Swedish Viking Metal (though, the band itself is quite insistent that they’re a Melodic Death Metal band; six of one, really) band Amon Amarth is not exactly rare in being a Metal band with a name derived from Tolkien — Amon Amarth of one the Elvish names for Mount Doom.
Incidentally, I am shocked it took until the 2010s for there to be a band called “Thangorodrim.”
How was Metal not all over that?
Photo by Krivec Ales on Pexels.co
Now, despite the origin of the band’s name and their insistence on not being Viking Metal, they basically sing only about Vikings: either Norse history or mythology. They’ve got, like, 47 songs just about Thor…
Which brings us to 2008’s Twilight of the Thunder God and its title track.
For context, in Norse mythology Ragnarök is the cataclysmic end of the world(s).
In brief: Loki will escape his imprisonment for the murder of Baldur riding a ship made of dead men’s fingernails, precipitating the final battle between the gods and giants; Odin will be devoured by the great wolf Fenrir and be avenged by his son Víðarr, who will use his giant boot (yes, really) to pin Fenrir’s jaws to the ground and either stab him in the face or rip him in half; Heimdall and Loki will kill each other, and the entire cosmos will be reduced to ashes.
It gets better.
For his part, Thor is destined to destroy the World Serpent Jörmungand and die in the attempt.
Manuscript SÁM 66 in the care of the Árni Magnússon Institute, Iceland. Image via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
Notably, his sons Móði and Magni will be among the few gods who survive Ragnarök and re-emerge in the new cosmos. Humanity itself will be repopulated by Líf and Lífþrasir — whose names mean, fittingly, “Life” and “Lif’s Husband.”
The song is clearly about Ragnarök, even notwithstanding the fact that is repeatedly name-dropped in the lyrics:
“Thor! Oden’s son, protector of mankind
Ride to meet your fate, your destiny awaits
Thor! Hlödyn‘s son, protector of mankind
Ride to meet your fate, Ragnarök awaits”
The song doesn’t actually mention Thor dying during Ragnarök, but, like, it’s called Twilight of the Thunder God, so it doesn’t really take a genius…
Take a listen here:
And, of course, whenever MCU Thor is referred to as “Thor Odinson”, I will invariably quietly mutter “Protector of mankind/ride to meet your fate/your destiny awaits.”
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