Taking
Comfort in Ragnarök
Readers
will embrace a sad ending. You need only look to how our favorite myths
conclude to see it, and when it comes to the end of the world, you'll be
hard-pressed to find a religion or mythology that can outdo the Norse.
The
tale of Ragnarök delivers a climactic battle of heroes and villains. We're
treated to sacrifice and conflict so great that victory isn't defined by who
lives and dies, but by who lives a few heartbeats longer. In the struggle
between the thunder god Thor and the massive sea serpent Jörmungandr, the
former wins but lives only long enough to walk a mere nine steps more.
Ragnarök
is a glorious, bloody end that brings definition to every other tale in the
Norse Mythology. How many times are we offered stories of Loki's mischief and
the monsters he spawned and left to think, "What if the other gods had put
an end to him here? Would it prevent all that horror?" How much greater do
those adventures become because of where it all concludes?
As
a writer, one of the earliest lessons I took to heart was to know my story's
end. When I start my stories armed with the knowledge of how they will finish,
they are much easier to write. I recognize those important moments even as I
write them. Sometimes I also see when an element to the story won't carry its
weight and slash it within minutes of putting it on the page.
