be the land of ice. Helheim was more like the neutral underworld, akin to Hades in Greek mythology.
@@fardiorin9133 I'll assume you're talking about Tartarus, but yeah, I get you.
@@chickentikka4383 tartarus is an even deeper realm beyond hades/erebus reserved for the damned. The neutral underworld where the dead resides is hades/erebus
The only inaccurate thing in this video IS the fact Norse Hel was actually cold/mild.
Depending on your role in life.
If you were just a normal person who died.
Hel was just a regular place, similar to our world.
Mild, temperate, etc.
The cold parts of Hel was Hel's home/hall and where the really bad people were sent.
The really cold and dark places.
I don't really know anything about Hel, but she hasn't done anything wrong right? So why was she even sent into the coldest place?
Or maybe she had done something awful
@@citra1885 i think it was becuse she is daughter of loki and half skelaton
And Odin has two eyes in this
@@citra1885 to be fair, the coldest place would be Niflheim, literally the home of the primordial cold
The animation and narration quality just gets better Ted-Ed! Good job
Stop. It was uploaded 3 minutes ago, and the video is 6 minutes long
@@ojeshk.c.6744 it was a first glance Bruh
Thoses who try to prevent profocies often seal their own doom
Right? I really liked translating it to Portuguese
In other tales, Hel was promoted to become the Queen of the Dead, she was described as Cold but Just, in Baldr's Death, when Baldr's Mother, Frigg, asked Hel to return her late Son's soul to the living world, Hel agreed but only if every living thing weep and mourn over his death, something that didn't happen because Loki, her father, sabotaged Friggs plan by not mourning the late god, because it was a closed deal, Hel kept Baldr's soul safe until the End of Ragnarok as he'll be resurrected.
Really makes you feel for the characters you thought were bad guys but were really the victims. Like the live action Maleficent film. I was always fascinated by Jormangandr
One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it. -Master Oogway
Yessir, master oogway is a lot more wise
Gods: *Aren't able to do something*
Dwarves : Hold our Beer.
I can almost imagine their site filled with testimonials by various gods LOL
All twelve trillion casks of it.
I am immediately reminded of an Oogway quote, "One often meets their fate after taking the path to avoid it".
Odin, through his paranoia created the enemies from his nightmares.
'The dwarfs' always got something extraordinary! 😇
I respect that Loki was able to satisfy a Giantess despite being average sized.
Truly a person to get inspired from 🙏
Well he's a shape-shifter. I mean, he got f-ed by a stallion.
The jötnar are not necessarily very huge
Actually giants aren’t what you think it is half of the giants are the size of an average human
Proof that size doesn't matter
Loki is a shapeshifter if I'm not mistaken, he can be any size. The jotnar (translated as "giants" in English) were also shapeshifters and also could be any size, some of them just preferred to be giants.
MY GOD, that ending makes me goosebumps! What a masterpiece ❤️
Edit: what makes me goosebumps, when the narrator could pass the feeling of hatred and something worse will be happened is the best part of this video
😭
@@rondoletti-1454 ???
Part 2
Odin should be missing an eye. I love these videos! Keep the Norse mythology coming! Please!!!!!!
Odin lost his eye when he sacrificed it to drink from Mimir's well (The Well of Urd), so that he could gain cosmic wisdom. Given that his actions in this tale are very unwise, this could have happened before that.
@@lukemitchell5470 given that losing his eye didn't reveal to him that these three would bring about Ragnarok and how to stop them, he clearly got ripped off for the "cosmic wisdom".
This seemed to have occurred before Odin became wise
The message of the story: If you see a prophecy of troubles, don't do anything about it.
You'll just end up fulfilling it.
Its about fear and not giving in to unrational fear and paranioa.
Alot of these norse storys were children storys for when everyone sat inside during the long winter. They always has some sorth of lesson to them.
@@someguy7723 What lesson were the Norse trying to teach when they talked about Loki tying one end of a rope around his balls and the other end around a goat?
@@SirThopas3 Is that a story? For real? Lmao
@@SirThopas3 that reading to much about CBT on wikipedia can lead to dangures things
@@IlNamelessKinglI Oh yeah, lol, Loki is trying to make someone laugh and this is what he does.
