the NorsePlay subcontext of ... Cowboy Bebop?!?


Extreme NorsePlay: Overthinking It's essay's extrapolation's that the genre transcending anime Cowboy Bebop has a subtext implying that cyber-eye'd Spike is Odin, and one-handed Jet is Tyr. We'd blow that off as a ridiculous overlay ... except the author namebombs Georges Dumézil's writings in his first paragraph, and we love that Dumézil, so we were in for the mental ride just to see where author Stokes decided to bounty hunt this weaving of ideas. Read it here.

Carrying this association forward, we would also additionally posit: That greedy grifting free spirit Faye's gold lustful Gullveig. If it were just Jet & Spike, the post-cop (Tyr's justice), post-criminal (Odin's Bölverk) pair would understand each other and quest harmoniously, but throw Faye into the Bebop and suddenly the values & reasons get messy. And our Solar System is made of Nine Worlds. And Jet could be pruning a small bonsai Yggdrasil in an Odinic micromodel of cosmic creation. And Spike's ludicrous mirror Cowboy Andy could be Saxo's Mitothin. And so on.

 So, Proto-Indo-European archetypes aside, is it just slightly possible that our already amazing Gods in some small degree have manifested themselves for our benefit within this interplanetary saga where overly capable men of adventure go a-viking to capture or kill societal outlaws for rewards & reputation-making heroics? It would be neat to think so, and it would add a numinous lacing to explain why Bebop's critical & fan acclaim endures so brightly over decades.

See you NorsePlayers ... .
[Gods in the alcove by First 4 Figures.]

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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology,  field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.

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