American Gods' Metal Odiiiiinnnnn!

In Neil Gaiman's American Gods the operating premise for the divine is that the Gods are regionally bound and that their existence & power depends upon those who believe & worship them. In Starz' TV adaptation, Season 3's opening addresses Viking Metal's celebration & reclamation of Heathen Nordic contexts by kicking off with this scene of faux band Blood Death lead by Johan Wengren (Marilyn Manson!?!):


As the story of the ancient Old Gods versus the emergent New Gods of Technology unfolds, we see the Old Gods adapting some of that technology in order to garner digital followers, and Odin (the venerable Ian McShane) connecting with metalheads, bikers, and aggro fans, which seems appropriate for Mr Wednesday who banks on & rewards those of the warrior ethos.

The teleplays expands in notable degrees upon the book, backgrounding & filling out minor characters into fan favourites, and giving us such clever lines as Wednesday's: "Ask and you shall be Embla'd." Given that we as viewers are essentially hired with Shadow to serve Mr Wednesday, and in its way shows the Gods' relevance into the modern day, the show is a highly recommended NorsePlay.

Addenda 3/10/2023: So the show cliffhangs at the end of S3, which is where Starz cancels it. As of this writing, the production company & Gaiman do wish to finish the show with either a TV movie or a event series, but as it stands, unless you've read the book, you're not getting an ending. While this lack of final visual interpretation may prove frustrating, I still don't think this is a dealbreaker, but after finding this out (and honestly, I still totally thought they were going to wrap it all up in that last episode) NorsePlay felt it best to warn you.

#    #    #

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. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

iceland: a travelogue

Image
Day -1 : Deplaned! ... and it begins with me sprinting full out from one end of Phoenix's mile-long Sky Harbor Airport to the very last concourse, which of course looks very action film terrorist red flag-like. The plane (if you can call the wee Red Bull can with wings an actual plane) from Tucson was 45 minutes late getting in due to confidence inspiring "maintenance issues", which left me with less than 10 minutes to make my connection to Denver. "The door is closed." I can see the plane through the window, still connected to the jetway. "But the plane is  right there ." "The door is closed. You'll have to go talk to customer service," she states in flat disciplinarian tones with barely veiled punitive relish. By contrast the sweet great aunt US Airways desk agent's deeply apologetic about me losing a whole day in Iceland, and I simply can't get pissed at a nice old lady who's doing her best to get me out as early as
Read more

NorsePlay Interviews: Vikingverse Author Ian Stuart Sharpe!

Image
NorsePlay recently reviewed the Vikingverse series , and I loved it so much, I've reached out to its author & creator  Ian Stuart Sharpe to bring you this Q&A interview filled with all the inquiries his brilliant what-if-the-Vikings-had-conquered-the-world masterwork compelled me to ask.  For background, Sharpe's  career as a published writer started with the first Vikingverse installment, The All Father Paradox (2018 CE), continued with sequel Loki's Wager (2020 CE), gained even more literal public support with his crowdfunded Vikingverse graphic novel,  The Jötunn War (2021 CE), and then an equally fan-supported  Vikingverse -adjacent phrasebook Old Norse For Modern Times (2021 CE).   Sharpe's from London, UK, did some growing up in East Anglia, and now lives in Oak Bay, British Columbia, Canada. His longer tech career includes working for the BBC, IMG, Atari, and Electronic Arts. [Note that this interview does contain spoilers. Now, onto the meat 'n&
Read more

NorsePlay has moved to norseplaymythologist.blogspot.com!

Image
If you're here, do go find NorsePlay's new home at: norseplaymythologist.blogspot.com/ While your comments have migrated (yay!), your follows have not, so please again  hit the blue follow button at the new URL's desktop page, or under the hamburger menu button there on your phone/tablet to get your wee sweet reader's icon back into the dedicated NorsePlay followers mosaic! D o update your bookmarks, favourites, links, shares, feeds, and blogrolls to the above URL. Note that the email link in the footer at the end of this entry has changed, so do update that contact in case you have ongoing correspondence or require future direct exchange with NorsePlay. Thank you for your understanding, patience, adjustments, and continued attentions. See you at the new address , NorsePlayers! #    #    # 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 t hen he'
Read more