I know you guys kept some stuff out of the story to keep it short but there are some key things left out. Odin challenged Fenrir with the promise that if he couldn't free himself from the chain he would be freed. to make sure this would happen he asked that one of the gods put his arm in his mouth and no god would because they knew what would happen and they didn't want to loose an arm. so finally tyr did and lost his arm in the process. I know it's small but the promise of Odin that he would let him free is the crucial point of Fenrirs story.
edit: there are a lot of variations of hel ( in the Poetic Edda it's more of a place and in the Prose Edda it's Loki's daughter ) but they all say that odin tasked hel to guide the souls and rule over the underworld. the main thing is hel's story is that she can't leave.. well until Ragnarök. there is no mention as far as I know in any Edda that she conquered the underworld.
These myths are my favourite type of TED-ED videos. The quality of the animation and narration for them are just fantastic! Please make more myth and lore videos!
I really love and appreciate that the video wrapped all the way around to show how Odin just hurt himself so much over this. Poor All-Father and his unwilling victims...
"👹...inching ever closer to his bloody revenge👹👹👹👹👹👹.
For more stories about children being underestimated....😊😊"
Dam that made me laugh (5:30)
Lmao
Baby Fenrir is literally the cutest little thing ever!
wasn't Hela asked to rule Helheim, because she had a strong affiliation with death and also she knew better than the other gods?
Some says that is the kind of excuse they used to send her there. Either way, Hel is willing to go with it.
Fun Fact: Fenrir is actually In the movie of thor Ragnarok. he's Hella's dog, Bit is actually referred to as "Fenris" in the movie
Its diffrenet dog
@@szymonpinkowski256 actually no. “Fenrisúlfr” (Fenris Wolf) is another name by which Fenrir is known.
@@szymonpinkowski256 its the same
In the movie Fenrir is Hella's dog. But in mythology Garm is Hella's dog and the guardian of the gates of Helheim.
@@matze9201 true
what if Fenrir was just, trying to live? what if he wasnt going to turn into the beast he became unless he was provoked by Tyr to do so?
That's the whole point of the story I feel like, the girl and the wolf could have just been nurtured into somewhat harmless creatures you have to be careful around, of course the snake had to be killed (but for some reason wasn't), but the way they handled everything just made their existing problem 10x worse.
@@Ay0goddyeah lmao
@@Ay0godd No, this version barely skims the surface of the actual story. It is made clear that Loki's children will bring ruin to Asgard, there is no salvation for Hel or Jormungandr, and Fenrir's loyalty was primarily to Tyr alone.
It's better viewed as an allegory for, "What if you tried to keep a wild wolf as a pet," "What if you've got someone with leperosy hanging around," "what if you've got someone you know is going to stab you in the back."
Also, Loki's children are all loyal to their Father, and there is basically no redemption for Loki by his own deeds.
@@kurtlindner But isn't that like it was fate they would ruin Asgard because the deeds Odin had done and it was also fate that Odin dreamt about them and thought they would destroy Asgard so he did all that which truly turned the children into real dangers? At the end it was all thanks to him. It could have gone other ways.
@@for_kl.5574 No, it didn't matter what happened, the result had nothing to do with how it came to pass; the result is the prophecy. TED screwed up the story in their presentation, Odin's dreams weren't the cause of Ragnarok, Ragnarok was always going to ordained. Had Odin done nothing, the same end would come to pass.
You should look into the actual story.
Also, the perspective you're asserting, while it sounds perfectly reasonable to you or me, or most people of this era, that same is not necessarily true for people of other times in history, essentially it's viewing history through a histrocentric perspective. Interpreting ancient stories by our own worldview yields many problems in the same way as if one reads a story written in French from an English speaking perspective -everything is gibberish. You must at the very least translate the text or better yet, read the text in French; and the same is true of ancient stories. To properly interpret ancient stories like we must start from the perspective of the people and culture from whence the work comes if we want to truly understand it.
In Norse, Jormungandr is my favorite mythical figure. Seeing Tyr played with Fenrir in a friendly way makes me warm my heart
Despite having gained knowledge and wisdom, Odin unwittingly created his own nightmares.
1:44 little did he know this wolf was bound to cause the end of the world
BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Love the norse mythology videos! They are my favorites on this channel by far! Hope you continue making more! Keep up the good work ❤️
Release Fenrir he didn't do anything wrong.
so did the other 2
None of them did but Odin doesn't really care.
