Norse mythology’s climate lessons for the future | Lauren Fadiman

Summary

Summary of "Norse Mythology’s Climate Lessons for the Future | Lauren Fadiman"

Podcast Information:

• Title: TED Talks Daily
• Host/Author: TED
• Episode: Norse Mythology’s Climate Lessons for the Future | Lauren Fadiman
• Release Date: April 8, 2025

Introduction In the April 8, 2025 episode of TED Talks Daily, host Elise Hu introduces Lauren Fadiman, a contemporary folklorist, who delves into the profound connections between Norse mythology and modern climate challenges. Fadiman’s talk, delivered at TED Countdown's Dilemma event in Brussels, explores how ancient myths like Ragnarok offer valuable insights into human resilience and adaptation in the face of environmental catastrophes.

Exploring Ragnarok and Its Relevance Lauren Fadiman begins her presentation by contextualizing the Norse myth of Ragnarok, traditionally depicted as an apocalyptic event marked by three consecutive years of winter. She draws parallels between this myth and contemporary climate phenomena, such as the European heatwave of 2018, which severely impacted Denmark.

“The old Norse tale of Ragnarok might seem the furthest from our reality... but records of breakingly hot summers show just how plausible extreme climate events can be” (04:30).

Fadiman recounts her experience working on an archaeological dig near Copenhagen during a particularly dry summer. The drought not only threatened the preservation of historical sites but also evoked a sense of impending loss similar to the desolation portrayed in Ragnarok.

Geomythology: Bridging Myth and Climate Science Fadiman introduces the concept of geomythology, the study of ancient myths to uncover historical climate events. She posits that myths like Ragnarok may contain traces of real climatic and environmental upheavals. For instance, she references the theory that a volcanic eruption or meteor strike in the 6th century could have triggered a prolonged volcanic winter, leading to widespread agricultural failure and societal collapse.

“Geomythology suggests that stories of gods and apocalypse might encode memories of real climate catastrophes and human responses” (06:15).

She highlights how tree ring data corroborate historical accounts of unusually short and frigid summers during that period, aligning with the descriptions of a world shrouded in darkness and cold in Norse legends.

Lessons in Resilience and Cultural Transformation Fadiman emphasizes that Ragnarok is not solely a tale of destruction but also one of rebirth and renewal. After the cataclysm, new gods emerge, symbolizing the potential for cultural and societal transformation in the aftermath of environmental disaster.

“Ragnarok is a story of the apocalypse, but also what comes after. It reminds us that destruction can pave the way for renewal and transformation” (07:50).

She draws parallels to contemporary society, encouraging modern cultures to embrace resilience and adaptiveness. By acknowledging and learning from past mythological narratives, societies can better navigate the present climate crisis.

Preservation and Evolution of Culture Fadiman underscores the importance of folklore as a repository of cultural knowledge and survival strategies. She argues that these narratives not only preserve historical experiences but also inspire future generations to innovate and adapt.

“Folklore is more than a collection of stories. It is the preservation of culture, as well as a lesson in preserving and changing culture under some of the most challenging circumstances imaginable” (08:45).

She advocates for viewing geomythological tales as both historical records and inspirational blueprints for cultural evolution in response to environmental challenges.

Conclusion: Continuity and Hope Concluding her talk, Fadiman reflects on the enduring relevance of myths like Ragnarok. She encourages listeners to see themselves as part of a continuous lineage capable of profound cultural shifts and resilience in the face of adversity.

“Stories like Ragnarok invite us to think of ourselves in continuity with the past, capable of the same cultural shifts and swerves of an earlier time” (09:10).

Fadiman’s insights offer a hopeful perspective: by understanding and integrating lessons from ancient myths, humanity can foster the resilience and adaptability necessary to confront and overcome current and future climate crises.

Key Takeaways:

• Geomythology: Examining myths to uncover historical climate events provides valuable insights into human resilience and adaptation.
• Ragnarok’s Duality: The myth represents both destruction and renewal, highlighting the potential for cultural transformation post-catastrophe.
• Cultural Preservation and Evolution: Folklore serves as a vital tool for preserving cultural identity and inspiring adaptive strategies in the face of environmental challenges.
• Continuity and Hope: Connecting past narratives with present struggles fosters a sense of continuity and the capability for societal resilience.

Notable Quotes:

• “Geomythology suggests that stories of gods and apocalypse might encode memories of real climate catastrophes and human responses” (06:15) – Lauren Fadiman
• “Folklore is more than a collection of stories. It is the preservation of culture, as well as a lesson in preserving and changing culture under some of the most challenging circumstances imaginable” (08:45) – Lauren Fadiman
• “Stories like Ragnarok invite us to think of ourselves in continuity with the past, capable of the same cultural shifts and swerves of an earlier time” (09:10) – Lauren Fadiman

Conclusion Lauren Fadiman’s exploration of Norse mythology through the lens of climate science offers a compelling narrative on the intersection of folklore and modern environmental challenges. Her insights encourage a deeper appreciation of ancient stories as dynamic tools for understanding and navigating the complexities of today’s climate crisis, emphasizing the timeless human capacity for resilience and transformation.

Transcript

[Elise Hu]

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[Elise Hu]

That'S S I M.

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[Elise Hu]

There'S no safe like SimpliSafe. You're listening to TED Talks Daily where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host Elise Hu. When I think about the tools we have in the fight against catastrophic climate, I mainly think about things like science, data and technology. But for contemporary folklorist Lauren Fadiman, folklore and geomythology are also valuable tools for understanding and helping humans adapt to our changing world. In her 2024 talk, Lauren shares stories of environmental collapse across millennia as lessons for the resiliency we need today. That's up next.

