Johan Egerkrans is a Swedish writer and illustrator. Three of his books
have been translated to English: “Vaesen: Spirits and Monsters of Scandinavian
Folklore”, “Norse Gods” and “The Undead”. This is a review of “Norse Gods”,
which I read in the Swedish original version, “Nordiska gudar”. It contains the
author-illustrator´s personal take on the Norse or “Viking” pagan pantheon. Or
so the preface says. Not being a scholarly expert on ancient Scandinavian
religion, my impression is that the author´s personal take on the mythological
narrative is pretty similar to the “canonical” version.
What *is* different are the illustrations (in both color and black-and-white).
Egerkrans has a background in video games and role playing games. I don´t, but
the illustrations do tend towards the “comic superhero” stereotypes (such as
the main illustration of Thor). There is also a strong resemblance to the LOTR
franchise: Odin is Gandalf, Surtr is the Balrog, and so on. But then, Tolkien
in his turn was inspired by Norse mythology, so here, there is really
cross-pollination. The darker side of the Norse worldview is prominently
featured, from the original murder-sacrifice of Ymir to Ragnarök and the new
world beyond, where evil still lurks in the form of the dragon Nidhogg, who
survived the apocalypse. Note also that Egerkrans´ two other books are to a
large extent about monsters and hobgoblins!
Personally, I find the parallels between Norse and other mythologies
fascinating. I mean, the resemblances are striking. Ymir = Purusha. Thor =
Indra. The giants = the Asuras. Odin = Kal or the Demiurge (?). Yggdrasil = the
Tree of Life (but also axis mundi). Heimdall = the angel guarding Eden, the Dweller on the Threshold. Bifröst = Chinvat Bridge. Baldr = Osiris, Christ. The Midgard Snake = Ouroburos. Ragnarök = Kali Yuga.
Gimle = the Millennium. But that´s for another time…
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