Yeah, thats cruel.
True, except if you released him now it would cause Ragnorok, aka doomsday.
@@VoidKing666 Have seen the world lately?
1:51
Its actually funny how cute that is
Love this! One thing to make it even better would be for Odin to be depicted as one eyed, especially as he is foreseeing his doom!
5:37 "For more tales of children being ignored and underestimated..." 😂🥴
3:20 this is so cute awwww its like a doggo and owner relationship I would pet that wolf
The animation is on point for this episode! And I never thought Fenrir the Wolf could be made to look so cute.
4:37 top 10 anime betrayals
1:36 what an anticlimax😂 I enjoyed the video, thank you👍
Amazingly explained with a bit of lore,suspense and well written setting.I’m sure that anyone would want to watch or read the end of this entire journey
Stan lee on reading Norse mythology be like:
'No, this is too disturbing for the audience.'
The narrator and animation are extraordinary!!!!
Glad I saw this video. Recently in life, I’ve found that a lot of my anxieties and worries are self fulfilling to a point. The anxiety and worry makes me act poorly in a otherwise normal situation, and I’m glad I saw this video as a relatable message to worry less and avoid paranoia.
The voice over of this episode was just phenomenal
this story is the embodiment of the quote, “one often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it”
Fenrir, I felt bad for. Tyr and him had a good friendship. Odin should've seen this instead of living with his paranoia. Maybe he would've know that Fenrir wasn't a threat and kept him around
“Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
― C.S. Lewis
“One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.” - Master Oogway
Truer words were never spoken
this could have been avoided if he wasn't so fearful and paranoid
*cough cough* Oedipus
By definition fate can't be avoided
@@gamecokben Tell that most of Asian myths.
Honestly I feel as though all of this could have been avoided if Odin wasn't so fearful and paranoid fenrir in the others🤷🏾
It seems to be a recurrent theme in nordic mythology. Afaik, Ragnarok begins with Friggs (Odins wife) paranoia from a dream.
@@HalgaDoy This is just not true
We already saw Hela (as Thor’s elder sister) and Fenris (as Hela’s pet?) in “Thor Ragnarok”. So we are yet to see the serpent Jormungandr in the MCU (Maybe in “Thor: Love and Thunder”?). Can’t wait!
And now we have the motivation for Loki playing the trick that killed Baldr. He wanted revenge for what the gods did to his kids.
Loki: You take my pride and joy? I’ll return the favor…
excellent voice acting, moreso than I'm used to. I've seen many retellings of these 3, but this one is one of the best
you'd make a good DM for a tabletop game
Talk about Self Fulfilling Prophecy. His attempts to avert his fate by mistreating Loki’s spawn led to the destruction of the world and the deaths of many gods, known as Ragnarok.
In their defense, Loki’ children have very good reasons to hate them,
1) The snake (I can’t write his name, sorry) was acting in self defense and they throw him into the sea
2) They give Hela a thankless job and people were afraid of her because of her appearance;
3) Fenrir was betrayed by the gods, even by his best friend
i feel sorry for loki children. great story
Fun fact, 0:47 is the first animated portrayal of Loki's wife Sigyn, and the only I've ever seen of their sons.
These weren't monsters, they were children.
Ted-Ed never fail to entertain with good narration,animation and music
Man Loki's family has issues
They’re gods. What do you expect?
Fenrir had an inherent cruelty to him but deep down he wanted to be accepted by the gods as part of their family. But Odin and the others out of fear treated him like a monster and so he became one. A self fulfilling prophecy.
I wanted to make a request, I would love to hear about writer and journalist Clarice Lispector. She really writes with love, attention, affection and her works are simply beautiful.
Tyr looks more like Thor than Thor.
Is there a part 2 to this myth? Would love to watch the next one!!
Only if you consider Ragnarok to be the long-awaited sequel.
sure, the end of the world
Neil Gaiman wrote a book on the whole subject. Best version I ever found. A lot happens next.
As a revenge for what Odin did to Loki's children, Loki plays a (maybe accidentally) deadly prank on one of Odin's children.
Odin kill's Loki's 2 human/Aesir looking sons, and binds Loki to a rock, in a cave, using THE ENTRAILS OF LOKI'S SON.
