Midgard (novel)
Midgard is a fantastic novel by Wolfgang and Heike Hohlbein published in 1987 , in which elements of Nordic mythology provide the main component.
action
The book is about the 14 year old boy Lif . He lives with his foster parents Osrun and Fjella, two step-brothers and the old woman Skalla on a farm on the coast of the country Midgard. Lif himself does not come from Midgard, he was found in a small boat made of sheet gold by Osrun on the beach.
Lif often has daydreams and Osrun does not tolerate them because he thinks the dreams make Lif effeminate and keep him from work. Nor does he tolerate old Skalla Lif telling old Nordic legends.
One day, when a storm is approaching, Lif sees a strange ship on the coast, the Nagelfar , a harbinger of the Fimbulwinter . Nobody in the yard believes him except Skalla. A few days later Lif loses a cow in the storm and looks for it for fear of being punished by Osrun.
In the forest he observes the fight between the sir Baldur and the Fenriswolf , since Baldur takes him for his twin brother Lifthrasil, he tries to kill Lif, but an emerging Norn prevents worse. Lif passes out and Osrun finds him in the forest.
The storm never ends and Skalla tells Lif the whole story - Skalla reports that the Fimbulwinter has set in and Ragnarök is imminent. Lif goes in search of his brother Lifthrasil and runs away.
On his search, he meets the king of the albums, Eugel, who saves him from a pack of wolves. Together with Eugel, Lif boards the ship of the Norn Skuld that is to take him to Asgard, the seat of the Aesir. However, the two are attacked by Jörmungander, the Midgard serpent , and finally captured by Surtur , the fire giant . The two are brought to Muspellsheim , where they are to be killed together with Baldur. Here Lif meets his brother Lifthrasil for the first time. This helps them to escape so as not to endanger the prophecy that the two should meet on the battlefield.
On the run from Surtur and his huge Lif and his two companions cross the realm of the dead Hel , the world ash found at the root of Yggdrasil the Thor -lost hammer Mjolnir and wounded the dragon Nidhögger . The guardian of the underworld, the hellhound Garm is also slain.
Finally the heroes arrive at Asgard, where Lif is kindly received by the Aesir. In order to prepare for the final battle, Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods, the sir train Lif to fight.
The sir prepare for battle and fortify Asengard, their home. An ice giant is supposed to help them, but the ice giant sets the condition that he wants the goddess Freya and her two children, the sun and the moon, for his help . The sir consent. Shortly before completion, Thor lures the horse helping the ice giant away with the help of a mare. The ice giant cannot complete his work and attacks Odin and the other sir in anger , killing him and Baldur. Loki, the Ase who gave the giant the contract to build the wall, flees after the fight and overflows to Surtur.
Lif, Odin, and Thor go on a hunt for Loki. Lif sneaks away at night and flees with Odin's horse Sleipnir . He comes to the primeval fountain under the world ash Yggdrasil, where the Norns grant him a glimpse of his fate. The fountain prophesies that people made the gods of Midgard according to their own ideas, so there is war and perdition.
From the Urdbrunnen he sets off to Osrun's farm, but the farm is deserted. Lif realizes that his place is no longer with the people, as they hold him responsible for the Fimbulwinter and the conflicts, lack of food and shelter, and all suffering. He returns to Asengard with Odin and Thor to finally fight the battle of Ragnarok.
All gods and creatures die in the battle, and finally Lif, Surtur and Lifthrasil face each other. When Surtur tries to strangle Lif, Lithrasil helps him and pierces Surtur with a spear. Lif tries to fight with Lifthrasil based on the prophecy, but Lifthrasil refuses the fight and reassures Lif: You are the only survivors of the battle and determine the fate of the new world. Lifthrasil takes off the helmet and it then turns out that he is actually a woman - Lif's sister.
background
Wolfgang and Heike Hohlbein only took the Germanic saga circle as a suggestion for their story, the characters all appear in different sagas, but are in a different context: For example, Ragnarök takes place without Lif and Lifthrasil (correct: Lífthrasir ), the two only apply as the only people who survive the Fimbulwinter. The sexes are also reversed in the novel: in Germanic mythology, Líf is female and Lífthrasir is male.