E15: Odin and Thor – Mortality, the Measure of a Life, and What We Leave Behind (Part III)

In our final episode of our series on Thor, Shawn wraps up Thor's non-existent story arc, tying the Zelda I mean Norse timeline up in a way that makes sense to tell his story for the podcast. Thor continues to confront his own limits navigating life despite all of his strength. In doing so, he understands a couple very human traits of his, that he will never be perfect, and he will die. The discussion focuses on the events surrounding the death of his half-brother Balder, and him being looked over on a mission to the underworld, a job given to another brother. Then we see Thor surprisingly know when to "last call" it when he convinces Loki he has had enough, as opposed to joining him for a night on the town.Then, in an effort to drive search traffic, Shawn discusses Thor’s role in RAGNAROK (capital letters included for hopefully a positive impact on the search engines), where at the end of his life he faces his final encounter with his nemesis, Jormangandr, while also standing side by side with his father, Odin. The myths then offer a brief glimpse of what survives Thor: his sons, his daughter, and the idea that something of him carries on beyond the end of the world. Which raises the question of whether Thor, in his imperfect way, was slowly shifting his focus in his life, setting the stage for those who remain.Sources Used:The Poetic Edda (Hackett Publishing), translated by Jackson CrawfordThe Prose Edda (Penguin Classics)Follow on IG: https://www.instagram.com/sagaswshawn/?next=%2FFollow on YT: https://www.youtube.com/@SagasWithShawn