In catching up on the Marvel series with our sons, I recently re-watched the Thor movies, which I’ve found much more depth and enjoyment in than I’d have ever expected. (Spoiler alert.) Fans of The Lord of the Rings will likely find much to like, from epic battles (of course) to script, character development, and setting. The admiring depiction of a proud and healthy warrior culture is an all too rare and wonderful thing to behold, and the shining city of Asgard leaves me yearning for the cultural cohesion and will to build that are needed to create such wonders.
Among it all, the Viking funeral rite for Frigga in The Dark World moved me particularly deeply. On rare occasion, Hollywood still gets it right. Behold two minutes of pure visual (and musical) poetry.
One reply on “A Fitting Warrior’s Rite”
I think what moves me in this scene is a deep longing, born of the worry many of us may share about how we will be remembered by our own culture. (Particularly those of us who live among family who don’t understand.) Will we be forgotten, or perhaps even erased? I try not to dwell on such things, but it stirs something deep in me that maybe others will find some connection to too.