Odin puts a serpent over Loki, that drips painful poison on Loki. Loki's wife is left with him. With a bowl to collect the poison, but at times she has to take the bowl away to empty it. When Loki's wife takes the bowl away, Loki's screams and struggles against the entrails of their son, causing earthquakes.
The day Loki is freed/ gets free, is the day his "monster" children are freed, and together they will get vengeance by attacking Odin and the Aesir, for treating them horribly. All will die in the process except young children of some Aesir. Those children will restart the cycle of creation.
Aside from Ragnarok, the only things that can be part two are bit parts; Thor went fishing with Tyr's dad and pulled up Jormungandr early. And when Baldr died, Hel would only give him back if everything in the realms wept for him.
What Odin feared became a reality trough his own actions. He created his own enemies for Ragnarok. Like Zeus in videogame created Kratos, his own doom. Pretty very strange actions coming from a wisest Nordic God that let it fear guide him.
This was so cool. I only wish that the animations used the mythological appearances of the gods instead of the traits from MCU.
My man Fenrir was innocent bro😭
a really cool story . i love ted's way of story telling
The art in this myth video was astounding 😃 Thanks for sharing this with us all 🙏🏽
I loved mythologies and how they are so eager to prevent the prophecies by dealing with them which is the first step on how the prophecy can come true...is this some sort of an ancient paradox
0:40 this reminds me of a quote in Neil Gaiman’s “Norse Mythology” book. In the books retelling of the time Loki cut off Sif’s hair Thor says “When something’s wrong I always assume it’s Loki. It saves a lot of time” lmao
I love this bit in Gaiman's Norse Mythology, his voice rings in my ears as I hear it here too. There are bits that are different also (hel was merely a child in Gaiman's version) , maybe due to the videos length or else, it's gorgeous nevertheless
For the people wondering about the rope, the rope is an explanation to why certain things don't exist, because they used it to make the impossible rope, a few ingredients i remember are: a womans beard, the roots of a mountain, the breath of a fish, the milk of a bird
Loki is such a interesting god
He is responsible for birthing Odin's horse Sleipnir.
Loki carrying the entire norse mythology
as one wise turtle once said, "One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it."
So, are we not going to question how Loki and a female giant managed to get a wolf, a serpent and a half-corpse as children?
Part 2 highly recommended.. I don't usually coment but this animation and the story line is perfect highly recommemd part 2 🙏
“A person often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.” - Oogway
Odin was obsessed with the prophecy of Ragnarok. Not only was he consumed by paranoia but also by obsession.
This is the perfect example of " One often meets his destiny on the way he takes to avoid it"
amazing animation but one key detail you missed is that odin should have only 1 eye at this point in time
This was an amazing lesson, fantastic animation and great narration 👏💕
I wanted to hear more about the children's conception. How did Loki get it on with the giantess?
Same way he got f'ed by a stallion and gave birth to Odin's horse.
Loki is at least part giant himself, and an experienced shape shifter. Not really a problem for him.
little fenrir is so adorable. 💗💗
"Oh, I love Loki. He's such a good character." His daughter's name is literally Hel. "So?" Okay, that's it.
christains stole or "appropiated" Hel for their own. same with easter, daemons etc.
@@1995pieter Really? How?
3:50
A: We found the materials! But they're so weird... How do you build a piece of armour out of something so... so...
B: Nunya?
A: Nunya?
B: None 'ya fuckin' business.
As always , let's just appreciate the animation for a moment...
This Thor almost looks like mcu's Thor. Loki has the resemblance too
Exactly! I feel like someone just finished the first few marvel movies.
@@VoidKing666 no, the animator chose this art style because a good chunk of people will be able to relate to it.
@@fr0styboy I agrée! I was trying to make a joke, and I’m sorry it didn’t come through.
I'm getting a bit tired of this version of Thor. He's supposed to be fierce eyed with red beard and hair.
3:44 I like the little noise added to fish breath
A man who let his prophecy came true by a single dream
A single dream he had over and over and over again.
Probably the one dream he had more than any other in his immortal life.
Fenrir :
Trying to act scary
Tyr :
Lol let me put you on pocket
Moral of the story: have no mercy, kill all your enemies while they are still weak
Little did Odin know that his fear and his action turn into self fulfilling prophecy!