Possible Research Topics

The possibilities for research topics in this class are myriad, but here are a few broad ideas, along with some specific suggestions:

• Comic Book Heroes as Gods/Culture Heroes … in contemporary film, or in a particular comics series/saga … and you’d want to focus on a specific character/hero or set of characters (e.g. “the super-capitalist as culture hero in the Iron Man films”)
• Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves, Monsters, etc. and their sociological/psychological/political significance (i.e. what do zombies mean now that they didn’t before? what different meanings do they have — as cultural/political signifiers?) … in a particular pop culture context (a film, tv series, book, etc.) — Elizabeth has already “claimed” zombies, but I think these topics can go in many different directions … (e.g. “vampire sexuality as a reflection of cultural fears in Buffy, Twilight, and True Blood“)
• Mythic Elements and how/why they function in different contexts:  Video Games; Advertising; Contemporary Film, Drama, Art, Music … choose a particular work, or artist/author, or set of works with some similar element (e.g. “the post-apocalyptic hero’s journey in The Book of Eli and The Road“; “the Nike ‘swoosh’ and mythic images in sports advertising”)

A Quick Video on Semiotics

Re-reading Damen’s “X-Power” made me think that providing a little context for his work might be helpful. Damen is a semiotician — someone who studies symbols, metaphors, etc., and their meanings. This video is a nice, short introduction to the field of semiotics:

Norse Mythology: Gods, Trees, and the End of the World

It should come as no surprise to most that Greek mythology is the most widely-known in the world. Who hasn’t heard of the affairs of Zeus, the epic struggles of Odysseus, or the heroic journey of Hercules? The Iliad and the Odyssey are practically required reading, and nearly every Mythology course you can take will focus most of its time on these talles. But what most people don’t know is that the Greek heroes and gods…

…Are total pansies.

Yeah, like this guy could stand up to Thor.

At least, when you compare them to the Norse pantheon. It shouldn’t be surprising either to think about the culture of ancient Scandinavia and come to this conclusion. In the harsh, harsh winters of the far north, these people, known as Vikings, would often raid and pillage other lands, seeking necessary supplies or, perhaps, some giggles. Thus, these men would train themselves and steel their minds for righteous, fierce combat. It’s no wonder that their patron deities would become some of the most masculine to ever grace the heavens.

NOW we're talking!

But, sadly, it seems that fewer and fewer people are aware of the epic battles and betrayals that took place in the Norse universe. So here is a short primer on three main points of Norse mythology.

THE AESIR:

The Aesir are the primary gods, the “good guys” that most Vikings would have worshipped. There are three that are most worth mentioning: Odin, Thor, and Loki.

Odin is known as the All-Father, in a way the Norse equivalent to Zeus, serving as king of the gods. He also represents wisdom, war, victory, and many other things. At one point in time, he tore out his own eye (usually his left) and placed it in the well of Mimisbrunnr so that he could gain great wisdom. He is a very interesting character and something of a tragic hero, because of his run-in with a prophet who told him of everything that was to come, all the way to the end of the world. Therefore, Odin knows everything about what is going to happen (even his own death) but can do nothing to change it.

Thor is the son of Odin, and it shows. Anyone who reads Marvel comics knows what I’m talking about.

God of lightning, storms, valor, protection, and strength, Thor is everything that the Norse pantheon stands for. He’s more well-known than most of the other Norse gods, and, to many, the only one they know. His lightning-wreathed hammer, Mjolnir, is powerful enough to destroy mountains, and every swing echoes a thunderclap. In short, he’s awesome.

This fight is so one-sided it's not even funny.

Loki is not quite the man’s man that the other gods are, but he makes up for it by being by far the most evil. His trickery leads to the deaths of many, and he’s even able to outwit Odin on multiple occasions (Which means Odin essentially tore out his eye for nothing, since he’s apparently dumber than Loki even with the well’s water). One of his “pranks” even leads to the end of the world, but we’ll talk about that later.

Otherwise, he’s kind of a wimp. He gets poison poured on him, and when it touches him, he whines so loudly that earthquakes start.

Well, to be fair, his beard is pretty sweet.

YGGDRASIL:

Now, on to the real main points. Yggdrasil is a central component of the Norse pantheon, as it serves as, essentially, the universe. It is an ash tree so immense that nine different dimensions are located in its branches and roots. Among these are the mortal world (Midgard), the realm of the gods (Asgard), the realm of the giants (Jotunheim), the underworld (Hel), and a frozen wasteland below that (Niflheim).

Yggdrasil, with the Nine Worlds in its branches and roots.

The imagery of a tree representing the universe is definitely not limited to Norse Mythology, however. There are several other “World Trees” in many other regions’ cultures, including Hungary and India. The imagery of the branches reaching out in several paths is a natural metaphor for a possible layout of the worlds, and it may be because of this natural symbolism that it was adopted the world over. This may be a simple association created by early peoples attempting to theorize about the nature of the universe, or it may be a “traveling myth,” passed from region to region by traders and travelers.

RAGNAROK:

Perhaps the single most pervasive Norse myth is Ragnarok, the end of the world. It seems that anything that happens in any other tale is tied to it somehow. This may be because it was all foretold, in its utter entirety, by the prophet to Odin. As such, it will follow a very specific series of events, which are bound to happen eventually, though no one knows exactly when. This is why the gods and the dead Viking heroes do battle every day: to train for the inevitable war that will shatter the world to pieces, destroy the sky, and set the seas on fire.

