Freyr & Gerðr meet in the Moonrise Kingdom.
While viewing the perfect film Moonrise Kingdom for probably the 30th or so time, we just noticed a few more things that relate to the Lore, and while we don't think director Wes Anderson consciously included Norse elements from his Norwegian-Swedish paternal background, we're taking a moment to point our own Heathen Worldview observations out.
Suzy Bishop & Sam Shakusky finally meet in a picturesque field after much postal correspondence, emotional negotiation, and extra-personal angst from their separate situations ... much the same after Freyr & Gerðr finally meet in "The Grove of Tranquil Paths", or the field of Barri in the Poetic Edda's Skírnismál, where they get married.
At the performance of Noye's Fludde (possibly a less sanguine diluvial reworking of the killing of Ymir whose flood of blood starts a new chapter of cosmic existence), Sam is not content to stay in his seat with the rest of the scouts, but transgressively gets up and strikes out looking for something, much as Freyr decides to ascend to Hliðskjálf to have a look around. After passing children in shamanic animal costumes (the landvættir) and passing through a curtain of clothes (barriers to the otherworlds) he enters a space with a group of girls dressed as birds, but it is the Raven (Huginn/Muninn) he's suddenly and irresistibly drawn to. Sam also asks after Suzy's injured hand (Tyr-like) in this scene, which they seem to have an easy mutual understanding over.
In a male to female reversal, Suzy's "magic power" binoculars serve as a mechanism for the farsight of Hliðskjálf, and she stands on the top of her Land's End home to gaze across the island using them. Also, Suzy's later leaving the binoculars in the camp's chapel after her marriage to Sam semi-mirrors the leaving of Freyr's magic sword to Skirnir as a life-cost of this marriage, as when Sam later decides to retrieve them, he's literally struck by lightning as a life-cost consequence.
One could write off all the above as conceit on our part, but if the Gods are both the beings & mechanisms by which the worlds turn, then it stands to reason that they manifest not only in nature but also in art, and in this case, cinema.
Moonrise Kingdom hails Freyr & Gerðr in its very own special way. Give it a watch, it's wonderful no matter how you look at it.
# # #
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.
At the performance of Noye's Fludde (possibly a less sanguine diluvial reworking of the killing of Ymir whose flood of blood starts a new chapter of cosmic existence), Sam is not content to stay in his seat with the rest of the scouts, but transgressively gets up and strikes out looking for something, much as Freyr decides to ascend to Hliðskjálf to have a look around. After passing children in shamanic animal costumes (the landvættir) and passing through a curtain of clothes (barriers to the otherworlds) he enters a space with a group of girls dressed as birds, but it is the Raven (Huginn/Muninn) he's suddenly and irresistibly drawn to. Sam also asks after Suzy's injured hand (Tyr-like) in this scene, which they seem to have an easy mutual understanding over.
In a male to female reversal, Suzy's "magic power" binoculars serve as a mechanism for the farsight of Hliðskjálf, and she stands on the top of her Land's End home to gaze across the island using them. Also, Suzy's later leaving the binoculars in the camp's chapel after her marriage to Sam semi-mirrors the leaving of Freyr's magic sword to Skirnir as a life-cost of this marriage, as when Sam later decides to retrieve them, he's literally struck by lightning as a life-cost consequence.
One could write off all the above as conceit on our part, but if the Gods are both the beings & mechanisms by which the worlds turn, then it stands to reason that they manifest not only in nature but also in art, and in this case, cinema.
Moonrise Kingdom hails Freyr & Gerðr in its very own special way. Give it a watch, it's wonderful no matter how you look at it.
# # #
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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