[Lauren Fadiman]

Of all the apocalypse stories to survive the bumpy ride from premadernity to the present, the old Norse tale of Ragnarok might seem the furthest from our reality. Its three straight years of winter seem more implausible with every record breakingly hot summer we endure. The European heat wave of 2018 hit Denmark especially hard that summer. I was working on an archaeological dig with maybe some of the only people who felt happy about the relentless sun. Dryness, I learned, has a way of revealing history hidden just below our feet. But drought threatens loss, too. One weekend, my classmates and I traveled to a site near Copenhagen that some people believe to be the real world setting of the Beowulf story. If we take the story for its word, then right nearby should be the lake where Beowulf would go to fight to retrieve the head of his magical foe, Grendel. And there is a kind of marshy lake within walking distance of the site. But that summer, it didn't look like much. As a folklorist, I felt a premature sense of loss. If a lake were lost to drought, then so too would be everything the lake represents in the Beowulf story. Chaos, danger, the unknown. Imagine if Loch Ness dried up. It's the possibility of what lurks beneath its surface that is so stirring. So much so that even if evaporation revealed the monster herself, something would still have been lost in the process. The fact that dry land had managed to encroach on even this supposedly magical marsh felt to me like an obvious bad omen, A harbinger of more terrible heat and terrible loss to come. That's when one of the professors leading our dig told us the story of Ragnarok. Not the Ragnarok and three winters of some far off future, but the Ragnarok that some scholars believe happened some 15 centuries ago. It would change the way that I understood folklore and introduced me to a new concept entirely, that of geomythology. The idea that in some stories of the supernatural, of gods and goddesses, and of otherworldly apocalypse, we can find evidence of real climate change and catastrophe in human history, as well as evidence of human resilience. They say the real Ragnarok began with a volcanic eruption, or maybe a meteor strike, or perhaps both in the same brief stretch of time. A possibility so unthinkable that in it, fact and fiction seemed to invert whatever it was. It cast a thick cloud of dust into the sky, a vast shadow across the earth. No one in Europe, it seems, would see the sun from early 536 cells until nearly the end of the following year. We know this from accounts from across the continent, especially the Mediterranean region, where Romans and Carthaginians reported a lengthy eclipse that brought with it freezing summers. Then came all the problems that accompany a failed harvest. Some scholars think it was the final blow that felled the Roman Empire further north, where the written word had yet to arrive. The strangeness of this time is written in the land itself. Unusually narrow tree rings indicate a series of short, frigid summers that would repeatedly have killed crops across Scandinavia around the same time. Villages were destroyed and graveyards abandoned, left silent after centuries and even millennia of use. Even the gods weren't safe. By 600 AD, the solar deity who had long reigned supreme across Europe had seemingly been toppled from his throne. Archaeologists have found Scandinavian representations of the sacred figure defaced and destroyed, as if in revenge for the fact that no amount of sacrificial gold had managed to restore the sun. That's where Thor, Loki and Odin come in. New gods would inherit this new world. Ragnarok is a story of the apocalypse, but also what comes after. Gods are killed, but then reborn, and all the world is rejuvenated with them. We can imagine that such a cycle of rebirth felt right in a world that had died and yet somehow kept on living. These new gods are less straightforward than the sun, more morally ambiguous, harder to pin down. You might recognize them with all their flaws from the Marvel films. They are flawed like people. Flawed like those ancestors of the Old Norse who had been forced to commit and bear witness to terrible acts of survival. But they had survived. It is this heritage that some scholars, especially the Swedish archaeologists Bo Grosland and Neil Price, think we can read in and between the lines of the Ragnarok story. If so, Ragnarok joins the ranks of geomethological tales. Another example might be the Great Flood, which we see everywhere from Genesis to Gilgamesh. They are stories that remind us we are far from the first to experience environmental catastrophe and the complicated emotions that come with it. Ambivalence, despair, fear, guilt, uncertainty, anger at ourselves and at the fragility of our world. But these stories also remind us that people have overcome these challenges in the past, doing the unthinkable in order to survive. Even as in the case of those ancestors of the Old Norse, reinventing aspects of their culture that we too often treat as fixed revolution. Realizing that the Ragnarok story might be rooted in reality has been revelatory to me. The fact that it would then have to have been passed down orally for hundreds of years before being written down is a testament, I think, to the importance of its message then and now. Folklore is more than a collection of stories. It is the preservation of culture, as well as a lesson in preserving culture under some of the most challenging circumstances imaginable. Of course, it is not just about preserving culture. It's also a matter of changing culture, and geomythological tales remind us that people have done that in the past. Just as the ancestors of the Old Norse felled gods and raised new ones in the effort to transform our world, we can and must muster the courage to topple gods of our own in the effort to transform our world now. In the perilous present, stories like Ragnarok invite us to think of ourselves in continuity with the past, which is to say, capable of the same cultural shifts and swerves of an earlier time. After all, if I could do it in the Iron Age, certainly we can now. Thank you.

[Elise Hu]

That was Laura fadiman at TED Countdown's Dilemma event in Brussels in 2024. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out [e-mail] curationguidelines and that's it for today's show. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Greene, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar and Tonsika Sarmarnivon. It was mixed by Christopher Faizy Bogan. Additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Ballaraizo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.

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