Yggdrasil will still be okay, though.

It all starts with three roosters crowing. Once that happens, things start to turn bad. Among the multiple catastrophes, there will be Fimbulvetr, three consecutive winters with no summers to separate them, leading men to go mad and war with each other. The gigantic sea serpent Jormungandr will writhe, causing tsunamis, and the fire giant Surtur will approach Midgard, with a fiery sword brighter than the sun. Then when the god Heimdall sounds his war horn, the battle begins.

Once it all ends, nearly every god and monster with a name will be dead, and the world will be destroyed. But two humans, Lif and Lifbrasir, will survive under Yggdrasil’s roots, and the few surviving gods will meet and hold council over the burned world. It’s an epic tale of life after death that also falls into Armstrong’s recurring theme of sacrifice and death before life and peace.

Geographic Center of the USA

A guy from New Jersey visits the Geographical Center. You can see just how out in the middle of nowhere this place actually is!

From the Wikipedia page on the Geographic Center monument:

Although the marker supposedly indicates the actual point measured by a survey performed in 1918, in actuality, the measured center is about 1/2 to 3/4 mile away on a private farm. The farm’s owner did not want tourists trudging through his field, so the marker was placed as close as possible. There is generally an American flag flying on the pole placed on top of the monument. Just to the south of the monument, yards away, exists a covered picnic area and small four-pew chapel where a couple can take wedding vows if they wish.

Rock City

Origins of Rock City and “Fairyland” via Wikipedia

Hikers and geologists knew Rock City well throughout the late 19th century, but it did not become the attraction it is now until the 20th century. Garnet Carter’s idea was to develop a residential neighborhood on top of the mountain. It was to be named Fairyland because of his wife’s interest in European folklore. One feature of Fairyland was going to be a golf course, but Garnet decided instead to build a miniature golf course because the original took too long to build. He later franchised his miniature golf concept as Tom Thumb Golf, now recognized as the nation’s first mini-golf course.

A video montage of photos by a visitor to Rock City:

 

Official Rock City website

The House on the Rock

A tour of The House on the Rock

House on the Rock via Wikipedia

On the “world’s largest carousel”:

The Carousel at House on the Rock, located in Spring Green, Wisconsin, is reported to be the world’s largest. The indoor carousel includes 269 different beasts from around the world without a single horse head (zebras excluded). Hundreds of mannequin angels hang from the ceiling. The carousel itself has over 20,000 lights and 182 chandeliers.

More on the Carousel via Wikipedia

The Immigration of Gods and People

When one migrates to a new country, one packs a bag. In this bag there are different things ranging from articles of clothing to hair care products. But absolutely no one thinks that they are packing their religion up and bringing it with them to a new land. However, after the 1880′s, the amount of immigration to the United States surged from 3.5 million to 9 million. Naturally, when those people moved, they didn’t expect to drop their religion and start believing what everyone else in America was believing. Instead, they came to America and worshipped what they had worshipped their entire lives. Gods from other lands immigrated with their believers to America whether they wanted to or not, even if they knew they would or wouldn’t be worshipped for very long.

One example of this would be the second Coming to America segment in Neil Gaiman‘s book American Gods. It’s about a young woman who essentially steals everything she can and doesn’t respect authority. However, the entire time she’s being an evil person, she worships her Gods from her native land of Cornwall in England‘s southwest region. There are a variety of Gods from that region, but for some unknown reason, Essie Tregowan takes hold of the Piskies. From her days as a little girl helping her mother out cooking to her death, Essie leaves a saucer of milk for the piskies, who look like shrivled old men with red hair, to placate them. When she does come into contact with a Piskie, they have a unsusal conversation that ends in the Piskie taking Essie away to, what we can assume is, where the piskies reside.

Another example of Gods migrating to America is in the third Coming to America segment of American Gods. It’s about a man named Salim who comes from a place called Oman. Like Essie Tregowan, Salim keeps up with his religious beliefs. He reads his Qur’an and prays toward Mecca everyday. However, unlike Essie, Salim doesn’t necessarily believe in the God he runs into. While sitting in the back of a cab on the way back to his hotel, Salim comes to realize that the cab driver is an Ifrit. Ifrits are a certain type of jinn, or spirits below the level of angels and devils. Because they are a type of jinn, they have the ability to morph into human form. This is why Salim is able to go so long without recognizing the ifrit. It’s only when the Ifrit’s sunglasses fall off, exposing eyes of fire, that Salim comes to realize that Ifrits do actually exist. Up to that point in time, Salim only knew of them as myths told by old people to forewarn the young ones.

Both Essie Tregowan and Salim came to America with their Gods, and worshipped them in their own ways. Essie left milk out for Piskies every night, while Salim read his Qur’an, which only mentions ifrits once or twice throughout it’s entirety, and prayed everyday. They may not have been the first to bring their Gods to America, but, at least for Essie’s beliefs, they were part of the last. In most of England, piskies are regarded as a fun fantasy, while Islam is one of the largest religions in the world. It’s as if the Piskie knew he was a dying belief and took one of his last followers to a place where she belonged, while the Ifrit just wanted to escape from a fight.